The Yum Yum Factor

Eva's Did you know that every night, more than 2000 Toronto youth are living in the street? Of those 2000, 79% of them site parental addiction, physical, psychological, sexual and emotional abuse as the reason they left home? 40% of homeless youth experience mental health issues but after 4 years of living on the street, that number grows to 705? Thankfully, there are places like Eva's Place, Eva's Satellite and Eva's Phoenix who provide Toronto's homeless youth with a safe place, support and opportunity. Their staff work directly with each and every young person who walks through their doors to come up with individual, personalized plans that will empower them to set and reach goals, both short and long term. It's a fresh start for the most vulnerable among us. You can make cash donations that supply these young people with personal hygiene supplies, TTC passes, food, safe shelter or a day of education counselling. You can volunteer your time, g...

I have a confession to make: I really like the texture of canned fruit, especially peaches.

Did you know that every night, in Toronto, more than 2000 youths are living in the street? Of those 2000, 70% of them site parental drug and alcohol issues, physical, psychological, sexual and emotional abuse as the reason for leaving home? 40% of homeless youth experience mental health issues but after 4 years of being on the street that number grows to 70%? This is why our community depends on places like Eva's Place, an emergency shelter for homeless youth between the ages of 16 and 24 in downtown Toronto. Eva's place not only provides shelter, but they also provide much needed support to help these young people either return home or to transition into more appropriate housing, finish their schooling, receive medial care, counselling and basic life skills training that you and I might take for granted. As well as the 40 bed emergency shelter, they run a harm reduction shelter called  Eva's Satellite   and Eva's Phoenix  for more long term housing and sup...

I don't trust people who don't love bacon. Even my friends who don't eat meat will admit that the smell of frying bacon is enough to send them over the edge and those who were not always vegetarian can still get teary eyed over the memory of the taste. To me, bacon is a perfect food. It is salty, fatty, crispy, smoky and it is just as great with sweet as it is with savoury. Honestly, even bad bacon is tasty but why not just go with GREAT bacon? I was approached by duBreton to come up with a recipe using their product to celebrate International Bacon Day, which takes place this year on September 3.Since I am one of the 90% of Canadians who love bacon, I jumped at the chance. To to be honest, it was a struggle to narrow my ideas down to one recipe. I had made a version of this crispy coating a while back to accompany my first ever pressure cooker mac and cheese recipe (I also used it again on my second pressure cooker mac and cheese recipe   ) and I make sure to ...

So, we all want to try to make better choices when we are buying food, right? We try to figure out which foods really need to be organic and which foods need to be, at least, certified hormone free. We are encouraged to go for a drive, meet farmers and see how their animals are raised, go to farmer's market and forge relationships with the growers and make better, informed purchases.  That's all very well until we come to seafood. How are we supposed to meet the sea farmers when it's best to eat wild seafood? How are we supposed to know how to check to see how the fish was caught, who caught it and whether something is overfished? Not so easy to do on our own. That's where the MSC comes in. The Marine Stewardship Council is an international, non profit organization that was formed to address them problem of unsustainable fishing and make sure that there are seafood supplies going forward. They work with fisheries, suppliers and retailers to encourage...

If you are not lucky enough to have a nonna of your very own, you can soothe your inner Italian soul with Per La Famiglia, Memories and Recipes of Southern Italian Home Kitchen, the newest cookbook by Emily Richards. Part cookbook, part scrapbook, the book is full of photos, memories and family stories and as soon as my complimentary copy showed up on my doorstep, I read the whole thing, cover to cover. I remember Emily Richards from the Canadian Living Test Kitchen back when I was a new mom and spent hours on end watching the food network. Alongside Elizabeth Baird, she injected a youthful enthusiasm for food that helped to inspire me to get out of bed and back into the kitchen again. Fast forward to today and Emily is still inspiring Canadians to get into the kitchen and cook delicious, whole foods as part of the Canadian Living Test Kitchen, regular daytime tv guest spots, cooking classes and cookbooks. The stories reflect the immigrant story for many, ma...

When a company contacts me and asks me if I would like some cheese to play with, I am certainly not going to say no. Do I look crazy to you? Only a crazy person turns down free cheese. Armstrong cheese has been making Canadian cheese for over 100 years so they know a thing or two about making a good product. As soon as I tried the old cheddar, I knew what I would make with it. For an old cheddar, it's actually on the milder side and the texture is very smooth and creamy - some cheddars can be grainybut I could tell that this one was going to melt beautifully, and it did. If the cheese was too strongly flavoured, it would have overpowered the delicate flavour of the lobster but this cheddar let the lobster sing it's lobster song. Mac and cheese, baby. But not just any old mac and cheese. LOBSTER mac and cheese. Not just any lobster mac and cheese. PRESSURE COOKER lobster mac and cheese. I have been dying to make the pressure cooker mac and cheese from America...

