The BloggerAid Changing the Face of Famine Cookbook

Many of you may know about BloggerAid-Changing the Face of Famine. It's a wonderful virtual organization of food bloggers from around the world who want to make a difference. Given that we all share a love and passion for food, it was easy to choose a project...create a cookbook with 100% of the proceeds targeting children and education through the World Food Programme - School Meals which benefits 22 million hungry children each year. School meals are important on many levels. In countries where school attendance is low, the promise of at least one nutritious meal each day boosts enrollment and promotes regular attendance.
This book is a virtual way for all of us, wherever we may be and however rich or poor we may be, to pull up a chair at the same table and share what we have.

That part was easy, as was getting 140 fantastic international recipes from terrific food bloggers around the world - 60 countries to be exact. And finally, after much recipe testing, editing, formatting, etc., the gorgeous cookbook - all those photos will have you drooling - is ready and waiting for you to buy a copy and make a difference.

And if the cause isn't enough to entice you...take a gander at some of the tasty treats you'll find between the covers...



"Through these recipes they share their traditions and insatiable curiosity about
new flavours. They pay tribute to the home cooking of our grandmothers, while
celebrating the exoticism and richness of a world brought closer together by their hopes to make a difference. With recipes such as Tomato-Cheese Ravioli with Eggplant Sauce, Spicy Serundeng Tuna and Peanuts, Serrano Ham Paella with
Oyster Mushrooms, Raspberry Mascarpone Bites and Triple Layer Orange-Passion
Fruit Tart we are doing our part to say that bloggers can change the face of famine."


Wait no more...head over to the Create Space eStore. The book will make a perfect gift for the holidays ahead. So that's one for you...one for your sister, daughter, brother, best friend....whoever your favorite foodie is. Go on...make a difference.

Presto Pasta Night Roundup #139

UPDATE: The most fantastic Presto Pasta Night Roundup #139 is ready and Chaya of Sweet and Savory Says it All did an absolutely awesome job of hosting this week. Everything looks so tempting, but given our early onset of Winter...frosty, dark and dreary, I'm opting for the many variations of mac 'n cheese.

That said, Chaya did a brilliant job of presenting tempting, tantalizing tidbits of everyone's dishes, so I'll be visiting them all and I know you will be too.

Thanks, Chaya for hosting and everyone for contributing. Check out the bottom of the post for next week's host info.


It's a busy day around here, what with flu shots, babysitting and getting ready for the Thai Cooking Class Party I'll be facilitating tomorrow, I thought I'd at least link to Chaya's main page at Sweet & Savory Says It All. She's our fabulous Presto Pasta Night Host this week and I know, like me, you can't wait for the roundup to be posted.

I'll follow up this evening when things calm down around here and add all the details to all the right places.

Just remember that next week Kait of Pots & Plots will be hosting. Send your entries to potsandplots (at) gmail (dot) com and cc to ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com

And if you're interested in hosting a PPN in December, or next year, for that matter...2010 is just around the corner, it seems....drop me a line.

Pasta from Southern Italy

I'm trying to get ahead of things around here. I'm getting ready to run a cooking class party this weekend and the theme is Thai so I'm busy experimenting... I promise to share once I'm sure of the recipes. In the meantime, Presto Pasta Night Roundup is just a couple of days away. This week, Chaya of Sweet and Savory Says It All is hosting and I don't want to miss it.

Lucky for me, I just received a copy of The Southern Italian Table: Authentic Tastes from Traditional Kitchensby Arthur Schwartz. I just wrote all about how wonderful it is, filled with lots of my favorite Italian dishes. Antipasti like Stuzzico, an eggplant, red pepper and onion spread, pizzas to make your head spin, salads, soups, sauces, fish, meat, chicken, desserts...and naturally pasta. Last week I submitted Pasta & Lentils (who could resist) and this week it's Pasta e Ricotta...which takes mac 'n cheese to a whole new level of sophistication and simplicity. Isn't it wonderful when you can have a meal ready in as long as it takes to cook the noodles?!

So what are you cooking up for Presto Pasta Nights? And don't forget to send your entry to chayathecomfycook (at) yahoo (dot) com and cc to ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com. And if you're interested in hosting a PPN yourself, just drop me a line and I'll add you to the roster.

See you at the Roundup on Friday.

Homemade Montreal Style Bagels

I suppose that unless you're from Montreal, this may not be as unbelievably fantastic a find for you, but you'd be wrong not to read on. I was raised on Montreal St Viateur or Fairmount bagels and, probably the most difficult part of the move to Toronto was the lack of them. Toronto bagels are...well...they're soft, puffy rolls with a tiny hole. And I've written about them many times, even about finding them at the Montreal Pierre Trudeau International Airport, and the bagel wars between those who grew up in Toronto and those of us who moved there from Montreal.

