I recently had the opportunity to attend a session by food blogger Clotilde Dusoulier entitled Eating Words: The Art of Food Blogging, which was held at George Brown College in Toronto.  For those unfamiliar with Clotilde she runs the very popular food blog Chocolate & Zucchini which she started back in 2003. [...]]]>

I recently had the opportunity to attend a session by food blogger Clotilde Dusoulier entitled Eating Words: The Art of Food Blogging, which was held at George Brown College in Toronto.  For those unfamiliar with Clotilde she runs the very popular food blog Chocolate & Zucchini which she started back in 2003. I’ve been reading C&Z on off for a large part of that time.  I don’t remember when I first found her blog (likely through an article somewhere else) but it is definitely a good one.  I mean it blends my love for food and Paris into one well-written blog, what’s not to love? The internet and blogosphere was a very different place back in 2003 and as a result Clotilde was one of few bloggers at the time and has managed to turn her blog into a career.

A former software engineer, Clotilde was able to quit her day job a mere two years after starting her blog and receiving a book deal.  Not bad.  Clotilde now spends her days as a freelance writer and book author.  Pretty cool.  The world today is a much tougher place with many more blogs and many more people hoping to forge a path similar to Clotilde’s.  Alas her story is the exception and not the rule.

Clotilde lives in Paris but was spending time in Stratford at The Stratford Chefs School as their writer in residence.  She also popped into Toronto for an event at Nota Bene.

During the workshop Clotilde gave her top ten rules of food blogs and I thought I’d share them with you.

Clotilde’s Ten Rules of Food Blog

1. Choose your focus – choose your blogging niche and stick to it.
2. Look at what others are doing – get an understanding of the blogging landscape but don’t copy others.
3. Set yourself apart – now that you understand the landscape try to differentiate yourself.
4. Be genuine – have a voice. Have an opinion. Keep it real.
5. Focus on great content – self-explanatory.
6. Keep learning – stay actively learning whether it is about blogging or your area of focus.
7. Give credit where credit is due – if you’ve been inspired by someone else’s work give them credit.
8. Connect – don’t blog in a bubble. Respond to comments. Comment on blogs. Engage in social media.
9. Keep at it – Be consistent and don’t disappear too often.
10. Have fun!

These are some great tips for newbie bloggers, not just food bloggers.  I’ve been blogging (in various capacities) for the better part of 12 years (eek!) so much of this wasn’t new news for me but for someone who has just opened up their first WordPress.com account there is some good material here.

Thanks to Sizzling Communications for the invite.

My birthday was a few months ago and it got me thinking about what to get myself.  See, every year for Christmas and my birthday I buy myself a present because frankly, I buy myself THE best presents.  I wasn’t going to buy myself anything because I recently took an impromptu trip but [...]]]>

My birthday was a few months ago and it got me thinking about what to get myself.  See, every year for Christmas and my birthday I buy myself a present because frankly, I buy myself THE best presents.  I wasn’t going to buy myself anything because I recently took an impromptu trip but then I started thinking.  I randomly decided that I wanted a SodaStream! I’ve had my eye on making this recipe for cola for a few months ago and while the recipe says to add seltzer to the syrup to make pop it just didn’t seem authentic. What I needed was a SodaStream.

Nevermind that I never drink pop.  Nevermind that this contraption forces you to buy the machine, carbonators, syrups and all sorts of stuff.  Nevermind that I don’t have anywhere to store the machine.  Nevermind any of that! I just wanted to make pop!

Side note:  Yes, I call it pop.  Not a soda.  When  I lived in the U.S. I’d say pop and people would look at me like I had two heads.  Except people from Michigan who also say pop.  They know what’s up.

After some soul-searching I decided not to buy the SodaStream.  Realistically I knew that I’d use it 4 times and then forget about it for years.  As a consolation prize to myself I decided to figure out how to make ginger ale or ginger beer.  A few years ago I wanted to make myself some and noticed that I didn’t need any fancy equipment. If I couldn’t have a SodaStream at least I could have homemade  pop.

When it comes to matters of food that may get a bit science-y I like Alton Brown.  Lucky for me I was able to find a recipe by Alton for ginger ale on the Food Network site. Score!  And no special equipment was required.  Even better.

