For this episode I did an on-site interview with Shana (nickname, "Bean") who is the owner and baker at a new cupcake shop in my neighbourhood of Leslieville (east-end Toronto) called Baked By Bean.

She gave me her origin story, what brought her to Canada, her education and work experience, and how she finally got the courage to open up her own shop.

Then we talk specifics about baking, some tips she has for home bakes, and we go deep into buttercream frosting (discussing it, not eating it.)

Please follow Baked By Bean on Instagram and Tiktok. And please also follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Substack (my weekly newsletter about food, wine, cooking, and baking.)

In this episode I had the honour and pleasure of speaking with a local Toronto Executive Chef and Restaurateur, John Sinopoli. John is the owner of the Ascari Group, currently operating the restaurant Abrielle, a coastal Mediterranean restaurant in the Sutton Place Hotel in Toronto.

Besides sharing his experience and philosophy about food and wine, this episode is jam packed with John's tips on how home cooks can level up their cooking.

Two sites John mentioned in this episode are Serious Eats and ChefSteps.

As always, you can reach out to me by e-mail, or follow me on Instagram and Substack.

In this episode, Tyler and I talk about all things pizza from the dough, to the sauce, the cheese, and pizza ovens. We have a few segues into other things related to pizza (including whether pineapple belongs on pizza) and some of our favourite pizza places.

If you want Tyler's dough recipe, check out my most recent Substack post.

Here are the links to a few of the books, products, and Instagram accounts we talked about (none of these are paid promotions):

The Elements of Pizza with Ken Forkish (YouTube and Book)

Pizza Steel

Pizza Oven

Dave's Pizza Oven on Instagram

Al's Home Kitchen Pizzeria on Instagram

Toronto Mike'd Podcast

This is another cross-over episode between the podcast and my Substack newsletter where ou can read about my cake baking escapades with my 10-year-old friend, Isla. We made a vanilla cake with strawberry cream cheese frosting.

Link to Substack

Link to Vegan Cake

You can also follow me on Instagram @Noreciperequired.ca

You can read more about my wine tasting experiment in this week's Substack newsletter:

https://open.substack.com/pub/noreciperequired/p/canada-vs-the-world-riesling

To read and/or subscribe to my other food- and wine-related content, follow me on Substack, here: https://noreciperequired.substack.com/

The wines we tasted and reviewed were:

Domaine St-Jacques, Riesling 2022, Vin du Québec (IGP), $23.70

Liebling Wines, Riesling 2022, VQA St. David’s Bench, Lingard Vineyard, $19.10

Studert-Prüm, Riesling Trocken 2023, Mosel, Germany, $15.60

In this episode I'm chatting with my online friend, Cristina, who has a Lemonade stand in her home state of Georgia. We talk about how she got started in the business, what her recipe is for perfect lemonade, her tips for starting up a small food business, and some funny customer stories.

You can follow her on Instagram @_Limonista.

And, if you're not already subscribed to my weekly newsletter on Substack (it's free!), you can do so here:

https://noreciperequired.substack.com/

This is a companion episode to go along with my most recent Substack Newsletter on How To Choose A Wine. If you're a subscriber, that would have been in your inbox on Tuesday morning. It's free to subscribe and I write content about food, wine, cooking, baking, and home economics.

In the newsletter, I recommended four wines - all Cabernet Sauvignon - from four different regions. So I thought it would be a good follow-up to taste the wines and give you my reviews.

Here are the wines in the order I reviewed them:

Submission Cabernet Sauvignon, California, $19.95 (on sale for $17.95 at the LCBO until the end of April) 14.5% / 7g/L

Peter Lehmann The Barossan Cabernet Sauvignon 2022, South Australia, $20.95 14.5% 4g/L

Zuccardi Q Cabernet Sauvignon 2021, Mendoza, Argentina, $20.95 14% 3g/L

Santa Carolina Reserva de Familia Cabernet Sauvignon, Maipo Valley, Chile, $19.95.

Follow me:

web site: Noreciperequired.ca

Substack: No Recipe Required

Instagram: noreciperequired.ca

Facebook: No Recipe Required

e-mail: cook @ noreciperequired.ca

This is a cross-over episode with content from my most recent Substack newsletter. If you're not already subscribed and following me there, here is the link.

The two Syrah/Shiraz wines I'm talking about in this episode are:

François Villard L'appel des Sereines Syrah 2020, Saint-Michel-sur-Rhône, France ($22.95 at the LCBO,) 13% ABV, 3g sugar/L.

Thompson Estate Four Chambers Shiraz 2021, Margaret River, Western Australia ($21.25 at the LCBO, on sale, regularly $24.95) 14.2% ABV, 3g sugar/L.

You can also follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and my new website. My e-mail address is "cook at noreciperequired dot ca."