Filed under: Beer, Lists, Slashfood Ate, Thanksgiving

Though I am definitely the raging brewhead of the group, beer is certainly something that can bring my family together. Case in point: For my father's birthday, my sister signed him up for the Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club.

Mom and Dad don't drink as fast of the rest of us kids, so when I arrived home for the Thanksgiving holiday, the fridge was pre-stocked with a number of BotM leftovers -- Eight different types to be precise. Coincidence? I think not! So for this week's Slashfood Ate (8) beer edition, let's see what this particular beer of the month club believed was worthy of our family fridge.

1. Woodstock Brewery Pig's Ear Brown Ale
2. Woodstock Brewery Red Rack Ale
3. Bluegrass Brewing Co. Dark Star Porter
4. Bluegrass Brewing Co. Amber Ale
5. Tommyknocker Butthead Doppelbock Lager
6. Tommyknocker Pick Axe Pale Ale
7. Clipper City Brewing Co. Heavy Seas Red Sky At Night... Saison Ale
8. Michigan Brewing Co. Celis Grand Cru

Yum. You've gotta love the holidays. Happy Thanksgiving!

Il a été entendu hier qu'on me demanderait souvent de refaire «tsé, là, tes cannellonis farcis à... c'était quoi, déjà...?», et que le résultat devrait être pareil, pareil, pareil à ce que j'ai cuisiné pour le souper.

Alors même si je manque de temps pour vous en parler en long, en large et en travers, voici la recette!

lire la suite...

1. Last year I gave my mom a subscription to Ricardo magazine. It's beautifully shot and is full of great recipes and my mom absolutely adores it.

I'm not even sure she watched the show before she got into the magazine, but she became an instant Ricardo fan. I can't tell you how many times she's called me to gush about what recipes she tried and how wonderfully they turned out.

She's definitely getting a renewal on this subscription (available for $19.95)!

2. I must admit the majority of cookbooks I take home are to drool over, grab a few tips from, and that's about it. I'm just not a recipe person; I like to cook what I think will be good... with the exception of baking. But I love Ellie Krieger's The Food You Crave.

I've made at least ten recipes from this book -- which is unheard of for me. And this book lists out useful things like serving size, nutritional information and more. (Read my review from last year).

Available online at Chapters-Indigo for $22.40.

3. I covet this totally over-the-top but stunning spaghetti measurerer from Konstantin Slawinski. At $35US it's a bit much, but it's very cute and actually useful. And I actually need a spaghetti measuring device of some sort; I never make enough.

If you're looking for something more reasonably priced, this one will do at $14.99.

4. A good zester is something you don't realize you want until you have one; that's why it makes such a great gift.

I get a lot of use out of my Microplane zester and can't resist adding citrus to just about anything because I can; it makes me feel pretty good about my cooking prowess. And at $19.95, it makes a great gift or stocking stuffer.

5. I love my GreenPan! I'm a little rough on frying pans and this one has stood up well. Plus it works great and cleans up nicely.

It's an eco-friendly gift choice too; it releases 50 per cent fewer greenhouse gases during production and no toxic fumes are released when it's overheated.

A 12" pan is available for $50.

Looking for more help for the holidays. Check out the Foodtv.ca Holiday Guide.

Whether it's the biggest food holiday of the year or just another regular day, one thing is consistent: I wake up in the morning craving coffee! While I could easily brew up a batch at home, I prefer to pick up my espresso from the closest coffee shop — be it a small boutique cafeteria or large-in-charge Starbucks. The coffee common denominator? My order. I get the same thing every day: a double short cappuccino. I have a feeling I'm not the only one out there who starts her morning (or afternoon) with a routine cup of joe, so I want to know: What is your signature coffee drink?

Source

Les beaux jardins présentés dans les livres d'horticulture sont magnifiques, mais leur perfection est parfois décourageante. Pas facile d'orchestrer les périodes de floraison, les hauteurs et les couleurs des végétaux comme le font ces spécialistes! Pour trouver l'inspiration, je préfère visiter de vrais jardins, conçus par des passionnés amateurs, dans des conditions qui s'apparentent aux miennes.

