Dear Friends,

Sorry I have been MIA for nearly two years. This is long over due and I am very excited to get back to blogging! A lot has happened in the past two years and I do not want to bore you with every single detail so I will give you some of the highlights. I was pregnant with baby no. 2 and in the first trimester the last time I blogged. I was home taking care of a two year old and feeling nauseous most of the time from the pregnancy therefore I decided to take a break from blogging. We welcomed a new addition, Andre was born last year in August. Having a toddler and a baby kept me even busier than ever! We moved from a condo to a house this summer and we still have boxes to unpack and lots work to do in the house.

I will try to post one recipe per week and sometimes might have to keep it simple with a short description in the post. After all, it is the amazing recipes I’d like to share with you the most rather than writing long posts.

If you’ve been following our blog, you may have noticed that we like to experiment with ingredients and flavors. Of course, it’s not always like that, especially during the week when cooking the daily lunches and dinners, we usually stick to what we know. But we always try to cook something new during the weekend to make it more interesting. I guess we have the same approach for this blog. We could write about another double chocolate chip cookie recipe but I think the internet has so many great recipes already that I don’t think it would be interesting for you to read. Now, what if I add candied orange peel?

I always liked to combine asparagus & bacon. I think the subtle flavors of asparagus and the smokyness of the bacon compliment each other very well. One of my favorite side recipes is roasted bacon wrapped asparagus. Pair that with a nice and juicy steak and you’re in for a treat. I just discovered another way of combining asparagus and bacon together. I wanted to make a soup with asparagus and was looking for another ingredient. I thought about bacon and although it sounded a bit silly a first, I gave it a try.

Last week, we were posting a colorful and fragrant salad with beets and carrots that we found at the market. On the same day at the market, we also stumbled upon live mussels from Prince Edward County. As soon as I saw those mussels, I was reminded of a dish we made on our trip to France last summer. It’s a very classic mussel recipe but with the addition of chorizo, and it makes a huge difference. I can’t tell you how much we love chorizo. We even tried to bring some back from our trip but it all got seized by the customs back in Toronto (a cruel ending for these beautiful sausages if you ask me).

Congee is a rice porridge popular in Asian countries. Historically, it was a way for poor families to make the rice supplies last as long as possible. Only a small amount of grain is needed to make congee. The rice is slow cooked in a large amount of water until the grains break up and turn into a thick soup. Nowadays, congee is eaten with a variety of ingredients, ranging from sweet to savory. There are so many great ingredients and toppings for this dish, it’s really hard to name a favorite.