You can do this

I’m heading out of town for a week so am down to the dregs in my refrigerator. But lucky for me the dregs include whole wheat English muffins, some whitefish spread and a fresh batch of my onion marmalade (or onion jam; six of one, half a dozen of the other.)

Here’s what I did to make this snack-sized sandwich: I tore the muffin in half, toasted it up, spread it with the smoked whitefish then topped it with the onion marmalade. Delicious! Total PMS delight.

And then I got to thinking that if people really wanted to, using the very helpful National Nosh they could feasibly create every component to this PMS Delight by hand (I just gave it that official name since the previous paragraph. Things move fast around here.)

After all, way back when I taught you how to make onion marmalade here.

And then I explained how to make that Jewish delicacy called whitefish spread here.

And let’s not forget about that time I whipped up homemade English muffins here.

Bottom line? Search engines are our friends.

Nibble

This is a new favourite nibble of mine, green olives in brine. I know what you’re thinking: “Why didn’t she just say green olives? Does she think she’s better than us?”

I said green olives in brine because these are not the typical tangy, salty olives that most of us plop into our martinis or use as a topping on our pizzas.

Though they are brined – you cannot eat olives raw – it’s with the lightest touch so that what you taste is the newness, the almost greenness of these big fat olives – it’s a very subtle almost nondescript flavour, really -- a tap on the shoulder rather than the punch in the face that is a heavy salt and vinegar cure.

I know that I’ve eaten these green olives in brine before, somewhere, somehow, and Morocco, or the Mediterranean come to mind (don’t I sound all worldly?)

I happened to buy these beauties at my corner Italian grocery, not that that really says much.

After all, they sell Gryfe’s bagels and jars of matzo ball soup there, too.

The Chef Philosopher

This is Marco Pierre White, the British chef famous for being the youngest ever to win three Michelin stars.

His lusty, seminal hardcover White Heat, is out of print and hard to find.

Every French-trained chef I know absolutely idolizes the guy.

So when I recently had the chance to meet him at a tiny gathering at Bonnie Stern's cooking school, I was rendered mute for the first half-hour of the casual question and answer period, throughout which, the chef stirred a pot of risotto, boosted by Knorr products, for which he is a spokesperson.

Marco Pierre White is tall, charismatic and confident, more than a little sexy, and dare I say, quite the philosopher. He says things like, "Success is borne out of luck. Luck is being given the opportunity. It’s an awareness of mind that makes you act on that opportunity.”

I especially enjoyed his stories about dining out in the great French restaurants of Europe as a child, which was what inspired him to become a great chef. But it wasn't only the food: “When you step inside a three-star you should know you’ve arrived. When you leave, you should miss it.”

Hilarious

Isn’t this donut funny? It’s not too often that a snack can make you chuckle, but that’s exactly what this Tiger-Cats donut did to me.

Tim Horton’s introduced a limited edition Tiger-Cats-themed Supreme Donut to celebrate the Year of the Tiger this summer. Only available in locale-appropriate Hamilton, it’s filled with custard and embellished with a candy Tiger-Cats logo and team colour sprinkles – that is, while supplies, and the CFL season, last.

You can read about other animal-themed experiences I've enjoyed in Hamilton by reading my travel column in this weekend’s National Post.