Où les trouver, ces beaux jardins privés? Notamment à l'occasion des Jardins secrets de Rosemère, un rendez-vous annuel où certains de mes concitoyens passionnés d'horticulture ouvrent leur cour fleurie aux visiteurs. C'est aujourd'hui que se tenait l'événement, et j'en suis revenue les narines en fête, les yeux pétillants et la tête bourdonnante d'idée!

Une image vaut mille mots, alors en voici plusieurs, qui vous diront mieux que moi tout le plaisir que j'ai eu aujourd'hui...

lire la suite...

My guess is that many of you have experienced plenty of cooking and eating over the past few days. Another recipe is probably the last thing you need from me. So, instead of a recipe today, I'll call out a couple site updates you may (or may not have) noticed over the past couple of weeks.

- Print with photo: Many of you requested the ability to print recipes with the lead photo - in addition to the plain-old print w/o photo capability. Done. Now at the base of each recipe there is a print with photo link. It will take you to a page that looks like this, or this, or this.

- FAQ: This is looong overdue. But I've finally added a FAQ (frequently asked question) link to the main navigation.

- Build a Natural Foods Pantry: I added an ever-evolving reference section Building a Natural Foods Pantry. It focuses on how to gradually move toward more of a natural cooking palette by outlining which ingredients I like, and more importantly why I like them.

- Community: There is now a community link as part of the main/top navigation. I suspect this section will be ever evolving as well, but for now this section simply highlights a few of the ways you might use other sites and social networks to engage and participate with others in the 101 Cookbooks community. It shows how you might participate with other 101 Cookbooks readers/cooks on Flickr - if you use Flickr and happen to cook something from this site, simply tag it 101cookbooks. We've talked a lot about 101 Cookbooks as a Kiva lending team in the past (we've funded over $16,000 in loans so far). And lastly, I've set up a 101 Cookbooks page on Facebook - if you add yourself as a fan, you'll be able to keep track of events and/or announcements through that channel too.

Here's a question I have for you....

- Category lists: At the top of each post I used to list off every category a recipe was filed under. I've since removed this - to clean up the design more than anything. Are you missing it? I've thought about re-inserting this info back, but into the footer of each recipe. If you feel strongly either way, pop off an email and let me know.

That's it for now. Hope you all have a great weekend. -h

I'm not much of a breakfast eater, but I don't mind the occasional brunch-style pancake or syrup-slathered slice of French toast. Add a bit of booze and it makes getting up worth while.

Since I've been doing some research into cheese, I thought I'd try combining this dairy with an old favorite. As luck would have it, I found a recipe for cream cheese stuffed French toast. And it requires a splash of liqueur. How perfect is that?

Although the creators intended this dish for a July Breakfast at Wimbledon Party, I think it's the perfect reward for an early morning snow shoveling session.

It's been snowing a lot. I've earned it.

Since apricots aren't in season, I didn't garnish my toast with them. Instead, I added extra maple syrup. Despite the weather outside, the summery preserves and the touch of orange liqueur made a cold winter morning fade away -- just for a few minutes.

The concept behind this dish is very flexible and the authors encourage experimentation. Try black currant preserves and Cassis, raspberry jam and Framboise, or apple jelly and spiced rum. Swap cinnamon for nutmeg if you feel inclined.

Although it's fancier than ordinary French toast, it doesn't take that much longer to make. So if you're feeling indulgent, go stuff it!

Apricot-Stuffed French Toast
This recipe is from the deliciously irreverent book Entertaining with Booze, by Ryan Jennings & David Steele. Published by Whitecap.

Raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, or any other fruit you can think of, can be substituted if apricots aren't your thing -- their fuzzy wee skins, hard stones and sweet dispositions can be very offensive -- we know.

8 oz (250 g) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup ( 125 mL) apricot preserves
1 Tbsp (15 mL)Grand Marnier or Cointreau
1/2 tsp (2 mL)ground nutmeg
six 2-inch (5 cm) thick slices of French bread
3 eggs
2/3 cup (150 mL)milk
2 tsp (10 mL) vanilla extract
1/4 cup (50 mL)butter, divided in 2
2 cups (500 mL) sliced fresh apricots, optional

Instructions
Preheat over to 200F (95C).

Beat the cream cheese, preserves, Grand Marnier and nutmeg together in a medium bowl until smooth. Cut a pocket into each slice of bread by making an incision along the edge and cutting into the slice without going all the way through. Divide the cream cheese mixture evenly between the bread slices and spoon into the pockets. Set aside.

