We’re a few days into 2010 already but I thought I’d post about some of the highlights of 2009 in my online world.

It was a pretty busy year.

Cokebaby and I travelled to the South of France for our 10 year wedding anniversary (today marks year 11)! We took a trip with his family in the summer to London and Ireland and got in touch with their roots. And we were treated to an overnight stay in the Peggy’s Cove Area in the fall.

Tofu dog turned two years old.

I was interviewed on Haligonia, did a reading for Seen Reading, wrote guest posts for Geek Girl Camp and Lindsay Olson, recommended a book on Advent Books. And I got to defend werewolves at (un)deathmatch where I’m continuing in Round 3.

Whew! A busy year indeed.

Top posts of 2009

The best kept secret of Halifax sushi restaurants
Bust A Move: Halifax Chicks edition
Tassimo
Pickled think: Beets
The origin of Alias Grace OR Me > Frankenstein’s creature
Cokebaby, the husband
Durty Nelly’s
Hamachi House
No boys allowed
SnauBar Lebanese Cuisine

Top East Coast Guest Posts of 2009
Hello Halifax: You can never go home by Gail Lethbridge
Chef Adam Todd by himself
Green Christmas by Charlene Boyce
Growing up Greek in Nova Scotia by Bessy Nikolaou
Racquel does fashion by Áine (a.k.a. “Racquel Valencia“)
Smart Bites: A little gal’s guide to staying that way over the holidays by Kristen Pickett
Joel Kelly’s guide to dressing sensibly in an office environment by Joel Kelly
Building an eco house? Start saving now by Jeff White
The culinary perspective of an olive thief by Suzie Ridler
Welcome to my ‘hood by Suzanne Hickey

Remember, I’m shaking things up on the blog this year and looking for more of your stories. Interested? E-mail me at kimberly.aliasgrace [at] gmail [dot] com and let’s talk.

[The holiday season is upon us. It's a season of celebration which, among other things, means a month filled with food and drink temptations. I've asked a number of food and fitness experts to chime in with some tips for a "Healthy Holiday" East Coast By Choice series in order to help minimize the need for a New Year's resolution that involves swearing off of chocolate for a year. This first guest is no stranger to the site. So without further ado, here's some helpful advice from the blogger behind With Bite.]

By Kristen Pickett

One of the most common questions that I’m asked as a freelance food writer is “How do you stay so tiny?”  Well, I’m about to tell you the answer to the $60 million-dollar question:  Work. Well, work and a little thing called willpower.

Be aware of liquid calories!

That’s right; it’s not easy to be surrounded by food in my professional job as an event planner as well as in my casual one as a food writer and not be over overweight.  When I first started down my food lovin’ path, I realized early on that choices would have to be made and willpower used in order to continue on this path.  It’s difficult, but not impossible.

Please remember this when you’re faced with the dreaded “holiday party pounds”, every dieter’s nightmare.  You can do it!  You can survive the holidays and go back to the office not being the one complaining about how much weight you’ve gained.

Here are my top 8 suggestions on how to avoid the holiday bulge.  OK, I know 8 is random number, but I have so many suggestions that I’d feel pretty Scrooge-like keeping them all to myself.  You may start this at Christmastime, but these are simple steps that you can adopt in your daily life, in order to put your skinniest foot forward.

Tip 1:  Eat before you go out. That’s right, fill ‘er up! Fill up on the good stuff, I mean. Eat some fresh fruit, a warm pureed vegetable soup or a big salad with lean protein before you leave for a holiday party.  If you’re not hungry when you arrive, you’re less likely to cave for calorie-laden snacks.

Tip 2: Think before you eat, evaluate your hunger.  Yes, that might seem like a drag when plump and juicy sausage rolls are being passed around or the Quality Street is calling out from it’s tin.  But think about it: are you really all that hungry, or just bored?  If the answer is the latter, try to get outside for a brisk walk or play some board games with your family in front of a roaring fire. Distract yourself and you’ll probably realize that you weren’t that hungry after all.

