The verdict is in! Food, Glorious Food!

Friends!  

The food from The Homemade Pantry is amazing!  I have made the cornbread, hummus, granola bars and a few other recipes and I have to say -- amazing.  Just delicious.  If I could give you food, I would...but as we are Internet friends, I'll use a story.

Here's my example...

DIY Granola Bars tend to be some epic compromise.  Either they aren't chewy or they aren't crunchy, generally they aren't delicious and seem like a lot of work when the ones in the wrappers are soooo good.  You can disagree with me, it's fine, but in my experience of making granola bars, I hadn't found a recipe that outstripped the ease and yumminess of the store bought brand.  Until Alana Chernila's Car Snacks #3 The Nutty Granola Bar blew my mind.  It is perfect.  Sweet, salty, crunchy, chewy, filling, portable--perfection.  They are on my weekly to-make list and when I'm eating one my little 22 month old buddy says, "More! Share! More! Please!"  That's probably the highest praise there is.

This book is officially on my to-buy list.  Added bonuses: great storage tips and the canning method is integrated into the recipes so you it is all spelled out for you.  Anything I can freeze, can or shelf is a win in my world.  

I am about to make a advent calendar that is about doing something each day that prepares our family for Christmas, reflects what it means to us and helps us spend time with each other in quiet, significant ways.  One day is definitely going to be making homemade marshmallows and hot chocolate.  Actually, maybe more than one day!  

Reading and Eating...my version of DIY.

You might have guessed that I love to read.  And I love to eat.  So reading about eating is kind of my favourite thing.  And I love cookbooks.  

My big hesitation around sampling/eating through a cookbook is food cost (not to mention the cost of the books!), specifically random ingredients that I am going to use in tiny portions and be left with a bag full of when the meal is complete.  Not my thing and not my stage of life.  I need recipes that are simple, delicious, healthy and cheap.  And, I am learning, this is completely doable.  

To my great joy, I found The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying and Start Making by Alana Chernila.  Here plentiful book contains great pictures, captivating stories and (what I hope are) delicious recipes.  I started reading this book when I should have been napping and my fingers have been itching to start creating a pantry full of treats ever since (Thanksgiving kind of got in the way).  

My library-borrowed book now looks like this (picture is also a mini-plug for the ease of these removable tabs):  

I'm excited to get started and see if this book is a buyer (ie, I'll buy it) or a library books (ie, borrow and use intensively for a short period of time).  On my list to make...well, everything!  Butter, ricotta, creme fraiche, instant oatmeal, ketchup, hummus, pesto, roasted tomatoes, granola bars, fish sticks, hot chocolate, marshmallows, butternut squash soup, graham crackers, cheese crackers, caramels and potato chips.  To start, anyway.  I *might* need more than a two week loan!  

This weekend we made cornbread (perfection -- exactly how you want cornbread to taste -- a little sweet, buttery and amazing dipped in chili) and potato chips (time consuming but worth it!  Will absolutely do again.  The crunch and flavour were fully addictive).  I'm going to keep going...so far this one reads and tastes like a winner!

Good food, good books, good advice!

Friday nights in our house are pizza night.  We used to get take out, but for a few months now we have been making our own.  Not only because my next door neighbour makes the best pizza dough in the world or because our little guy will eat anything sandwiched between bread and cheese, but because there is something so deliciously creative about concocting colourful, plentiful and fanciful pizzas.  If art class had been about pizza making, I would have been a much better student.  

Last night's pizza included on our favourite combos: pepperoni, pineapple and olives.  We amped it up a bit substituting local pork chorizo sausage for the pepperoni and adding some dollops of pesto for a bit of zip (totally inspired by our garden's basil fiesta).  It was amazing.  But I didn't come up with this perfect blend of salty/savoury/sweet on my own...it was on the advice of a good friend.  Who has taught me much about life and love--including how to buy books.

How does one buy a book?  The shelves of bookstores & libraries, large or small, are packed with options.  While I love to bend the ear of our local bookstore experts, they aren't always on hand while shopping online or browse at the library.  So how do you pick?  My good friend, who inspired our pizza last night, taught me her own reliable method:

1) Look at the cover and pick something that looks interesting.  I know, I know -- don't judge a book by its cover.  Fine.  THEN MAKE COVERS BORING.  If you don't want me to use them, stop investing in them.  Until then, I'm going to be drawn to books that have cover I like/find compelling.  And book cover artists know this moth-to-a-flame tendency is true.  Go ahead...use the cover.  Pick something pretty or scary or funky or simple.  Follow your gut.

2) Also use the cover to read about the book .  I'll skip this step on books that come with strong recommendations as I am willing to trust my book-loving friends.  But when I'm on my own, you have to check out the back and find out what you are getting in to.   [nb: I am always wary of the words "disturbing" and "chilling".  These tend to indicate dark topics inside.  Which can be fine, I just like to be warned and to have decided I'm good with some sad content.]  Read the quotes from others and check out who is reading the book as well. 

Still interested?  Okay, step 3.

3) Open to a random page and read a bit.  This step is key.  You will get a sense of the writing and content.  It will give you a chance to engage the book a little bit.  I would also read the Acknowledgements.  They are the 'big picture' of the book and offer a bit of insight into the character of the author without giving away the plot.  

If you are still intrigued about the material then find the book at the library, purchase it or borrow it.  There are lots of local booksellers online and amazing online used bookstores (I like www.abebooks.com).  Look around before going with the big guys...you will be amazed what you can find.

How do you buy a book? 

Reality TV and Food? Count me in!

