In my experience, there are two kinds of people: the shedders and the hoarders. Shedders like to live simply and modestly. Too many possessions weigh them down, and spring cleaning is like Christmas come early to them. Hoarders, on the other hand like to be prepared, and can often be heard uttering the phrase “But I might need this some day”. Read more…
I was whipping up a batch of these last week (a much-needed treat after a particularly grueling couple days), when I realised that despite all the sweet things I’ve written about here- all the cookies, cakes, tarts and other treats- that I’ve never shared this go-to brownie recipe before. If I’m honest, brownies aren’t my favourite indulgence- Andrew is the chocolate fiend in this household. But if I’m gonna have them, they’ve got to be good. Read more…
When I was 17 or so, I caught whooping cough. There was an outbreak in several of my city’s primary schools, and I caught it from some kids I was babysitting at the time. On the surface, whooping cough isn’t all that bad. You cough a lot, you get a couple weeks off school- as highly contagious diseases go, it’s pretty great. The thing you probably don’t know about whooping cough (unless you’ve had it yourself) is that even after you’re not contagious anymore, even after you feel healthy again and go back to normal life, you keep coughing. For several months. Read more…
A few weeks ago, after Thanksgiving dinner at my aunt’s house, I had my first taste of pumpkin pie. I know this will seem both unbelievable and incredibly sad to the pumpkin pie enthusiasts among you, but I can’t lie: until recently, I believed pumpkin was possibly the grossest thing one could put in a pie. Read more…
I’ve just realized that I haven’t put anything sweet on the blog this week. Since I know that’s completely unacceptable, I wanted to quickly share this recipe, which I made last week, before I head out to the farmer’s market. Read more…
This morning’s breakfast, made with the leftover danish pastry dough. Otherwise known as perfection. Read more…
This post is not going to start with a fond childhood memory of eating Oreos accompanied by a tall glass of milk. I didn’t have that kind of childhood; my Mum doesn’t like sweet things much herself, and so endeavored to raise my sister and me to have similar tastes. When we were really young, the health quotient in our house was high. Cookies were always homemade (ginger snaps sweetened with molasses), peanut butter was natural and snacks consisted of a cup of frozen peas. We even drank unsweetened grapefruit juice, for heaven’s sake. Read more…
I don’t think I ever had cheesecake until I was a teenager. At least, I don’t remember having it before then. Growing up, dessert was a rare occurrence. My parents were fond of the classic “Why don’t you have a piece of fruit?” line. Well, a piece of fruit is all fine and well, but what I wanted as I child was dessert, and I hope you’ll forgive me the assertion that eating something after dinner doesn’t make it dessert. Read more…
In Canada, where I grew up, there is a coffee-shop chain called Timothy’s. To be perfectly honest, there is nothing special about their coffee or their stores, and given the choice, I’d almost always choose Bridgehead, Starbucks, or even Tim Horton’s for my cup of coffee. One item on their menu, however, is very special. I don’t remember when I first had one of Timothy’s Toblerone Shortbread Cookies, but I remember thinking that it was possibly the most delicious, indulgent, over-the-top and worth it cookie that I’d ever had, home-baked goods aside. Read more…
When your boyfriend goes to Zürich on business and decides to get you a souvenir from the airport. Read more…
