For the last two months, my oldest son has been on what we jokingly refer to as the ‘no-ingredient diet’. In a quest to find the origin of his eczema, we have been avoiding all dairy, gluten, soy, corn, peanuts, eggs, refined sugar, refined oil… ad bore-eum… The good news: his eczema is gone. The
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April 9, 2013
Chicken Parmesan on a bed of Roasted Cauliflower (Gluten-Free)
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
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August 31, 2012
Garlic Chili Dilly Runner Beans
Yesterday, I posted one of our simplest and favouritest summer meals: crispy chicken with Nonna’s green beans. We eat green beans a lot around here, since they are a favourite vegetable of at least three members of our family. Seasonal, nutritious, tender-crisp, sweet, done in a jiffy – does it get any better? Yes, it does, apparently.
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May 30, 2012
A Reuben for my Ruben
My oldest son is named Ruben. We spell it the Spanish way to be all trendy and alternative, although we prefer to tell people that Ruben is named after a Cuban musician. But here’s a secret: I really named him after my one of my favourite sandwiches, the Reuben. Trust me to name my child after a menu item. So… I
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March 18, 2012
Sunday Sundae Treat
As part of my New Year’s resolution, I have been eating up not only healthy foods like dried beans and frozen chicken, but also - woe is me – treats from my stockpile of baking supplies. You know, dark chocolate, organic sweeteners and fair-trade nuts. It’s been tough. The siren call of the nuts and chocolate led directly to a revival of my favourite childhood
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December 23, 2011
Homemade Eggnog (Non-Traditional)
On Christmas Eve, I have a personal tradition of staying up after everyone else has gone to bed and watching It’s a Wonderful Life by the light of the Christmas tree. In recent years, I have added to my Chistmas Eve ritual a cold glass of homemade eggnog on ice, cut with a shot of dark rum.
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September 19, 2011
Coronation Grape Clafouti
Clafouti is the kind of word, I swear, that chefs love to use to cast a veil of mystery over the simplest of recipes. Actually, I’m only saying this because I made two delicious clafoutis this week and everyone who tasted them said pretty much the same thing: “A… Cla-footie? I have never heard of
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August 8, 2011
Farm Fresh Lasagne
“Fresh” is not the first word that comes to my mind when I think of lasagne. But a stay at KilrennyFarm in the Cowichan valley changed my mind completely. I taught an Indian cooking class at Kilrenny Farm last month and was charmed by Deborah and Russel Fahlman’s enthusisam for their produce, their new teaching kitchen, and
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January 25, 2011
Smothered Pork Chops with Apple
The other night, I made the yummiest and best smothered pork chops with apple for dinner. My two kids weren’t so sure about this whole pork chop thing. They approached their plates with wary curiosity, as if the pork chops were a bizarre and alien food. They asked me strange questions: “Mommy, what is pork?”
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December 29, 2010
Pasta For a Winter’s Night
This is about the time in the winter holiday when even turkey soup has palled. We need something different, maybe spicy, maybe with some fresh vegetables. So I wanted to write something that was not about the inventive use of turkey leftovers. Please, no more. (Not to waste the turkey: I like to freeze the meat and gravy after
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