I'm craving sweets. I'm one day 9 hours into a resolution to reduce the amount of sugar I consume. One day 9 hours into thinking, you know, I should really skip dessert. So, to combat the cravings I bake. I bake a cake as fast as I can, a cheesecake. Well, actually, 6 muffin sized lemony cheesecakes.

How freakin' unoriginal is my title?! My brain is fried from cooking and cleaning over the past few weeks, just trying to keep pace with the holidays, family and friends. Overwhelmed would be an understatement.

My mother's version of rice pudding is the golden standard of this heart-warming dessert in my mind. This wasn't something she whipped together in 30 minutes, this was a few hours in the making. I remember looking through the oven door, wondering how much longer I would have to wait to dig my spoon into it and pull up a heap of rice and raisins all soaking in a custard bath! The combination of smells, vanilla, nutmeg, sugar would make my mouth water.

I've been saying I am not a huge chocolate fan for my entire life, but something funny is happening; I am sorta, kinda starting to like that stuff. I still can't stand chocolate cake or chocolate ice-cream, but I am really drawn to some foods where chocolate is one of the main characters. It's been a slow shift, happening maybe only in the past 3-4 years, but I am seeing it clearly now.

Chocolate cake, blah, chocolate bread, love! Love the Mexican chocolate bread loaf from The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Book by Beth Hensperger. I made the 2 pound version the other night with the specific intention of slicing it up thick and using it to make French toast for breakfast for my son the next day. While it was still warm, I slathered a bit of butter on one of the slices. That's when it hit me. I like chocolate, I am just very particular about it.

Baked Mexican chocolate French toast

4 large eggs
2/3 cup whole milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
4 slices thick sliced chocolate bread
2 tbsps butter, softened
2 tbsps brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 400˙F.

Beat together eggs, milk, vanilla and cinnamon in a flat vessel that can comfortably house each slice of bread (I used a deep casserole dish). Soak each slice of bread for about 1 minute on each side. Place each slice onto a greased baking sheet with plenty of space between each of them.

In a small bowl, mixed together the butter and sugar, then crumble a bit over each slice of bread.

Bake at 400˙F for about 15-20 minutes. Serve topped with fresh whipped cream and sprinkled with a little cinnamon.

I have a continuing obsession with ossobucco and have used many cuts of different meats. Everything from the very traditional use of veal shanks, to the more unconventional use of pork, and even tried Antelope ossobucco at Tenders in Las Vegas. By far, using veal shanks is my preference, but that can be expensive, and considering this is a dish I want to make for Christmas lunch, I thought an experiment with turkey would be a fitting option.

There are quite a few recipes around using turkey for ossobucco, but they all contain onions, carrot, celery and most also have tomatoes. Now, here is something you may not know about me... I am not a big fan of chunks of meat in tomato sauces. I don't like things like chicken cacciatore, or meat balls in tomato sauce, stuff like that. I love tomatoes though, so don't count me out yet.

In any case, I decide to adapt my favorite ossobucco recipe. Again. The New york Times recipe by Mark Bittman. It's simple, and straight forward and easily adapted to suit my every whim. I made more changes with this recipe than I ever have, so I'll take more credit for this one!

Turkey Ossobucco

1 tablespoon olive oil

I'm moving in 2012. Out of NDG. Out of Montreal, out of Quebec.  Thinking about it makes me nostalgic for all the places I will miss, and all the places I never really explored. There is so much going on in Montreal, and I don't want to leave here thinking I didn't make the most of it. So these next 6 months, before I am gone for good, I am going to explore a different part of this city each week. I'll check out activities, restaurants, shopping and anything else that pops up.

Here is a list of some areas that come to mind, but I won't necessarily visit all of these places, but I am definitely going to try.

Ahuntsic
Anjou
Cartierville
Chinatown
Cote des Neiges
Cote Saint Luc
Cote Saint Paul
Dorval
Downtown
Greektown
Griffintown
Hochelaga
Koreatown
La Petite Patrie
Lachine
Lasalle
Little Burgundy
Little Italy
Little Portugal
Mile End
Montreal North
Notre Dame de Grace
Old Montreal
Outremont
Park Extension
Plateau Montreal
Point Saint Charles
Quartier Latin
Rosemont
Saint Anne de Bellevue
Saint Henri
Saint Leonard
Saint Michel
Verdun
Ville Emard
Villeray
Ville Saint Pierre
Westmount

I have been craving sweets for the past few days. Crazy cravings, and I'm constantly thinking about marshmallows, or cookies, fudge, cakepops. It wouldn't stop and frankly, I was having trouble concentrating on anything else.

As I am researching ideas for homemade holiday gifts, I came across a very simple recipe for Dulce de Leche. It's so simple that some people  think that if you make it this way, it isn't really homemade. I beg to differ, the idea of homemade is not indicated by how much effort is put into making it.