Meanwhile, whisk together the eggs, milk and vanilla in a clean bowl until just blended. Dip each sandwich into this egg mixture, turning to coat but without soaking it through.

Melt half the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Cook half the sandwiches until golden, about 2 minutes per side. Place on an oven-proof platter and keep warm in the oven. Repeat with the remaining sandwiches. Top each serving with sliced apricots (if using) and serve with pure maple syrup.

If I'm going to write about cookies, it would be nice if I actually provided a recipe for one. It's nearly the least I could do.

So why this recipe? Well for one, members of my household love the flavor of butterscotch, both the real and artificial kind (and yes, there is a huge difference between the two). Second, with a name like "Butterscotch Sundae", I was intrigued as to how close the recipe could get to an ice cream flavor. Finally, it was a simple drop cookie, so I didn't have to sweat things like cookie cutters or press guns.

The recipe comes from the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion. The more I go through this book, the more I find myself falling in love with it. This isn't a bad thing. Romantic love of course, and very much unrequited.

Part of my love affair comes from the fact that it provides the amounts of key ingredients in both weight and volume sizing. As I dig further into the realms of baking, I'm finding that the American preference for measuring cups lends itself to inconsistencies in results.

Speaking of results, keep an eye on these cookies when in the oven. The use of dark brown sugar in the recipe makes it difficult to see if the cookie is overdone. Twelve to thirteen minutes is really all you need, eleven if you like moister cookies.

Do the cookies taste good? Yes. Very much so. But they don't taste a thing like an ice cream sundae.

• 3 oz. (by weight) unsalted butter
• 8 oz. (by weight) chopped pecans
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 oz. (by weight) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 10.875 oz. (by weight) dark brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. dark spiced rum
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 8.5 oz. (by weight) all purpose flour, sifted
• 6 oz. (by weight) butterscotch chips

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.

Place a skillet over medium-low heat on your stove top and melt the 3 oz. of butter. Add the pecans and coat with the melted butter.

When the pecans begin to brown and start to smell toasty, add your 3/4 teaspoon of salt. Mix well, and then remove from heat. Pour into a bowl and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream together the 6 oz. of butter, brown sugar, and rum. Add to this mixture the eggs, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Once thoroughly incorporated, slowly add the flour, pecans, and butterscotch chips.

On a baking sheet that has parchment paper, drop 1 tablespoon of the dough repeatedly until the sheet is full, keeping between 1 to 2 inches between each drop of dough.

Place the baking sheet into the oven and allow to bake between twelve and thirteen minutes. Remove from the oven and place on a rack to cool.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

Inspiration for good food can be found anywhere, even Starbucks, where I had a delicious chicken salad sandwich recently. The key ingredients other than chicken? Cranberries and tarragon. French tarragon is a distinctive herb, with a slight anise or licorice aroma. We don't use it that often; I grew some last year and don't think we used it more than once or twice the whole season. But it does pair well with chicken. The dried cranberries add some sweetness to the chicken salad, and the lemon juice just enough acidity to brighten all the flavors.

Continue reading "Chicken Salad with Tarragon" »

During the holidays, it seems I just go from one rich, multi-course family meal to another, so the day after Thanksgiving, I wanted a light but satisfying lunch that would impress even the harshest of family critics.

This salad was just the thing. The pears, grapes and dried cherries added a natural sweetness to the salad that contrasted well with the aged balsamic vinegar and pecorino cheese. The pine nuts added a buttery flavor, and the prosciutto a crispy texture. To make this for your family — mine went nuts over it! —

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I ripped this cocktail recipe out of Everyday Food magazine back in August, and every week since I've been dying to make it. I finally had the chance to mix up a batch for my family yesterday. A toxic blend of fresh orange, lemon, and lime juice, this drink was refreshing, tart, and subtly sweet. The best thing about this concoction is that it can be made with or without alcohol, so cater the recipe to your family's needs. To give the cocktail a more festive flavor and brilliant color, the next time I make it, I want to use blood oranges.

