We’re probably down to the last of the strawberry posts this week on the blog-a-log, as the fields are getting bare and food bloggers are moving on to other seasonal produce. Jasmine at Confessions of a Cardamom Addict savours the season with Victoria sponge and strawberry cream, while at Closet Cooking Kevin has strawberry rice pudding with balsamic syrup (can I get an “ohmygod”??).

Moving on to new seasonal produce, Ivonne at Cream Puffs in Venice has a Peach and Almond Tart, and Ferdzy of Seasonal Ontario Food enjoys the first blueberries of the season in a salad with goat cheese.

Also this week:

• Keri of Breakfast in the City reviews Joy Bistro
• Dana MacCauley has grilling styles from around the world
• James Chatto takes a break during Summerlicious
• Kay explores curry leaves at One Bite at a Time
• At Seven Spoons Tara offers a round-up of her favourite summer recipes, complete with lovely photos
  

Strange Fruit. An awesome Billie Holiday song but also a recurring theme from Toronto food bloggers this week. At Jumbo Empanadas Brilynn checks out both custard apples and the big bad scary durian fruit. Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict write about pluots, that nifty fruit that is a combination of apricot and plum. Megan the Vegan uses a gold kiwi to fill in for the non-vegan egg, and during her west coast vacation Marusya of Recipes For Trouble cooks with salmonberries.

One of the fruit vendors at the Metro Square Farmers Market tells me this might be the last week for regular strawberries (although farmers who grow everbearing plants will have berries until the first frost), and we’ve still got lots and lots of berry posts showing up in the ol’ RSS feed. At Cream Puffs in Venice, Ivonne makes two desserts with strawberries, Ferdzy of Seasonal Ontario Cooking has an unbaked strawberry pie - perfect for the hot weather, and Kevin of Closet Cooking has three strawberry posts, the most intriguing being the cod with strawberry salsa. You guys all get kudos for finding or coming up with such great recipes Berries never make it past the bowl of whipped cream in my house.

Also - at Mmm, Tasty, Candice compares falafels; Brian and Jennifer of Eating T.O. check out Rebozos; and Catherine of Sugar and Ink calls the tea drinkers to arms. Dana McCauley makes dulce de leche; Dean has more book reviews at Gothic Epicures VinCuisine; and Michael of On the Road with the Grape Guy reports from the wine writers tour of Niagara.

As we’ve seen with recent blog-a-log columns, seasonal produce means a whole whack of seasonally-themed posts from bloggers. Two prominent themes this week are strawberries (which are still around) and peas.

Dana McCauley starts us off with tips for growing peas from her gardening series. Then Ferdzy of Seasonal Ontario Food offer two posts on stuff to do with peas, first serve them with cream and garlic scapes, or with butter and mint.

Catherine of Sugar and Ink has a market report that features strawberries, and at Closet Cooking Kevin has strawberry and rhubarb jam, as well as strawberry cheesecake ice cream. And Eric of Do You Know the Muffin Man? whips up some strawberry sorbet with balsamic vinegar and marscapone.

Another summertime food is ribs, and K-chan of I Can’t Believe I’m Back in Toronto offers a review of the Etobicoke ribfest, as well as a guide to all the rib festivals in Ontario.

Also, Candice at Mmm, Tasty! reviews Wild Thing Café, Greg talks about the return of Unibrou at Beer, Beats and Bites, and Rob disses locavores at Hungry in Hogtown.

As readers of this site and my personal food blog will know, I’m not much of a fan of recipe posts; to me they scream to the world that the blogger has run of of things to say, and has resorted to blogging about what they had for dinner. The one huge exception to this is posts about seasonal food items - I actually really love coming across recipe posts about local produce in season, because I enjoy seeing what each person has chosen to do with a particular ingredient. For the past couple of weeks, we’ve included a lot of asparagus posts here in the Blog-A-Log column, and as the asparagus winds down (which reminds me, I should blanche some and freeze it before it’s all gone!!), we move on to strawberries, which are all over the web this week.