Surprisingly enough the ginger ale recipe only required 5 ingredients: sugar, ginger, water, yeast and lemon juice.  Doesn’t that so much better than the crap on the ingredient list for most ginger ale brands?  In terms of equipment I just needed a plastic bottle to put everything in and I was in business.

Truth be told I was a bit skeptical about how this would all work out.  I had to make a syrup with the sugar, a bit of water and ginger.  Easy enough.  Once the syrup was cool I combined it in a bottle with the yeast, lemon juice and remaining water.  Then it was a waiting game.  The bottle gets left on the counter for two days to allow the mixture to carbonate.  One of the indicators that the beverage is ready is the firmness of the bottle.  It was so true! The bottle went totally firm and unsquishable after about a day and a half.  I then popped it in the fridge to chill.

When I opened the bottle (slowly) it immediately erupted all over the place.  Well at least I knew the yeast did its job!  When I finally poured a glass I was surprised to see how bubbly it was.  The ginger flavour could’ve been stronger, that was probably at least partly due to the age and quality of the ginger that I used.  All in all it tasted more like ginger beer than a ginger ale (think Canada Dry) but that was just fine with me.  I also found that the homemade ginger ale stayed fizzy far longer than traditional pop.  We’re talking 2 weeks of continued fizzy action.

I was so happy with the results that I decided to try making my own cola using the same method.  I used the recipe that I mentioned above and went to town.  The results were… interesting.  Truth be told I haven’t had cola in YEARS so I can’t really comment on how it compared.  Sure, it didn’t taste like Coca-Cola but I can’t quite pinpoint whether or not it tasted like a more natural version of it.  Would definitely love to do a side-by-side comparison.

Needless to say I’m now obsessed with making homemade pop because it’s so easy and really chances are you have something on hand to make your own cola syrup.  I’m already thinking of all sorts of different combinations…

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A few weeks (months? time flies) ago thanks to The Twitters I was connected with the folks at one of my fave tea shops, David’s Tea. They sent over 3 different teas for me to do some experimenting in the kitchen with: Exotica, The Glow and Honeybush Lemon Ginger.

The [...]]]>

A few weeks (months? time flies) ago thanks to The Twitters I was connected with the folks at one of my fave tea shops, David’s Tea. They sent over 3 different teas for me to do some experimenting in the kitchen with: Exotica, The Glow and Honeybush Lemon Ginger.

The obvious thing to make was some iced tea with some inclusions. Those will come, but with fall setting in I’m not really in the mood for iced tea. Then I remembered reading about a technique called tea-smoking. Tea-smoking is just what it sounds like – you smoke food using tea leaves. The tea leaves are combined with rice and usually sugar and you smoke away.

I’ve heard about this technique being used with fish and even chicken. Since I’m not much of a chicken fan I decided to smoke some salmon. I smoked salmon a few months ago using my wok with great results. I did a traditional smoke with wood chips. Knowing that my wood chip smoking worked I was totally pumped to try it with tea.

I wanted to do salmon with Asian flavours so I put together a simple marinade with a bit of soy sauce, ginger, garlic, honey and chili flakes and let it marinate for about an hour. My tea of choice in this case was the Honeybush Lemon Ginger because I thought that it mind lend a nice hint of citrus and ginger to the fish.

To smoke the fish I combined equal parts of the tea, brown rice and sugar. I lined my wok with aluminum foil and added my smoking mixture. Then I placed my bamboo steamer (loaded with the salmon) on top and started smoking. The mixture didn’t have any trouble smoking and burnt out quicker than expected. After about 10 minutes the salmon was cooked through.

For an extra blast of flavour I made a glaze of honey and ginger that I brushed on top of the finished dish.

Unlike wood-smoking, tea-smoking imparted a very subtle flavour to the fish. I definitely picked up on the grassiness of the tea leaves and also picked up a bit on the ginger (and not because it was in the glaze and the marinade). I think next time I’d play around with upping the amount of tea in the mixture to see how that works out.

