To get started blogging again, I thought I’d do something very low-key and post my responses to this survey on gluten-free vegan eating. Note that xgfx is their shorthand for gluten-free vegan.

1. What’s your favorite gluten-free flour?
Tough one! It changes depending on what I’m making. Lately I’ve been loving coconut flour, but of course you can only use it in things that you want to have that coconut flavour. Of course, my go-to flour for 99% of what I make is sorghum, so maybe I should say that.

2. What have you always wanted to deglutenize, but haven’t yet?
Seitan! Apparently, it IS possible….

3. What’s one of your favorite xgfx meals to make?
Pad Thai

4. Your biggest gluten-free success that makes ya most proud?
Well, there isn’t one specific recipe, but I’ve found that I’m able to convert almost any cake, cookie, quick bread or muffin to a gluten-free, vegan version. Admittedly it sometimes takes a few tries, but I usually do succeed eventually! As I described to someone once, it’s really just about chemistry.

5. Most “epic xgfx fail”?
Oh dear. Not long after I went gluten-free, I bought potato flour instead of potato starch for a bread recipe. Lets just say the bread turned into a rock, and I’m not even sure the squirrels I tried to feed it to were going to eat it.

6. What product do you wish was xgfx that isn’t?
Veggie dogs! I’m totally serious. Here in Canada no one makes a tofu dog, only a tofu-and-seitan dog. I can very easily make a gluten-free, vegan bun! I just need a veggie dog to put in it.

7. If you could pass along one gluten-free tip to a gluten-free newbie, what would it be?
Learn to appreciate the foods that are naturally gluten-free, like rice and quinoa. If you’re always trying to replicate foods that have gluten in them, you’re going to be disappointed sometimes.

8. What’s your favorite xgfx product?
I’ll say two:

In Toronto: bread from Bunner’s Bake Shop.

Available all over the place: Sol Cuisine Veggie Breakfast Patties

9. Is there anything you miss being gluten-free?
Regular bread. Not being able to eat bread means finding a quick vegan meal can be difficult.

10. Any xgfx techniques you’ve learned that have been most helpful?
My main advice to anyone baking gluten-free is to blend flours. Never try to make something with just a single flour – you won’t get the results you’re hoping for.

11. Have you found a favorite gluten-free pizza dough recipe that makes your heart sing?

Yes! Sometimes I play with the flours I use and it STILL comes out tasty every time. Rich likes it so much that he doesn’t like going out for pizza, he prefers that I make one instead.

12. Xanthan gum. Do you or don’t you? Love it or leave it?
I’m meh about it. I’ll use it when I need to, but try to leave it out if I don’t.

13. Favorite gluten free prepackaged bread?
Well other than the great stuff from Bunner’s, I do really like the buckwheat bread from Organic Works and the quinoa bread from Little Stream. Oh, and Organic Works also makes a yummy cinnamon raisin loaf, if you want something a bit more sweet.

14. What’s your favorite way to nosh on quinoa?
Quinoa salad. Easy to make, easy to modify to your own tastes.

15. Name five of your most coveted pantry staples.
Chickpeas, short-grain brown rice, gluten-free tamari, rice pasta, good quality olive oil.

16. If you could only buy three gluten free flours to last you for three months, what would they be?
Sorghum, corn starch, chickpea.

17. Any xgfx ingredients you are intimidated about trying?
Nothing I can think of at the moment! I’m pretty, err, daring in the kitchen.

18. Favorite place to buy foods?
I have a few: Karma Co-op for their bulk gluten-free flours, nut butters, and spices, Fiesta Farms for their ‘international’ groceries section, and Sweet Potato because they are in my ‘hood and a good place to get organic veggies and fruits.

19. Favorite meal when dining out?
I like foods that are naturally gluten-free and vegan, like a lot of Indian or Thai curries. Easy to order and very yummy.

20. Name one xgfx product you’ve tried that you didn’t like.
A LOT of the breads out there are not very good. I’ve been disappointed many times. The only brands I buy are the three mentioned above, plus sometimes if I can find them I get Aidan’s gluten-free breads or bagels.

