Prairie Foodie

Sharp tongued epicurean

recent posts

  • The Witchcraft Of Breadmaking

    Well “hello world”,

    Remember 2020? I know that question is painful for some of us who still feel the unprecedented times looming over them like the smell of hand sanitizer. We were all obsessed with hoarding TP, 6 ft distances, bubbles and cohorts and sourdough. Sourdough bread starter and sourdough bread and sourdough discard took over timelines faster than an outbreak could spread. Kitchens across North America now full of flour fermenting, bubbling and creating all sorts of alchemy. Some of it welcome, some of it something straight out of a Lovecraftian tale of the old ones. What a time to be alive.. It feels like decades ago.

    Well, I missed that boat back to the kitchen. I was *cough* too cool. And by too cool, I meant I was putting way too much time into an office job that didn’t allow for much downtime, or time for me to engage in cooking outside of the functional necessity. Not the love of the process and product. It left me feeling functional, but certainly not funky or fresh. Fergie would not approve.

    Well, now in 2026 I find myself tending a starter. I’ve named her Goldie. Unoriginal, as I’ve decided to *baby* her with her own personal vivarium. Courtesy of Sourhouse, the vivarium is also named Goldie as it keeps your starter in the ideal Goldilocks zone (25C to 28C) and uses temperature sensing tech to adjust the temp inside the vivarium based on the temperature OF your starter. If you use water slightly too warm, she’ll tell you its too hot and the auto-heat will kick off until she’s reached ambient temp and can run again. If your water is too cold, she’ll give you the blue lights and kick on the auto-heat function to adjust the difference. Your starter will always be happy, and ready to use at a moments notice provided you keep up with your feeding schedule.

    What struck me early on was how this mixture of water and flour felt like an organism when I got a little on my finger. Warm, almost effervescent. Yeast, alive and active just under my fingertips. The life in it recognized the life in me, and being very real for a moment I haven’t really felt like there was a lot of life in me these days to recognize. Tending to her has become part of my day like I’m saying hello to a neighbour friend. I speak love into her when I work with her, and relish every time I get to become part of the yeast through touch. I wonder how, in time this TLC will impact taste as time goes on. I’ve made only a couple of things with her but have really enjoyed what I’ve learned about the process of sourdough and bread-making so far. Discard cinnamon rolls (Solid 7/10) and two loaves of bread (Also a solid 7 – I modded the recipe I used to include more whole wheat flour, and as such had to increase hydration.. For this being my first attempt, I’m genuinely happy with the result. Crumb was a little spongey and it didn’t rise as much as I had thought it would. However when pan toasted this bread made me weep a little).

    Bread making I’m also finding is a lovely headspace. By that, I mean its an arena to trust the mess in the process. To be uncertain about something even for a few hours. To sit with that uncertainty, discomfort, the sticky ball of flour somehow transforming itself into a workable boule with a little time to rest in between. And maybe that’s how we all become a little more Fergalicious,too ; giving ourselves the time to rest between each step of this whole process rather than overworking ourselves at every turn.

    Make them boys go loco,

    Xox


  • An Ode To : Badly Written Online Recipes

    By Gods do I hate most* online recipe sites. I don’t want to have to read your life story when all I actually want to do, is make something happen in my kitchen. No, I do not care that you were bitten by a mouse in 4th grade and now have a super nose for cheese (according to who, btw?) and no, I still don’t care that you had your dead grandmother visit you in a dream and tell you about a missing ingredient in your family’s (In)”famous” green bean casserole. All I, as the reader want to be able to do .. is READ THE DAMN RECIPE. Also – No. There *shouldn’t* be the need to use a specific browser extension to display the recipe only, nor should anyone have to jump through 50 paragraphs of FLUFF to get to the goods. GIVE IT UP, ALREADY!

    Evidently, I’ve been cooking. And while what I’ve been cooking up has been great (albeit, I don’t entirely follow recipes after I get bored of the author prattling on. Act of rebellion? lol ) it’s been challenging to sift through vague instructions, badly written directives and author’s notes that only make sense to ..well, the author.

    As someone who has had a lifelong love affair with food and the creative process, I genuinely have to empathize with anyone trying to learn food-craft through the means of the internet. Of course, there are MANY great sites out there, and recipe developers who can absolutely break a recipe down at both a high level for the people interested, and for a more general overview for the new kitchen dwellers but, those are the exceptions, not the rule. It’s been giving me a little fuel to try to be the change I want to see in this online world of woe and wonder.