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This summer the herbs in my balcony garden thrived.  Perhaps the most bountiful herb was oregano. Problem is that I RARELY use fresh oregano.  Trust me when I say I tried integrating it into a bunch of recipes but I couldn’t keep up with how fast that stuff grew.

Now that [...]]]>

This summer the herbs in my balcony garden thrived.  Perhaps the most bountiful herb was oregano. Problem is that I RARELY use fresh oregano.  Trust me when I say I tried integrating it into a bunch of recipes but I couldn’t keep up with how fast that stuff grew.

Now that it’s October (!) the days are cooler the days of my balcony garden are numbered.  While I’m all for preserving fruit and vegetables I’ve never really preserved herbs.  Sure I know that you can chop them up and put them in the freezer but my freezer is always full enough as it is.

Then I thought about drying.  I mean EVERYONE has dried herbs in their cupboard so why not dry my own?  I quickly learned that there are numerous ways to dry herbs.  The most often recommended is hanging the herbs upside down somewhere and letting nature go to work.  I honestly couldn’t think of a single place in my apartment to hang herbs so I passed on that.

Next was using a food dehydrator and while I’ve wanted this food dehydrator by Ron Popeil since I was about 10 I don’t have one, so I passed.  Another option was turning the oven on the lowest setting and putting the herbs in there for a few hours.  While I’m sure this is a good method I hate the idea of leaving the oven on for hours.

This led me to my least favourite appliance… the microwave.  While I’m not a fan of microwaves I am a fan of quick.  I put a few sprigs (does oregano have sprigs) of oregano on a paper towel in the microwave and microwaved them in 30 second increments until they were brittle… about a minute and a half to two minutes.

Once the herbs were brittle I pulled them off the stems and crumbled them.  Super easy!  I’ll have to play around and see what else this technique works on.

Let’s start with the good….

Having herbs at the ready is one of the [...]]]> My balcony garden has been a fun experiment filled with ups and downs.  Some things flourished and others not so much.  Then throw in factors like crazy windstorms and you have a whole new set of challenges.

Let’s start with the good….

Having herbs at the ready is one of the biggest advantages of having a garden.  It’s great to walk out and pick a few sprigs for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  It PAINS me to have to pay $2 for a small container of herbs at the supermarket that will go bad.  I have a surplus of oregano, I think I’m going to dry it and put it in container.  As with last year my cilantro thrived for a bit and then died and the dill never really got going.

The radicchio grew really well for weeks (months?) but alas fitting radicchio into my eating schedule just wasn’t happening so unfortunately it started turning weird.  Totally my fault.  Plus we had a crazy heat wave which lettuce doesn’t enjoy at all so that was definitely a culprit.

My greens (kale, collards and swiss chard) have also been pretty healthy.  I haven’t used them as much as I should’ve but they haven’t given me many problems.

The habanero peppers that have come to fruition look great.  I haven’t cooked with them yet but I’m really excited to.  Sadly, my plants haven’t produced that many peppers.  So far I’ve gotten about 8 out of the plant with a few more growing but I was expecting A LOT more.  I think I had too many peppers in my pots for them to really flourish.

And the not so good…

My leeks aren’t turning into leeks!  They are a hair or two thicker than a pencil which is definitely not thick enough. I have a few that are a bit thicker but for the most part they are puny.  My container is probably a bit crowded.  I may start harvesting some of the leeks and see if they thicken up just a bit.

Strawberries.  They started out great.  I bought two varieties one was called seascapes and I can’t remember what the other was called.   I should’ve been better about marking them because one plant was great and the other not so much.  The 2nd plant bloomed later and produced more berries but they weren’t as sweet or big.  AND at a certain point they started growing in all shriveled (see picture).  What up with that?

What the heck was up with my lavender?  It NEVER bloomed the way it was supposed to and one plant didn’t bloom at all.  I was totally hoping for a lovely smelling balcony.

And the remains to be seen…

I honestly don’t see how these plants will EVER turn into proper Brussels sprouts.  Seriously.  And we’re already in September.  I bought fertilizer to see if that will help but it hasn’t really thus far.  I’m really hoping I get some sprouts out of these!

My beets are growing but I can’t really tell how they are doing under the soil.  The greens look healthy so hopefully that is a good sign.

