Book Club Tuesday: Peak Season

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What really amazed me when we would visit Ontario to see our grandmother is that, during the summer, there was such an abundance of fruits and vegetables available. The amazing part was that all these green and white cardboard baskets, bursting with the freshest produce around, all came from Ontario. Growing up in Alberta, in a farming family, the growing zone and climate was drastically different. There were no lush stone fruits and even Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Peak Season”

Book Club Tuesday: The Miller’s Daughter

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There is something both fascinating and dynamic in the way Emma Zimmerman describes how she and her father resurrected the historic Hayden Flour Mills in Tempe, Arizona in her cookbook, The Miller’s Daughter. From her father’s original yearning to restart the mill, which called her home from her PhD studies at McGill, to all of the people in their community (chefs, farmers, Native Seeds/SEARCH), Hayden Mills came from the Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: The Miller’s Daughter”

Book Club Tuesday: Cake & Loaf

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“…when we sat down in that coffee shop and laid out our bakery dreams to each other, they were really about creating a space we wanted to go to every day. To build something that would address as many of the systemic issues we had seen in our own bakery jobs as possible. A place to foster creativity and feminist ideals. A business that would give more than it would take from the community and that centred sustainability in all its decisions. The results have not always been what we intended, and we are still learning how the systems in which we operate affect our biases and how we can continue to be better. It has been a financial challenge. Trying to operate in an effectively non-profit way in a capitalist system is fraught with compromises and disappointments. Luckily, we are resourceful folks and have had the honour of working with many amazing people over the years, so we feel like we have won the life lottery.” (4)

Over a decade ago, Nickey Miller and Josie Rudderham opened the brick-and-mortar version of Cake & Loaf in Hamilton, Ontario and now, they have a newly published cookbook (of the same name) to share with home bakers. I’m new to the Cake & Loaf world but as I read through the introduction, I learned that Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Cake & Loaf”

Book Club Tuesday: Fabulous Modern Cookies

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To us, cookies are the most approachable of all desserts. (9)

What Chris Taylor and Paul Arguin say in the introduction to their latest book, Fabulous Modern Cookies, is absolutely true! Of all the desserts, cookies are the most approachable. Thinking back to when I was little, one of the first things that I baked with my mom were cookies, and this is the case with my own daughter. It’s about having fun and enjoying the results. I remember that when Katie and I made animal crackers, hers weren’t that great looking, however, Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Fabulous Modern Cookies”

Book Club Tuesday: Your Daily Veg

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I am part of a vegetarian family: my husband has been a vegetarian for over twenty years, I joined along almost 12 years ago, and my daughter was born into it 8 years since. When my daughter was born, I wondered what vegetarianism would look like for her? When I became a vegetarian, the cookbooks at the time were very faddy and, what I really longed for was good food: plain and simple. Sometimes I feel that calling food “vegetarian” is like adding a Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Your Daily Veg”

Book Club Tuesday: A Good Day to Bake

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When Benjamina Ebuehi spoke these simple words – “just for the fun of it”– during a recent online talk hosted by The Book Larder (watch here), she summed up the reason to bake from her books. To be grateful for and take joy from the act of baking and creating moments for yourself and for others. In her latest book, A Good Day to Bake, Ebuehi offers Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: A Good Day to Bake”

Book Club Tuesday: King Arthur Baking Company — The Essential Cookie Companion (Revised + Updated)

Processed with VSCO with f2 presetPeople love dichotomies, which exist in infinite number in the world of our kitchens. For example: cooking or baking? Gas or Electric? Cookbooks or websites? Cakes or Cookies? When it comes to this last one, I’ll be brave and say “neither.” Or maybe even: either. Which can I bake, with love, and share it with my family and friends? Baking is a Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: King Arthur Baking Company — The Essential Cookie Companion (Revised + Updated)”

Book Club Tuesday: The Cake Book

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What’s not to love about cake? It’s a season-less dessert that is appropriate for any occasion — my occasion of choice is usually breakfast! Over the past several years I’ve really come into my own as a baker and, I found that cookbooks with inviting, accessible recipes helped me to develop my skills. Therefore, I appreciate Rebecca Firth‘s approach so much — having recipes that are easy, approachable, and (most importantly) fun, Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: The Cake Book”