Blog
Tag: Cooking
D.I.Y Delicious Book Trailer
by Dan
Food & Drink / August 17, 2010
Check out this jaunty, oh-so-D.I.Y., book trailer for Vanessa Barrington’s D.I.Y. Delicious: Recipes and Ideas for Simple Food From Scratch:
D.I.Y. Delicious is perfect for crafty green types who have graduated from simple weekend jam and baking activities. The book goes beyond pickling and preserving into fermenting, culturing cheese, and brewing sodas and tonics. A total of 75 recipes and more than 50 step-by-step, colour photographs lead the way to stocking a pantry that uses fewer ingredients to make delicious staples at a much lower cost.
10 Books for a Greener Life
by Dan
Environment / April 22, 2010
If you are looking for ways to be more environmentally-friendly, here are 10 books that will help you to green your home, your kitchen and your life:
- 1001 Ways to Save the Earth by Joanna Yarrow
- Anna Getty's Easy Green Organic by Anna Getty
- Cool Cuisine: Taking the Bite Out of Global Warming by Laura Stec and Eugene Cordero
- Eco-Chic Home: Rethink, Reuse & Remake Your Way to Sustainable Style by Emily Anderson
- Go Green: How to Build an Earth-Friendly Community by Nancy H. Taylor
- Green by Design: Creating a Home for Sustainable Living by Angela Dean
- It's Easy Being Green: A Handbook for Earth-Friendly Living by Crissy Trask
- New Green Home Solutions: Renewable Household Energy and Sustainable Living by Dave Bonta and Stephen Snyder
- Squeaky Green: A Method Guide to Greening Up Your Cleaning Up by Adam Lowry and Eric Ryan
- Your Eco-Friendly Home: Buying, Building, or Remodeling Green by Sid Davis
Happy Earth Day!!
Happy Earth Day World!!
by Danielle
Environment + Food & Drink / April 21, 2010

Here's an excerpt from ANNA GETTY'S GREEN ORGANIC: COOK WELL, EAT WELL, LIVE WELL, the ultimate guide to anything and everything that is good for our earth.
Enjoy!!
Zucchini and Sweet Potato Bread with Pumpkin Seeds and Dried Cherries
Makes one 9-BY-5-inch loaf
crumble topping
1⁄4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds
2 tablespoons cold
unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
zucchini and sweet potato bread
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1⁄4 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground
cinnamon
1 cup sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup grated zucchini (about 1 1⁄2 small zucchini)
1 cup grated garnet yam (about 1⁄2 large garnet yam)
3⁄4 cup pumpkin seeds
3⁄4 cup dried cherries
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan.
2. To make the topping, mix together the flour, brown sugar, and pumpkin seeds. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Set aside.
3. To make the bread, in a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking
powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
4. In a large bowl, beat together the sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Mix in the zucchini and yam. Add the flour mixture, pumpkin seeds, and dried
cherries and stir well. Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the batter.
5. Bake the bread for 1 1/2 hours, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the bread comes out clean.
6. Let the zucchini bread cool in the pan before removing it from the pan
to serve.
Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking
by Dan
Food & Drink / February 01, 2010

Lovingly designed inside and out with stunning colour photographs by Susie Cushner, brush calligraphy by San Yan Wong, and detailed line drawings, Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo is just one of the most beautiful cookbooks I have ever seen.
But it's not *just*a coffee-table book. Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking includes more than 100 recipes, and Lo – an acclaimed chef with decades of experience – guides you step-by-step through the techniques, ingredients, and equipment of new and old Chinese cuisine.
It's an amazing book and surely a 'must-have' for Chinese cuisine aficionados.
Just watch this fabulous video for the book:
Carb swapping! No more crazy diets that don’t work!
by Danielle
January 04, 2010
We just received the new book by bestselling author Jorge Cruise called THE BELLY FAT CURE. I'm truly amazed. After reading the first few chapters and taking a look at the many recipes included, I'm hooked. Really! He suggests a very simple regime of carb swapping. The book gives you sample dishes that are not so healthy and replaces them with the good ones. In turn, hoping to make you lose 4-9 pounds every week. Try it out for yourself (if needed), but please consult your local physician before starting any new diet.
This is one of Jorge's many YouTube video on the subject. He explains that some foods have a high sugar content which is not good for your body (obviously) so he will give you delicious alternatives.
Here's is Jorge's visit to The Today Show (Jan 4, 2010)
Jorge Cruise is the author of 3 consecutive New York Times best-selling series, with more than 5 million books in print in over 15 languages. He has appeared on Oprah, Regis and Kelly, The View, Good Morning America, the Today show, Dateline NBC, and CNN. Go to TheBellyFatCure.com to join Jorge?s free e-mail club.
Here’s to a sake New Years!
by Danielle
Excerpts + Food & Drink / December 30, 2009
I thought I'd post a couple of yummy sake recipes from Kathy Casey's Sips and Apps for your New Years celebration. I hope you like them! Enjoy!
If you do intend to have a few cocktails tomorrow night please do not drive and find an alternative to taking your car.
All the best and here's to 2010!
Sake Sangria
Makes about 4 cups (6 to 8 servings)

1 (750 ml) bottle sake
6 tablespoons honey
2-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
1 stalk fresh lemongrass, halved lengthwise, then cut into 3- to 4-inch pieces (use the entire stalk)
1/2 lemon, thinly sliced
1 small tangerine or orange, thinly sliced
1 large plum or apricot, pitted and cut into thin wedges (optional, if not in season)
In a large pitcher, combine all the ingredients and stir with a spoon, crushing some of the fruit. Cover and refrigerate for at least 12 hours, or up to 2 days, to let the flavors marry before serving. Serve over ice, and include some of the fruit in each serving.
Sake Teriyaki Sticky Chicken Wings
Makes 24
Old-school teriyaki chicken wings get a big-flavored lacquery glaze in this low-and-slow method. You can make the sauce a few days ahead of time, but be sure to allow a full hour for cooking the wings.
I cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sake, or substitute dry sherry or dry white wine
2 tablespoons very finely minced peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
I cup sugar
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions, white and green parts
3 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons water
1 dozen whole chicken wings or 2 dozen drummettes, about 2 1/2 to 3 pounds
For Garneshing
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seed
Thinly sliced green onion tops
In a small saucepan, whisk together the soy sauce, sake, ginger, garlic, sugar, pepper flakes, green onions, vinegar, cornstarch, and water. Set the pan over medium heat and bring to a boil, whisking constantly, to thicken. Mixture will be very thick. Let cool. If not using immediately, store, covered and refrigerated, for up to 4 days.
If using whole wings, disjoint the wings and remove and discard tips; you should have 24 pieces. Put them in a large bowl and set aside.
Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F.
Add the sauce mixture to the bowl with the chicken and mix well to coat the chicken evenly. Spray a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray or lightly oil it. Arrange the drummettes and sauce in a single layer in the dish.
Bake for 30 minutes. Stir and turn the chicken pieces over and bake for 20 minutes more. Stir and turn the chicken pieces again and bake for 10 minutes more, or until chicken is tender and sauce is thick and glazy. Total cooking time should be about 1 hour.
Stir the drummettes in the sauce once more, then transfer the chicken to a serving platter. Spoon some of the extra sauce over the chicken, then sprinkle with the sesame seed and green onions for garnish.
