Deli-Wrapped Cheese for Christmas!

I, myself, have a sweet tooth; whereas, my husband has more of a 'meat' tooth. So naturally, when I told him my plans to wrap deli meat around cheese as a Christmas treat, he was over the moon! To be honest, I was half expecting cartoon hearts to start pulsing from his eyes.

Well friends, there were no hearts, but there sure was a lot of praise. In fact, I count myself lucky that I was able to photograph the finished product! I left the kitchen for a little while to test how well the wrapped cheese would set (just to ensure your 'ribbons' wouldn't start falling off 10 minutes after setting them in front of guests), only to return to a chopping board covered with empty toothpicks - I seriously have no idea when he even got into the kitchen?! In any case, there were a few remaining and I was able to successfully test their ability to stay intact at room temperature and in the fridge.

I may be a tad biased here, but I think these are most definitely the cutest, easiest (while looking most complicated), treat you can whip up this holiday season! A definite for your hor d'oeuvres table for sure ;)

Warning: Cheesy, deli meat presents, may turn your loved ones into sneaky food-stealing ninjas.

The Ultimate Fun Foodie-Friendly Gift List Take 2

Step into Christmas - Elton John

So here we are again, Christmas is creeping its way towards us. The big question remains, are you ready? Have you started shopping? Are you on-the-ball and into the 'final stages' of your gift buying? In any case, I have compiled a list of the most wonderful, random and exciting foodie-friendly gifts that anyone would enjoy.

Naturally, before you commence scrolling and 'oohing' and 'awwing' at the compilation of stellar gifts below, be sure to hit play on the Christmas video - after all, you must listen to Christmas music while you Christmas shop! I'm pretty sure that's a rule somewhere ;)

Note: For anyone shopping in St. John's, I've starred the items I've seen Downtown! The best stores for items like this were Living Planet/Johnny Ruth, Home on Water St, and Living Rooms.

Shrimp and Bacon Carbonara

I've always been a fan of carbonara in restaurants, but for whatever reason, I'd never tried making it at home! To me it sounded 'fancy' which, in my brain, translated to 'complicated'. That thinking, could not be further from the truth! If you can make spaghetti, you can make carbonara!

Below is a recipe the hubby and I came up with after testing out a few different versions. This is definitely a favourite dish of ours - not only is it super yummy, but it's also very easy, quick to make, AND there are always tonnes of leftovers!

PS the leftovers taste just as good!

Halloween 'Finger' Food!!

To me, one of the biggest challenges at Halloween (aside from eating all the treats before giving them out) is coming up with new, 'cool looking' treats to serve at our party. In our 8 years of annual extravaganzas, we've learned that salty trumps sweet and people gravitate towards the dips and chips vs. the cookies and cakes. This may be a little different at kid parties, or work parties, but when there's alcohol involved, there's definitely a greater interest in savory.

Despite this, you're pretty hard-pressed to find a savory recipe anywhere, that looks good on its own - that is, it looks good without a name tag explaining what it's supposed to be. If I have to stick a toothpick in something explaining it, it's not as fun to me, I want to look at it and be grossed out/amazed right away! This year's new treat requirements also included the ability to be served cold, quick to prep and it couldn't be a dip (I already had 3 planned) - bonus points if it was cheap!

Somehow, thanks to Pinterest, I found a winner!! Thankfully, it's still okay to have high standards for Halloween treats! ;) Behold... Halloween 'Finger' Food!

Halloween Witches' Brooms

October is EASILY the busiest month of the year for me. Sure Christmas is hectic, but the minute October hits, it's officially Halloween season, and myself and the hubby can be found all over the city checking out the latest Halloween props at whatever store carries them! Between costume planning, prop building and party prepping, October seems to fly by and yet again, here we are with 6 days to go for our annual Extravaganza!

Tonight I was testing some quick and easy treats for next weekend's party, and thought it would be great to share on the blog... as you may have noticed, there has been a lack of posting since October set in ;)

Anywho, if you're looking for an easy treat to make, this is it! I won't take the credit for the idea as I saw it online, cropped the picture, and now I have no idea where it's from! I do remember there were no instructions with it, so I've listed below how I made it happen :)

The Proper Way to Eat Chips!

