So, raise your hand if you have a Halloween candy hangover? Just me? No, I didn't think so!

While it's tons of fun to traipse around the streets in a costume and visit the neighbours, I really wish that we all gave out less candy. Every year I over buy and feel badly if I shell out less than two or three treats to each goblin. I know my neighbours are the same because my son comes home with way more treats than the number of houses he visited.

It's all fun and games the first night when we have a sugar fest but what do you do with all the sweet and salty snacks after that party is over? For a few weeks we all pick at the candy more than we should and then, awash in junk food fatigue and regret, around November 20th or so I'll toss the remaining treats out, feeling guilty not only about how much of the stuff we ate but also about how much food I'm wasting.

There just has to be another way to keep the fun of the Halloween tradition alive but reduce the amount of junk food involved. So, while the event is still fresh in your minds, send me your ideas for inexpensive useful or fun items that we can all shell out next year instead of candies or chips. To get you started, take a peak at the picture above. It shows some of the ideas the test kitchen team and I had for alternative Halloween treats that cost about the same amount as candy.


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I've long been a fan of Indian food and I'm very glad to see Indian frozen foods, sauces and curry pastes turning up in more Canadian grocery stores. My hope now is that tiffin-style take out will soon be available here, too.

I first learned about Tiffin when I visited southern India on a spice company sponsored trip for journalists. Our hosts at one event generously gave each of us a monogrammed metal tiffin carrier (mine is pictured below). The idea behind tiffin is that there's a compartment for each part of your lunch: rice, curry and condiments such as chutney or pickles. It's a brilliant concept for transporting foods easily!

In the UK, takeout tiffin carriers have been available for a number of years. The chain Tiffin Bites sells mix-and-match Indian meals in stacking plastic containers that are combined as you like and then taken home and enjoyed. Recently, the UK's Waitrose Supermarket borrowed this concept and started packaging Indian meals in a similar manner.

Although Indian food is the original filler for these containers, I don't see why they aren't used more often for all kinds of foods. In fact, I'd like to have a tiffin container on my desk to hold a layer each of bittersweet, milk and white chocolate and right next to it I'd like another one containing olives, cheese, and little bits of cacciatore sausage. Yum! There are literally layers of possibilities!


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Several years ago I wrote a book called Pantry Raid that was about how to make foods using common pantry ingredients. In the front of the book I gave a lot of freezing and storage tips. One of the tips used my mother's habit of freezing foods without labels as a ‘bad example' since weeks later she has no idea how to identify the frosty lumps she pulls from the freezer.

While some people would've been upset to be singled out in print, my mom isn't one of them. In fact, one of the qualities I love about her is that she can take almost any negative situation and find something positive to focus upon. Such was the case with the freezer story. In typical form she made lemonade out of lemons and created ‘mystery lunches', her signature method for keeping lunchtime interesting. She's been eating mystery lunches at work now for ages. The way it works is that whenever she has tasty leftovers she fills plastic containers with single portions and pops them into the freezer unlabeled. To complicate the game she purposely uses empty yogurt and sour cream containers so that there's no way to see the colour of the contents and guess what's inside. Each morning she grabs a container, adds it to her lunch bag and heads off to work.

“Sometimes I get the same thing three days in a row and sometimes I get rice pudding or applesauce for lunch,' she says. “Regardless, it's a fun way to avoid having to figure out what to pack in my lunch bag.”

I was having a great time laughing at my mother's mystery lunches until discovered that she's on the cutting edge of youth culture. Two new soft drinks, one called Anything and the other Whatever, are gaining a following of young, adventurous hipsters in Singapore. The premise behind these drinks is the same as behind mystery lunches since you don't know what you're going to get until you take your first sip. Anything is carbonated while Whatever is tea based. Both drinks come in six flavors, sold in identical cans.

When I told my mother about these drinks I expected her to gloat but she didn't go there. Instead she said, “Can you get me some Whatever? It would be perfect for lunchtime.”


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The fall truffles are now in season and truffle augmented dishes such as risotto and meat sauces are turning up on swish restaurant menus across the country.

It's difficult to understand how some gastronomic delights were ever even discovered to be food stuffs. Truffles are a prime example. If you've ever seen a truffle up close, you may wonder what the fuss is all about. At best truffles resemble little lumps of coal and at worst...well, that's better left unsaid. It's truly difficult to imagine how hungry a person would need to be to find a truffle in the woods and wonder if it would be yummy with eggs.

It's how truffles smell and taste that are the true selling points of these curious little fungi. I could shyly describe their aroma as earthy, but the truth is that the allure of truffles hinges on their sex appeal. That's right, sex. Truffles prove the point that advertisers have been making for years: sex sells. Truffles contain testoserase, which is chemically similar to testosterone, the ingredient that gives sperm its characteristic smell. This sexy smell drives sows mad; the aroma acts as an aphrodisiac and makes the poor gals urgently want to locate truffles. That's why truffle hunters often take female pigs on their woodland treks; they make locating truffles easier.

