The Ultimate Fun Foodie-Friendly Gift List Take 3

                                             Santa Claus is Coming to Town - California Raisins

With Christmas day exactly 5 weeks and 6 days from today, it's time for the third installment of The Ultimately Foodie-Friendly Gift Guide!! As in previous years, I have searched the internet for weird and wacky and wonderful items that any foodie/non-foodie would appreciate. And as always, I've included one of my favourite Christmas songs for you to rock out to while scrolling. So without further ado, click play on the masterfully selected California Raisins - Santa Claus is Coming to Town and enjoy your perusing!

Please note, for anyone shopping in St. John's, I've spied many of these gifts in the following stores: Living Planet/Johnny Ruth, Freak Lunchbox and Living Rooms.

Kitchen Armour

Nobody should enter the kitchen without the proper attire. Here are a few places to start!

The Walking Dead Apron

Breaking Bad Apron

They See Me Rollin' Apron

Betty-Lou's Blueberry Roly-Poly

There are a million ways to use blueberries in the kitchen. Whether you add them to your cereal, pop them in your yogurt, bake them into muffins, or throw them into a delectable dessert, they're completely versatile and let's not forget absolutely Delicious!! One of my favourite ways to eat fresh blueberries is to bake up a batch of blueberry squares, I could literally eat the full tray myself. Unfortunately... or fortunately (I haven't quite decided yet), I've discovered another irresistible blueberry dessert I could also polish off myself: my mother-in-law's Blueberry Roly-Poly. This is my father-in-law's favourite blueberry recipe, and is always his main request come blueberry season. I completely understand why! I'm hooked.

London Vacation with all them Foodie Highlights!

That first week back after vacation is always the hardest. You've just finished a slice of that rich and famous lifestyle and the taste is still lingering as you return to your everyday routine. You post some pictures to your social media, share the stories of your trip with friends and family, and start easing yourself ever-so-gingerly back into reality. 

Fast forward just over a month back, and your trip feels like it was a year ago! That's where I am today. The last five weeks have been a blur of getting back into the routine of work (a particularly busy time at work, I might add), plus squeezing in a few final road trips before the inevitable end of summer.

Before I forget all of the fabulous tasty bits and highlights from our trip, I wanted to share them in a quick recap. There was so much awesome to see and eat, I could've spent the entire summer in London and still not have experienced it all.

Fried Cod Tongues with Scrunchions

I sometimes wonder, if I didn't grow up eating cod tongues, would I dare try them today? I honestly have my doubts, but I'm glad I did because cod tongues are now what I reference each time I come across a new and odd sounding food. I always think, well... if I like cod tongues, then maybe *insert odd sounding food here* will be good too?

Anywho, since I like to keep all my favourite recipes together on this blog, and since the food fishery is now officially open for the next 3 weeks, I thought I would share this quick and easy recipe for fried tongues. If you've never tried them, they're highly delicious - be adventurous!

Baked Brie with Figs & Honey

Don't you love it when you walk into the grocery store for 1 thing and come out with 1 cartload? Yeah me neither, well at least my bank account doesn't like it, I'm usually pretty smitten with all my new goodies. In any case, that happened to me a couple of weeks back as I popped into Sobey's for a few last minute ingredients for supper, when all of a sudden I spied FRESH FIGS!! You don't even understand how excited I was... well actually in my mind I was freaking out, while on the exterior I was playing it cool, as to not draw attention to the rare and limited find!

Needless to say, my few items turned into my few items plus 6 precious little figs, crusty bread, double-creme brie and pure happiness. So again, I must reiterate, if you are a fig fan like me, please run, not walk to your nearest grocery store and scour those refrigerated produce racks, they won't be in season forever!

Strawberry and Cake Kebobs

In contrast to my last post, where I shared a hearty and comforting chowder for those chilly evenings, I now bring to you a light and airy treat perfect for those hot summer days. Strawberry and Cake kebobs combine tasty bites of strawberries, and fluffy, oh-so-tasty bits of angel food cake with your favourite topping. You don't even need the topping if you don't want it, but come off it, who wouldn't want a drizzling of chocolate or caramel or honey, even?

Now I can't take full credit for these beauties, as I spied them on Pinterest several months back, but I just had to try them for myself! They require very little effort to make, and to be honest as I was chopping my store-bought cake and strawberries, and taking all the shortcuts, I felt as though I was hosting my own episode of Nigella Express! Such a simple but delicious treat.