In any case, this Dulce de Leche requires only 3 things, a can of condensed milk, a pot of boiling water, and patience. That's all. It perfectly meets both of my needs, that of my sweet tooth and a great item for me to add to the jars of deliciousness I plan to give to my loved ones.

The one thing wrong with this stuff is that I cannot stop eating it. I've spread it on bagels, dripped it over ice-cream, swirled it into plain non-fat Greek yogurt (how ironic) and dipped bananas into it. Worse though, I have been sneaking tablespoons of it here and there since I made it. It's getting out of control!

Dulce de Leche

1 can of sweetened condensed milk

Put the can of milk, unopened, in the bottom of a large pot. Add water to the pot until the can is totally submerged and about 4" over that. Bring the water to a boil, then set to simmer for 2-4 hours depending on how dark and thick you want your dulce de leche to be. However, while it is simmering, check on the can often, and make sure there is water covering the can at all times.

At 2 hours (or 4), remove the pot from the heat and let cool. Wait an hour or so, and make sure the can and its contents are well cooled, when you open the tin, use a cloth or a napkin to cover the opening area, it will spurt out a bit.

DO NOT TRY TO COOL IT WITH COLD WATER OR ICE. That is a bad, Bad, BAD idea! The can could explode and boiling hot dulce de leche will burn severely. Remember, one of the ingredients is patience, if you don't have that, try a different method.

That's it! Crazy easy!

I love mussels. They are fairly inexpensive (you can get 2lbs or for about 4$), very easy to prepare and go well with most flavors. They go really well with fries, but can just as easily be paired with rice, pasta, salad. Such versatility! I think the hardest part is cleaning them and getting those darned beards removed.

Here is a great resource for sorting and cleaning mussels

Mussels are best stored by taking them out of the mesh bag they come in and placing them in a bowl, covered with a damp towel. Do not seal them in a tupperware, or cover them in plastic wrap, mussels are alive, and need to breathe. Drain any liquids that have accumulated and rinse the mussels in a colander once you are ready to cook them.

Personally, I love to play with the recipe ideas for mussels but one thing remains constant; mussels are steamed. They aren't boiled. The ratio of mussel to liquid is quite high, about 2lbs of mussels to less than a cup of liquid. I have steamed mussels in wine, beer, broth, coconut milk,  orange juice and Pernod. Your options are limitless.

Classic French Mussels

A quick tip. When eating mussels, use an empty mussel shell to go in and pull out the mussel meat. Simply pinch and pull, yummy delicious with less dishes too!

For mussel-goodness, check out the Mussel Face-off over at Fou de Food!

Soup. I could survive the entire winter on just homemade soup and bread. With the arrival freezing temperatures, my large stockpot and my bread machine come out from their hiding places and all I can think about are these two comfort foods.

I started my first soup of the season this morning. Chicken soup. The quintessential winter soup, with variations from noodle to vegetable to creamy. My preference is a chicken vegetable soup and later in the week, I might add rice noodles or egg noodles and more chicken stock to "re-up" my soup.

Here's a soup I plan to try some time soon!

Farro and Cranberry Bean Soup

We were in Vegas for my birthday and as we often do, we like to take a few days off the strip and stay at the Red Rock Resort. While researching some dining options during our stay, we discovered that Hachi was offering a sushi making course during our stay. Though I had never dined at Hachi before, I was often tempted, so booking the course, which costs 85$ per person (plus taxes and tip) was a no-brainer.

We arrived a few minutes early and were seated in the lounge area while we waited for the final participant to arrive. At 6:30PM sharp we were brought to a private room at the back of the restaurant where our class would take place. Everything neatly set up for us, each with our own cutting board, makisu (sushi rolling mat), large vats of rice, and plates of sliced up ingredients.

The class was quite comprehensive and we learned about making several different styles of sushi, from maki, to hand rolls and from ingredients like spiced crab meat and crab sticks to avocado and shrimp. Ingredients are limited, but that is to be expected for an intro course. I would have loved to work with salmon, or tuna, but raw food handling is regulated strictly.

We left our class armed with the know how to take us to the next level of enjoying sushi. When you're armed with a better understanding of the process, it really expands your appreciation of what you are eating. Chef Martin was a wonderful teacher and by the end of our class, we all walked away with the confidence and inspiration to work on making a few of our own rolls at home.

You can choose to consume your sushi on site, or you can pack it all up and take it with you. After the 2 hour class, I had made 4 rolls and my BF had finished 6 rolls. I stopped at 4 since the variations were limited to crab, crabstick and shrimp, but others in our class made up to 9 rolls, so there is no shortage of ingredients.

The few comments I do have are that I wish that while we waited someone would have offered us each some water or a cocktail, though they did offer these once we were in the private room. I also wish there had been some vegetables to add to our rolls. From what I understand if you mention that you are a vegetarian ahead of time, they'll make sure you're not left out.