The Yum Yum Factor

Francisco de Melo Palheta: The James Bond of Coffee Beans    In 1727, a Portuguese army officer named Francisco de Melo Palheta pulled off what might be history’s smoothest—and steamiest—coffee heist. On paper, he was just a guy bringing coffee to Brazil. In reality, his mission was an audacious cocktail of espionage, seduction, and agricultural ambition. Espionage, Flirtation, and a Side of Coffee The story goes that Palheta was sent to French Guiana with a task: get his hands on their coffee seedlings, a prized and closely guarded secret at the time. But the French weren’t exactly handing out coffee cuttings like party favours. So, what’s a clever Portuguese officer to do? Enter: the governor’s wife. Palheta cozied up to the lady in question using charm and a dash of daring.  She fell under his spell, whether it was his military swagger, his smooth-talking skills, or perhaps an irresistible  wink . And when it was time for him to leave, she slipped him a farewell g...

The fact that I am not a fan of Valentine's Day did not stop me from making jokes about Shack and his shanks for two days as I was preparing this dish last week. It was only a happy accident that we ended up having this for dinner on Feb 14 but I ran with the opportunity to pretend that it was meant to be a romantic token of my undying love and that alone make them worth their weight in gold. Shank is a funny word at any time but when your husband's name is Shack, it's even funnier. Actually, I often call The Kid Shank in moments of confusion.... you know, now that I think about it, I really should take this as a sign and make them more often. I have been obsessing about this beef cooked in a an ancho coffee sauce that they serve at Xola, a mexican restaurant in The Beaches. The first time I had it they were not called Xola and they were on the Danforth but it's the same restaurant and it's the same, delicious beef that is served with warm corn tortillas s...

We are just all ice cream, all the time around here right now, aren't we? This week alone I have posted recipes for  Mango Coconut Frozen Yogurt , Raspberry and Strawberry egg free ice cream and I haven't even gotten around to talking about the peach ice cream that is currently languishing in my freezer. Thank god I have a 14 year old boy to eat it all. "Vietnamese iced coffee with milk" , also known as  ca phe sua da  or  cà phê sữa đá  It is also called  ca phe nau da    in northern Vietnam but the restaurants that I frequent call it cafe sua da so that is what I am going with. Call it whatever you like but I call it insanely delicious. If you have never had one, go find a Vietnamese restaurant today and get one and come back and finish reading this. It's okay, I'll wait. Calling it iced coffee with milk is incredibly misleading. What it really is is insanely strong, thick coffee with sweetened condensed milk that you mix to...

It was 5C on the day that I made this steak. That's about 41F and here in the great white north, that is perfect BBQ weather. We can stand around outside with a beer and a pair of tongs in relative comfort. We don't even have to wear gloves when it's that balmy!  Okay, there is still some snow on the ground but it's spring and spring means we throw on a fleece and some shorts, stop wearing socks and fire up the old charcoal. We are a hearty folk here in Canada. Tomorrow, I leave for the very first ever Food Bloggers of Canada Conference at the Hockley Valley Resort. I was a lucky, lucky girl who happened to win a free weekend pass during a twitter party, sponsored by Canadian Beef . In honour of my benefactors, I knew I had to make something with a nice chunk of Canadian beef.  I do like the taste of a good, med rare striploin, hot off the grill and smeared with some butter . The only problem is that striploins don't get marinated in my world- just kos...

I volunteered to bake some sweet treats for our school's Ladies Night this weekend and really wanted to try something new. I happened to have a bag of meyer lemons AND had a request for lemon bars  so those were definitely on the table. Those lemon bars are so good it's a shame to not make them and I want to make sure that at least one dessert is going to be guaranteed to be delicious. I have a reputation to uphold over here. That said, my lemons were small so I threw TWO into the food processor instead of one and it was just a bit too much - they had a really mild, bitter aftertaste that wasn't strong enough to make me not want to eat them, just enough to prevent them from being fabulous. Learn by mistake and even if you think your lemon is tiny, just use one. For a second treat, I was thinking of something chocolately to balance out the sweet, tarty lemon bars but then I saw these Espresso Meringues and pinned them and couldn't stop thinking about them. I love...