The Yum Yum Factor

When Dorset Cereals offered to send out a box of samples to 15 members of the Food Bloggers of Canada I was all over that like a plump pug on poutine. It was an easy choice because I already know that I really like Dorset granola and, to be honest, I don't really want to be taking free stuff from companies that I don't already like because I hate having to say bad stuff about people's products. It's so much easier to just accept things that I like because I prefer to keep things positive as much as I can. Also, I am afraid that if I diss somebody's Cheesits they are going to send their Cheesit hit men out in the night to whack me. Easier to just accept good stuff and keep it real, right?

I made these incredible toasts from Not Without Salt last night and I ended up with half a baguette's worth of toasted bread left since The Kid didn't come home for dinner. I kept staring at them all day, wondering what to do with them when I thought "fattoush!" I just got myself the cookbook, Jerusalem, and after reading it cover to cover I am mildly obsessed with all things middle eastern right now. I often find myself walking down the street and "fattoush!" will just pop into my head and I have to run home and open Jerusalem and read it a bit to calm myself down.

We celebrated Easter a while ago and for us that means that there was a ham bone hanging around the house the next day. For a really long time I always made split pea soup but for the last few years I have been making black bean soup instead. I love split pea soup but the boys seem to prefer black bean so that is the route I have taking. I recently started adding the chipotle because my kid was a wimp before but now that he likes a bit of kick to his food, AT LAST, I can spice things up around here. I usually do a chipotle crema but this time the chipotle could go in the actual soup and since that makes it a bit hot, I needed something creamy and cool but that wasn't just a drizzle of plain yogurt or sour cream. While looking at some other black bean soups to get inspired, I found one with an avocado cream on Eats Well With Others and loved the sound of that.

If you read my blog, you already know that I am absolutely crazy about gochujang, the korean fermented hot pepper paste. As a wise old lady I know through the tv says, I put that shit in everything.

Have you ever eaten something that haunts you long after the fact? About a year ago I had a raw brussels sprout salad in a restaurant. I am pretty sure it was Pizzeria Libretto but If it was there it doesn't seem to be on the menu anymore. It was kind of rich and cheesy but with a really light, bright vinaigrette and it happened to be the first time I had eaten raw brussels sprouts. We eat roasted brussels sprouts so often that I wouldn't be shocked if I woke up to find that I had started sprouting little leaves on all of my limbs like the kid in The Odd Life Of Timothy Green. Anyway, since eating that salad, I haven't been able to stop thinking of it. Of course, I have also never tried to make it at home either, but that doesn't change the fact that despite my pining for it, clearly I was waiting for someone else to make it for me again and that didn't appear to be working out for me. I found myself with a handful of sprouts left in the fridge - not en...

I have spent quite a bit of time in Greece. I lived and worked there in my late twenties and, oddly enough, I don't have a ton of great food memories. When I think of my time in Italy or in Spain, I can almost taste all of the delectable delights that I enjoyed on a daily basis but when I think of Greece, there are only a handful of food memories that I can still conjure up. While there, I would tell people I was from Toronto and they would often say "Oh, my brother/cousin/uncle has a restaurant on the Danforth. Toronto has the best Greek food in the world!" and I would always laugh but I kind of got what they were saying. In my head, I think that I don't care for Greek food but if you go through both of my food blogs, you will find that I actually cook Greek all the time. I never said I was a reasonable person. I find that I often turn to Greek food when I have to feed a crowd in an informal setting. It just makes so much sense to put out a spread of mezes an...