I like Gail Simmons--not only is she very knowledgeable about food but she gets to wear great clothes and eat for a living.  She has THE BEST JOB EVER (other than being mother to my children, which is the greatest job, period).  But, seriously, I want to be paid to eat for a living.  Unfortunately, my food knowledge is almost entirely gleaned from Food Network shows and one encounter with Susur Lee and his food (totally amazing) so I'm pretty sure I would be a terrible food presenter.  But Gail is a great food presenter.  AND she's on Top Chef.  AND she's Canadian.  AND she wrote a book!  How could I resist?  
  
Eating with My Mouth Full by Gail Simmons

I love food on TV and I particularly love good reality TV about food...and the best of the best is Top Chef.  As a person who has extensively googled about reality shows are filmed, Gail's chapters on being a Top Chef judge and Top Chef: Just Desserts host were enthralling!  She provides great anecdotes without giving away too much.  All the details, little insights and explanations of how such a production happens were morsels of goodness to my ever hungry behind-the-scenes appetite.  Now I just have to get myself on a set one day to see it happen in person! 

Even better than the reality TV dish are her food descriptions. They are amazing.  Drool worthy.  Made me want to live at the St. Lawrence Market and my next trip be to the Aspen Food & Wine Festival.  I was inspired to cook (and bake) for days.  I was made a better cook through her little hints and offerings as she weaves her tale, starting from childhood in Toronto to line cook in Toronto to marketing manager to event producer to TV personality.  Her tone is upbeat and optimistic while maintaining a vulnerability and honesty that I wasn't expecting but really appreciated.  She seems so real as she tells her story and yet the food seems completely unreal and incredibly delicious.  Her lovely, conversational tone adds accessibility to high-end food and life experiences.    

It is clear that Gail loves food.  She made me want to eat and eat and eat.  It was a truly delicious read.  But more than that, it is clear she loves people, her family, her friends and her colleagues.  Her love and respect shine through; her humility and openness make you love her.  

Enjoy the book but make sure you have good snacks handy!  

Guilty Pleasure Reading...

So I love reading (hence the blog) and I do love reading a good good book, but there is also something so good about a book that isn't that great but makes you feel great.  These are my guilty pleasures--I know they aren't well written, classics or timeless.  They will flit away like the seasons but, for me, these books manage to eek out space on my bookshelf even when I'm consolidating and storing up most of my literary treasures.  Why?  Because some days you just want to curl up with a book where good wins, love triumphs and everything ends in a way that makes your chest feel warm. 

1. Pretty much anything by Sophie Kinsella but my favourite is definitely The Undomestic Goddess.  It wins with me because the heroine isn't as silly as Becky Bloomwood (ie, the Shopaholic) or as random as some of Kinsella's others.  And I like the classic tale of finding yourself where you least expect it.  And finding love there too.  
2. Twilight.  Ooof.  There you go.  I said it.  I like Twilight.  To be clear, I know this is not a well written book and I know, trust me, that this is a fad.  But the part of me that loved playing house and make believe as a child still likes to imagine a world where other forces are at play--funky, handsome, romantic forces.  You might think less of me, but I'm okay with that.  No need to justify the guilty pleasure read--we all have them!  Sometimes you just want to enjoy a classic werewolf-vampire-love-triangle and I certainly do. 
3. Gemma Townley's The Hopeless Romantic's Handbook.  Not actually a handbook for romance, but a super sweet story where people put some of their power to good use--a nice little addition to an otherwise fluffy experience.  And, despite the inclusion of Twilight, you'll note a general theme of liking British Chick lit.  There is something endearing about reading about love in a different cultural vernacular.
4. Books about food.  Yummmm.  I like to read about good food that I'll likely never make/eat but I love to swallow words that make my mouth water.  Best example lately, The Food of Love by Anthony Capella.  A retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac that might be a bit over-sexualized, it still describes food in a way that made me want to eat offal (that would be organ meat--brains, livers, hearts, pancreas) and had me rethinking how I order coffee.  I also read The Hundred Foot Journey which wasn't as much a love story as The Food of Love but was definitely filled with yummy, yummy food.  But if you are looking for real books about food, I would suggest Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver and Jamie Oliver's Cook with Jamie (which I've mentioned before). 

If I think of others, I'll add them!  Afterall, we all want something light and delicious to read from time to time, don't we?

Happy reading!

Canada Reads #2...and I'm Sceptical.

Hockey.  Really?  Hockey.  I have to read about hockey.  My next Canada Reads book is The Game by Ken Dryden and I have committed to the Canada Reads books, so I will stay committed.  But, really?  Hockey?  I know it is a national past time and all that jazz, but do we have to read about it too?  Isn’t a nightly viewing and day-long televised unpacking of each play enough?  No? 

I do like some hockey.  Playoff hockey is great.  So is international hockey (bigger rinks, cleaner plays) and I generally love watching Olympic sports.  But everyday (and in Canada it is everyday) hockey is more than I can handle.   This book better be about some good hockey.  My husband B tells me it will be, but I am sceptical.  Super-duper sceptical. 

Then again, I never thought I’d enjoy reading about the Middle East but I have learned otherwise. 

So, Canada Reads book #2 is coming home from the library today – Ken Dryden’s The Game.   It’ll be good, right?  I am really, really hoping to be surprised.  And to be wrong about my hockey-book-based-scepticism (which has happened from time to time).

To console myself (and offset the hockey-ness), I’m also going to start reading The Food of Love by Anthony Capella which comes recommended by a fellow food lover.  Good books about food make you hungry.  I’m hoping for some cooking inspiration to flow from this one!