I first heard about the Cuban Lunch chocolate bar on CBC Radio last year, then read about it again in Janis Thiessen’s Snacks, a definitive history of the early years of the Canadian snack food business. People seemed to rave […]
Food
Review: Apex Predator (Bench Creek) White Raven India Pale Ale
Within the last few years, there’s been an explosion of amazing craft breweries in Alberta, the province in the western Canada that I call home. While British Columbia to the west of us has had a flourishing craft beer scene […]
Arbitrary: Thoughts on the New Canada’s Food Guide
In January 2019, the Canadian government introduced a new version of Canada’s Food Guide, and it’s caused a bit of a ruckus up here in the frozen-solid north. The resulting document is a fascinating study in what happens when you […]
Review: Level Ground Tanzania Organic Coffee from Costco
The last time I took my espresso machine to the shop to get it cleaned and serviced, the shop’s owner gave me an important lesson in espresso. You shouldn’t use such dark, oily beans, he said. See here? All the […]
Review: After Eight mint wafers
As a child, After Eight mints seemed like a very adult sort of candy. Classy packaging, strange format and the cryptic lure of the “After Eight” name. Because what happens after eight, exactly? That would have been after my bedtime, […]
Review: Candy Cane Hershey’s Kisses
White chocolate is polarizing, I know. But I love these Candy Cane Kisses from Hershey’s, and I’ve been meaning to highlight them here for what must be three years. They’re my favourite type of Kisses, and I instinctively buy oodles […]
Review: Carnaby Sweet Candy Corn
I’ve always found it odd how candy corn doesn’t particularly resemble corn. If anything, it’s more like a diseased tooth that’s been yanked from someone’s mouth, root and all. Or possibly a tiny little guitar pick. Corn kernels just aren’t […]
Recipe: Starbucks Mocha Valencia
Back in the late 1990s, one of my favourite Starbucks drinks was the Mocha Valencia. It was an entrancing combination of orange syrup, mocha syrup, steamed milk and espresso, with some whipped cream topping and special orange sprinkles on top. […]