    Which begs the question, dear reader : What rubs you wrong about the online recipe world? Is it the above? Something more? Something I haven’t called out? Very curious if anyone would like to share their opinion in the comments.


    *Most – Not all. If you have any sites you LOVE, also feel free to share below in the comments. I would love to dive in!




  • Nobu ; The Luxury, The Myth and the Enigma



    Nobu is easily one of the most recognizable names in luxury hospitality. While it’s reputation was established in the cut-throat New York restaurant scene in the 90’s, they have expanded
    to several locations world wide, and expanded operations to include Hotels. It has gone from a dining experience, to a lived experience.

    Now I’m just starting this whole blog thing and one thing I want to establish now (2nd post in) is that I’m not setting out to be an influencer, or reviewer. In this day and age what has really begun standing out to me is how much of that is truly pushed on our social media platforms. With social media becoming more and more manufactured I want to make an effort to go old school and weblog about dining experiences that delight me and MAYBE… Maybe you read them, and get inspired to go out and make a reservation, or pick up a recipe book and make something real. Instead of letting me influence you, let me simply be a muse.

    All I’ll say about the hotel experience is this ; It’s overwhelmingly relaxing. Oxymoron, I understand. But, when you aren’t accustomed to luxe it kind of slaps you in the face a few times before it begins feeling like something you can settle into. But once you do settle (though, do settle in the suite bathroom first. Heated toilet seat..) it’s a nice change of pace.

    Nobu Restaurant; 7:30 PM Wednesday March 11th.
    Party of 2
    We began the evening with a crash course in all that Nobu has to offer. The classics from miso black Cod to the Yellow tail and jalapeño. The menu is extensive (and expensive) but not overwhelming. Of course, they offer a couple of tasting menu options but we settled on a few stand outs :

    Mango Passion (Vodka cocktail)
    Sashimi Salad with Matsuhisa Dressing
    Prime Beef Tenderloin with Spicy Soy Reduction 8oz
    A5 Wagyu Dumplings Spicy Ponzu (4pcs)
    Vegetables Spicy Garlic
    4Oz A5 Wagyu Steak – Served and eaten per the Chef’s specific directions
    Eel & Cucumber Roll
    Jalapeno and Yellowtail
    Passion Fruit Baked Alaska
    Mochi Ice Cream (Coconut)
    Sorbet (Passion fruit)

    Christ, just recalling it seems surreal..

    The hardest part here is to choose favourites ; but with some time and introspection I’ve shortlisted the 3 below in no particular order.

    Sashimi Salad with Matsuhisa Dressing
    4Oz A5 Wagyu Steak
    Sorbet (Passion fruit)

    The sashimi salad lives in my memory rent free. From the first bite, to the last it was packed with flavour. I have found a few recipes online claiming to recreate the dressing, however I have yet to test that theory. But that theory WILL be tested, as it was literally mouth-wateringly good. I’m drooling as I type now.

    The Wagyu Steak – Is like butter and beef married. It melts, it lingers, it sings. See, the chef provides you with a specific set of instructions on how to enjoy what you’re about to eat. They have engineered the dish to move as follows:

    First you begin with a truffle salt on the meat, and then you move up to a wasabi sauce, then into a spicy, smokey peruvian pepper sauce. The meat also comes with meaty mushrooms, brushed in a tangy glaze to eat after the meat. The mushrooms were more dense than the beef, and truly for a moment I couldn’t tell it was fungi. It was as meaty (though obviously not as butter soft) as the beef we had just enjoyed.

    The passion fruit sorbet was a token of oops? from the kitchen. They had sold us a passion fruit mochi plate when they had run out and then subbed to coconut without a heads up. They insisted on the gesture, and we thanked them for the opportunity to taste more from the kitchen. And the taste didn’t disappoint. It was creamy, acidic, sweet and clean. While I know the ninja creamy can work magic, this was pure necromancy.

    What Chef Matsuhisa and co have accomplished with this has been a feat, let alone to see it 30 years from it’s inception still being an establishment. From top to bottom the experience was magical, surreal and something I’ll always treasure experiencing. While I have no doubt that with a little spirit and can do attitudes you can replicate things such as a great dressing at home, it’s always a treat to let someone else (or a team of talented chef’s) do the lifting.