Face it, unless you're at a social gathering, you're eating your chips straight outta the bag! This can be bad enough when you're eating alone - you're rolling up your sleeve, avoiding greasy knuckles - let alone when your sharing the bag - adding a second hand to the equation, or even worse, a third! All of a sudden it stops being about eating chips and your instincts force you into survival of the fittest (fattest?!) - rules are out the window, and mess is an afterthought as you fight your way to eating the most chips of everyone involved.

Now, suppose I told you there was a better way? An easier way to indulge your love of tasty potato chips? A superior way to share with a friend, without (God forbid?!) dirtying a bowl! Suppose I were to share a little tip - something I learned from my chip-loving father? Suppose I introduced you to a little technique that will forever change the way you eat a bag of chips?! Behold, The Goblet!

BAM!

Disclaimer: I take no responsibility for any weight-gain resulting from use of this technique! Use at your own risk.

How to throw a 'Nerdy Thirty' Birthday Bash!

What happens when two slightly nerdy buddies turn 30 within 3 weeks of one another? Why, a Nerdy Thirty party, that's what!

Somewhere in the midst of summer, my hubby and our close friend both hit their 30th birthday milestone. Neither of the two were too interested in a big celebration, but since they were the first to 'level up' in our group, we knew they had to do it in style. Combining all their favourite nerdy themes, we created the ultimate Nerdy Thirty Birthday Bash, and in the end, two very happy nerdy 30 year old's ;)

I know this is a food blog, but we had such fun with the decorations that I wanted to include those as well, so without further ado, here's how you throw a Nerdy Thirty Birthday Bash!


For starters, get people interested from the beginning with some quality invite copy!

and finding a great picture of those being celebrated, is always a nice touch too!

Halloween photos are perfect for this!

Enchilada Pizza

What a crazy-wonderful-busy-fun summer I've been having! Lots of cake baking, party planning... more cake baking, traveling, beach fires, camp fires, BBQs and relaxation with friends and family. All the things that make summers so much fun! Now... in the midst of all that, I'm just a litttttle bit guilty of neglecting all of you - it's been over a month since my last post :O But have no fear, with summer winding down, and a back-log of posts ready to write and share, that stops now! Starting with this yum-tastic recipe, Enchilada Pizza!


This recipe is a result of 3 things:
#1. Realizing beans aren't so bad after all (especially when re-fried)
#2. Going through a brief Mexican food obsession
#3. Having pizza dough on hand but not wanting my usual goat cheese/sundried tomato/bacon/balsamic glaze version (which is pretty awesome too... just saying).

Anywho, after adjusting the amounts of certain ingredients, and giving it several taste tests, I can proudly post this to my blog. I love it and so does the hubby! I think I surprised him with this one, so yummy and so filling!

Old School 'Mario' Kraft Dinner

At the risk of losing all legitimacy I’ve established to date, I bring to you this amazing ‘recipe’ – Old School ‘Mario’ Kraft Dinner, a.k.a. my vice!  Now, before you ream me out for posting a ‘recipe’ for a pre-packaged product with all kinds of preservatives and hard-to-pronounce ingredients (this coming on the heels of my granola bar post about trying to avoid these types of things), I can’t help myself. This is my crack! I could seriously eat Kraft Dinner every day for the rest of my life and never grow sick of it. If I know it’s in the house, it doesn’t stand a chance!

I’m probably revealing too much about myself at the moment, but I don’t possess the control to put the spoon down! Every box of Kraft Dinner is a shameful gorge-fest. A straight-out-of-the-pot, using my ‘kraft dinner spoon’ (yes I have a special spoon), eat ‘til it’s gone type meal, that sends me into a world of shame/happiness – don’t judge and don’t dare ask me to share.

Now, this ‘recipe’ is for the old school Kraft Dinner I remember from childhood. Any true Kraft Dinner connoisseur recognizes the merits of each variety of KD, and likely holds one of them as a favourite. Original is nothing but a tasty time, and I LOVE me some spirals, I even enjoyed the KD spaghetti they tested out for a while, but for me, nothing compares to the taste of the character Kraft Dinner!

