Allison took pity on my cranky, overtired self and made a home delivery of finger cakes made with puff pastry, fig jam and bitter orange. They were still warm. Having made eccles cakes for fathers’ day she had leftover puff pastry, and decided to roll it and spread it with fig jam, then bitter orange peel, and fold it over thus. Brilliant, no? It goes to show there is a whole world of eccles cake possibilities out there, and you can cut them into any shape you want. I may or may not have shared. She even took a picture as she made them and emailed it to me. Aw. A warning: I may be brief and perhaps uninspired when it comes to recipes this week. (In fact, I may have been sparse the past two weeks already. Sorry ’bout that.) My lack of time management skills means I a) never get things done while I’m away, and 2) seriously underestimated how much cooking (andContinue reading

We did it! We had ourselves a potluck! People came! Even the sun showed up. It was a potluck miracle. I’m still a little breathless about it. I don’t know where to start. How about at the beginning, when I hopped in the shower just as the doorbell rang? Turns out I told some people 2, and others 3. My mind, of course, was set for 3. I was so unusually completely on the ball. But then again not. So I got to meet everyone with sopping wet – and then varying degrees of dry-ish hair. Somehow it seemed appropriate. It was so great to meet so many of you in person, and to have you all meet each other! I’m so glad you all were up to coming to a house full of people you had never met – at the house of someone you had never met. We were all kind of in the same boat. The Prosecco helped. My only regret isContinue reading

Awhile ago I was auctioned off at a live auction – at a fundraiser for Neighbourlink Calgary – and so today I made dinner for 10 for the highest bidders. On the menu: potato, lentil and spinach samosas with fruit chutney, Gouda gougères, curried mango chicken in wonton cups. roasted tomato and red pepper soup, caramelized onion and cambozola flatbread, chicken tagine with spring vegetables and couscous, spinach salad with purple onion, oranges and pumpkin seeds, and roasted asparagus. For dessert, ginger crème brûlée with caramelized pears and brown sugar-vanilla shortbread. Just got home. Am v. tired. Luckily Sue was here this afternoon to be my artichoke wingman as this was my very first attempt at this particular tagine, which was made with skinless, boneless chicken thighs, onion, lemon, fennel and artichokes, trimmed and quartered and choked and bathed in lemon water as they waited to go into the pot. It was all very simple (once we navigated our way around the artichokes, which I’veContinue reading

Sorry this took me so long – I had plenty of requests for a dairy-free Nutella recipe, and realized that the formula I used in a story in City Palate a year or so ago was just that. Since I had requests both here and at the Family Kitchen, I posted the recipe over there.

I’ve had a lot of people inquire lately about homemade yogurt – how to do it using the good old pot-jar-towel method – and yes, it’s really that easy, even when it’s close to 30 below (!!) outside. All you need to do is keep the jar warm (glass provides good insulation) and leave it to make itself. I’ve posted the formula over at the Family Kitchen.

‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring – except for a louse. And several hundred of his little buddies. Did you know that’s where the word lousy comes from? And nitpicking? I get it now. Yes, Christmas this year was made memorable by lice, gastrointestinal distress and more laundry in two days than I usually do in a week. On Christmas morning it was decided that we probably shouldn’t make our usual rounds, despite W sporting a freshly shaved head and snug toque, lest we spread more than love this holiday season. So we stayed home, and in fact still have unwrapped gifts under the tree to be opened at such time as we can be declared free and clear. On the upside, there was this turkey – a 22 lb. heritage breed from Winter’s. Divine. Late in the morning we stuffed it, buttered it, salt and peppered it, and let the oven do the rest. ThereContinue reading