Mack and I went to Calgary for the weekend for a short getaway. As much as I know that Edmonton is always competing with #yyc, Calgary is a very nice place to visit (even more so when you throw caution to the wind and stay in a fancy hotel). On to this week’s food notes:

• A reminder that Downtown Dining Week starts this week and runs March 4-13, 2011. The menus are now up.
• In addition to Seedy Sunday on March 20, 2011, Just Food Edmonton and Slow Food Edmonton will be hosting an event called Beyond the Supermarket, which will provide consumers with alternative ways to support local producers.
• Avenue Edmonton released their third annual list of the 25 Best Things to Eat. I’m happy to see that Battista’s Calzones made the list. Also in the issue, an interview with the spunky Daniel Costa.
• Pampa, with its all-you-can-eat meat menu, is now open. Has anyone been yet?
• Marianne reviewed the plush Somerville Wine & Cheese. Looks like a welcome addition to the neighbourhood.
• Twyla visited the Five Guys Burgers & Fries location (a U.S.-based chain) – sure to be a bang up success. Mack and I first tried the restaurant in DC.
• City and Dale wrote about a recent brunch experience at Culina Muttart.
• Niche got a great write-up in the Journal last week.
• Liane posted more details about the new Southwest Edmonton Farmers’ Market that is set to open May 19, 2011, to run on Wednesdays from 5-8pm.
• Valerie wrote a wonderful tribute to Michael Schmidt, an advocate for raw milk, recapping his visit to Edmonton last week. Schmidt will be back in Edmonton on March 23.
• For all you Roll up the Rim to Win junkies, Jon Lin has again started posting about his winning (and losing) streak in his annual results tally.
• Food Network announced the competitors for Top Chef Canada (to start airing April 11). It’s unfortunate that no Edmonton chefs made the list (Century Hospitality’s Paul Shufelt was in the running), but there are two Calgary representatives, Rebekah Pearse of Nectar Desserts (now closed) and Connie DeSousa of CharCut.
• Speaking of Calgary, Foodie McPoon wrote about her Calgary quest for macarons.
• Over in Vancouver, it’s the end of an era: db Bistro Moderne and Lumiere are closing its doors.
• Looks like doughnuts are the new cupcake in NY.
• Mack’s Dad enjoys scotch, so we thought there would be no better place to take him for dinner than The Bothy. Martin appreciated the extensive selection of scotch, and was able to introduce Mack to his first taste of scotch (I stuck with wine). The chicken and leek pie was also just as delicious as I remembered.

Mack’s first scotch glass!

Charcuterie and cheese selection, featuring O Sol’ Meatos cardamom salami and Jam Lady condiments

Chicken and leek pie with tomato and bacon soup

• I met up with my family at Urban China for lunch last week. I haven’t been back there for dim sum since my visit early last year, but from what I hear, they’ve really improved (it is now at the top of my parents’ list of dim sum favourites). The har gao and siu mai seemed particularly tasty.

Pork and shrimp dumplings

• Last time, the epic battle featured Mr. Bacon vs. Mr. Tofu, but in another death match with only one winner, who would survive: the corndog or broccoli?

Captain Corndog vs. Baron Von Broccoli (as seen in Livingstone & Cavell Toys in Calgary)

Have a good week!

Nothing like a long weekend to refresh the spirit! Hope you had a good Family Day as well. On to this week’s food notes:

• Twyla blogged about her epic Valentine’s Day dinner at Bistro La Persaud – it looked amazing.
• I love sneaking a peek into people’s kitchens, especially for the day-to-day stuff, so I love Marianne’s recent posts about her “meal planning sagas”. She and Charles are exemplars that you can eat well at home, even without a lot of time to cook!
• Are you intimidated by the prospect of making your own sausages? (I know I am.) Valerie’s photo essay helped somewhat – at the very least, it looks like a lot of fun!
• Culina’s TV Dinners are now available gluten-free.
• Chris Kourouniotis, a designer that brought us the interiors of Hundred and Press’d, among others, was interviewed for the Journal. It was interesting to read about his thoughts behind decor, such as “If you want to sell more liquor than food, say, 60 per cent versus 40 per cent, we tend to darken the colours, provide richer reds and earth tones, with red being the driving flavour, and we have way more millwork and wood in a bar or a heavy liquor space. We really try to warm up the space, because psychology shows that’s what sells the beverages.”
• The Journal also had an article about Cheemo Perogies – they’re an amazing success story (they produce half a billion perogies every year!), but I had no idea they used locally grown flour, canola oil and potatoes in their products.
• Vue Weekly’s issue this week focused on brunch in Edmonton. One standout article – a piece that finds out the brunch favourites of Jacqueline Jacek (of Jacek Chocolates), Michael Harvey (of Cafe Haven) and Nate Box (of Elm Cafe).
• Perhaps it will be Transcend Coffee that will raise tea to a new level in Edmonton?
• Speaking of coffee, Calgary’s John Manzo wrote about a recent experience in Good Earth Cafe that gets one thinking about the quality control in place at successful third wave coffee shops.
• Mack and I stopped by Crave Cupcakes (7929 104 Street) on Saturday. It’s a bright little store, with pretty display pedestals. We tried the Va Va Vanilla (vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream) and the Lemon Lime Twist (lemon cake with lime buttercream). The lemon cake was the standout – moist, light, and subtle.

