A Charlie Brown Cookbook: Peanuts Family Cookbook

Normally around this time, I would have watched my all-time favourite holiday special, "A Charlie Brown Christmas". But because Tim Cook decided only AppleTV+ subscribers deserve this present, I'm out of luck. Fortunately, I discovered a literary substitute to satisfy my fix for Charles Schultz's cry against the commercialization of Christmas. "Peanuts Family Cookbook" is similar to any other themed cookbook, with recipes that have a link, however tenuous, to a character from a popular movie, TV show, or book. While the recipes are easy to make with or without parental supervision, the real highlight of the cookbook is the artwork and the reprints of some of the old comic strips, making it fun to flip through even if you don't make anything from it. It seems only fitting that Franklin on Food celebrates this cookbook with a recipe from the character who shares a name with this blog.

Ingredients: Franklin's Frozen Fruit Crush

200 g sugar
240 mL water
13 plums, 12 halved and pitted

1. Mix the water and sugar in a small saucepot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and let simmer until the sugar has completely dissolved. Set the mixture aside to cool.
2. Pour the sugar mixture into a blender and add the 12 plums. Blend everything until it's smooth.
3. Empty the contents of the blender into a standard baking dish, cover it with plastic wrap, and put it in the freezer for about an hour. Remove the baking dish from the freezer, uncover, and rake the mixture into flakes with a fork.
4. Cover with plastic wrap again and return the baking dish to the freezer. Repeat the raking of the mixture every thirty minutes for three hours until the mixture looks like shaved ice.
5. Scoop into glasses or bowls, garnish with slices from the remaining plum, and serve immediately.

Grey Cup Eats - Honey Dill Sauce vs. Lumberjack Sandwich

Full disclosure - I don't give a fuck about the Grey Cup. 

It's not that I don't like football or the CFL.  I remember listening to games on CFRA with my father back when I was a kid. I've been to Ottawa Rough Rider/Renegade/Redblacks games in the past and enjoyed myself at them. I appreciate the history of the Grey Cup and the skill of all its players and coaches. But Canada's version of The Big Game never resonated the same way as the American Superbowl does with me. I remember the Chicago Bears thrashing the New England Patriots in the first Superbowl I ever saw, but couldn't tell you who won the first Grey Cup game I watched or who played in it (I want to say Doug Flutie was involved). I've been to numerous Superbowl parties over the course of my life, but I've never been to or heard of anyone throwing one for the Grey Cup.  I do know that this year is a repeat of the 2019 contest, with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers taking on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.  The recipes below represent the best food offerings from each team's respective cities. During the game, Winnipeggers will reach for their favourite honey dill sauce when looking for something to dip finger foods in, while Hamiltonians will have the home field advantage with the hearty grilled cheese sandwiches inspired by the hometown Gorilla Cheese food truck. No matter who you're rooting for, these dishes would be a great addition to any tailgate. As for the game itself? I'll probably check the score periodically while watching other things - those shows I've been planning to binge on aren't going to watch themselves.

Ingredients: Honey dill sauce

45 g mayonnaise
20 g honey
5 g chopped fresh dill
a squeeze of lemon

1. Mix the mayonnaise and honey together until completely combined. Add dill and lemon and mix again.
• For a sweeter sauce, use less mayo and add 2.5 mL of Worcestershire sauce; for a tangier sauce, use less honey, half as much dill, and add 2.5 g of mustard powder.
2. Place the sauce in the fridge for at least 15 minutes before serving for best results.

If you develop a taste for honey dill sauce, you need to find a jar of Greetalia, a provincial favourite.

 

Ingredients: Gorilla Cheese lumberjack sandwich

15 g salted butter, at room temperature
7.5 g mayonnaise
3 slices bacon, cooked
2 slices white bread
2 thick slices aged cheddar
several thin slices Granny Smith apple
pure maple syrup

1. In a medium bowl, mix the butter and the mayonnaise together until it is smooth and well-blended.
2. Spread on one side of each piece of bread with the butter/mayo mixture. Place the buttered sides of the bread face down on a cutting board, and top each slice with a slice of cheddar cheese largely to almost cover the bread.
3. On one slice of bread and cheese, arrange a single layer of apple slices. Top with the bacon and drizzle everything with maple syrup.
4. Heat a large, non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add the bread slices, separately, buttered sides down. Cook until they become golden, about 3 to 4 minutes. Form the bread into a sandwich, with the buttered sides facing out. Cook until golden on both sides, about 2 to 3 minutes.
5. Transfer the sandwich back to the cutting board, and let it stand for a minute before slicing.

Baking Snowballs

Whether you call them Mexican wedding cakes or Russian tea cakes, it's easy to see why these pastries are affectionately called snowballs. They're white, they're round, and like the frozen projectiles they resemble, they're very easy to make. As we enter the holiday season, you can be sure that a plate of these cookies will be a welcome addition to any Christmas potluck or office get-together. Just remember to follow public health guidelines to protect yourself and others.

Ingredients

560 g all-purpose flour
230 g butter
125 g chopped pecans
65 g confectioners' sugar
45 g confectioners' sugar for dusting, or as needed
(if you don't have any confectioners' sugar on hand, pulse 200 g of white sugar with 14 g cornstarch in a blender or food processor until it looks powdery)
35 g finely crushed peppermint candy canes (optional)
1.5 g teaspoon salt
5 mL vanilla extract

1. Preheat your oven to 175 degrees C.
2. Blend the butter with 65 g of confectioners' sugar and the vanilla extract. Mix in the flour, pecans, and salt. Roll about a tablespoon or so of dough into balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.
3. Place the cookie sheet in the oven and let the cookies bake for about 15 minutes or until they are golden. Do not allow them to get too brown - it's better to undercook them than to overcook them. 
4. While the cookies are still hot, roll them in the remaining powdered sugar. Once they have cooled, give them another roll in the sugar. For some extra Christmas cheer, add the candy cane dust to the sugar used for the final dusting.

Working My Way Through The Works: Hamburger Mary

A popular gimmick for food blogs is to eat and review every item on a restaurant's menu. This blog is no exception. These are the observations I've had while eating my way through the burger menu of The Works, a Canadian burger restaurant with locations across Ottawa and Ontario.