Starting over at Closet Cooking, Kevin’s got a gorgeous strawberry and feta salad, as well as strawberry frozen yogurt. Eric at Do You Know the Muffin Man? has strawberry rhubarb muffins, and Ferdzy at Seasonal Ontario Food has strawberry agua fresca. Ferdzy’s also got a brilliantly green seasonal soup made from spinach, asparagus and peas.

Elsewhere, Dana McCauley’s got an interesting post about real breakfasts, while Liz at Blog From Our Kitchen has cinnamon raisin bread (perfect for breakfast!), and Jasmine at Confessions of a Cardamom Addict has a recipe for spiced blueberry maple syrup (also perfect for breakfast!).

And anyone still looking for recipes should head over to Gothic Epicures VinCuisine, where Dean has a whole pile of recent cookbook reviews.

Happy Summer TasteTO readers! We seem to have mostly recipes in the round-up this week, so let’s go in point form and check out all the good eats!

• Closet Cooking - Kevin has a gorgeous mango and black bean quinoa salad
• Cream Puffs in Venice - Ivonne whips up an Italian-themed dinner in honour of her Father - and check out the tortoni!
• Do You Know the Muffin Man? - Oooh!! Eric’s malted chocolate cake looks to die for
• Mmm, Tasty! - Not so much a recipe, but Candice offers handy tips on working with chickpeas, which can lead to some nifty recipes
• Recipes For Trouble - Marusya has cornmeal strawberry muffins - and a goat!
• Save Your Fork - who says dessert can’t be for breakfast? I’ve got strawberry breakfast shortcake
• Seasonal Ontario Fare - There’s potato and asparagus salad on Ferdzy’s table
• The Urban Nutritionist - Cordelia whips up a healthier and cheaper knock-off of the coffee chain mochaccino
• Wine Food Yum - Matt splurges on some Madagasgar vanilla and makes his own vanilla-flavoured vodka

Asparagus seems to be on everyone’s plates and in everyone’s blogs this week.

At Closet Cooking, Kevin makes an asparagus carbonara, as well as an asparagus, beef and shitake stir-fry. Ferdzy of Seasonal Ontario Food makes black bean and asparagus salad.

Brilynn of Jumbo Empanadas celebrates the anniversary of her blog with balsamic roasted strawberry ice cream.

In wine blogs, Dean of Gothic Epicures VinCuisine recaps the New Zealand Wine Fair, while Michael of On the Road with the Grape Guy reports from the Portugal wine tasting event.

Continue reading Blog-A-Log - Saturday, June 14th »

Hot enough for ya? We start off the blog-a-log this week with a selection of timely posts.

At Jumbo Empanadas, Brilynn has tips on making cool refreshing sorbets even if you don’t own an ice cream maker.

Dana McCauley gets out in the pizza garden, with a cool round garden plot divided into sections of all the stuff you’ll need for pizza from tomatoes to oregano.

Kevin makes the most of rhubarb season with a rhubarb fool at Closet Cooking.

And while we don’t generally include blogger memes or cooking events here, we loved the idea of a Canadian food event as suggested by Jasmine at Confessions of a Cardamom Addict.

Michael reports form the Archibald Winery fruit wine tasting event at On the Road with the Grape Guy. (I’m jealous - I really wanted to go to that!)

Fast food used to taste better - or so says Ferdzy of Seasonal Ontario Food.

Marusya wrestles with lobster on her birthday at Recipes For Trouble - hint - I always found nutcrackers to work like a charm.

And over at Save Your Fork, I’ve got news of the end of the PETA - KFC battle, in which PETA wins and KFC agrees to serve vegan soy “unchicken” in their restaurants.

