james test

Though I baked these muffins a day or two later, I expect that this recipe will consistently remind me of Saturday, June 26. On this day Michael and I took a friend to the Slow Food Farmers' Market in Abbotsford . I bought a bunch of rhubarb and while Michael was lining up for coffee, I also succumbed to the temptation of a single-serve rhubarb tart, sold with a dollop of fresh cream. An hour later we congregated at the Convent for the Meatless Blog Meet over lunch. Though Duncan , Claire , Agnes and Ed provided reassuringly familiar faces, it was quite exciting to meet many others for the first time: FoodieFi , Another Outspoken Female , Lucy , Anh , Bunches , Dani , Melba and Johanna . And it's with Johanna that we come full circle, because it's her recipe for oaty rhubarb muffins that I particularly bought the rhubarb for! This muffins are prime afternoon snack material - wholesome and filling, with pink fruity bursts providing the sweetness I'm typically cr...

The soy bombs are on regular rotation in this kitchen, but we try to mix 'em up a bit. This time I pulled a seasonal accompanying side out of my bookmarked recipes: celeriac salad from stonesoup . It's a 4th generation descendant of the French celeriac remoulade, using creme fraiche or sour cream instead of mayonnaise and a variety of acidic substances (two mustards, two vinegars and lemon juice) to keep that fast-browning celeriac fresh. Though it gradually loses a bit of crunch, we happily continued to munch the leftovers for several days. Even better, this tart and abundant dressing meant that the soy bombs didn't require any extra condiments.

It's no secret that I enjoy a faux meat treat every now and then, and Bodhi Cafe's been on my restaurant wishlist ever since Kristy blogged about it . We were surprised to see this sleek and inviting cafe empty when we arrived at 6:30, and expected that we might see a few more customers later. The menu offers a handful of deep fried entrees then runs the gamut of rice, noodle and soup dishes. Most, though not all, include a faux meat - chicken, lamb, beef and seafood all get a mention. We started off by sharing a duck roti roll ($5). It was a little small for the price, but undoubtedly tasty - the modest amount of salty faux-duck was combined with shredded lettuce and mayonnaise, then wrapped with a hot and flaky roti. Goodbye KFC cravings! Bodhi also offers a wide range of flavoured teas and coffees. Kristy recommended the kumquat tea ($6) and I was willing to give it a go - it's cute and sweet, and had a pithy edge. For my main meal I ordered the vegie chicken rice (...

Cindy and I had spent most of July living without a kitchen, so we were running out of time to get to our monthly World In Your Kitchen recipe. July's treat was a coconut rice pudding from Venezuela. I think I say this every time: the recipes on this calendar are simple - this one has just 6 ingredients and was completely easy to pull together. As usual though, this has a downside: often the dishes we make from the calendar are inferior versions of slightly more complicated recipes of the same dish (see these two harira soup recipes for example). This was no exception - it was tasty, with the cinnamon and lemon adding a little spark to the sugary base. Still, it was a bit lacking in textural variety (some nuts or dried fruit might have kept things a bit more interesting), and fell well short of the rice pudding heights that Cindy has previously taken things to . Coconut rice pudding 225g rice 1/2 cup dessicated coconut 1 cup milk 1/2 cup sugar 1 teaspoon cinnamon grated rind ...

Cindy had warned me by email that she was suffering some sort of cheese-overdose in Chattanooga , so I planned to provide her with something healthy to try to redress the balance. She also had to adjust to the weather - I'd come back to a burst of unseasonable warmth, but Cindy got off the plane into a more typical winter day: wet, windy and cold. Luckily, The Age had caught my eye with this recipe (I won't reproduce it here - I followed their directions to the letter). It looked warming, healthy and hearty - the perfect welcome home meal. Especially with a delicious Indian bread to accompany it. With all the spices included in the ingredients, I expected something with a rich and complex flavour - it didn't quite measure up to what I'd imagined, but it was still a pretty satisfying dinner. I'd up the chilli to a few pinches, and probably amp up the ginger as well. For some reason it performed much better as a reheated lunch later in the week - maybe the spices ...

The last destination on my overseas journey was - bizarrely - Chattanooga, Tennessee. Not an obvious stop-over after traversing the UK, perhaps, but again it was work commitments that brought me there. And if the town of Chattanooga reminds you of a certain song , perhaps you can share a gaffaw at my accommodation - the Holiday Inn Chattanooga Choo Choo ! The Chattanooga train station serviced passengers from 1909 through to 1970, and was then converted into a holiday complex. The terminal station is now the grand lobby of the hotel. Guests can stay in renovated train carriage rooms or the more ordinary hotel building at the far end of the old train platforms. The platforms stretch as paths from lobby to hotel, and the lines have been filled in as pretty manicured gardens. Downtown Chattanooga can be pretty lifeless. There's a small zone of family-friendly restaurants surrounding an IMAX and an aquarium but that's it. There are blocks and blocks of tall grey buildings and ...

When Cindy and I parted ways in Edinburgh, she was headed for a short trip to St Andrews . I, on the other hand, had a 6 hour train ride to London followed by a 12 hour flight to Tokyo to look forward to. My brother Matt has been residing in Tokyo for just over a year now, and I decided it was finally time to visit. Unfortunately I got in in the middle of a work day, so I dragged my jetlagged body around on my own (and camera-less) for the first afternoon. Matt had provided me with a range of options, and I settled for a stroll through Ueno Park . The relative spaciousness of the park was a gentle introduction to the crowded bustle of Tokyo-proper, and I happily wandered around the ponds and through the gardens before deciding I was awake enough to take on a museum. Feeling culturally adventurous, I skipped the Museum of Western Art and opted for The Tokyo National Museum - a dauntingly large complex, with at least five different buildings to explore. I settled on the Japanese...