I served it with baked garlic oysters, but any rich, creamy, or crunchy appetizer will do. Want the recipe? All you have to do is

read more

I hope plenty of good food, family and friends are in the cards this year for those of you who celebrate Thanksgiving. I'm driving to my parents where I'll meet up with my sister, her husband, and a baby with the cutest cheeks I've ever seen. Hopefully a few friends will stop by as well. I picked a dozen of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes to highlight today - it seems to be the only thing you are searching for right now. Also, in case you missed it, I made a list of vegan Thanksgiving recipes and a slightly different list of vegetarian Thanksgiving recipes.

1. Roasted Pumpkin Salad, 2. Caramelized Tofu, 3. Vegetarian Gumbo, 4. Maple Grilled Tempeh

5. Vibrant Tasty Green Beans, 6. Golden-Crusted Brussels Sprouts, 7. Broccoli Crunch Recipe, 8. Shredded Brussels Sprouts & Apples

9. Nikki's Sweet Potatoes, 10. Spice-kissed Pumpkin Pie, 11. Kale and Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes, 12. Firecracker Cornbread

I'm going to try a few recipes this year, and if all goes well, I look forward to sharing them here with you next year!

Before we get into the double-baked, coconut and macadamia nut-crusted sweet potato recipe my friend Nikki shared with me, I wanted to mention that I've posted my favorite vegetarian Thanksgiving recipes as well as my favorite vegan Thanksgiving recipes last week. This recipe is going on both lists, but I can't take credit for it. Nikki sent it to me - the same Nikki who took my site by storm when I posted her Healthy Cookie recipe over the summer. The same Nikki I've been friends with since she showed up in my sixth grade class, fresh from L.A., wearing a Swatch watch and white Reebok hi-tops. Both things I'd never seen before. And now, even though we're on opposite sides of the country, I love exchanging emails about recent cooking ideas and adventures with her - it's one of my favorite reasons to check my emails. Nikki described these sweet potatoes to me as a sweet potato mash, but with a twist - they get creaminess from a generous splash of coconut milk, crunch from toasted coconut and macadamias, and a kick from freshly grated ginger.

I think she hit the nail on the head when she told me she paired it with lots of garlicky, sauteed greens. She served it with grilled chicken, but you could certainly go the marinated tofu or tempeh route which is what I did. Delicious.

I love the ambiance, with local art on the walls, soft music in the background and staff that are as happy to be there as I am. The crowd is diverse – truly diverse. You’ll find business types holding mini-meetings, families with little ones (the corner back table is a perfect spot for babies and toddlers or right up in front so the toddlers can people and traffic watch while the grownups schmooze), university students alone working on their laptops (WIFI connected) or with visiting parents, friends of all ages reconnecting over the best food around. Oh… and my idea of a perfect romantic dinner with my husband. 

Saturday and Sunday from 10am-3pm, you’ll find fabulous brunch dishes including eggs benedict served on grilled sourdough, organic smoked ham and baby arugula with a side of celeriac potato rosti or (my favourite) wild mushroom omelet served with a marinated red onion, pine nut and baby spinach salad.  Warm spinach salad tossed with red wine vinaigrette and topped with lightly poached egg, pancetta and Parmesan crisps, pancakes (always made with what’s locally in season – this time of year it’s acorn squash and apples with maple candied pecans and walnuts).  And if you’re looking for a lighter meal there’s always Balkan Yogurt with toasted pecans, oat clusters, banana slices and berries to go with some delicious coffee or tea.

During the week you can find wonderful lunches and dinners from 11am-11pm. The menus are seasonal and they just brought out their winter menu this week. After much agonizing (everything looks fantastic) over the lunch menu, I chose the BLT Club which is not your average BLT. This one is made with bacon and smoked chicken from Oulton Farm in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley (in other words, not your standard deli-processed meats). The large slices of chicken, crispy bacon, tomatoes and arugula are seasoned with a lovely red pepper mayo and served on grilled focaccia.  It was a great choice.

There’s always a vegan soup (such as aubergine and chickpeas topped with arugula and balsamic reduction) and one for the carnivores (such as was ham and leek garnished with smoked gouda). Salad choices are fabulous; I love their version of Caesar Salad – halved romaine heart, pancetta, focaccia croutons, caper berry blue cheese dressing made with Nova Scotia famous Dutchman’s Dragon Breath blue cheese (and only $9!).

