well fed, flat broke is about eating great food, and not paying a lot for it. It’s about eating seasonally, and making the most of what you have in your pantry and what you can afford. Good food doesn’t require expensive ingredients, and eating isn’t a task accomplished in a rush, at least around here, most of the time. It’s about slowing down, planning ahead, and savouring what you put on your plate.
It is not about calorie-counting, or waistlines, or me telling you what you should do for your health, because there are enough people telling us what we ought and ought not to do and they can shove it. I think the best thing you can do for your health is eat lots of vegetables, make foods you like, share meals with people you like, and always have wine.
About me
I live in Vancouver, BC. It’s raining.
My day job is telling stories for scientists.
well fed, flat broke 
I was wondering if you kow of a good cheap farm to buy peaches? I live in Kamloops and I am willing to drive, if the price is right!
Love your comments! I too love the “POP” sound from your home canning!
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Aw, I wish I did! I know that if you head to the Okanagan, there are a million of those little roadside fruit stands, but unfortunately I live in Vancouver and I don’t think they grow peaches in the Lower Mainland … I have to survive on what I can buy close to home!
The “pop” is totally the most gratifying noise ever.
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I was looking for suggestions for herbs in stroganoff (making mine with venison) & ran across you. You sound intriguing. And very interesting views on things. I have arthritis (had back surgery earlier this year & still have not returned to work, so can relate to being tight with money!) Anyway, will try some tarragon with my dish. will let you know.
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hey emily
long time reader, first time commenter
i’ve been enjoying your cooking from afar for awhile now … and your always delightfully described escapades
anyway just posting to say … is that jam on your bosom in the picture above?
tess
ps what say we get together sometime this holiday to cook food, drink wine and be merry
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You can see now why I am often sticky. I would love to do all of those things and more with you, Tess! We’ll settle into our new home shortly, and then will be in dire need of some love and cooking to warm the place.
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Glad to hear your move was more or less painless. My venison stroganoff was excellent, although my husband would not let me use tarragon (“you can’t use tarragon on red meat!”) ??? So I substituted fresh thyme. Delicious! Will try the corn, although my mint may be gone since we had our first hard freeze last night, 29 degrees(I live in Texas). Just finished making my last relish for this year, green tomato & jalapeno. Mmmmmm!
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Ha! Probably for the best. I get away with stuff like that because Nick doesn’t know that there are rules and can only name three or four herbs, I think. Thyme would be great – I like rosemary with venison too! The relish sounds good – perfect now that it’s freezing outside – maybe something to eat with warm bread and melty cheese?
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Hey, I love your blog. I was wondering if you could make spring rolls sometime. Mine fell apart after many attempts. It seems like the rice paper melts in the deep fryer. Please help me Emily. I love spring rolls.
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Just subscribed to your blog via my wordpress blog: http://goodgirlscookandwearmakeup.wordpress.com/
Love your title “well fed, flat broke” – looking forward to reading more!
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Aw, thanks! I look forward to checking your site out as well. ”
xo Emily
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Congratulations on your win for the People’s Choice award in The best Candian Food Blogs!!!
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Thanks, Bellini! I actually found out from you first, so you made my morning!
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Congrats on your win: Best Canadian Food Blog – People’s Choice! P.S. I love bacon!
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Thanks, Saskia! And thanks for stopping by. And for paying your respects to bacon 🙂
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I just stumbled upon this lovely place when looking for a spinach-feta bread pudding recipe… and I wish we could be best friends. You’re awesome.
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Thanks, Mallory! I’m always on the look-out for new BFFs 😉
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Hey! Was just referred to your blog by a friend! Love the writing style and the recipes! Can you post something healthy (and easy) w/ butternut squash? I also can’t eat high carb load foods (pasta, etc.).
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Hi Nina! I’m glad you stopped by, and thanks for saying hello 🙂 I’ll try and do something with the squash, but I don’t usually start on squash until the fall. I’ll see what my market has in the meantime.
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Congrats on winning Best Food and Drink blog – your blog is really loely, charmante!
Elspeth
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Oh, wow! Thank you!
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Just had to stop by and tell I made muffins with my leftover brown rice. My 2 year old son is constantly asking me now for muffins!! They were delish!! I used saskatoon berries, blueberries and raspberries (also frozen into a big hunk of ice in the freezer and needing to be used up!) – Great way to use up our harvest from the previous summer (we live in Northern Manitoba).