To be honest, I’m not sure why they gave up on the stuff? Maybe it was a cost thing, maybe for some bizarre reason it wasn’t a big seller? Or maybe they just stopped selling it where I live? Either way, it’s something I think they should seriously consider bringing back! But until then, for those of you out there longing to chinch yourself full of cheesy-character-pasta-goodness, this recipe is for you!  

Roasted Garlic

Two summers ago, myself and the hubby jetted off to San Fransisco for our honeymoon! What a friggin fantastic time, that was! We loved it there! There was so much to do and see, and let's not forget, eat! And eat we did! In fact, when I shared my photos once we were home, we were asked by several people if we did anything there BESIDES eat! haha It was round about that time, I realized my slight obsession with food and posting pictures of it ;)

In any case, one of our favourite restaurants was easily The Stinking Rose. This restaurant was located in North Beach, the Italian area of San Fran, and featured garlic in every dish on its menu - including their Ice Cream! Which, for anyone wondering, was surprisingly delicious! We would eat there again in a heartbeat if we could, so naturally we purchased the restaurant's cookbook!

Chewy Homemade Granola Bars

Reading the side of a granola bar package can be pretty jaw-dropping at times, and may require a degree in chemistry - a dictionary, at the very least! Personally, I'm tired of reading about all the 'crap' I'm ingesting, and am taking it upon myself more and more to prepare things at home with basic ingredients. Now, I realize a lot of the ingredients I'm using are processed to some degree, but at least I'm cutting out the preservatives and flavour enhancers.

This is the second granola bar recipe I've tested, and I have to admit, I prefer it to any of the packaged bars I've had. I think the pumpkin and spices really make it stand out, plus I enjoy the pistachios! These bars received rave reviews at work and were one of the recipes that convinced my coworker to purchase The Looneyspoons book! Oh... and most important, they're pretty quick to throw together!

St. John's Farmers' Market - A Newbies Guide!

Last summer I made a promise to myself that I would start doing more of the things I wanted to do vs. just talking about them. The St. John's Farmers' Market fell into that category - something I always wanted to check out, but never got around to. Yesterday, I happily attended my very first St. John's Farmers' Market!

For those of you who are newbies like me, it can be a little confusing when trying to figure out where you have to go. It's located in the Lion's Club Chalet behind the parking lot of the Re/Max Centre, on Bonaventure Avenue. I will advise, parking is a bit intense - even for the calm parking lot driver - so if you suffer from parking lot rage, you may want to park across the street... or bus it, or walk ;)

We managed to snag a spot in the Re/Max parking lot, then proceeded to the lion's club after slight confusion... after seeing what looked like a few stands, plus the hula hoopers we determined we should go to the building pictured below. So I repeat for newbies, it's NOT in the Re/Max Centre, it's in the building that says 'Lion's Park'.

As you can imagine, she's a little packed on the inside, but not unbearable - you can also escape out the back door for more vendors and some fresh air! There's everything from handmade soaps, to crafts, to artwork and lots and lots of food - the wonderful aroma of tastiness smacks you in the face at the door and it's AWESOME!

Date Squares

Dunno about you, but I'm ready for this week to be over!! Nothing dramatic happening, just really looking forward to some lazy times on the weekend! Since this has been, and continues to be, a rather drawn out week, I think I... sorry WE, deserve a delicious treat! And at the moment, I would love nothing more than a warm, fresh outta the oven date square - the proper comfort food. Using my momma's recipe, I whipped these up for my visiting fam a little while ago and am wishing I had some more, they're just sooooo tasty!!

Felafels!

This past summer, I created a list of 'foods to try'. Between Facebook's 'Food List Challenge' and my own little list, I've tried several new dishes and discovered there are many foods I had never tried that I really enjoy! Felafels are on that list. After giving them a-go at Extreme Pita, I got all brave about it and decided to try out the Looneyspoons recipe I had. As usual, the Looneyspoons did not disappoint! I should also mention, I wasn't the only one who enjoyed... my husband - self-proclaimed meat eater - absolutely loved them! He said, and I quote, 'I would eat these any day of the week!' This coming from a man who cringes when we plan our weekly meals and I get to a meat free meal! So I encourage everyone to give these a try, great idea for meat-eaters and vegetarians alike!

