The Yum Yum Factor

Austrian Cheese samples at SIAL Lots to share this week! Bootleg Smokehouse First up, my big news - big news for me, anyway. On Sunday, I had my first official meeting with the women of Auburn Lane so say hello to the newest member of the team - along with the addition of my good pal, Heather Lang, the Tasty Gardener /beer sommelier and all around amazing human , who is also now an official part of the Auburn Lane team - go follow her on the old Tweeter here  . I will continue writing about travel, food and eating while travelling as well as our newest section called "The Canna Commissary" where I share information on how to cook with cannabis, share recipes, and hopefully help the canna curious figure out this newly legal phenomenon. We met for a meaty brunch at Bootleg Smokehouse on Spadina, just south of King St. It was my first visit and we all enjoyed a tasty brunch consisting of the Piggy Platter, of course, cornmeal pancakes and some smoked berry fr...

my new best friend from Little Sister

I am off to Savour Stratford this weekend so, for now, here is my week in photos: Seb's on the Danforth - a man's coffee joint

The Women of Savour Stratford Sometimes it seems like it's always only about the men when we talk about exciting culinary scenes and, as a woman, that must be so frustrating. Often females are relegated to front of house, baking, and other behind the scenes jobs that are, indeed, important, but they are not usually the ones getting the accolades but I have to tell you, there are an impressive group of women who own and operate businesses, head up the kitchens and run the show in Stratford. I met cheesemakers, chefs, tea and coffee sommeliers and candy makers, all incredibly active in the community and supportive of each other in a way that made quite an impression on me. Every time I sat down to chat with someone, they would tell their story and almost every single time, it turned out that their story intersected with at least one other woman in town. The cheesemaker helped the coffee shop survive after the bank turned her down for a loan for her "hobby", the ...

the highlight of my week was not food but chaperoning these four tiny wonders at the zoo and the four of them were far more delicious than anything I could have put in my belly. I have spent over a decade chaperoning groups of boys because you always get your own kid plus their posse on field trips. This means that the majority of my time was spent keeping boys alive, out of the lion pit, down from trees and depriving the komodo dragon from his lunch of fresh Montessori meat. Not only was it a rare treat, just look at their outfits!! I could not have art directed them any better so well done girls and the moms who dressed them, well done.

The Stratford Chef School Long Table Dinner  Market 707 I feel like I have not been cooking at all lately because we have been so busy eating out, which is what always happens to us in the summer. When other people start to stay home to bbq and enjoy their backyards, we hop in the car, put the top down and just drive. This is how we ended up at Market 707 at the end of the day on Friday after half of the stalls had already packed it in for the day. Luckily for me, a new Indian food vendor at the Market,  Ambeth's Kitchen,  was still open for business. Shack got some K Food bulgogi for himself, we ordered some takeout from Gushi to being home for the kid and I decided on butter chicken with biryani. The guy in the stall was very friendly and we chatted a bit while he made my meal and was very attentive. When he noticed that I had oohed and ahhhed over the coriander chutney, he kept spooning more over my rice until I finished. The butter chicken was rich ...

Peter Blush of Pucks Plenty When I anticipated my trip to check out Savour Stratford , the city's annual culinary festival that celebrates all things food and drink in Perth County, I was only expecting to eat. Being home to the Stratford Festival, one would expect that they would have to have a couple of fine dining restaurants, like Rundles, to service the theatre crowd. I assumed we would have some nice meals out, maybe visit a  couple of shops selling some local cheese or something.... how much could a small town like Stratford actually offer a big city girl like me, right? Wrong. This place is like some sort of culinary super magnet, attracting all sorts of chefs, cooks, coffee and tea sommeliers (did you know that even existed?), foragers and farmers, cheese makers and funeral directors turned chocolatiers. What kind of town actually starts up a Chef School primarily so that they can always be sure that they are creating top level talent to hopefully stay ...