I thought I was hungry...

Oh great.

That's just what I want to eat.

Pharmaceutical drugs are one thing on their own, but I wasn't really planning on consuming much in the way of antibiotics (raw garlic aside) on my dinner plate. Or extra detergents or plastic. Choosing drugs, is a little different than hoping to choose a watermelon which happens to be dressed in disguise.

But it's coming!

Check this out.

Hungry yet?

glorious cinnamon hot chocolate

Either I am in love with winter, or perhaps just the idea of it. I am certifiably nuts over hot chocolate. It's not something I can totally control either. It just starts with a craving, and develops into something more. It's like eating chocolate, but better; you don't have to wait for it to melt on the tongue to be able to savour it's beauty.

In the next while, I'm going to feature, well, virtually endless varieties of hot chocolate. It's not that cold out yet, but we can all use a head-start on deliciousness to keep our wits about us. It's fairly simple to prepare, doesn't require hours of time, or overtly expensive ingredients. It can be humble, and still thrill us to no end.

Cinnamon is an intriguing flavour to me. It has been demanded for hundreds of years, and is used in virtually every type of dish, from dessert to liqueur. And why not? It is sweet and spicy, an undeniably versatile and delicious spice. In this recipe, I used ground cinnamon, and the stick form, to ensure a thorough cinnamon luxuriousness.

Cinnamon and chocolate paired together, makes me think of something very earthy, but also something exotic. Aztecs meet Silk Road.

Cinnamon Hot Chocolate
(Serves 2)

1 cup whole milk
1 10 cm cinnamon stick
2 tbsp best quality cocoa
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp, 70% dark chocolate (20g, chopped)
1 tsp best quality vanilla extract

1. In a small saucepan, heat the milk, cinnamon stick, cocoa, and the ground cinnamon. Whisk constantly. Bring to a boil, and immediately reduce heat to low. Continue to whisk and heat on low for three minutes.
2. Still using a whisk, add the dark chocolate, honey, and vanilla extract to the heated mixture.
3. Once all the ingredients are silky smooth, pour into warmed cups. Garnish with a small cinnamon stick for each serving.

pink peppercorn hot chocolate

Winter is a time to be cozy, curl-up and cuddle. It becomes exquisitely delicious and enticing with hot chocolate. It should be rich and aromatic, with a lingering thickness which remains on the palate just a second longer than expected. Something to be savoured.

It may as well be a tad spicy, but a delicately sweet and subtle spice. A cure for all that ails you; affectionately known as drinkable chocolate goop, but ultimately much more refined. My favourite hot chocolate.

pink peppercorn hot chocolate (Serves 1-2)

1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 tsp cornstarch
60g, 70% dark chocolate, shaved or finely chopped
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp best quality vanilla extract
1/2 tsp crushed pink peppercorns

1. Pre-heat cups with hot water, to help the hot chocolate remain hot.
2. In a small saucepan, bring the milk and cornstarch to a simmer over medium-low heat.
3. Lower the heat, and whisk in the chocolate, honey, vanilla and peppercorns, until velvety smooth.
4. Empty the water from the cups, and dry.
5. Pour the hot chocolate into cups, and garnish with additional whole peppercorns, or whipped cream. Enjoy!

fri five fave food finds

There could not possibly be a much better time, or excuse, to enjoy comfort foods. World economies flounder from moment to moment, the Obamarama drug has yet to take full effect, and to top it all off, baby, it's cold outside.

Perhaps there a still few small splurges we can be afforded in such volatile times, when we look for solace in just about anything. Like cheese.

1. Saltspring Island Cheese, is based on the almost surreal hip-community island of its namesake, and produces cheeses of similar goodliness. No hormones, fair-trade, handmade. There are a variety of gorgeous fresh goat cheeses - Chèvre, with edible flowers, chili's and all kinds of goodness. My favourite is the brie-like Juliette; a silky-creamy delight.

2. Shay Cheese is like a cheese-of-the-month club done right, only in Canada mind you.

3. Parmigiano-Reggiano. I can't imagine a better marketing and information outpost than the Parmigiano-Reggiano consortium. The wealth of information about the King of Cheese, is simply unparalleled.

