Boxing Days

The big family gift this year was a Cuisinart blender/food processor. Dad bought it for mom. He's setting it up in the kitchen right now. (We were a little slow getting it out of the box.) I think he was more excited about the purchase than mom though. Dad was the one pushing for the new blender. Not that he's crazy about milkshakes or margaritas. I think he was into the thrill of shopping for a blender that met his technical requirements. He wanted one with blade that's fully detachable and a container made out of glass, instead of plastic. He probably checked out half a dozen different electronics and department stores before settling on the one that's sitting on the counter. The new blender will likely be used for making broccoli soup and grinding soya beans for soya bean milk. I think he wants mom to use it for fruit shakes as well, though she seems to be ignoring him when he talks about how great it'll be if she could whip up shakes in the morning. Andrew showed me the formula for making a basic fruit shake. It was so simple that fruit shakes were pretty much my late-night snack or early morning breakfast for awhile: throw together in a blender a banana, some yogurt and a little fruit juice. Pulse a few moments to mash it up. Then crank up the power and blend in some frozen fruit -- berries, pineapple, mango, canteloupe... whatever you've got handy. Add a hit of vanilla if the mood hits you as well. Best to use good quality, creamy yogurt. And also best not to use measuring cups or spoons. The beauty in the recipe being inexact is that every shake you end up with is a little bit different. It's like a little frothy, pastel surprise waiting to hit your lips each time.

West Coast Christmas

Arrived back in Vancouver today for the holidays. Stepped off the plane and realized the weather in Ottawa is exactly the same as the weather here. Feels a bit nutty to have no snow at Christmas. Anyway, I packed for this trip a list of restaurants I would like to try with my parents. The difficulty is my father has only four places he's willing to go:
1/Tim Hortons
2/White Spot
3/Swiss Chalet
4/Something Chinese (and it has to be Cantonese... none of that Sichuan or Shanghai nonsense).
Am determined to get him into a Korean restaurant or a Japanese tapas joint this trip. Still sticking to Asian food -- nothing wacky like Indian or Lebanese -- but it won't be the same won ton shop we always go to. Fingers crossed that this will work.

Caught

When I go grocery shopping, I like to peek into other people's carts and try and cobble together what they're eating habits are by the foods they buy. It's a fun game to play. Especially when you feel superior with your food choices. But the game is less fun when you're one being judged. Recently, I stopped at my neighbourhood grocery store after a long day at work. I was tired and hungry and a bit cranky. I crazed some comfort food. Which is how the box of Stove Top Stuffing ended up in my basket. Stove Top Stuffing comes with two pouches -- one containing the "seasoning" (chicken broth powder, shrivelled up veggies and MSG) and the other containing hard little pebbles of dried bread crumbs. All you need to cook the stuffing is rip open the box and zap the contents in a microwave with a bit of water and butter. Not the most appetizing description, but then again, not really appetitizing unless you're in one of those weird cravings. So I've got my guilty pleasure box of Stove Top and am heading to pay when I come face-to-face with Michael, also grocery shopping after work. Michael -- the same person I swap cooking stories with and have convo's about what's fresh at the organic farmer's market. For a brief moment, I thought of rearranging the contents of my basket so as to hide the Stove Top Stuffing under my tofu and broccoli. I think it was my look of guilt that made Michael glance into my shopping basket. He arched his eyebrows at the stuffing. I felt like I'd been caught with my pants down. Luckily the guilt went away after Michael left. I went home and wolfed down half the box. Mmmm...

T'is the Season

The Christmas Exchange in Ottawa says this is the first time in over a decade where it’s had to create a waiting list of families wanting a dinner hamper. The Mission says it needs 40 to 50 more turkeys this year. And it’s not just an Ottawa thing. Food Bank across Canada say they’re seeing more working poor at the food bank than ever before. They’re asking people to think beyond donating tinned soup and Kraft Dinner, to including baby formula and baby food. (Also, think about donating other less predictable items like fruit jams, tinned mussels, hot sauces and canned vegetables -- spaghetti and tomato sauce can get a bit tedious for any palate.) Many people have theories for why the demand is up. But no one seems to know for sure. My friend Kathy holds a Christmas dinner for friends before we all scatter for the holidays. This year, she asked all dinner guests to donate $15 and all that money will be pooled to the purchase of a Christmas hamper for a family. It’s a good idea. And if more people give, that means the charities can keep more food in their reserves, for the slump in donations that happens in January and February.

Lucy Waverman

I got my hands on a copy of Lucy Waverman’s new cookbook. Lucy is a food columnist with the Globe and Mail newspaper and also a food editor of Food & Drink – the glossy magazine printed by the LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario). I have a lot of respect for Lucy Waverman. She has a very simple, down-to-earth style to presenting food. She follows the trends so that her recipes always feel fresh. But she doesn’t fawn over the trends. And her recipes work. So I was excited to see she has a new cookbook out, called Lucy’s Kitchen. It’s a collection of recipes close to her heart. I pasted a sample from the cookbook here. But I have to say, I was a bit disappointed by Lucy’s Kitchen. To be fair, I flipped through the book rather quickly. But there didn’t seem to be a lot of variety in the types of recipes profiled. They all seemed to be comfort food. A lot of braising, stews and roasts. I prefer her previous book Home for Dinner because it has more recipes that I felt motivated to try. One thing I was surprised to learn about Lucy Waverman came from an interview she did on the radio while doing her book tour. She talked about how she’s not a big fan of sweets. She make them and eats them, but she favours savory dishes. Which I thought an odd thing to say for a food columnist. I thought food columnists are supposed to keep their taste buds open to all possibilities. It made me go home and flip through the desserts section of her last cookbook. She said in the interview that she favours fruit based desserts, which is true. Many of the desserts in Home for Dinner have fruit in them. But it made me think differently about how food columnists select the recipes they profile. I have always believed that good food columnists are critical about the quality of the recipes they profile. But I never thought much about how a columnist's personal likes and dislikes play a role in what recipes are printed. If a columnist really doesn't like chocolate, knowing that many readers probably do like chcolate, would he or she feature a recipe with chocolate in it?

Holidays

Tis the time of year to pace myself. Because I’m going to blow up like a blimp if I keep indulging the way the last few days have been. Last night was oil fondue. For lunch today, dim sum. Tonight, pre-Nutcracker drinks and dinner at Stone Face Dolly’s. Tomorrow is brunch. And two more Christmas parties are coming up this week, which means more rich, decadent food. Add to that my mother just phoned, wanting to confer over what to make for Christmas dinner. And I’m finding that shortbread and Christmas cookies are everywhere. It’s all wonderful stuff (especially a puff pastry appetizer I had last night with olives and capers – I need to get the recipe from Holly) but I’m starting to feel like the poster child for gluttoney. And you feel weird when you don’t take part in the same level of merriment as everyone else. For instance I was not hungry heading into dinner tonight. I was still feeling last night’s beef fondue, layered with the dim sum from lunch. So I decided keep supper light by ordering a house salad. I felt like the odd person out when the server brought out gorgeous plates of pasta and chicken for everyone else, and I got served a some tossed greens. I didn’t feel like I was bonding on the same level with everyone else at the table. I guess it’s part of the idea that one celebrates with family and friends by breaking bread together. Or in most cases today, celebrating by munching on President’s Choice hors d’oeuvres.