Tip 3: Avoid the buffet.  Unless you have some serious self-control, assess the buffet, fill your plate and keep moving!  Don’t linger, don’t collect $200, just pass “go!”  If you hang out by the buffet table, you’re more likely to keep going back for more. If you fill a plate and sit down to consciously eat your meal, you’re less likely to go for seconds.

Tip 4: Go for quality over quantity! Is it really quality food that you’re eating? Consider this; compare waxy old chocolates to luscious, decadent Lindt ones.  For every one Lindt chocolate that you’ll eat, you’d probably have to consume about 5 of the crappy ones to create the same feeling of satisfaction.  So go for quality the first time!  Which brings me to the next tip…

Tip 5: Beware of Christmas-themed foods. Remember that even though they’re red and green, Christmas M&Ms don’t taste any different from the all seasons variety. People tend to eat more of novelty food simply because it’s Christmas-themed.  So pass on the chocolate kisses wrapped in red and green foil, and go for something you can’t get all year round such as egg nog or candy cane ice cream.

Tip 6: Watch your back. If you’re going to a holiday party, the host/hostess has enough to think about without having to worry about your diet.  If you want something low-fat, low-cal, low-carb, whatever – bring it yourself!  It goes without saying that an overwhelmed host will appreciate the offer and be thrilled to have one less thing to take care of.

Tip 7: Be aware of liquid calories. As with any kind of mixed drink, wine or beer, you’re consuming liquid calories in addition to the ones you eat.  Try this: Drink water!  No, I don’t mean be lame and drink tap water. Bring a bottle of sparkling water – Perrier or San Pellegrino, and a couple of sliced lemons or limes and have a nice fizzy drink between every glass of alcohol. The fizz will help to fill you up, leaving you less hungry to consume snacks.

Tip 8: Exercise! This is just commonsense.  If you’re gong to consume more calories during the holiday season, make sure that you burn more!  Bundle up and take a walk to look at Christmas lights or visit your local ice rink and play a game of hockey with your neighbours.  This might also be a time to try and switch up your activity level.  If you’re used to the beginner yoga class, try the intermediate, or add another ½ hour of cardio at the gym.

Hopefully my 8 steps will give you some food for thought over the holidays.  These are no-fail tips to stay trim and look terrific.  That being said…you can always start in January!  Enjoy the holiday season!

Kristen Pickett is an event coordinator in Halifax with a passion for all things culinary. As a freelance food and beverage writer, Kristen’s blog, With Bite serves to profile Halifax’s culinary community. She is a regular food and beverage contributor to Haligonia.ca, as well as various publications in Atlantic Canada.

It’s been a whirlwind past few weeks at work and home. And the weekends have been no exception. Recently, I was invited to join some local bloggers and social media types on a day tour and overnight stay in the Peggy’s Cove Area. It was an excellent idea offered up by Colour in association with the tourism association for the region.

This time in the Peggy's Cove Preservation Area.

Some of my cohorts have already posted about their experiences (*keeners*). My short piece on the Why Not Now tour appears today in Halifax Magazine. For the food at the Dauphinee Inn and Rhubarb Grill & Café, check out the post by Kristen Pickett on her blog With Bite. And a great new site that I discovered thanks to this tour is Things to Do For Two who also posted from the perspective of, well, things to do for two in the area. Finally, there’s a collection of photos in the Peggy’s Cove Area group on Flickr.

If you’re interested in learning more, check out the Peggy’s Cove Area website, follow them on Twitter or join the Facebook fan page.

Thanks goes out to the event organizers and our hosts along the way at the Dauphinee Inn, Rhubarb Grill & Café, and Rum Hollow Seaside Bed and Breakfast, as well as our tour guide Anne from The Bay Hammock Company.

[UPDATE: To get a behind the scenes look at the marketing behind the campaign, check out Joel Kelly's blog post at Ingenioustries.]

[Next up on the East Coast By Taste series is fellow Haligonia blogger, With Bite, whose gastronomical adventures always make for a fun and mouth-watering read.]

By Kristen Pickett

There’s just something about comfort food. Well, it comforts you. Everyone has his or her own criteria required for a dish to provide that feeling of calm contentment. Therein lies the appeal of the aptly named ‘comfort food’; it’s personal, internal and has the ability to comfort everyone in his or her own way.