Shepherd's Pie

When I started writing this post this morning, I was supposed to be in a car, enroute to the Ferry terminal, to hop a Ferry to Fogo, for the long weekend. But guess what?! Fogo was a no-go :(

In typical May 2-4 fashion, mother nature decided to throw us for a loop. We've been pretty lucky weather-wise to date - this would have been our 4th annual May 2-4 group trip - and we've only had one bad year until now! I guess it's 50-50 at this point!

Last year was a beautiful weekend, we skipped rocks in the ocean, flew a kite, lounged in a hammock and had bonfires both nights we were there. Soooo I guess we should have expected a little adverse weather this year, cuz ya can't have it perfect all the time - this is Newfoundland after all! But I mean this? this is a bit extreme!

20-35 cm of SNOW expected to accumulate by Sunday morning

For any of you unaware, Fogo is smack dab in the middle of all that red business and requires a 1 hour 15 minute ferry ride. Ergo, Snowfall warning + Marine wind and high waves warning = cancelled trip :( Sadness... In any case, we'll still be celebrating May 2-4 in town, no need for the weekend to be a total flop!

Now, with all that off my chest (sorry for the extra long intro this time, I'm clearly dealing with some things today lol)... let's get down to the deliciousness of this recipe!






I know right?! Looks nommerz! Very simple and very tasty. 

Italian Chicken Casserole

First of all, let me give props to Aaron & Jill of 'Our Story' blog for conceiving this deliciousness! I first came across this recipe on Pinterest and couldn't wait to try it. Sure I've had artichoke before... mushed together with spinach in hot-dip form, but I had never purchased or cooked with it! And, I must admit, I enjoy a recipe that forces me to cook with new ingredients!

This recipe was super tasty, and considering I ate it 3 days in a row as leftovers, (when I'm not a big fan of leftovers) is a testament to how good it is. I've made a few small adjustments to the original recipe, turning it into more of a chicken casserole vs. a chicken bake. But, it's delicious either way! 

Happy 1 Year Blog Anniversary to Me!! :)

source of photo can be found here.

Yesterday I celebrated the 1 year anniversary of my very first blog post! It's pretty hard to believe a year has whipped by already! To date I've had over 20,000 views on over 100 posts, and I've created a mini blog community on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram! I have to say, it's been a great year of food and I'm absolutely loving the blogging world! So thank-you to all my followers and fans who make this fun to do! :)

Cheers, to many more years of My Food Infatuation!

Roasted Brussel Sprouts & Bacon!

Oh so tasty!

Who doesn't love brussel sprouts?!?! Okay.... most people! I was actually one of the those people until I tried this recipe and realized how good they taste roasted!! Maybe the bacon has something to do with it? Either way, they're delicious! You have to trust me on this, I really 'hated' them until I tossed them in the oven, now I can't stop eating them!

Tacos!

Who doesn't love a good taco... or 2... or 3?! They're super yum, quick to fix and fun to build! Me mudz, a.k.a. me mudder, a.k.a. my Mom, was visiting a while ago and she happens to be a big taco fan. Since I had all the ingredients on hand to make homemade tacos, I whipped out the recipe book and cracked to it! Not only are these simple to make (just as few steps as the boxed variety) they're made in your kitchen so they're mystery ingredient and preservative-free! Well... everything but the taco shells, but you can't have it all, all the time! ;)

Anywho, this delicious recipe hails from The Joy of Cooking cookbook. My mom has been known to be picky about her tacos (just ask taco and his other brother taco...), but she really enjoyed this version. Definitely something I'll be having again very soon!

Baked Mini Cadbury Creme Eggs!!!

I'm SO excited to share my latest food epiphany with you! Not near as excited as I was to eat it, but excited nonetheless! ;)

In a serendipitous moment late last week, while daydreaming about Easter treats and deep-fried Mars bars (like ya would), a magical thought process entered my brain and produced the concept for 'deep-fried' creme eggs. So last night in a delicious, and at times, dangerous test kitchen, I tried out a couple of different ways to prepare the bundles of deliciousness. I had already determined the basics of wrapping and securing the eggs within the phyllo pastry, but whether they would be deep-fried or baked was still to be determined... that was until I basically smoked out the house and nearly caught the kitchen on fire while frying the bundles in fat on the stove (be safe friends, do not try this at home unless you really know what you're doing!). Needless to say, the baked version won out. With that said, even if I did own a deep-frier, I would still recommend the baking method, just because the phyllo pastry is so fragile and so delicate that in the few tests I did in the hot fat, it took less than a minute to brown and start to burn.

