Wednesday, February 4, 2009

the week that was and is - wednesday february 4th 2009

I am hoping to start a random 'update style' post once in a while and today seemed like a good day to start. I've been inspired by various other updates; Baking Bites, Only Here for the Food are two examples, so here is my crack at the can. I don't feel I have my ear as close, or near, to the ground as many locals (especially the bloggers) do, but hopefully I can bring the occasional interesting item. Also, while I will probably keep most of the information food related, I do enjoy the automotive, music, and technology industries so they may sneak in from time to time.

  • I'm always happy to have No Reservations back on the air, I adore Mr. Bourdain in that man-crush kind of way, but not as much as I do Keifer. This past Monday's show was filmed in Chicago. Probably my 2nd favorite episode this year, after the season opener in Mexico, and featured quite the array of goodies. From hot dogs stuffed with tamales and famous chicago deep dish pizza to edible cigars and roadkill. I definitely need to take a trip to the windy city one day. Next weeks episode looks great - FOOD PORN!
  • Liane Faulder wrote an article in the Edmonton Journal's bistro section today about Montreal Style bagels and their lack of availability here. I'm lucky to have first hand experience with them while living in Ottawa and our family made regular trips to get fresh bagels. I can't stop but wonder if my father covered more of the car, or my brother and I, with poppy and sesame seeds as we consumed a good portion of them on the way home. While Liane mentions ordering them from Montreal, your next bet may be to befriend someone from Vancouver and have them send you some Siegel's Bagels. At least that way they aren't traveling as far. Seriously...they are that good.
  • The Pioneer Woman was lucky enough to have a personal sushi chef visit and in turn has posted a few sushi lessons with more to come. How great would a gift like that be?
  • I noticed a bag of shredded zucchini in the freezer last night, and had some fresh left over from a stir fry, so this morning I whipped up some muffins. They turned out delicious if I do say so, with that extra dense moistness that zucchini's always bring to the party. The recipe says 12-14, but I easily made 18 without the nut of fruit additions.
  • Don't forget those all important upcoming food days - the 7th is fettuccine alfredo day, while the 9th is bagels and lox day.
Well, that is that!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Montreal bagels are definitely special. And worth going to Montreal for.

Chris said...

Glad to hear you understand the 'aura' of a Montreal bagel.

Sarah said...

Those muffins were worth coming to work for!

Court said...

I also love Bourdain and No Reservations. Have you read his book Kitchen Confidential? It's a good one, very funny. There was also a show based on it that lasted only one season, but we downloaded it and watched all the episodes. Super funny.

Also, we have added you to our Edmonton blogroll. Welcome to the club :-)

Chris said...

Sarah - Glad you like them. I love dropping food presents off.

Court - Thanks for stopping by, and for the addition. I do adore Bourdain, just something bout the way he writes and speaks about food. His books are classic, although I don't think the show did full justice it was enjoyable. Your vacation blogs were great. I've always wanted to go to California.

Marianne said...

I realize this is a while after your post, but I went to Montreal last February and experienced my first Montreal Bagel... everyone in the kitchen was like, "Stop! Marianne is having her first bagel..." And they all stared as I took the first bite. They were wonderful! And luckily my boyfriend's (Zed's) mom, who we were visiting, lives about a 5 minute hike from Dad's Bagels.

Luckily for my birthday (at the end of March), my boyfriend kindly got his sister to Fed Ex us some bagels (about 5 dozen, along with a few containers of Liberte cream cheese).

Zed's dream is to open a Montreal bagel shop in Edmonton (La Maison de Bagel d'Edmonton), although neither of us really know how to use the brick oven. But we've been experimenting with bagel recipes and think we've got it down... we just need the brick oven part.

Chris said...

I'm glad you were able to enjoy them. They are such a delicious treat and I can still picture some days when I could down 3 or 4. HMMMM!

The Bagel shop sounds fantastic, something I would definitely be interested in seeing. If you ever need help, or someone to bake a trial recipe test, let me know as I love to bake.

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