February is the worst, but I cooked, baked and blogged my way through it all and it actually seemed to fly by. Here’s what was happening:

  • First, let’s pour one out for Dara & Erin from How to Eat! They announced at the beginning of the month that they’re winding down their blog to focus on family and generally just get through this pandemic. I met them at the Food Bloggers of Canada conference back in 2013 and have kept in touch over the years. I immediately asked if the blog was going to stay active because I still cook their recipes all the time (more on that below!) and was assured it would be for the time being.  Truly wish them all the best!
  • Even though I was just sitting here watching alone, I still made myself a few tasty little snacks to eat while the Super Bowl was on. After looking at this old post, I made BBQ Meatballs and Buffalo Wing Hummus with veggies.  So good!
  • I took an extra day off to make my Family Day weekend nice and long, and picked an epic recipe to work on over the course of a few days: Smitten Kitchen’s Lasagna Bolognese. While I didn’t make my own pasta (I used fresh sheets from the grocery store), I did make the bolognese and béchamel sauces and lovingly layered them up. For future reference if I make this again: half the recipe fits nicely into an 8×8 baking dish AND use Jan’s recipe for bolognese instead.
  • Krishna sent me a Galentine’s Day treat of super fancy macarons from a bakery called The Social Blend. They were so pretty that I almost didn’t want to eat them! Loved the unique flavours too.
  • It was my co-worker’s birthday so I made her the little cake above and dropped it on her doorstep. I used the SK I Want Chocolate Cake Cake and topped it with Nutella Cloud Frosting. I also made a batch of her favourite Chocolate Chip Cookies, so I could test out the recipe too. They’re a little too thin for me, but still quick and delicious with nice crispy edges.
  • Speaking of Chocolate Chip Cookies, I tried another recipe this month and could not have been more underwhelmed. Alton Brown’s recipe is supposed to be a stepped up version of the classic Toll House recipe on the back of the bag, but I found them to pretty lackluster. If I’m sourcing a special ingredient (in this case, bread flour), the results should be noticeably different, but alas, this was not the case. For this style of CCC (small, thick, chewy), My Favourite Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe is still WAY better.
  • The month ended with the Super Bowl of awards shows, the Golden Globes. Let me tell you – I was feeling VERY sorry for myself watching it alone. Kristine, Nicole and I have been having a Golden Globes feast together for over 10 years, so it just felt wrong. I still cooked up a mini batch of Beef Bourguignon and My Favourite Mashed Potatoes, and packed up a little to-go container for Kristine to pick-up. We were texting throughout the show, and Nicole FaceTimed me for updates, so we were still connected a little bit, but definitely not the same. Fingers crossed we’ll be reunited for the Emmys in the Fall!
  • One last thing – I’m making another wedding cake! My friend Emma who I met through work (she works at our ad agency) asked me to make her wedding cake for this August. I’m excited to tackle another one with all the knowledge and tips from the first go ’round. I’m going to make a test version of this cake for Emma’s birthday in May and see if that’s the one we’re going to go with!
  • And now the regular recap of what I was cooking this month, broken down into three categories:
  • Stuff I made from the archives:  Crispy Baked Chicken Taquitos, plus a How to Eat classic that I eat as Lettuce Wraps all the time now: Kung Pao Chicken!
  • Some of my favourite go-to dishes:  my #1 How to Eat recipe of all time: Panko Crusted Baked Tilapia (or any white fish actually: halibut, cod, sole) – this is the quickest and tastiest fish recipe for those of us who are still kind of reluctant fish eaters, and it’s so quick to just throw in a tray of veggies to roast in the oven at the same time
  • New things that I tried and liked: I loathe nothing more than setting up (and cleaning up) a dredging station, but I did it anyway for these Pretzel Chicken Fingers. I went all the way and made the hot honey drizzle and “house” sauce for dipping too. Will definitely make again!
  • Take-out: We got a Skip the Dishes gift card from work so I ordered up a Shawarma feast for one from Paramount, and it was great (although did not satisfy my Me Va Me craving!). I also made a return trip to Blondie’s and this time I had Dra…Drake was Here which has bacon, pineapple and green peppers)

Other non-foodie things I was obsessed with this month:

  • This season of The Bachelor is turning into a dumpster fire, but I can’t stop watching now. Protect Matt James at all costs!
  • In honour of Black History Month, I watched some important movies (Selma), miniseries (When They See Us) and documentaries (13th) that I hadn’t seen before.
  • The Planet Byn Bookclub™ read some fluffy romance novels this month: The Duke & I and The Viscount Who Loved Me, which are the first two books in the Bridgerton series. We actually had to push our meeting out a week because all our books were delivered so late since Chapters was on backorder. They were just what we wanted, some light escapist fare, but with more than a few mentions of the dreaded “m” word, and not in relation to baked goods, if you catch my drift. Next up: Where the Crawdads Sing.
  • I also read a couple of other books this month: Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban and So You Want To Talk About Race.

Flashback!