As for unexpected events…

While I was away we had a crazy thunderstorm and INSANE winds.  So insane that my balcony furniture flew on top of my plants!  My pepper plants snapped and worst of all a few of my containers were really badly damaged.  Sure they were just $2 from Dollarama but it totally sucks.  I can barely water the plants without the water running out.  Totally makes me sad.

I should have one more post before the season is up.  Hopefully I’ll be able to show off a ton of beets and Brussels sprouts.  Fingers crossed.

I have strawberries!  Granted, not enough to do anything with but snack, but still, strawberries! The first one that I ate was on the watery side but subsequent berries have been really sweet and pretty divine.

Here is the conclusion of what I ate in London. Check out Part 1 here!

And on a side note, pretty much the whole trip I had this one line from Wyclef’s “Where My Fugees At?” stuck in my head.  The lyric: Some MCs in the underground, mad at me [...]]]>

Here is the conclusion of what I ate in London. Check out Part 1 here!

And on a side note, pretty much the whole trip I had this one line from Wyclef’s “Where My Fugees At?” stuck in my head.  The lyric: Some MCs in the underground, mad at me cuz I’m above ground/ Counting English pounds.  Random, I know.  So I figured the lead photo should be the sign that triggered this song in my head.

Arbutus
63-64 Frith Street
London W1D 3JW, United Kingdom
020 7734 4545

Arbutus, a well-known Soho restaurant, made it to my list because the menu sounded interesting AND it had a Michelin start… I think I found it via GOOP at some point too!  The menu was one of the pricier ones so I decided to visit it for lunch when they offer a prix fixe meal for 16.95.

After a leisurely morning at the Tower of London I headed over and grabbed a seat at the bar.  While perusing the menu I decided to forgo the prix fixe “Working Lunch” in favour of ordering a la carte where the choices were MUCH more interesting but of course more expensive.

I ended up ordering the Warm crisp pig’s head with young leaf salad and a dish of Roasted Duck with cherries and walnuts.  I’m not sure what the deal is but recently when I go out I’ve been ordering duck or pork belly where available.  Probably because I NEVER cook duck and rarely prepare belly with the exception of bacon.

The Pigs Head salad was amazing.  To be honest I think they just call it Pigs Head because a.) that’s what it contains and b.) for shock value.  It’s not like you get part of the pigs eye staring at you or anything.  Instead it was a sort of terrine of various textures of pork.  There was really a distinction in texture and flavour between the parts used with some being more smooth and others almost granular – very interesting contrast.  It was served with a small bit of green salad that cut through the richness and fat of the pork.

My main was truly a wonder when presented to me.  Yes, there were cherries but the walnuts took the form of a paste or butter that was smeared on the plate.  In addition the dish featured numerous small, roasted beets and a piece of crostini with a duck rillette.  I love rillette so a rillette surprise totally made my day. Oh! And it also came with a surprise side of potatoes gratin.  HEAVEN.

This was probably the most decadent lunch I’ve had in my life.  I felt like Henry VIII when I practically rolled out there.  Lunch ended up coming in at 30 but was totally worth it.

Hereford Road
3 Hereford Road
Westbourne Grove
London, W2 4AB
Phone: 020 7727 1144

Walking to Hereford Road from the Notting Hill Gate tube stop was probably one of the loveliest walks in London.  I walked through Notting Hill and had clearly discovered one of the fancy parts of town as the houses were city mansions and impeccably maintained.  Not that this has anything to do with meal but I just had to say that Notting Hill is adorable!

Set on a street with a few other restaurants, Hereford Road looks warm and comforting from the outside.  It follows the open kitchen concept and even displays some of the days fresh produce in the window (on the day I went it was giant globe artichokes).  The menu here has an emphasis on British cooking made with fresh produce and local products.  I debated amongst many items for both the appetizers (it was between the artichoke and the potted crab) and the mains (between the pot roast rabbit and the pork belly).  In the end the potted crab and the pork belly won.

