Hello again!

*Being full of sickness is an excellent opportunity to catch up on long overdue LG posts*

Bonjour a tous et toutes (encore une fois)!

I am Cyn and here is a short description of myself for anyone who doesn't already know me: Im currently 27, married for 3 years, a daycare educator, and am part Greek and part Quebecois/Canadian.

Can I have a moment to say how super grown up I feel right now? :)

So, I love food and I know slash love Amy, that's how I got here! And here is my flurry of questions!

THE QUESTIONS

- Take a picture of the front of your fridge. What's on it and why?

Ooo, I like this one! I've got a pretty standard fridge front, on the right, top to bottom, knife sharpener, magnet my mom brought me back from Les Iles de la Madeleine, my weekly menu (I seriously wouldn't be able to function without planning a menu, seriously), a postcard of the Pope my bro-in-law brought me back from the Vatican last year (along with a rosary that had been blessed by him, a treasured gift) coupons and election papers. On the left, a postcard one of my students sent me from China where he is spending his summer, pictures of Jeff and I on our wedding day, our dogs, and a picture and postcards from my best friend who moved to England/Ireland for an undetermined period of time. As to the why, everything on my fridge either has a purpose or brings me comfort. 

- Three things you learned in the kitchen in the last year/the last five years.

Hmm.. I feel as if I've learned so much I have a hard time pinpointing 3 down. I would say resting my meat is a huge one (I thank the food channel for that). Also, how to combine different cooking techniques on the same item, ex: when I roast a pork tenderloin, right after pulling it out of the oven, I give it a quick sear in a super heated iron cast pan, then let it rest. It gives a nice textural crust to the pork while keeping the insides very tender. And lastly, my mood very much affects the food I make. For me, when I cook (especially elaborate dinners that require multi-tasking to the extreme), its like a dance. Do this, stir that, chop this, saute that, lower the temp on that, etc. If I'm not feeling good or feeling up to it, that dance is disrupted and the fails happen, So Im slowly learning to evaluate myself and what I'm capable of in the moment, rather than forcing myself to do whatever I said I was doing. Like two Sundays ago, I had my family over for dinner, and had planned this work intense fancy dinner. But with a bad head cold/allergies, my head was really really not into the game, so I threw a spaghetti sauce in the slow cooker, made a quick salad and bought a fresh loaf of bread from Premiere Moisson. Done, and I could rest all day and actually enjoy supper with my folks. Had I stuck to the previous plan, things wouldn't have turned out and I would have been stressed and upset and generally failed the entire day.

- If you have a decent budget for a small dinner party, where do you turn for food inspiration?

I looove dinner parties. I love to host. Having people in my home to cook for, to serve, to treat as if they were a king or queen, that is what I love the most. People have completely lost the art of hospitality and taking the time to enjoy company with food and beverage, so I try to make my home an oasis of good food and good love. The first thing I always do is ask for dietary restrictions and the sort, because as much as I'm inspired by that beautiful purple cauliflower, someone might be allergic to it, and then where would we be? So that being done, I then look at what I have in my fridge/freezer/pantry, and what's on sale/in season. I will choose one main ingredient to center the whole course around (i.e.: butternut squash for the entree, trout for main course, strawberries for dessert) and its only then that I start looking through my cookbooks and the internet to build on those ingredients (squash becomes a soup, trout becomes a grill, strawberries become a berry salad with gelato). Once I've got my menu firmly planned, I then go purchase my items in the store. I have walked through a store or market and pulled inspiration straight from the ingredients, but that always seems to end up costing me more than planned, and that in turn doesn't make the husband happy, which in turn reduces his enthusiasm for said dinner parties.

- Have you discovered a new favourite cook book lately? Restaurant? Ingredient?

Less of a new book/ingredient, and more a shift of my philosophy. I love to cook, we all do or we wouldn't be part of this lovely blog. But there is something to be said about raw ingredients, and the more I read about it, the more I'm convinced we (meaning my household) need to eat a diet that is much more infused with raw fruits/veggies, which is surprisingly a hard thing to do when you're used to roasting/cooking/sauteeing/steaming/grilling pretty much anything you can get your hands on. But slowly we are introducing a portion of every meal as raw, and learning what works and what doesnt (I hate raw peppers, Jeff loves them).Raw doesn't mean there's no flavoring, just forcing my brain to find different ways to adapt and adjust. 

- What were your favourite things that you've eaten in the last week?