Anywho, with all that excitement/embarrassing info divulged (I like to keep it real in my food diaries), let's get to instructing you on how to make these delicious treats at home!

WARNING: YES! It tastes as good as it sounds! And YES! you will experience multiple foodgasms as you consume them. These are wicked-awesome-good!

Eggs Benny

After a week out of province (with a very slow internet connection), followed by a week of sickness (curse you stupid cold!), I'm finally, FINALLY on the mend and in a blogging mood again!! And since I posted the above image to my facebook close to 2 weeks ago now, promising the miracle recipe soon, I figure that's where I should start!

If you've been following along with my Instagram, you may have seen a post or two about Eggs Benedict. It's been a big year in Eggs Benny for me, I've graduated from first taste, to first attempt at home, to first mastered dish (a.k.a I accomplished a sauce that didn't separate!). You can view the word 'mastered' very lightly in this particular case, but I've experienced many trials and tribulations with this finicky sauce, so I feel I've overcome mountains!! In any case, I can honestly say I've tried many methods, with depressing results, until this blender method changed my life! Ok... so that may sound a tad over-dramatic, but when you know with certainty that you're not going to ruin your sauce, and have to start over again - waste another 3 eggs and a stick and a half of butter - you're not nearly as anxious when preparing it! Shout out to Simply Recipes for the tip!

Anywho, on with the recipe! Since I've also made this several times, I've established a rough timeline of how to prepare the other aspects of the eggs benny dish, so it's all nice and warm when you put it together. If worst comes to worst, heat everything in the microwave for a few seconds before adding the hollandaise, or preheat your oven to a low temp and leave your ingredients in there as you prepare them!

Guacamole

I often find myself proven wrong by my husband. I'll say things like 'Mmmmm we should pick up some salsa on the way home, we've still got those chips in the cupboard', to be met with 'we've got the ingredients home, I'll just make some', to which I typically respond 'but you've never made it before? how do you know we have the ingredients home?' to which he responds 'it's just this and this and this and that' which is always followed by an 'alright... we'll see'. Anddddd then I eat my words! This has happened with Salsa, Pumpkin Spice Lattes and a slew of other recipes including this one. To be honest, I don't even question him anymore. If he says he can make it, he can go to town, I'm sure it will taste the same, if not better than the food in question. This recipe has received rave reviews from our friends and he's even been told, it's second to none. It's sooo good!

Julia Child's French Onion Soup

Just look at that golden, gooey, perfection. It's a beautiful thing!

Soooo, french onion soup is a new thing for me. I've always wanted to try it, but never really did until a couple of weeks back. It was Valentine's Day, I was looking for a tasty appetizer for our romantic meal at home, and having watched Julia Child make her version on an episode of the French Chef, I was inspired to give it a go myself. And by 'myself', I actually mean my hubby. He was head chef on this course, and I, busy prepping other aspects of our meal, just helped when needed. In any case, this recipe was delicious! It takes a bit of time to make but the results are definitely worth it. I would honestly eat that cheesy bread topping every day. I'm not even joking.

Anywho, I would like to mention that although I don't like to post recipes I've tried only once, I'm making an exception with this one. After all, Julia Child is a cooking legend, so you know this recipe is good.

Shalimar Restaurant - Review

So aside from doing a number on my knee, after gracefully descending some concrete steps... this past weekend was a good one. If you've been following my blog, you will remember my friends and I recently formed a foodie group in an effort to organize ourselves into trying several restaurants around town. And as previously mentioned, since the co-founder and I each have a blog, we thought reviews would be a nice touch. After all, if you've never been to a restaurant before, it's nice to have an idea of what you're getting yourself into. Just keep in mind, we're no Karl Wells, so we don't claim to know techniques and pairings on a food critic level, we just know what we like and hope our review can give you an idea of what to expect.

