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Archive for the ‘Food and…’ Category

This Bountiful Harvest

Posted in Food and..., Holidays, tagged , , , , , , , on October 12, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Happy Thanksgiving, Canada! 

That’s right, Canada has its own Thanksgiving Day, and it now falls before the US holiday. It also began earlier than the US holiday.

The history of Thanksgiving in Canada

As the story goes, in 1578, English explorer Martin Frobisher and his crew gave thanks and communion was observed, either on land at Frobisher Bay, in present day Nunavut, or onboard a ship anchored there. The explorers dined on salt beef, biscuits, and mushy peas and gave thanks through Communion for their safe arrival in then Newfoundland. This is now accepted as the first “Canadian” Thanksgiving, forty-three years before the first “American” Thanksgiving.

Thankfully, we’ve come a long way from salt beef and mushy peas. While we’re on the topic, why do we eat what we do on Thanksgiving? Thousands of years of agricultural innovation by Native peoples, mostly! Here’s a quick explainer.

Happy Day!

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Photo by Jekaterina Sidorova on Unsplash

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Dashing Around

Posted in Food and..., tagged , , , on October 11, 2026| Leave a Comment »

This weekend we made ten kilos of chili, six fruit tortes, and had an outdoor adventure. I’m ready for a chill evening and a bit of ice cream:)

Today’s random fact: the name for the paddle that churns cream into ice cream is a dasher.

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Photo by karl muscat on Unsplash

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Lemon Sherbet

Posted in Food and..., tagged , , , , on September 2, 2026| Leave a Comment »

I’ve been doing some new things over the break, and one of those things was buying an ice cream maker. I’ve always thought it would be fun to have one, enjoyed my earlier adventures in frozen desserts, and it was on sale, hooray. 

My first experiment? Lemon, of course!

And if you, like me, were not 100% clear on the differences between iced desserts, you may find this explainer helpful: Ice Cream vs. Gelato vs. Sherbet vs. Sorbet: What’s the Difference?

Lemon Sherbet

(adapted from King Arthur Baking)

  • 3/4 C. (149g) toasted sugar
  • 1 T. cornstarch
  • 1/2+ C. (125g) lemon juice, chilled
  • 1/8 t. lemon oil
  • 2 drops Fiori di Sicilia
  • 2 cups (454g) whole milk, very cold (or 30g cream and the rest 18% protein 2% milk)
  • 1 drop yellow food coloring
  • small pinch of salt
  1. Combine sugar and cornstarch in blender, pulse a couple of times to mix.
  2. Add remaining ingredients, blend for ~30 seconds to combine well.
  3. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions (for me, this took 20–25 minutes).

Very good!

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Photo by Michaela Böhm (Římáková) on Unsplash

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Baked a Cake…

Posted in Food and..., tagged , , , , , , on August 18, 2026|

… and I don’t regret it!

“A slice of cake never made anyone fat. You don’t eat the whole cake. You don’t eat a cake every day of your life. You take the cake when it is offered because the cake is delicious. You have a slice of cake and what it reminds you of is someplace that’s safe, uncomplicated, without stress. A cake is a party, a birthday, a wedding. A cake is what is served on the happiest days of your life.” ― Jeanne Ray

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Photo by Sangeeth N on Unsplash

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Mint Chocolate with Accidental Art

Posted in Food and..., tagged , , , , , , on August 3, 2026| 1 Comment »

I tested out a delightful new cookie recipe this weekend, Eric Kim’s Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies. 

It’s essentially a soft and chewy sugar cookie base with a chocolate topping. Simple, but the delightful part is that it really does taste like mint chocolate chip ice cream. It takes a bit of cooling time but is otherwise quick, easy, and delicious. Mr Man gave it a big thumbs up. If you are into mint and chocolate, this recipe is for you. Recommend!

And here we have my own Rothko-inspired food art courtesy of the recipe’s peppermint extract, olive oil, and food coloring. I shall call it: “One sun and two blues on a summer’s day.”

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Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash

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Strawberry Moon Time

Posted in Food and..., Science!, tagged , , , , , , on June 29, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Tonight’s full moon is the first of the summer, and is also known for marking that sweetest of seasons, strawberry harvest time.

Strawberry moon: How to see the 1st full moon of summer

The moon will not actually appear dark red like a strawberry, but it may take on a slight orange or reddish tint when it first appears above the horizon. That color shift is caused by light scattering through Earth’s atmosphere, similar to the way some sunsets appear more vivid than others.

The farm down the road has pint baskets overflowing with red berries, and later I’m going to make a red and white dessert for Canada Day. 

As the moon watches from on high.

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Photo by Lucinda Hershberger on Unsplash

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Hot Hot Hot

Posted in Food and..., tagged , , , , , on June 28, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Mr Man and I just got back from a walk and it was hot hot hot. That meant we’d earned a treat from the new ice cream parlor up the street, and it was delicious! It reminded me of summer days a kid, chasing after the ice cream truck that would swing by our neighborhood.

Here’s an interesting piece on invention, icy cold treats, and the making of a classic warm weather treat.

Bomb Pops, the Kansas City invention that defined American summers and patriotic nostalgia

These sweet, thirst-quenching treats call back to the simple days of childhood: Fourth of July fireworks, cannonballs in the pool, staying up late because there’s no school tomorrow.

Stay cool!

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Photo by Juan Domenech on Unsplash

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What’s for Dinner?

Posted in Food and..., Writing, tagged , , , , , , on May 16, 2026| Leave a Comment »

I like reading interesting nonfiction, not least because it’s a great source of ideas for stories. I ran across this oddly fascinating article a while back:

Italy’s undercover pizza detectives

…the AVPN intermittently dispatches secret pizza agents on espionage missions to clandestinely spy on the restaurants.

Excellent title!

In related news, I might be hungry.

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Photo by Kajetan Sumila on Unsplash

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Today Is…

Posted in Food and..., tagged , , , , on April 12, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Today is lemon madeleines, almond apricot madeleines, and giant brown butter chocolate chip cookies.

Ambitious? Yes. Have I accumulated one oven burn and an unexpected trip to the store so far? Yep! But I’m making progress, and that’s my goal.

Hope your day is also sweet!

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Photo by LAUREN GRAY on Unsplash

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Can’t Stop Laughing, Though

Posted in Food and..., tagged , , , , , on February 18, 2026| Leave a Comment »

An adventure:

“Hey, Self, we haven’t made bread in a while. Maybe it’s time.”

“Sure, sounds good. And while we’re at it, let’s play around with the rise. This sourdough levain looks great, let’s try using just that and a pinch of yeast and see where that takes us.”

“Terrific idea, Self!”

/hours pass

“So, this second rise is taking forever, right?”

“Indeed it is. Perhaps our fun and innovative exploration into alternative rise methodologies wasn’t a wise move after all.”

“True, true, but the fireplace is on, let’s see if raising the heat will help.”

/another hour passes with encouraging results

“This is working, we just need more heat. Let’s move the dough off the coffee table and snug it right up against the fireplace.”

“Excellent idea, Self. The cat’s super sacked out, what’s the worst that could happen?”

No, he’s not sorry.

/sigh, although in my defense, the dough was covered with several layers of tea towel plus plastic.

“Ok. So maybe not the best idea ever.”

“Not so much. Can’t stop laughing, though.”

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Photo by Jaclyn Baxter on Unsplash

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