The WORKS (900 Watters Road)
Burger Description:"Real mayo, egg, tomato, cheddar cheese & bacon"
($12.09 + tax)

October 30, 2021

Whether it's from a quail, a duck, or a chicken, if you want to fancy up a dish, you put an egg on it. Why? People on cooking shows always rave about how it adds a nice creaminess to whatever food it's placed on, and it looks so pretty seeing the bright yellow yolk burst out of the fluffy whiteness surrounding it. Still, seeing it on a hamburger is still odd to me, so on my long-overdue return to the Works, I decided to go with the Hamburger Mary.  This was the first time my wife and I have been to a restaurant together since the province lifted the COVID-19 pandemic capacity limits. It didn't take long before we were seated after we were screened for proof of vaccination, a process that wasn't as time-consuming or invasive as the anti-vaccine crowd would have you believe. Biting into my hamburger when it arrived was a bit of a surprise for me as I was expecting my first bite to end with egg yolk dribbling into my beard. But the fried egg on my patty was more like biting into the egg of a breakfast sandwich from a fast-food place, rubbery and firm. I don't usually put mayo on my hamburgers, so I couldn't tell if the healthy dollop of mayonnaise on my bun was homemade or from a jar. Everything else about the burger was fine - the patty was cooked, the Cheddar cheese and bacon added flavour, and the tomato slice added freshness to every bite. As always, I went with the onion rings with Beechhouse sauce as my side. Overall, it was a decent cheeseburger, but putting an egg on it didn't elevate it as much as you would expect it to. I now get why chefs use cooking eggs to test a new employee's cooking technique - if you can't get the timing and temperature for a fried egg right, don't bother adding it to a hamburger.

2.5 out of 5 stars 

Everyday Cranberry Sauce

Cranberry sauce only gets its time to shine twice a year. It makes an appearance at Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner, usually still in the shape of the can it came out of. Fans of this seasonal condiment shouldn't limit themselves to those two days, especially when cranberries are available year-round in either fresh or frozen forms. With the recipe below, it is possible to enjoy its tart sweetness anytime you're in the mood for poultry or ham. 

Ingredients

475 mL reduced-sodium chicken broth
100 g cranberries
115 g onion, finely chopped
60 g sugar
15 g butter
5.5 g cornstarch mixed with 15 mL water
2.5 g dried sage
2.5 g dried thyme

1. In a large saucepan melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onions, and let them cook for about 8 minutes, until they turn golden, stirring occasionally.
2. Add the dried sage and thyme and cook for a minute. Pour in the chicken broth and let it simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes until it has reduced to about 355 mL. Strain the mixture then pour the liquid back into the saucepan.
3. Put the cranberries and the sugar in the liquid, and boil for about 5 to 8 minutes until the berries burst. Whisk in the cornstarch mixture then let it come to a boil again. Cook until the sauce begins to thicken, about 1 to 2 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let the sauce thicken as it stands. Season with salt and pepper and serve on the meat of your choice.

Note: This recipe was taken from "Everyday Food Great Food Fast" by Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc.

Political Eats - Liberal Edition

You may be aware that there is a federal election happening in Canada this month. This is because Justin Trudeau, the current prime minister, and leader of the Liberal party, wants to regain the majority government he lost two years ago. Despite repeated calls that his politics and policies are not what Canada needs or wants, the Opposition seemed reluctant to have the chance to remove him from power- luckily, the election still went ahead as scheduled. However you feel about Trudeau, it shouldn't keep you from trying this recipe for a breakfast staple that he allegedly makes for his family. If I were running for public office, I wouldn't want to associate my name with the word "waffle", but with two election wins under his belt, I guess he knows what he's doing.

Elections have consequences - have your voice heard on September 20th.

Ingredients: Oh Boy Waffles

788 mL milk
120 mL vegetable oil or melted butter
3 eggs, beaten
420 g flour
28 g sugar
25 g baking powder
4 g salt

1. Preheat your waffle iron.
2. Mix the wet ingredients together in a bowl. Mix the dry ingredients together in a different bowl.
3. Combine the contents of the two bowls into one and mix until blended. Ladle the batter into the waffle iron, and cook the waffles until they're golden and crisp. Serve immediately.

Political Eats - CPC Edition

You may be aware that there is a federal election happening in Canada this month. If you have been following election coverage, you may be surprised to learn that CPC leader Erin O'Toole is surging in the polls, despite not really connecting with either the public or with members of the Conservative Party of Canada. Posting recipes isn't a part of the Conservative social media plan, so as part of my efforts to be fair and balanced, I was forced to use a recipe from O'Toole's former boss; given how many True Blue Tories would like Stephen Harper to return to the fold, I think it's a good substitute. This was the recipe the former prime minister shared near the end of the 2015 campaign. As it was Harper's last campaign, we can assume party faithful hope history doesn't repeat itself again this time around.

Elections have consequences - have your voice heard on September 20th.

Ingredients: Sour cream and onion mashed potatoes

12 potatoes (adjust as needed based on the size of the group — it’s about 1 potato per person)
1 package Philadelphia Cream Cheese
1 small tub sour cream
chives, chopped (to taste)
milk — just enough to whip

1. Boil the potatoes for about 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender, but still firm. 
2. Mash the potatoes then mix the remaining ingredients together with them until everything is well blended.
   
   This dish can be prepared 1-2 days beforehand.

Political Eats - NDP Edition

You may be aware that there is a federal election happening in Canada this month. You may have even heard about the misfortune that happened to NDP leader Jagmeet Singh's food truck on his way to a photoshoot before the French-language debate.  What you may not have known is how popular Singh's take on poutine really is. Singh introduced this recipe to Canadian votes during the 2019 election, as the perfect combination of his ethnic background and the Quebec delicacy as a way to improve his party's vote tally in la belle province. It didn't work, but the recipe did win over enough supporters that he brought it back again for this political go-around.  In case the NDP's food truck doesn't make it to your riding in time for the election, I posted a recipe for it below. 

Elections have consequences - have your voice heard on September 20th.

Ingredients: Punjabi Poutine

two to three mid-sized sweet potatoes
1 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes or 794 g fresh tomatoes, peeled and diced
1 bag of cheese curds
mild vegetable oil and/or ghee
garlic
ginger
cardamom pods
ground cumin
ground coriander
ground tumeric
cayenne
garam masala
salt
onion

1. Preheat the oven to 176°C. Cut the sweet potatoes into evenly sized pieces. Cover them with some of the vegetable oil and/or ghee, then spread them out on a baking sheet. When the oven is ready, place the baking sheet in the oven until the sweet potatoes are cooked but not squishy.
2. Dice the onion, garlic, and ginger as finely as you can. Heat some of the vegetable oil and/or ghee in a frying pan with high sides. Sauté the onion, garlic, and ginger in the pan until the onion is translucent. Season with salt, add the spices, and sauté everything some more.
• You will notice that there are no measurements for this recipe, as Singh's approach to seasoning food is to add until he hears his ancestors say that's enough. You will have to use your best judgment on how much is too much.
3. Add the tomatoes and turn the heat down a bit. Let the tomatoes simmer until they have a sauce-like consistency. When the tomato gravy is close to ready, add the sweet potatoes and let them get used to their new home. A minute or two before serving, add the cheese curds.