I’m constantly intrigued by the way that food has the ability to sate an individual’s palate as well as calm their nerves. But what is it about these dishes that work their magic on our stressed-out frazzled state, our deep sadness, or even our elated happiness? What is the miracle flavor, texture or memory within a certain food that helps to establish a sense of equilibrium in our psyche?

For some, comfort food may be something so simple and easy as a bowl of cold cereal. Others might crumble for mom’s warm homemade bread, hot from the oven and slathered with butter. Countless people find comfort in a bowl of cookie dough ice cream, their bodies unwinding slowly from a stressful day as the rich cream melts on their tongue. On the opposite end of the taste spectrum, there are those for whom a good dose of crunchy, salty chips or a plate of hot, greasy bacon delivers the desired effect.

The fact of the matter is that it’s all about chemistry. We’ll never really know what draws some people to salt, while others favor sweet. Nor will we be able to determine what attracts those to creamy as opposed to crisp and clean flavors. Nevertheless, I like to think that it goes deeper than that; that food, being such an inextricable factor in our lives gives nourishment not only to the body, but to the mind and soul as well.

And here I come to my comfort food- the dish that started my absolute love affair with food. You may think I’m about to divulge a secret recipe for the world’s best chocolate chip cookie, a foolproof way to BBQ an amazing steak or the secret to the perfect risotto. These are all great foods of course, but for me, the foods that bring about a comforting quality are those with a story, dishes that create certain memories, that symbolize something important. And it all started with a bowl of curried cauliflower soup.

That’s right- just a nice, hot bowl of soup and my spirit is uplifted, my nerves are quieted and all is right with the world. For me, comfort is also about heat, about all-encompassing warmth. This soup has the ability to give me that feeling, to wrap me up in a thick blanket of creamy richness, saturating my mouth and filling every crack with its velvet texture.

But beyond the taste and texture of this soup, it’s the method itself that sooths me, the process behind it, the steps that must be carried out, one by one. This is a part of my day when I take the time to make something that matters. I’m not defrosting anything, or tossing prepared ingredients together, but creating a dish from scratch, paying particular attention to each end every step; doting on the ingredients to coax them into a balance with one another.

It’s also my ultimate comfort food because it put me on the road to where I am now. As you’ll see, the recipe is simple, but it’s the first recipe that I ever wrote. I wasn’t following a cookbook or some chef on TV; I was creating this all on my own. This recipe and the thought behind it, got me to thinking about other recipes that I’d like to conjure up, which subsequently got me thinking about the lucky people who write about food for a living. Someday, I hope to be one of them.

So you see, curried cauliflower soup isn’t just a hot bowl of soup. It isn’t just chopping and roasting and pureeing. Curried cauliflower soup was the first of many steps on the road to my future in food writing. It might sound a bit naive, but I find a good deal of comfort in that.

Photo credit: Kristen Pickett

Curried Cauliflower Soup

1 head of cauliflower, cut into small florets

1/2 large onion, or 1 small, chopped

3 cloves of garlic

1 1/2 cups of chicken stock (low sodium is best)

1 1/2 cups water

2 tbsp. olive oil

2 tbsp. curry powder

S&P to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Toss cauliflower, onions and garlic in oil, S&P. Roast for approx 15-20 minutes, or until they get a crispy golden.

In a large pot, combine the roasted vegetables, chicken stock, water and curry powder and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for around 15 minutes, or until the cauliflower is soft.

Transfer to blender or food processor in batches and puree until smooth. Feel free to add some more water or stock if the soup is too thick. Adjust the seasonings to taste.

Garnish with chopped apple, my favorite is Cortland, and plenty of fresh cracked black pepper.

Yields 4 servings

Kristen Pickett is an event coordinator in Halifax with a passion for all things culinary. As a freelance food and beverage writer, Kristen’s blog, With Bite serves to profile Halifax’s culinary community. She is a regular food and beverage contributor to Haligonia.ca, as well as various publications in Atlantic Canada.