4. The Official Grilled Cheese Blog. There isn't much that could be simpler than grilled cheese. It has been around in some form or other, since Ancient Rome. The combinations are endless; sourdough or ciabatta, white cheddar or smoked gouda?

5. Nothing could be more thrifty than reading about cheese, and the making of cheese. And this one should tide you over for a good amount of time, especially if you want to make cheese, or want to know everything about the cheesemaking process by Professor Arthur R. Hill.

If all else fails to cheer you up, it is almost impossible not to smile with vegetables that sing and dance.

a list of evolving trends

things we'll see more of in 2008?

1. comfort food + slow food
2. pork. jowls. bacon + chocolate
3. wild game + exotic seafood (less salmon)
4. flying fish roe + bottarga
5. organics of all kinds + micro-greens
6. local owner-operated coffee shops + more wine bars
7. broccoli + cheetos
8. cuttlefish + saor
9. cupcakes + pies + liqueur-soaked desserts
10. food certifications + consortiums

I'm not Thomas Keller

Nor do I pretend to be.

Recently on my blog, I wrote about the food of a newly opened restaurant, and also responded to glowing reviews, for the same restaurant, on a public food-lover forum. The resulting remarks degraded into back-handed comments pulling my credentials into question, and essentially calling into question the credentials of all who blog about food.

The customer is not always right, but as an eater, diner, and someone who loves reading and writing about food, this backlash solely serves to degrade those who work to enable the entire food industry, and have a passion for food.

Are my opinions worth anything, if I only give positive reviews? Are my opinions worth anything, only if I am a chef?

My aim is to encourage a love of cooking, and a love of good food. Not all food can be good. We all need to nourish our bodies, and should do so with care. I do spend substantial time pondering the origins of the food I put in my body. If it is less than healthful for me, it must be very, very good. Every morsel needs to be worth it, not just bang for buck, but bang per mouthful. Expensive or cheap, I just want good food, and something made by a real person, with a penchant for flavour.

I started this blog for myself. I love good food; I travel frequently, and I wanted to document my experiences. Food is in fact an obsession for me, and it seems it always has been. I have to laugh when I find old postcards I sent as a child, in which I solely describe the foods consumed throughout a vacation. My parents also had an enormous garden. I grew to appreciate fresh vegetables, and the honey I used to have dripped on my finger, from the vat my Dad used for beekeeping. I consumed fresh cream and cheese from the farm, and nearly every imaginable homemade Ukrainian food that a Ukrainian granddaughter could be fed. It was certainly not pretentious, but always very good. Baba's food is not fancy, but there is a reason my Baba's first boyfriend named his perogy company after her. I have never had a better perogy than hers, and believe me, I've tried.

I do not often create dishes for my blog with excessively refined techniques, as I also believe that everyone can cook something. No excuses. It doesn't mean that I can't use refined techniques, or that I don't; I just don't share those dishes, as others seem discouraged, when I am trying to mandate that we can all cook, and should share in a joy of good food. We do not need all of our food prepared for us from a box, we are all capable of preparing something.

I work long hours with my two occupations, besides my preoccupation with food, and can always find the time and energy to prepare something. My idea of fast food, is a simple spread of flavourful and fresh vegetables, accompanied by equally simple meats or grains. Good food, doesn't have to be fancy, it just has to be good. Sometimes I write about food that seems so absurdly simple, as I hope to encourage friends to eat fresh, and enjoy a meal prepared with their own hands. A meal that is healthful for the body, and for the family as an opportunity to be together to enjoy each other's company. A meal is an opportunity to be savoured.

For a while I lived on the Eastern Seaboard of the US, and restaurants were generally decent, no desperate necessity to find somewhere at least edible. The service might be brusque, but it was professional. You learn very quickly, that those who irritatingly complain or are excessively demanding are treated with inferior service. Generally, service was fantastic, and the food was wonderful. It came to be defined to me as good service. However, if I found a place I didn't enjoy, I wouldn't go back. If I spent hard earned money once, and there are hundreds of other options, why go spend more money at a less than stellar place?