Potted crab was new to me and the waitress described it as lightly seasoned crab baked and with a layer of butter on top.  You spoon it out and spread it on grilled bread.  Yes please!  The serving was generous and luckily delicious.  The crab was well prepared (except for a piece or two of shell/cartilage) and was a really great appetizer.

The pork belly was presented as a thick slice that had been roasted. The interior was roasted to perfection with an almost melting texture while the outer edge featured a nice crisp bit of skin (my fave). The pork belly was served with courgettes (aka zucchini) and saffron but we also got conned into ordering a side of potatoes by our waitress.  We definitely didn’t need any more food!

For dessert we split the cherry-almond tart with creme fraiche and the gooseberry Eton Mess.  The tart was rich and buttery and pretty much what I expected.  The Eton Mess was not nearly as good as the one that I had at St. John. Yes, I thought that the strawberries at St. John were a better pick compared to gooseberries but I didn’t enjoy how the meringue lacked any crispness either.  The meringue was on the tacky, chewy side which I did not appreciate.

Overall the meal was very good and for the most part (minus being conned into ordering a side) the service was lovely.  We ended up with a server named Tony (short for Elton, who knew!) that made the meal kind of hilarious at points. Hereford Road is definitely worth checking out.

North Sea Fish
7/8 Leigh Street
London WC1H 9EW
020 7387 5892

After my ok fish and chip experience at Fish Club I was excited to try North Sea Fish.  Located close to St. Pancras station the location seemed a little random but it wasn’t too far away so all was good.

North Sea Fish actually encompasses two restaurant: one side specifically for takeaway and another dining room for eat-in patrons.  Yes, the food is cheaper at the takeaway but for the most part I think fish and chips is best consumed immediately so I was willing to pay a premium.

I went all out and ordered a Spitfire beer  (possibly my new fave beer and it’s available at the LCBO!) to start and an order of the cod and chips for my main with a side of mushy peas.  Somehow I’ve never had mushy peas in life!  After placing my order the waitress brought over pretty giant ramekins filled with tartar sauce and ketchup.  I thought the amount was wholly unnecessary and seemed wasteful… but soon thought differently.

The serving sizes were definitely on the generous side.  The piece of fish was pretty big and the batter was on the lighter side of medium which was different than I’m used to.  The fish was clearly very fresh and flaked off in large almost moist chunks.  Truly perfection.  The chips were not the star here.  They were good but nothing to write home about.  If we want to talk about stars however I have to say that the homemade tartar sauce was incredible.  I honestly think I ate nearly half a cup of the stuff which is nothing short of excessive.  I also found a new friend in mushy peas.  They are kind of like Mexican refried beans but with green peas instead.  They aren’t anything fancy whatsoever but they were a great accompaniment.

North Sea Fish definitely deserves all of the votes that it gets for best fish and chips.  I also give it bonus points for it’s old school look.  The dining room is nothing close to modern and looks like it’s probably had the same look since the 50s or 60s.

Dishoom
12 Upper St. Martin’s Lane
London WC2H 9FB
Tel: 020 7420 9320

For my last meal in London I wanted Indian food so we ended up at Dishoom, a Time Out London pick.  The folks on Chowhound weren’t to enthusiastic about Dishoom for the most part but we ventured there anyway since it was close to where we wanted to be for the evening.

The menu at Dishoom didn’t really follow the type of Indian menus that I’m used to. Sure, they had biryanis and chicken tikka but it didn’t have a lot of the saucy curries that I’m used to and there was a big emphasis on grilling.  The menu is also designed for sharing which generally drives me crazy.  Luckily our table was perfectly happy to order separately without the pressure of doing things “tapas-style”.

I decided to forgo a Kingfisher beer and instead had the mango and fennel lassi.  Oh how I love a lassi!  There was a good amount of mango goodness but I’m a bit suspect of the fennel.  Sure there were fennel seeds sprinkled on top but I didn’t get fennel flavour throughout. To start we had the Café Crisps, Vegetarian Samosas and the Dishoom Calamari.  The Café Crisps were super salty and had another odd flavour to them.  Despite that I definitely ate a bunch dipped in a variety of sauces.  The vegetarian samosas were filled with a mash of potatoes and other vegetables and interestingly enough a whole lot of pepper.  Initially our table thought that it was the sauces that were spicy but it was totally the samosas.  The surprise hit was the Dishoom Calamari.  Initially a few at the table expressed interest in the calamari but decided against it because there are few things worse than sketchy calamari.  When we asked the waitress for recommendations she listed the calamari saying it was great and we were sold.  Good thing, it was spicy, not overcooked and overall fantastic.