For the true carnivore there’s the organic steak sandwich served open faced on a baguette with horseradish and garlic aioli. For the vegetarian there’s grilled Haloumi cheese, tomatoes, lemon, mint and arugula served on garlic multi grain toast. Great even if you’re not vegetarian. And if you’re really starving there’s Puttanesca Pasta, Green Curry (vegan friendly) or Rainbow Risotto (with rainbow trout and garlic shoots).

Dinner is really a feast and it won’t break the bank either. Soups, salads and starters from Hummus to Pig Fish (very popular – seared Atlantic scallops, crispy house cured pork belly hoisin sautéed vegetables & mustard greens) range from $5 – 12. The mains are awesome. You could go there every night for a week and still not try them all. Although I do admit, that I often settle on the steak choice. The new menu has an 8oz NY strip loin, buttermilk champ potatoes, mushroom and malbec reduction for $26. But there’s Vegetarian Mousakka, Vegan Green Curry, a couple of fish/seafood options (my choice – Fulton Street Chowder which is “hook and line” haddock, seared scallops and prawns, baby potatoes, charred fennel and Viognier cream sauce for $24).

Their signature and available on all three menus (and my husband’s first choice any time of day) is the Brooklyn Burger – 7oz of grilled organic NS beef, Applewood cheddar, double smoked back bacon served with tomato, onion, pickle and house made crispy taters $14, and well worth the price!

I could go on about the rest of the mouth-watering dishes (and don’t get me started on the desserts) but you’ll just have to check it out for yourself.  And you can drool over their menus on their website.  

View Larger Map

Brooklyn Warehouse
2795 Windsor Street,
Halifax, Nova Scotia
(902) 446-8181

Ruth Daniels is a food blogger and cookbook author based in Atlantic Canada.

Bazaar's Restaurant posts are featured every Friday.

Filed under: Cocktail Hour

Continue reading Honey Soda Gin Gin - Cocktail Hour

Updated, from the recipe archive

Every Thanksgiving my mother takes what's left of the turkey carcass and makes a delicious turkey soup that we enjoy for days.

The first step is to make the stock, which you can get started on right after dinner.

Continue reading "Mom's Turkey Soup" �

Great promotional packaging for FRANK, designed by Talia Cohen.

By Andrew Gibbs.

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I had a couple of cheaper verdejos earlier in the week, and I was impressed at the quality level. I find that some of the cheaper offerings made from verdejo can be a bit oxidised, and frankly too herbal and vegetative. This one has a fair of the wild herbs that I’m not that fond of, however others do like this character. After testing it out on a few unsuspecting friends, I think you’re going to love it or hate it.

The nose opens up with a stong note of wild herbs, fennel bulb and green apple and pear. Slightly textured with a bite of acid and subtle fruit characters. That herby note is a bit more subduded here, some nice crunchy acid and it seems well balanced. The plate is a bit subdued in terms of flavour, a bit of pear and lemon but the acid drives it along nicely. Out of the two this drinks a notch below the Mocen, but still worth a look if you see it buy the glass somewhere. 87 Pts.

Source: The Spanish Acquisition Cost: $23 Closure: Screwcap

I’ve been clearing out a few notes over the weekend, not as successful as I’d hoped but anyway. The reserva and gran reserva level is where Faustino really delivers, and this shows what they can do even in a poor vintage. Very traditional, but also very good.

A nose of vanilla, strawberry and cherry compote and toasty oak. Very smooth with lush tannins and sparkly acid,. Very easy to drink, meaty and enjoyable. Cherry, mulberry and a touch of blackberry with a bit of coconut, vanilla and dark choclate on the plate. A long finish with plenty of herby goodness. Well priced too. 90 Pts

Source: Broadway Liquor Distributors Price: $37 Closure: Cork

Web: www.bodegasfaustino.es

Continue reading "Grilled Corn Salad" »

We almost always have pur�ed sweet potatoes or garnet yams with our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. Usually we just bake them, scrape out the insides and mash them with a little butter and brown sugar. My father found a wonderful recipe in an old issue of Bon Appetit which includes grated orange peel, lemon juice, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg, spices that you would normally find in a hot mulled cider. The spices give the yams a wonderfully festive holiday accent.