Similar to the last post, we will be breaking our review into what we consider to be the key points of a restaurant outing:

1. Logistics
2. Service
3. Atmosphere
4. Quality of Food & Drink
5. Overall Experience

In addition to a quick note on each category, we've also included our individual rankings out of 10. You can find mine below, and Terri's (foodie group co-founder) on her blog Pop Culture, With Sarcasm.

So without further ado, I present to you the results of our second group outing:

The Touton Mountaineers visit Shalimar Restaurant

Hash

So you've cooked the big turkey, you've fed the masses, you've sent everyone away with a turkey party favour... you're feeling pretty good about yourself! You think to yourself 'I've pulled it off again', when suddenly it hits you, 'what am I going to do with all these leftover veggies?!' Unlike turkey, boiled veggies aren't easy to pawn off on relatives. And as usual, you've overestimated, paranoid you wouldn't have enough to go around. God forbid you not have an endless supply of veggies on hand.

In any case, there's no need to panic! Boiled vegetables make excellent leftovers. They're ideal for cold plates, and are amazing in Hash! In fact, whenever I'm making a cooked dinner involving boiled veggies and salt meat, I like to throw on a bit extra, explicitly for hash!

Cupid Doesn't Flip Hamburgers!

Check it out on Amazon

So today's post is a little different than my normal posts but given it's Valentine's day, I thought why not?! Way, way back in the day, when I was in primary school, The Bailey School Kids book series was my fav! I could never contain my excitement for the next book. Each short novel featured a 'monster', doing everyday, mundane things and throughout the course of the story, the 4 kids (who's names I still remember?!) would discover and get rid of the 'monster'. Cupid Doesn't Flip Hamburgers was one of my absolute favourites and I think of it every Valentine's Day! To be honest, when I see heart shaped cookies with sprinkles and icing (like those below), I think of the book. Apparently, it really stuck with me.

Photo Source

In any case, the story revolves around a new lunch lady whom the kids believe to be cupid. She keeps handing out special heart shaped cookies, which cast a spell on the kids and cause them to fall madly in love with a person they don't typically get along with. So cheesy, but oh so perfect for Valentine's day! Anyway, I think this is a great book and I would highly recommend it for kids in primary or elementary school.

Stewed Chicken with Dumplings

Today, I bring to you another golden recipe from my mom's cookbook, Stewed Chicken with Dumplings! I love this recipe for a lot of reasons... okay, mainly for the dumplings and gravy - I am a dumpling fiend - but aside from that, it's actually pretty simple to make. Everything is cooked in the one pot which means minimal dishes to wash when you're done. That's a selling point if I've ever heard one! Last week alone, I cooked Eggs Benedict (for the 2nd time ever) and in the process dirt 2 pots, a frying pan, several ramekins, a whisk, a bowl, measuring spoons, multiple other utensils and then the plates we ate it on. Maybe this isn't as big a selling point to those of you with dishwashers, but that stuff counts to us dishwasherless folk. But I digress.

This recipe is truly yummy and about the hardest part of making it is peeling and chopping all those veggies. Methinks I'll be making this again very soon!

Fun Fact: When I was younger, I would eat around the vegetables and essentially consume dumplings and chicken! Mmmm... dumplings!

Pistachio-Crusted Salmon

Pistachio-Crusted Salmon with Scalloped Potatoes

I LOVE salmon. There. I said it. I order it in restaurants, I make it at home in the oven, I grill it on the bbq in the summer, and I love it pan fried! So, when I found this recipe for pistachio-crusted salmon (in my trusty Looneyspoons Collection), a new and potentially delicious twist on my fav little fishy, I knew I had to try it. Good call, I've had it several times now, and it never disappoints! I've got one word... yum!

Quintana's Restuarant - Review

In an effort to try out more of the local restaurants, my friends and I have initiated a foodie group, epically (and ridiculously) named The Touton Mountaineers (long story/inside joke)! In a nutshell, the plan is to venture out to a new restaurant every so many weeks for (fingers crossed) good food and obviously good company. And since the co-founders of the group each have a blog, we thought hey?! why not throw in a review while we're at it! So with our next outing on the horizon, I figure it's time to get this posted.