A is for Asparagus. I haven’t gotten around to eating much of spring’s first vegetable yet, I’ve been too busy getting my fill of fiddleheads (most notably a crab and fiddlehead quiche) and freezing batches for the winter. But it seems as if every other food blogger in Toronto is digging into the asparagus. At Closet Cooking, Kevin whips up quiche as well - an asparagus and mushroom quiche. He’s also got an asparagus souffle. Ferdzy of Seasonal Ontario Food has asparagus and black bean soup, and theres asparagus on asparagus at Brilynn’s Jumbo Empanadas. And now the word “asparagus” looks really weird because I’ve typed it too many times.

In wine posts, Ange from iYellow has info on pairing wine with Indian food, Dean reviews a book about icewine at Gothic Epicures Vincuisine, and Michael reports from the Albert Bichot Tasting at On the Road with the Grape Guy.

Pat of Breakfast in the City checks out the grub at Stratenger’s, while Kay at One Bite at a Time, makes vennpongal for breakfast.

Elsewhere:

• Eric makes espresso and cappuccino cupcakes at Do You Know the Muffin Man?
• Dana McCauley pre-plans her funeral wake, right down to the food (no, she’s not dying, she’s just organized!)
• I look at the revisions to the “Product of Canada” labelling laws at Save Your Fork
• Jen’s collecting tragic kitchen stories at The Domestic Goddess - the best could win a Food Network prize package, so head on over there if you’ve set fire to something, or given yourself a nice gouge. (As a kid, I once watched my Dad accidentally put a chef’s knife right through his palm with the tip piercing through the skin on the back of his hand between the knuckles - I bet that would win!)

We’re starting with wine this week - as Michael of On the Road with the Grape Guy writes about the 2008 All Canadian Wine Championships Gold Medal Results.

At Sugar and Ink, Catherine looks at a New York Times article in the style of Hungry Planet, that documents how much food people waste, and at Save Your Fork, I’ve got a post about all the stuff you need to know to start a food preparation business - like, ferchrissake, don’t run it from your home kitchen!

In recipe posts, there’s orange date walnut buns at Mmm, Tasty!; lemon ginger sweet potatoes at Seasonal Ontario Food; slow cooked apricot preserves at Dairy of a Feeder; and fresh pea pesto at Closet Cooking.

Spring has sprung and food bloggers are hitting the markets. Catherine of Sugar and Ink finds all the seasonal goodies like asparagus and rhubarb. Dana McCauley also writes about farmers markets but catches my eye with her talk of nougat, quite possibly my favourite candy ever.

In other sweet-oriented posts, Eric at Do You Know the Muffin Man? bakes up some chocolate macarons for a bake sale; Kevin at Closet Cooking makes vanilla bean ice cream; and Ivonne at Cream Puffs in Venice creates cupcakes adorned with beautiful butterflies.

Elizabeth at Blog From Our Kitchen has a wonderful and though-provoking post about the recent global food shortages, hoarding, gardening and learning to appreciate what we have.

Dean at Gothic Epicures VinCuisine has a variety of restaurant cookbook reviews.

And Ferdzy of Seasonal Ontario Food visits Stone Meadow Farm, with lots of pictures of chickens!

This week, Dana McCauley is asking readers to join her in a boycott of restaurants that serve shark fin soup, pointing out the cruelty and destruction the desire for this dish is causing. It means giving up a couple of my favourite Chinatown haunts, but as shark-finning is a practice that I find completely reprehensible, I’m all in.

Marusya of Recipes For Trouble explains how her mother is losing her sense of taste and how it’s thrown a wrench into a lifetime of cooking and food loving.

At Garlicster, Maria reviews the book Comfort Food; Alana of Wasabi Cowgirl reviews B Restaurant; and Greg of Beer, Beats and Bites recaps the Southern Tier Beer dinner. And Jason at Chow on Chow looks at how wine drinkers seldom trust their palates and go for the expensive wine just because of the price tag.

