Trees, Tunes, Traditions and Treats.

Well kids, head's up: If it's too early for Christmas songs, this is not the post for you. Sorry if you were one of those people who signed the Shopper's Drug Mart petition. I apologize if you have been to the mall and been upset at all the beautiful decorations going up, and if you can't stand the thought of watching even The Grinch yet. No room for Scrooge's here.  I, as usual, am amped for this, the merriest of holidays.

If you're having a get together, include us. Not only can we bring you delicious foodstuffs, I'll wear a Santa hat. Just kidding, unless you're into that sort of thing. I have to tell you, of all the different types of jobs we do, I can't think of anything better than catering a holiday party. Even as I sit here I'm coming up with new menu ideas in the back of my head. Maybe I should get a pen and pad....

As for our own holiday parties (of which I try to have several, and the husband tries to limit to as few as possible), I wanted to try to get bunch of the gals together to make boxes of sweets. So, any of you with a delicious cookie, bar, candy, or treat recipe better give up the goods if you've got 'em. It's a good time to try our hand at some new vegan recipes so we'd love to hear if you've got any! Just send us the links in the comments section, Twitter or Facebook.  I'm a stickler for the classics at Christmas, which usually means I try to replicate the holidays of my youth exactly. The traditions, food, tree, music...everything. As I get older and realize that at some point we will be entertaining young ones, I'm forced this year to take inventory of what we may and may not want Christmas to mean to our future kids. So, I'm going to try a few new things, throwing caution to the wind in the hopes that I can make the holidays EVEN BETTER. There are some things I will always cherish, like getting new pajamas on Christmas Eve, or getting useful things in my stocking. Last year was the first year we did two tree's, and spending a quiet evening alone unpacking the boxes and decorating one tree by myself was for me, a perfect evening. In the coming years, children or no children, two trees will be the norm.

 (I'm selfish and I want my very own, perfect tree. No one else does it right. Are you happy now?)

So, on the board this year:

Make homemade eggnog.  It has always scared me for some reason, and I gotta tell you; watching that lovely pale yellow stuff flow out of the carton, over ice and nutmeg and spiced rum is one of the loveliest visions of the holidays. BUT. I think I can do it better than the carton, even if it takes me a few tries.

Make homemade marshmallows. Because of the gelatin. We deserve marshmallows dammit. Maybe eggnog flavored ones?????

Apple cider from scratch. If none of these work out to my liking, Plan B is to come up with some other food tradition.

Find some new Christmas music.  I have to admit, the songs are one of my favorite things, but I've been listening to the same ones for 30 years, and even I start to find it repetitive now.  White Christmas, The Pogues, anything by Elvis, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Silver Bells will always have a place in the playlist, but it's time to look for some new stuff. Again, suggestions welcome.

Well, I suppose it's back to work for me, working on holiday and winter menus. Remember we don't mind small or large groups, vegetarian or vegan, and even gluten free. We've also got an event planner on staff now, in case you need some help getting your party organized.

Happy Holidays,

Phony Balony

***In case those of you who don't personally understand my holiday obsession, know this:  I keep a VCR around because of my sole VHS tape, a copy of White Christmas. I contemplate a Christmas in June every year, just for the excuse to have it twice. At least one secret and shameful day of the year I listen to carols when it's not even close to Christmas. You've been warned.***

From marriage to the market...

Well, we're back! It was a long summer but worth all the traveling to get married and have all our wonderful friends and family celebrate with us, several times over! I've been trying to upload pictures of all kinds of things, and will do so for you as soon as we get it all organized.

Go to Iceland people.

It's mindblowingly beautiful and has the most beautiful, gratious, helpful people on the planet. There are so many surprising things about this country, Iwould have to start a whole new blog just to tell you about them!

So, with the wedding out of the way, it's back to the grind. I know you don't want to hear it, but facts are facts, and it's almost Autumn. Much as I love my sunny garden, and sharing good times(beer) in the backyard with everyone, I LOVE the fall. There just isn't a prettier season, and people start to get all nice and warm and fuzzy over the upcoming holidays. It's my absolute favorite time of the year. Plus....the food! It's all about comfort food; soups, stews, roasting, braising, potatoes with everything, pumpkin pie, all the good stuff. I'm waiting for that first chilly night to inspire new menu's! Like everyone at the moment, we're getting prepared to can and preserve the abundance the garden contains, and I intend to pickle everything I can while we're at it. Next year I'd like to get in on some shared farm space and hopefully see you at the farmers markets, with tasty treats for those of you who have yet to try some. We'll be working on a pop up in the new year as well.

