I have 22 more sleeps before my winter get-away and I am in “eager anticipation” mode.  I am yearning for warmth (it was -43 here yesterday), for the sand between my toes, to wear flip flops and pareos all day long, to walk by the water, to travel with my beloved entourage and to see all my Isla friends again.  But truth be told-I can’t stop thinking about the food!  Lime wedges to squeeze over everything, creamy “just-made” guacamole, salsa that tastes so fresh- it dances in your mouth, ceviche and fresh fish, fish and more fish.

I am not an “all-inclusive” kinda girl.  For me, part of the pleasure of a meal-is the hunt to obtain it.  I won’t even be able to direct you to my favourite little “fast food” tiende on Isla Mujeres because I do not think that it has a name and I didn’t even get to check to make sure that it was still there on my last visit.  But right now I have this insatiable craving for their fish tacos!

The person ahead of me ordered a fruit platter and so the process began to peel each of his fruit requests, then pull up a chair to sit while lovingly slice each one and then assemble them on the plastic plate-and voila (20 minutes later) a feast for the eyes and the taste-buds.

My tacos could not be started until the fruit plate preparations were completed and cleaned away.  Worth the wait? OMGoodness-yes. Fresh….perfectly cooked…crunchy toppings…messy….and cheap!  Less than $5 for a feast that I took down to the beach to share with my gang.

Kath’s quote: “Ruling a large kingdom, is like cooking a small fish.” (Handle gently and never overdo it)-Lao-tse, Chinese philosopher (6th century BC)

it is well, it is well with my soul

When I was a child my family vacationed each summer at Grand Beach.  One of our special treats was when my Mom would send us to the old Grand Beach bakery (at the edge of Grand Marais) just as it opened in the morning, for a dozen of their Sticky Buns.  We would run our fastest to get them to the breakfast table before they cooled off too significantly.  So as is consistent with most of my fondest with food-cinnamon buns hold a very special place in my heart.

If the pursuit of the perfect french fry is my summer quest, I would say the search for the perfect bun is my winter one.  We like to walk to places in our neighbourhood to sample cinnamon buns (I suppose we are justifying the treat) and we’ve enjoyed The Frenchway on Academy and  Stella’s on Grant.

But on this Saturday morning it was -30 so we opted for a warm car to make a new discovery.  That week we had been perched at a stoplight and saw a paper poster on a hydro pole for Jonnie’s.  A day or so later I saw that Jonnie’s was following my tweets.  So here is advertising in action-the poster got our attention, the tweet added the frequency and lo and behold Jonnies Sticky Buns got our first of what we predict will be many visits. 

We enjoyed “The Classic” (in house organic stone milled whole wheat) and “The Leroy” (organic white) but also could not resist a “Chocolate Chip” (with Callebaut Dark Chocolate for Pete’s sake) and a “Banana Nut” (with roasted walnuts) to pack up for home.

We ordered ours grilled with Black Pearl Coffee and then had a lovely visit with the young family sitting at the only other table in the storefront.  We started our family life in one of the big old three story homes in Wolseley and discovered that they lived on the same street. 

We will be back for the “Herb and Cheese” (with fresh herbs, Bothwell cheese and date sugar) which is the Thursday feature and the “Caramel Rosemary” which is the Friday specialty.

Wolseley is fortunate to have Jonnie’s in the neighbourhood but with its convenient location at 941 Portage it is perfectly located for commuters, especially if you are already making a stop at Deluca’s (almost across the street).

Kath’s quote:  “Sticky cinnamon buns belong to Philadelphia as do Independence Hall and the Twelfth Street Market. This is a bun of true cinnamon flavor, of a stickiness incarnate.”-Best Recipes of 1949  by Mark Kurlansky 

“Sticky cinnamon buns belong to Winnipeg as do The Golden Boy and The Forks.  This is a bun of true cinnamon flavour, of a stickiness incarnate.”-Food Musings

Stock Photos from 123RF

By Guest Blogger Laura

One of winter’s first snowy Saturdays and as luck would have it, we planned the perfect welcoming event  – a fondue party to celebrate a friend’s birthday.  There are so many different ways to enjoy this congenial way of eating but we have our favourite plan and usually stick with it for the most part.  We use two pots of boiling oil – many people use chicken or beef broth which is terrific too – but we generally go for a combination of canola and peanut oil.    The most exciting part of the fondue for me is the creation and presentation of a wide variety of dipping sauces that allow guests to try new flavours and combinations that they wouldn’t normally try.  Each and every bite can be different from the one before and it’s that experimenting that makes this such a celebration of eating. 

Early in the day I prepare a hearty plateful of each of prime rib steak, boneless pork, boneless chicken breast and peeled and deveined shrimp.  My husband prepares the chocolate fountain and cleans strawberries, cuts bananas, peels mandarin oranges and cuts up sponge cake. 

 I wanted to be sure to have a good variety of choices.  I picked up some store bought sauces…sweet and sour, BBQ, seafood sauce and then had tons of fun preparing the homemades. 

