From Food Network Canada:

Mark McEwan on “what’s in store” …

Restaurateur (North 44, Bymark, One), TV personality (Top Chef Canada) and owner of a gourmet food shop (McEwan Foods), it’s safe to say that Mark McEwan knows what hot in the world of food.  In this short video interview, he talks about McEwan Foods’ “protein program,”  the importance of supply-side relationships, and the economic upside of prepared foods.

(And of course you know that he’ll also be making an appearance at the CRFA Show later this spring …)

From the Canadian Food Bloggers Association:

And the winners are …

The winners of the inaugural Canadian Food Blog Awards were announced earlier this week.  Read all about the winners and finalists here — or better yet, make with the clickety and read the blogs themselves!  Just more proof that Canadians have — and know — great taste.

From Serious Eats and Cakespy:

This groundhog takes the cake …

I am a hee-uge fan of Jesse Oleson’s cupcake-themed artwork, and this no-shadow-of-a-piece-left-over cake creation is just as sweet.

This week, the Canadian Food Blog Awards announced its short list for Canadas best food and drink bloggers, and much to our surprise, there we were!  Vine Arts: Wine Made Simple!  In the past, Jesse and I have been known to nominate ourselves for many things including hypnosis, cheese tester, clinical LSD trials, submissive role play partner (keep in mind most of these were Jesse), but we did not nominate ourselves for this, so a special thanks goes out to whoever took the time to do so.

**OSCAR moment** We are so lucky to be nominated along side such outstanding talent.  People who truly love the craft never do it for the recognition, they do it because they couldn’t live without doing it.  (Cue orchestral music rising to crescendo)  and the nominees are…

CellarDoor – writing under the influence

The Jolly Inebriate

Canadian Whisky

Billy Munnelly – Wine Writer, Wine Reviews, Wine Blog

Vine Arts: Wine made simple

Seriously, these blogs are VERY good.  And we are stoked to be in this list.

That is why we resolve to “turn this mother out” in 2011!

We are going to hit the blogosphere in its dirty mouth with left hooks of wine wisdom.  We are going to populate your mind with thoughts of sexy spirits and bad ass beers.  We are going to use “spellcheck”.  Heck, we may even pay some guys to do some stuff.  What kind of stuff? I guess you’ll just have to wait and see.

Stay tooned Vine Arts fanz, becuase the breast is yet to come!*

Cheers,

Jeff

*spellchecking starts tomorrow

I then started reading food blogs. The first food blog I read daily was Dana McCauley’s Food Blog, a blog about a smorgasbord of food topics ranging from recipes, thoughts on food trends and “things that make you go hmm” all related to food. Tight and snappy, this blog was something I made time to read everyday.

And now, I’m an avid blog reader ranging from Indian food to fitness and health blogs; vegan, raw food to gluten-free desserts blogs, and wine and “mommy” blogs. I am not a vegan, a celiac or a mommy, yet I find all these blogs interesting and inspiring, offering new ideas on different ways of cooking and eating. Many are well-written, thought-provoking and even life-changing!

Sheryl Kirby and Greg Clow, publishers of the successful TasteTO.com started Beer and Butter Tarts: A Canadian Food & Drink Blog Aggregator to pool together blogs across the country, making it easier for readers to discover and access Canadian food blogs.

Nominations open until December 21st, 2010!

To celebrate the excellence of Canada’s blogging community, Beer and Butter Tarts presents the 2010 Canadian Food Blog Awards.

I am honoured and excited to be one of the judges for the 2010 awards amongst Chef Massimo Capra, James Chatto, publisher of edibleToronto, Gail Gordon Oliver and one of my favourite food bloggers mentioned earlier, Dana McCauley.

I will keep you posted on my judging experience!

There is so much great food content on Canadian blogs and Sheryl Kirby and her team are doing something about it, finally!

If you would like to nominate a great food blog, please see here for details. Nominations close on December 21, 2010.

Happy Thanksgiving to our American neighbours and fellow bloggers! And now off to an Indian cooking class…

A teaspoon of: Calexico. Listening to: Roka.

Got a favourite food blog that you think could use a little love and recognition?  Heck, do you WRITE a food blog that you think could use the same?  Now’s your chance to share that amazing little corner of the cyberverse with fellow readers who will appreciate those tips on how to poach an egg in maple syrup just as much as you do.

Starting this weekend, nominations will be open for the 2010 Canadian Food Blog Awards, “acknowledging excellence in online food and drink writing in Canada.”

From the CFBA page:

The CFBAs  are open to all food and drink blogs based in Canada. Public nominations will run from November 21st to December 21st, 2010.

Once nominations close, we will create a short list of finalists, based on the criteria for each category. One category (People’s Choice – Best Canadian Food Blog) will be open to public voting. Winners in all other categories will be determined by a team of expert judges from the Canadian hospitality and/or food writing industries.

Voting for the People’s Choice Award, as well as judging for all other categories, will begin January 1st, 2011 and run until January 15th, 2011. Winners in all categories will be announced January 31st.

For more information about the awards, including nomination rules, categories and judging criteria,  click here.