As someone who adheres to both of those diets, it can be very difficult finding a snack if I’m at a cafe with Rich on a lazy weekend afternoon. Toronto has a lot of choices for vegans, and a lot for gluten-free people. There are even places that advertise themselves as being both gluten-free and vegan. However, I’ve always found that they don’t mean both gluten-free and vegan, they mean either gluten-free or vegan. I’ve been disappointed by this every time. It’s not that I don’t understand how tricky it can be to bake things with both of those diets in mind – believe me, I’ve had my fair share of failed kitchen experiments learning to navigate my way through gluten-free, vegan baked goods! But I also know it can be done. And by the strong success of Bunner’s Bake Shop, I’d say there is demand out there for this sort of thing.

The story behind Bunner’s is a bit of a small business fairy-tale: Girl meets boy. Girl and boy decide to open business together, selling their baked goods in the Distillery District last summer (after doing a lot of research and coming up with a business plan). Their vegan, gluten-free products became so popular that they usually sell out by the end of the day. Girl and boy advertise on the Toronto Vegetarian Association’s directory, and start getting tons of calls from people asking about their products. Girl and boy decide to open a bake shop and find a cute little space in the Junction. Now they’ve got their products in a few cafes all over Toronto and still nearly sell out at their bakery location every day.

As for my trip to visit them? Well, yesterday Rich and I finally make the trek up from Keele station (which we’re at every Sunday anyway) and popped in to see what they had. We were greeted with a huge smile and chit chatted about the beautiful weather and the products behind the counter. We decided to get a cupcake in every flavour they had available, plus one of their Creamies (for Rich) and Supersonic Gypsy cookies (for me).

Verdict? Oh. My. God. The Gypsy cookie was perfect; if I wasn’t afraid of gaining a ton of weight I’d eat one daily. It was packed to the brim with oats (certified gluten-free, of course!), seeds, cranberries and chocolate. Not too sweet and nice and filling. Rich’s Creamie, which is two chocolate chip cookies sandwiched together with chocolate or vanilla icing, was really great too. The bite I had was tender, sweet and very chocolatey – if I had ordered it, I probably would have only eaten half in one sitting, as it packed a real sugar punch.

And the cupcakes?

The four we managed to snag were vanilla, coconut, lemon and red velvet. Now, I’ve made my fair share of gluten-free, vegan cupcakes, and friends have always given my attempts a thumbs up. I know a big part of the secret is finding the perfect blend of flours, to try to mimic regular flour as best as you can,  giving it a light crumb without allowing your product to become a crumbly mess when someone tries to eat it. You have to be a bit of a chemist to pull this off – a bit of extra protein here, a bit of starch for lightness there, something to bind the ingredients together in the absence of gluten, all while making a good tasting final product.

Bunner’s product really blew me away.  They use bean flours but I couldn’t taste any ‘beaniness’ at all. The cupcake came out of its paper liner really easily but didn’t instantly fall apart. And the flavours are fantastic – red velvet lightly chocolatey and sweet with a hint of ‘cream cheese’ (vegan, of course) from the icing. Lemon tasting like real lemon and not lemon candies. Coconut and vanilla also wonderful, even a day old (we’d saved them for today).

Please, do yourself a favour and check this place out. It’s worth the trip into the Junction if you don’t already live near there – there’s a reason they were voted best new bakery for 2010 by BlogTO! You don’t have to be vegan or gluten-free to appreciate tasty baked goods, right?

Bunner’s Bake Shop, 3054 Dundas Street West in the Junction, 647-352-2975.

Daiya is a company that produces two kinds of  vegan ‘cheese’ products that look, smell, melt and taste a lot like cheese. No, really, they do! Even Rich, who has been mostly skeptical of the various ‘cheese’ products I’ve tried over the last year, really likes Daiya ‘cheeses’ and says they taste convincingly like the real thing. Lucky for me and all the other gluten-sensitive folks out there, Daiya’s products are also gluten-free. They’re also free of many other allergens, like soy and nuts.

Up until recently, you could only get Daiya products in some restaurants and at some American health food stores, which purchased the products in large quantities and then repackaged them for resale. That’s how we got our hands on some; Panacea on Bloor just west of Bathurst started purchasing them in late February. They got what they figured would be a six week supply for the store, only to find eager vegans snapped it up so quickly they were out of stock in five days!

