You want a lip smacking dish to take to a Christmas party? A recipe that’s seasonal, creative, delicious, but still simple? Please allow me to introduce my latest creation, Cranberry-Orange Custard Bars! My most popular blog post to date has been the Rhubarb Custard Bars that I posted Spring 2011. Those bars are most definitely worthy –
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November 28, 2012
Cranberry Custard Bars with Orange
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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October 3, 2012
Warm Farro Salad with Winter Greens
I admit that I am a traditionalist when it comes to Thanksgiving dinner. But still I like to add a new dish to the menu every few years. Last Thanksgiving I made a popular recipe, Warm Farro Salad, from my Great Grains cooking class. I thought the combination of nutty whole grain farro, roasted hazelnuts, and wilted winter greens would
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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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August 30, 2012
The Simple Recipe that my Family Thinks is All Gourmet
Since I have started documenting my simple summer meals, I realize that I make Crispy Broiled Chicken quite frequently. It’s so common around here and so well-loved that I’ve even posted about it once before. I make Crispy Broiled Chicken because it guarantees super-crispy skin and moist meat on the very same piece of bird. It’s my favourite method for
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