Yesterday's supper wins this week's tasty award. Honey mustard chicken thigh (1/3 cup honey, 1/4 cup yellow mustard, 1/4 cup dijon, 1tsp paprika/oregano/crushed pink peppercorns and a couple sprigs of rosemary. Bake for 30 mns @350 in a covered pan and then uncovered for 15mns @375) served on rice, with barely steamed ginger carrots and a little tomato/basil/cuke salad. Oh and a bit of cranberry sauce my friend made for Thanksgiving.

- What do you listen to when cooking?

Everything is according to my mood. In the last four days, Ive listened to an opera play mix, Bob Marley, Snoop Lion/Dogg whatever he calls himself (dont judge me, I love his album Reincarnated so) Matisyahu and Red Hot Chili Peppers. I have no particular genre I prefer.. although I tend to put on country kitsch when I make bread (??).

- What are your favourite smells in the kitchen right now?

Ill tell you what my fave SOUND is.. I love the sound of food hitting a hot pan, especially a piece of steak or onions. 

- What has frustrated you in your food & cooking life in the last year?

This is in two parts. First thing that was a really hard thing to go through was basically the past 3 1/2 months. We moved out from our apartment into my grandmothers basement for about 1 month, and then we moved into our current location before it was completed so I couldn't really cook, apart from a slow cooker. I thought I had it all planned out and would be on top of things, but no, I really didn't. It was a nightmare, stressful, shit food everywhere, I completely lost inspirations or desire to be in a kitchen. 

The second frustration was that I learned I had Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, which among a whole bunch of other things, determined I have an insulin resistance, It answered a whole bunch of questions, like why I wasn't losing weight. Weight has been a battle for my whole life, and well meaning people always told me two things: stop eating so much/eat healthier, and start moving more (of course, these were the same well-meaning people that told me margarine was healthy). My job requires a high level of energy and movement, and my eating was healthy, fresh, and made by me (this was prior to the move), so why wasn't I losing weight like normal people? Everything was explained, and that on top of everything else was too much. The will to cook, bake, make beautiful food was completely gone, replaced by desire to be done with this eating and making food thing as fast as I could possibly do it. It was a dark 3 months, and were not out of the woods yet, but I'm finding my joy back, and most importantly my interest in the way ingredients are made, cooked, boiled, spiced, etc was renewed and I feel stronger than I was back in June. My relationship with Jeff is stronger than ever and his interest in food has been lighted as well (in fact hes cooking more than ever, and fancies himself a pancake expert... I'm inclined to agree!!)

- What do you want to get into or explore in the coming year?

DEEP BREATH... I want to go to cooking/pastry school!!! I really really do and the only reason I haven enrolled already in night class is because of our imminent move in July.. when Jeff graduates, we might be moving across country depending on where he will start his career. It could be in Vancouver or right here in Montreal, we just dont know, and so I cannot start something I would have to drop before I finished.

- Write a haiku about one of the following: a kitchen fail, a kitchen win, the last time somebody cooked for you, eating outside, or dining with friends.

Although I think most of us are on fb and have seen this, Im going to repost it just because. This is literally what I look like when I cook, all the time.

My apron is my armor; my wooden spoon, my sword. 

I will fight the wars of my world with food, love, and kindness. 

I have no weapon in my arsenal more appropriate or more powerful.

Introducing Ana

Hello, Leek Geeks! 

My name is Ana.  I grew up in Toronto, went to university in Montreal, and I now live in Manchester, England with my husband Simon. I'm so excited to join you!

How do you know Amy?:

Amy and I met at the Newman Centre in Montreal.  I can't remember the first time we met.  I have a few memories of Amy at Newman but honestly my best (in a lot of different ways) memory was seeing her in Montreal when I visited a few years ago. I got to hold baby Ambrose! It's been a real pleasure to stay in touch through the internet, and Amy is one of the few friends I actually follow on Pinterest. 

Top culinary influences:

International cuisine, especially Mediterranean (Spanish, Italian, Greek, Middle Eastern, North African), celebrity chefs, and my cookbooks.  I like interesting and unusual flavour combinations.

Favourite cook books:

Too many to name! I got 6 cookbooks in December for my birthday and Christmas, which is exactly what I wanted.  My current favourites are Jamie Oliver's 15 Minute Meals and Ottolenghi,  and my most used is probably The Joy of Cooking. I have a few dozen cookbooks, at least. I haven't cooked from all of them, but I don't feel I need to. I like to read them before bed! I could read and talk about food all day long. Sometimes when I cook things they aren't as good as I imagined, so trying a new recipe always feels like a bit of a risk and an adventure. 