This aroma affects humans much more subtly but it still elicits a voluptuous, sensuous response that made truffles fashionable with Egyptian Pharohs 4600 years ago, scandalous to medieval religious zealots and popular with hedonistic humans from the Renaissance until today. Composed of over 73% water, truffles are one of the most expensive foods. In fact, in the picture below, my husband Martin is holding about $500 worth of white truffles that he purchased for Pangaea last year. Truffles also have very little nutritional value so the price they command is solely because of their unique taste and evocative perfume.


Picture = martin's hand with white truffles – Dayna can we add a caption that he is holding about $500 worth of truffles?


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How long do you wait?

Recently I found myself sitting dejectedly in a busy restaurant waiting for my lunch time date. I arrived starving so I could only wait until the 20-minute mark before I had to order my lunch (seriously, I was ready to eat the salt and pepper). As a result, 35 minutes after our appointed meeting time when my apologetic but directionally challenged friend arrived, I was already eating my meal.

I felt a bit awkward about eating while she waited for her food but was it rude to have ordered? Is there a standard amount of grace time for tardy meal companions? I took the question to my sophisticated; socially successful associates in the test kitchen. Interestingly, there was no clear consensus on how long to wait before leaving and/or ordering. Some of my colleagues said to wait for an hour, most said a half hour while one said she would wait for no more than 15 minutes.

Still unsure of the rules, I emailed Letitia (Tish) Baldrige, former social secretary to Jacqueline Kennedy and well-acknowledged etiquette expert. I met Tish in the 1990's when I contributed to two of her books: In the Kennedy Style and Legendary Brides. (Meeting her vastly increased my ability to play Six Degrees of Separation successfully!)

“Many guests today, even at White House functions, don't even bother to give an excuse for their tardiness,” notes Tish, whose most recent book is Taste - Acquiring What Money Can't Buy. “They expect people to understand if they are late, for whatever reason. They feel a kind of social entitlement to act this way. Thirty years ago, no one DARED to be late to a White House or any official kind of function. Today, some people misguidedly think they can be as late as they wish, often incorrectly believing that their arriving breathlessly late is a sign of their great importance in the business or social world. I have noticed through the years that the really important figures in the world of business, education, the arts and entertainment, are the most punctual, out of courtesy to their hosts.”

As for how long to wait, Tish says “I tell young people in business today that if it's their boss or an important client or possible would-be client, one waits an hour, if necessary. At the end of a half hour, however, one makes a telephone call to the missing guest's office (or hotel or wherever). If the person's secretary says the date was not even on his or her agenda book, then one should depart - always leaving a generous tip for the poor waiter who has held that choice table for its important occupants. After all, the tip is a major part of his daily bread.”

And to Tish's good advice all I can add is to always have a book, a magazine or some work with you so that you don't look like a stood up loser while you're waiting. That's never a good look.


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Measuring tips:

At chef school I learned a bit about measuring but we were encouraged to make adjustments to ingredients according to our taste buds. Adding a pinch of this and a smattering of that was considered a sign of confidence. The problem with this approach to cooking was that my written recipes only worked for me. It wasn't until I joined the Canadian Living Test Kitchen team that I really learned how to measure ingredients accurately. What a difference exact measurements made to the success of my written recipes! Finally, I could give a recipe to a friend and hear back that it had turned out perfectly.

So that you can have test kitchen perfect results when you cook, follow these tips. If you do, your cooking will measure up every time!

• Use proper measuring spoons -- not cutlery.
• For small amounts of dry foods, scoop out the ingredient using the proper measuring spoon, then level it off with the back of a knife.
• For liquid ingredients, pour into the spoon until it is just full.
• Do all of your measuring and chopping before you start to cook or combine ingredients.
• Measure liquids, such as oil and milk, in glass or plastic measuring cups with spouts.
• Measure dry ingredients, such as flour and sugar, into spoutless cups by scooping the ingredient into the cup and then leveling it off with a knife. Don't shake the measure to even it out.
• Measure frying pans and baking pans across the bottom.


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I recently moved into my very own “Barbie Dream House”. (If I can't have her body, at least I can have her house!) Not surprisingly, the kitchen is my favorite room. I chose a gorgeous Wolf gas range with a convection oven and a professional quality hood fan so I that can cook over high heat and make as much steam and as many fumes as I like. I also added a second under counter refrigerator so that I have lots of room in the main refrigerator for actual food (at my old house, juice and wine and beer were always in the way when I wanted to thaw a turkey or chill rolled pastry).