HEY GUYS, THIS IS IMPORTANT:
 I'd like to let you know that we will soon be updating the website to contain a little more info and make it a lot easier to get a quote. We absloutley love doing small catering jobs, whether its fully serviced or just delivered and I don't think our website reflects that properly. Much as we appreciate each and every quote request, it seems most people think of catering companies only when they have a wedding. We have done parties for as small as 8 guests, and they have always been our favorites. Making someone's life a little easier when they just want to have a small get-together for friends they haven't seen in a while, people who are just too busy to cook, or scared to cook vegetarian (Gah! Tofu!) is a large part of what made us get into this business. It's worth mentioning here as well, that my personal favorite thing about these jobs is designing custom menu's and collaborating on ideas with clients!

We've mentioned before that we are working toward a storefront location, and are still keeping at it. We are researching thoroughly on what neighborhood and area of the city would most suit our concept, and those of you who would want a veggie deli in your 'hood are more than welcome to suggest it!

Now, I'm off to the market to pick out dinner! It's farmers market day at the park! http://www.tbfm.ca/

We're off!

Hi friends, let's get this out of the way:

Phony Balony regrets to inform you that we will be unavailable during the month of July. We will be checking our emails periodically while gadding about the planet, living the newlywed dream, but straight back to work harder than ever upon our return.  Should you have anything pressing, please ensure you communicate that in the subject line of your email.

I know it's been some time, but I assure you the blog has been on my mind. Finding time to update you all has proved more difficult than I anticipated when I last wrote. I promise, it was all for good causes!!

So, we leave on Sunday, at precisely 3:55pm from Toronto, for Iceland! We have been able to make our dream wedding happen, and as such will be married on July 1, 2012. Yes, that's Canada Day, and it's also World Cup Final day. There's a lot going on. But we have 16 lovely friends and family members making the trip with us, to go and see what we hope is one of the strangest, most beautiful places on earth. I have it on good authority (thanks, Internet!) that it will not disappoint.

Following that (not bragging. Seriously. Still can't believe it.), we become the luckiest people we know. Honeymoon in Paris. I don't think there's a more romantic phrase. Unless maybe you say it IN French. Which I will not, as my French accent is so bad, it would even leak into text.

I had been so focused on glaciers and volcanoes and the Blue Lagoon, that I had forgotten about cobblestone, croissants and bistro's. Ceremony programs and packable decorations, notarised documents, wading through the unfathomable Icelandic language, dress fittings....and what to wear in PARIS!  I have never known a more daunting fashion task. Picking my wedding dress was easier than deciding what to stroll the Left Bank in.

And so, because there is never nearly enough time to prepare for overseas travel...I'm keeping this one short kids. My to-do list has grown exponentially during this post.

Pictures and food tales upon our return...

A fairly lengthy ramble to make up for lost time...

Well, hello again friends! I have finally found some time to get back to the blog, and will try not to leave you hanging for so long again next time.  I know, I know! You're all tired of sitting on the edges of your seats. So, there's a pot of coffee on, it's not quite warm enough to get out in the garden yet, and in order to avoid the laundry pile that seems to have taken on a life of it's own, here I am. Good thing I have work to procrastinate with!

First things first, we are lucky enough to be a part of the Live Love Large Benefit Concert, from which all proceeds go to the Toronto People with AIDS Foundation. This coming Friday, April 20th, we encourage everyone to make time for this great event and buy a ticket!

The jobs keep rolling in, and we're happy to know what we planned for so long to do, is working. Be your own boss if you can, it rules. You get to work out of bed sometimes, put it off till later, take breaks when you NEED to and not when someone tells you to, eat and drink wine on the job, have the dog at work, brag about it, be overwhelmingly proud of your own work, blast your own tunes, and work in your pajama's. Oh....you thought I got dressed this early? So silly. 