The first time we picked it up, we got the Italian Blend, which Daiya has now renamed Mozzarella Style Shreds. We used it to make a pizza, which is of course the most obvious use for it! As you can see from the photos, the pizza turned out great. The product really does melt and really does stretch, much like real cheese. I would also happily use the product in place of mozzarella or other mild cheeses in cooking – it would be delicious in any baked pasta, sprinkled on top of vegetables, or melted into a sandwich.

More recently I picked up some of the Cheddar Style Shreds, which I’ve been using in Mexican food (quesadillas and the like). It is also excellent and very cheddar-like. I bet it would be awesome as a topping for nachos!

Fortunately for all the vegans out there, Daiya has now started packaging their product for sale to consumers, and should eventually be available in select grocery stores all over North America.

In Toronto and want some? As mentioned, Panacea has it in stock now. They’re a great vegan shop and well worth heading to anyway – they have a wide selection of vegan and eco-friendly products. But if you’re on the other side of the Don Valley, you can try looking for it at The Big Carrot – Daiya’s website lists them as one of their retailers.

Outside of Toronto? Just try searching for a retailer near you.

There were lots of vendors showing off non-food items like home decor and appliances, clothing, cars and bikes, and building supplies, but hey, this is a food blog, so I’m going to talk about the food!

Tons of great food vendors were on hand to display their products and answer questions from the huge crowd. While the show was pretty busy on Saturday afternoon when we arrived, the food sections definitely had the biggest crowds!

Lots of local and semi-local organic and natural food vendors were at the show, with a huge variety of products to try – baked goods, chips, chocolate, soy and rice milk, dairy-free ice cream, sauces and more. We tend to shop at stores that have a lot of these products, so we already knew about most of the companies that were in attendance. Some of our favourites include Sweets from the Earth (love the biscotti), Natur-a (their maple soy ice cream is really good), Shasha (ginger snaps!), Neil Brothers (chips and salsa, plus products from a lot of other companies they distribute here in Ontario), Taste of Nature (granola bars) and Yoso (soy yogurt and soy cream cheese).

This year’s show also had a Fresh Farm Fare section, where local farmers and local chefs were paired together to create amazing food. Tickets were just 2 dollars each, or a pack of 5 for 10 dollars. Most dishes were 1 ticket, although some of the meat stuff was 2, but as vegetarians Rich and I didn’t try those.  What we did try, however, was fantastic.

In the photo below we’ve got Sovereign Farms Early Spring Ontario Greenhouse Panko’d Tomato Goat Cheese Salad, Cottage Cheese Gnocchi with Wild Leeks and Preserved Lemon, and a selection of three Ontario cheeses: feta, goat cheese, and a sharp cheddar.  Ok, so we went for a lot of cheese, what can I say? All three were really lovely, and probably would have cost 10 bucks each if we’d ordered them at a local restaurant, so 2 bucks each was a bargain. My favourite was the goat cheese salad.

After stuffing our faces with food, we decided to check out the Grapes and Hops Tasting Pavilion. Tickets here were also 2 dollars each or 5 for 10 dollars. We assumed that for that price, we’d be getting a little tasting pour of wine or beer, so opted to buy 5 tickets, but soon discovered that most places gave very generous pours for 2 bucks, as you can see from the photos below.

First we tried a Riesling from Inniskillin. It was really lovely, dry and crisp. We’ll probably pick up a bottle or two of this over the summer, as it was the perfect wine for a hot summer day.

Next we decided to get two different rosé wines and compare them. On the right is Ladybug rosé from Malivoire. On the left is Canada’s first biodynamic wine, a Cabernet rosé from Southbrook Vineyards. Both were nice, but we preferred the Cabernet rosé from Malivoire, finding it a bit better rounded and less ‘young’ tasting.

I didn’t get a shot of the beer we sampled, but it was Cameron’s Auburn Ale. It wasn’t anything amazing but it was a nice, drinkable beer, a bit on the sweet side, and with a bolder hoppy taste than we were expecting. A good beer for parties, we figure, since it’s something many will like.

After sampling all that food, beer and wine, we were pretty stuffed, so figured it was time to head out. Overall it was a fun show, and a great place for foodies to get samples and learn about new organic products coming out. We’ll be back next year!