Just in time for NYE, I am sharing not only a recipe for a great appetizer with you that will wow your friends and solidify your reputation as an amazing host, but a chance to win $25 worth of A rla Dofino Harvarti , a bamboo cheeseboard and cute, ceramic dry erase cheese markers. I make no secret of my love for frozen puff pastry, especially during the holidays so if you don't have any in your freezer, you need to do something about that STAT.  Come on, quick like a bunny - you still have a couple of days to get ready for New Years. For this particular turnover, I chose to use the creamy harvarti  because this appetizer required maximum melty creaminess and a mild flavour that would complement the savoury filling. For my cheese board, I went with the inferno (havarti packed with chipotle and habanero chili), smoked harvarti and roasted garlic. I would say that it was a close call but the inferno was the favourite at both of my Christmas parties with the smok...

I have written about Food Share before here  and here  after attending their annual fundraising event, Recipe for Change. Food security and education is a cause near and dear to my heart so I am always thrilled to be asked to share the love.  For those who don't know about them, Food Share is a non profit organization that works with communities and schools to deliver healthy food and provide food education. You can also dig into your wallet and donate to Food Share here  too. I am giving away two tickets (worth $150) to a lucky winner so that they can join me on Thursday, November 12ths at the St Lawrence Market for " Evening at the Market  "  If you aren't the lucky winner, you can still attend and join in the fun. Tickets sell for $75 each (you can purchase tickets on the  St. Lawrence Market website ). Evening at the Market is coming up on  November 12th  and is sure to be a night not to be missed. This is a ...

I love working with Castello Cheese on recipes because any excuse to sneak some blue cheese into my food is always welcome. My guys think they don't like blue cheese so who I am to have to be the one to tell them that they actually eat it all the time?

Toronto Halal Food Festival - May 30-31 International Centre, entrance 5, Mississauga, Saturday 10am-10pm, Sunday 10am-8pm You know what I love best about Toronto? I love the cultural diversity, the celebration of food and family and tradition that are enjoyed by the entire city, regardless of where we all come from, how we worship and what we grew up eating. The Toronto Halal Food Festival will be packed to the rafters with delicious food from the best halal restaurants, manufacturers, bakeries and specialty stores representing cuisine from all around the world. You know I will be there, wearing stretchy pants with my eating bib firmly secured around my neck. There will be Sample City, where you can try all kind of food sample from dozens of vendors Redpath stage will have non stop demos, competitions and performances The Shop sections where you can pick up some stuff to take home The outdoor Street Fest where all the tasty grilled stuff will be found...

You might think that BBQ season is on the way out, but now is the perfect time to haul out your smoker. To celebrate smoking season, Ontario Gas BBQ is giving away 5 Grill Pro Traditional Horizontal Offset Smokers. You heard that right, 5 Free Smokers are up for grabs. If you have never been out to the Ontario Gas BBQ store, you are in for a treat because it is truly BBQ heaven. With over 150 different kinds of barbecues from propane and gas to charcoal and electric, smokers and more, it's impossible to not find what you are looking for. They are also home of the Charcoal Room featuring Charcoals of the World with over 10 brands of premium hardwood free of chemicals and additives. They regularly stock charcoal from as far away as Africa and Indonesia so if you think all there is to buying charcoal is running up to the corner store, think again. 

Want to hear something crazy? There is an annual cooking contest held in Venice for the last 14 years called The S Pellegrino Cooking Cup . This year it is happening June 13 and 14 and for the very first time, Canada is entering a chef and that chef is Danny Smiles. You might remember Danny Smiles from Season Three of Top Chef Canada where he made it all the way to the finale, ultimating coming in second place on the show but first place in the hearts of the fans. He isn't called Danny Smiles for nothing.

I love being able to share stuff with you guys when I can and this month, Misura Canada is giving somebody a great box of goodies  so make sure you enter because if you don't enter, you can't win.

I have been fortunate enough to be invited to watch the Almost Famous Chef competition for three years in a row. The S.Pellegrino Almost   Famous Chef Competition is a cooking competition that brings together students from over 75 culinary institutions across the United States and Canada. During the competition they battle for a chance to compete for all kinds of great prizes and be judged by nationally renowned chefs at the finals competition in Napa this March.  This whole thing is a kitchen smack down between over 75 culinary students from across North America. Each region sends it's winner to a final contest that takes place in Napa Valley in March. They are judged on their cooking skills but also on how professional they are, how well they perform under pressure (god knows a professional kitchen might present a bit of a stressful working environment from time to time) as well their performance while being questioned by the media and the judges. me and the 2012...