Standardby Julie4 Comments

As you may know, I tend to go on about food waste… I’ve been known to orchestrate entire meals around using up a half bunch of slimy cilantro or some wilting kale. I also get a lot of questions about composting, and so when The City of Calgary asked if I would post some guidelines around using your green bin, it seemed like a good idea. (Also, I needed an excuse to share this recipe for compost muffins, so named because you can toss just about anything into them—any grated root vegetable, sweet potato, apples, pears, or you could add berries, dried fruit, and any dairy product nearing the end of its lifespan (yogurt, sour cream, buttermilk, milk).
Keep Reading »

2
Share
,

Standardby Julie0 Comments

It’s that time- Saskatoons are ready for picking on shrubs along my street, at the dog park and along the riverbank… as always, I find myself rooting around for an empty coffee cup or other vessel to fill as I walk. I rarely manage to pick enough for pie, but almost always find enough for a batch of tarts-these are simple, made by simmering berries, sugar and cornstarch and spooning the mixture into pre-baked tart shells. Blueberries work just as well if you want to combine the two, or in case you don’t have access to saskatoons wherever you are.


Keep Reading »

7
Share
, ,

Standardby Julie3 Comments

As happens every year, I get into the habit of frying things during Stampede week, when I’m obligated to make at least one batch of corn dogs and mini donuts. For weeks after, I start seeing everything in the kitchen as potential for the deep-fryer – could it be battered? will it be crispier fried than roasted? I’m often asked what to do with the oil once I’ve used it, and the answer is: I use it again, and again (so long as I’m not cooking things that flavours the oil, like fish) and then once I’m in the habit I refresh the oil and the frying pot sits on my stove and gets used for much of the summer. When you think about it, it beats turning the oven on when it’s 30 degrees.
Keep Reading »

2
Share

Standardby Julie1 Comment

I’m a sucker for anything topped with torched meringue, but my preference is ice cream, baked Alaska-style. (Yes, this is essentially a baked Alaska.. though B.A. is typically frozen in a bowl, so it’s dome-shaped, like this.)

Ice cream “cake” was my birthday cake of choice as a kid.. because really, the scoop of ice cream beside the cake is always the best part. If you’re making it yourself, layered ice cream negates the need to turn on the oven, or even follow a recipe—it’s ideal for the baking intimidated. You don’t require a specific cake pan size (or a cake pan at all, really), and an ice cream “cake” can be made in advance and stashed away in the freezer for days, weeks or even months— until you’re ready to finish it with a simple cooked meringue, which is easy to work with and finish with swirls and flourishes.
Keep Reading »

5
Share

Standardby Julie9 Comments

At this time of year, I’m typically working through my stash of frozen rhubarb as the new crown starts to unfurl again in the back yard. I’ve already used it up during the past month, but managed to squirrel away bags of frozen raspberries and blueberries before grocery shopping became a Big Thing.

I’ve been making this crumb cake, or something like it, for decades—it has become my go-to when I want a buttery, not-to-sweet sort of a cake, layered with whatever fruit happens to be in season (or in the freezer). It’s perfect with rhubarb in the spring, berries in early summer, stone fruit (peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines) in late summer, and apples or pears in the fall. You can mix up the fruit, play around with citrus zest or spices in the batter or crumble, and make use of the last of the yogurt or sour cream. It’s the sort of cake you’ll get to know from memory and mix up whenever you need one, which is quite regularly for me. It’s altogether the epitome of a useful recipe.


Keep Reading »

2
Share
,

Standardby Julie7 Comments

Dirty Blondies

“Dirty” doesn’t have the same edgy cache it did last fall, what with all the hand washing and not touching things, but dirty blondies remain in regular rotation around here nonetheless. W has developed a habit of making these when he wants something cookie-like; they’re like chocolate chip cookies in bar form – blondies with a bit of a chocolate edge that take approximately three minutes to stir together.


Keep Reading »

5
Share
,

Standardby Julie22 Comments

I’ve been making these sticky biscuits for decades (literally!) and somehow haven’t managed to share them here. It’s a ridiculously simple recipe – the dough is stirred together with oil and milk, no butter – and yet they’re far more delicious than I make it sound. Far better than the photo would suggest – I took it with my phone (and missed stills of the process because I was sharing it on Instagram stories!) but truly, I make them over and over. They remind me of the emergency cinnamon biscuits my mom made when we were kids, when my dad was itching for something for dessert. (They don’t seem like an after dinner thing for me now, but there you go.) They’re fantastic as a sort of cobbler topping too – cut the biscuits about half as thick and layer on fresh or frozen fruit (any kind!), tossed with sugar, until bubbly and golden.
Keep Reading »

14
Share
,

Standardby Julie5 Comments

Ice cream cake was my birthday “cake” of choice growing up, and still it’s funny how people get excited over an ice cream cake or pie – I made a few last summer for my latest cookbook, and each time, everyone was thrilled. And yet they’re as easy as it gets – I enlisted my five year old grand-niece to help assemble one, scooping soft ice cream in alternating flavours into a cookie crust, and sprinkling chopped chocolate bars and mini peanut butter cups in between. As it firmed up in the freezer we made a batch of ganache – warmed cream and chocolate that tastes like a smooth melted truffle – to pour overtop. It was a blast, everyone was thrilled, and we didn’t even need to turn on the oven.
Keep Reading »

5
Share
,

Standardby Julie2 Comments

A very wise person with obvious taste over on Twitter had the brilliant idea to make a butter tart pie yesterday, and so naturally I had to drop everything and make one immediately. I know they exist… I don’t think it’s a new idea, though I seem to recall rejecting the idea of a butter tart that wasn’t an actual tart, believing its texture and subtle runniness might be disturbed in pie form – that somehow the ratio of pastry to filling would be thrown off. I was wrong.
Keep Reading »

6
Share