The Yum Yum Factor

Palacio de Bellas Artes For the best of Diego Rivera To understand the modern Mexico, you have to look to the art of Diego Rivera. He was not only one of the main artists involved in the Government sponsored Mexican Mural Movement, he was invited to the USA in 1930 to paint a mural for the City Club of the San Francisco Stock Exchange which led to more American commissions, an exhibition of the MOMA and then his famous series of panels at the Detroit Institute of Arts. His leftist politics got him into some hot water in the States which brought him even more notoriety. At the time, his intriguing third wife certainly gained attention for her exotic looks and style of dress and her strong communist views. She was known mainly as Diego’s wife until the late 70’s when her work was rediscovered and by the 1990’s, the roles had been switched. Diego Rivera was now thought of as the husband of Friday Kahlo but in Mexico City, his stamp covers the city and his murals are glorious. ...

It’s officially soup season and soup is where your electric pressure cooker becomes indispensable, especially with soups that contain dried beans, like this one. To make this on the stove would take twice as long with dried chickpeas and ain’t nobody got time for that. I know I am the Instant Pot lady but lately, I have using my Breville Fast Slow Pro in the kitchen and I am loving it again. The brand of electric pressure cooker you have in your kitchen is the best kind of pressure cooker - they all cook the same, timing doesn't change although sometime the functions have different names - your saute feature might not be called saute, older Instant Pots have a manual button and the newer ones have a pressure cook button in it's place but it's the same thing. This is a really lovely flavour with the warmth of the cinnamon and the heat of the harissa finished off with the brightness of the fresh herbs and lemon juice. North American cuisine rarely u...

It’s winter, it’s dreary and it’s cold and we all want some comfort food, right? My problem is that my idea of comfort food and my guy's idea of comfort food are not the same thing. This week he asked for Shepherd’s Pie. I have made turkey shepherd’s pie that tastes like Thanksgiving dinner that I liked but other than that, it’s really not my favourite dish. He doesn’t like lamb so that’s out and I just find the basic ground beef filling to be boring. Don't send me hate mail because I think Shepherd's Pie is boring, okay? I want to make something that will make everyone happy so I had to put my thinking cap on. my controversial beef patty pops Why not make a filling that I really like and top it with some mashed something or other and just call it a day? What I really wanted was something that was a bit spicy, like a Jamaican beef patty and I thought sweet potato would give a nice balance to the heat from the scotch bonnets. Patty filling is the right consist...

It's the holiday season and I have decided to take off the last couple of weeks leading up to Christmas so that I can get back in my own kitchen and just cook for my family after a busy year of cooking for other people. My family, understandably, is thrilled. The cobbler's family has no shoes syndrome is real. One of the first things I tried last week was the Instant Pot Beef Dip from  Amy and Jacky at pressure cook recipes  . Their methods are so well tested and always work like a charm, and this one was fabulous, as expected. Looking for something with a bit more kick, I used their recipe as a jumping off point to make this Korean Beef Dip. I often make really sloppy, delicious grilled cheese sandwiches out of my Korean Meatloaf and immediately thought that I would LOVE to make a Korean Beef Dip - all the same flavours in the meatloaf grilled cheese with with a spicy jus to dip the sandwich in? YES PLEASE This sandwich is perfect - sharp cheddar and kimchi/gochuja...

I really wanted Korean food the other day but I didn't feel like leaving the house, which happens. It was overcast, cold and dreary, I didn't have the car so that would also entail cramming my body onto the subway to go downtown...not today, Satan, not today. Luckily, I keep a pretty full pantry of Korean ingredients and had a couple pounds of chicken thighs in the freezer. I decided I could manage throwing a coat on over my pjs for a quick trip to the fancy pants organic market on the corner for some vegetables if it meant that I was going to be able to whip up some Spicy Korean Chicken Stew (Dakdoritang) Instead of the more traditional carrot, I threw in a sweet potato since they are both orange and added daikon because I like the texture and worked backwards on my math to adapt my regular recipe to the Instant Pot because not only did I not want to get dressed or leave the house, I also wanted it immediately. The one major change was to skin and debone the c...

Always on the lookout for for great things to do in and around Toronto, I was happy to attend a media preview of Temperance and Temptation, the newest joint venture between York/Durham/Headwaters, Central Counties Tourism and ShortTrips.ca  this past September. Adamo Estate Winery The Temperance and Temptation tours take you on a guided, all inclusive two day exploration of the history of prohibition in the York, Durham or Headwaters Regions. I bet you didn't even know that was a thing, right? We only hear about the adventures in bootlegging and home stills that took place in the States with shows like Boardwalk Empire but this was an important time right here in the wild and wooly Ontario frontier. The tours take two forms - you can either download the Temperance and Temptation app that allows you to take a self guided adventure with stories to listen to between each stop (get a designated driver though because it IS all about the booze) OR you can pay to hop on a...