Cooking with Alison

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Cooking with Alison’s Two Year Anniversary!

In Random on January 15, 2012 at am

Cooking with Alison was created two years ago, today!  A lot has happened in the past two years, including adopting my dog, Blue, and moving back to Toronto, ON (this very weekend actually).  To the surprise of everyone (myself included), I’ve maintained the momentum of recipe testing and writing.  I’d like to thank everyone for making my efforts worthwhile.  (See the one year anniversary stats and shout outs here.)  Hopefully I can keep up with the cooking and baking for a third year of Cooking with Alison!

The Statistics:

Total number of views:  300, 366

Number of views on the busiest day (January 14, 2012):  991

Total number of posts:  327

The most popular posts to date are:

Four Different Sauces for Mushroom Ravioli

Asian Bread Making Technique (Soft Chinese / Japanese Bread)

Braised Beef Brisket, Tendons and Daikon Radish (Chinese Restaurant Style)

Number of email* subscribers:  96 (plus 27 wordpress.com followers)

*Unfortunately, I don’t currently have a way of knowing how many RSS subscribers there are.


Most Importantly, The Thank Yous:

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Cooking with Alison has a New Domain!

In Random on October 15, 2011 at pm

I am pleased to announce that the new domain for Cooking with Alison is:

http://cookingwithalison.com

This food blog was started on January 15, 2010.  (It was called Cooking with Ali, then.  A few months later, the name was changed to Cooking with Alison, but the domain remained http://cookingwithali.wordpress.com.)  I had been an admirer of other peoples’ food blogs for years and decided to start my own so that I would have my recipes documented and stored in a safe and easily searchable place.  I didn’t think that anyone would ever follow it.  In the beginning, I called or emailed Ed every time my food blog had a hit, to share my excitement and disbelief and to make sure that it wasn’t him.  :)   I have now had this food blog for 1 year and 9 months, and I have surprised even myself with how dedicated I’ve been to maintaining it.  I have already shared 313 posts and I plan to continue with this momentum.  So I thought that it was time that Cooking with Alison had its own domain.  Thank you to everyone for visiting Cooking with Alison.  Hopefully the shorter domain will make my food blog easier to remember and share with others.

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DIY Paw Print Impressions for Decorations or Keepsakes

In Random on August 14, 2011 at am

I wanted to make paw print impression keepsakes of my “new” old dog.  But the only kits that I could find were surprisingly pricey (or had poor reviews) and came with display frames that I didn’t want.  So I decided to save some money and make my own.  These are fun and easy to make and they’re great as a kids’ craft project.  You could make childrens’ hand prints too.  How-to instructions are provided below.

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Healthy Dog Treat Recipes (300th Post!)

In Random on August 11, 2011 at am

This is Cooking with Alison’s 300th post!  I am dedicating it to my dog, the old man Blue.  You’re the love of my life.  May you be with us for the 400th, 500th, 600th… posts too. 


Wheat and corn are common fillers used in most commercial dog food and treats.  Not only do dogs have difficulty digesting gluten and corn, these ingredients have been linked to various allergies and health problems.  Luckily, it is incredibly easy and cost-effective to make your own healthy, human-grade treats.  All of the following treat recipes are gluten free, corn free and soy free, and can be conveniently stored in the freezer.  Please share your homemade dog treat recipes by posting a comment!  Please note that if your dog has, or is predisposed to, any health concerns, you should consult a veterinarian before trying anything new.


Photo above:  Homemade peanut butter, bacon, and carrot dog biscuits.  Recipe below.

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My Detox Diet and Recipes – Day 31 (last day)

In Random on May 31, 2011 at pm

My month long detox diet challenge has come to an end.  (See the Day 1 post here, the Day 7 post here, and the Day 15 post here.)  I must admit that I cheated whenever I traveled.  Over Victoria Day long weekend when I went to see my family in Toronto, I ate restaurant food that had sugar in the sauce, some tofu, and more homemade dumplings than I could count.  Last week, when I went to Montreal, I ate a small slice of banana bread and onion rings with dipping sauces.  As of midnight, June 1st, 2011, I will be free to consume gluten, dairy, refined sugar, soy products, caffeine, and alcohol once again.