What's been surprising for me is that having a great, truly functional kitchen has made cooking so much more appealing! I wouldn't have chosen the career I have if I didn't love to cook; however, I love it even more now that I have equipment that does exactly what I want it to do and the space to spread out a little while I develop recipes.

Although it's not practical for everyone to move into a new house or re-do their entire kitchen, there are a some things you can do to make cooking easier in any kitchen:

1. Get organized. If you know where the muffin tin is, you can use it.

2. Check your oven thermostat using a reliable thermometer. If it's out of whack get it calibrated by a professional.

3. Organize your refrigerator so that you have at least one shelf reserved for ingredients to be cooked. Move the condiments, leftovers, milk and cheese to other shelves. That way you can easily see what ingredients you have to work with.

Throw stuff out. That's right. If you have three vegetable peelers, choose the one you like and get rid of the rest. Clutter is not your friend.


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I love when you meet someone new and they instantly become your friend. When I met cookbook author Norene Gilletz several years ago we immediately hit it off. I suspect this experience is a normal one for Norene; she's truly one of the most approachable people I've ever met! This quality and her well-developed cooking skills are the winning combination that has helped her to become a Canadian cooking icon.

Norene had lunch a few weeks ago and I asked her a few questions about her new book Norene's Healthy Kitchen.

DM: Your new book has more than 30 pages of tips plus many more scattered throughout the book. Why did you include all of this information in Norene's Healthy Kitchen?

NG: I get oodles of email and letters from people who have questions about cooking so I decided to address the questions I get asked most often in a place where even people who don't have my email address can find the answers.

DM: This reminds me that you mention in many recipe leads that the original idea for the recipe came from a friend or a reader.

NG: My book is about sharing as well as about eating. Including ideas I get from other people adds character to all of my books and helps my fellow cooks live on forever.

DM: With over 600 recipes and a price tag of only $34.95 you realize that each of your recipes costs less than 6 cents? Are you trying to put the rest of us food writers out of business?

NG: (laughing) Certainly not! I kept developing more great recipes and couldn't choose what to exclude. I handed in the manuscript expecting my editor to cut down the book but she couldn't choose between the recipes either.


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For years food companies and entrepreneurs have tried to find the perfect diet hook to entice dissatisfied chubby people to give their companies lots of money. During the heyday of the low carb craze literally thousands of products were launched to appeal to these dieters. And then, just as quickly as it became popular, it was no longer fashionable.

The Atkins Diet debacle taught many companies and business people that putting their extra large, high protein eggs all in one diet basket could be both expensive and disastrous.

Now, several years later a new weight loss gimmick has emerged. 100 Calorie packs of all kinds of snacks from Kit Kat bars (try the dark chocolate ones – they're my fav!) to Cheetos and Special K snacks are growing into a bonafide grocery store category. A Boston Globe article noted that Americans could find 92 different 100-calorie products on the market in July 2007, up from 51 in 2006 and only 13 in 2004. While Canadian numbers aren't easy to find, a trip through the grocery store reveals that 100-calorie packs are now common in our stores, too.

I love the neatness and sensibility these round numbered portion control products. It allows people to fit indulgent foods into almost any diet plan. And, as my muffin top has recently expanded into a full blown tea loaf, it seems that 100 calorie packs have arrived just in the nick of time to save me from having to buy new clothes!


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Before I start this blog post let me admit that I'm an enthusiastic carnivore who has no qualms about eating game meats or buying leather jackets, shoes, belts and furniture. In fact, one of my favorite treats is the caribou that my husband Martin Kouprie makes at Pangaea Restaurant (it's pictured below – yum!). Heck, I recently tucked into a plate of horse and found it delicious!

In almost every instance of my life long love affair with meat eating, I've consumed meats that were raised to be food and sold at the store or by a restaurant. Shopping for food I love. Hunting? Not so much.

As a result, I had a lot to think about after I heard a CBC Radio One segment about how the Alberta government designated September 22nd a provincial hunting day. Apparently the woods in that province are over populated so the province decided to encourage more people to hunt.

A day or so after learning about this Alberta initiative, I met a friend at Grains All Day Eatery, a stylish café in Concord (no, I'm not lying. Concord is evolving!) that attracts a predominantly male clientele. While I waited for my pal, I overheard the men at the next table discussing a moose hunting trip several of them had taken the pervious week and their plans to go deep sea marlin fishing in Bermuda the following week. For them hunting and fishing were truly pleasurable pastimes.

I'm not sure if it's a chick thing (sorry Gloria Steinman) or an urban thing (sorry city slickers), but I just don't get how hunting is fun. I would absolutely do it if I had no other way to feed my family or myself but the idea of willingly killing another creature really bugs me out. I once killed a mouse with the broom and I was physically upset for hours afterwards. Am I just hardwired to be a gatherer? It's hard to say. I'm just glad that there's a Sobeys around the corner so that I can buy my meat cold and pre-portioned just the way I like it.


