Bench Talk

Everyone loves pizza. Is that an overstatement? I don’t think so, but hey, if there is someone who doesn't like pizza, to each their own. I for one, love pizza — and that’s even if I wasn’t part of a family that made pizza for a living.

Pizza is really just flat bread and toppings. Simple right? Not so fast. Within simple ingredients comes infinite possibilities. One of the things I love about pizza is how there are so many styles and kinds. People around the globe have taken flat bread and toppings to make something unique to their region or city. Here’s a list of the different styles of pizza. I’ll point out most of these are in the US, as I haven’t had the opportunity to explore pizzas from around the world… yet.

As you may know, we recently launched our Heat & Eat pizzas. They’re a super easy way to get Christies' wood-fired pizza ready to eat in minutes. If you weren’t aware, you are now!

I recently wrote an essay in University about Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing. The film takes place in and around a pizzeria in a Brooklyn neighbourhood. Whether it was fate or merely a coincidence, I was watching a movie with a pizzeria for school and helping to develop our new line of pizzas at work! I got to thinking about what other films have a certain pizza-centric focus. Let’s take a look at some of the hits!

One of our lovely staff members, Zarish, asked me to participate in a short film for a class project. We talked through some of the history of my family and the bakery, as well as what this last year (and a bit) has been like for us at the bakery. I hope you give it a watch. Zarish did a wonderful job!

I'm sure we've all been enjoying Spring's warm sun over the last couple weeks. Even though there's still a chance of snow (it is Saskatchewan after all) patios are getting set, barbeques have been fired up, and a general sense of happiness is in the air. I've taken a couple walks down to Rotary Park recently and the grass was populated with slack-liners, cyclists and spike ballers.

Now that the snow has melted (for the most part) my girlfriend and I decided to go out for a nice old fashioned picnic. Packing our bags brought back memories of going on picnics with my parents on the weekends growing up. If you were looking for something to do now that we can be outside without freezing our fingers off, here’s a list of what I consider critical to create the perfect and classic picnic.

It’s Easter Sunday, and that means if you’ve stopped by either of our shops, you’ve no doubt seen Colomba di Pasqua on the shelves. It’s a traditional Italian bread baked and served for Easter.

We thought we'd share a bit more background on this special holiday treat. 

Having re-enrolled in university recently, I’ve given in to the stereotypical student life, and increased my consumption of instant ramen. While it was initially nice and nostalgic to eat something I hadn’t really had in years, I quickly started to want more flavor as well as a bit more ‘heft’ to the meal. I did some searching, and I found Instant Ramen in North America kind of gets a bad rap. There are lots of great ways to use the noodles in creative ways that can still be cost effective, but will taste great and fill you up too! After playing around with some simple upgrades, I eventually just started making my own ramen!

St. Patrick’s Day is coming up in a few days and it has become universally associated with two things: the color green and lots of drinking. Obviously we think of pints of Guiness when March 17 rolls around, but was it always the case?

Here’s some interesting facts about St. Patrick’s Day:

Every year on Valentines Day, couples exchange gifts with each other to show their affection. Did you know that Americans are projected to spend 22 Billion dollars as a nation on Valentine’s Day while Canadians are projected to spend only around 37 Million dollars - as far as we can tell online. While more and more people are beginning to give “experiences” like a picnic in the park or a couples cooking class, the old fashioned gift giving is still king - especially when it’s -25 celsius outside…

These are my Greek-style stuffed peppers. It is one of my favourite healthy weeknight meals. It is also a perfect serving for two people which is very convenient for me as I live on my own: I eat one serving and save the leftovers for an easy lunch the next day. You can also really change these up by incorporating many different kinds of flavours. This i are Greek-style, but you can change it up by using Mexican or Italian inspired ingredients or whatever your heart desires! There are also few dishes to clean—which helps keep things simple—and it is also a fun way to get your veggies in.

Pasta: it’s a simple five letter word, and it sounds like a simple meal right? You’ve got your carb, you’ve got your sauce, you combine and serve. Easy-a-pleasie. But we all know pasta is much more complicated than that. Sure you can boil your noodles, and you can get your sauce in a jar (and no one is blaming you if you do!). But, you can also kick things up a couple notches with different shaped (or even handmade) pasta, and pair that with varying styles and flavours of family or scratch-made sauce recipes; some sauces are red, some white, and some are even green. Those colours might remind you of a certain country’s flag, no? ;)

Let’s take a look at pasta, and some things we can do to spice up our day-to-day pasta routine.

If you live in Saskatoon, you’ve likely heard of Christies Mayfair Bakery. If you haven’t, you’re missing out on some of the best bread and pastries in Saskatchewan. Christies is a Saskatoon institution, making bread, cinnamon buns, and artisan sourdoughs for nearly a century. We had a chance to talk with one of the co-owners, Tracey Muzzolini, during a break while she was making fruit cake during the Christmas season. We talked about family recipes and what it’s like running a family business and what goes into working alongside your family for so long.

My daughter is currently doing a school project for which she is trying to create an allergy-friendly recipe collection that would suit her brother.  She is finding recipes online, mostly, then altering them to use ingredients that are dairy, nut and egg free and that we have in the cupboard already.

Here is one of her recipes and a picture of the cookies.  This one was already allergy-friendly but we didn’t have any non-dairy milk available so she found a substitute.

There are many things that come with the Christmas season: The smells of holiday baking permeate throughout the house, Christmas songs fill the grocery store aisles 24//7, and egg nog makes its yearly return to our glasses. To spice up your holiday drink routine, we have an eggnog recipe to try out while at home over the holidays. While brandy is the usual boozy ingredient to pair with the 'nog, who says we have to follow all the traditions!

Side Note: A hand mixer or stand mixer will make this a lot easier, but it can still be made by hand (you’ll just get a good forearm workout!)

This is a decadent breakfast option that is great to make ahead for brunch or Christmas morning. I have definitely skipped the rest time and baked immediately with the same delicious results. I have made many variations including apple/cranberry, apple/pecan and  pumpkin spice! 

"For me, my favourite weekend dish is making potato scones for brunch. I'm not much of a breakfast cook but after trying these for the first time in the UK several years ago, I was sold. I had to learn how to make them! After several attempts, I think I finally got 'em right." 

-Lucy

A lot of times, it’s easy to guess what someone might be passionate about: an athlete pursuing a professional sports career or an artist travelling the world to find inspiration for their next project. Other times, someone might be doing what they love in a field you might not expect. For Steven Hawrishock, owner and proprietor of Kitako Lake Honey, it’s definitely the latter.

He comes from a family of beekeepers, and while many of us might run away at the first sight of those little striped stingers, he couldn’t think of anything else he’d rather be doing. We recently had a (virtual) chat with Steven to learn about life as a beekeeper and producer of honey. Within a few minutes of talking, it became crystal clear just how much he loves what he’s doing, so I had to find out how someone becomes as big of a lover of bees and honey as he is.

We love french press coffee: it's simple, low-waste, and keeps lots of the coffee bean oils in the brew.

French press is a great starting point for coffee drinkers looking to take their home brewing to the next level! You can play around with the amount of water and coffee beans used to find a flavour that works for you! See the How-To below. 

Soup season is upon us, and we've got an exclusive soup recipe from Scratch Provisions owner Trent Loewen. If you weren't aware, Trent is a Red Seal chef that trained (and taught) at Stratford Chefs School.

It is a super quick and easy soup you can easily make at home. But dont let the simplicity fool you, it's very tasty. Prep is quick and there’s room to add your own twist to it!