Fave (Canadian) Food Blogs

 (photo from Seasons & Suppers)

Beautiful photos, delicious food that you want to dive into and writing that makes you laugh out loud.. food blogs really do have it all these days.  These are some of my current faves… and they all just happen to come from Canada.  Enjoy!

Seasons & Suppers is a beautiful food blog out of Muskoka, Ontario.  She cooks what I think of as classy comfort food.  It’s all stuff I could see myself cooking regularly like Chicken with Mustard, Warm Lemon Pudding Cake, or Meyer Lemon Risotto with Arugula and Shitakes (pictured above).  It’s achievable beautiful everyday food (versus anything that’s too complicated, or my usual one-pot kiddie food concotions).  It’s food I want to snuggle up on the couch with and give a big hug.  Or put on my table during a fabulous dinner party and go… oh that – yeah that was easy.. just a little something I whipped up (while I sip champagne in a fabulous dress not covered in baby spit up).  Oh, to dream.

Coco Cake Land, out of Vancouver, BC, is full of visually stunning, cute and witty cakes with themes like mutant bunny (for Halloween), this pineapple cake (who knew a pineapple cake could be so fun?) or this Octonauts cake which my son would loooove (do you ship to Montreal?)  She has tutorials so if you’re up for it (one day Lyndsay, one day) you can conquer your own cake.  I’d actually been pinning her stuff for a while via Handmade Charlotte and was pleasantly surprised to find the original source by chance.  The cakes are visually stunning and a lot different from what you’ll find elsewhere on the web.  You can tell she comes from a strong design background and I love her vintage meets modern vibe.  Totally up my alley.  High fives Lyndsay!

Eye Candy Popper – Gabrielle, originally from Montreal, now resides in South-Western Ontario and brings us bright, beautiful, healthy food.  Although we rarely eat out, I have to admit I cook with my fare share of pancetta and parmesan which isn’t exactly screaming healthy.  What I love about Gabrielle’s blog is that the food is not only healthy but it’s also exciting and doesn’t take oodles of prep which can be so typical of vegan, raw or healthy food.  Take this Raw Lemon Pie (pictured above) which only takes 20 minutes.  I’m also into this cauliflower soup or these easy chocolate chip muffins.  Much of her stuff is raw, vegan or gluten free.  I don’t necessarily adhere to any of those principles but it’s nice to throw it into the mix, or if you know someone who has gone gluten free (hi Mom!)  Not feeling the English?   Many of her posts are aussi disposable en français!

Grim Grains – Like your food a little darker?  Grim Grains is a Montreal based blog that explores the more oddly coloured side of food.  Mango Sesame Rice Pancakes (see above), Heart Been Bagels, or Minty Puffed Rice Cake  are just a few of the naturally coloured, plant-based and nut-free recipes.  You can even choose a colour you want to eat and then select your favourite ingredient which has been beautifully illustrated. Unique, striking food, unusual combinations and a beautiful blog design are reasons why I chose this blog.

i am a food blog – Everything about Stephanie Le’s Vancouver-based blog is just mind-blowing.  The opening page yells at you with large high contrast shots that are beautifully styled .  The food is high colour but it rests against a cool palette of white and neutrals which makes it really pop.  And then there’s the recipes.  Considering the almost high-fashion style of the blog, the food is homey and achievable.  Crispy Cornmeal Pancakes with Honey-Clementine Syrup (above), Cheddar Cheese Broccoli Tots, and Paella are just a few examples of her gorgeous food.  Seems I’m not the only who has a serious crush on Ms. Le – she’s also won Saveur’s prestigious 2014 Blog of the Year (yowza!) as well as the 2014 Saveur Editor’s Choice Best Cooking Blog.  Did I mention she also has a cookbook?  I see a lot of food blogs, and Stephanie deserves everything she gets.  Her food photography is original, fresh and new, her writing is honest and real, and her recipes make you want to cook more.  If you aren’t already following her… do it now.

