It turned summer in Vancouver. Being 9 months pregnant in the summer is something I tried to avoid. I’m love love loving the sunshine. But it’s definitely robbed me of any residual trace of glamour.

I was feeling really fit and mobile until a week ago – walking 6 km/day, yoga twice a week, swimming regularly… But suddenly, in the last 10 days before my due date, I can’t move without tremendous effort. And grunting. Oh, boy is there grunting.

In what I consider a heroic feat, I just went for an hour-long walk waddle on the seawall, bracing myself against tree/lamppost/sturdy-looking-jogger-who-unwittingly-stopped-to-tie-his-shoe every few minutes as either 1. sweet baby nuzzled his head into my poor unsuspecting bladder, or 2. one of those braxton hicks thingies happened.

Now I sit, very much stuck to a leather chair, red-faced and glowing sweaty, with a bowl of frozen grapes balanced on my gigananto belly and an ice pack on my neck trying to cool the heck down.

And it’s only 24 degrees Canadian here. (That’s 75 degrees American.) How do ladies in southern states, or *gulp*, equatorial parts of the world handle the heat?! Geez, Louise.

I’m glad I was in a baking/freezing frenzy before the sun gained its strength. Because now I have delicious zucchini bread for now, and one for the future, and I didn’t have to turn on my oven in the heat.
Continue Reading »

These cookies. Oh, these cookies.

I worked at a coffee shop during university, and they had cookies brought in by an outside bakery – they called them Kitsilano cookies. The coffee shop is in the Kitsilano neighbourhood in Vancouver, which is basically the Haight-Ashbury of the North, as Canada’s hippie central. Kits folks wear Lululemon head-to-toe, Monday-to-Friday; divide their saturdays between sunrise yoga on the beach, the farmers market, and their community garden; and crunch hardcore on (organic, vegan, gmo-free) granola.

Continue Reading »

I have been craving pumpkin. Strange, in May, when most people are dreaming of the first fresh strawberries and succulent stems of asparagus. Maybe my body needs vitamin A.

I’m not one to argue with a craving, and I had a bit of pumpkin puree left in the freezer from my recent Pumpkin Pineapple Muffins. Plus, I’ve been in a bit of a breakfast rut (toast with almond butter anyone?), so I decided to make a big batch of pumpkin granola. Continue Reading »

I have been so excited to watch your entries come in, with beautiful photos of the things you’ve cooked and baked for the Delicious-in-Focus contest.

Throughout the entry period I’ve been snapping my own shots along with you, familiarizing myself with the lovely HTC One (which one of you will be receiving shortly – contest winner announced at end of post!).

Continue Reading »

 
*There’s still time to cast your vote for Foodess in Saveur’s Best Food Blog Awards! Voting closes tonight (April 19th) at midnight.

**Also, if you haven’t entered this contest yet, it’s only open until Sunday (April 21st)! Snap a pic of whatever you’re cooking this weekend and get your entry in!

I’m nesting. Not in the typical bootie-knitting, floor-scrubbing, nursery painting way – but in the food way.

Pretty much every time I cook, I make enough to feed 18 people, and squirrel meals away in the freezer for future Jenn to appreciate. There’s enough gas potential in the amount of beans I’ve frozen in burrito-format to launch a spacecraft.

Everything else is fairly pasta-centric – lasagna, casseroles, and this macaroni and cheese.

Everyone – mostly people I don’t know – seems to think a baby bump is an invitation for one particular piece of unsolicited advice, which is, “Get lots of sleep now! ‘Cause you won’t get any for a long, long time!”.

Why, every stranger in the coffee shop, do you feel the need to impart that useless piece of counsel on an achy, nauseous, hormonal pregnant chick?

You can’t actually stock up on sleep. It’s not very useful advice. There’s a 92% chance I go totally bananas on the next person to tell me this.

I’ve resolved to only say warm, positive, encouraging things to moms-to-be. Join me? Continue Reading »

Your fingers are destined to be sticky.

You need to come to terms with the fact that there will be frosting on your nose.

There’s an 87.5% chance you will have moist, chocolatey crumbs on your cheeks.

And probably down your shirt.

A dribble of caramel on your chin? I’m sorry – it’s totally unavoidable.

But, hoo boy, will it be worth it.

Dark chocolate cake. Creamy caramel filling. And gooey, billowing marshmallow frosting.

In short, I captured happiness and embodied it in a cupcake. Continue Reading »

Hi Friends!

Guess what? Foodess was selected as a finalist in Saveur Magazine’s Best Food Blog Awards.

“After receiving tens of thousands of nominations, we’ve whittled the submissions down to a small but powerful group: you’re part of a collection of six finalists in your category”.

My heart. Is seriously. ABOUT TO BURST.

I’m totally overwhelmed by the incredible talent and beautiful blogs that I am in company with – many of which I read voraciously and have inspired me for years.

My special little space here would not exist without you – have I told you I love you? Reading your comments and messages over my morning coffee? The highlight of my day. Now I need your votes!!!

“Best Original Recipes” category – super quick sign up in order to cast your vote (I know, I’m sorry that you have to sign up first, but I swear it only takes a nanosecond), then just one box to check.

Did I mention I love you?! :) Go VOTE!

There are few things I enjoy making as much as meringue.  It’s total magic to me – whipping viscous egg whites with sugar until they transform into beautiful, glossy, swirly peaks.

And of course devouring it is pretty magical too – soft and marshmallowy, it’s like eating a cloud.

I was recently given a copy of a cookbook called Meringue, by Linda Jackson and Jennifer Evans Gardner, and fell in love.  It covers all the bases, from beautiful, inspired pavlovas to classic baked alaska, violet macarons, Swiss meringue buttercream frosting, and Blood Orange Curd Meringue Tart with Dark Chocolate (um… YES PLEASE!!!).

Although I think the cover photo alone could sell the book, don’t you think?

Continue Reading »

Tender pulled pork in spicy-tangy-sweet barbecue sauce.

It has to be one of the most pleasurable foods known to man (in the realm of foods that do not contain hot fudge and/or whipped cream). It definitely ranks high on my list of favourites.

Usually, for me, making this beloved meal involves slow roasting a huge pork shoulder in a low oven for 6 hours – for most of which I am hanging on to the oven door handle like it’s a roller coaster ride, face so close to the viewing window it gets sunburnt, with a puddle of drool slowly accumulating at my feet…

Continue Reading »

It has been beautiful in Vancouver for the past couple of weeks – gorgeous sunshine, warm spring temperatures, fresh sea breeze. Lovely. Makes us think that summer is just around the corner, which has influenced my tastebuds in such a way that colourful raw veggies are all I’ve been craving.

This raw kale salad with hearty quinoa, sweet currants and creamy tahini dressing hits every spot. The dressing is so tasty I could eat it with a spoon. In fact, next time I will make a double batch and use it for drizzling over grilled chicken, for slathering pita bread before loading it with shredded veggies, and for dipping carrots and snap peas. It’s a perfect blend of creamy, nutty, tangy, sweet and salty.

Continue Reading »