Horseradish Cream – 1 cup sour cream, 3 T horseradish, 2 t lemon juice, 2 green onions, ¼ t worchestershire, salt & pepper

Herbed garlic butter – 1 C butter, 2 T lemon juice, 1 t fines herbes, 2 cloves garlic

Peanut sauce – 1 cup vegetable broth, ½ c peanut butter, 3 T shallots, 1 t worchestershire, 1 t sugar – cooked on stove and allowed to thicken and cool

Honey Mustard – ½ c mayo, 2 T honey, 2 T grainy mustard, salt & a pinch of cayenne

Curry Mango – ½ c unflavoured yogurt, ½ c mayo, ½ c mango chutney, 1 T lime juice, 2 t curry powder, 1 T chopped red onion, dash of cayenne

The surprising hit was one I just invented at the last minute.  I used a small jar of green jalapeno jelly and mixed it with ½ c mayo.  Then I chopped in some fresh red chile pepper and green jalapeno pepper primarily to add some colour because the sauce wasn’t looking that attractive.  Even the guests who don’t usually go for food with too much heat loved this combination of sweet and spicy. 

Our friends brought along a bowl of cheese fondue which we simply heated in the microwave and put on a warmer and then enjoyed with chunks of French bread.  They also contributed mushrooms, peppers and pearl onions along with a beer batter that worked really well in the fondue pots. 

I’m not sure there is a better way to enjoy wonderful dinner conversations than with good friends sharing  a fondue.

“When you ask one friend to dine,
Give him you best wine!
When you ask two,
The second best will do!”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

invite someone to warm up at your table

Do you know the song entitled Seasons of Love from the play/movie Rent?  The lyrics are about quantifying the passing of time: 

Five hundred twenty-five thousand
Six hundred minutes
How do you measure, measure a year?

In my family we recently reached a milestone.  We celebrated the 18th birthday of the thirteenth and youngest grandchild in our family.  We had been celebrating these birthdays for 20 years and in all there were 234 of them.  A person much better at math (my husband or one of my children) could calculate exactly how many birthday candles had been blown out over the years.   

Our family has grown to be so large that we have to rent a room to accommodate us all for dinner.  The special efforts put into this last soiree were handled beautifully by Sister #2 and her husband-complete with video tributes and trivia games.  And is always the case-there was a lot of love poured into the preparation of the food. 

Sister #3 is the sister that is a formally trained cook.  I am said to be an “inventive” cook and Sister #2 is an “indulgent” cook.  For this dinner she prepared four different kinds of pasta including two lasagnas that were to die for.  This recipe is appropriately entitle “Death to Dieters Chicken Lasagna” as it is made with…..Hollandaise sauce!  Can you see how she came about her title?

3 c fresh mushrooms, sliced

2 c onions, chopped

3 c hollandaise sauce (2 packets if not making from scratch)

1 lb. pakage lasagna noodles, cooked

2 lbs. chicken breast, cooked & thinly sliced

1 t basil

1 t oregano

3 c mozzarella, shredded

1 c parmesan, grated

Saute mushrooms & onions until soft.  Using 2 9″x13″ pans, spread a small amount of hollandaise on the bottom & place a layer of noodles over top, then cover with 1/2 of the chicken .  Top with 1/2 of the mushroom and onion mixture, then 1/2 of the remaining hollandaise and sprinkle with 1/2 of the basil & oregano.  Top this with 1/2 of the mozzarella and Parmesan.  Repeat the layers ending with the cheese.  Cook uncovered in a 350 degree oven for 35 minutes or until hot and bubbly.  Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.  Serve with a salad with a tart dressing to offset the richness.  Serves 20-24. 

Kath’s quote:  “You don’t have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces – just good food from fresh ingredients.”-Julia Child

Today is my Mom’s 84th birthday!

For the past 6 months I have hosted a young lady from Beijing who is in Winnipeg completing university entrance English at U of W and hoping to be excepted to attend U of M when she is done.  After a visit back to Beijing she brought her Mom with her to Canada for a visit.  It was very important to them that her mom be allowed to cook dinner for me.  I was not sure what to expect as she had always told me that they mostly eat at restaurants and take out and just bought their first ever oven. 

I was pleasantly surprised by the array of delicious dishes that were served.  A lovely broth with peas and spiced pork meatballs, shrimp cooked and served shell on in sauce of just the right mix of sweetness and soy, tomatoes with egg, rice with added cornmeal, finely cut potatoes with bacon.  Everything was great and all tasted so good together.  They told me that this meal was not what would be made for a festival, it was more like what we would serve for Sunday dinner. 

So, now it is my turn. I think I should try to cook something “typically Canadian”.  I’m open to suggestions.  I’ll let you all know how it turns out. 

Kath’s quote:  “The gentle art of gastronomy is a friendly one. It hurdles the language barrier, makes friends among civilized people, and warms the heart.”-Samuel Chamberlain