Interior

Cupcakes

• My office celebrated Black History Month with a potluck last week. It’s hard not to love a place where we not only regularly gather around homemade meals, but the lunch also dissolves into a dance party!

The potluck spread

I hope everyone had a good Valentine’s Day! If anything, it’s a good excuse to spend some time with your loved ones. On to this week’s food notes:

• Downtown Dining Week is coming up soon – March 4-13, 2011. 32 restaurants are participating this year, at $15, $25 and $50 price points. Most menus are forthcoming, though Wildflower Grill has already posted their offerings.
• Nettie Wiebe, a well-known food activist, will be speaking at two engagements: March 3 and March 4, 2011.
• Liane posted that this year’s Chefs in the City event is coming up on March 25, 2011. I had the privilege of attending last year, and it was quite the event indeed.
• Edmonton’s first location of Crave Cupcakes is now open!
• Liane also wrote about Blair Lebsack’s new venture, inspired by his recent trip to France and Spain.
• Bistro Praha was reviewed in the Journal this week. Looks like returning customers will be satisfied.
• Twyla reviewed Sabu Sushi Bar, the third restaurant to go into that location in a year. One can only hope it sticks.
• There was a great article about Credo in Vue last week.
• Bill C-474 was defeated last week. Jennifer posted the reply she received from her MP about why he voted against the bill.
• A writer in the Atlantic absolutely admonishes foodies in this piece. One gem: “Most of us consider it a virtue to maintain our principles in the face of social pressure, but in the involuted world of gourmet morals, constancy is rudeness. One must never spoil a dinner party for mere religious or ethical reasons.”
• Eater posted a hit list of food truck do’s and don’ts.
• A new restaurant is moving into the space vacated by Apocalypse Gaming (10185 107 Street), next to Khazana. Look for Chateau Beirut soon.

Chateau Beirut

• I’d been meaning to post a picture of Mighty Trio Organic’s new labels for a while, and finally got around to taking one this weekend at the Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market. Sean of Mighty Trio said some shoppers have even approached them asking if they were new to the market, having noticed them for the first time just because of the fresh designs!

Mighty Trio Organics (the labels were designed by Gabe Wong)

• One of the guilty pleasures that Mack and I share involves McDonald’s breakfast items; we love starting out any road trip with an Egg or Sausage McMuffin! So when McDonald’s announced a two day window where we could try their new Buttermilk Biscuit Sandwich for free, we jumped at the chance. It was clear many others also leapt at the word “free” – the line up at the Commerce McDonald’s was longer than I’d ever seen it. As for the sandwich? The biscuit was all right, but we both didn’t like the scrambled nature of the egg.

Buttermilk Sausage Biscuit

• In between shopping at South Edmonton Common, Annie and I stopped by Local Public Eatery to grab a bite over the weekend. It wasn’t the best experience, food or service wise: my fish was on the greasy side, and Annie’s burger was cold, and it took over twenty minutes to pay our bill. It was busy in the restaurant – the Oilers game was on – but I am hopeful our next experience will be more positive.

Fish and chips ($13)

Oil City burger with squash soup ($15)

• Not food related, but I’m proud of my sister – Amanda helped style a mannequin for Goodwill, using the clothes and accessories available to her at the southside location.

