On the Mend: Mushroom Soup Gratinée

Today marks three weeks since I've been sick as a dog, and I finally, finally feel like my old self, minus a bit of a dry cough at night and the odd sniffle.  But, I feel about 97.66% normal.  Fist pumping the air, as we speak.  I'm still trying to take it easy, and will continue on my strong Vitamin game, as well as oil of oregano, and my handy dandy neti pot.  I've also been drinking this little elixir I've been making with powdered reishi and chaga mushrooms.  There's a store in our Farmers' Market which has all sorts of health products, and mushrooms, especially these two, are known for their strong anti-viral properties.  I just stir the powder into hot water and drink up.  It certainly has helped kick the virus' butt.  Yay mushrooms!

A New Year and Chicken Noodle Soup

Happy new year, friends.  I hope so far 2017 is treating you well.  It's always hard going back to work/school/routine after the holidays.  I already miss those Baileys in the coffee mornings, the guilt-free chomping on Toblerone (it's the holidays!), and the merry-making.  Christmas chez Renée was super fun.  My lovely mom helped me make dinner on Christmas Eve, where my handsome beau was also an attendee.  My tiny dining room was all aglow in candlelight and the food, well, the food was delicious.  For future reference, if you don't already brine your turkey, I highly recommend you do so.  So flavourful!  So juicy!  My mom and I both swear it's the best turkey we ever tasted.  And that counts the year that she wrapped the bird in bacon.  Afterwards, we opened gifts and the cats had the best time in the boxes and wrapping paper.  So easy to please those furkids.  New Years was quiet, just me and the guy.   Movies and homemade pizza.  Cuddles and champagne wishes/kisses.  New Years Day we went for a long walk in the cold, though popped into a fancy hotel for boozy hot chocolates halfway through.  Time spent with your perfect person is really the best gift.  And then I got sick.

Merry! Merry! Matcha Shortbread and Cookbook News!

It's just a handful of days before Christmas, but my biggest and best present came a little early.  All the Sweet Things cookbook went to print today.  Hooray!  Guys, I'm so, so happy.  And proud.  And feeling all the feels.  This has been quite the journey, from the time I was approached by TouchWood almost 2 years ago, to finishing my proposal in June of 2015, to the offer of a contract in July, then the completion of the manuscript this past April.  With the expected publication date of late April 2017, that's almost two years of gestation for my book baby!

Watermelon, Pomegranate and Feta Salad with Mint

This is a sponsored post.  I was compensated financially by the National Watermelon Promotion Board.  As always, I wouldn't tell you about a product unless I really really love it.  And I love watermelon.  

So, we're in the thick of it, aren't we?  Hustling to and fro, going to holiday parties and Christmas concerts, and doing our best to make the season bright.  If you're like me, and busy busy busy, you're behind on your baking and unsure if those Christmas cards will be sent out before the Big Day.  Don't fret.  Do the best you can.  And if in doubt, hum along to Good King Wenceslas.  It works!  I swear!  And, of course, the Plan B is always a shot of something boozy into a hot beverage.  Baileys in hot chocolate is a fave around here!

Brown Butter Pumpkin Cookies with Milk Chocolate Chunks

Hey all!  Oh my gosh, long time no chat.  I feel badly about that.  The hours, the days, they are so jam packed lately, it's honestly hard to find time to hang out here.  I hope you understand.  The gigs that pay the money - like my regular food columns and recipes development often come first, because, well, I like to eat good things and I have to pay the mortgage.  And buy cat food!  And save for a new bathroom, because I hate mine so much every time I have a shower.  Speaking of bathrooms, if you follow along with me on social media, you know how I visited Toronto last month for a Food Bloggers of Canada Conference, thanks to the kind and generous sponsorship of Canadian Lentils. My suite was on the 29th floor, next to the CN tower, and it had the most magnificent bathroom that ever was.  Floor to ceiling windows.  Soaker tub, big enough for me to stretch out my long legs, amazing views of the harbour and CN tower.  I felt like the luckiest girl alive.  I would call my handsome farmer back in Sask, and talk to him all the while in the loo.  Sweet soul, he just laughed at me.  I probably spent too much time hanging out in this great bathroom, but who knows when such opportunities will surface again for me.  Seriously, if you find yourself in Toronto, book room 2914 in the new Delta.  It's so good!

Greek Stuffed Zucchini with Rice and Lentils

This is a sponsored post.  I was compensated financially by USA Rice.  All thoughts and feelings and opinions about rice are entirely my own.  As always, I wouldn't tell you about a product  unless I loved it.   


I didn't grow any zucchini this year.  In fact, I didn't grow much of anything except pots of herbs and 3 tomatoes.  No, not tomato plants.  Tomatoes, singular.  I'm not sure why the heck my tomatoes did not flourish, but I have an inkling it's because my yard has become tremendously shady over the past couple of years.  Veg hate shade, that's a known fact.  Good thing I'm dating a vegetable farmer so there has been no shortage of tomatoes, or zucchini or anything else that grows in the ground around here.  If I were an emoji right now, I'd be the one with hearts for eyes.

A Thanksgiving Weekend of Fall Favourites

Good gracious, is it me or is this year flying by?   Canadian Thanksgiving is this weekend, and yes, we've had our first flakes of snow fall here in Saskatoon.  I see you shudder with disbelief.  Now you know how I feel!  Flannel sheets are now on the bed, and the furnace is now my friend.  Which reminds me, I need to change the filters.  Fall house maintenance.  It's a thing.  Next up is raking all of the leaves (once the snow melts) and my fella has offered to clean out my eaves for me.  What a guy.  There may just be an apple fritter in it for him.  That's right.  I said apple fritters!  I made them recently for an article I was writing and they were so delicious they left me without coherent words.  Only sounds of complete and utter satisfaction were able to leave my lips.  Tasty treats, those apple fritters.  Find the recipe here.