Woo-hoo! Easy Crème Brulée

The first time I had crème brulée was at my wife's suggestion at the end of a date night meal. I've never been much of a dessert guy, but it's hard not to love the taste of sweet luxurious custard under a layer of caramelized sugar that you have to crack with a spoon to access. When I came across this version of the decadent dessert, I knew I had to try the recipe; when I came across the butane torch you see to the right of this paragraph, I knew I had to try the recipe as soon as possible. Sure, you can get yourself a more professional-looking kitchen torch (it's definitely more powerful than what you can find among the other lighters at the convenience store), but I think Homer would appreciate a simpler way to make a tasty treat.

Ingredients

125 g vanilla ice cream (a great substitute for the cream, milk, sugar, and thickener that is custard)
2 egg yolks
8 -12 g granulated sugar         

1. Preheat oven to 163°C. Melt the vanilla ice cream in a microwave-safe bowl for one minute, then whisk, and let it cool. Whisk in the egg yolks, and pour the mixture into ramekins.
2. Place the ramekins into a cake pan, then pour hot water into the pan, letting the water fill about halfway up the ramekins. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the middle is still jiggly and almost set. Refrigerate for at least two hours.
3. Spoon the sugar onto each crème brûlée, turning each ramekin to distribute the sugar in an even layer. Use either a kitchen torch or place the crème brûlées under the broiler for about three minutes to brown the sugar, checking to make sure the sugar doesn't burn. Let them cool for at least 10 minutes, then serve.

New Ways To Enjoy Beer

Contrary to what a recent commercial would have you believe, you don't have to give up beer completely if you've become bored drinking it. With the recipes below, you can make some tasty cocktails for the times when you need more from your beer than for it to be ice cold. 

Ingredients: Shandy

1 bottle or can of beer
lemonade

1. Pour half of the beer into a glass. 
2. Fill the glass with lemonade.

As easy to make as it is refreshing to drink, try using a lemon-flavoured soda like 7Up or Sprite for the British version of this cocktail.

Ingredients: Black Velvet: 

1 bottle or can of stout
1 bottle of sparkling wine (a dry Champagne would be preferred)

1. Pour the stout into a champagne or highball glass until the glass is half full.
2. Top off the rest of the glass with the wine. Stir if desired, or allow the cocktail to sit for about a minute before serving.

Invented in London in 1861 as a way to mourn the death of Prince Albert, this cocktail can be made layered with either the stout on the bottom and champagne on top or with everything blended together.

Ingredients: Michelada

1 bottle or can of Mexican beer (appropriate cervezas to use: Corona, Modelo, Tecate)
Clamato or tomato juice
your favourite hot sauce
Worcestershire sauce
soy sauce
juice of one lime

1. Take some salt and sprinkle it on a small plate. Rub a slice of lime around the rim of a glass and then press the rim in the salt.
2. Fill the glass about a quarter to halfway with either Clamato or tomato juice. Add the lime juice, two splashes of Worcestershire sauce, two splashes of soy sauce, and the hot sauce to taste. Fill the rest of the glass with cold beer.
3. Garnish with a slice of lime.

This will appeal to fans of the Bloody Caesar; for added authenticity, rim your glass with Tajin seasoning and use Maggi liquid seasoning instead of soy sauce.

Ingredients: Beer Float 

1 bottle or can of beer
ice cream
candy, chocolate chips, sprinkles, whipped cream (optional)

1. Scoop one or two scoops of ice cream into a beer mug.
2. Slowly pour beer into the mug, allowing the foam to rise and then recede before adding more beer.
3.  Top with any of the optional ingredients if you require more sweetness.

Swapping out root beer with regular beer is a great way to make a childhood treat more adult. While making a beer float is as simple as adding your favourite beer to your favourite ice cream, you can create a better float if you consider using flavours that pair well together. Combinations to try include:

• a red ale with vanilla ice cream
• a raspberry lambic with chocolate ice cream
• a hefeweizen with strawberry ice cream
• an espresso stout with coffee ice cream 
• an IPA with lemon-lime sorbet 
• a Belgian white with orange sorbet

Beef Tartare Blues

To the dismay of foodies and chefs in New Brunswick, it is now illegal to serve raw beef in a restaurant. This means that beef tartare is now off the menu. Beef tartare is made from raw minced beef and is served with onions, capers, and a raw egg yolk on top.  Along with the risk of getting salmonella from the egg, the provincial concern focuses on the fact that uncooked meat can contain bacteria that make people sick. While there haven't been any cases of anyone from the Picture Province getting sick from some tartare, health officials are erring on the side of caution after the year and a bit of dealing with a pandemic. However, when fresh meat is used and basic hygienic rules are followed, the risk of bacterial infection is low. With the recipe below, you can find out what New Brunswickers are now missing.

NOTE: IF YOU HAVE A MEDICAL CONDITION THAT PREVENTS YOU FROM INGESTING RAW MEAT OR RAW EGGS, DO NOT EAT THIS DISH.

Ingredients

400 g beef tenderloin or top round
45 mL olive oil
30 g whole-grain mustard
15 mL red wine vinegar
15 g capers, chopped
7 g flat-leaf parley, chopped
5 g Dijon mustard
1 egg yolk
1 shallot, finely chopped
sriracha, to taste (if you can get some sambal oelek, use that)

1. Place the beef in the freezer for about an hour, until it starts to form ice crystals and gets really firm but not frozen solid; you should still be able to pierce it with the point of a sharp knife. Wash and dry your hands.
2. Combine the olive oil, mustards, vinegar, and whatever hot sauce you're using in a bowl. Season everything with salt and pepper, and set it aside. Wash and dry your hands.
3. When the meat is firm enough, take it from the freezer, and slice it thinly against the grain. Cut each slice into fine strips, then dice those strips as finely as you can. Continue chopping the meat with your knife until it has a coarse ground consistency, then place the meat in a mixing bowl.
4. Add the shallots, egg yolk, chopped parsley, chopped capers, and the dressing from the bowl you set aside to the beef and mix everything delicately until it is well combined. Wash and dry your hands. 
5. Divide the mixture into four equal servings and press each serving into either a burger press, a round cookie cutter or a cleaned tin can open at both ends. Lightly press down on the meat with a fork and then remove whatever you used to mold the dish into shape. Serve cold with fresh endives or toasted croutons.

Legends of Canadian Pastry: The Butter Tart

The Sweet Canada: Domestic stamps series

As we can now interact with more people as vaccination numbers increase, be the hit of your backyard barbeque with some buttery goodness. Butter tarts have been a favourite ever since France send women to help colonize their Quebec territory 350 years ago, and they adapted the recipes they brought with them with what was available in their new home. Today, most butter tart recipes are a variation of a recipe from 1900 submitted by Mary Ethel MacLeod to The Women's Auxiliary of the Royal Victoria Hospital Cookbook. Whether you like them firm or slightly run, or with (or without) raisins or pecans, the recipe below will satisfy your cravings.