Aaaaaaahhhh, its gardening season.....which everyone knows, we love. We have, after 2 years of talking about it, finally doubled the size of the vegetable garden! Although I suspect that my wonderful husband-to-be (more on wedding plans later) really just wanted the room to try his hand at potato farming. I'm excited to have the room to grow enough stuff to try my hand at canning. On the list this year: beans, lettuce, spinach, radishes, onions, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, beets, and of course herbs. If we have any room left, I'd love to try cauliflower. But in the meantime, I'm happy enough to see the ferns and hosta's shooting up like crazy right now! 

We very nervously pruned the grapevines (you would be shocked at the amount of conflicting and confusing information regarding this on the internet) and are going to get serious about making wine in the fall. Really this time. Cross your fingers we didn't totally screw this up....

Today is one of those days I'm up early, trying to prioritize the 50 things I'd like to get done, knowing that things never go according to plan. Ever start a list, knowing as you go along the things you're going to sacrifice already?  It's a list makers dream. I'll get to make another one later! (That's already on the first list by the way.) The problem with a beautiful day, is that it's too hard to not take advantage of it. The problem with my desk, is that it is inside. Stupid desk. 

73 days left until the wedding! It's the most exciting/nerve wracking thing on the planet. If you've done it, you know. The plans never end, every time you solidify one thing, something else pops up, an endless stream of both large and small tasks, an exhausting amount of questions that need answers....a pair of bloody shoes never seemed so important. And yet, it's fun to sit on Etsy for hours looking at pretty things, and having someone to discuss kids with that doesn't get creeped out and never call you again. When I get asked "Hey, how do you feel about the name Grover?", rather than spiral into the usual pre-proposal vortex of uncertainty l ("Is he asking me to have kids?" "Is that his beloved grandfathers name?" "Is he looking for an excuse for a fight to get out of this because of his commitment issues????!!!!"), the fun is in the comfort of knowing I can totally answer with "That is utterly ridiculous and you know it...did you switch over the laundry yet?"

Thanks for putting up with me today, but the higher ups are starting to look at me funny. 

(I drank all the coffee, and no one has been walked yet.)

Small victories, stunning vistas....

I feel really supported this week, and it's pretty great. In the last month both sets of my future in-laws have come to visit and expressed their excitement at both the wedding and the business. So many friends have lent their help, advice and support. The blog is getting more readers than ever, and strangers have told us what a great idea we have. We like to think so too.

I havent talked about the wedding in a while, beacuse it was so up in the air for the longest time. We did what every engaged couple does and planned 5very different weddings before we gave up on all of them and realized what we, as a couple, wanted to do. As both of us had never been off the continent before, last year we decided to go to Europe. Like everyone, we fell in love. We went to Holland and Belgium and literally discovered a brand new world. We loved the food, the people, the (!!) architecture(!!), and the timelessness of it. It was this, that inspired us to go away for the wedding. Not to the Caribbean, or Mexico, or Italy or France, but to Iceland.

(If anyone wants to Photoshop a little bride and groom in this picture, and send it back to me I wouldn't mind a bit, you all know for damn sure I can't.)

Look into Iceland, I promise you will fall in love with it. We hope to, on Canada Day this year, when we'll get married on one of the most interesting islands to exist. Let's hope the weather is good to us, but if it isn't, the comfort of some of the best views on the planet fireside will have to do. To think, that we get to go to this strange and wonderful place! There are geysers, volcanoes, whales, wild horses, glaciers, hot-springs...unreal. So I guess what I'm really saying is....

We are unavailable for bookings for the last two weeks of June, and the first two of July! We wont actually be gone that long (if only!), but any of you who have a planned a wedding before are fully aware of the time needed just before and after. Especially a wedding abroad.

In the meantime....and I know I said a bit about this last week...I've been taking most spare minutes to write menus. But since we're all getting to know each other here, you may as well know I can get excited and repetitive. And a little long winded. Get to the point.

You all know that I love food and cooking but I've got to say, sitting at home and trying to write something cohesive is much, much harder than just going to the market and seeing what inspires you to cook. Now, I have to go back through a mental catalogue of things and actually think about whats in season, what went well with what...etc. Don't get me wrong though, the more I do it, the easier it becomes. When something stops being hard, it starts getting really fun. I found myself last night writing a menu out for no good reason. So, in case anyone wants a fully vegetarian, fully Mediterranean menu....I've got that all ready for ya.