Continue reading "Holiday Spiced Sweet Potatoes (Yams)" �

With entertaining season upon us, I thought I’d share with you this novel idea for cleaning your wine decanter: Riedel’s Bottle Cleaning Beads. They’re made of stainless steel and require nothing but a splash of water to swish around in your decanter, gently cleaning and removing stains.

We use our decanter quite a bit and before I discovered these beads we used to fill it to the rim with soapy water and leave it to soak over night.  Then I bought this thing, a pipe cleaner of sorts, and found that many of those foam cleaning bristles started to fall off because our decanter is very narrow at the neck, with a pewter flip spout at the top, which made it hard to get the cleaner through. The stainless beads proved to be the perfect option for our narrow-neck decanter, as they pour in without any problems and don’t get discoloured and gross over time.    

They also work well on tea kettles and other bottles; the only drawback being that unlike the pipe cleaner brush, these beads do nothing to help dry the decanter. However, there is this cleaning solution that seems to be popular among wine enthusiasts, that is recommended for use along with the beads for a streak-free shine.

Has anyone else tried these?

Great David Rocco news! The apple of many a foodie’s eye and Canada’s unofficial Mr. Italia, David Rocco, has come out with a cookbook based on his popular and resplendent – yes, that’s what I said and I mean it – show, David Rocco’s Dolce Vita. Not a big surprise -- as the show is such eye-candy -- that David's world is now in book form for us to pore over.


Last week I caught up with tall-dark-and-handsome (married, with two kids btw), at Toronto's Cookbook Store to chat about the book, the good life, and the Italian way…


Elana Safronsky: How did the book come about?
David Rocco: It was a real labour of love. We thought the show should definitely have a cookbook but held off ‘till the time was right for us. We had offers from four other publishers, but waited until we could work with a publisher that would really execute our vision. And how could we not make it beautiful? Italy is such a beautiful country -- the photos are irresistible.

E.S.: What will your fans find in the book?
D.R.: A lot of the themes are similar to the show in terms of the beauty, simplicity, and fun recipes, but there are elements of my philosophy of sorts – living La Dolce Vita -  which people always ask me about, that the book reinforces and explains. 

To me it’s a state of mind. It’s a connection with people through food, so I write about alchemy, and how through food we can create a beautiful life. It’s inspirational. Actually, I hope people look at the book and not follow the recipes but get inspired to create their own thing. That’s the joy of cooking – when you can actually make it your own. It’s a reflection of your personality, your character.   

E.S.: What is this “Quanto Basta” philosophy you keep mentioning?
D.R.:  Qaunto Basta – QB for short – means loosely “A much as you need” in Italian. I’m not a chef, I’m more of a domestic cook – I’m Italian – and with that I bring in this philosophy of QB. I don’t know if you know this but a lot of Italian cookbooks don’t have quantities in their recipes – especially when it comes to making bread or gnocchi –it’ll just say QB. So when you ask someone in Italy what makes something taste so great, they’ll say, a little of this and some of that, and its QB – as much as you need. No more, no less.
 

E.S.:  Do you have to be Italian to get it?
D.R.:  Well I’m hoping that my book will help people get it.  It’s about letting go and trusting yourself. Many of my recipes are so basic, you can practice making things to taste. It’s really about finding your own way.

E.S.: You’re in the middle of shooting your fourth season – how’s it going?
D.R.: I just got in for this book tour from Rome, and I already miss my twin girls terribly. I want to go back! What can I say? It’s been nothing but beautiful so far, I can’t complain.

E.S.: La Dolce Vita indeed – do you ever think of how you ended up leading such a beautiful life?
D.R.: I think it’s the path I was on, but with the show as well as the book – you have to love it, and really want it. You have to be passionate. I always believed that if there’s a certain lifestyle you want, you can achieve it.  In my career the love and the food was there, we just brought in a camera to show it.

E.S.:  Any highlights from set?
D.R.:  I know everyone says this, but honestly, so far it’s the best season yet. The economy is a little tougher, people are looking for more grounded recipes, and thematically, it’s about bringing friends and family together. We rented a farmhouse just outside Chianti with an olive grove, so we press our own olives, we are surrounded by wine, I prepare recipes outside with the Chianti valley behind me, my twin girls are in it which if nothing else, makes for a fantastic family video, but you know, everything about it says, This is simplicity, this is La Dolce Vita. I concentrate on how to live life.

