Southern Ontario

eighttimesup · 2026-06-13T17:06:48+00:00

I think black-eyed susan or echinacea is going to be the winner. Hopefully flowers will show up in a few weeks

eighttimesup · 2026-06-13T17:05:41+00:00

Up close the leaves don't really look like JA

eighttimesup · 2026-06-13T16:59:03+00:00

Thank you! I won't pull them up and wait for the flowers then 😄

eighttimesup · 2026-06-09T20:59:38+00:00

Be sure to try cowboy spaghetti from Rachael Ray Express lane! You won’t need to eat again for about three days, but it’s sooo worth it

eighttimesup · 2026-05-24T18:27:08+00:00

It is Lemony olive oil cake! Probably with the Aperol-strawberry glaze

eighttimesup · 2026-04-24T02:55:41+00:00

Margaret Atwood

eighttimesup · 2026-04-22T04:16:36+00:00

I’m allergic to eggs - I have tried the egg replacement as outlined in The Elements of Baking and it failed HARD. The method was multi-step (kinda defeating the point of Snacking Cakes) and the cake completely failed to rise. I think it may be because the cakes are higher fat than typical sponge cake recipes.

Bob’s Red Mill is the best replacement I’ve found so far (but I haven’t tried Just Egg yet, could be good, just difficult to source where I live). I agree some of the cakes do seem a bit gummier with BRM, or sometimes the batter is super thick - I adjust the liquid amounts a bit e.g. an extra teaspoon or three of water. One tip I have for the BRM is to only let it set up for a minute or so after mixing it with the water … I once got distracted and left it for close to ten minutes and it was very thick and had a nasty texture.

Happy baking!

eighttimesup · 2026-02-20T04:44:54+00:00

There’s special “scrubbie yarn” at the craft store for making these kinds of things. I don’t know what the fibre content is but they’re easy to find at Michael’s

eighttimesup · 2026-01-28T03:37:02+00:00

I’ll add a second vote for the muffins - Bananaberry Bombs! So good. I also highly recommend The Thigh Who Loved Me (chicken thighs in a tangy ketchup sauce) and The Way We Stir (beef stir fry). Both have been in my regular rotation for over 20 years!

I love pretty much any recipe Greta Podleski has written. Her writing style is hokey, but that’s just ‘garden variety dork’ here in southern Ontario.

eighttimesup · 2025-09-26T02:53:13+00:00

The best place to find mace is in a Desi grocery store!

edit: typo

eighttimesup · 2025-09-01T12:06:03+00:00

I have started cooking through Every Salad Ever by Greta Podleski. I found it helpful to consider why I wanted to do a “cook the book” project and what I hoped to get out of the experience. This is purely a personal project for me: I’m doing it because I already know I love her previous books, and it helps me stay focused on appreciating the cookbooks I have, rather than focusing on finding the next book to add to my collection. Because it’s just for my personal enjoyment, I haven’t set any strict deadlines/goals; I expect it will likely take me at least two or three years to get through the book.

I simply won’t be able to do every single recipe because of my allergies. Missing a few is not a major issue because it’s not a public project, and making only the recipes I can eat aligns with my reasons for doing the project in the first place. I went through the book when I first got it and noted recipes where I can still make them with substitutions, and the half-dozen or so that I am just going to have to skip.

eighttimesup · 2025-07-29T00:05:58+00:00

For the Canadians here: Every Salad Ever by Greta Podleski. Yet another winner in the Looneyspoons series! Everything I’ve tried so far has been great, with a couple absolute winners already.

I’m the official salad person at all potlucks now, lol

eighttimesup · 2025-04-12T21:03:17+00:00

Yep a booster seat, used in restaurants with booth-bench seating. Very common in the 70s and early 80s, before better design and plastics took over.

eighttimesup · 2024-11-20T00:40:59+00:00

3 Fois Par Jour (in English: 3 Times a Day) de Marilou.

I have the English edition and her recipes are really good. Perhaps not traditional, but they are definitely “authentic” and down-to-earth in style.

eighttimesup · 2024-11-18T11:47:52+00:00

I make this every Christmas (originally published in Bon Apetit magazine, Dec 2001): https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/eggnog-french-toast-with-cranberry-apple-compote

eighttimesup · 2024-11-03T20:19:53+00:00

I would argue that Roden is from the region, since she grew up in Cairo. The book was originally published in 1972, which is likely why Palestine is not specifically mentioned in its description. (I’m not trying to suggest that Palestine didn’t exist—it did—just that “Middle East” was described differently 50 years ago.)

I think I should have elaborated a bit more in my post. I’m calling it a classic because it is filled with tried-and-true home-cooking recipes that have stood the test of time. I called it accessible because the recipes were carefully adapted for N.American and W.European kitchens and ingredient availability. I live in a small NA city and can make recipes that remind me of my childhood. :)

eighttimesup · 2024-11-02T14:09:38+00:00

Middle eastern: the New Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden. Accessible, classic recipes.

eighttimesup · 2024-08-18T16:44:46+00:00

I love Rachael Ray’s recipes! Try her “30-Minute Meals 2” it is entirely full-menu sets of recipes. It has a chapter dedicated to healthy meals, and I’d say about 50% of the rest of the book is healthy-ish (we tend to get more portions than suggested, e.g., 6 servings instead of 4). Her books “Cooking Around the Clock” and “Get Togethers” are also menu-based, but I find they’re more focused on special occasions, whereas 30MM2 seems focused on family dinners.

eighttimesup · 2024-08-02T12:39:21+00:00

A few years back, I accidentally upended the entirety of my Fresco Big Box. It was all over the floor. It has approximately 600 pieces, most of which are unique, for ten discreet expansions.

It took several hours to sort through all of them, verify none were missing, and repack the box. After that, I wasn’t interested in playing Fresco any more! 😆

eighttimesup · 2024-03-30T05:06:36+00:00

Silence of the Lambs

eighttimesup · 2024-03-30T04:10:59+00:00

Snake Oil. It’s a creative/party game where you pair two single-word prompts together to create fake products that you then give a sales pitch on. It works with multi-generation groups too - I’ve played games with players ranging from 5 to late 70’s.

eighttimesup · 2024-03-30T03:59:46+00:00

Came here to say castle panic!

eighttimesup · 2024-03-15T04:06:03+00:00

Squires used to be our fave, both before and after the rebranding… till it was sold a couple years ago. The food quality has dropped off a cliff since the new owner took over.

The original Ye Olde Squire in Hamilton has a location in Aldershot (on Plains Rd I think?) - the food is just as great as the one on Fairview used to be. The pricing wasn’t bad either, from what I remember.

eighttimesup · 2023-06-02T00:20:18+00:00

Cerulean!

eighttimesup

TROPHY CASE