When I first decided to do this, I thought that I would have the most difficulty giving up dairy.  I also thought that I would crave bread.  But to my surprise, I only had cravings for refined sugar (ie. dessert and baked goods).  Luckily, the cravings subsided by week 3.  Although this detox diet was slightly inconvenient in terms of meal preparation, and while it placed restrictions on my social life, it was easy to follow and, more importantly, it was effective at improving my general health.  (See below for the health benefits that I saw.)  I’m also happy that I used this opportunity to learn about new ingredients and try new recipes.  Now that I’ve had a glimpse of the difficulties that people with food intolerance face daily, future guests of mine can expect delicious meals that will honour their dietary restrictions without compromising on flavour, texture, or creativity.

The main question now is whether or not I will turn the rules from the detox challenge into permanent changes to my lifestyle and diet.  Here are my plans:

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My Detox Diet Challenge and Recipes – Day 15 (halfway)

In Random on May 15, 2011 at am

I have now been off gluten, dairy, refined sugar, soy, caffeine and alcohol for 14 days.  (See the Day 1 post here and the Day 7 post here.  See the last post here.)  I will likely be off legumes for the remainder of the month too, because I am now sick of them.  ;)   Although I still feel like I have a lot of options despite the restrictions, I’m starting to miss having the option of eating out.  It is limiting my social activities, but I’ve been keeping busy with other things.

The food cravings this past week were once again directed towards sweets but were minimal and very easily managed.  In fact, I made carrot muffins with cream cheese frosting for a friend’s birthday and resisted from eating any of them!  The recipe can be found here and no one will be able to tell that they’re made with whole wheat flour.  So far, I am still very happy that I took on this detox challenge.  I hope to see more health benefits soon.

The Foods I’ve Been Eating and Their Recipes

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My Detox Diet Challenge and Recipes – Day 7

In Random on May 7, 2011 at am

I have now completed the first week of my month long detox challenge.  (See the Day 1 post here.  See the Day 15 post here.  See the final post here.)  That means I have not had any dairy, gluten, refined sugar, soy, caffeine or alcohol.  I know it’s only been a week, but I’m surprised by how mild, how manageable, and how infrequent my cravings have been.  I mostly craved sugar in the first few days, but that’s probably because it rained all week and I wasn’t allowed caffeine. In fact, I feel less hungry during the day and am consequently, consuming fewer calories.  I do, however, miss the convenience of 1. not having to think about my food, and 2.  being able to snack on anything that’s available when I’m hungry. With any dietary restriction, meals and snacks need to be planned ahead of time.  That means that both grocery shopping and cooking need to be done at least a day in advance.

Update:  Late night, Day 6, I cheated.  :(  I had planned to avoid restaurants for the month of May, but I ended up in a bar with friends when the night’s plans suddenly changed on me.  I had a beer and about 2/3 of a pound of wings.  The next morning, I was challenged with all sorts of food cravings that I was luckily able to resist.

So far, I’m very happy that I took on this detox challenge.  (See below for the health benefits that I’ve seen so far.)  My dog is even happier about my detox diet, because I feel safe sharing my homemade almond milk and gluten-free waffles and bread with him.

The Foods I’ve Been Eating and Their Recipes

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My Detox Diet Challenge – Day 1

In Random on May 1, 2011 at am

My current housemate is a naturopathic doctor and we’ve had interesting discussions about food, nutrition, and various diet regimens.  I was surprised to learn from her that dairy is a contributor to many health ailments.  Two other foods that can worsen conditions or cause people to generally feel unwell are gluten and refined sugar.  I have been looking for a new food challenge, and since I almost always feel fatigued, my housemate inspired me to try a detox diet for one month.  Although there are detox powders and pills available on the market, I believe that avoiding the “bad” foods is more beneficial to your health than consuming a lot of [unproven] supplements, assuming you’re regularly on a balanced diet.  In fact, a Chinese medicine-practicing doctor cured me of my Grave’s disease (an autoimmune thyroid condition) simply by giving me an extensive list of dietary restrictions.  I adhered to her list strictly for almost 2 years and have been off medication for longer.  So I’ve chosen to follow a basic and simple detox diet for this challenge (see rules below).  If you’re interested in doing something like this, I recommend speaking to a health care professional to find a safe detox diet that will suit your lifestyle and health concerns.