E.S.:  Do you have a favourite part of Italy?
D.R.:  That’s like asking which child do you love better…  But OK, I do love the Amalfi Coast because it’s so spectacularly gorgeous; Tuscany is gorgeous and fun, and I love Rome – it’s an amazing city. I could go on. So you can see why it’s a tough question.

Actually, a journalist today asked me, "What’s your favourite recipe in the book?" and thought I could probably tell him but then I just kept on naming more and more things and I thought, no, there’s just way too many, so it’s really Italy on the whole that I love.

E.S.:  Now, to digress, I know Italians don’t eat much of a breakfast, but of the three daily meals, which is your favourite?
D.R.:  I don’t really do breakfast, no. Sometimes if I’m really hungry I’ll grab a fresh piece of bread with some olive oil, maybe mush some tomatoes on my bread as well, but that’s it. I love lunch and dinner because that’s when it becomes more social. Breakfast is to be had with loved ones at home before you rush off for the day, or at the bar with a cappuccino and that’s lovely too because it's a ritual. I talk about that in the book, how rituals can be La Dolce Vita. So to me it’s just the opportunity of sitting down and breaking bread with friends and family.

E.S.:  Cafe latte after 12 Noon – what’s the problem with that?  Why do we North Americans get the hairy eyeball for that?
D.R.: Italians have about 2000 years on us. When it comes to food culture… well, you know… The problem is actually very simple: #1. It’s considered a breakfast food.

E.S.:  Why not lunch? 
D.R.:  Well you could have it, but only if you’re not eating. Generally a cappuccino or a latte is considered heavy because it’s warm milk – it’s filling. So if you order it at a restaurant after you’ve eaten, the waiter finds it weird because they think you’ve not eaten enough – you’re not full. It’s almost rude.  

#2. You don’t digest milk well on a full stomach. It ferments and it bloats you – not pretty. So sure Italians look at you sideways when you’ve just had a Bistecca Fiorentina and you order a latte, it doesn’t make sense.  

But it’s just habits and what we grow up with. I have friends that had a chance to live in Italy, and now they say they finally understand the Italian way.


E.S.:  What’s next for you?
D.R.: Well I have two shows in development…

E.S.:  What shows?
D.R.: They’re food shows, surprise, surprise!  But they’re in development so I can’t really discuss, unfortunately.  

But I’m also working with Premier McGuinty, and in January I come back to have meetings with him abut our Healthy Eating initiative for Ontario schools, and I’m super excited for that. I’m especially motivated about this because it’s not just about changing the cafeteria menu or giving kids other options, it’s about teaching kids how to cook and making cooking part of the curriculum just like math and science. So this is my main priority when I come back.

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Earlier this fall I had a chance to meet with one of the foremost authorities on child nutrition, Cordon Bleu chef and renowned author of over 16 books, Annabel Karmel. Lovely and diminutive, Annabel shared with me the tragedy of losing her first child and how it set her on a path of helping parents improve their children’s lives through healthy eating habits.   

A British national, Annabel was in Toronto promoting the Canadian release of her latest book More First Meals, a follow-up to the wildly popular First Meals, first published in 2003.

Elana Safronsky: How did this book come about?
Annabel Karmel: I wrote First Meals about five years, and it became very popular because it takes you through all the stages of feeding your baby, like when you should introduce chicken, meat, fish, cheese, and right up to feeding the whole family together with one meal. It was so successful that I decided to follow that up with More First Meals, which just came out, and it’s got loads of new recipes as well as a feature which helps you create meal plans for your baby; suggestion on what you can prepare ahead, a place for your baby shopping list and a section where you write down what your child likes, so that you can keep a record. It’s also good for keeping track of allergies and reactions to certain meals – the format is quite helpful.

E.S.:  Tell me a bit about what set you on this path?
A.K.:  I’ve been working and writing for children for over 16 years. I lost my first child due to an infection that spread to her brain – she was only 17 weeks old. That was awful. You go home and you’re no longer a mother and your whole world falls apart. The only thing that had gotten me together was that within five months I had gotten pregnant again, which was fantastic, because it had taken me two years to get pregnant with Natasha [the first child], and I gave birth to Nicholas. Despite the rather precarious circumstance of his birth – I delivered him on the stairs in our house, with only my husband present because he came so quickly – Nicholas was fortunately fine. But as he grew up he was a very bad eater, and after the whole ordeal I wanted to work with children, to do something to improve other children’s lives. So I decided to write my first book on feeding your child in 1991, which I dedicated to Natasha.

