Bunch Family

By Nadia Halim

I love baking bread, but I was never one of those people who find kneading “relaxing.” After about 90 seconds of pounding on a blob of dough, I’m bored and my arms hurt and I can’t believe there’s another eight minutes to go.

So I was delighted when, in 2006, Mark Bittman introduced the world to Jim Lahey’s No-Knead Bread recipe in his New York Times column.

Ever since, I’ve been messing around with the basic recipe, seeing what it can do besides round, crusty white loaves (which it does very well). Whole-wheat sandwich loaves? Check! (Terrific for grilled-cheese sandwiches!) Pizza dough? Check!

Well, how about bagels? My first attempt didn’t go so well – the dough was too wet, and the bagels came out flat and squishy. So I tried reducing the water by half a cup. Success! Since I could happily eat a bagel with low-fat cream cheese for breakfast every day of my life, this is good news.  Read more...

THE MAKINGS OF A GREAT, GREAT SOUP

By Eden Hertzog

Dear Husband,

I am sorry for what is about to happen. We both knew this was coming sooner or later, but I am afraid the time is here.

In addition to the very-imminent birth of our second baby, and the serious acting-out of our toddler, you should know that your Type-A, go-getter, control-loving (freak is too harsh) wife is about to get domestic. You know me — you know I was never one to stay around the house, you know we once hardly ever ate at home, you know I never tidied or cleaned or did anything except the laundry, here and there.

But times have changed and it is now a fate I cannot escape. I am surrendering to being at home for awhile and since I am who I am, you can expect things to change around here. I came very close to creating a spreadsheet for the household chores yesterday, and had I created it I would have laminated it as well.  Read more...

By Eden Hertzog

Please don’t hate me, but I went to a spa this past weekend. Ste. Annes spa, to be precise. Oh my, it was lovely.

Two full nights and two days of uninterrupted sleep, wearing a white robe, eating my face off (four meals a day, yes), getting massaged, and hanging with one of my best pals.

Plus, it was quiet. It was so very quiet. I hadn’t realized how completely burnt out and under slept I’ve been until the weekend was over and my brain actually felt like a functioning organ. It was my pre-baby treat and I am so glad I went for it.

I felt so relaxed. And then I got home and walked into that wall of laundry and shopping lists and unfinished home reno and broken sleep and got all cranked up again. Since I won’t be able to move to the spa, I need to figure out how to bring some of the spa home with me.  Read more...

By Eden Hertzog

We are hardcore pancake junkies around here; so much so that I have had to re-evaluate and re-create what a pancake is. It used to be dessert for breakfast, and now it is another chance for good nutrition.

Since I’m here on this kick of sharing our household staples with you, it’s pretty important that I fill you in on how to have healthy, easy pancake breakfasts as often as you wish. I’ve posted other pancake recipes, but today you get the special bulk deal of a pancake mix.

I think it finally dawned on me that running a household is a huge job. I have been in denial of this fact for quite some time now because I think I’ve been trying to hold onto a different identity. But here it is, something many of you already know: housework is a full-time job and we all need good tools and tricks for making things easier. Since I can’t drink Piña Coladas all day long (darn pregnancy!) I tend to focus on efficiency.  Read more...

By Eden Hertzog

Hey, did you guys miss me or what? Seems I’ve taken a sabbatical from all things except being pregnant, chasing a busy toddler and working my (growing) butt off at the bakery. I’m glad to be sitting here writing in a La-Z-Boy chair in pitch darkness next to Cedar’s crib. It’s our new routine at night; he suddenly doesn’t want me to leave him until he falls asleep and also insists on listening to Do-Re-Mi from The Sound of Music on repeat. I know, you really wish you were me right now.

I am thirty-three weeks pregnant and I can’t believe how fast this time is zooming by. Last week (while sitting in Cedar’s room in the dark on my iPad) I was perusing some bassinet options for the baby and just the sight of some of those frilly baskets made me gulp – hard. It dawned on me that there was going to be a newborn here again. My newborn. In my bed.  Read more...

By Eden Hertzog

I realize this isn’t my usual blogging style, given that I always write about things one can eat, but I felt it was important to do you all a favour and save your playdough-making asses by giving you a recipe that actually works.