At this time, I also worked in several restaurants, and picked up the occasional catering gig, preparing the food. I am not a classically trained chef, but I can cook. Eventually you meet a lot of people, and pick their brains too. It also helped to live around the corner from a brilliant Italian pastry shop, incredible markets, and some of the best pizzeria's anywhere. You discover there is always something more to learn.

I am an extremely curious person, and a voracious reader. There have been years in which I studied and memorized literally hundreds of restaurant menus. Abnormal to be sure. Sometimes it was like a game to see if I could pre-imagine how a dish would taste, just from reading the menu. I realize it's absurd. Although, I still occasionally pursue the same habit with recipes. It's just for fun, and when my expectations are blown out of the water, all the better. I must say that it is not often, when I do not have fewer books in my home than the local public library, from where I frequently borrow. I probably read too much about food, old and new, and for this I simply cannot apologize. It doesn't make me an expert, but I have a vocabulary.

When I moved back to Calgary, after living away for nearly a decade, I became disappointed with the food and service I received. As time goes on, it improves, and for that I am thrilled. In the meantime, I have continued to cook for myself, and my family and friends more and more. I obsessively plan eating trips, to learn and discover. There is always more to learn.

I certainly do not consider myself an expert by proxy. Actually, I'm hardly one to claim, expert status, even on things which I am more than certifiably an expert about. Although, I might very occasionally turn on foodtv, I honestly hard watch tv. Certainly, I don't like to watch schlock, or take it as anything more than entertainment. I do enjoy a good laugh, and shows which take me on a journey to a far away land for new experiences. I find it laughable that it is implied, I might consider myself an expert from watching foodtv, when I don't even really watch it. This is absolutely hilarious.

NO press is bad press. Although, restaurants are not always happy when someone has a less than pleasurable word to offer; negative press is still press, and creates a desire for the curious truth seeker. Personally, I take all reviews I read with a grain of salt, and generally want to find out the truth for myself. I encourage others to do the same. I certainly do not take another's opinion seriously, if it is never without a certain element of scrutiny.

I have eaten in New York often enough to know that New Yorker's do complain, albeit with nasty looks, or grossly absurd comments. Although, more often than not, and not shockingly, the food is quite good. I am not out to complain, but I believe in the tremendous power of potential held by the restaurants and food scene in Calgary. But we have to continue to demand more. More than nice silverware, a beautiful façade, and expensive ingredients; the food has to be good.

Unfortunately, I know too many people who do not dine out in this town because they are tired of having overcooked fish or similar, at anywhere other than super high-end restaurants; they are tired of receiving inferior food, or likewise paying through the nose for something edible. There has to be some middle ground. If a restaurant sends out food, and I am paying for it, it had better be good, no matter the dollar figure.

I find that overly glowing reviews are too difficult to swallow, as it seems just too artificial and contrived. I am not painting a less than rosy picture because I have a flair for the dramatic, but because to I prefer to be honest, as I am a meticulous and particular eater. If I can make a dish better at home than in a restaurant, this is disappointing for me. This is just as disheartening when I have enjoyed beautiful dishes in the home of a friend, who is interested in food, and creates dishes more enjoyable than at restaurants. I just want to say wow, even for a dish that appears relatively simple. I eat out to be inspired, and this is my expectation. The food has to be better than the home cook, or at least equally as good, but I didn’t have to do the work.

I do not dismiss the ridiculously hard work of chef's as something which can be easily imitated, or that should be less than highly regarded. But, I do not put myself on a pedestal either. I do not want exceptional food to go under appreciated. However, I have great difficulty supporting blatant mediocrity, in any form. We need to discuss the bad and the good, and to distinguish ourselves from mere lemmings. Not everything can be good, nor can everything be good for everyone. We all have our own taste; no I am not Thomas Keller, and I do not consider myself solely entitled to criticize others outright, but I do strongly encourage others to form educated opinions for themselves.