We needed a treat for race day. The rhubarb in my fridge has been calling to me lately, anyway. It’s been telling me that I should make Rhubarb Custard Bars, but I was feeling more pie-ish today. (Pies are my favourite dessert.) Also, I found a bag of 2010-picked strawberries in the back of my freezer (oo-oops!),
read more…
December 1, 2012
The Great Rancho Vignola Giveaway!
This past week has been pretty nuts at my house. And I mean that literally. On Friday, I received a delivery 475 pounds of nuts and dried fruit, which some friends and I spent the evening sorting out and sharing amongst ourselves. It sounds pretty nutty (read: mentally unhinged), doesn’t it? Well, once you have tasted
read more…
October 31, 2012
Fresh Pumpkin Loaf
The last three weeks of rain, rain, and more rain has driven me indoors where I am cozy in my kitchen, laughing in the face of damp cold weather. It’s easy to be smug when I know my comfort foods have got my back. My own favourite foods-to-protect-me-from-rain can be anything from roast chicken to curried lentils to apple pie. But none
read more…
September 30, 2012
Local Harvest
I adore September. I love the mellow sunshine and cool nights, the blue skies and golden grass, and I especially love the overlapping food seasons. Nothing says Harvest Bounty quite like September, a month in which the summer crops are growing at the same time as the fall ones. I mean, you can eat local peaches
read more…
September 25, 2012
Tomatillo Salsa (Salsa Verde)
One of my favourite September rituals is making a big batch of Salsa Verde. Salsa Verde is obscenely easy to make and yet it has so much wow-factor – it’s bright green, it’s delicious and tangy, it’s very ‘authentic Mexican,’ and it’s made with one the coolest fruit/vegetables I know of : tomatillos. You’ve probably
read more…
September 13, 2012
Chinese Style Eggplant with Roasted Tofu
I am posting this recipe for two reasons: 1) It’s eggplant season right now and people, I’ve noticed, need help with eggplant ideas. 2) People also need help with tofu. And this post includes the hassle-free, the non-stick, the delicious, and I mean delicious, recipe for Crispy Roasted Tofu. My roasted tofu recipe might be
read more…
September 9, 2012
Train Museum Pie
By “Train Museum”, I mean the BC Forest Discovery Centre. By “Pie”, I mean, well, pie. Many years ago, when my oh-so-cool Middle Schooler was a train-obsessed toddler, we would have to, have to, stop at the ‘Twain Museum’ on our way up and down the Island. Old-fashioned vehicles and machinery, and a steam train ride
read more…
September 7, 2012
Summer Salad Meal (West Coast Nicoise)
This was my lunch last week. It was made up of leftovers from the previous day’s dinner: salmon, beets, new potatoes and farm market salad. Although this looks like a gourmet and inventive use of leftovers, really it was me being lazy and trotting out something I already make regularly in the summer: the Summer Salad
read more…
August 16, 2012
Camping Food, Post Three: Huckleberry Pancakes
By the time you read this post, I will be away camping on beautiful Cortes Island with my children and their cousins. I will, without a doubt, be making a giant batch of these pancakes on the trip, possibly on this very day. Apparently, a camping trip without Auntie Heidi’s huckleberry pancakes is
read more…


















