So soon the mayor will tell us we can reopen. Last month we ordered plexi-glass barriers which got here last week. They say disinfectant hand sanitizer, gloves, masks will be needed. I was trying to figure out how the probabilities of mask effectiveness works. If a mask has a 60% blocking ability, there is a 40% chance of getting the virus.  A second person wearing the same mask reduces that 40%  another 60% with them wearing the mask too or 16%. If you put 50% in the two masks reduce the risk between two people to 25%, for 90% effective masks it goes to 1%. So you multiply the chances of getting infected together and subtract from 100%. Chances of getting infected = (100 - A)(100-B)/100, A = effectiveness of first mask and B = effectiveness of second mask. In other words you reduce your risk of getting an infection by wearing a mask. The other person reduces that risk even more by wearing a mask too. So even if you wear a cloth mask which is 50% blocking, if everyone did that you increase the effectiveness to 75%. Did you notice that countries and neighbourhood where a lot of people wear masks have less cases? It's really the only way we can open everything and keep the economy going. I think we will all come to that conclusion. It isn't for weird cultures anymore. It will be to save our economy and our lifestyle. 
Our world has changed but only for now. I wear the mask to protect you and you wear one to protect me. Together we stop the virus from spreading. Either that or we stay 6 feet apart . Then maybe one of us won't unknowingly infect our 65 year old neighbour with heart disease. I like to think most of us still care about that. This is like drunk driving. The guy who doesn't care is not the person who gets hurt or dies in the car crash. Sobering thought. Never has the world been rooting so much for the scientists to save us with a vaccine. 
But back to food. Lately have you noticed the phases of our hoarding - toilet paper, dried pasta, mac and cheese  pasta sauces, meat then flour and pie crusts, hair dye. Some economist will make some sense of this someday. Allen has been buying back ribs, corn meal, fresh spices, lemons, eggs. There is nothing more heavenly than a lemon meringue pie made from scratch. I get to taste his creations. The corn bread is just to die for.  It has southern tradition. Bobby Flay would be proud. OMG the banana cream or chocolate cream is better than...well...
A friend of mine at work squirreled some butter tarts  away in a freezer from a pot luck months ago and he said it was still amazing. I have to admit. His butter tarts have never made it t the freezer so I wouldn't know. All I know is that they are perfection. It is a desert with only a few ingredients but the filling to dough is very high, the pastry is light and the filling made with our secrets never burns. We are not afraid to fill it to the rim because if you know what you are doing it boils just right to a perfect carmelization and comes back to earth to sit nicely in the pastry shell. People say it is light, crispy yet gooey inside. Just like the old world bread baker it is more than a recipe it's an art. 

So we canceled our plans for March break. We did what we were supposed to do. How did we get here? As time went on we watched people empty the shelves  for tollet paper, then dried pasta, canned sauce, the Ramen packs from our university days and the macaroni and cheese. Soooo.....now three weeks later what shall we do?The mayor and premier said we are in for a bit of a long haul. We decided as a family after the toilet paper hunt that we would make the best of it. It reminded me of the Anthony Bourdain episode where he met the two french chefs he in Quebec, whether they were putting him on or they were for real, they made a point of only eating fine french cuisine everywhere they went, ice fishing or a local street hickey game. They were on a lake and they got out a white table cloth, the best wine and everything. That stuck in my mind. So the first week my husband and I for no reason at all made a huge turkey feast. This was followed up by a fantastic sushi spread that the kids made. Everyone learned how to roll sushi and get creative with unagi, cucumber, avocado. Japanese sticky rice was not that hard after all. Last week, we had Korean hotpot at home. Then it was slow roasted barbeque ribs. You're stuck eating at home. Why not try new recipes and make the best of it? Years from now like my mother's memories from WWII, we will look back and remember the family dinners that were make extra special because we had to stay home to save each other.    
#homecookedmeals, #freshfood, #homedelivery,#sweetseductionbakery, #eatwell

This article is funny. A few years ago the British signed a petition to make it illegal for any restaurant or pub to call a pie a casserole with a pastry lid on it. Typically this is called a Shepherd or cottage pie. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/features/pie-not-pie-mary-berry-re-ignites-foods-greatest-debate/. So according to them it a real meat pie has a double crust = top and bottom. The latest challenge is how much salt to put in. Without enough the taste of the meat doesn't come out but too much and you go over your daily sodium allowance. Leaving out the broth cuts down the salt quite a bit. 

Our latest creation - a bulging 1.4 kg beef pot pie made with a double crust.

​Sweet Seduction

Just found an article on comfort food and how we link certain happy memories with certain foods. https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/food-happiness2.htm
In grade 10, our cafeteria has these home made butter tarts. I would always eat a pair during my 5th period spare as a pick-me-up for the afternoon lull. Lemonade brings me back to plastic cups, a gingham picnic cloth and Sunnyside park. Christmas is coming and this makes me remember making a gingerbread house with my little niece. It took us hours to get all those walls straight and all those candies stuck on. She's all grown up now with her own life...
We found old fashioned preserves while from Mennonite Country which makes me think of another time, a place where people appreciated the harvest and preserved it jars for the winter. 
Sweet Seduction

My dad's favourite pie was pumpkin pie. As he got on in years he forgot what day it was or who told him what but he always loved Allen's pumpkin pies. "Put lots of ginger" he would tell him. He loved that bite that the ginger gave the pumpkin pie. It's really simple yet not. It's the right balance between consistency, spices, and sweetness. Using real ingredients helps.  But the baking is another story. Like the old saying goes, patience is a virtue....you can't hurry love and you can't hurry a perfectly baked pumpkin pie. You know you hit the right notes when it's soft yet firm, never runny and smooth on your palate. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! and dad I hope you are enjoying a piece....

Wedding season is here....why not use a pie bar to tempt your guests this fall ?

Our "house" granola has all wholesome ingredients: organic maple, honey, dried fruits, nuts, seeds, just add milk or yogurt for a complete and nutritious breakfast, snack and/or pick me up anytime. 

Half naked pies for spring in our new 6 inch format. Not the mini not the big pie but just the right size for two....