It’s well and truly winter in Toronto. Yesterday was particularly cold. The thermometer said -22C but wind chill made it feel like -33C.
I’m not used to these temperatures. In semi-tropical Toronto our average winter low is -7C. Temperatures of -20’s and -30’s belong to other cities in the more artic regions of Canada. Like say, Northern Ontario and Ottawa.
Ottawans will probably protest and say ” … it isn’t always that cold and technically, Ottawa is in southeastern Ontario, same as Toronto.”
To which I say “It’s always that cold when I’m in Ottawa in winter” and “Ottawa is north of Toronto. So, there.”
In any event, it’s been cold. Too cold to go out.
Instead, I’ve been baking
Ok. Ok. That’s nothing unusual. I bake bread whatever the weather. What’s unusual is using stencils to decorate the loaves. My stencils were a thoughtful Christmas gift from hubby. One which I’ll probably use again. Unlike the sausage-maker-which-is-still-in-the-box-from-three-years-ago.
… and making soup
Gamjatang or Korean Pork Bone soup is a hearty winter dish. It’s made by simmering meaty neck bones in a broth flavored with doenjang, gochugaru chilli, ginger, onions, garlic and finished with soybean sprouts, napa cabbage and potatoes.
The name gamjatang is a puzzle. Tang means soup in Korean but gamja could either be potato (gamja in Korean) or the type of neck bone called gamja.
Is Gamjatang (1) Pork Bone soup with Potatoes OR (2) Potato soup with Bones?
.. and cooking Indian
As a follow-up to my Korean Cooking course, I’m enrolled for six weeks of Indian Cooking. Long time readers may remember that I did Indian Cooking 1 a few (pre-pandemic) years ago. I am now doing the next level course, Indian Cooking 2.
So far, I’ve had two lessons. I’ve also revisited and cooked dishes from my first course to compare. It means I’ve been cooking a lot of Indian dinners. In the last two weeks alone, I’ve made Shrimp Goan curry, Salmon Rechade, Green rice pulao, Chicken Tikka Masala, Butter Chicken, Pork Vindaloo and Lachcha Parathas.
It may be cold outside but it’s been warm and spicy inside my kitchen!
This post is in response to the “What’s on your plate” challenge sponsored by Deb at The Widow BadAss and Donna at Retirement Reflections. Do have a look at their posts to see what they and others, have on their plates!
The Sandy Chronicles 
The wind chill addition is a basic survival hack in Helsinki! Glad those dishes are keeping you warm
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What’s the avg winter temperature there?
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In Helsinki’s January, it’s -5C. Didn’t manage to find an average for the whole winter. Finns only count DEC, JAN amd FEB as winter, even though winter weather starts in OCT and MAR is definitely a winter month, too. They just like to say that officially, each season has 3 months, though obviously that’s not the case this close to the arctic circle! 😅 In reality, summer can last 3 weeks some years. (In Lapland, northern Finland, winter is officially 7 months but couldn’t find the avegare temp with a quick google!)
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Sounds like here but our summer is generally longer. Other parts of Canada have more severe weather … which partly explains why most of Canada is not populated.
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Same here!
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Your kitchen must smell absolutely amazing after all that cooking, and those spices would warm anybody up. Love the bread stencil! That would be pretty for dusting a round layer cake too!
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Good idea! I hadn’t thought of that
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Calgary cold moved over to Toronto and is back in Calgary . Thankfully we were in Cancun for the ‘Artic’ cold wave
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Lucky you! You quickly discovered the all Canadian snow bird tradition of flying south for winter 🙂
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😊
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Those dishes all sound like good antidotes to the polar vortex!
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You have it too, right? How are you keeping warm?
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Yes, but it seems to have passed. Now it’s in the 20sF. Kept warm by huddling by our Vermont Stove. So thankful for it!
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Yikes! Those temperatures are more than icy!! It is currently 8C here (but feels like 6). As it is only 6 am, the weather is predicted to reach a high of 19C today (did I mention that I was in LV?).
Your warm, spicy dishes in your kitchen sound absolutely fabulous – as does your stenciled homemade bread. Whatever the weather, I would be delighted to have any of those meals on my plate!
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Ha ha, you had me going there. I knew the island was warmer in January but not that much warmer! Wishing you a good time in LV
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Wow, that IS cold 🥶 But your dishes look wonderfully warming, I can almost smell the spices from here!
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My Chef teacher said the UK has Chicken Tikka Masala as it’s national dish? Was he kidding?
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It is true
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A bit tongue in cheek maybe but yes, people do say that’s become so popular it could be regarded as a national dish, alongside fish and chips, and roast beef I guess
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You’ve been cooking up a storm! Of the various dishes you mention, which is your favorite?
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We gotta eat to stay warm! So far, the Goan Shrimp curry is my favorite followed by the Butter Chicken. I’m have guests for Sunday dinner and I’m making those again
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Those all look delicious
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Thanks Sheree!
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I laughed a bit when you called -7C semi tropical! Lately it has been too hot to go out here. That’s not just me. I had students cancel my writing class last week due to the heat! At least baking makes you warmer. It’s pretty hard to make yourself cooler by cooking.
Do you follow Dorothy’s New Vintage kitchen blog? She is a fellow bread lover.
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I hate to say it but given a choice between -33 and +33, I’ll take the cold. I can always bundle and layer up to beat it. When it’s hot, there’s only so much you can take off and it doesn’t even make a difference!
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I hear you loud and clear and concur, Sandy
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