Fish Chowder

I was wondering about the timeliness of this post, as Fish Chowder is more of a wintery/cold, dreary-day type meal, but then I looked at the forecast for the coming week, and remembered where I live, and decided I was good to go. After all, I got married in August (typically one of the better months in Newfoundland) only to face rain, drizzle, wind and 5 degree temperatures... so really this hearty and oh-so-satisfying, soul-warming chowder is great any time of year.

It's also really easy, and pretty quick to make.

Quick & Easy Homemade Pizza Crust

I'll be honest, any time the word yeast pops up in a recipe, I immediately move on. In my mind, yeast translates to waiting around, and if you lack patience - which I always do when I'm hungry - 'waiting around' isn't an option.

Lucky for me, the hubby has a bit more patience, and decided to whip up this crust one night for supper. I was shocked at how easy it was to make, anddddd the fact that it only takes 20 minutes. I mean really, it'll take you that long to prep the toppings! For this recipe recap, I topped our pizza with pesto, chicken, mini heirloom tomatoes, artichokes, shallots and mozzarella - but the possibilities are endless. Definitely one of the best tasting crusts I've had. Apparently, 'yeast' isn't such a bad word after-all!

FYI this is yet another delicious recipe, courtesy of the Looneyspoons!

My Food Infatuation Turns 2!

Photo Credit

Yesterday My Food Infatuation turned 2! And there has been quite a bit of blogging happening over the last 730 or so days! To date I've had nearly 90,000 views on over 130 posts, and I've been very busy on social media. In addition to my Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram, I've created my first two YouTube videos and a Google+ account. Still really enjoying the blogging-life and looking forward to keeping it going for a third year!

Once again, thanks to all my followers and supporters. Keep the comments and shares coming, and stay tuned for lots of new recipes and foodie fun! ;)

xo,
Food Diva

Fee, Fie, Faux, Fried Chicken

If you're looking for a crowd-pleasing recipe, your search stops here - Fee Fi Faux Fried Chicken is wicked! There's a bit of work involved, and you will have to get your hands dirty, but that's half the fun! Definitely adding this recipe to my favourites. Serve this Looneyspoons recipe up with some corn-on-the-cob and homemade scalloped potatoes (The Greater Scalloped Potater) and you'll be loving life.

Fudgy Brownie Cake with Salted Caramel Drizzle

Last year for my sister's birthday, I put together quite the elaborate fondant cake that included as many things as I could think of, that she enjoyed. This year, I decided to take a different route and opted instead to focus on her favourite dessert - brownies! For as long as I can remember she has loved brownies, and for her, the richer the better. I swear if she put her mind to it, she could polish off an entire pan by herself, though unlike me she has control, so maybe not ;) In any case, since it was her birthday, and birthdays require cake, I decided to mix up the usual presentation and give her a true brownie cake.

To counteract all the sweet, I added some salted caramel drizzle to the top - it definitely could have used more salt to pair with the cake, or maybe it just needed more drizzle? Ether way, the leftover salted caramel is phenomenal on ice cream! You can find the recipe here on Food Wishes.

Molasses Tart

If you've never experienced a freshly baked Molasses Tart filled with jammed, wild Newfoundland berries, you don't know what you're missing! Hands down one of my all time favourite desserts. I'm not sure where the recipe originated - probably a G.F.S. Cookbook somewhere along the way - all I know is that my mom has been making these tarts for as long as I can remember.

A few weeks back I decided to give the recipe a go, myself. One thing I've learned about family recipes (or at least my family's recipes), is that you must always call the person who gave you the recipe, the first time you attempt to make it - trust me on this! Guaranteed, time and time again, there will be tweaks and adjustments in their head that haven't quite made it to the original recipe you've copied. I can't even begin to tell you the number of times I've prepared one of my mom's recipes only to have it turn out completely different, then discover when chatting after the fact, that I should have...  doubled the sauce portion, halved the dough recipe, left out such and such ingredient, included such and such ingredient (listed nowhere in the recipe), baked for only half the time, or 3/4's of the time, or way longer... all actual examples I've encountered over the past few years. It's laughable at this point, and I know now to give her a call, butttt it can still be frustrating if I forget, or if I can't get ahold of her when I'm making it.

Note: This recipe yields 4 tarts - mom typically halves the recipe and prepares 2, but I prepped the full amount - I'm always wary about having enough crust for double crusted pies, so I figured I would make it all and use the leftovers in my mini cupcake tray to make mini tarts!

Lemon Panna Cotta with Blueberry Sauce

I love trying new recipes, especially desserts! However, like a good chunk of the population these days, I'm constantly trying to 'eat better', which means my experiments in the recipe world usually revolve around meals or apps or snacks... not desserts. God knows I have no restraint when they're in my house. In any case, special occasions present the opportunity for experimentation with sweets, and for Valentine's Day I gave Panna Cotta a try. After the tasty rack of lamb, I knew we would want something refreshing and this recipe from Italian Food Forever, sounded ideal.