I've got one or two more to finish off and then I'll post them here, and on the website shortly.

P.S- In my ongoing, painfully embarrassing struggle to become Master (I was going to coin Mastress, but Urban Dictionary has some interesting things to say about that) of the Interwebs I must announce small victories. I put a picture in my blog. :)  Of Iceland, in case you were wondering about that bit.

P.P.S- In the painfully embarrassing vein, I must also admit that I tried for two pictures. Sigh.

Menu's and Memories...

I've blocked my view of the snow by hiding in the office in the basement. The point is to try to think of sunnier days in the summer, when hard work and patience yields the abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables you've long waited for. I've looked back through some of the pictures of our backyard, tried to remember what it feels and tastes like to pluck a cherry tomato off the vine, and eat it still warm from the sun. Cucumbers, beans, peaches, berries...summer squash, corn, lettuce!!!  Eating outside, watching the sun go down, but leaving its warmth on the patio stones and sidewalks for grateful bare feet. Late nights eating for hours, with good wine and better people. It's no secret that I love the summer.

I'm thinking warm today so I can get together a couple of menus, with the unfortunately lackluster produce available to us at the moment. How can you translate flavors of the ripe, heavy warm fruits of summer, into the pale, mealy poor excuses for tomatoes at the markets? I love winter cooking as much as the next person, but duty calls. I love making menu's and trying new things, and I would normally cruise the markets picking up things that inspire idea's and just get to work, making things up as I go along. But it has to be done, so while the snow blows around ruining everyone's commute and likely most of the city's restaurant traffic tonight, I will be here, taking notes and trying hard to remember what my garden smells like in the morning in July.

Today, in January, in the first snowstorm of the year, I'll have to be satisfied with taste memories and a notebook. But it's a great day for soup isn't it?  

Blame it on the rai....nope. not going there.

If you can believe it, my wonderful invisible friends, things are going far better than expected.  We've been giving lots of quotes, and talking to a lot of people. It's pretty amazing. I'll be able to update you more by next week, maybe with some sample menus and fun things like that, but for today....

Is anyone else wondering what is up with the weather this winter?  I ask, because I'm already concerned about the gardening issue. Although, I'm not sure how much we'll be able to get done this year with the wedding and all. But after last years disaster, when mother nature kicked our butts... we're ready to fight back.  If any of you have any advice regarding starting seeds indoors and when to get them into the ground, Id be grateful.  As usual, the internet has an abundance of conflicting opinions on Ontario gardens. They'll let anybody write on this thing!

Todays blusteriness made me feel like coffee and croissants all day, while hiding out on the couch with the pooch and thinking up witty things to write for you all. Instead, we braved the oppressiveness of the day and ventured into the great, dreary outdoors! While carefully avoiding muddy patches and small lakes at the park, we were assured that no one else is crazy enough to head into the depths of the dog bowl either. Don't feel bad fellow dog owners, stick to the streets for a day or two like we did, its a mess down there. I would, however, not travel blocks and blocks away from your neighborhood under grey skies thinking it probably wont start pouring on you. It's inevitable. There is something romantic about being caught in the rain though, isn't there?

On the inevitable note.....I recently realized something about aging. Don't laugh! I don't know a Justin Beiber song, I don't understand anything on Muchmusic or MTV anymore, I don't know who most of the people on magazine covers are anymore...and what the hell is a Kardashian? I've asked before, but no one can seem to tell me how many of them there are or where they came from.  I work with a number of lovely girls younger than me, and have realized lately that we unconsciously move out of the realm of popular culture, it would seem, when we no longer have the time to dedicate to it. I don't anymore, and that's fine. But it is joltingly uncomfortable when its brought to your attention in company. I had a 22 year old girl look at me sadly, laugh, and explain who Rick Ross was this weekend....I was, for a moment sad myself, until I realized that it didn't matter in the slightest to my life. I haven't minded get older as much as I thought.

Which of course surprises and confuses me, and makes older people laugh. You cant win all the time.

#whatthehellishashtagging #whoslaughingnowfogey