It was a hit, and many parents still use that particular book. That’s how it became a career for me.

E.S.: What is your ethos? 
A.K.:  Right from the start I think it’s important that parents give their kids fresh food, even if they give them jars as well. It helps children to not be picky eaters later on, because they get used to the taste of real food. I try to make it easy for parents; recipes with things like mashed banana and avocado, or you can make chicken and apple puree, and all in big batches so you can freeze it. Babies grow more in their first year than any other time, so what you feed them in that year is vitally important.  

E.S.:  When do you start what, when starting with solids?
A.K.:  Many parents don’t know when to chose certain foods like eggs, chicken, meat – I work with all types of experts and nutritionists, and a lot of the advice you’re given isn’t based on scientific fact. If you look at the American Academy of Paediatrics, they believe in giving chicken and fish from six months on, and I believe that as well. A child’s iron supply in the first six months is inherited from the mother, but after six months that runs out, and one of the best sources of iron is red meat. You can mix a little bit of red meat with vegetables, and the same with fish, and eggs. These are all good foods, and people don’t give them to their children early enough. There’s no scientific evidence at all that shows the child will develop an allergy if you introduce these foods earlier than a year. In fact, in countries like Israel, where they have a very popular snack for very young children that contains peanuts, there number of children with peanut allergies is a lot lower than in North America. Avoiding all these foods can actually do more harm than good.

E.S.:  What are the most common food allergies in babies? 
A.K.:  The most common are milk and eggs. I talk about all this in the book because there’s a lot of misinformation about allergies and food. Often a child will grow out of a milk and egg allergy. Fish allergy as well. But the number of children who have allergies is actually very small. Unless you have allergies in the family or your child has hay fever, eczema or asthma, it’s unlikely that your child will have food allergies. So you can give eggs to your child from six months on, provided they’re well cooked. This way you’ll know for certain straight way if your child is allergic to eggs, there’s no point of withholding it for a year.  

E.S.:  Is there an Oldwives' tale that you’d like to dispel? 
A.K.: That children like bland food. That’s what everybody was told when I wrote my first book.

I test everything I do on 20 babies. I did this one test where I had given some babies food with garlic or cheese, and others got plain potato, and what we found was that they didn’t in fact like bland food; they liked the food that had some taste to it. 

 
Also, the adult diet of low fat, high fibre is not good for babies. They need fat in their diets. So things like avocado, adding cheese to vegetable purees, or even adding butter to a carrot puree, is a very good idea. Too much fibre is also not good for a baby, because it will fill their tummies. Babies’ tummies are very, very small. They need nutrient-dense food because they’re growing rapidly; if they get full too fast, they won’t get all the nutrients they need. A lot of people don’t realize that.


E.S.:  What about the whole, If they’re not eating, don’t force them, thing?
A.K.:  I agree with that. But at the same time I know everyone says not to worry, but you do because you’re their mom. So finger foods become very important here. I do things like salmon balls that you could freeze and they then can pick them up and eat them on their own. I also make little hamburgers and chicken nuggets, because quite often unless they can feed themselves, they’re not going to eat.  

E.S.:  But they play with their food a lot and don’t ingest as much as if you were to feed them…
A.K.:  But the more you let them play with food, the more they experiment with their food, the quicker they will learn how to feed themselves properly. And it is very messy, I don’t think you can avoid it. Also, you don’t need to be cleaning their face all the time. Just take a deep breath, and let them go at it.

E.S.:  What’s the most common mistake that parents make when starting solids?
A.K.:  Not giving their children enough variety. I start with root vegetables, and then move on to fruits, and so on. People used to say Give your baby the same food for three days, and I don’t believe that. I believe in giving your child a variety of foods, and then you start combinations. I find that if the child won’t eat chicken but they love apple, a good combo is chicken, sweet potato and apple. It’s a good way for them to be introduced to savoury tastes. I do a really nice chicken, dried apricot and tomato puree as well, which is really popular.  

E.S.:  How important is it to keep their meals square? Some children won’t eat meals, but graze all day.
A.K.:  If the grazing and snacking is on