Bio:
I am an unabashed foodNURD. I love food. I love talking about food. I love eating food. I love the Food Network (maybe a little too much). But, mostly, I love preparing and serving food to my friends and family. Luckily for me, I always ate well growing up. I enjoyed homemade meals of roasts, lamb chops, and my dad’s famous mac & cheese as well as various cuisines at restaurants around Toronto. Sure, some nights pizza or burgers from a fast food place won out, but often we could be found at our favourite Indonesian, Italian or Korean place on a Friday night. As I got older and headed off to university, my inclination to cook meals at home was non-existent. (NB - the only things I made at home before I moved out were French toast, scrambled eggs and chocolate chip cookies.) Dining out became a way of life. In first year, meals were prepared for you in the cafeteria and I enjoyed not having to do anything but eat. That attitude carried through the next three years and fast food became habit. My standards and budget for eating at restaurants were significantly lower than my parents’. I subsisted on frozen meals, McDonald’s and Mr. Noodles. It wasn’t that I didn’t love *real* food: I was straight up lazy and uninterested in learning to cook. But all that changed when I met my future husband, J. I realized quickly that homemade meals were very important to him and that my best chance to impress him was to cook something myself. I picked up the phone. “Dad? How do I make your macaroni & cheese?” While I harbor no illusions that J married me because of this dinner, it did set in motion a new idea for me: not only was eating fun, cooking could be fun, too. I became J’s sous chef, initially insisting on using the smallest knife I could find and have worked my way up to cooking the annual Thanksgiving dinner at the cottage with the family and dinner parties for groups of friends. I am at my happiest when surrounded by friends and family at the dinner table with great food and great wine.
Tribes I Belong To
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DDN Toronto
28 Contributors
Recent Posts
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Spotlight Series: Korean Village
This is the second in a series of monthly posts about some of my favourite smaller spots in Toronto. I love getting to know the people behind the great food we have in this city! You can’t miss Korean Village Restaurant. Even in a sea of Korean restau
by foodNURD - June 27, 2012 -
Lemon Curry Chicken
I have a seriously awesome husband. Since we found out that we’re expecting a little foodNURDling in December my moods and energy have fluctuated a lot and he’s rolled with the punches (metaphorical punches, to be clear…my mood swings aren’t that
by foodNURD - June 25, 2012 -
National BBQ Day Media Launch
For the last few months, I have been working with the wonderful not-for-profit company, Meal Exchange. They are passionate about getting youth involved in the local food movement, working to alleviate hunger across Canada, but always with a local focus. I
by foodNURD - June 11, 2012 -
Sauteed Vegetables with Soba Noodles
Currently, I am addicted to soba noodles. In truth, I love any kind of noodle (carb queen!) but these are my latest obsession. They’re easy to make and can be used in all sorts of dishes from salads to stir-frys. Last night, I went on a vegetarian tear,
by foodNURD - June 01, 2012 -
The Art of Reading The Art of Eating
M.F.K. Fisher’s tome, The Art of Eating is an absolute classic. A compilation of the author’s five best-known works, Eating is made up of five works: Serve It Forth, Consider the Oyster,How to Cook a Wolf, The Gastronomical Me and An Alphabet for Go
by foodNURD - May 31, 2012 -
Cochinita Pibil (Slow-Roasted Pork)
This one is all on Eat St. I was at home watching it and one of the food trucks had their version of cochinita pibil, a traditional Mexican shredded pork dish. For me, shopping for the ingredients was as much fun as making it. I headed off to Wychwood Bar
by foodNURD - May 23, 2012 -
Pickled Red Onions
As a mini-project over the long weekend, I decided to make pickled red onions. I’m sure I could have bought them, but we happen to have a surplus of them at home so it made a lot more sense just to make my own…especially when I discovered how easy it
by foodNURD - May 23, 2012 -
Braised & Curried Tofu in Coconut Milk
A few months ago, we decided to implement Meatless Mondays at our place. We already had a good variety of Latin American recipes from which to pick that were vegetarian but after a couple of months, we’d pretty thoroughly exhausted them and wanted to tr
by foodNURD - May 14, 2012 -
My Epic Meal at Centro
In the last couple of months, J has become friends with one of the wait staff at Centro. Trevor has been insisting that we come in one night to check it out; that we were missing out on a great dinner; that we’d be well taken care of. After a few weeks,
by foodNURD - May 10, 2012 -
Spotlight Series: La Cascina
This is the first in a series of monthly posts about some of my favourite smaller spots in Toronto. I love getting to know the people behind the great food we have in this city! When people ask me, “What’s your favourite restaurant in the city?” m
by foodNURD - May 08, 2012