When more than half of your content is in the travel category and a global pandemic hits, shutting down international and provincial borders and making even something as simple as a weekend hotel stay questionable, you have to pivot. And fast. Welcome to my pivot: a new summer series focused on road trips from Toronto….
The best parental control app for iPhone: Apple Family Sharing
I’d been an Android user for years, prizing great photos above all else with my smartphone. Apple just wasn’t cutting it once the Samsungs and Pixels came on the scene. But that meant that once my kids got hand-me-down iPhones, only Big B could text and FaceTime with them since we haven’t given them SIM…
Sourdough discard recipe: sourdough English muffins
When I’m really in the bread-making zone, my routine includes feeding my sourdough starter (who we named Right Said Bread) on a 12-hour schedule, morning and evening. And that means we end up with quite a bit of discard each day, so I’m always looking for new ways to use it. My latest sourdough discard…
The easiest Dutch oven sourdough bread recipe ever
Dutch oven sourdough bread has become a staple in our house. You can poke fun and call me Laura Ingalls all you like (heck, I do it myself, alternating with Betty Crocker!), but if I’d known how easy it could be to make so many of our favourite bread products at home, well…let’s be honest…pre-pandemic,…
Easy evening snacks: crunchy granola bar recipe
Whether you or your kids knock these back for breakfast, eat them to prevent a mid-afternoon crash or indulge as easy evening snacks during an after-dinner walk or before bedtime, this crunchy granola bar recipe (that’s chewy on the inside) is a healthy, protein-packed snack. I don’t have kids with peanut allergies, so I can’t…
Making bread without yeast or a scale: sourdough Dutch oven bread
Everyone’s food decisions during what will someday be known as The Pandemic of 2020 are wildly different. While some are doing takeout and delivery, others are trying to make as much from scratch as possible. We fall into the latter camp. Partly because it’s cheaper and we’re currently a one-income family and partly because the…
How to feed sourdough starter (without a scale)
As I write this (on May 12, 2020), it’s been 60 days since we started sheltering in place, practising physical distancing and pivoting our entire life as a family to do our best to keep everyone sane, happy, educated and fed. Make that well-fed. Despite saying I would “NEVER” try making sourdough bread, I’ve proven…
Sourdough discard recipes: a dupe for “Morning Rounds”
When my Quarantine Cooking adventures began in mid-March, we wanted to try to make as much as possible from scratch. This was in part because things like bread were cleared from shelves in those early days when supply wasn’t meeting demand as well as it is now, but also because it meant fewer hands in…
Lemon buttermilk cake with lemon whipped cream
Here’s what I’m not going to do here: weave some magical story about how this lemon buttermilk cake is a piece of my soul and why its lemon whipped cream topping will transform your life, taking 17 swipes to get to the recipe. No. The only part of this recipe that has any personal significance…
Fun things to do at home for kids
Here we are in our new normal. And it’s no less weird than it was three weeks ago. Hopefully, self-isolation is temporary and we only have to endure 24/7 family time for a couple more months. Like my cousin recently said to me during a Messenger chat: “Families are not meant to spend this much…