Ingredients

12 pre-made tart shells
(If you have a favourite homemade pie crust recipe, feel free to use it; if you need one, here's a good recipe.)
50 g butter, melted and cooled
90 g brown sugar, lightly packed
170 mL corn syrup
2.5 mL vanilla
1 egg
salt
120 grams raisins (optional)
40 grams coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

1. If you are making a pie crust from scratch, prepare the dough and refrigerate it for 30 minutes. In the meantime, pre-heat the oven to 204°C, and grease and flour the muffin tin you plan to use.
2. Remove the pie pastry from the fridge and roll it out to a 3mm thickness and cut out pieces with a round cookie cutter or a glass. Gently form the dough into the muffin tin.
3. If you want raisins in your butter tarts, place them in a medium bowl, cover them with boiling water, and let them sit for 5 minutes. Remove the raisins from the water and immediately stir them in the butter, then add the egg, vanilla, brown sugar, corn syrup, and a pinch of salt and combine well. If you want nuts in your tarts, this is where you can add them into the mix.
4. Pour the filling into the prepared tart shells and bake for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 177°C and continue baking for approximately 10 - 15 minutes or until they start to brown.  Let cool before serving. Store the tarts in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to five days, or keep them at room temperature; keep in mind they will only keep for up to two days.

The Need to Know Classic That Is The: Shrimp Po'Boy

The last time I went out for a meal on a patio, I ordered a sandwich New Orleans made famous. It was a warm autumn day in 2020, a perfect day for a lunch date. Because of its patio and proximity to our home my wife and I decided to go to Taproom 260. After scanning the menu, instead of the chicken wings or tacos I usually order when at a bar, I went with a shrimp po'boy. During a streetcar strike in 1929 in New Orleans, Benny and Clovis Martin of the Martin Brothers’ French Market Restaurant and Coffee stand gave free sandwiches to the working-class members of Division 194 - the po'boys. Served between a style of French bread with a crispier crust and fluffier centre than a baguette, these sandwiches usually consisted of roast beef or fried seafood. I wasn't expecting much from a sandwich made so far from Louisana but I was pleasantly surprised when my order arrived. The shrimp were cooked well, the toppings were fresh and their in-house remoulade (a mayonnaise-based sauce) had a nice kick to it. It may still be a while before we can eat on a restaurant patio again, so in the meantime, here's a recipe for this superior seafood sandwich for you to make and bring with you whenever you can eat outdoors.

Ingredients for two sandwiches

10-12 medium peeled and deveined shrimp
240 mL buttermilk
240 g all-purpose flour
150 g yellow cornmeal
75 g shredded iceberg lettuce
60 mL hot sauce, divided into two equal portions
50 g mayonnaise
15 g kosher salt, divided into three equal portions, plus more to taste
3 g cayenne pepper
3 g dried oregano
3 g dried thyme
3 g freshly ground black pepper
3 g garlic powder
2 10-inch po'boy rolls or French hero rolls, halved lengthwise
1 beefsteak tomato, thinly sliced
vegetable oil, for frying

1.  In a medium bowl, toss the shrimp in the buttermilk, one portion of the hot sauce and one portion of the salt. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. Whisk another portion of the salt with the flour, cornmeal, cayenne, oregano, thyme, garlic powder, and pepper in another medium bowl, and set it aside. In another bowl, mix the remaining hot sauce with the mayonnaise until it's a smooth consistency, and set it aside.
3. Heat 5 cm of oil to 177°C in a medium Dutch oven, then line a plate with paper towels. Get the shrimp from the fridge, remove them from the marinade, and toss and coat them well in the flour mixture. Working in batches, fry the shrimp until they are golden brown and cooked through, about 1 minute. Carefully take the shrimp from the oil and put them on the prepared plate to drain, immediately seasoning them with the remaining salt. Let the oil return to temperature between batches.
4. Spread the mayonnaise mixture on both halves of the rolls. On the bottom halves, divide the fried shrimp, then top with the sliced tomatoes, and the shredded lettuce. Place the top halves on the sandwiches, then slice them in half and serve.

The New Automats - Vending Machine Food Options

People of a certain age remember when you could get a hot meal from a vending machine as long as you had a pocket full of nickels. These restaurants were called automats, and they consisted of coin-operated vending machines that contained food and drinks behind a glass window. Behind the scenes, workers prepared and replenished the meals, with the only visible employee being the person who made change for hungry customers.  While popular at the start of the 20th century, automats soon fell to the wayside in the 60s with the rise of fast-food restaurants. However, with the need to limit human interaction as much as possible during COVID times, the idea behind these eateries is making a comeback of sorts. Cake lovers and fans of  Buddy Valastro's Carlo's Bakery from the show "Cake Boss" have had access to Carlo's Bake Shop Express in Ottawa since November 2020. For $9.99 you can get a slice of either carrot, chocolate fudge, red velvet, or vanilla rainbow from a cake baked at Carlo's Bakery and shipped to the Cake ATMs at St. Laurent Shopping Centre, Rideau Centre, and Bayshore Shopping Centre. They say the cakes are restocked fresh daily, but Guest Services at the mall I called said due to the reduced foot traffic at the mall during the province's latest Stay-at-Home order, they haven't been restocked since April 8 - for the time being, people will still have to go into a bakery for a piece of cake. If it's pizza that you crave, the two locations of the Senate Tavern now have the ability to satisfy your hunger 24/7. The restaurants each have PizzaForno vending machines, stocked daily by the staff at the Senate Tavern, and they can make a pizza in about three minutes. The prices range from $9 to $13, with BBQ chicken pizza, Hawaiian, meat lovers, and vegetarian pizza being available; you can even take your pizza home cold and cook it yourself if you want. All you need is a debit or credit card with the tap feature. We may not have the variety of food vending machines that Japan has, but who knows what the future will hold if the cake and pizza ATMs catch on.

Smell What the WWE is Cooking - Wrestlemania 37

If "Games of Thrones" and the superheroes of the Marvel Comics Universe are worthy of their own cookbooks, it shouldn't be that surprising that World Wrestling Entertainment has published some recipes featuring their superstars as well. With the latest installment of Wrestlemania happening this weekend, I thought I would go through this year's card, and pick the winners of the matches based on how much I like the recipes attributed to them in the latest version of the WWE official cookbook. While all the recipes in this book look like something someone with a reasonable amount of cooking skills can turn into edible meals, I understand that there will be those who will look down on anything involving something as fake as professional wrestling. Their loss - it's still real to me, dammit.