Favourite 5 ingredients:

At the moment: Coriander (cilantro), garlic, lime leaves, chocolate, and polenta.  They change all the time.

Favourite 5 dishes:

Spaghetti Bolognese, Tarka Dahl (lentils with turmeric and coriander), roast turkey dinner, crème brulee, coconut-based Thai curries

How did you learn to cook?: 

Mostly from books, tv, and the internet.  I watched a lot of the Food Network as a teenager, and have read a lot of cookbooks. I didn't learn to cook very many different things from my parents, although I now wish I had paid more attention to what they did in the kitchen, especially some of my mom's traditional baking.

Your week in cooking:

Over the last few years we've gotten pretty lazy in the kitchen, depending way too much on frozen and prepared foods.  In the last few months I've started cooking from scratch more, and now I try to cook most days of the week, although Simon likes frozen pizza too much to give it up completely.  I usually cook less on the weekend, because we often eat out or visit family or friends.  If we are in on a weekend evening I'll try to cook something we wouldn't have during the week.  

Culinary fascination of the moment: 

Yottam Ottolenghi and his Mediterranean fusion cooking. 

Also timing myself while cooking Jamie's 15 Minute Meals.  I average 30-45 minutes.

Culinary ambitions:

To cook more from scratch and depend less on prepared food. 

Top serving tips:

I am the wrong person to ask! Presentation is not one of my strong points.  I try to make up for it with deliciousness.  Simon sets the table when we have guests.

Your dream kitchen: 

Well-equipped, organised, and spacious. I could use more counter and cupboard space.  A dishwasher would be nice, and space to have a table in the kitchen. 

Intro, Julia

Top culinary influences: My friends are what inspire me. I always like to see what kind kicks they are on. Amy, Nicole, Sam, Bubzee.
Favorite cook books: I dont actually use cookbooks all that much. I have a really short attention span, and they're prone to get left dusty on my shelves. I tend to look things that I am interested in up online, and scribble something messily on scrap paper, then if I use the recipe a few times, I'll stick it in my own recipe notebook (pile). Sounds like the road to success right?
Favorite 5 ingredients: Coconut (everything: milk, oil, shavings, water (with the pulp!), I really love coconut); avacado, quinoa, olive oil, raisins, maple syrup, nutritional yeast, salmon, oh more than 5. 
Favorite 5 dishes: Chili, salsa and guacamole, Any coconut based stir-fry, roasted veggies, oatmeal (no joke, I eat oatmeal every morning)
How did you learn to cook?: I didn't. 

Uuuuuuh more seriously, I had kids. I think that kind of pushed me in the direction of "oh shit, I gotta know how to feed us!" I did not know how to cook at all until I was at least 20. I never used a spice or herb until like 22. My parents don't cook. My mother could easily survive with a toaster oven, microwave, and electric kettle. And by could I mean that she does. Her fridge actually blocks entrance to the oven and nothing about that bothers her.
I started really slowly watching and learning from friends. First rice and veggies in a pot with some olive oil, and salt. I probably made that a hundred times before venturing out into the culinary unknown. I still have a very hard time cooking with meat, and I sort of avoid it, although I am really getting into fish, and maybe that will send me on my way to chops, and fillets, and whole bodies of birds. Maybe.
Your week in cooking: I always make oatmeal for breakfast, on the stove. I shoot for 3-4 lunch/supper meals a week. Generally sticking to the basics of stir-fry, home-made pizzas, pasta. I try to learn a new recipe or venture out of my comfort zone about once a month. I have an 8 month old and a two year old, for anybody who might not know, and so cooking is a slow, all day process, usually involving one hand or someone crying.
Culinary fascination of the moment: Pretty clear that its coconut, no? I am also trying to get the hand of alternative flours in my baking such as kamut, spelt, and buckwheat.
Culinary ambitions: I just want to feed my family. I hope that as my kids grow I can invite them to join in making meals with me, we can learn together. I think in the next year I will get myself back into baking on a regular basis. Home-made sweets are always the best kind.
Your dream kitchen: Lots of cupboard space to shove my messes into. A large island to gather around, and maybe a couch for guests to cozy themselves as I keep myself busy making food for everyone. A kitchen should be a place to gather.

Cynthia, my name is...

EEEEEE! That was me being exhuberant at joining this most awesome group! I am a nerd and a geek, and I love food oh-so-much, so I was very excited to be asked to join, and hope to honor my fellow baristas and this awesome-possum blog with my posts!