Amanda’s rocker-inspired look

• Walking home today, a dressed-up light pole at 102 Avenue and 106 Street caught my eye. At the top were cards printed with the following message, “While cold snow fell, I dreamt of summer gardens, and awoke to blossoms upon my pillow. I offer one to you, and although old and withered it still holds the whisper of its past glory.” Attached to the back of the card is a dried flower. It was such a beautiful thing to stumble upon – thanks to whoever offered up these random acts of kindness!

A beautiful surprise

Mack was nice enough to add a “subscribe by e-mail” button to my site (which you will find on the right). Subscribing means you will get an e-mail alert any time a new post goes live. Thanks, Mack! On to this week’s food notes:

• Mark your calendars – the 2011 edition of Seedy Sunday is taking place on March 20.
• Kerstin’s Chocolates will be releasing two limited edition Chocophilia bars for Valentine’s Day, Salt and Pepper and Chipotle Bacon Bars, available from February 5 – 12, 2011. They also announced the date for their third anniversary party: March 5. Just sign up for a ticket to attend!
• A new hyperlocal website just launched yesterday, focusing on Edmonton’s west end.
• It’s difficult to keep up with all of the local food blogs sprouting up, but I’m doing my best – welcome, Jeremiah of Food Don’t Lie!
• Chris had a great Q & A with Owen of Prairie Mill last week.
• Jennifer Cockrall-King wrote a very timely post about Bill C-474, which calls for a “waiting period to assess the potential economic harm to Canadian farm export markets to allowing commercial sale of any new genetically modified food seed.” It is a private members bill that will be up for discussion on February 8, 2011. This is on the heels of the USDA approving the Monsanto’s GMO sugar beet, which means half of America’s sugar crop will be GMO this year (need a primer on the risks of GMO crops? Read David Suzuki’s take here).
• Also worth reading is Mark Bittman’s Food Manifesto for the Future (my favourite point: “Break up the U.S. Department of Agriculture and empower the Food and Drug Administration. Currently, the U.S.D.A. counts among its missions both expanding markets for agricultural products (like corn and soy!) and providing nutrition education. These goals are at odds with each other; you can’t sell garbage while telling people not to eat it, and we need an agency devoted to encouraging sane eating.”
• Mary Bailey sent along a clip from a new show starring Fred Armisen (of SNL fame) called Portlandia. This clip pokes fun at locavores – pretty funny.
• Eric Ripert was in Calgary early last week. See a recap of his talk here.
• You know veganism has gone mainstream when Oprah tried it. At the very least, I’m sure she’s gotten millions of Americans to talk about it.
• If this doesn’t scare food bloggers, nothing will: a food blogger in Kuwait is being sued for $18,000 for writing a negative review.
• It’s just for publicity purposes, but Kraft’s machine that uses facial scans to determine what type of meal you’d like (made from Kraft products, of course) is just another in the trend of technology trying to help the consumer with dinner.
• Happy Lunar New Year to those who celebrate it – all the best for the year of the rabbit (or cat)! We missed the firecrackers in Chinatown, but thankfully, not the excuse to have good food with family! My Mom suggested that I make barbecue duck salad rolls, and who am I to not listen to my mother?

Ready to roll!

• The table was absolutely laden with good food – our annual potluck never disappoints!

So much food

• And as tradition dictates, we started the meal with yusheng, a dish comprised of raw seafood, condiments and shredded vegetables, which we tossed together as a group – all in the name of good fortune for the coming year.

Happy New Year!

It’s always bittersweet when a friend leaves your workplace for another opportunity, but at least in Jill’s case, she’s only a few blocks away! Still, I’m going to miss you and our coffee breaks, fellow grapefruit club member! On to this week’s food notes:

• Probably the biggest food news in the city this week was the announcement that Transcend is opening up downtown, in the space formerly occupied by Axis Cafe (10349 Jasper Avenue). Look for the T3 to open up in March, with a full food menu to boot.
• Another Japanese Village is set to open in south Edmonton at 2940 Calgary Trail (which most recently housed Blush, among other things) – thanks for the tip!
• Congrats to Liane and Kevin, two Edmonton winners of the first instalment of the Canadian Food Blog Awards!
• Save the date! Slow Food Edmonton is planning its first annual Eat Alberta Food Conference April 29-30, 2011, to be held at the Yellowhead Brewery. The day will feature lots of hands on sessions like sausage and bread making, as well as various tastings. More details to come!
• Perhaps this is the way to engage the next gen set at the community league level: host a wine and cheese for Valentine’s Day (Oliver is doing it on February 12, 2011).
• Joel Salatin (of Polyface Farms/Omnivore’s Dilemma fame) is coming to town at the end of June.
• The Journal wrote about how social media helps bring diners into local restaurants, like Elm Cafe.
• Also from the Journal – looks like Alberta lamb is on the upswing (it does seem to be more readily available as of late, but then again, I’m probably just looking for it more).
• The City of Edmonton invites you to complete a survey regarding their Corner Store Revitalization Project (trying to help reverse the immense tide away from neighbourhood-based shops). I’m not that optimistic, but I do support it – anything to make the city more walkable.
• I love Councillor Henderson’s idea of closing off 104 Street in the summer and turning it into a “big patio”. C’mon Council, make it happen!
• How could you not love CHARCUT’s alley burgers (aka, gourmet burgers, served out of their back alley)? I know what I’m lining up for the next time I’m in Calgary. Both Andree and Julie wrote about their recent back alley foray.
• Watch for a new farmers’ market in southeast southwest Edmonton, at the Lillian Osborne High School (2010 Leger Road), to be launched some time this spring or summer.
• Check out the hydroponic tomatoes that came out of Maki’s basement. Gorgeous.
• 700 columns later, The Minimalist is over! Mark Bittman will still be writing for the NYT, but ended his weekly recipe column last week.
• I’ve been reading a lot about “pop-up” restaurants lately – establishments that open up temporarily for a few days or a few months. How’s that for finicky diners – here today, gone tomorrow…

Have a good week!

There’s some good news coming– watch for an announcement about the venue for the year-round City Market in two weeks. I can’t wait until it’s official!

• NAIT’s next Chef in Residence will be Susur Lee – it’ll be interesting to see what else he has to say about Shang.
• Thanks to this tip, I found out that the Edmonton area will be getting its first Five Guys Burgers and Fries – in Sherwood Park.
• Look for GAMA (10418 82 Avenue), a new store that will serve up Taiwanese drinks and cookies. They had their soft opening over the weekend.
• Axis Cafe is closing its doors. They are hosting a closing party on January 27, 2011 at 7pm.
• If you love Blue Plate Diner’s vegetarian burgers, you’ll be happy to know you can now take them home to make! Pick them up at the restaurant ($12 for 4 patties), or order them through the Good Food Box.
• Curious about how the revamp of The Next Act Pub came to be? Vue Weekly published an interview with one of the men behind its “second act”.
• Valerie sent me a link about Food Network’s reality show-style search for The Next Great Chocolatier.
• The Journal had a great write-up of the Breaducation event at Luzzara two weeks ago, including a recipe for no-knead bread. Local blogger Andrea already tried it out, with fantastic results!
• Isabelle wrote a very thoughtful post about the realities of tight purse strings unfortunately preventing her from supporting local producers.
• This is pretty cool – a musician staged a flash mob at New York’s Eataly, to the tune of “Smooth Criminal”.
• The NYT had an article about the rise of restaurants using social media sites like Scvngr and Foursquare to engage customers.
• I’m not sure what I was expecting from the facade reno of Chinatown’s Taipan Cafe, but it wasn’t this. Even though it’s a bit far out, I kind of like how bold it is.

Taipan Cafe

• Mack was nice enough to stop by Bistro Praha to check on its status – turns out, it will actually be opening this coming Friday, January 28. The interior, even though it is in a new building, actually reminds me very much of the old space.

Bistro Praha interior

• There’s a new Mucho Burrito downtown, in the HSBC Building (10250 101 Street).

Mucho Burrito

• Before Ice on Whyte, I had a bite to eat at the newest location of Nhon Hoa (10154 82 Avenue). My usual order at the Chinatown location is a sub with shredded pork, but they didn’t even have it on the menu here (I ended up with a sausage and shredded pork sub). The bread was too toasted for my liking, but it hit the spot.

Sausage and shredded pork sub

• Mack and I ended up at our neighbourhood Blue Plate Diner on Sunday night for a pre-show dinner. I ordered the $45 Fork Fest special, which included an appetizer, entree, and glass of wine. The tomato & parmesan tart was delicious – the pesto beurre blanc that made the dish. I was expecting a little more from the braised plum lamb shank though – the meat was nearly fall-off-the-bone tender, but more than anything, I was left wanting an accompanying jus or sauce of some kind. Also of note – it was the third time, in trying to have points added to our Original Fare VIP card, that the machine did not work – the program has been in place for a few years now, so we wondered why glitches haven’t yet been remedied.

