I had previously mentioned my favourite charcoal as natural lump.  My favourite brand right now is Nature’s Own Basques Hardwood Charcoal.  The bags normally contain a nice mixture of large, medium and small lumps of charcoal so I slit the bag open lengthwise and use what I need for the particular job.  This brand produces a nice heat and goes high or low and slow without issue.  I also enjoy the scent and to me it seems to impart a nice smoke flavour.

Oddly this is also the only brand of …

It’s strawberry time in Southern Ontario and my family has been consuming vast quantities.  I happened to see a recipe for Strawberry pie (although it’s actually a galette) and thought it would be a nice use of some strawberries.
I baked it last night and while the crust was good the berries got a little soft and in the end I decided strawberries don’t need to be in anything.  A beautiful bowl of berries all by themselves is such a wonderful summer desert.  Add some whipped cream or vanilla ice cream: you’re not masking the …

My daughter loves Yop, the yoghourt drink.  It’s pretty pricey for the minuscule bottle, so I checked the ingredients and found skim milk, sugar, vanilla, active bacteria and some other stuff.  Since this sounded like skim milk yoghourt with sugar and vanilla I decided to make my own by mixing these ingredients with enough milk to make it look like a thin milkshake.

She didn’t seem to mind the change up but I was still a little price sensitive and thought to make my own yoghourt and then I’m really just …

Bacon is what started me on the homemade path and it keeps me there.  This past winter a local shop had pork bellies for $0.69 per pound so I picked up ten whole bellies and cut them into five pound pieces, wrapping them nicely and filling the bottom half of my freezer.
Every few weeks I pull a piece of belly out and make a good breakfast bacon.  I say breakfast bacon because I like dark brown sugar and maple syrup in the cure, along with salt, pink salt and pepper.

Pink …