The Yum Yum Factor

the calm before the storm, admiring the beautiful crystal chandeliers installed just for the evening I can get really passionate about the subject of food education and because of that, I am a huge fan of Food Share. This Toronto based, non profit organization works with our communities and schools to provide them delicious, healthy food and give them with the education and tools needed to empower those communities to start taking over themselves. The catch phrase for all of this activism is "food security" so if you haven't heard that term yet, it's only a matter of time until you do. Food Share has helped to revolutionize school cafeterias and has pioneered ideas like rooftop school gardens and urban agriculture across the city. They teach people how to grow, cook and eat with hands on training, community kitchens and a wealth of other amazing programs. The bottom line is that the people of Food Share believe that everyone deserves access to affor...

sweet potato gnocchi with wild boar ragu from Le Select Bistro Oh my, what a busy week in YUM. The whole thing started with dinner at Splendido on Saturday night. We were attending an awards celebration later in the evening so a big group of us started it all off with a dinner in the private dining room downstairs. I have actually never been to Splendido and was ridiculously excited about the prospect of taking a meal there and starved all day so I could eat my fill. There were at least 30 of us so they had laid out two long tables and had the bar set up in the corner with at least five or six servers to cater to our every whim. I have to say, service at this place is impeccable and the party room or "the cellar" as it's called is very warm and cosy. We were served a couple of lovely little apps while we milled about, chatting and drinking wine and, in retrospect, they were among the best things we ate so I wished that I had paid more attention. This...