For my main I ordered Grilled Masala Prawns and the Chicken Biryani.  The serving included about six large prawns and they were dressed lime, tomato, and cilantro.  They were well-spiced and cooked maybe a bit past perfection.  I never order biryani but have had a craving for it for months now and I finally decided to handle that.  To my surprise there were HUGE pieces of chicken throughout, about half chicken and half rice.  The biryani was tasty but not anything to special.  Despite being “sharing portions” I definitely felt stuffed afterwards and didn’t even finish the biryani.

Dishoom was a decent experience but not anything special.  I’ve never been to Brick Lane but I imagine that it is a good alternative to those restaurants and in a central location (near Leicester Square).

Random Stuff

One of the (many) joys of London is the fact that it’s part of Europe and some of my fave French spots have made their way over there!

While walking through Harrods I stumbled upon Laduree and found them again while strolling near Bond Street. I can’t pass up macarons so both times I got two. I went for the rose, salted caramel, and a few other flavours. All were great and reminded me how amateur my macarons really are. It also made me realize that I need to upgrade the amount of filling that I use.

I also stumbled upon Pierre Herme in Selfridges and REALLY couldn’t pass these up since Pierre Herme is my favourite macaron-maker. What I like about PH is that they do really unique flavours. I went for the Olive Oil and Vanilla, Jasmine, Salted Caramel and Pistachio. Reconnecting with my inner macaron lover made me so happy!

While in Bath I was killing time and decided to check out McDonalds. Whenever I’m in another country I have to visit McDonalds to check out what the local menu is like. Interestingly enough they were running an American-inspired menu that featured onion rings. Onion rings at McDonalds? I had to try. I wish I didn’t. They were served with this odd sweet chili sauce and the rings themselves were pretty planned and looked like they soaked up a pound of oil. They left a very bad taste in my mouth.

When I look back at all of my meals, my favourite was definitely Arbutus.  I found their whole menu to be very innovative and the dishes that I had were well-executed and really delivered beyond their menu description.  I would visit again in a heartbeat.

Look out for a few more posts on London including my trip to Borough Market and a look at London supermarkets and food halls.

I’ve always been an apartment-dweller so I’ve never had a backyard. Oh, but don’t cry for me Argentina!  I’ve never really cared that much, that’s what parks are for.  In recent years, as I’ve become more into food and understanding where it comes from, I’ve wanted my own gardening space.  For [...]]]>

I’ve always been an apartment-dweller so I’ve never had a backyard. Oh, but don’t cry for me Argentina!  I’ve never really cared that much, that’s what parks are for.  In recent years, as I’ve become more into food and understanding where it comes from, I’ve wanted my own gardening space.  For years I’ve had window box herbs but nothing beyond that.

Last year I moved into an apartment with a great balcony.  It’s west-facing with no obstructions AND it’s about 15-20 feet long.  Ample room to start a garden.

Since we moved in around June last year I couldn’t get my act together for any type of garden other than a few herbs.  I grew basil, Thai basil, thyme, rosemary and chives.  Everything grew well and it was great to have a nice assortment of herbs ready to go.  It PAINS me to pay $2.00 per pack of herbs at the supermarket when growing them is so inexpensive.

The other day I was on the balcony setting up the furniture when I noticed that my chives had started to sprout (see photo above).  This absolutely tickled me because I didn’t realize that they would just start sprouting like that and I didn’t know they would hold up against the cold (I didn’t protect them during the winter).  That’s when I started doing some research to figure out what to grow this summer.

Learning about gardening is completely overwhelming.  I borrowed a bunch of books from the library about container gardening but they only told half the story.  There is so much to gardening including knowing about pH levels in the soil, fertilizing, how much to water, pests etc.  This year I decided to get a general understanding of gardening and focus on what could work on my balcony given the amount of sun I get.
For the most part my balcony doesn’t get full sun so I decided to pick plants that work well with partial sun.  Unfortunately this ruled out tomatoes.  I decided to focus on herbs, various types of lettuce and greens, beets, leeks, strawberries, and Brussels sprouts.