Admittedly St Viateur Bagel has a couple of Toronto outlets. You can find them at the St Lawrence Market and on Eglinton near Bathurst. And Pete's Frootique, here in Halifax does import them from Montreal, but naturally that's not the same as walking into the actual bakery and being assaulted with that awesome aroma of wood burning oven, fragrant hot yeasty dough, toasty sesame seeds...I'm drooling now.

Normally, when I write a book review, I write about it here, but Marcy Goldman's latest cookbook The New best of BetterBaking.com deserves to be talked about at AskRuth for some of her trade baking secrets and here as well. I mean, really, I feel an obligation to all those fans of Montreal bagels everywhere. Now you too can make them...start to finish (including all the resting time) 90 minutes.

I was so excited, that I forgot to buy my favorite topping...cream cheese and smoked salmon. Good thing there are still some left so I can rectify that. I actually have three favorite ways to eat a Montreal bagel...three courses, if you will...
fresh from the oven, just ripped apart and slathered with salted butter - often eaten in the car on the way home from the bakery all by themselves...
normally followed by cream cheese with smoked salmon, sliced onion, perhaps a sliced tomato and some capers, but not necessarily - today I had some with Ran-Cher cayenne & garlic goat cheese - a nice alternative until I actually get the smoked salmon...
and for "dessert", slathered with cream cheese and ginger marmalade.

So if you're a bagel fiend, what's your favorite style and topping?

Presto Pasta Night Roundup #138

It is Friday and time for Presto Pasta Night Roundup #138. Although there aren't very many entries this week, each one is wonderful. So thanks all of you for sharing your pastas with the rest of us.
And since Winter has arrived early here in Halifax...this is our first snowstorm of the season at 6:45 A.M....check out how dark it is...SIGH.

Oh well, on to better things...like our pastas for the week...

Abby of Eat The Right Stuff, sure knows the way to my heart. Her Spaghetti with Cavolo Nero & Pancetta have already graced my table (one great thing about hosting is that you get to try out the entries early!)and was delicious.
Christine, the Adventurous Picky Eater, and first time blogger sent in a wonderful Mac 'n Cheese that will be a perfect lunch today...Boaz is coming over and we'll be spending the morning out in the first snow of the year.
Tigerfish of Teczcape made this glorious looking Vegetarian Rice Vermicelli dish that will brighten up even the gloomiest day.
Sherra of Our Tasat of Life brings this economical and delightful Beef Linguine that is as quick to make as it will be for the family to gobble it all up.
Katie of Thyme For Cooking has another cool blog, Easy Gourmet Dinners, where she shares "Diabetic friendly" dishes for her husband and the rest of us. Check out this tasty Pork Lo Mein with Peanut Sauce. I'm drooling!
Deb of Kahakai Kitchen shares a Mark Bittman dish of Zucchini & Garlic Fusilli with Pistachios. I love everything he makes, so I know I'll going to enjoy this one. Just the thought of it brightens my mood.
Ching of Little Corner of Mine made another dish I "tested" earlier in the week...Penne Tuna Pasta. One of those satisfying dishes you whip up in a minute and enjoy for much longer.
And last, but...trust me...definitely not least for cold and dreary weather...my entry...Sicilian Pasta & Lentils. I even have some left overs in case I have no energy to whip up the mac 'n cheese after playing in the snow.
Thanks everyone, for perfect pastas! Next week, Chaya of Sweet & Savory Says It All will be hosting, lucky us! Email your entries to her - chayathecomfycook (at) yahoo (dot) com and cc to ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com

If you're interested in hosting Presto Pasta Nights yourself, please send me an email. I'm still looking for hosts in December and...dare I say it...next year!

Pasta or Lentils...How About Both

One of the new cookbooks sitting on my table is called The Southern Italian Table and I'll be telling you all about it soon. It looks fantastic - a real peek into the kitchens of real cooks in Southern Italy.

That said, I couldn't resist making this Sicilian Pasta and Lentils right away. Two of my favorite Fall to Winter comfort foods in ONE dish! What could possibly be better? Perhaps sharing it with the rest of my fellow Presto Pasta Night Roundup regulars.

I'm hosting this week, and you still have time (midnight tonight, where ever you live) to send in your creation. Just email me ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com and check back for the roundup here tomorrow.

And I'm still looking for a guest host for November 27th's roundup. I'd love to add you to the list. In the meantime...happy pasta eating!