I had never had panna cotta prior to making this recipe, so I wasn't sure what to expect - it was amazing! It requires a bit of time to set up in the fridge, but, once it does, it is silky, creamy and incredible. The Lemon Panna Cotta on its own was good, but the topping made it better again. I would highly recommend this recipe.

Crispy Rack of Lamb with Honey & Mascarpone Sauce

After some careful consideration of what to make for our Valentine's Day supper, we decided on Rack of Lamb. This recipe came courtesy of Giada de Laurentiis from the Food Network, and boy oh boy was it ever good! It was my first time cooking rack of lamb and I was blown away by how easy it was. We served it with garlic mashed potatoes and carrots that were suateed in the same pan in which the lamb had been seared. We deglazed the pan with some chardonnay (a.k.a. added liquid to the reheated pan to get all the tasty bits off the bottom), heaved in a bit of salt and pepper and produced some of the yummiest carrots I've ever eaten. So good. What better way to spend Valentine's day than dressed in your finest comfy clothes, drinking copious amounts of wine, and feasting on a gourmet level home-cooked meal with the love of your life ;)

S'mores Poutine

So apparently this is poutine week?! I love poutine! Poutine is the best! It's total comfort food and totally worth the splurge, every time! In honour of Poutine Week, I decided it was time to finally make that dessert poutine I've been dreaming of - S'mores Poutine!! I'll stop saying poutine now...

It's a dangerous little dessert to learn, simply because if you like to bake, you probably have these ingredients on hand at all times. It also takes less than 10 minutes to make. Requires very little cleanup and tastes amazing! Plus, who doesn't love s'mores?!

Restaurant Review: The Club

If you're anything like me, you like to get a feel for a restaurant before you go there - you seek them out online in hopes of finding some quality food porn, you most definitely search for their menu to see what they have to offer, and you probably search the interwebs for a review or two - in other words, you become a little bit of a stalker, which is possibly what has brought you here - welcome, you're not alone ;)

As mentioned in a previous post, since there are so many restaurants popping up in St. John's, and so many we've yet to try, my friends and I formed a group in which we try to visit a new/different restaurant each month - emphasis on 'try', as we only managed 7 in 2013. In any case, on January 6th, 2014 we hit the 1 year mark of outings, and decided, what better way to celebrate than by returning to our favourite spot?! After a quick poll, it was obvious we were heading back to The Club!

If you've never been, it's a pretty wicked spot. Not only does it have an awesome vibe, it has the best food! I kid you not. I can't think of anyone who wouldn't enjoy the food. Every time I go, I leave happy and very full!

I also really enjoy how they seem to work traditional Newfoundland into their entire menu, including the drinks! Case in point, the Jam Jam pictured below -  Purity Syrup, Grand Marnier, Iceberg Vodka and frozen Raspberries - served with an actual jam jam 'wedge' as garnish. They also serve a drink called the Humphy Dumphy, which has Newfie Screech & Pineapple Crush on the rocks. I mean, where else can you buy these?!

Mini Burritos

Did you know, the word burrito translates into 'Little Donkey' in Spanish? And that it supposedly gets its name because it looks similar to the packs donkeys carried? Yeah... me either! But pretty cool hey? 

Wikipedia tells me that 'donkey' translates to 'burro' in Spanish, and the 'ito' is the diminutive form of the word. So I guess, rather than calling this recipe 'Mini Burritos', I should have called it 'Burritoitos?!' ...see what I did there? I added an extra 'ito' to create the diminutive of burritos? ...yeah, it probably doesn't work that way. I never was very good with translation.

ANYwhooo, moving right along, after putting my head down on what to make for this weekend's Super Bowl party (I'm only in it for the food), I thought, why not mini burritos?! They're total Super Bowl food - they're hearty, delicious, and filled with meat, cheese and beans?! You just can't go wrong!

Zucchini Pickles

This past Fall, I had a mini panic attack about my future with traditional 'Newfie' foods. I realized that much of my generation, though not really at a settled age yet, aren't doing the traditional Newfoundland activities that my older relatives have always done. For example, moose hunting... I know very few people my age who go each season, or at all - I personally have never gone. So how the heck am I supposed to get my feed of moose, when my older relatives stop going?

The same goes for many other seasonal traditions like growing my own veggies, picking berries, making homemade jams and pickles - even baking my own bread. There are so many things that I feel I need to start learning/doing now, so they're not lost. I would hate to see the day, when I'm looking back at the 'good old days' when all I would have to do is hint that I was getting low on moose, then suddenly have my pick of my uncle's freezer... or when I would be dying for a taste of my Nan's beets or some pickles and have no idea where to start.

