Category Archive

Here’s a quick trick we learned from our favorite food friends– the frosty mug. Whenever we go over to their place, they serve us beer in a heavy glass that has come straight out of their freezer. This is enormously satisfying in the summertime, but it’s still useful as we head into winter. The best part about this hack is that it works to chill your only slightly-cooled beer. For Canadian winters, this means that your beer, already half-chilled just from carrying it home, can be cooled to a perfect temperature just by pouring it into your frosty, frosty mug. If you want your not-so-cold beer NOW, give it a try.

Quick! Before the frost hits, harvest all of the green tomatoes left on your plants. Make sure the tomatoes aren’t touching (to prevent rot) and keep them in a dark warm spot. I stowed mine in a clementine orange box. I shoved half an egg carton inside to keep the small rolly cherry tomatoes apart. I stuck the clementine box on top of the fridge (a warm spot) and put a cardboard box over top to keep the light out. Approximately three weeks later I have ripe tomatoes.

Sorry about the lack of updates. It’s my fault, and it’s also Herman Melville’s fault, and Robert Browning’s, and more than a few others. Their books just HAD to be long and involved. But… it’s all over now, and none of my reading has to be for exams anymore.

Anyway, here’s a quick coffee trick that got me through the mornings of studying when heating up the espresso machine seemed like far too much wasted effort (yeah, I’ve been a little on edge). I learned about cold-brewed coffee first on another blog (sorry, I’ve forgotten where), and it seems the word has spread– it’s been everywhere. It’s great for summer and very time-efficient, as long as you plan ahead. Too bad summer’s over… I didn’t do such a great job with the plan-ahead posting, clearly. I’m thinking it might be good for the winter months too, on those days when you’re leaving the house with your coffee cup and you just know your coffee’s going to get cold before you get the chance to savour it.

The flavour is great too, especially when you use half-decent coffee. It’s mellower than regular brewed coffee, and a little nutty tasting. Perfect for a hot day! Yes, I know it’s fall. I’m sorry.

All you need to do to make your very own batch of cold-brewed coffee is dump some freshly ground coffee in a container and pour water over it. Leave it overnight in the fridge, and in the morning, you’ve brewed your coffee! I don’t measure my grounds, but I think I use about a 1/4 cup of coffee for 1 1/2-2 cups of water. You could alter this to your own tastes. When the coffee is ready, I pour it into our Bodum french press to get rid of the grounds detritus. That’s it!

Trust me, it’s worth a try, just for the flavour difference. Try it even though it’s not really summer anymore.

P.S. Happy National Coffee Day!

This food hack was passed down from Hanne’s parents. Simply add some cilantro to your store bought salsa. Not only will you add depth of flavour, but cilantro also gives your salsa some muscle. Have you noticed how cilantro makes spicy spicier?

Sorry for the circa 1980s cookbook photo. We’re working on improving our presentation and equipment. Any tips or camera recommendations?

Originally posted May 19th.

Tonight I’m off to barter a 6-pack of McAuslan’s St-Ambroise Pale Ale for my coworker’s friend’s pasta. This Quebec brew has been my beer of choice for the past two years in Montreal, especially during the NHL playoffs. I wrung many McAuslan necks last year cheering (like this nutter via Deadspin) my Oilers to game 7 of the heartbreaking Stanley Cup Final. I nearly wrung the neck of a fellow hockey watcher (not fan) when he figured cheering for the Hurricanes and sharing my beer was an acceptable combo. I told him to put my beer back in the fridge, that cheering for the ‘Canes because their city is closer to Montreal than Edmonton was ludicrous and finally, childishly, that ‘Canes captain Rob Brind’Amour gave even the French a bad name (here’s his ugly mug under the beautiful one…I still hurt). It was a bad night. Maybe my surrogate Sens will fair better this year.

Anyway. I should have figured out this whole beer for food deal sooner. Tomorrow, friends recently back from a long trip in Argentina are coming over, WITH FOOD. All I have to do is hit my corner store (called dépanneurs or deps here) for some beer and dinner’s served. Only two days to go until Hanne gets back and I’ve finally gotten the hang of feeding myself.