The Yum Yum Factor

  I tried to make shakshuka for five days.  Day 1: ordered all the ingredients I needed online for delivery. Shit, can't get it til tomorrow. No problem, we will eat something else tonight but super excited for tomorrow's dinner Day 2: groceries come! Time to start.....oh, wait, what? You feel like ordering Thai? But I was...okay, Thai does sound like it would hit the spot. Shakshuka tomorrow, FOR SURE Day 3: make the shakshuka tomato/red pepper sauce in anticipation of tonight's shakshuka. Sit outside with my neighbours for a glass of wine and the next thing I know, we grab The Kid and venture on down to sit on the patio at The Pub. It's the only place that will let us take a table for 8 so we can sit at opposite ends of the table and their salt and pepper wings are really delicious..... Day 4: TODAY IS THE DAY. WE are making this damned shakshuka if it kills me, but first, a visit to drop off something to friends we haven't seen since January. Go to drop it off on...

Oh Cinco de Mayo, how I love you because you are another excuse to throw a pork roast in the oven and make some tacos. Okay, I don't really need an excuse to do that but sometimes it's nice to be put yourself on the spot when you realize it's been ages since you have roasted up a big, old chunk of pig to wrap in stack of corn tortillas. Sometimes we all need a push. I like to use this David Chang recipe for pork sometimes because the meat comes out delicious, with crispy, crunchy bits but the flavour is neutral and I can use it for a ton of different things afterwards. A bit of ginger scallion sauce with some gochujang something or other and it's kind of Korean or add some smoky BBQ sauce and I have a pulled pork sandwich. Since this was a big 10 lb picnic pork roast, I wanted lots of leftover meat that could be repurposed. I am not even going to link to any one of the 100000 versions of this recipe that are out there because everyone makes it, everyone tweak...

So, this week I am going to feature a recipe that The Neighbours made and shared with me. I have been eating it for lunch every day and would have just made it myself if they hadn't already provided me with a big container to keep me happy all week. We are very lucky to have such awesome neighbours who are also such great friends and someone is always knocking on someone's door with a cookie to try or some sauce to give an opinion on. Sometimes we are tempted to add more things than we need to make a delicious soup and in this case, less is more and I was really glad that there is no cream or anything else heavy to weigh it down. It's a nice, light soup that has just the right amount of red pepper to tomato and that touch of honey cuts the acidity a bit. Perfect.  They read a few recipes and took what they liked from each and came up with this light, savoury soup: The Neighbour's Roasted Red Pepper Tomato Soup 3 medium onions chopped 3 large cloves of ...