Tomato & parmesan tart

Braised plum lamb shank

• To help celebrate Annie’s birthday, her parents cooked us a grand meal, and finished with fondue made from a Kerstin’s Chocolates kit. Happy birthday, Annie!

Chocolate fondue

I am so glad the forecast is looking up, because I’ve just about had it with the weather. I guess I don’t have as much to complain about as some (a lack of sidewalks to shovel is a definite plus of condo living), but trudging through piles of uneven snow in the blistering cold for my daily commute was getting hard to take. How many more months until spring? On to this week’s food notes:

• CBC Edmonton is still looking for recipe contributions for their Flavours of Edmonton cookbook, a fundraiser for the Edmonton Food Bank. You have until January 24, 2011 to submit your recipe. Direct any questions to Erin Thomson.
• The U of A Alumni Association is organizing the Educated Palate, a series of food-related events to take place over the next few months. Among the sessions are a coffee and chocolate session featuring Transcend and Kerstin’s, and a tasting with d’Lish.
• Are you counting down to the day when Edmonton’s first location of Crave opens on February 4, 2011? You can follow their progress on their blog.
• Looks like Bistro Praha is set to (finally) open on January 21.
• Maki recapped Breaducation, an evening of learning and sampling at Luzzara last week, featuring Chris and Owen of Prairie Mill.
• The Journal reviewed Corso 32 last week – a rave if I’ve ever read one: “Corso 32 takes its place as one of the city’s most exciting and satisfying places for a serious meal.”
• Twyla’s review of Ruby Dragon (another Asian fusion restaurant that replaced Kai) made me laugh: “The young manager was quite proud that they employ someone who is strictly in charge of the deep fryer. So, while I appreciated their attention to detail, I felt it was more of a sentence than a position of honour for their chosen one.”
• Kevin wrote a great post about creative ways of sourcing products locally, without surrendering value for dollar.
• The Journal also had a good piece comparing canola oils (I love Mighty Trio) and a feature on the revamped Alberta Avenue Farmers’ Market (I hope the market gets the same bump in business that restaurants seem to experience after the exposure).
• Ever wonder how a visit from Guy Fieri of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives can impact a business? Wonder no more: “It was a gift,” says one restaurant owner.
• Liane mentioned a new restaurant called Niche (11011 Jasper Avenue) that has replaced the Hardwood Cafe. Just one review on Urban Spoon so far – but I’d be curious to check it out.

Niche

• Ellen, Jill and I checked out Razzleberries (10040 104 Street) for lunch on Friday, which bills itself as offering “authentic Sri Lankan cuisine”. It was a modest buffet (two of the six items were rice and plain pasta), but was inexpensive ($8.95). I could see myself returning if I worked right nearby (there were many tables of office workers without coats on), but I wouldn’t seek it out again.

A plate from the buffet line at Razzleberries – the bourbon chicken was tasty, but the curried beef and lentils both could have been cooked for a longer period

• Mark your calendars: Original Fare’s Fork Fest starts next week, January 16-20 and January 23-27, 2011.
• The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra is holding a fundraiser on January 28, 2011, called the Flavours of BC’s Naramata Bench Wine Tasting & Auction.
• How about a different kind of dinner theatre? See Kenneth Brown’s epic trilogy Spiral Dive, preceded by dinner from La Bistro Persaud. On until January 23.
• Liane reported that Pharos has now reopened, below the Haven Social Club.
• City and Dale wrote a little preview of Somerville Wine & Cheese.
• Chris followed up on Marianne’s review of Corso 32 with one of his own.
• Mack and I sadly missed the pig-tastic potluck that Valerie hosted this weekend – it looked fun!
• Speaking of Valerie, she has added more Taste Tripping cooking classes to the calendar.
• Mack sent me a link to an Alberta Venture article about the difficulties faced by microbreweries in Alberta.
• Also from Mack – he is always complaining about certain nuances of restaurant websites – the use of flash, no accessible menu, etc. Turns out, this Tumblr site read his mind.
• Need to catch up on what you missed on Top Chef: All Stars? Maki will be posting recaps of the show every Tuesday.
• Cathy posted an amusing flowchart to help consumers determine whether or not a food item at the grocery store is, well, actually food.
• This is an interesting piece from Gourmet Live – frozen yogurt may not be as healthy as consumers think.
• Starbucks is changing their logo: gone are the words “Starbucks Coffee” from the outer edge of the circle – it seems the company wants the image of the mermaid to be as iconic as the Nike Swoosh or Apple’s logo.
• I walked by Sequel Café last week (formerly Essence Tea Bar), and took a picture of their day’s menu.