St. Lawrence Market is really a piece of Toronto history, spanning all the way back to 1803, when it was just a few farmers getting together to sell their goods from a little barn on King Street. That expanded over time to become what we know as St. Lawrence Market today. Not only are there farmers selling their goods, but there are a huge variety of stores here. No seriously, I mean huge! They’ve got take away food shops from nearly every culture, bakeries, cafes, butchers, fish mongers, cheese shops, and delis. They’ve also got a variety of shops selling non-food items, some of which are more touristy than others.

I think most Torontonians have been to St. Lawrence Market at least once, as it tends to be one of those destination spots. However, I think many don’t bother with the Saturday farmer’s market in the North building (and often spilling out onto the sidewalks during the summer months), instead opting for shopping in the main market building (South). While I certainly love shopping in the main building, I have to say that you’re missing out if you never try to visit the Saturday markets!

Looking at my photos from late last summer has me longing for those days again, especially with the dreary weather we’re faced with today. Sure, April showers bring May flowers and all that, but who wouldn’t prefer a lovely day at the market, full of fresh vegetables, fruits, breads, honey and other deliciousness? The Saturday farmers market does run year-round, but it’s really the late spring, summer, and early fall that have lots of selection and seasonable produce. So if you didn’t go last year, you really should go this year.

Speaking of local produce, Rich and I are moving to the Annex next month, and will be within minutes of the My Market Bloor/Borden location. We never got to check it out last year and are really looking forward to it.

I also covered the market for Foodtv.ca back in September, if you’d like to read that article from their archives.

St. Lawrence Market, 92 Front Street East, Toronto. Saturday Market takes place in the North building from 5am until 5pm.

I recently reviewed Organics on Bloor for Foodtv.ca, the timing for which was rather fitting – it’s a very short walk from our new apartment, and will probably become one of our weekly stops for groceries, especially fresh vegetables.

The review on Foodtv.ca really says it all, but I wanted to share a few more photos of the place. It’s pretty cute inside, the staff are really friendly, and they’ve got a pretty good selection of eco-friendly cleaning products, rivaling that of Fiesta Farms.

For my birthday, I asked Rich to pick up some cupcakes from a bakery not far from our place, The Cupcakery. They opened last spring, and I’ve been eyeing them ever since.

Rich picked me up six different cupcakes in four different flavours: Cookies & Cream (vanilla cupcake with oreo bits), princepessa (white cupcake with pink vanilla icing), Back to Basics (chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting) and La Dolce Vita (chocolate cupcake with chocolate icing). We had two of the Back to Basics and two of the La Dolce Vita, but each was decorated differently.

We both really enjoyed the cupcakes and found them moist and delicious with tasty icing. My favourite was the Cookies & Cream, probably because it reminded me of cakes from childhood birthday parties. They were also pretty reasonably priced at $2.50 each or $13.00 for six.

My one real complaint is that their website lists many more flavours than are usually available in store. Sure, if you call ahead and ask, they can make you whatever flavours you want in a custom order, including stuff that isn’t listed on the website. But you’d think that they’d have more than four or five flavours available for walk-in orders. Especially since the flavours they did have for walk-ins were pretty generic.

Final verdict? Delicious cupcakes, but not the best place to just drop in and pick some up. Rich tells me he got the impression from the look of the store that they focus more on their custom orders than walk-ins. If we ever do a custom order, we’ll post about it!

Oh and, by the way, if that cupcake camp sounds interesting to you, you’ve still got a few days to register should you want to enter your cupcakes for sampling. If you just want to eat cupcakes, you don’t need to pre-register – just show up!

The Cupcakery – 1034 St. Clair Ave W, Toronto. 647.430.7409.

Saturday morning we headed to St. Lawrence Market to check out the farmer’s market and do a little general shopping.  While there we decided to have breakfast, since neither of us had eaten yet.  I suggested we try both Everyday Gourmet (for coffee) and Crepe it Up (for a crepe or two).

Everyday Gourmet had caught my eye the number of times I’d been to St. Lawrence Market. Inside you’ll find coffee beans from all over the world, many of which are organic and/or fair trade. They also roast many of their beans in-house, and the giant roaster off to the right side of the store always seems to be in use. We opted to get some of their Haitian Blue beans as well as some of their Guatemalan Decaf, both of which are fair trade. We also decided to each get a double espresso to go; a little something to sip while we waited for crepes.  The espresso was quite nice, with a good crema and not too much bitterness.  Not the best espresso I’ve ever had, but still lovely, and I’d be happy to go back and order another sometime.

