{Design NORI}

Laser-cut with beautifully intricate patterns, Design NORI is the award-winning creation of Umino Seaweed Shop and ad agency I&S BBDO Tokyo. Not only is the nori unique in design but it's composition is made of "seaweed from the Sanriku area of Miyagi (the northwestern coast of Japan’s main island)... [and] is thick, has luster, and is very delicious. It doesn’t stick and it enhances other ingredients". While it's not readily available for purchase, I'm told Umino keeps their Facebook page up-to-date with product info: www.facebook.com/uminokaisouten (it's in Japanese and may not be accessible on all computers).

{Ben & Jerry's to the Core}

*sigh* It's things like this that makes me wish I lived in the US sometimes. Ice cream masters Ben & Jerry have just released a new collection of ice cream flavours with an innovative toppings "core". Each container features two ice cream flavours sitting on either side of a fudge or jam core. The four new flavours are:

Hazed & Confused: chocolate and hazelnut with fudge chips + a hazelnut fudge core
That's My Jam: raspberry and chocolate with fudge chips + a raspberry core
Peanut Butter Fudge: chocolate and peanut butter with mini peanut butter cups + a peanut butter fudge core
Salted Caramel: sweet cream ice cream with blonde brownies + a salty caramel core

The pints will be rolling out to stores this month in the US and in the spring, Ben & Jerry Scoop Shops will offer customizable Core Sundaes. Hopefully this includes Scoop Shops in Canada! But for now I need somebody to hand me my car keys and passport!

{Stovetop Spicy Buffalo Wing Popcorn}

I made homemade popcorn for the first time and I had no idea how easy it would be! My boyfriend and I came up with a spicy-sweet seasoning blend reminiscent of buffalo chicken wings and it tasted pretty good for a stab in the dark! It would be ideal to grind the spices with a mortar and pestle but if you don't own one not to worry, it'll still taste awesome. Recipe after the break.

{Strawberry Heart Pancakes}

It's Valentine's Day. So I made pancakes. With strawberries. Strawberries in the shape of hearts. Squeeee!!

I used a basic fluffy pancake recipe for this and strawberries are naturally heart-shaped when sliced, so all you need to do is core the the top of the berry to remove the leaves. Then slice fairly thinly. Ensure to core the tops, don't be tempted to cut straight across or you'll lose the upper curves of the heart. Recipe follows the photo.

{Charcuterie Party}

Finally cracked open the Carnivore Club charcuterie box and made it the star of a New Year's fam jam brunch...I made French onion soup too but really, the charcuterie would have been enough, we were super stuffed!

Here are the ingredients to this fabulous party:

• PC Black Label Apricot & Rosemary Artisan Crisps
• PC Black Label Cranberry & Fennel Artisan Crisps
• Ace Bakery Sea Salt & Olive Oil Mini Crisps
• Guinness Cheddar cheese
• Thunder Oak Smoked Gouda cheese
• bacon wrapped dates (always a winner!)
• the contents of my Carnivore Club box
• IKEA DRYCK BUBBEL PÄRON Sparkling pear drink

{Hon, hon, hon! A French Christmas Dinner}

Instead of the usual Christmas fixings (bird, stuffing, gravy, potatoes, more gravy...), we had a very low-key French-style dinner consisting of roasted carrots and parsnips, sautéed kale with garlic and bacon, and the pièce de résistance; a French roasted chicken (basically a chicken slow roasted in a dutch oven).  I also made Pillsbury dinner biscuits...they're not really French but I really wanted biscuits! It took a lot less time to prepare than a traditional Christmas dinner but was just as delicious. In a way it felt a little more special because it was out of the ordinary.

Happy Holidays!

{Christmas Present Alert! Carnivore Club}

Just got this in the mail (thanks sis)!! Carnivore Club is a Meat-of-the-Month club based in Toronto and with the December tasting box, they also included a logo tee as an additional gift. Actually, I think it would have been more amusing if they included a logo apron instead!

I'm SUPER excited to try this one out. But with all the holiday food going I'm going to save this guy for the new year.

via Instagram

Inside are:

• Genoa Salami
• Water Buffalo Bresaola
• Hot Toscano Salami
• Portuguese Chouriço
• Wild Boar & Apricot Pâté

{A David's Tea Christmas}

Only 24 more days until Christmas! How are you counting down? Personally I wish I could be counting down with this David’s Tea '24 days of tea' advent calendar which has a different tin of tea for every day leading up to Christmas. This thing sells out every year and this season was no exception…all stock was gone in the Toronto area before the end of November! I know because I called every store like a crazy person...including the one at Toronto Pearson Airport.

Oh well, I've already drowned my sorrows in a beauty advent calendar from The Body Shop.

{Wishlist: Luxury Teas at Holt’s}

Somebody buy this for me for Christmas please. 

Every Christmas, Holt Renfrew imports gourmet goodies for gift-giving (past seasons featured England’s Fortnum & Mason and France’s Fauchon…this year it’s Selfridges). I went window shopping on Sunday to look at all the things I can’t afford and saw they now have their own line of luxury teas! $18 each.

I tried to research these teas online and didn’t find much except some of these flavours are offered at holt’s cafe (which is also home to the yummiest chicken pot pie!...minus the mushrooms).