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Rosemary and thyme pot roast

According to my cursory research on Wikipedia, the concept of the pot roast is thought to have originated from French immigrants to New England, who brought their cooking method of à l’étouffée (braising) for tenderizing meats. The Americanized pot roast – sometimes known as the ‘Yankee pot roast’ – is a variation of the French…
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Classic Thai iced tea

Today’s recipe is one of mine, so it’s super quick and easy. We may be in the dead of winter, but a sweet iced tea is always enjoyable in my books. The best Thai iced tea I’ve found in Toronto is at Pai, where I tried it for the first time. There’s also Nam Wan,…
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Heirloom tomato and prosciutto salad

One of our favourite new restaurants in town is Bar Piquette, which I wrote about in my post about what Mr. Chuckles and I have been up to in Toronto lately, in between our travels. This little neighbourhood bar restaurant specializes in small plates and wine, with a menu updated daily. A plate we really…
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Gâteau Basque with warm sherry cream

Gâteau Basque is a traditional dessert originating from the Northern Basque region of France, with a variation also common in the Southern Basque region of Spain. Constructed from layers of a wheat flour based cake, it is typically filled with black cherry jam or pastry cream. We were introduced to Gâteau Basque at Bar Isabel,…
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A view of Mount Fuji from Lake Kawaguchiko

Looking back at my trip to Japan in 2018, I thought it would be worthwhile to create a separate post about our visit to Mount Fuji. We had tried to get a view of this iconic peak while riding the bullet train from Kyoto to Tokyo but missed it, so a day trip was in…
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How to spend a daytime layover in Amsterdam

Do you include layover stops as part of your ‘country count’? Typically I would not, but I have listed the Netherlands as a place I’ve visited since I did spend a total of about 12 hours in Amsterdam. This was over the course of two daytime layovers during my trips back home from Tanzania and…
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Winter break in New York City

I have visited New York City a few times, but there’s always something new to discover in this world class city. In 2017, Mr. Chuckles and I spent about a week there in early December. We found this to be a nice time to visit, as you get to experience the hustle and bustle of…
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Tastes of South Korea: Everything we ate in Seoul and Busan

Following up on my last post about everything we ate in Japan, here is a recap of all the food we tried during the first leg of our trip to East Asia, in South Korea. We spent five days in Seoul and Busan, and managed to keep our bellies very full the entire time. Jump…
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Everything we ate in Japan

I’ve been tuning up this blog lately and was reviewing one of my earliest posts, about my trip to Japan. This was a jam-packed, whirlwind trip and in my original post I didn’t have a chance to write in detail about one of the best parts of travelling in Japan – the food! Now, at…