Now on to my culinary life snapshot!

Top culinary influences: Personally speaking, my father, my mother, and my French grandmother. I remember being so small and sitting at the table in my father's home and seeing him skewer marinated meat for souflaki, or sitting in my grandmother's home and smelling that pate au pattes de cochons that took a total of 36 hours to complete, and would be devoured in a couple of hours by my family on Christmas. I learned a love of food that took time to prepare at their knees and kitchen tables, and still today I add certain spices or prepare meat a certain way because of them.

She's pretty badass.

So is he.

Favorite cook books: Honestly, I don't refer to cookbooks alot. Its very rare that I follow a recipe (even though Im sure my husband wishes I would sometimes), and I look through cookbooks for pictures and adapt that picture to what I have. I think that the most honest answer to this would be to refer you to allrecipes.com, where I can input certain ingredients and see what other users have come up with. The whole interwebz iz ma cookbook, yall!

Favorite 5 ingredients: ONLY FIVE?? Right now, it would be olive oil, garlic, oregano, chicken, lemons. And honey. And molasses. And brown rice. And apples. Ok Ill stop now.

Favorite 5 dishes: Macaronia with canella and lamb, loukoumades (does this count?), pate au pattes de cochons, slow cooked beef stew,

How did you learn to cook?: First, its in my blood. That's just how Greeks do. Second, I learned everything I know (and still learning) from my family. My Greek side taught me to like delicious Mediterrenean flavors, to feel joy when you smell a freshly squeezed lemon, and to put tzatziki on basically everything. My Quebecois side taught me to enjoy the simple dishes that take long hours to cook, and the pleasure of assembling around a dinner table without silly TV's and phones and other distractions, and just enjoy the food and enjoy each other. Which is, in my belief, every bit as important as preparing and cooking the food.

Your week in cooking: .Well let's see, I had two days off thanks to eating at my mother's (every Sunday night), and eating at Jeff's mother's (SCORE LEFTOVERS). I made sausage and shrimp Cajun jambalaya, roasted corn soup, pita pizzas, chicken fajitas, and lemon garlic herb crusted salmon.

Culinary fascination of the moment: Canning anything and everything. Ive been canning and preserving for a couple of years (by myself, with my grandmother, since I was 6). Its a pleasure that I just cant seem to get enough. I LOVE LOVE LOVE TO CAN!

Culinary ambitions: I have two culinary ambitions, one is personal, and the other professional. My personal ambition is to be able to feed my future (hopefully, quite large) family real food made as much as possible with my own two hands, organic and wholesome, to teach them the sacredness of sharing a meal together, and to love food for everything it is and everything it could be. My professional ambition is still to be discovered, but I know it lurks there. I have a (very) small business selling organic preserves which is called NomNom Goodies (yes, I just shamelessly self promoted, check it out on Facebook.), and I love it. But we'll see what God has in store for me!

Your dream kitchen: Laaaaarge, with TONS of storage space, and with windows brightly illuminating this airy space with natural light. Country feel, with wood everywhere. A gas stove top, a double oven, a huge fridge! No plastic anywhere in sight, and glass storage for everything. Basically, Chef Michael Smith's pantry.

In closing, I would like to warn everyone that I am quite goofy and make really weird faces when I taste food, like this:

Which you will undoubtedly see. Because Im cool like that. PEACE!

Hello! Natalia here...

Hi everyone!
Amy had invited me to join this foodie blog (flog?) and I tentatively joined. I say tentatively because I don't see myself as much of a foodie. I mean, I love food. But honestly, most of the time I don't like making it, unless I'm sure to get accolades! But I'm pretty good at it when I do it, so I guess that's something.

Now that I got that disclosure stuff out of the way:

Top culinary influences: Pictures in magazines, the desire to impress, celebrities with crazy particular diets (like macro or paleo)

Favorite cook books: Quinoa 365, The Kind Diet

Favorite 5 ingredients: chocolate chips, flax seed, olive oil, quinoa, garlic

Favorite 5 dishes: Nori Rolls, Gnocchi, Vegetarian Pizza with Mango, Pancakes, Chickpea Curry

How did you learn to cook?: I didn't! Ha. My parents didn't cook, I was raised on microwave burritos. So when I got engaged I decided I better learn how to do it (I was also a caregiver for an elderly woman and I made her dinners) so I started trying stuff out. I think my husband is fairly happy with it all so far. I guess that's my main motivator. 