    Go make a reservation somewhere out of the norm, and go experience !



    Interior of Toronto Nobu

  • Toronto – March 2026 ; A love letter

    I really do love you, Toronto. Its something I struggled to admit to myself, let alone family and friends when asked about my feelings toward the city. See, my folks grew up during the time of Toronto Dahhh-ling and have expressly forbade wandering into the centre of the Canadian Universe.

    While every city has its own energy, the energy of Toronto has remained an enigma. And that enigma was my pull during my very first trip there. Now, having been there a few times I still can’t put my finger on it, but I keep coming back for more.

    This time was no exception. The reason for going was, well a change of pace and a six foot man screamsinging to me at the top of his well-trained lungs. Shout out to Noah Sebastian. Absolute beast of a vocalist, and deserves all of the love and respect for his art.

    However just because the reasoning for the trip didn’t revolve around food, doesn’t mean that the food shouldn’t be a highlight to this adventure.

    The two experiences that truly stood out were ; Cumbraes and Nobu. Two very different experiences, and two that I feel like truly speak to what I value in food.

    Cumbraes isn’t a restaurant, though. Cumbraes is a butcher shop located in the small town of Dundas, ON. Serving Hamilton, and Toronto. They can tell their story a lot better than I can, so do check it out here https://dundas.cumbraes.com/pages/our-story

    See, I had opted to stay at a little place called The High Acre. This gem of a retreat is a renovated home dating back to the late 1800s. They took the time to meticulously recreate the charm of the original house in a 4 room adults only self-guided self-care retreat. Dreamed up of by a Mother and Son duo, this 1 acre property boasts one of the most relaxing experiences I’ve had the privilege in indulging in. At the High Acre, the suite I was in had a full kitchen. This meant I could have a little bit of fun with local ingredients and have fun I did! I was also put onto Cumbraes by the staff at the High Acre as they recommend it as one of the premier sources for local food.

    From the moment you walk into this little butcher shop, one thing is evident. Every inch of sellable space in that spot is packed with local goodies. From heat and eat side dishes, butters, small desserts and preserves to the most beautiful looking displays full of locally, humanely raised meat. Its quite the sight to take in, but take it in you must if you’re going to get any sort of meal on the table. After bumbling around, the list was set with :

    Dry aged New York Strip Steak
    Locally raised Chicken Breast (boneless, skinless)
    Mac and Cheese
    Roasted garlic and shallot butter (for the steaks, and for the occasional shmear on the house provided croissant at High Acre)

    An honourable shout out to Metro, the local grocer who was able to supply the sides and drinks!

    For dinner on night #1 ; Steak and cucumber salad. The steak was done as all good steaks should be done.

    -Taken out of the refrigerator as not to shock the meat
    -Salted liberally, and let to sit
    -Put into a screaming hot pan to develop a crust (and the crust was absolutely CRUSTING in the best of ways)
    -Basted with Cumbraes roasted garlic and shallot butter to finish
    -Rest for 7 mins
    -Savour

    Flavour – 10/10
    Crust- 1000/10
    Meat quality – Out of this world. Well done to the Ontario Beef farmer who grew them.

    I don’t often have the capacity to inhale an entire new york strip, but between eating and breathing it was impossible not to.

    The chicken was done the next night, after an unexpected trip to the Niagara Falls. It was soaked in buttermilk and herbs in the fridge for about 8 hours, then it was oven roasted and based with more Cumbraes butter.

    With the chicken was the ready to eat (after heating, of course) mac and cheese. It was better than expected and went really well with the steamed and salted snow peas. While this wasn’t elaborately done, it allowed the chicken to truly come through. And again, my kudos and thanks to the Ontario farmers who were part of the lives of these animals. The care of which was evident in every step of working with their produce.

    Now Nobu needs its own post. As photos from each trip get reviewed, I’ll try to include galleries under each corresponding post. Some will be phone grabs and some may be from my Nikon Z7 so quality will be a mixed bag, but still all the same for context and viewing pleasure.

    Thanks for reading this far if you have ; and if you have I really hope I’ve inspired you to at least eat something local! If you’re lucky enough to live near a farmer’s market – What are you waiting for!?

    Cheers,

    Capture the light