NIGHT 1 (I'm not sure why they spread Wrestlemania over two days this year, but I suspect it is for COVID or money-gauging reasons)

• RAW Tag-Team Championship - The New Day (c) vs AJ Styles & Omos
  The Princes of the Power of Positivity have "Booty O's Snack Mix" (made with WWE Booty O's breakfast cereal!) while the Phenomenal One gets lumped in with his old running buddies with the (Bullet) "Club Sandwich with Au Jus Styles".  I'm going with the sandwich over the sugary treat, even though I have no idea what this Omos guy brings to the ring other than being very tall.
  WINNER: AJ Styles & Omos
  
  
• Cesaro vs Seth Rollins
  Not seeing a recipe for Rollins with something flaming or flame-broiled seems like a missed opportunity for a sports entertainer with the catchphrase "Burn It Down". His entry is the one with his boys from the Shield, "Shield-Cut Oats".  The Swiss Superman gets to share a recipe with his former tag-team partner Sheamus from their days teaming as The Bar with a "Sheamus & Cesaro Salad" - this is less surprising because WWE has never known what to do with Cesaro. As I'm more likely to eat a salad than oatmeal while watching wrestling, this was an easy choice.
  WINNER: Cesaro
  
  
• Cage Match - Braun Strowman vs Shane McMahon
  "Braun Stroganoff" seems an appropriately hearty dish for a man called the Monster Among Men. Knowing how much the owner of the WWE and his family love self-promotion, I'm stunned that there aren't any entries representing any of the McMahon family in this edition of the cookbook. Braun wins by default, though I look forward to watching Shane do his customary unnecessary fall from a high object spot at some point during their match.
  WINNER: Braun Strowman
  
  
• The Miz and John Morrison vs Bad Bunny and Damian Priest
  Why are two wrestlers fighting with a recent Grammy winner and some guy from NXT? The reasons are too stupid to get into, and since none of these people have recipes attributed to them, I'm moving on.
  WINNER: Who cares
  
  
• Smackdown Women's Championship - Sasha Banks (c) vs Bianca Belair
  The champion gets "Salsa Banks", which I assume is a recipe spicy enough for the women's division's Legit Boss. The cookbook was released before the challenger debuted; because of that long thick braid of hair she sometimes uses as a whip, a recipe for a braided challah bread would be a good fit for Belair. Salsa always has a spot on my fridge just like Sasha always has a spot in my heart, but I won't be surprised if Smackdown has a new champion after Saturday night.
  WINNER: Sasha Banks
  
  
• Tag Team Turmoil - Naomi & Lana vs. Mandy Rose & Dana Brooke vs. The Riott Squad vs. Natalya & Tamina
  This match was added to the card recently with the winners earning the right to challenge WWE Women's tag team champions Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler the following night. As this match was just thrown together to give everyone involved a Wrestlemania payday, I'll pick the team of Natalya & Tamina because of the segment that went viral involving the two women complaining about not having a Wrestlemania moment, and because Natalya was the only wrestler to get her own recipe in the cookbook, a "Natali-an Wedding Soup".
  WINNER: Natalya & Tamina  


• WWE Championship - Bobby Lashley (c) vs Drew McIntyre
  Neither the current nor the former WWE Champion have recipes assigned to them. Because wrestling has always used race and ethnicity to create characters, I'm sure there will be a recipe for  Bobby Lashley's All Mighty Ribs and Claymore Kick Haggis in a future update. I prefer meat over sheep offal, so I'm going with Lashley retaining.
  WINNER: Bobby Lashley

NIGHT 2

• Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn
  Both of these guys have been under WWE contract for years, there's no excuse for not putting them in a WWE cookbook, especially if someone can create "Michael Coleslaw" for annoying commentator Michael Cole. They should have taken advantage of both of their Quebec roots and attached a recipe for poutine or something with smoked meat in it to one of them. As these two wrestlers have fought one another multiple times over the years, there's a good chance that their match will be one of this year's highlights, even with the unnecessary inclusion of Logan Paul.
  WINNER: The fans 
   
• The Fiend vs Randy Orton
  They played it safe with the Viper, giving him a maize-based side dish named "Randy Cornton" instead of something with snake meat in it. Bray Wyatt's alter ego the Fiend didn't get a recipe, but his new sidekick, the possessed Harley Quinn knockoff that is Alexa Bliss, got an entry called the "Green Goddess of WWE Salad". I hate anything involving Wyatt's low-budget Undertaker ripoff, so hopefully, Orton gets the win to end their stupid feud.
  WINNER: Randy Orton
  
  
• Intercontinental Championship - Big E (c) vs Apollo Crews
  As part of the New Day, Big E gets stuck with the "Booty O's Snack Mix" recipe. Apollo Crews doesn't get a recipe, but he does get a new gimmick as an African militant to go with his new heel turn. I'm giving the "W" to Crews though because I'm annoyed that they didn't give the New Day's resident flapjack fanatic a recipe for pancakes; putting Xavier Woods on the cover mixing up some pancake batter was a tease. Cue sad trombone.
  WINNER: Apollo Crews
  
  
• US Championship - Riddle (c) vs Sheamus
  I don't know what Matt Riddle's recipe would be if they had one for the cookbook, but I'm sure it would be something bro-tastic like a bro-logna sandwich or mac-a-broni with cheese - what else would you expect from WWE's resident bro? Sheamus naturally has a "Sheamus Shamrock Shake" recipe under his kilt made with Guinness, but the chocolate chips and mint ice cream in it ruin the drink for me, so I'm giving the win to the former UFC fighter with the stoner gimmick.
  WINNER: Riddle 
  
  
• Raw Women's Championship - Asuka (c) vs Rhea Ripley
  It's going to be interesting to see where in the women's title hierarchy Asuka's original Wrestlemania opponent Charlotte Flair will be once she returns to action. Even if they gave Rhea Ripley some sort of kickass punk rock bangers and mash or fish and chips recipe, it wouldn't measure up to her opponent's "Filet Mignon with Crab Asuka". Kudos to the recipe chooser for not going with sushi or ramen. 
  WINNER: Asuka
   
• Women's Tag Team Championship - Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler (c) vs. TBD
  Assuming the champs will face Natalya & Tamina (how come tag-teams no longer have names anymore?) for the belts, this will be the Wrestlemania moment they wanted. It's time for Jax and Baszler to move on to bigger and better things.
  WINNER: Natalya & Tamina
  