I rented a ZipCar and headed out to see what was on offer at the various garden centres.  I started off at Home Depot and Canadian Tire but found the prices on the higher side compared to what I’d seen in Kensington and the vegetable selection was pretty uninspired.  I then decided to head down to BrickWorks knowing that they would have some goodness.  I picked up two varieties from strawberries, a spinach bowl, a mixed assortment of lettuce, Collard greens and dinosaur kale.  The following day I decided to head down to Kensington Market to round out my garden with the following: basil, thyme, cilantro, lavender, rosemary, oregano, arugula, Swiss chard, leeks and radicchio! Yes, I went overboard.  Oh, and I also bought dill seeds and beet seeds because I couldn’t find seedlings.

Here are some shots of my freshly planted pots…

(Planter 1: Rosemary, Chives, Oregano; Planter 2: Chives, Basil, Thyme)

(Planter 1: Spinach, Mixed Lettuces, Arugula; Planter 2: Kale, Collard Greens, Swiss Chard, Radicchio)

(Planter 1: Beet seeds planted; Planter 2: Leeks)

(Planter 1: Strawberries; Planter 2: Lavender)

After a week or so my plants were thriving.  That’s when I realized I had made a HUGE mistake.  I really should have planted them in more pots.  Duh!  My pots were way too cramped and had way too much going on for anything to thrive.  I guess I didn’t think things through.

Here’s a look at my way too cramped plants.

So it was back to the store to get more pots.  I bought my pots at Dollarama because they sell them for about $1-2, which is super cheap.  They are just standard plastic pots, not to fancy but they work.  The metal planters are from IKEA and I love them.  I then uprooted my plants and replanted them.

Collards got their own pot.

Radicchio got their own home too.

I moved the Swiss chard and kale into a pot by themselves and I thinned out my leeks too.

The lettuce are still cramped but I’m just living with it.

I also had some nice little surprises like… Strawberry flowers!  But sadly all signs pointed to the fact that I had to snip them off to make the plant stronger

My beets started sprouting!

Oh, and because I didn’t have enough going on I bought Brussels sprouts seeds and more basil and lavender from Fiesta Farms’ garden centre.  OOPS!

Stay tuned for more updates from my balcony garden throughout the summer and probably even the fall…

The other day I got this wacky idea about making my own mustard.  I’m not sure what it is these days but I’ve increasingly been having the urge to make more things that I can buy at the supermarket.  I mean really, do I need to make my own mustard?  Not [...]]]>

The other day I got this wacky idea about making my own mustard.  I’m not sure what it is these days but I’ve increasingly been having the urge to make more things that I can buy at the supermarket.  I mean really, do I need to make my own mustard?  Not really.  We have some great local mustards but they can get a bit pricey as you get into more specialty versions.  So I decided to make my own mustard.

In searching for a recipe for mustard there were a few things to consider.  Do I use yellow, brown or black seeds or a combination of all the above? Do I soak my seeds in water, vinegar, wine or something else?  Do I add mustard powder?  Do I want it creamy or grainy?  Do I want it to be flavoured or plain?  SO many questions!  I decided that I wanted a pretty standard “Deli-style” mustard – a grainy mixture of yellow and brown seeds soaked in apple cider vinegar.

Like many food items that we tend to shy away from making at home, making mustard is shockingly easy.  You don’t need any crazy ingredients or equipment.  You just soak the seeds in the vinegar (or wine etc) for a day or two and then puree it in a blender to your desired consistency.  From there you have to let it mellow out for a few days because the flavours are way too strong when you first make it.  It’s honestly as easy as that.

I would definitely make my own mustard again but more when I want a really custom flavour.  Like wouldn’t a maple mustard be neat with ham? Or maybe a chipotle lime mustard with fish?  And don’t even get me started on champagne mustard.

If you’re looking for a new frontier to pass in the kitchen arena try making your own mustard.

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