Crepes were one of Rich and my favourite foods when we were in Paris.  They made the perfect lunch or late day snack, as they were filling, portable, and delicious.  Crepe It Up had made BlogTO’s list of the best crepe places in the city, so I thought they might be at least somewhat comparable to our beloved French food.

The menu at Crepe it Up is pretty long, offering a large variety of both savoury and sweet crepes. Along with the more traditional flavours like nutella, ham and cheese, and mushroom and cheese, they’ve also got all kinds of combinations with ingredients that sound like an omelette or stirfry rather than a crepe. We both opted to get the breakfast crepe, which contained an egg, cheese, peppers, onions, mushrooms, tomato and spices.  This is served with a little side salad for just over $5.

After we received our food we retreated to a small park near the market to eat and watch the crowds go by. As you can see from the photo, the crepes here are not done in true ‘take away’ style like in France, but instead are served in your typical styrofoam container with the side salad. This means, of course, that you need both hands and a knife and fork to eat it. That’s ok, really, since the salad isn’t really portable food anyhow.

How did it taste? Pretty good! The combination of fillings worked well together, the egg was nicely cooked, and the crepe itself was the right consistency and not at all rubbery.  Next time I go back, I think I’ll try a nutella crepe.

Everyday Gourmet & Crepe It Up!: St. Lawrence South Market, lower level.  92 Front Street East, Toronto.

Never heard of them?  Fiesta Farms is an independently owned and run grocery store.  They started in 1989, when the owner saw a need in the community for a good local shop for Italian and Portuguese groceries.  Since then, they’ve expanded to include a wide range of organic products, and have teamed with Local Food Plus, which brings together local businesses and local farmers so that the consumer can truly buy locally.

What I love about them, aside from getting to support local businesses, is that they have such a wide range of international food items.  I usually go in there trying to decide what to make for dinner, and come out with a bag full of stuff and some delicious ideas.  Seriously, that’s my idea of foodie heaven.

They also have an interesting selection of organic juices and energy drinks.  I noticed a chai flavoured soy protein beverage while in the store last week; a quick google search turns up this, which I believe is the same one.  Anyone ever tried it? I’m thinking I might like it as a snack in between clients some time.

I just wrote a guest blogger post for foodtv.ca about Fiesta as well, if you’d like to read it.

This year Rich and I made our own Thanksgiving dinner at home, complete with turkey, gravy, stuffing, veggies, bread, and a delicious dessert. Instead of planning a specific menu, we instead decided to pick up a small amount of pre-cooked turkey with gravy and a box of stuffing mix, and then go to the local farmer’s market to select local vegetables.

For $6, I managed to get a head of purple cauliflower, two large bunches of green onions, carrots, and four small bell peppers. We also had a pile of baby red potatoes that Rich had picked up from another market vendor earlier in the week. Anyhow, I made sure to buy only from vendors who clearly indicated where their produce was from, and chose only things that were either locally grown, or at least grown in Ontario. Just look how pretty everything looked:

I also picked up some Art-Is-In bread (locally owned and baked!) and two delicious maple and pecan tarts from Aux Délices Bakery. With both bread and dessert handled for us, we only had to roast the veggies (we decided to just use the cauliflower and carrots, and save the rest for other meals during the week), mash some potatoes, mix together and heat up the stuffing, and re-heat the turkey. Very easy and far less time consuming than your typical Thanksgiving feast, yet just as delicious and filling!

Roasting the veggies was very simple. Just chop them into approximately 1 inch pieces, and place each veggie onto a rimmed cookie sheet (or shallow large baking pan) lined with parchment paper or tin foil. Liberally coat with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste, mixing to make sure everything is evenly distributed. Stick into an oven heated to 475° F. About half way through the cooking time, stir them to make sure they roast evenly. The carrots take about 15 minutes, the cauliflower took about 20 or 25 minutes.

The entire table of treats, set and ready to eat:

Delicious roasted carrots and mashed potatoes:

Roasted purple cauliflower:

And those pretty maple tarts:

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!