  
• Universal Championship - Roman Reigns (c) vs Edge vs Daniel Bryan
  Roman Reigns was still the Big Dog and not the Tribal Chief when the cookbook was released, so his recipe is "Roman Onion Rings" instead of something closer to his Samoan roots. Daniel Bryan doesn't get a vegan recipe despite actually living a vegan lifestyle for health reasons, instead getting an entry with his wife Brie Bella, "Baked Brie with Craniel Bryan Sauce". The unretired Edge doesn't have a recipe in the latest cookbook, so I'm basing my decision on his recipe for "Edge's Cocktail Party Meatballs" from the "Can You Take the Heat? The WWF Is Cooking!" cookbook. As good as it looks in the picture, cranberry-sauced Brie with crackers seems more suited for a wrestling book club than at Wrestlemania. They didn't bring Adam Copeland out of retirement for nothing, so even though I love a good onion ring, and Reigns' excellent run as champion, I'm going with the Rated R superstar's party balls. Let's see if they can squeeze one more title run out of him.
  WINNER: Edge
  

Magic Molecule: Turning Science Into Ice Cream

The first warm spring weekend of the year sent the Franklins out in search of ice cream. With the lines at downtown ice cream parlours out the door, a lot of other people had the same idea as well. It looked like we were going to have to enjoy the sunshine with freezer-burned frozen treats from a convenience store until I remembered Magic Molecule. Part of a chain based in Hong Kong, it's a place I've been wanting to visit ever since I heard they use liquid nitrogen to make ice cream. Nitrogen is odourless and non-toxic, and at a temperature of -196℃ in liquid form, it can rapidly freeze fresh milk, cream, and flavorings into ice cream. Watching the man nonchalantly fill his pressurized canister with LN₂ as misty vapour surrounded him didn't diminish how exciting it was to wait for our orders to be made. My wife Dawn went with a scoop of hazelnut while our son decided on two scoops of their mango ice cream. Both of them enjoyed their choices, saying their ice cream was smooth, light, and refreshing. I considered ordering a cone of some sort for myself until I saw the sign for their Dragon's Breathe dessert. Intrigued by food that comes with a warning and specific eating instructions, the plastic cup of liquid nitrogen enhanced cheese puffs I received was the most fun food I've eaten in decades - it's as much fun as slurping up spaghetti was for the first time. This unique establishment is worth a visit if you ever liked watching Bill Nye do science experiments on television or if you're looking for a different take on your next sorbet, bubble tea, or waffle cone.
   

Q & A with Josh Hayter, President of Spearhead Enterprises

Recently I got a chance to try Akwa, a new hop-infused botanical beverage. While it's a refreshing sparkling water with a crisp, citrusy taste, what I found the most intriguing was that it's made by Spearhead, a brewery known for its top-notch craft beers. I reached out to the president of the company, Josh Hayter, for more about their latest product -  here's what he had to say:

FRANKLIN ON FOOD: Why is Spearhead getting into the water business?

JOSH HAYTER: Don’t get us wrong, we love beer but we wanted to make a refreshing nonalcoholic product that can be enjoyed by anyone, anytime, anywhere.   Our Head Brewer Jacob Schmidt came to us with the idea of making water infused with hops.  The first few attempts were a very bitter disaster, but we kept at it until we had a product that we were proud to put on the shelves.

FoF: Is Akwa made with the same water and hops used in the beer-making process?
JH: Akwa has the exact same water that we use in all of our beer.    Each beer has its own unique blend of hops, the hops that we use in Akwa can also be found in our NEIPA (New England India Pale Ale).

FoF: Who is Akwa's target market?
JH: When it comes down to it everyone really.  We have found through taste testing that people from all walks of life enjoy Akwa.  Given that it has zero calories, zero alcohol, zero sugars, it’s gluten-free, and has antioxidant properties from hops Akwa is a good fit into anyone's rotation.  My kids love it. 

FoF: How has COVID-19 affected your operations over the past year?
JH: 2020 and the beginning of 2021 has not been the easiest time for us.  A very large portion of our business comes from our partners in the hospitality sector.  That sector has been devastated by the lockdowns and restrictions needed to help connotation the Covid-19 virus.   We have worked very hard to establish and grow new retail opportunities as well as our online channel to help get through this pandemic.  We are encouraged and looking forward to working with our licensee partners as things open up.

FoF: What else can we expect to see from Spearhead this year?
JH: We have a lot of exciting new products coming out over the next year.    We will be adding 2 new core brands, continuing our GlobeTrotter Series, adding in a new Series, and we are planning on adding a couple new flavours of Akwa.  If I know more about when this will be published I’ll be able to give more specifics. 

FoF: Where can people buy AKWA?
JH: Akwa is available in over 90 locations (mix of retail and licensees) as well as online at www.spearheadbeer.com and www.akwawater.com.

Rasta Pasta Memories

A pasta dish that has recently caught people's attention is a Jamaican take on Italian cuisine. When it was first created, people associated the colours of this meal with the colours of Rastafarianism, and the shapes of the noodles with dreadlocks, earning the dish the name rasta pasta. I will always associate anything calling itself rasta pasta with a conversation I had in the 90s back when 8-ball and Starter jackets were fashionable and you could still smoke in malls. I was on a 95 heading back to Orleans from the Woodroffe campus of Algonquin with my friend who was instrumental in my creating an hors d'oeuvre. She had noticed that pasta was one of the specialties featured in neon on the sign that wrapped around the Dancing Mermaid restaurant near the Kent St bus stop, and said: "Does that say rasta on that sign?". As her boyfriend at the time was a friend of mine of Jamaican persuasion, I laughed and wisecracked "What, you're seeing a Jamaican guy and you're seeing rastas everywhere now?" Her look of shocked embarrassment egged me on to follow up with "Maybe you guys should go there, have some rasta pasta or something." The look soon turned to angry annoyance when another passenger on the bus joined in the fun saying she'd love a bowl of rasta pasta as well. My friend got back at me by telling our circle of friends that it was I who misread the sign and that she and the woman were the ones having a laugh at my expense. At least now with the recipe below they can have all the rasta pasta they want.

Ingredients

500 g boneless chicken breasts or shredded rotisserie chicken (if you have 2 cups of jerk ckicken, even better)
454 g pasta (fettuccine, penne, or rigatoni can be used)
25 g jerk seasoning (you can use a premade version if you want, or the following recipe)

15 g onion powder
15 g garlic powder
10 g teaspoons cayenne pepper
10 g teaspoons salt
10 g teaspoons ground black pepper
10 g teaspoons dried thyme (or use 5g ground thyme)
10 g teaspoons sugar (or use brown sugar)
5 g teaspoon ground allspice
5 g teaspoon dried parsley
5 g teaspoon paprika
2.5 g teaspoon hot pepper flakes
2.5 g teaspoon ground cinnamon
2.5 g teaspoon ground nutmeg
2.5 g teaspoon ground clove
1 g teaspoon ground cumin
Mix everything in a bowl until it is well combined. Store in an air-tight containter afterwards.