The Sequel Cafe

• It was particularly steamy in Pho Tau Bay on Friday afternoon, when Ellen and I caught up over bowls of noodles. She said we would end up smelling like pho upon our return to the office. She was right.

Pho

• Mack and I took in the lovely lights at the Legislature a few times over the holidays – nothing says Christmas in Edmonton like waltzing through the tree-lined paths with a loved one.

Mack’s prettiest shot

Happy new year! It’s hard to believe the holidays are over, though really, I’m just sad that our nightly Mad Men marathons have to end, heh. I hope your transitions back to work are painless as well! On to this week’s food notes:

• Lots to do this coming weekend – check out Deep Freeze at Alberta Avenue, January 8-9, 2011 (with special Alberta Avenue farmers’ markets on both days as well), and Winter Light, which runs January 8 and runs until March 5, 2011.
• Transcend Coffee is offering a pretty cool opportunity – the chance to visit some premium coffee growers in Costa Rica with Poul Mark, the founder of Transcend.
• Congrats to the twelve Alberta bloggers, including Andree, Cheryl, Chris, Kevin, Mel and Liane who are nominated for the Canadian Food Blog Awards! Winners will be announced on January 31, 2011.
• Somerville Wine and Cheese (10723 124 Street) is now open.
• Marianne and Charles visited Corso 32, and wrote up a positive review! Glad to see that some of Daniel’s successful dishes at Red Star make appearances at Corso.
• If you haven’t checked out Valerie’s series of posts on trends, I’d highly recommend it – she has collected a variety of perspectives, including farmers, food writers and business owners, bloggers and chefs.
• Liane also published her piece on food trends last week, and followed up with a blog post. I have to say I disagree with her point that cupcakes are on their way out.
• A number of bloggers wrote year-end wrap up posts, including Maki, Chris and Valerie.
• I almost missed this – Jan Hostyn had a good interview with Jacqueline Jacek of Jacek Chocolates in Vue.
• Janice was in town for a few days last week, and Annie, May and I thought it only fitting to welcome her back with cheese fondue.

The spread

• We took advantage of our proximity to Churchill Square this year by taking in the New Year’s Eve festivities just before midnight.

Yi-Li, Jane, Mack and I

Fireworks!

 It’s always great to see downtown bustling with people

Last but not least – Go Canada Go! Man, the city will be rocking this time next year when the World Juniors pays us a visit (even though I know the medal games won’t be in Edmonton).

I hope everyone had a good Christmas! We’ve been putting our feet up over here…we haven’t had this relaxing of a holiday in some time. Much of that relaxing has been in the form of watching Mad Men from the beginning – it really is dangerous having access to an unlimited trial of Netflix, with the first three seasons of the show available. Though there’s not too much happening in the blogosphere, here are a few notes anyway:

• Foodie McPoon notes that the IHOP has officially opened.
• If you’re looking for reading material, make sure you check out Lightside Photography’s 30 Days of Edmonton series, if you haven’t already.
• Valerie posted about her favourite Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market purchases last week.
• Also from Valerie – a post reflecting on her thoughts on trends for the next ten years, and a post soliciting thoughts on trends from chefs. Keep an eye on her blog this week – more trends from others to come!
• Christmas week meant a lot of eating out, catching up with friends and coworkers alike. One of those lunches took place at Viphalay, where I had my tried and true pad thai.

Viphalay’s pad thai

• I love freshly baked bread, and Mack was sweet enough to feed my habit with a loaf this week.

Mack’s bread!

• A few weeks ago, we agreed to sign up to try out an indoor composting system called Bokashi, which instead of using worms, utilizes microorganisms to break down organic material by fermentation. It’s been about two weeks, and still, there is little to no odour! We’ll be writing more about it in the new year.

Indoor composter

• We had our second Christmas dinner over at Mack’s grandparents’ house on Saturday. Besides being treated to a delicious meal, I had my annual visit with Peanut.

Isn’t she adorable?

Enjoy your week!