So, didja miss me? Haha, probably not too much – a post here and there slipped out of my scheduled posts to make sure y’all were kept entertained while I was off traipsing around the Mediterranean on a cruise ship with The Man for our 10th anniversary!

Gelato in Greece

I won’t bore you with all the details just yet, but you do need to know one of the best things about traveling on a cruise ship is that the food is all done for you! Breakfast, lunch and dinner, snacks in between and food out until midnight. For this homeschooling mom of 4 it was like a dream come true in and of itself! (Can you tell I don’t get out much? :D) But by the end of it all, I was definitely looking forward to getting back into my own kitchen to do some cooking and baking of my own.

Speaking of baking – my goodness gracious we ate a buttload of baked goods while we were away! It’s a good thing we were doing so much walking (rough estimate – 20 to 30 km a day, possibly more!) at each of our destinations.

French Pastries in Toulon

Gelato, cannoli, tiramisu, cookies, ice cream, Turkish Delight, too! French pastries, macarons, baklava. It was like heaven. Every place had something sweet to call out our names.

Macaron in Toulon

 

But don’t worry, we supplemented with fresh fruit from the market and buffet, plus made fairly healthy food choices at breakfast and supper (ahem, that daily chocolate croissant was a mid-morning snack, it doesn’t count as part of breakfast :D)

Fresh Fruit in a French street market

Another thing about Europeans – while they do espresso up like no one’s business, it’s really hard to get a good cup of coffee! I guess that explains the whole idea of the Americano :D Which, in The Man’s opinion, ruins a good espresso.

Cappuccino Freddo in Little Venice, Mykonos

So while we had loads of good lattes and espresso-based drinks, getting a nice big cup of coffee was pretty much impossible. Even at Starbucks, they don’t serve it with cream, it’s a Misto, which is with steamed milk. It’s cheaper than a latte, but just kind of watered down coffee. Our cruise ship had all day and night coffee available, but it was, well, below par in my opinion (Yes, I am a self-proclaimed #coffeesnob !).

I am certainly glad to be home again where I can consume copious amounts of delicious French Press coffee in my giant Istanbul Starbucks mug. Mmmmm…

cup of coffee Istanbul

Back to the topic of sweets…..thanks to starting out with baking cupcakes a few years ago I have developed quite the sweet tooth! It’s brutal, really, but good motivation to keep exercising ;) When one delves into the world of candy and sweets, one finds out some very interesting and cool things that happen! One of them is this Friday through Sunday in Toronto – Canada’s Baking and Sweets Show! I am pumped as I’ve known about it for a couple of years but haven’t been able to attend. If you’re in the Toronto area this weekend, this is something you need to check out!

Canada's Baking and Sweets Show

They’re featuring some pretty cool celebrity chefs like Anna Olson from Sugar and Bake with Anna, and Fabio Viviani (yeah, Florence native!) from Top Chef. There’s a baking competition between seasoned professionals and passionate home bakers, a Cake Boss decorating class for kids, heaps and heaps of products for the home baker to make your eyes bug out and your teeth tingle.

I’ll be writing more about it over the weekend, so you  can experience more of the mouth-watering goodness that is Canada’s Baking and Sweets Show. And, for my American friends, have no fear, there’s a US show also! So if you like what you see, make sure to check out America’s Baking and Sweets Show, November 14-16, in Chicago!