NEAROF

It’s Canada Day, and it’s also a long weekend. Instead of passing out and doing nothing until the fireworks start, why not start your day with some very Canadian blueberry pancakes? This recipe is my own personal tried-and-tested variation of a family favourite pancake recipe from the old-school Canadian classic Five Roses: A Guide to [...]

I first bumped into balsamic strawberries at a summer food festival in Edmonton half a decade ago. A local restaurant, now sadly departed, was serving up this unlikely combination with a dollop of mascarpone, a trio of flavours that I found curious enough to gamble some overpriced food tickets on. It was well worth the [...]

I’ve often been baffled by hair spray naming conventions. Instead of a nice linear sequence – 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, say – the choices usually amount to the following: extra hold, maximum hold, ultra hold, mega hold, double-plus hold. Which one’s hold is strongest? Which one is least likely to leave someone’s hair floppy on retro ’80s night? Oddly, the seasonal world of egg nog isn’t all that different.

Oh, my lucky American cousins. You have easy access to Lemonheads, one of the most delicious candies in the history of candy. Up here in Canada, they’re a special import item, the kind of treat you have to track down at a dedicated candy shop instead of at the corner store. It isn’t fair. The [...]

It’s been a while coming, and not all the kinks are worked out yet, but we’re live and we’re happy to be here. Thanks for visiting. So, what is NEAROF exactly? It’s the Not Entirely Arbitrary Review of Food, a website dedicated to celebrating and reviewing the food you actually eat, the grub you grab [...]