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Try as the PR people might, not every new food concept is successful. It really doesn't matter how much a small pool of dedicated fans want certain foods and cuisines to be the next big thing if there just isn't enough interest in the greater population.

There are a few topics like fondue that keep trying to make us love them. In fact about every three years I get a press release and list of stats that joyfully announces that fondue is back! But you know what? Despite the hype, it never really gains espresso or balsamic vinegar status. It's cool, people want to like it, but fondue is just not as much fun as it sounds.

Like fondue, edible flowers have had a few tries at bat. Most recently the focus is on orchids, which turned up in place of crackers as the base for chicken salad at the Cirque du Soleil Tapis Rouge reception (they tasted a little like Belgian Endive) and as a main flavour in Gourmet du Roi's fruit jelly candies. Also looking to be nominated for the FTD customer of the year award is Sweetfields, a company that makes glazed and dusted flowers that they hope will be embraced by mixologists as a garnish for girly drinks. Although I haven't tried the Smithfield's product, I can't imagine it being better than Stirrings 60 Petals Rose Martini mix which is quite likely the best-tasting floral product I've ever tried!


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If you think ancient grains are the crumbs in your couch, think again. Ancient grains are nutritionally beneficial seeds and plant species that are not commonly cultivated as part of mainstream agriculture. Some of the most well-known of the ancient grains are amaranth, quinoa and millet. While these are names many of us have seen in recipes and on health food labels, there's a new ancient grain (I know, that's an oxymoron!) that's getting a lot of attention because of its nutrient content.

Salba is a beige-coloured seed that can be added to baked goods. If you've ever had a chia pet, you'll recognize salba seeds when you see them. Chia and Salba are virtually the same plant; their only difference being that chia seeds are black.

Studies show that salba has a host of nutritional qualities including an abundance of Omega 3- and -6 fatty acids, iron, magnesium, vitamin C and calcium. The company that's trying to sell us salba dubs it nature's most powerful whole food. While I'm generally cynical of super food claims, the renewed interest in salba really does sound like good news.


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After years of marketing pork as an alternative to chicken, it's becoming recognized as a culinary ingredient with its own distinct and wonderful place in gastronomy. When I was a kid, pork was delicious but too humble for special occasions. In the last 25 years, pork remained humble but lost a lot of its flavour when pork marketers encouraged pig farmers to breed leaner, milder-tasting pigs so that they could compete with chicken. Recently pork producers have quit trying to be "the other white meat" and have embraced their inner porcine goodness. The result is gourmet quality pork that deserves a premium price!

Need proof? Here are four signs that pork is posh:

1. Super-premium Berkshire and Duroc milk-fed piglets with sweet, tender, light-coloured meat are being raised by specialty farmers for a select number of Toronto chefs.

2. Wonderful La Quercia Organic Heirloom Berkshire proscuitto is now being sold exclusively at Pusateri's Market in Toronto. It has a sweet, creamy texture that gourmets love!

3. Spanish Iberico pork is catching on with Canadian chefs. The samples my chef sprocket hubby brought home to experiment with were so naturally tender and rich that the spare ribs needed no par cooking at all! In Britain, Iberico pork deli kiosks have opened in the posh food halls at both Selfridges and Waitrose. With all this buzz, it's just a matter of time before we see Iberico pork in Canadian supermarkets, too.

4. Vosges, the Chicago-based chocolatier who helped prove that sweet and savoury blends could be inspired, has launched a bacon-flavoured chocolate bar. I've requested a sample so I'll let you know what it tastes like once I try it!


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For food writers with literary aspirations, striking a balance in your recipe writing between accurate, necessary information that makes a recipe successful and the descriptions and phrases that entice people to read your work is tricky business. Recently reported in the British papers is news of a UK government study that found recipes written by two of Britain's most beloved food writers Nigella Lawson and Delia Smith were too hard to follow because of an excessive use of adjectives and numerous steps.

The study compared 35 recipes by five food writers and found that shorter, less flowery recipes by male cookery writers Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay and Nigel Slater were much easier to follow.

What can we conclude from these findings? First, that UK taxpayers are getting ripped off. And second, that food writers must always be conscious of who is using their recipes. Are the recipes for people who like to read about food or for people who like to cook? The distinction is important.

Deep pondering can take a lot out of a person so I sat down with a wedge of aged cheddar and a sleeve of water crackers to mull over the findings of this study. In the end, I got very thirsty and needed a glass of wine. Later, however, I concluded that writing recipes is basically just glorified technical writing and, as such, my work isn't much different from the person who jots the assembly instructions that come with pre-fab furniture. That said, cooking is about expression, enjoyment and sensory experience so I'm going to continue to write my recipes as clearly as possible but to add leads and that I hope will tantalize and inspire my readers to eat well often!