HOLLY
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Emily,
I write the O’Canada blog and as part of my recent Food Month theme, I just completed a brief piece about notable Canada food blogs, including “Well Fed, Flat Broke”. The link is here: http://ocanadablog.com/2013/03/24/some-notable-canada-food-blogs-sites/
Your site is quite well done and I’m happy to highlight it. I’ve also added it to my blogroll and look forward to exploring it further.
Best, Brett (O’Canada Blog)
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Thank you, Brett! What fine company to be in 🙂
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Em – I got here via the link at Brett’s, so he’s a good blog friend to have! I’m mesermized, too much so, since you make me want to eat lots and lots of pancakes . .. just want to share that my own blog URL is my actual full name because I quite misunderstood the instructions when setting it up. And, like you, it’s not the blog name. As you well know, the URL is the URL, so we’re both stuck. But you have a great name and a great site. And dammit, now I’m hungry!
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Oh boy did I need to find this blog. Great stuff! Hello, fellow Vancouverite. 🙂
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Hello! Nice to see someone local stopping by. Welcome !
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Read your book “Dutch feast”.
You may be interested in this paper:
Protschky, Susie The colonial table: Food, culture and Dutch identity in colonial Indonesia AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF POLITICS AND HISTORY 16th Biennial Conference of the Australasian-Association-for-European-History JUL 01-04, 2007 Univ Sydney, Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Abstract: This article examines some of the ways in which colonial identities were constructed and maintained with reference to food and eating in the Netherlands Indies (colonial Indonesia) during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It argues that food was an important focus for the cultural performance of Europeanness among colonists with aspirations to European status. Specific notions of class and race informed these social performances, and degrees of competence distinguished between eaters. To eat ‘European’ often meant publicly avoiding Indonesian dishes, even if they were enjoyed privately, and learning to appreciate foods from ‘home’. Class and cultural identity intersected with race at the colonial table.
Let me know if you need me to send this to you, Jim.
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Hi Jim – yes, I’d love to read it! Thank you!
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Hi Emily, we just made a nice pan of your pom recipe from “Dutch Feast”. I just wanted to say thanks. It’s a really wonderful dish and perfect for a midwinter family meal. It was also a great opportunity to learn about Surinam and the very complex history of the dish. I also wanted go let you know that I read your book more like a novel than a cookbook. It is very well written and gave me some valuable insights into Dutch cuisine and culture. I’ll be spending a week in the Netherlands this summer and am really looking forward to it. -Karl Lisle, Portland, Oregon
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Hi Karl – I am so glad to hear that you enjoyed the dish! Pom is so wonderful in winter, especially on the wet coast. And I’m flattered you enjoyed the book. I hope you find a bit of time on your trip to get to the Markthal in Rotterdam – you can try a bit of everything there!
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Hi Emily, Just wanted to say how much I enjoyed the recipes and especially the food background information in “Dutch Feast”. As a first generation Dutch-Canadian I was very familiar with many of the recipes but actually a little shocked about the ones I had no idea about. But our family also ate a few others that weren’t mentioned. As my family is from Friesland it was refreshing to read about this province, its people and its food. Even though I am Canadian my children have insisted I am “Beppe” to their kids. Good job for a non-Dutch girl!
Lisa Snyder – Edmonton, AB
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Hi Lisa! I am so glad to hear you like the book, and I hope the boeterkoek is familiar and the suikerbrood is correct 🙂 I think being a Beppe sounds very nice, and rolls off the tongue easier than Grandma anyway. Thank you for writing!
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Dear Emily,
This seemed like the easiest way to get in touch to say how much I’ve enjoyed your book Well Fed, Flat Broke! I’ve read and re-read it just for enjoyment (often while having first-morning-coffee, which doubles as my cookbook- and magazine-reading time) and I just love your style and all the wisdom you impart as well as the recipes. Thanks on my family’s behalf for the tuna-dill-pickle casserole especially (a big hit always!) and the peanut butter bacon fat cookies … anyway just a quick note to say how much I’ve loved the book–you inspire me and you’ve given us a lot of enjoyment!
Kate
p.s. I’m a 38-year-old lawyer living in North Van with my partner and our picky 7-year-old son.
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Hi Kate! It’s so nice to hear from you, and also I am so glad you like the tuna-pickle casserole! It’s one of my favourites and my terrible family doesn’t love it with as much passion as I do 😉 So nice to hear you are local too! We’re in East Van, and it sounds like we lead very similar lives – ours is 8 and eats mostly peanut butter sandwiches.
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