Your week in cooking: So far this week I have made a tofu turkey with delicious herb stuffing, sweet potato casserole, sweet potato pie, corn bread, whole wheat bread, soup, carmelized green beans with shallots, portobello burgers... that's all I can remember so far. Wow. That list impresses me more than I thought it would.

Culinary fascination of the moment: Pies. So far this fall I've made a few pumpkins, a sweet potato and apple.

Culinary ambitions: I would really like to cook with more Japanese stuff like seitan and all their crazy spices, but they're hard to track down (and Indian spices too sometimes)

Top serving tips: Well, the thing that always ends up being the biggest problem for me is that not everything is ready at the same time, so I guess my biggest tip would be to check how long everything will take well in advance of the serving time so you know what order to do things in. That's a pretty basic one, but it's where I'm at!

Your dream kitchen: A kitchen with a Jarvis-like talking computer!!!

This is Hyun

Me and Amy's baby... I'd say this picture accurately depicts what I'm about... booze and babes. Yup.

Hola, fellow geeks.

I'm relatively new to the cooking game. This has many reasons, among them the trauma of failing an introductory cooking class in high school. It wasn't until my undergrad years that I began to cook regularly, at first, for myself, and then for others, and came to realize that it was actually a lot of fun. And if my roommates could stomach my culinary creations, then by Jeebus, I couldn't be complete crap at it.

But in all seriousness, I'm a real big foodie who's developed quite a love for cooking, and I'd love to learn more from you! Specifically, I'm a fan of simple cooking, with uncomplicated recipes and simple but fresh ingredients.

I'm hoping we'll get better acquainted with thyme! (HAH! You're welcome.)

Top culinary influences: My mom. Food blogs. Hunger.

Favorite cook books: Not so much cook books, but blogs and vlogs and things like that..

Favorite 5 ingredients: lemon, green onion, garlic, olive oil, salt/pepper.

Favorite 5 dishes: Fresh sashimi, steak tartare or done medium/rare, fresh bread, all Korean food, a good soup on a cold day.

How did you learn to cook?: Trial and error, watching my mom, internets.

Your week in cooking: I had a Mars Bar and coffee for breakfast today. This doesn't bode well for the rest of the week...

Culinary fascination of the moment: Risotto.. it looks like the stuff I'm left with when I fail at making rice...

Culinary ambitions: To make something that impresses even my mom

Top serving tips: Make sure everyone's had their fill and then some... I generally make enough food so there are leftovers.

Your dream kitchen: A team of trained monkeys who'll clean up the apocalyptic post-cooking disaster.

Introducing Sam

Why yes, I do have a penchant for posing with my produce.

Food Philosophy: COLOURS EVERYWHERE!!!

Top culinary influences: My Egyptian grandmother. My Egyptian Father. Anything South Asian. And ohhh…Asian soups with those wonderfully colourful veggies. And, of course, Coptic seyami (vegan) food. Healthy food.

Favourite cook books: Any cheap cookbook you get from Winners with lots of pictures.

Favourite 5 ingredients:

1) Fresh thyme.

2) Fresh leek.

3) Fresh cilantro.

4) Fresh mint.

5) Freshly ground pepper.

The trend here, if you can tell, is anything fragrant.

I'm not nearly as mean as this vegan dragon bowl from Aux Vivres.

Favourite 5 dishes—in no particular order:

1) My grandmother’s pickled eggplant.

2) Tagliatelle rose from Tre Marie, an Italian restaurant in Montreal that I’ve been going to since the womb.

3) Fried liver with caramelized onions (also from Tre Marie)

4) Koshary with crispy onions and tomato sauce (basically, an Egyptian party of carbs.)

5) My grandmother’s whole grilled sea bass with tahini. Om.

My father's creativity: my 25th birthday breakfast!

How did you learn to cook?: My mother hated cooking by herself, (and dislikes cooking in general) and would always have me as her sous-chef, and have me chop onions and several cloves of garlic for her. When I got older, she kind of left the “preparing” part of the meal to me, as she preferred the “eating” part of the meal.

Your week in cooking:

…Working on making the perfect over easy eggs…I will prevail.

…Burning half a batch of almonds (but in all fairness, I really do have an oven from hell)

…Lots of quinoa

...the victims.

Culinary fascination of the moment: Working butter into flour (thank you Amy!)

Culinary ambitions: Achieving culinary time management. Ie, the ability to not burn anything.

Top Serving Tips: Serving food HOT. And of course, as many colours as possible on the plate.