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Besides writing recipes and tapping out these blogs, a big part of my day is spent tracking and analyzing food trends. Once a quarter I jot down a summary of what I've noted in food trends and publish Topline Trends, my online food trend newsletter. Most of the readers are food industry people looking for information about what others are up to or journalists seeking direction for their own research.

The latest Topline Trends report was posted recently and I thought you might like to know about some emerging flavour trends. (And yes, it's Monday and I'm slacking off. You caught me -- just please don't tell my editor!)

Escargot: A kissing cousin to black forest cake and beef Wellington on posh '70s menus, the humble snail has been markedly absent from fine dining menus in recent years. However, escargot are having a renaissance with young French chefs; they're going beyond drowning these garden dwellers in garlic butter by pairing them with ingredients such as bone marrow or yogurt.

Dukkah: This Egyptian seasoning blend was invented 3,000 years ago and is garnering western fans. Dukkah is a blend of groundnuts, sesame seeds and spices that can be used to make dips, marinades and glazes for lamb, salmon and chicken.

Cucumber-flavoured drinks: From adult drinks such as martinis and premium spirits like Hendricks's gin to family favs such as lemonade, cucumber is the new fresh flavour adding distinction to many new cold drink products and recipes.


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Everyone assumes that the meals at our house must be phenomenal food experiences 365 days a year because both my husband and I are trained chefs who work in the food industry. But, truth be told, being married to a chef of Martin's caliber means that at least 5 and often 6 days a week I'm a kitchen widow who has full responsibility for making dinner for both myself and our growing son as well as making sure homework and all the other nightly rituals happen in a timely manner.

Since being mom on duty so many nights of the week means that I often have to choose simple, fast to prepare and fast to clean up from recipes for weeknight dinners, each weekend I try to allow myself time to make a recipe that is a little more involved.

It doesn't have to be a fancy meal, just satisfying both to make and to eat. This weekend I'm going to make the Zesty Herbed Tomato Lasagna that's on page 34 of Dana's Top Ten Table. In case you'd like to make it this weekend, too, here's a picture and the recipe as it appears in the book.

Zesty Herbed Tomato Lasagna

3 tbsp (45 mL) olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp (30 mL) finely chopped fresh oregano leaves
2 tsp (10 mL) finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/2 tsp (2 mL) each salt and pepper
3 cups (750 mL) tomato sauce
1/2 tsp (2 mL) granulated sugar (approx.)
2 tbsp (30 mL) each chopped fresh parsley and basil
6 fresh lasagna noodles, trimmed to fit
1 1/4 cups (300 mL) coarsely shredded Parmesan cheese
1 cup (250 mL) shredded mozzarella cheese
Heat oil in a wide saucepan set over medium-low heat. Add the onion, garlic, oregano, thyme, basil, salt and pepper. Partially cover and cook, stirring often, for 10 minutes or until onions are translucent.
Stir in the tomato sauce and increase the heat to medium. Bring sauce to boil. Simmer, partially covered and stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Taste and add up to 1/2 tsp (2 mL) sugar if tangy. Stir in parsley, basil and 1 cup (250 mL) of the Parmesan cheese.
Oil a 5 x 9 inch (2 L) loaf pan. Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Spoon a little sauce into the pan. Top with a noodle. Repeat until pan is filled. Cover with non-stick foil and bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until bubbly. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and remaining Parmesan cheese. Broil for 3 minutes or until cheese is browned and bubbly. Makes 4 to 6 servings.
Cook once, eat twice: Double this recipe and freeze one batch raw. Bake from frozen for 60 minutes or until hot and and bubbly. Top with cheese and broil as directed.


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The cheese trend that perfumed high-end restaurants has continued to develop in the last several years; until now, many homes are stinky with the good stuff, too.

Some hard-core cheese lovers are investing in cheese lockers so that they can serve cheese at the optimal temperature and to prevent their curds from sweating it out in a plastic wrapper. Commercial cheese lockers are temperature- and humidity-controlled refrigerators designed especially for cheese. They cost a mint and take up a lot of space so they aren't for casual enthusiasts. Luckily, there's a low-tech version that's cheaper, energy efficient and portable to boot!

I bought one of these low-tech cheese lockers for my cheesaholic hubby last winter when I was in New York City. This handy little contraption is ideal for bringing cheese up to temperature. It is screened, which allows beneficial airflow and prevents nasty flies and wasps from using your cheese as a park bench.

