Friends, Family and Other Cool Folks

Instagramming My Week

Instagramming My Week

I have recently started using Instagram more.  After balking the trend and lamenting loudly, and frequently, about Instagram’s lack of collaborative, community-building and searching tools, I finally caved.   I blame the Food Bloggers of Canada conference. Well, that and Instagram’s slick and quick interface which makes it so easy to share a photo and push it out onto my social spaces. (Where I can collaborate and build communities). Since I’m just getting rolling with Instagram it’s one of the few (only?) social media spaces where I have less than 500 followers AND where I have a higher follow-to-follower ratio.…

Read more »

Readers Speak Back – Pat Anderson – Live Below The Line

Readers Speak Back – Pat Anderson – Live Below The Line

As it turns out, I have a couple of more things to say on the subject of the Live Below The Line experiment.  First, I want to share this great Readers Speak Back piece that has been sitting waiting for me to get it live. Sorry for the delay! Pat Anderson, aka @digiteyes, has been a regular commenter on the Live Below The Line series and given her participation I wanted to hear what she thought as an active observer.  So I invited her to participate by writing a guest post for the series. It has been an interesting week…

Read more »

Day 5 Last Day – Live Below The Line

Day 5 Last Day – Live Below The Line

I wasn’t hungry when I woke up. I don’t remember my dreams. But within minutes of starting our day it was obvious we were hangry. Don’t know it? It’s that state when lack of food makes you unreasonably angry and frustrated with almost everything. We had it bad! And perhaps we let it show a bit more today because it was our last day! Food costs for day 5 =  $3.50 ($1.75/person) and we used every last cent today! Successes We MADE IT!  Some minor in-challenge edits to our food supply but we made it! Also our Live Below The…

Read more »

Chef John Placko in Chefs #LoveCDNBeef

Chef John Placko in Chefs #LoveCDNBeef

The first time I met John he was using a reverse griddle and the second time he let me make ice cream with liquid nitrogen. The way to this girl’s heart is through food, especially if it’s science experiment food! I love this guy! Chef John Placko is one of the first people I think of when discussing  molecular cuisine.  John’s food is all kinds of sciency fun incorporating manyof the techniques you’ve come to expect from an episode of Top Chef and at the same time it’s flavourful, healthy and clean.  Something you don’t get when Chefs are so…

Read more »

Readers Speak Back – Anna Foat – Live Below The Line

Readers Speak Back – Anna Foat – Live Below The Line

In response to my Live Below The Line posts I got a series of email from Anna Foat about her own experiences which range from range from working on charity boards to choosing cigs and coffee over food. The point Anna really drives through is the serious disconnect between the Haves and the Have Nots. With permission, I’m sharing her comments below. Thank you Anna for your candour and openness. It occurred to me to share with you the dimension of the challenge and the participants who are very skilled and knowledgeable on good, nutrition and not the least if…

Read more »

Readers Speak Back – Len Senater – Live Below The Line

Readers Speak Back – Len Senater – Live Below The Line

I’ve been honoured by the stories, comments and challenges my friends and readers have been sharing with me about what I’m doing with Live Below The Line. One specific comment from Len Senater from The Dep really resonated with me: I worry about having talented, knowledgeable, confident cooks tackling the #livebelow challenge. Their skill and resourcefulness may actually make things seem less dire than they really are. Thing are much worse for those unfamiliar and intimidated by whole, unprocessed ingredients (which are usually the best value for $), who lack the skills, equipment or time to get the most mileage…

Read more »

Week Filled With Conferences, Cookies, Contests and Crowds (lovely crowds!)

Week Filled With Conferences, Cookies, Contests and Crowds (lovely crowds!)

Last week was a whirlwind, leaving my brain (and my SD cards) filled with images, ideas and inspiration. I have much to process, integrate and digest, so I’ve decided I’ll share a quick set of snapshots of what was going on over the last week in the Food and Hospitality scene around here.  (Yes I know this is sucky SEO-wise, should care. Don’t.) Terroir 2013 – #Terroir7 the 7th annual Hospitality Industry Symposium bringing together Canada’s “innovative and creative influencers of Canada’s hospitality industry including chefs, food writers, wine and food experts and business leaders.” Essentially we all get together…

Read more »

I’m Speaking at the Food Bloggers of Canada Conference

I’m Speaking at the Food Bloggers of Canada Conference

I’m excited to announce that I am one of the speakers at this weekend’s Food Bloggers of Canada Conference, Canada’s first dedicated food blogging conference. I will be speaking about restaurants, blogging and critiques in: The Chef & The Critic – 2 Perspectives on Restaurants and Blogging Alexa Clark and Jason Bangerter. Moderated by Alison Fryer of The Cookbook Store In this panel, moderated by Alison Fryer of The Cookbook Store,  Chef Jason Bangerter of Oliver & Bonacini’s Luma Restaurant and Alexa Clark of CheapEats and unsweetened.ca will discuss and debate the pros and cons of bloggers and restaurants working…

Read more »

Then The Eat Street Cookbook Arrived

Then The Eat Street Cookbook Arrived

Gerry just came into the office with a big padded manila envelop (I was going to say package, but I know some of you would read that wrong.) Inside was my last prize – the new Eat Street Cookbook. It’s filled with great recipes and beautiful photos. Even the trucks I visit the most – El Gastronomo Vagabundo and Caplansky’s Deli Truck (aka Thundering Thelma). And from the episode I was IN – Smoke’s Poutinerie . For the West Coasters, don’t worry, Japadog and Vij’s Railway Express are in here too! They’ve included a Truck Index and a Recipe Index.…

Read more »

Chef Carl Heinrich in Chefs #LoveCDNBeef

Chef Carl Heinrich in Chefs #LoveCDNBeef

I am delighted to announce that Chef Carl Heinrich is the next chef in our Chefs #LoveCDNBeef series.  Carl is Chef and co-owner of Richmond Station, winner of Top Chef Canada and co-owner of West Side Beef Co. Before I had tasted his food, before I had met him, even before his win on Top Chef Canada, I had been hearing about Carl.  One thing that kept coming up, especially since I’m working with Canadian Beef, was the quality of the beef Carl uses at Richmond Station and the relationship he has with the  farmers who raise it. Carl’s team…

Read more »

Winner in 86’d Food Photography Awards

Winner in 86’d Food Photography Awards

As part of her 86’d events Monday nights at the Drake, Ivy Knight ran the 86’d Food Photography Awards Night last night and one of my submission won the Phone Category! This photo which I call “Zane, Zane and Mark” which I took one day when Thundering Thelma was parked near Queen & Church and Mark Cutrara was serving a meatball sandwich at the truck. There were some amazing photos submitted, over 700 in fact. Check out the other winning photographs and finalists in this year’s awards: 2013 86′d Food Photography Awards Finalists & Winners Here are the other images…

Read more »

Who is this Travel Bunny?

Who is this Travel Bunny?

With the recent spurt of travel posts around #LexGoFurther, I have been sharing a fair number of photos of Travel Bunny, or the Travel Bunny as he is known to some. As a result, I’ve decided to answer some of the questions I've been getting from people who haven’t met Travel Bunny before.

Read more »