We've broken the review into what we consider to be the key points of a restaurant outing:

1. Logistics
2. Service
3. Atmosphere
4. Quality of Food & Drink
5. Overall Experience

In addition to a quick note on each category, we've also included our individual rankings out of 10. You can find mine below, and Terri's (Touton Mountaineer co-founder) on her blog Pop Culture, With Sarcasm.

So without further ado, I present to you the results of our first group outing:

The Touton Mountaineers visit Quintana's

Located: Churchill Square, St. John's, NL

Honey Boo Boo's Sketti!

You know how it goes, one minute you're watching Adele's acceptance speech at the Golden Globes and the next you're enthralled by your very first episode of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo! The only explanation - YouTube and the bizarre little road it leads you down each and every time you watch one simple video!

Having heard so much about the show (both good and bad), and having only seen brief clips on TV, I was intrigued, and wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Well... you have to watch it for yourself! There is absolutely nothing to prepare you for this family! I don't think I've laughed/been in shock so much in my life! Despite the pure crass nature of the show, and complete lack of manners, the whole family is nothing but a good time. I'm fascinated. They are loving life and you can tell they all love each other. I have burned through the first season in a couple of days (not sure I'm proud of that), and I have to say, aside from what she feeds her kids (ie: bizarre 'multi-meals'), and how much they're allowed to eat in general (I'm looking at you honey boo boo and that ridiculous amount of food you ordered at that restaurant), June is a great mom! Those kids are having the time of their lives!

Now, you may be wondering what this has to do with a food blog? Well, in one of the very first episodes I watched, June prepared some 'Sketti' for supper. That may sound normal and all, but if you've watched the episode you know what I'm talking about! Sketti, to the Honey Boo Boo clan, means spaghetti coated in a butter & ketchup sauce. Yeap. You read that right, and I can see you screwing up your face - just like I did! Check out the video to see for yourself:

Baked Sausage

Lately, I feel I've been posting a lot of recipes that yield 'ugly food'. It tastes damn good, but can leave a lot to be desired for the eyes. Unfortunately, not all of us have a food stylist stowed away in our kitchen, and sometimes, it's just really hard to make certain foods (such as lumpy, cracker-crusted sausages) appealing! Most chefs might argue that a meal is a feast for the eyes and the mouth, but who really cares about the eyes when your stomach is growling and your mouth is salivating?! In any case, I guess what I'm trying to say is, these sausages are delicious, despite their appearance.

Cod au Gratin

Sorry it ain't prettier!

I've been going a little heavy on the sweets lately, both in life and on the blog. Soooo, it being the New Year and all, and time for a detox of sorts, I decided it best (for all of our sakes) that I post some savory dishes! At first, I considered Stewed Chicken with Dumplings, but thought better of it, knowing you're probably all still gagging at the thought of turkey or any of its relatives. Instead, I’ve opted to post a fish dish. 

Typically, my cod dishes tend to go one of two ways - fried with scrunchions and drawn butter, or mashed up in some fish and brewis. But a few weeks back, I found myself craving Cod au Gratin. Now, in all honesty, I had never made the dish myself and had not had it in several years, but I’m proud to say it came out tasting just as delicious and creamy as I remember from home.

My Year in Food 2012

2012 reminded me once again that sooo much can happen in one year. It was an interesting year to say the least, and although it wasn’t my best year to date, I’m okay with that, because 2013 just stopped in to take the title.

One great thing that came to fruition in 2012 was my blog. I’ve wanted to have one for a while and finally made it happen. So since I’m celebrating my first New Year's as a blogger, I thought it would be fun (if not for you, at least for me lol) to recap my year in…. you guessed it, food!

Let me first start by saying, this blog & my online presence through Instagram, Twitter & Pinterest (follow me!) has really helped me to broaden my food horizons. For too long I’ve been eating the same old things and shying away from experiencing new flavours and new dishes, and while those old favourites are favourites for a reason, I’ve realized the potential of greatness in new dishes as well. And not to go all philosophical on you or anything, but the same thing can be said for life – sometimes you just need to break out of the routine and try something different, life’s too short and too incredible to do the same thing (or eat the same food) every day!

On that note here are my 2012 Food Highlights!