Auditioning for The Great Canadian Baking Show

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[and a recipe for sesame marzipan & sea salt mandel bread]

audition ready with tika the iggy!

One of my best friends encouraged me to apply for The Great Canadian Baking Show last winter. After quickly looking through pictures from the first season of the TV show I told her there was no way that I was in that kind of baking league, but Andrea’s a great cheerleader (and works in reality TV!) so her encouragement was persuasive. Before leaving work that day I quickly threw together an application online and figured that would be the end of it.

The next day I received a phone call from the casting producer and was invited to audition. My mum – who has witnessed many a Katie-kitchen-mishap – thought this was hilarious, but kindly offered to chauffeur me to Montreal since there were no auditions in Ottawa.

nothing like having to shovel your car out of the snow before an audition…
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new year, same blog

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gingerbread house mug topper 2017It’s been six years of casual blogging on Kate’s Plate (a name I’m still not sure that I like, but oh well)! My little corner of the internet has often been neglected, but I’m glad it’s here, and that you’re here, too.

The first recipe I posted was my mum’s gingerbread. (I refer to it as my mum’s since I will forever associate it with her, but should probably give the cred to Martha Stewart.)
I can’t remember why, but I split that first food post into two parts: one with a bunch of exclamation marks (gingerbread! “festive, and oh-so-delicious!”) and awkwardly lit photos, and a separate post with the recipe.

2017 was a bit of a post-drought over here, so it seems silly to mark any kind of blogiversary, but last year I had my mind set on making mini gingerbread houses to be mug-toppers (“festive, and oh-so-delicious!) to celebrate five years of this hobby. I made them, but the template I went with was way too large, and I didn’t even check the size of the template in relation to the mug (rookie move – you call yourself a blogger?!). So, they were just miniature houses that comically perched on some of the largest mugs I had around.

This year, I was determined to get it right. The structural integrity of these little houses was certainly questionable, as was the ratio of icing to cookie, but! they were tiny and twee. I was happy.SONY DSClast-five-years

I’d like to think that the quality of the photos around here has changed – happily, our holiday traditions haven’t (gingerbread galore!). So, all in one place, here are a bunch of gingerbread photos and the recipe (really, this do-over is so that the next time someone asks for the recipe I’m less embarrassed when I send a link to my blog. Heh.).

Here’s to years five and six of this little blah-blah-blahg. Thank you so much for popping by. It’s a hoot to share with you the things that bring me joy and/or enthuse me enough to ramble on about it on the internet. I hope you’re mildly entertained and/or have time to try a recipe, whether it’s this gingerbread (clearly an obsession of mine) or something from the archives with dimly lit photos.

And, thank you to my mother, who puts up with kitchen messes every time I visit, and is probably the first to read anything that’s posted here. Call me when you find a typo. xolast-five-years7

That recipe’s here!

Bue Grasso [Earl Grey Pound Cake]

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thumb_dsc_0526_1024One of the things I love about the restaurant/food industry in Ottawa is the collaboration that exists between many business owners, entrepreneurs, chefs, brewers, etc. (In fact – I was lucky enough to write about that very topic in the latest Edible Ottawa magazine! Subtle plug, I know.) Through having the opportunities to write beyond my little neglected blog I’ve loved getting to meet and know many of the people that feed this city. It’s nice, too, that it sometimes overlaps with Tristan’s community, colleagues, and friends.

Matt Gardiner is one of those aforementioned entrepreneurial industry folk. After hosting Continue reading →

Dipping A Toe In

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*dusts of cobwebs*

…oh, hi there! Yes, I’m still here. I was beginning to worry that I would make it a full year without a new blog post, but no. Getting in under the wire at 364 days.IMG-0411.JPG

My twin and I recently celebrated our birthday. He came in from Montreal with his fiancé (and Tika, of course) to celebrate with family. I made our cake, inspired by this beauty, but it was a bit of a #PinterestFail… I was thinking a beautiful cake would be a nice return to blogging, but a mediocre-looking cake will have to do. (The recipe is one that I’ve been decorating poorly for years – luckily it still tastes good.)

Heading back to the little blog to find my mum’s one bowl chocolate cake recipe reminded me about how much I appreciate having this little space on the internet (though neglected) to record the clues to some favourite recipes and moments. I’ve been writing a little bit elsewhere, but I’m hoping to be around here a tad more often.

Back soon! (I hope.)

 

 

Back to Rhubarb

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As a privileged, white Canadian I know that I am not the demographic for which last night’s election results are the hardest to swallow. Not even close.

I believe there’s a lot of good in this world, but we must continue to hold our own government to account – on climate change, on Indigenous rights, on social justice – and not fall into divisive and fear-based politics. We must amplify the voices of those more vulnerable, and be better allies.
Anyway, that’s what I’ve been telling myself to assuage the knot in my stomach.

I stayed up til the wee hours of the morning to watch Donald Trump’s victory speech (file that under things that feel surreal to type), so ended up feeling a bit like a zombie today. Between sadly watching HRC’s concession speech with coworkers and clicking through countless articles and tweets dissecting the election results, it didn’t feel possible for much else to occupy my thoughts today. (We treated ourselves to ramen, though, which was a bright spot.)

But in an attempt to multitask and focus on something apolitical while watching the coverage last night, I turned to my much neglected drafts and decided that the blogosphere could probably use a drink. So we’re going back to rhubarb…DSC_0335 copy Continue reading →