Besides being a good way to set out cheese for company, tabletop cheese lockers are also a real conversation starter. My former sister-in-law and present day friend Lydia marveled at our cheese locker when she first saw it. The idea of owning such a device seemed insanely charming to her. In fact, Lydia admits to telling many of her friends about the wacky little house we have for our cheese. You'd think we'd done something odd like devote an entire room of our house to holding wine at the perfect temperature –- oh wait, we did do that!

Even if you don't spring for a cheese locker yourself, you can still enjoy an optimal cheese experience if you follow a few simple steps before serving cheese.

1. Remove the cheese from the plastic wrap or plastic bag in which it was sold.

2. Loosely re-wrap the cheese in waxed or parchment paper and set it on a serving tray or board.

3. Let the cheese stand in a cool, well-ventilated place to allow the air and moisture to circulate around the cheese as the chill wears off.


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As all parents of school-aged kids know, peanut butter is just about as welcome at school and kid's parties as guns, hookers or crack. My beloved hubby is deathly allergic to peanuts so there's no respite from the peanut butter stigma chez nous. I feel very guilty about my own love of peanut butter. It seems like a low-down betrayal to crave a food that, with the swoosh of a butter knife, could kill Martin or create carnage in a school.

Despite my inner struggle with guilt, when Martin is out of town or when I'm traveling for work, I allow myself to succumb to the occasional peanut binge. If the binge occurs at home it's less fun since afterwards I have to clean the kitchen compulsively. The hotel binges are way better since I can knock back mini bar M&M's or an overpriced jar of cocktail peanuts in bed while I watch TV and no cares. Such fun!

Despite the underage peanut taboo, peanut butter (especially with its familiar side kick jelly), is turning up often on menus alongside other stylish but vilified items such as foie gras. Chefs realize that our generation of PB&J addicts needs their fix and that we have credit cards to pay for it. Consider that PB&J with seared foie gras was on a Toronto International Film Festival party menu and that this combo was recently featured in the New York Times and the Boston Globe.

The good news is that someday this guilty pleasure may be a choice for everyone! Study results written by an Institute of Food Research team recently reported to have isolated a molecule called interleukin-12 that may protect the body against food allergy. Check out the report in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology if you want the full 411 about the team's findings and how they could lead to peanut butter being safe for everyone.


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Warning: I'm on a bit of rant today. I've got myself into a snit over food packaging. Just how much information do we really need or want on food packages? Ingredient lists and nutrition facts panels are important sources of information and should always be included on packaged foods; however, once they're there, can't we all read them and make choices accordingly?

Studies show that the average shopper spends about two seconds evaluating a package in the grocery store. That makes sense given that we're all busy and that food shopping shouldn't be difficult. When I talk to friends, readers and colleagues, I find that the new logos and icons turning up on groceries confuse many people: Health check, fair trade, smart dots and sensible banners. It's enough, already!

I'd like to see some leadership from Health Canada and the CFIA. What consumers need is a standardized system that is based on criteria such as the Canada's Food Guide. Right now there are just too many message icons noting that a food is better than it used to be even when it is still full of crap. Without government standardization, how will consumers be able to trust good icons such as the health check symbol which is based on science?

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Pizza is surely one of the few foods that most of us can say we have enjoyed through thick and thin: it's the food my friends and I pooled quarters together to afford in university and it's the food I've bought as a celebratory treat for some occasions and as a quick make-do meal on others. I've read that the average person eats 43 slices of pizza a year. To be honest, this really doesn't sound like that much 'za to me. In fact, I'm pretty sure that each person at our house eats many more slices per annum (for once, my family is above average!).

My 10-year-old son truly loves pizza and has offered (actually begged) many times to eat it for both lunch and dinner on the same day. I'm not sure what Oliver loves about pizza that would entice him to eat it so often, but for me the allure of pizza is triplefold: I love that it is handheld, can be topped with dozens of delicious tidbits and that it's as enjoyable at room temperature as it is hot.

While a lot of people define gourmet pizza as a pie topped with exotic or expensive toppings, I think a good cheese pizza made with tender yet chewy dough, a deep, rich-tasting sauce and flavorful yet mild cheese (so many chains use cheese that tastes merely of salt) truly epitomizes the apex for gourmet pizza. After all, if the pizza tastes terrific with just the basics, the maker obviously did something right.

I love to make my own pizza but I often order in on nights when my urge to eat out weighs my urge to create. Although I can have or make pizza anytime, I lament the loss of classic eat-in pizzerias where the pies were made with quality ingredients and served with kitschy Italian flare. Pietro's pizza was our Friday night dinner treat when I was growing up. My mom, my brother and grandmother and I would go there when my dad was out playing poker. I still remember the check pattern tablecloths and how the pies were served on footed stainless steel pedestals -- you really felt like you were out for a special pizza experience!

