I slowly continued to recover from COVID this month and got my appetite back in time for lots of tasty treats, including the last trip to my favourite bakery in the GTA:

  • I met up with my friends for a lovely Labour Day weekend night out that began and ended at Seoulshakers for cocktails, with dinner at Sugo in between. Loved Sugo just as much the second time around, but next time will go to Bar Sugo next door so I can try the pizza!
  • One of my all-time favourite bakeries is closing soon, so I had to make a special pilgrimage to Hamilton to visit Cake & Loaf one last time. I’ve been obsessed with Cake & Loaf for YEARS; along with Bake Shoppe, I just felt like those were the two places I always looked to for baking inspiration, because all the treats they made felt elevated but also like I could re-create them at home (and did on more than one occasion!). If I ever won the lottery and opened a bakery, Cake & Loaf would be the kind of bakery I would try to replicate for sure. Anyway, I bought SO many treats on my visit and double wrapped everything lovingly in plastic wrap and tucked it into my freezer so I have a stash to dip into over the next few months (besides the Nutella Éclair (pictured above) which I obviously devoured as soon as I got home).
  • Lydia and I met up at Por Vida for an end of summer feast featuring tequila shots, a pitcher of margs, a guac flight and a few different tacos. So many good things on the menu that I need to go back and try.
  • One of my baking pet peeves is when I have a recipe saved for YEARS that I make for a special occasion that turns out to be a bust. I used my very last summer corn to make this Sweet Corn Bundt Cake (with Salty Brown Butter Glaze), which involves steeping corn cobs and kernels in buttermilk, blending it up and adding it to the cake. You couldn’t even taste the damn corn! I was so annoyed, but Kristine said she liked it (I made it for her birthday because she used to love the Momofuku Corn Cookies).
  • I was in the neighbourhood and finally went to Emmer, but alas it was too late in the day, so most of the pastries I wanted (Passionfruit Croissant!) were gone. Will have to go back!
  • I’m in deep on Shawarma TikTok and am always taking note of places near me to try, and I finally went to Shelby’s in Oakville one random night while I was running errands. This is a chain that’s all over the place, but I’ve just never tried it. Let me tell you: it was DELICIOUS. It did take a hundred years for it to be ready, so that’s just a note to self to order ahead for take-out next time.
  • Here’s my regular recipe round-up for the month:
  • Stuff I made from the archives: Turkey & Feta Stuffed Peppers, Cashew Crunch Salad
  • Some of my favourite go-to dishes: So much Tomato Toast, Swedish Meatballs, Make Ahead Breakfast Sandwiches
  • New things that I tried and liked: Roasted Tomato Couscous Salad (okay, this recipe also includes Roasted Chickpeas, and for the first time ever I actually succeeded in making CRISPY roasted chickpeas, so I will blog about this salad soon), Green Goddess Meatballs
  • Recipes from Smitten Kitchen Keepers (listing them here instead of blogging about them all separately): I finally cracked open this cookbook (after ignoring it most of the summer) when Nicole came over for dinner. I made Salt & Pepper Limeades, Zucchini & Pesto Lasagna (with a non-SK Panzanella salad on the side) and Luxe S’mores Squares for a late-summer feast.
  • Homemade Snacks: Peanut Butter Oatmeal Energy Bites

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

  • Ugh, I had the WORST reading slump this month! I only read two books and while one was good, the other was terribly bad. On the positive side, I did get to go to an author event with Ashley Audrain (author of The Whispers) and it was so great. She reminded me of Curtis Sittenfeld, and I could have listened to her speaking about her writing process and inspiration for hours.
  • While I’ve tried to really reduce the amount of stupid reality TV I watch this year, there are two exceptions which had premieres this month. The first was Love is Blind Season 5, which I am NOT really feeling after the first couple batches of episodes. I just hate everyone and find them all annoying. In contrast, the first episode of The Golden Bachelor was a DELIGHT! I cried within the first 5 minutes and am obsessed with Garry and the ladies. It’s just full of sincerity which the usual Bach shows are severely lacking. I can’t wait for the rest of it!

Flashback!