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The Stylish Blogger Award (and more about me)

In Random on March 3, 2011 at am

On February 27, 2011, Island Vittles passed the Stylish Blogger Award to Cooking with Alison (see here)!  I’ve been following Island Vittles for over a year now and have always admired Chef Theresa’s creativity in the kitchen.  So I feel very honoured to be chosen by her!

Recipients of this award are asked to share 7 interesting things about themselves and to pass the award to 10 stylish food blogs that they love.

So here are 7 random things that you might not know about me:

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Tour of a Cruise Ship Galley (Kitchen)

In Random on January 25, 2011 at am

Here’s the link to the video of the tour.

To see my review of the Princess Cruise line food in comparison to the Royal Caribbean line, see here.

In August, 2010, Krystal and I traveled to the East coast of Canada and USA with the Princess Cruise line.  We were on the Caribbean Princess ship.  There are three galleys (kitchens) where food is prepared for 3100 people (more than 1100 of which are crew members).  The ship has one main galley for each restaurant and a third galley for the buffet lines.  On the day at sea, the executive chef put on a cooking demonstration that was followed by a tour of one of the two main cruise ship galleys.  I was very excited about this rare opportunity and got up early for it on our only day to sleep in.  Krystal wasn’t quite as excited as I was.  ;)   I took a video of the walk through (link posted at the top of this page) and as you can see, the huge kitchen is spotless.  The ship was launched in 2004 and the staff have clearly taken very good care of the appliances and surfaces.  I wish I could have witnessed the organized chaos of this galley during service.

Most of the initial food preparation is actually done outside of the galleys.  Below is a list of those areas and a few interesting numbers:

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Cooking with Alison’s One Year Anniversary!

In Random on January 15, 2011 at pm

Cooking with Alison was created one year ago, today!  So, like I do every year on my own birthday, I’m going to reflect on the past year’s lessons, appreciate the people that made a difference, and make plans for improvement over the next year.  Here’s to you and, hopefully, to another year of Cooking with Alison!

Statistics From the First Year of Food Blogging:

Total number of views:  58, 764

Number of views on the busiest day (Jan. 13, 2011): 529

Number of posts:  232

The most popular posts were:  Four Different Sauces for Mushroom Ravioli, How to Steam Cook Food, and Cheong Fun (Rice Noodle Rolls) With Shrimp

Number of email subscribers:  45 (plus 8 wordpress.com subscribers)

Number of email subscribers lost:  4 – It is at this point that I’d like to give a shout out to my dad, because he is one of the people that unsubscribed, haha.  (I was posting too frequently for him.)  Love you dad!  :)

Unfortunately, I don’t currently have a way of knowing how many RSS subscribers there are (or how many I’ve lost).  ;)

Number of websites inspired by Cooking with Alison:  1  (My love affair with everything)

Most Importantly, Thank Yous:

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How to Make a Christmas Stocking Advent Tree (and Stocking Stuffer Ideas)

In Random on December 24, 2010 at am

Ed and I agreed to place a small budget on our Christmas presents this year, so I decided to be creative with a DIY (do it yourself) craft project.  I thought that an advent calender would be the best way to stretch out the value of a low budget gift.  I also loved the idea of surprising him every day for about a month.

[Photo above:  It's too bad that Ed's Christmas tree was so small, because you can't tell how cute the stockings really are as they're only about 4 inches tall.  Also, it would have looked much nicer if the stockings had been dispersed throughout the tree like ornaments.]


I’m a beginner with the sewing machine so it took me 3 nights to complete this project.  I sewed 24 mini stockings for him to hang on his Christmas tree (see sewing instructions below) and I filled each one with a small gift.  I found Christmas themed wine charms at the dollar store, wrote the numbers on the back of them (1 to 24) and attached them to the corresponding stockings, so he would know what order to open them in.

The great thing about these miniature stockings is that they can be reused as ornaments, gift card holders, small gift bags, or cutlery/flatware holders when entertaining.  In fact, Crate and Barrel sold knitted stocking flatware holders this season (see here).

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