Recapture the joy of the classic pizzeria and delve into the depths of pizza culture at a Slice. It's a great pizza centric blog that you can check out while you wait for the dough to rise or for the pizza man to ring the bell.


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1 fresh or thawed, frozen turkey, neck and giblets removed, about 10 lb (5 kg)
1 lemon
1/4 cup (50 mL) melted butter
2 tbsp (30 mL) cracked mixed peppercorns
1 tbsp (15 mL) chopped, fresh thyme leaves
2 tsp (10 mL) coarse salt
1 cup (250 mL) smoky flavored barbecue sauce
1 tbsp (15 mL) brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced

Wash the turkey, inside and out and pat dry with paper towel. Grate enough lemon zest to make 1 tbsp (15 mL) and reserve. Thinly slice the zested lemon. Brush the turkey all over with the butter. Sprinkle evenly, inside and out, with the thyme, pepper and salt. Place the lemon slices inside the large cavity. Bend the wings under the turkey and truss the legs together with cooking twine.

Place a drip pan beneath the grate on one side of the grill. Preheat the grill to high. Reduce the temperature of barbecue burner(s) to maintain a temperature of approximately 300 F (150 C). (Check manufacturers directions for recommended ways to regulate the heat.)

Pierce a piece of heavy duty foil several times with a skewer and place on the grill directly over the drip pan. Place the turkey, breast-side-up, on the foil. Close the lid and cook for 1 hour. Rotate the foil 90 degrees. Repeat, rotating the foil every hour, for 2 hours.
Stir the barbecue sauce with the reserved lemon peel, balsamic vinegar, sugar and garlic. Brush the turkey evenly with the mixture.

Grill, basting and rotating the turkey often, until an instant read thermometer registers 180F (82C) when inserted into the fleshy area between the turkey's body and leg. The breast temperature should be 170F (77C). (Total cooking time will be about four hours.) Rest the turkey on a heated platter for 15 minutes before slicing and serving. Makes 10 servings.

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My job as a trend tracker requires that I read voraciously, taste everything I can and comb grocery store shelves for new products and ingredients like a CSI agent searching a crime scene for evidence.

Often I find insight into what's coming next in food in unlikely places. Although I read Canadian and American food magazines often, it's often trade, lifestyle and business publications where I find the tiny references that I put on my radar screen and see migrate from the outside of the circle onto center stage.

Gossip magazines: after a candid photograph of Halle Berry drinking a Hulk smoothie appeared in a gossip rag, sales of green protein drinks soared. Ditto for Madonna's fondness for goji berries.

Pretentious magazines: If it's cool enough for Wallpaper or Dwell to note, it's probably going to be a fad at the very least.

Annoying magazines: Don't get me wrong, I think Oprah has done a lot of good in the world but I'm sick of her being the curator of worthiness for North Americans. Regardless of how I feel, what Oprah and her editors endorse is almost inevitably a hit with consumers.

International Trade magazines: To discover what chefs are cooking up, I turn to food industry mags such as New Zealand-based Cuisine and Food Arts from New York.

New York Times: The New York Time's Kim Severson and her food writing colleagues treat food stories like news. As a result, the NYT food section goes beyond rewording press releases; they report on issues that concern food in all facets of our lives.

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Last fall I got hooked on the comedy 30 Rock, to the point where I decided I wanted to watch some of the episodes more than once. Last night I was watching one of my favourite episodes where Liz Lemon meets "The Hair"; they attend a swish Manhattan party where boxes of truffle-infused air are served in place of actual food. As I guffawed at the fashionistas reverently inhaling the air, I realized that low-calorie pickles are the real-life culinary equivalent of food-infused air.


Biting into a good pickle immediately clears your head and helps you to think more clearly but it also makes you want to eat other foods. In my opinion, the best pickles are appealingly puckering but still offer a range of flavours that linger on your palate and cut the richness of other foods.

While a good crunchy dill will always appeal to the Ukranian in me, the world of pickles is too diverse to pick one favourite. From Korean kimchee to Indian picallili, as I've travelled and learned more about Asian food, I've realized that pickles can be pretty exciting!

Try some of these famous International pickles to challenge your palate:

Kimchee: a Korean staple served at almost every meal occasion, kimchee is pungent, spicy and potent. It is made from fermented vegetables such as turnip, cabbage or little cucumber-like squash. Use it to add snap to noodles, rice dishes and to cut the richness of foods like Korean short ribs.

Gari: (also called beni shoga) is ginger root that has been pickled in a sweet vinegar. Although we're used to seeing a pink version at most restaurants, it can be ivory coloured and taste exactly the same. This Japanese pickle is used as a palate cleanser when eating sushi but it also can be used as an ingredient to add heat and tangy sweetness to stir fries and other Japanese inspired dishes.

