Monthly Archives: October 2012

Bread and Storm

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Waiting on the storm

The wind just picked up.  By the time I publish this I’m sure it will be raining, perhaps heavily, with strong wind gusts and a flurry of leaves whipping past the windows.  Hurricane Sandy, the so called “Frankenstorm” (don’t get me started on how I feel about such a trivial name for something that has already killed and is still causing destruction at this moment) is bearing down on us.  By the time it reaches us Southern Ontario it won’t be a hurricane anymore, but it will be a force to be reckoned with. Continue reading →

Practice Bagels

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(scroll down for an update on my 40th birthday plans)

I have a culinary bucket l  It’s not terribly long, though I do add to it on occasion.  I blogged a bit about it on A Single Step (the blog my inner everything else booted my inner foodie from earlier this year).  Looking back on the post, I see that not only have I not tackled much, I didn’t mention bagels on there.

They look so simple.  Dough.  I can make dough.  Roll & shape.  Bob Blumer learned to shape bagels in no time on his show.  How hard can it be?   Boil.  Easy.  Bake.  Great, I’ve got it nailed.

Culinary ego is so cute, isn’t it?  Here’s a pic of my shaping attempt, post-boil, to cure that in a hurry.

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Peanut allergy and a request

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The journey begins

There is no history of food allergies in our families.  We had no reason to suspect anything when we gave our darling son some peanut butter toast at 11 months old.  At the time, the jury was out on whether or not parents should give peanut butter to youngsters or wait until they’re 25 before attempting it. Continue reading →

Canning Swap

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Niagara In Jars

You have to understand a bit about Tiffany.  To say that she’s passionate about local food is like saying the Queen is rather fond of Corgis.  This gal has almost single-handedly turned the spark of interest I had for local food into a full blown evangelistic flame.  My Twitter feed (the food part, anyway) is largely made up of people I’ve met through or because of her.  A bit of a Six Degrees of Eating Niagara, if you will (that’s her Twitter handle – @EatingNiagara).

If you read here and here you’ll learn what Niagara In Jars is.  In the most basic sense, it’s just a canning swap.  If you don’t know much about canning and preserving, then that may not seem like much.  Make some jam to give away, take some salsa home…  But if you know what goes into putting up the season’s harvest, and the heart of someone who wants to preserve local foods for when they’re not in season, you can appreciate what it is to give away some of what you’ve worked hard to keep.  And what it is to take home the efforts of another who has worked equally hard to preserve what they value from the harvest.  There’s a love and a passion there.  It’s community, taken to another level. Continue reading →