120 g green onions, sliced
120 mL coconut milk or heavy cream
80 g parmesan cheese, grated
60 mL chicken or vegetable stock
30 mL tablespoons vegetable oil, split into two equal portions
3 bell peppers preferably red yellow and green, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced

1. Cook the pasta according to the package instructions, take it out when it is “al dente”, and set it aside.
2. If you are using cooked chicken, chop it into pieces, toss it with the jerk season, and set everything aside. If you are using raw chicken breast, chop it into pieces, toss it with the jerk seasoning, and cook the chicken in a heavy-bottomed pot with one of the portions of vegetable oil until it's golden and cooked through. Remove the meat from the pot, and set it aside.
3. Pour the remaining vegetable oil into the pot, and saute the bell peppers with the green onions, and the minced garlic and cook until it’s fragrant. Add the coconut milk, the chicken, and the stock in the pot, and let everything simmer for a few minutes or until the sauce thickens. 
4. Taste to see if more jerk seasoning is required, then mix in the parmesan in the sauce and then mix in the pasta. Garnish with chopped chives, green onions, or parsley and serve.

Superbowl Eats - Kansas City Chiefs edition

Before Patrick Mahomes came to town and started lighting up Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City was known mostly for its BBQ. Kansas City-style barbecue is meat rubbed with spices, slow-smoked, and served with a sweet, tangy, thick tomato-based sauce. With the defending Superbowl champion Chiefs playing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Superbowl LV, it's a perfect opportunity to make a batch of  KC-style baby back ribs. For those more interested in the food, the halftime show, and the commercials than in the Big Game, I would still suggest paying close attention to the Chiefs' number 16. The Chiefs have playmakers at running back, at tight end, and at wide receiver, but everything about this team starts with Mahomes. Only four years in the league, he already transcends the game with his passing, his athleticism, and his ability to make big plays when needed - think Michael Jordan if he were playing quarterback. For the past decade, Tom Brady has been the Whole Fucking Show as far as the NFL is concerned. With a win on Sunday against Brady's Bucs, Mahomes will become the New Fucking Show. So sit back, grab a rib, and bear witness to the Next Big Thing in sports.

Ingredients

2 900 g racks of baby back pork ribs
350 g ketchup
90 g yellow mustard
80 g molasses (not blackstrap)
80 g light or dark brown sugar, divided into 35g and 45g portions, packed
80 g chopped onion
40 g sweet paprika
35 g chili powder
15 g tablespoon salt
2.5 g teaspoon cayenne pepper
120 mL cider vinegar
40 mL Worcestershire sauce
30 mL vegetable oil
5 mL liquid smoke (optional)
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
hot sauce, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 162°C. Line a large heavy rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and place the ribs side by side on it.
2. Whisk together the chili powder, paprika, salt, pepper, cayenne, and the smaller portion of brown sugar in a bowl and rub the mixture onto both sides of the ribs. Let the ribs stand, with the meaty sides up, at room temperature, for an hour. When the oven is ready, cover the baking sheet tightly with foil and bake for 1.5 hours.
3. In a heavy pot, cook the onion in the vegetable oil over medium-low heat, covered, for about 10-15 minutes until tender, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook, stirring for a minute. Add remaining ingredients, including remaining brown sugar, and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Let the sauce cool slightly and purée it in a food processor. Once done, set aside a cup of the sauce for serving.
4. Remove the foil cover and turn the rib racks over so the bone ends curve up, then baste ribs with pan juices and spread generously with some of the sauce. Continue to bake, uncovered for 30 minutes. Turn racks over, then baste again with pan juices and top with more sauce. Continue to bake for about 30-45 minutes until the meat is tender when pierced with a small knife.
5. Broil the ribs for 2-3 minutes, meaty sides up, until they're browned. Serve them with reserved sauce.

Superbowl Eats - Tampa Bay Buccaneers edition

Like many a snowbird, Tom Brady came to Tampa Bay looking for some fun in the sun. The six-time Superbowl champion found just that in his move to Florida, leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to their second Superbowl appearance with his record-setting tenth appearance in the big game. I don't want to see the Golden Boy win another Superbowl, nor do I care to see his fellow New England Patriot-turned-Tampa Bay Buccaneer Rob Gronkowski win another championship either. And even though they are a much better team than I ever gave them credit for this season, I am completely indifferent about the rest of this Bucs team. But after seeing a profile about their coach Bruce Arians, I would like to see him and his coaching staff win a Superbowl. He seems like a guy I would like to have a pint with after a game as well as play hard for if he were my coach. I got to give credit where it's due, he got more out of a 40+-year quarterback than a certain hoodie-wearing coach could, and that's saying something given he's an automatic Hall of Famer just as his former quarterback will be.  With his forever association with New England, it's fitting to make clam chowder to celebrate Brady's latest (and hopefully last) attempt to make his mark in the NFL history books.

Ingredients

740 g canned chopped clams in their juice
680 g littleneck clams in shells, scrubbed (about 18)
680 g potatoes, peeled and diced into bite-sized pieces
230 g celeriac peeled and diced small
500 mL whole milk
25 mL olive oil
6 parnsnips, peeled and diced small
4 strips of bacon, choped ito small pieces
1 large yellow onion, chopped into small pieces
Kosher salt, to taste
fresh tarragon leaves (optional)

1. Preheat your oven to 205C. Toss the parsnips and the celeriac with the olive oil and spread everything in a single layer on a baking pan. Add the littleneck clams to the sheet and roast for about 10 to 12 minutes, or until the clams have opened up.
2. Place a deep heavy pot over medium-low heat on the stove. Add the bacon pieces and cook for 8 minutes until most of the fat has rendered out. Remove the bacon from the pot with a slotted spoon, then cook the onions in the bacon fat until they're translucent, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes. Add the potatoes and the milk to the pot, and bring everything to a boil.
3. Reduce the heat to a simmer and let the potatoes cook for about 10 minutes until they're fork-tender. Use either an immersion blender to blend the base, or mix in batches in a blender until smooth, adding it back into the pot as you go.
4. Add the canned clams with the juice, the whole clams, and the roasted vegetables to the chowder base. Bring everything to a simmer and season with salt to taste; the clams and the bacon will be salty enough on their own, no need to go overboard. Makes enough for six servings.

NOTE: The above recipe was taken from one of my favourite cookbooks "The Laws of Cooking (and how to break them)" by Justin Warner, Flatiron Books.

