The Yum Yum Factor

Wow, October is a crazy month for me and if you live in the Toronto area, I hope you can join me for at least one of these great events! I have been super busy working for the last month at my catering bootcamp and have barely had time to think and now, this month looks like it's not going to let up. Cooking workshops, a drop in dinner and a Beau's Supper Club at The Kingston Social will keep me busy so I apologize in advance for the lack of new recipes to share with you but I will be back online in November with lots of new recipes to share. Drop in Dinner @ The Deppaneur Next Friday, Oct 13 I will be offering my latest drop in dinner at The Dep featuring a trio of very different ceviches - Octopus Aguachile, Asian Citrus Shrimp Ceviche and Vegan Hearts of Palm Ceviche with guacamole on a tostada. If you can't decide, get a flight of all three! Service starts at 6pm and we go until we sell out. Grab a bowl of Mexican Street Corn Chowder ...

As I edit my Paris/Rome photos like a maniac and get ready to start sharing my trip with you, I thought I would just let everybody know that I have two fun things to share for my Toronto peeps: Next week, on Thursday April 6, I will be cooking up a storm at The Kingston Social but this time, it will be my menu only that night! There will be plenty of goodness for meat eats and vegetarians alike and full bar service so make sure to stop by, grab a bite and say hi On Monday April 10, I will be holding my latest Instant Pot workshop at the Deppaneur and you can book a spot, online, here For this class I will show you how to make a tasty Potato Leek Soup, Mushroom Risotto, Spicy White Bean on polenta and what is probably the most popular Instant Pot (any brand of electric pressure cooker is welcome so don't let not owning an actual Instant Pot stop you from coming), the cheesecake. Also, hold June 15 for my next Loblaws class - Healthier Mexican 

It's a brand new year and that means it's time to get that electric pressure cooker out of the box, dust it off, put on your big girl panties and start pressure cooking.

Can you believe I made those with very own hands??/ I was invited to take a course, free of charge, at the Bonnie Gordon College  and if I liked it, to share my experience and since I loved it, I am sharing. When it came time to pick a class, me being me, I immediately chose the one that terrified me the most - Croissants and Brioche Yes, I was that mom. At least I was not actually in costume I am an artistic gal and I am relatively sure I could crank out some decent sugar flowers - I was pretty much the reigning queen of over the top birthday theme cakes when The Kid was little. My giant castle cake that I fashioned for his Medieval themed Jousting Tournament party took me three days to finish and I had to leave the room when it was time to let the little heathens dig into it. I pretty much know how to make decent bread and The Kid has taken over the pie making duties so that left me staring the one class that made my stomach roll over. I set off to find the school o...

First things first: On October 3 I am going to host my first in a series of cooking classes called "Not Your Grandmother's Rutabaga" at The Kingston Social in the east end of the city. I have spent years listening to friends complain that they don't know what to do with half of the produce they find in their CSA boxes come late fall and they end up throwing half of it out. Look, I get it. I grew up eating turnip twice a year, boiled and mashed with butter and brown sugar as part of our turkey dinner and hated it. It never occurred to me that what I was eating was actually a rutabaga and that there is so much life beyond boiling and mashing. Let me help you. I will continue this series over the winter and strive to wow and delight and turn you into a root vegetable lover by the end of it all. Click here to register and come learn how to teach some old dogs some new tricks The highlight of my week was the first ever Food and Wine Show right here...

As one of the ten chefs participating in the Ten for the Next Gen Series at Harbourfront's Hot and Spicy Food Festival   I was tasked with coming up with something that would fit the themes of sustainability and passing traditions on to the next generation. Since I can't really draw on my own family traditions, unless I wanted to pass along my mom's delicious Sherif's lemon meringue pie and, don't get me wrong, she made a mean Sherif's lemon meringue pie, I was going to think outside the box and come up with something of my very own. photo: Shack Shackleton Some of my Blend and Extend Recipes: Blend and Extend Beef Patty Pops Shroomy Beef Keftedes Spicy Mushrooms with Pork Chicken Mushroom Salsa Verde Besides coming up with recipes for Mushrooms Canada and their Blend and Extend program, I have totally embraced the philosophy in my own kitchen and you will almost never find me using any sort of ground meat without adding in a huge whack of grou...