New Era – With interesting unique recipes and photos that really pop, Vancouverite Akina Era’s food blog really explodes with colour.  For practical reasons I tend to get caught up in a lot of easy meals! quick toddler friendly dishes! and although I wouldn’t say Akina’s food is overly difficult, it’s certainly a departure from what I’m usually eating.  Delicious food like the Black Sesame Pudding (pictured above), Edamame Dip & Baked Lotus Root, and Kimchi Fried Rice are just the type of recipes I need to keep me motivated and curious in the kitchen.  Throw in the occasional craft or travel post, all beautifully photographed, and you have one great blog.

She Eats – Let’s face it – a lot of food writing is… dull.  She Eats is definitely not that.  Vancouverite (Kitsilano if you’re wondering) Kristy Gardner slams it out of the park with her witty and hilarious writing which is just as much a compelling reason to re-visit her blog as her gorgeous photos and ethical food choices.  I love her writing so much, she could write a photo-less book of her blog posts and I would read it in one binge-reading late-night session.  And laugh the entire night long.  But guess what, she’s got kick-ass recipes too like the above Black Bean Burgers (which she somehow ties into government secrets), Pumpkin Bruschetta, Arugula Pesto Crostini and Vanilla Infused Bourbon Cherries (she’s a bourbon lover).  Read her blog, feel like she’s the funny friend next store, make her recipes and feel good about the food on your plate.

Kitchen Heals Soul – I know Janice Lawandi personally, and this Montrealer knows how to bake.  She is a perfectionist and she knows her stuff which means I KNOW if I follow her recipes, which also include weight measurements, they will work.  This is pretty major in the world of the internet where anyone can just throw up a recipe without testing it.  To top it off, her photography is stunning, crisp and clean.  Recipes like the Little Maple Brioches (photo above), chocolate caramel birthday cake (which I’ve made and was excellent) or the Momofuku Milk Bar Birthday Cake which inspired me to buy the cookbook are both gorgeous and inspiring.  She’s the reason my cake tin collection has exploded.  Follow her blog, read her tales, and dig into her photography.

Photo Credit to Jen Grantham – This photo originally appeared on CrustCrumbs

Crustcrumbs – This blog is unlike any of the others on this page… by far.  Each post is a pretty elaborate photo shoot… and each photoshoot is very different from one another.  This octopus recipe looks quite tasty, whereas the cottage cheese pie (shown above and entirely made in this retro blender) looks quite disgusting.  Torontonians John Kruusi and Jen Grantham, who are the duo behind the blog, have creativity in oodles, and their writing is just as witty as their lime slime recipe, which gets poured on a variety of nice sounding desserts.  One of my favourite things is that you have no idea what direction the blog will take next.  Will it be a bizarre pepperoni salad styled by two 70s cliché women, or how about this White Rye Daquiri?  I don’t know, but I’m damn sure going to find out.

Korena in the Kitchen – A long time ago, I used to love challenging myself in the kitchen.  (Savvy readers may guess that this was before I had kids…!)  I still do like to try different recipes, otherwise I get bored, but these tend to be family-friendly meals. Still, sometimes I walk into the kitchen and just feel like, ugh. Some days, I have fallen out of love with the cooking all together. When I stumbled upon this blog by Korena Vine, who lives in Shawnigan Lake, BC, I just thought – yes!  These are the types of recipes I used to make that would get me excited and challenged and what made me fall in love with cooking and baking in the first place.  Recipes like the Asian Coconut Custard Buns (pictured above) are shown with step by step photos that make this seemingly impossible bake possible.  Other interesting challenges include Sourdough Danish Pastries (which I imagine would taste so much better than the stale stuff that is seemingly always present at business breakfast meetings), this Esterhazy Torte or these Blackberry Cinnamon Buns.  I may not be making them anytime soon (or at least until I get more than 20 minutes of uninterrupted kitchen time, and a full night sleep) but they are pinned for that time in the future… which will come.. some day.

ps. This was BY FAR the absolute longest post I’ve ever taken to write.  I really wanted to do each of these fabulous blogs justice.

Are there any Canadian food blogs that I need to know about?