Preserving is addictive. I started canning with a rhubarb jam that I had been thinking of and before I knew it I was ordering pound after pound of rhubarb from Bailey’s. When strawberry season hit, I knew I was in trouble. I made so much jam last summer that I sold a lot of it at a Christmas craft and jewelry get together that my mom held at the end of November. I remember being in the kitchen sweating over my stove berating myself about why I have bought so much fruit and then ordering more the next day. I […]
Baby Arugula Salad with Prosciutto, Shaved Parmesan and Balsamic Vinaigrette
This is my absolute favourite salad to make. I enjoy other salads that are more difficult to put together but I very seldom make them at home – I leave that for restaurants. This salad is so simple and so satisfying that I find that it is enough for a meal for two. You needn’t worry about getting Prosciutto di Parma from the gourmet deli, although for the salad in the picture I did use the good stuff from Vincenzo’s. I usually make this with the pre-sliced, packaged prosciutto from the deli section at the grocery store. Getting Parmigiano-Reggiano wedges […]
Carrot Cake with Honey and Cream Cheese Icing with a Gluten-Free Option
I have been planning on posting a carrot cake recipe for quite some time. I make carrot cakes twice a year, one cake for each of my dogs’ birthdays. Don’t run away from reading this recipe – this is a human cake and I give a small piece to my dogs as a treat. Every time I would pull out the Canadian Living recipe that I used to make I would cringe at the disgusting amount of sugar and oil that the recipe calls for. I just felt that it was all really unnecessary so I was determined to do […]
Breakfast Banana Bread
Two weekends ago I had a pile of bananas in various stages of nastiness sitting on my counter, which can only mean one thing – banana bread. I already have a banana bread recipe on this site but it is really just a modified version of the lovely, sugar loaded, butter-infused loaf that I grew up with. In essence, my regular banana bread is cake which is nice for a treat but I wanted something that I could eat for breakfast and not feel guilty about. I didn’t want loads of sugar but I didn’t want it to taste like […]
Almond and Parmesan Crusted Chicken Breast Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Sundried Tomatoes
This recipe has had a few versions and it has morphed into a gluten-free recipe out of necessity. I used to make this with half parmesan cheese and half seasoned bread crumbs but that would send my husband to the washroom for the better part of a day so I make it with ground almonds now. You can buy ground almonds and I actually recommend that if you want to speed up the process. Also, the sound that grinding your own almonds makes in the food processor is deafening. I didn’t grind the almonds really finely for this simply because […]
Macaroni and Cheese with Cauliflower and Peas (sauce is Gluten-Free)
It has been quite a while since I have had time to sit down and write a blog post. It has been a very busy few months at my house – I started a new job, George has had another health crisis (x2), and Christmas was thrown in there. As for our Georgie; he is doing much better. He had a tumor removed from his bladder and the diagnosis before it was tested was that he only had a couple months to live. Thankfully, the surgeon who did his surgery back in October for the massive lung infection and subsequent […]
Acorn Squash and Kale Soup
The acorn squashes from my lovely CSA this year were so adorably tiny due to the drought in the summer. I used six little bitty squashes in this recipe where I would have normally just used 3 regular sized acorn squashes. Actually, I don’t know for sure that they are acorn squashes but they look close enough and acorn squash is very easy to find in local grocery stores so I’m sticking to calling these acorn squashes. Feel free to peel your acorn squash but the size of mine and the toughness of the skin on the little buggers made […]
Apple Spice Pancakes
This is definitely my go-to pancake recipe that I make for Timothy and me on weekends. There is a good amount of apple in the batter and they aren’t as doughy as some fluffy pancakes can be. I decided to add some barley flour for some extra taste and for something a little different. I had originally bought the barley flour because it was a main ingredient in some really nice cookies I made from Gwyneth Paltrow’s cookbook. If you don’t have barley flour, or don’t know where to get it (or can’t be bothered), then using only all-purpose flour will be […]
Honey Vanilla Peach Margarita
I’m not actually a big fan of cocktails or hard liquor in general. It is just too strong for me. I am pretty much a wino and not a very knowledgable one either. I usually go with and $11 bottle of Malbec from South America. I do like a good margarita though and not the slushy type. I prefer the mixed, non-blender method with real lime juice. The way this drink came to be was a happy accident, like many great things in this world (such as my Timothy). I canned peaches for the first time this summer and I followed […]
Crispy Red Kale Chips
Like most people who have tried homemade kale chips, I’m hooked. I previously had put it in soup and loved it there but who am I kidding – lighting coating it in olive oil and Maldon Salt will always win. I have read other blogs and heard people talking about these and they say that they are like potato chips. I disagree. They are salty and crispy but they do taste like kale, but only in the best sense. When they are in the oven the steam coming out of the vent does smell a little cabbagy and not in […]