I consider myself lucky to have realized this as a 20-something, and plan to take as many opportunities as I can to learn while all the masters are still teaching. So with that sentiment in mind, I bring to you my great-aunt Patsy's recipe for Zucchini Pickles!

DIY Kitchen Wall Art

Every now and then it's nice to switch things up and start fresh with something new - that my friends, is exactly what the hubby and I have been doing with our place! In fact, during the blackout a couple weeks ago (Shout-out to #DarkNL), we sat down by lantern-light and drafted up all the changes we wanted to make to each room. Little-by-little, and day-by-day we've been making great progress and this past weekend, I crossed another to-do off our list, my very first DIY kitchen project - wall art!

After browsing Pinterest for some ideas, I came across a few that I really liked. Many of my favourites included silhouetted kitchen utensils/appliances and bright colours, patterns or recipes. Using the elements I enjoyed most, I created my own variety :)

Makeshift Lebanese Cheese Pie

Alrighty! Soooo way, way back in March I was sent away to Ottawa for training. It was a 5 day trip (with one day missed courtesy of Newfoundland and it's pea soup fog that week), with training during the day and group outings during the night. We toured Parliament, the War Museum, and even hopped over to Quebec to visit the Sugar Shack (*drool*)!!

All-in-all, it was a great trip! I even got to visit with one of my close friend's Aunt's, who not only picked me up on arrival, but dropped me off at the airport too! And if that wasn't enough, on my last day there, she brought me to a Lebanese bakery to introduce me to my first Cheese Pie!!!

Now, if you've never had Cheese pie, it's DE-LICIOUS!! It's basically bread and cheese warmed in an oven - so in other words, heaven! The only problem I have with Cheese Pie, is the lack of it here in Newfoundland. And despite my friend's aunt bringing me cheese pie on her last 2 trips home (♥♥ God love ya ♥♥), I wanted more!! Sooo, like any good husband would, Nick made it happen by concocting this makeshift version. I was very doubtful at first, but when I tried it, I was impressed - not exact, but so close! So if you are dying for a bit of Cheese Pie, or you're a fan of cheesy bread concoctions, you should give this a try!

Eggs & Polenta

Tis the season for making and/or breaking your new year's resolutions, and if you happen to have made a resolution to shed a few pounds, or to tone up a few of the flubbier parts on your bod, then you're probably trying to eat lighter, cut back on your portion sizes and spending every other day googling 'healthy recipes'. Not the easiest thing to do. Luckily for you, I've been there and done that (a few times... lol) and as a result have found a few gems along the way.

One of those gems is this recipe - a staple in our house. I can't recall where I first saw the idea, but I do recall my concerns about the polenta... I had never cooked it before, nor had I ever tasted, so I really wasn't sure what to expect, turns out it's like a yellow version of Cream of Wheat. If you've never tried it, here's your opportunity to experiment!

My Year in Food 2013

After a few delays and many a power outage, I FINALLY bring to you my 2013 Year in Food!

Just like the song says, 'Another year over and a new one's just begun'. Like many years, 2013 had its ups and downs, but I can honestly say, overall, it was a good year. Not only did I get a new job and travel to Ottawa for training (my first time there), I also traveled to Toronto for my birthday to see a couple of amazing concerts (Beyonce & Jay-Z/JT - also my first time there), and my husband and I finally bought some camping gear and spent several days camping in Gros Morne (also my first time there!) To cap it all off, we spent a nice long Christmas vacation with both of our families, in two separate parts of the province. I have so much to be thankful for this year!

With that said, 2013 started off a little rough for my family, as we were forced to say goodbye to my Nan. Although I attribute my cooking skills to my mom, I like to think I've inherited a little bit of my Nan's cooking abilities as well. I have so many memories of Nan's food, and even though I wasn't a big fan of 'cooked dinner' as a kid, I did love her boiled puddings - in particular her 'plain pudding' - and of course her desserts! It was rare to visit on a Sunday, without an apple pie, or sponge cake - or both - for dessert! She grew the best veggies, made the best rhubarb jam and you couldn't find better bread - something she taught me to make back in the summer of 2012.

So as 2014 is upon us, I have a couple of things I want to make happen - I would like to prepare more of the snacks and breads I eat, I would like to cook without a recipe more often, I of course want to continue trying new foods and I definitely want to give my Nan's bread recipe another go! I am very excited for the food adventures to come in 2014, but without further delay, let's look back at what deliciousness 2013 had in store :) ...you can see 2012 here!