Your dream kitchen: Bright and cozy, with lots of beautiful leafy plants hanging from the ceiling and herbs on windowsills, overlooking a meadow (or just my backyard. not picky.). Lots of room for guests. Maybe one of those gigantic patio swing contraptions that you see in retirement homes. Fully equipped with a wall-unit oven, an indoor stovetop grill, surround-sound speaker system, and, of course, a triple sink (2 for dishes and one for washing/thawing fish or meat) preferably custom-built by an ebeniste whose pastimes include reading Anne of Green Gables and watching Titanic.

AND CERTAINLY….NOT this.

I mean doesn’t this freaking look like an operating room? NO THANK YOU!

introducing Heather

Ahoy-hoy! I'm Heather.

Unlike Amy, I do not often cook with a baby strapped to my body. I have not mastered this skillful level of cookery.

Food philosophy: I’m definitely not a foodie. And I’m surprisingly lazy when it comes to fixing food for myself. However, I am willing to put more effort into cooking for my friends and family (because I lurrve them). Tea time!!

Top culinary influences: KOREAN! Japanese, Italian, UK (aka Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall), Moroccan

Favorite cook books: Not so many books, mostly Internet & Youtube, like Aeri’s Kitchen, Cooking with Dog, Runnyrunny999,

Favorite 5 ingredients: Couscous, Napa cabbage, green onions, laver, bananas, almonds, raisons, lemon juice (More than 5 Heather? Sorry! I can’t follow the rules.)

Favorite 5 dishes: kimchi, rice with laver, sushi, baba au rum, dolsot bibimbap, tabbouleh.

How did you learn to cook?: Watching my mom, Internet and above all... Youtube.

Your week in cooking: So, what do we have here in the fridge? Mish-mash melosh. Don’t really have a plan - you may have to fend for yourself!

Culinary fascination of the moment: fig trees; miniature tropical indoor fruit trees, aquaponics.

Culinary ambitions: To be more prepared when cooking in the kitchen, and not be afraid to make a mess. (my logic is, no mess = fewer dishes)

Top serving tips: Keep it simple, ask for help and get someone else to wash dishes.

Your dream kitchen: Did someone say dishwasher? I dream of a dishwasher. And a ladder, as I am too short to reach the top shelves. Automatic fresh tea maker, automatic vitamin injector (injectable into all forms of chocolate and other delectable goodies) Hey! you did say I could dream.

But why have a dream kitchen when you can have a dream cook? ♥

My hubby, ♥ dream ♥

introducing Amy

Hi there! I'm Amy.

I often cook with a baby strapped to my body.

Me writing in my new kitchen.

Food philosophy: Whole foods, organic foods, bulk buying, trying to kick it old school and peasant-ly when it suits me but happily using several gadgets to make it happen.
Top culinary influences: Italian, British Isles, and Mexican food.
Favourite cook books: Jamie Oliver's Italy, The Joy of Cooking, Vive Le Vegan.
Favourite 5 ingredients: cheese, tomatoes, garlic, flour, lentils.
Favourite 5 dishes: lasagna, pizza, falafel, stir-fried vegetables with tofu, creamy parmesan chicken.
How did you learn to cook?: Somewhat from my mom, more when I became a vegetarian at 13 and started discovering the world of pulses and spices, more yet when I got into meat again, and then whole foods and seasonal cooking - but generally all from books.
Your week in cooking: I bake bread once or twice a week, make a dessert or sweet snack 1-3 times per week, and use a meal plan for our suppers. We always have soup on Friday and pizza and wine on Saturday. Our produce basket is now every other Wednesday (for the winter season).
Culinary fascination of the moment: cardamom; soaking/fermenting grains.
Culinary ambitions: I would love to get more into pastry, which I mention in part because I've recently decided to take the plunge and get rid of our white flour, switching to whole wheat pastry flour instead. I look forward to figuring out how to work with that. I would also like to get into making beer and wine. Also, there are many herbs and spices I know very little about. For example, I have both tarragon and sumac in my pantry, and have no idea what they smell or taste like! (I don't even remember buying the tarragon!) This needs to be corrected!
Top serving tips: Keep it simple and real. Balance colours. Presentation is 80% of the enjoyment of a meal.

Your dream kitchen: Is functional and beautiful - lots of storage space and knick-knacks, a double sink, and no more stuff than we need - but most of all is a place where people feel welcome, loved, and nourished; a warm, pleasant place where people can just hang out and drink tea for hours and feel like a part of the family. ♥

An icon of the Hospitality of Abraham, written for us by my God-son's father.