A Trip to Flavortown

When it comes to Guy Fieri, you either love him to death or despise him on sight. The first time I ever heard of the future Mayor of Flavortown it wasn't even food-related, he was on the cover of a video game version of a game show called Minute to Win It. I later learned that Fieri was more than a game show host, as he owned several restaurants along with appearing on several cooking shows. Soon I was seeing Fieri's blonde spiked hair and flaming shirts everywhere. While the loud bro-tastic goofball persona he created for himself got him television ratings, it also turned Fieri into a bit of punchline in the cooking world, with a New York Times food critic famously savaging Fieri's now-closed restaurant in Times Square in a review. But Fieri took all the Smashmouth jokes in stride, and he has since been commended for his efforts to raise money for unemployed restaurant workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, and for feeding the firemen who put out the forest fires in California. In honour of his birthday, I thought it would be fitting to post a recipe for the condiment that will forever be linked to Fieri's name, Donkey Sauce. As Fieri has pointed out, Donkey Sauce is just an aioli; contrary to popular belief, an aioli is not fancy mayonnaise, as mayo is made with egg yolks and canola oil, while an aioli is made from garlic and olive oil. This sauce can be used on sandwiches, chicken, fish, vegetables, or as a dipping sauce, and can quickly be made for the next marathon of "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives". 

Ingredients

6 cloves garlic
115 g mayonnaise
22 mL lemon juice
15 mL Worcestershire sauce
2.5 g yellow mustard
salt
pepper

1. Take the cloves of unpeeled garlic and wrap them in foil. Place it into an oven at 190°C and roast for 30 minutes or until the garlic becomes soft. 
2. Carefully squeeze the softened garlic out, discarding the peels, into a food processor along with the mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, mustard, a pinch of salt, and lots of cracked pepper. Blend everything until everything is completely mixed together. 
3. Taste and adjust seasoning, if needed, then let it chill in your fridge to let all the flavours develop.

2020 - What the Hell Was That

Lockdowns, food shortages, food delivery going from luxury to necessity, restaurant closures, facemasks, outdoor dining - saying the past year was unlike any other is an understatement. In a year where COVID-19 dominated everyone's life, some things in the world of food may have escaped your attention. Now is as good a time as any to comment on those stories as part of the process of putting some closure to the year 2020.

The end of racist food marketing
Aunt Jemina, Uncle Ben, and the Land O Lakes woman all got their walking papers in 2020 after food companies decided that racism was no longer necessary to sell their products. Inspired (or shamed) by the Black Lives Matter protests of George Floyd’s death, PepsiCo decided to change the name and brand image of its Aunt Jemima pancake mix and syrup, and other food companies soon followed.  The usual suspects bemoaned these changes as cancel culture, which is ironic because whining that you can't enjoy your meals without seeing a racial stereotype on the packaging sounds like the snowflake behaviour they normally don't condone.

Sourdough
Back during the early days of the pandemic when being forced to stay in your home for long periods was still new and unfamiliar,  many people tried their hand at baking. With so much time on their hands, a lot of those bakers channeled their anxiety about not being able to find toilet paper into perfecting the sourdough starter needed for the popular bread. As one of the few food bloggers to have not made or eaten sourdough in 2020, I had no idea it took about seven days to make a starter, and then another two weeks for it to become active. It also explains why this trend died out as people adapted to pandemic living over the year. There's no waiting for three weeks for a loaf of good bread when you have Zoom meetings to attend in between troubleshooting your kid's online schooling issues.

Popeyes' Chicken Sandwich Launched In Canada
A year where restaurants were either temporarily shut down or closed outright for various COVID-related reasons may not be the ideal time to debut a new sandwich but the demand for the Popeyes fried chicken sandwich was just that high. With no reports of the chaos that happened in the United States when the sandwich debuted there, the launch went better than the current COVID vaccine rollout. When I finally got the chance to try the sandwich, I didn't have the religious experience I was promised in the commercials but instead had the pleasure of eating something that lived up to the hype surrounding it. It's a damn good fast-food sandwich, definitely give it a try if don't want to make your own. Popeyes' competitors have a lot of catching up to do.

Dangerous criminal portrayed as friendly sausage maker
Normally when someone drives a truck filled with weaponry through the front gate of Rideau Hall, they are described as a terrorist, or at the very least, a threat to the safety of the people around them. But in July 2020, the media chose to play up the sausage-making abilities of the person who did that very act. Described as a "good community member" known for his friendly demeanour and for the garlic sausage he made for his customers at his meat-producing business in northern Manitoba, the Royal Canadian Artillery veteran is currently facing 22 criminal charges, including uttering threats and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose. If found guilty, maybe he will be allowed to work in the prison mess hall so his culinary skills don't go to waste. I won't be crying any tears if they do.

Adamson BBQ
When the yahoos who make up FordNation turned on Premier Dad, it wasn't pretty. Owner Adam Skelly decided that the rules everyone else had to follow didn't apply to him, forcing police to arrest him after he continued to allow indoor dining on the premises of one of his restaurants. What makes this story even more absurd is that Skelly's restaurant never should have been allowed to operate in the first place, as this businessman never bothered to get a business licence for his business. Claiming he defied the law to challenge the government's Reopening Ontario Act, Skelly will have his day in court in March of this year. I'm sure being a cause célèbre and a poster boy for the anti-mask crowd won't help his cause, but Skelly seems to believe any publicity is good publicity. I believe hearing more about a restaurant owner's shenanigans than about his restaurant's food isn't a good sign, so I'll spend my money at some other BBQ joint the next time I'm in Hogtown. I don't know much about the Toronto barbeque scene but this was not a good introduction to it.  

Wu-Tang helps Ottawa Foodbank
It's always good to hear positive stories about hip-hop artists, as the media usually tends to focus on the who-got-shot, who-got-arrested, who-got-who pregnant type of stories; sex and drugs are only cool when it involves rock n roll and white guys playing the guitar. Reminding everybody that they ain't nothing to fuck with, the Wu-Tang Clan helped raise over $170,000 for the Ottawa Food Bank last April. It all started with Shopify COO Harley Finkelstein agreeing to donate $1 to the Ottawa Food Bank for every retweet of one of his tweets, up to $10,000. Adam Miron, an Ottawa entrepreneur and the co-founder and director of HEXO put in for $10K as well and asked others to spread the word on Twitter. One of those others was the American rap group, or at least whoever runs their Twitter account.  They spread the word and sent a donation as well, and soon enough money was raised to provide one week of meals for 24,300 people. The collaboration with the Wu and the Ottawa Food Bank led to the "A Better Tomorrow" campaign in May that raised money for the Ottawa Food Bank, the Ottawa Mission, and CHEO. I probably have as many black T-shirts as George Stroumboulopoulos, so I passed on getting the sold-out OttaWu tee, but I did get a chuckle seeing Mayor Watson wearing one. Even though cash rules everything around him, Jim doesn't look like much of a Wu-Tang fan.

What does 2021 have in store for us? Stay tuned...