On the Prairies, the month is a hopeful time for food lovers: we’re perusing seed catalogues, planning our gardens and dreaming about salads made from the season’s first greens.
Tag Archives baking
A literary celebration of food
First We Eat: Like a good meal, ‘One Book One Province’ is meant to offer a shared experience
New falling number test may better spot sprouting
A new methodology could save farmers from misapplied penalties in years of weather damage
Some growers say they’ve been unfairly penalized for a condition that did not harm the baking performance of the flour made from their wheat, prompting calls for a new methodology to replace the standard Hagberg-Perten falling numbers test.
Books worth cooking from, part 3: Anna Olson’s Baking Wisdom
First We Eat: The Ontario pastry chef’s book is meant to be accessible to beginners and pros alike
Perusing a library’s shelves, whether virtual or bricks-and-mortar, is always a pleasure, especially when I have food on my mind. To my great joy, I recently found an impressive new baking book from a Canadian pro. Pastry chef and TV/YouTube personality Anna Olson, who is married to chef Michael Olson, is a reassuringly approachable pastry […] Read more
Metaphors in baking
First We Eat: A geologic way to think of cakes and cookies
I drove into the southern heartland of Saskatchewan last week, threading through the Qu’Appelle Valley, rolling down undulating slopes past hoodoos to the valley floor, across the bridge, then back up again to the upper deck of land that faces south. The escarpment in the south end of the province remains invisible to anyone traversing […] Read more
Millers, bakers fret as drought withers North America’s spring wheat
Reuters – Millers and bakers are draining wheat reserves and paying more for spring wheat used in baking, as drought shrivels crops across the Canadian Prairies and northern U.S. Plains that produce more than half of the world’s supply. U.S. and Canadian farmers are bracing for a sharply smaller spring wheat harvest due to the […] Read more
Anything for dessert — as long as it’s chocolate
First We Eat: If you love chocolate try this sourdough cake recipe
My family recently marked the first anniversary of my dad’s death. I miss him. He and Mom lived fairly close by, and Dave and I visited them weekly for movie night with our dog Jake, sometimes with dessert in hand. Like a good chocolate, Dad had a soft heart within a crusty exterior. Chocolate was […] Read more
North America’s millers, bakers scramble to satisfy bread binge
Chicago/Winnipeg | Reuters — North American flour mills and bakeries are rushing to boost production as the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus leads to consumer stockpiling of staples such as bread and pasta. The virus’ spread prompted orders to stay at home in some U.S. states, including New York, California and Illinois last week, following […] Read more
Apple pie for a snowy day
First We Eat: When it’s snowing and blowing outside it’s the perfect time to stay inside and bake
Another grey winter day, with the wind howling from the east and snow drifting across the yard and our long driveway, means we are snowbound. A snow day! Yay! What better thing to do but bake? An apple pie for instance. Apples are the fallback fruit of winter, and a pie is what all apples […] Read more
J.M. Smucker to sell U.S. baking brands
Reuters — J.M. Smucker Co. said on Monday it would sell its U.S. baking business, which includes brands such as Pillsbury, Martha White and Hungry Jack, to private equity firm Brynwood Partners for US$375 million. The deal includes a manufacturing facility in Toledo, Ohio, but excludes the baking business in Canada, the company said. “The […] Read more
We can’t wait for rhubarb!
First We Eat: Here’s a pie recipe to use up the last of the frozen or the first of this season’s rhubarb
Dave and I celebrated a significant anniversary recently. We’d met in Banff, at a writing retreat. During that two-week span, he’d flirted shamelessly, held my chair, chatted me up, sat with me at meals, taken me swimming and to dinner, everything but serenaded me. For that, we waited 10 years, and then it was an […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
