Bacon IS a trail snack.

Isn't that always the question?  I'm very happy to say that my New Year's Eves of trying to hail a cab in downtown Toronto (before the Hilton moved up town a bit) in a fabulous ball gown and shoes in hand, are literally three lifetimes ago.  No, my New Year's Eve consists of taking a look back on the year and wondering how did we all manage to jam so much into 365 days? Holy cowpie! 2010 started off fine enough with a wonderful job with some great people.  I am truly one of the luckiest girls on the planet! Then, it all started to go very , very wrong.  We said good bye to many, many of our life long companions far too early.  They will all be missed terribly and not a day goes by that I don't think of each one of them. Almost lost Alice-Gator a couple months ago mind you... but with the quick action of Super Husband and two wonderful neighbors, we got her to the hospital in time.   Now, the good stuff!  Let's see... our Jump Club Show team...

Far be it from me to poke fun at folks who don't have the same love for cheese as I do.  I get it; you're lactose intolerant... there's a pill for that, so really, there's no excuse NOT to love cheese. I'd like do a Cheese Tour of France for my 50th birthday... who's in?  It wouldn't just be a "tour" it would be a Cheese fact finding mission that would eventually end up in my next cook book "Fromage and a Suitcase" (working title...).   With the Holidays upon us there is no lack of Christmas parties, Open houses, Office parties or just wine and cheese get togethers in celebration of the "Tree".  The unwashed masses simply buy cheese platter from their local Pavilions or Trader Joes, which is completely fine if you just want to blend in with the rest of the sheep.  I, on the other hand, set out on a quest to offer up some delightful alternatives to the aforementioned cheese platter.   Try serving pita chips with a little...

It was one of my worst nightmares come true last week.  Luckily we survived Thanksgiving and made it past at least one "Cooking Class Thursday", then it happened.  The oven stopped heating up, right in the middle of baking a rustic apple tart with cheddar cheese crust. Oven repair guy comes out... "Well, the manual says it's the display control panel... you'll need to replace that."  Okay, so we order the part (a week and a half) all the while any cooking could still be done stove top and of course, the grill in the back yard.  Part FINALLY comes in and Oven Guy comes out to replace the bad part... he opens the front of the display panel to access the part that he is replacing and, SHEER HORROR!   F'ing MICE have eaten away the wiring, shorted out other computer chips and parts...bottom line, need to replace my three year old, stainless steel, 19,000 BTU, warming drawer, convection, kick ass range...and I need to do it in 24 hours. Now, that sai...