Author/Eater
After a four-year hiatus, 2023 marked the return of my annual Caker Christmas party. It’s been a tradition – for better or worse – for about 25 years. I invite my Italian in-laws and friends to bring a mangiacake dish. Think Cool Whip, cream of mushroom soup and Jell-O. Here are the highlights from this year. Or lowlights, depending on your perspective.
Read MoreOf all the traditional holiday foods, few are hated more than fruitcake. But what did fruitcake ever do to warrant such animosity? I mean, it’s still cake, after all. Personally, I believe fruitcake deserves more respect. Fruitcake is a fighter. When the world ends, cockroaches and fruitcake will be the two things left standing.
Read MoreEvery year since the dawn of time (or so it seems), I host an annual Caker Christmas party. I invite Italians to make – and eat – caker dishes. At the end of the night, I ask them to vote for the night’s best-tasting dish. For them, it’s like asking to choose the least offensive smell at a flatulence convention.
Read MoreWhen it comes to times of stress and hardship, few things provide comfort like the combination of cheese and potatoes.
Read MoreI used to have a food blog called Caker Cooking. In 2014, I shut it down. But tough time calls for good eating. And given the state of the world right now, who couldn’t use some comfort food? So, for a limited time, I’m bringing Caker Cooking back.
Read MoreI can’t think of a better way to send off the decade than with a hot, steaming casserole. So I was happy to host my annual Caker Christmas party the other night. “Caker,” for those unaware, is short form for “mangiacake,” a term Italians give some of the more questionable aspects of Anglo-Saxon cuisine.
Read MoreSome time ago, I was on CBC Radio’s The Next Chapter, predicting that cut-up party cakes were due for a huge comeback. Cut-up cakes, for anyone born past 1980, were popular in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Basically, you take a cake, cut it up into different pieces and assemble those pieces to create something new. Like a turkey. Doesn’t that sound appetizing?
Read MoreLet’s face it – snack crackers don’t always get the recognition they deserve. Think about all the times snack crackers have been there for you. While you’re microwaving your dinner. When you come home after too many wine spritzers. When you need to preoccupy your mouth during awkward office parties.
Read MoreEvery Christmas, I take on an ambitious baking project. I tell myself I enjoy doing it, but, by the end of the project, I always wonder if I have some sadomasochist need. This year, I decided to make a gingerbread house.
Read MoreI recently hosted my annual Caker Christmas potluck party. I ask Italians to make Anglo Saxon dishes like casseroles and things saturated with Cool Whip. As you can imagine, it’s a real rollercoaster of tastes.
Read MoreI’m a big believer in emotional eating. Do you come home at the end of the day and want nothing more than to work your way through a container of Duncan Hines Whipped Vanilla Frosting? Go right ahead. And don’t forget those Pizza Pockets in the freezer. Recently, I got to thinking – why not make some cookies with my letter press that really let you eat your emotions?
Read MoreI grabbed a set of Tupperware cookie cutters when we moved my mom out of the family home a number of years ago. She kept them in an old Ziploc bag. They’re a seasonal set, made for birthdays, Christmas, Halloween, etc. I don’t think she ever used them, though. I don't recall ever getting a cookie for my birthday. Not that anyone remembered.
Read More