Judging by the comments that I read on various sites, a good playdough is hard to find. Most of them have cream of tartar (which was not in my pantry) and it seems that the ones which don’t have it fail miserably. This one I’ve discovered uses vinegar instead of the tartar, and most of us have vinegar kicking around. It’s always better to use what you have in stock and not have to fill your beloved cupboards with things you’ll probably only use once.

Why playdough? Why now? Well, winter cometh.

 Read more...

Eden Hertzog redefines miracles by whipping coconut milk into an awesome cream topping.

I’ve discovered this new thing that is making my life much more enjoyable: don’t make any plans. Do you have ANY idea how big of a paradigm shift this is for The Queen of Planning? Some people have actual, tangible hobbies whereas mine has been planning. I’m not even joking.

But let’s be honest here, isn’t incessant planning just another form of control-freaking? I am voting yes.

Well, I’ve been trying out this not-making-plans thing and it is resulting in just the loveliest days ever, accompanied by my awesome two year-old soulmate, Cedar, who makes no plans either. We’ve been walking in the sunshine, eating olives, pointing at the moon, finding sticks, and taking about two hours to make our way home. I love it. Again – why didn’t any of you tell me how awesome it is to just go with the flow?  Read more...

Eden Hertzog is blowing our minds with her pro empanada-making.

I’m going to be very honest with you; getting these posts out lately is tougher than it seems. Pregnancy the second time around with a very active toddler and a very active business is just about all I can handle. Never mind the housework and the cooking. Oy vey. By the time 7:30 p.m. rolls around I’m basically sitting on the couch drooling in front of my computer. Sexy, huh?

I’m still cooking – though maybe not as much and maybe not as well – but getting out my camera to nab a nice shot while Cedar attempts to stir something scalding hot hasn’t been working out for me.

So when I have a small food victory, like this one I am about to share, it really counts.  Read more...

By Eden Hertzog

Is it just me, or are you always looking for good snacks too? I think we all know how easy it is to snack on COOKIES or bread-y things or sweet things or salty, fatty things. A good snack is hard to find. Am I right or am I right?

So remember last week I was telling you about how I wanted to have a good week and how soup was going to fix my overwhelming sense of overwhelm? (Maybe I didn’t share that part, but that’s the truth). I am getting ready for child number two by attempting to create something like a balanced routine that will keep us all nourished and sane. Hopefully.  Read more...

Eden Hertzog is on our beta-carotene wavelength.

I live life week-to-week. In my utopia there is such a thing as a good week. As in, the whole week is good. In reality I do find that, by the time Thursday rolls around, I can get pretty cranky. There’s no rocket science behind this, it’s simply a product of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday being a snowball of events and habits which lead to crankiness.

Some people train for marathons. Me? I train for finding the balance between motherhood, work, self, marriage and anything else that may squeeze itself in. Week-to-week, folks.

Sometimes I think that finding balance is something elaborate, but more often that not it is something incredibly simple right under my nose. Like eating well. If Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are a train-wreck of poor eating habits, then by Thursday it will all catch up with me. Part of my rigorous training then, is making time to prepare healthy food for myself so I can be fuelled well. Simple.  Read more...

By Eden Hertzog

It’s official: I’m a mom. Now, this newsflash does not come after giving birth or enduring months of sleep deprivation or even after wearing the same thing for days and not washing my hair. Nope, I am now officially a bona fide mom because I made a birthday party for my two year-old happen.

You know how your mother told you that you wouldn’t be able to fully appreciate her until you had your own children? Well, I didn’t get it until the whole birthday party thing went down. How did my mom, a single mother with two kids and a full-time business, manage to pull off the most incredible birthday parties for us? Sheer magic. Thanks mom.

And now, I will share the wisdom I have gained since crossing the threshold.  Read more...

Today is Kale Day (for real)! Check out this archival post from cookie maven Eden Hertzog and make this killer minestrone (with kale).

I haven’t been eating well lately. I only noticed this when I started a daily journal a couple of weeks ago to track my sleep/meals/mood and how they all may correlate. There are days when I feel all proud and smug to write my meals down, and other days when I avoid the journal and want to fib like a little naughty schoolgirl. What I notice is that I eat a lot of bread to fill myself up, or skip meals, or eat sugar late in the day because I obviously haven’t nourished myself well and my body needs sugar to function. Tsk tsk…  Read more...