Piccalilli: this pickled vegetable relish can contain all kinds of veggies from cauliflower to cucumber and runner beans. It is usually made in a tomato base and makes a great accompaniment to foods such as a grilled cheddar sandwich or a creamy curry.

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It won't be a surprise to most of you that chicken is one of the top 10 things Canadians eat for dinner. But as with so many things in life, familiarity can breed contempt. What can you do when chicken becomes the food you loathe as well as the one you know your family will eat? Get some fresh ideas!

Chicken is such a popular dinnertime choice because it's so versatile. So, try a new way of preparing the chicken you buy every week or opt for a different part of the bird tonight. Skinless, boneless chicken breasts are a fast, easy and relatively healthy choice, but they're the least flavourful cut of chicken, too. Instead of skinless, boneless breasts, go old school and buy bone-in chicken pieces for a change. They only take five minutes longer to cook and the flavour and juiciness are superior by far.

I often fall back on teriyaki as my favourite chicken flavouring. When that gets dull, I go to my pantry and take a look around. Try one of these easy ideas to amp up your interest in chicken:

-blend mango chutney with a little mild curry paste and finely chopped green onions to make a gooey finishing glaze.

-stir pesto with balsamic vinaigrette and use as a Mediterranean basting sauce.

-blend equal parts melted cranberry jelly and orange juice until smooth. Stir in minced fresh ginger and garlic, salt and pepper to make a fresh, bright tasting glaze.

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When I was approached to become a blogger for Homemakers.com, I was a little puzzled. What qualification does a 41-year-old mom who lives in the suburbs have to stride into this technological domain of the young and tech savvy, I wondered? After all, I'm the person who pasted a post-it note over the flashing clock on her VCR (yes, I said VCR -- I am, in fact, a dinosaur) because I couldn't figure out how to make the damn time display.

But as I noshed on a package of the new dark chocolate covered peanut m&m's (they're quite a bit better than the originals, BTW), I realized I have four qualities that will make me a good blogger:

- I like (make that love!) to share my opinions and knowledge about food.
- I like to hear myself talk (alas, a recurring issue for my real-life social success).
- I often put off doing difficult things like exercise by hanging out in Internet chat groups (I especially like the ones about trashy TV shows -- which reminds me, I wonder how The Bachelorette's Meredith is doing in her cooking career?)
- and by viewing pretty much every blurry photo posted by my Facebook friends.
-And, perhaps most importantly, I type well.

Of course, the people who invited me to post here didn't know I possessed such hidden talents. No, I suspect my professional accomplishments as a food trend expert and cookbook author were behind their invitation.

Some of you will recognize my name because I am a former food editor of Homemakers magazine. Although I hope that experience will help me to post about topics that will interest regular Homemakers readers, you can expect this blog to be more eclectic than my magazine articles.

I'll be able to tell you what is happening right now in the world of food, versus planning magazine pages months in advance of publication. It won't be all business though. You can also expect an occasional digression about other stuff that's on my mind such as how the characters on Lost live on papayas and don't get cankers or how good the empanadas made by Ugly Betty's dad looked on last night's show. So drop by often. We can procrastinate together!

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I think it's great news that the pasta princesses have returned. What is a pasta princess you ask? It's a term I dubbed years ago when I was a restaurant chef to describe a table of women who all order pasta for their entree. Although you may think I was being sarcastic, I wasn't being entirely snarky since I have been a card-carrying pasta princess myself for many a day.

There was a dark time in our reign, however. When the Atkins diet was popular, our kingdom was in jeopardy and being a pasta princess often earned lectures on carbs if not actual scorn. It makes me shudder to remember how society cruelly shunned the noble noodle!

The good news for me and my spaghetti-twirling sisters is that pasta is fashionable again. In fact, my husband Martin Kouprie, the executive chef and co-owner of Yorkville's Pangaea Restaurant tells me that pasta was one of this past summer's best-selling menu items for his ladies-who-lunch clientele (The lobster gnochhi was their overall fav).

Although regular refined-wheat pasta is still a pantry staple for many pasta princesses, whole wheat and whole grain pasta is gaining ground with these aficionados. We recently experimented with some new whole wheat and whole grain pasta products in our test kitchen and the results were delicious! Unlike the whole wheat pastas that were marketed a decade ago, today's versions cook up with a great al dente texture and have a mild nutty flavour that won't overpower the flavour of your sauce.

One of our favs was Healthy Harvest's multigrain spaghetti for both its texture and taste. Regardless of which pasta shape you prefer, consider adding whole wheat and whole grain noodles to your shopping list. You'll feel full longer and reap the benefits of adding nutrients such as Omega 3 to your diet.

Hope to see you around the palace.

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