Book Review & Giveaway for The Canning Kitchen by Amy Bronee Canning has filled my summer for several years now. Sometimes, whether I like it or not. I can’t seem to stop myself from ordering kilos of local fruit year after year that are wrangled into jars so they can grace my table during the dreary Canadian winter. My son can eat a jar of home canned peaches in one sitting and there is great satisfaction in spreading on some of my jam onto homemade bread for my boy. Once you have these treasures in your pantry, it is difficult […]
Creamy Tomato Soup with Goat Cheese & Tortellini
I’m a control freak in the kitchen. I like to do things my way which makes it difficult to cook with other people unless they are willing to help out with the dirty work and then stand aside to let me do my thing. My husband is perfectly willing to help me by spatchcocking a chicken, which is a great way to cook a whole chicken, but really gross when you have to crunch through those bones. It brings out my wimpy, squeamish side. Simon is much better at bringing Timothy into the kitchen to help him cook. I […]
Blueberry Maple Preserves
Edit – August 2017: I have omitted adding water to the blueberry preserves I made this year because I now prefer a much thicker preserve that is more like a runny jam. I have adjusted the recipe accordingly but you can certainly still add some water if you prefer a more runny syrup. I found that I ended up with one less jar than when I added water. I also now use 1/2 pint (250 ml) jars because we were wasting quite a bit because we didn’t use a whole pint of preserves quickly enough once a jar was opened. […]
Strawberries with Crème Fraîche and Brown Sugar
Strawberries are my first and truest love when it comes to seasonal eating. I may flirt with strawberries in the winter but I usually feel guilty about my inconstancy. When strawberry season comes to Ontario I fully embrace the experience of picking strawberries, eating strawberries, and breathing in the beautiful scent of fresh local strawberries. Local strawberries mean the true start of summer to me. They arrive when school ends for the year and it is just starting to get really hot. The kind of hot that doesn’t have the slight chill in the breeze that hot days in May can […]
Turkey Stock to Waste Not, Want Not
I don’t bother with New Year’s Resolutions and from the fodder that is cluttering up my Facebook and Twitter feeds, nor do most people. It leads me to think that nobody actually makes New Year’s resolutions. They are as much a myth as a really great New Year’s Eve Party. What did you do on New Year’s Eve? I stayed home, made an inelegant beef stew for dinner (which was delicious) and drank wine with my husband while watching ‘Rome’ on DVD. Kind of a raunchy choice but I do love that series. Sure, there is a lot of gruesome […]
Gluten Free Gingerbread Cookies
With this gluten-free gingerbread recipe, I think a new family tradition has been born. I always do some baking at Christmas, but not always cookie decorating. When Timothy was just over one-year old, his second Christmas, I bought a gingerbread cookie mix from the grocery store and did some feeble decorating. Timothy loved the cookies and ended up having them for dinner on Christmas Eve. I was too busy to do anything last year with being back to work full-time and George having surgery to remove a mass on his bladder. Thankfully it wasn’t cancer but we have been to […]