guest blog / Julia Black: Sweet, stylish and scrappy

After a long weekend full of food, entertaining, and more food, I found myself going to and from my garbage and green bins as often as I was greeting family and friends. Ah, the joys of Canadian Thanksgiving! Now, I'm all for daily activity, but when it's motivated by the need to rid the kitchen of a vile smelling green bin, I have a problem. So, for those of us who realize they have a bitter sweet relationship with their kitchen scraps I have found a stylish and sensible solution: the Countertop Compost Pail from the nice people at Williams Sonoma. In either a chic white ceramic or smart brushed stainless steel it'll hold a gallon of scraps and will not stain or absorb any odors. The carbon filter that sits inside the lid prevents odors from being released, so the whole thing can be fashionably stored on a countertop (way more attractive than that ugly plastic bin we've all been using!). Better still, it’s dishwasher safe! So seriously, take a smart step and make one of these crocks a way sexier home for your organic waste. You might just find that relationship you have with your kitchen scraps becomes a little sweeter!

To read more posts from Julia click here, check out her cool blog click here, and click here to see her new Get Fresh online videos for CTV!

Feeling jammy

Jam and bread, now that's comfort food. Who even needs butter or, dare I say, marge, when you can score a fresh bakery loaf, rip it apart and dollop a lovely spoon of jam on top? Heaven. Today I'm all over Jamie Oliver's new line of Jme Jams. The packaging, designed by Pearlfisher, is brilliantly simple (loving the scratchy scrawly writing) and you get the feeling - intentional I'm sure - that these are just about the closest thing to home made that you can get your hands on. The Raspberry and Apple Plum are available now from Williams Sonoma, while the Strawberry and Apricot (there's also a Lemon Curd) will have to be shoved in a suitcase and flown home from a trip to the UK.

 

  

   

{Giving it} Zoku Quick Pop Maker

Giving it is all about my take on what makes a great gift. Okay, I don't care whether it's minus whatever outside, I think the Zoku makes a brill present. In fact, it can make frozen pops in as little as 7 minutes. Seriously, an iced up chocolate fudge, latte and Baileys number would totally sort me out or even, ahem, something healthier with fruit. For more info, and to check out a demo video, click here. The Zoku Quick Pop Maker is available at Williams Sonoma.