sunday brunch

brunch is by far my most favourite meal. i could eat it on a daily basis, and while i like cooking it at home, there is nothing more wonderful than a brunch date with my fiancé, or with a friend, and the paper, and some good coffee.

andrew & i have our favourites, which i have written on, on a number of occassions. however, when it gets down to it, i really feel like there's no prefect brunch in ottawa. everytime we consider where to go, it comes down to what, for me, is the most important aspect of the brunch on that day.

• meat: sausages at the baker street café, the most amazingly juicy german sausages. not particularly brunch like, but oh. my. word. they're incredible.
• bread & coffee: stoneface dolly's molasses brown bread, and their bridgehead coffee . 'nuff said.
• eggs, french toast, homefries: jak's kitchen. just downright yum.

in ottawa, saturdays are the best days to brunch, sundays are to busy. what's your favourite brunching ritual?

so-called guilt free brownies

i think that these brownies are still guilty...of being delicious. okay, that was bad. i promise never to throw another pun in here again.

anyway, my friend steph passed these on to me, when i called out to the world for ideas to use plain yogurt. i had about five little containers of the stuff left and it was set to go bad. needless to say, this made it all better.

prep time- 15 minutes {more, naturally if kids are involved}
baking time- 30 minutes {just enough to put them in the oven when dinner is ready}

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1 cup cocoa
• 4 egg whites
• 4 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/3cup non-fat vanilla yogurt {i used plain yogurt, but added a teaspoon of vanilla}

1. preheat oven to 350°F.
2. mix all dry ingredients.
3. add yogurt & eggs and mix well, batter will be very thick.
4. grease a 9x12 pan with your favourite oily product {i used butter}
5. spread batter evenly.
6. bake for 30-35 minutes.
7. remove and cool.

i could see taking a cookie cutter to these and making really cute shapes, but for us, square was the only way to go {hate to see any of it go to waste}.

• 
  
  

dialogue.

it was meant to be.

i was asked twice while in the market where to get a good bite to eat.
my coworkers are always amazed at how quickly i pull out food tips and restaruant reviews.
i took notes during a cbc documentary on food production in new york.

this isn't just another food blog. it's a conversation {i hope}.

{image from ottawafoodies, lunch at labottega}