In recipe posts, there’s spaghetti alla puttanesca at Closet Cooking, cannelloni at Cream Puffs in Venice, and nostalgic morels (and a tart) at Jumbo Empanadas. Megan the Vegan has corncakes with stewed blackbeans, and we celebrate the first asparagus of the year at Seasonal Ontario Food with asparagus with lemon-pepper butter.

It seems Toronto food bloggers have a collective sweet tooth this week, as the majority of the posts we’ve selected to feature are about sweet stuff.

Starting us off, Elizabeth at Blog From Our Kitchen makes some granola, using groats, not oats! Then Ferdzy at Seasonal Ontario Food makes a croissant pudding (like bread pudding) with streusel.

Tara at Seven Spoons reviews Martha Stewart’s Cookies, and makes the peanut butter and jelly bars, while Eric at Do You Know the Muffin Man? whips up a flourless chocolate orange almond cake, and at Closet Cooking, Kevin tries his hand at maple creme brulee.

At Porkosity, Corey sings the praises of mangoes and demonstrates how to cut one. (Pssst! Corey - the Alphansos have arrived in Little India!!) And Candice of Mmm, Tasty! reviews Dolce Gelato.

Also, Dean reviews 101 Foods That Could Save Your Life at Gothic Epicures VinCuisine, and Michael recaps the Somewhereness wine event at On the Road with the Grape Guy.

In honour of Earth Day this week, Catherine of Sugar and Ink offers tips at reducing food waste. It’s good advice, especially when we’re trying to make the most out of local produce. Ferdzy of Seasonal Ontario Food explains why imported produce like berries can be cheaper than local, and it ain’t pretty.

Also not pretty is what gets fed to school kids, and the resulting backlash against fat in children’s diets. Tracy at Fear and Loathing in the Kitchen points the finger away from fat and in the direction of carbohydrates. Me. I’m more of the mind that it’s all about balance, and unless you have specific health concerns, elimination of any one food group is probably not wise, but her point that fat in food has become the scapegoat for fat on our bodies is a valid one that demonstrates society’s need for both something to blame and the desire for a quick-fix.

Continue reading Blog-A-Log - Saturday, April 25th »

Another great crop of posts this week from Toronto-area food bloggers. Here they are, alphabetically…

• Beer, Beats and Bites - Greg reviews the Brewer’s Plate dinner
• Blog From Our Kitchen - Elizabeth cooks preserved lemon & couscous
• Closet Cooking - Kevin bakes - OH MY GOD - Green Tea White Chocolate Marscapone Brownies - gimme, gimme, gimme!!
• Do You Know the Muffin Man - Eric offers Pear Ganache Chocolates - you guys are killing me!
• The Galumphing Gourmand - Ian gets saucy with pesto
• Garlicster - Maria steps away from the garlic clove to review He Said Beer, She Said Wine

Continue reading Blog-A-Log - Saturday, April 19th »

Wow - there are way too many great posts this week from Toronto food bloggers. I usually try to narrow it down to 5 or 6 but this week’s round-up has to be done in point form.

• Closet Cooking - Kevin makes peanut butter, honey and banana crepes
• Confessions of a Cardamom Addict - Jasmine attends the Elmira Maple Syrup festival
• Dana McCauley - Dana shares the truth about pro-biotics
• Do You Know the Muffin Man - Eric bakes up honey-bacon-apricot cornbread
• Fear and Loathing in the Kitchen - Tracy looks at how many eggs we should be consuming
• Gothic Epicures VinCuisine - Dean reviews the new book The Apple
• Jumbo Empanandas - Brilynn fights bananas with bananas
• Mmm, Tasty! - Candice reviews By the Way Cafe
• The Nutritionista - Cathy cooks up the best darned lentils
  
• Porkosity - Corey makes too many pickles and an unfortunately salty kimchi
• Recipes For Trouble - Marusya discovers the flavours of green
• Seven Spoons - Tara practices the rites of spring with peas and asparagus
• Sugar and Ink - Catherine savours some tripe