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Chocolate Pavlova with Fresh Fruit
Over the holidays this year, the temperatures were frigid – sometimes as cold as -31 C, but often -20 C, so we spent a lot of time indoors. As a result, my sister Cassie and my mom and I watched a lot of the Great Canadian Baking Show and the Great British Baking Show while quilting and knitting, and it inspired us to try some new things, including this Chocolate Pavlova. Though Cassie swears we’ve made a Pavlova before, I can’t remember ever trying it, so as far as I’m concerned, this was my first one. I was initially going to go with a plain vanilla Pavlova, but Cassie was…
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Turkey Stuffing
In my hands, Turkey Stuffing isn’t a very precise thing – I think it’s one of those subjective foods that every family – or every person – likes done differently. It’s a recipe that I’ve been helping out with since I was a kid, as small hands are good for tearing loaves of bread into small chunks, and it’s sometimes a whole family effort, as you consult everyone to make sure it looks/smells right before going in to the oven. As a kid, I was a huge fan of my Grandma Shaw’s extremely peppery stuffings, though I think I was the only one who liked it like that. Because my sisters…
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Bûche de Noël
Bûche de Noël is a recent Christmas dessert for us, so not really a tradition yet, and only time will tell if it becomes one. I definitely intend on making it this year for our family dinner; we tried it last year for the first time, and my sister Cassie and I were surprised at how relatively easy and quick it was. And of course, everyone liked it, which is the most important part! The year before, I’d tried making a Black Forest Cake (I’ll probably post the recipe eventually, but I’m not like, enthusiastic about it), which was a lot of faff and not that great, in the end,…
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Penuche (Brown Sugar Fudge)
In looking around online to see what other versions of Penuche call for, I’ve found that it or something very similar to it has a million names – Tablet in Scotland, Sucre à la Crème in Quebec, Russian Fudge in New Zealand and Australia, Panoche in Hawaii and the Southern USA – but the recipe that was shown to me, scribbled on a piece of paper, called it Penuche. Every year on Christmas Eve, for as long as I can remember, we’ve gone to my Aunt Wendy’s house for dinner. When I was a kid, it was a madhouse – a million kids and adults, overhead, underfoot, out on the lake playing…
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Cranberry Sauce
Is there an easier thing in the world than home made cranberry sauce? I mean, yes, opening a can is easier, but this recipe takes 20 minutes tops and tastes a million times better than whatever you get out of a can. Gorgeous, ruby-red cranberry sauce is perfect as is – you can certainly add all kinds of other things, but I think it’s best kept basic – sugar, water, cranberries. Cranberry sauce is one of my favourite things about any turkey dinner – I really just use turkey as a cranberry sauce delivery system – and I always make my own. I love the beautiful reds of the berries,…
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Croissants
2019 Update: I’ve cleaned up the recipe to make it easier to understand, and added new photos. 2017 Update: I first published this recipe in 2009, at which time we’d been making croissants for three years, so it looks like it’s been a family tradition for more than a decade now. It’s nice to see things you’ve come to know and love have longevity; I remember when we began creating the traditions that we wouldn’t do without, after years of sad, stressed, miserable Christmases. Now it’s a time of year we all look forward to, which is the best thing. Original post 2009: Croissants have started to become a Christmas…
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Snickerdoodles
2017 Update: I associate Snickerdoodles with Christmas, not because my family necessarily loves them but because I do, and anything sugary and cinnamony is bound to seem Christmassy to me. I’ve rarely seen this recipe posted anywhere, which surprises me because these cookies are delicious. I got the recipe when I worked at Lang Pioneer Village as a costumed interpreter, baking on the old wood-fired cast iron stoves in the Keene Hotel or the Milburn House, learning to gauge temperature based on how quickly your arm-hair felt singed when you stuck your arm in the oven. Unfortunately, an electric or gas oven can’t replicate the particularly delicious flavour that a…
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Christmas Morning Berry Strata
Another of our Christmas traditions is this Christmas Morning Berry Strata, which we make in part in homage to my sisters’ favourite Christmas movie, The Family Stone. Spending time in the kitchen with my sisters, with my mom coming through occasionally and grumbling about why we bother making all of this food, is one of my favourite things about Christmas at home; all of the different things we make give a rhythm to the days that feels good. The watercolour above was painted by my sister Cassandra as a part of her 2022 watercolour journal; once she has prints for sale, I’ll link to them here. It’s easy to prepare…
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Roasted Red Pepper Ketchup
I’ve been making this ketchup recipe for years, and it’s super-delicious. I give jars of preserves as gifts at Ecksmas, and literally have people fighting over these ones in particular (the people who love the Mango Chutney are, oddly, much more chill about it). As with most canning, this recipe is mostly just washing things – the canning jars and lids, the produce, the tools you’re using – and prepping the produce; once it goes in the pot, it’s very simple. I know it looks like a lot of steps, but if you give it a quick read-through, you’ll see they’re all pretty straightforward. I like to make sure each…
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Balela Salad
I’m always up for a nice bean salad – they remind me of Summer picnics, and this Balela Salad – loosely based on the Middle Eastern dish – would be a great addition to any picnic or potluck. Vegan, gluten-free, and delicious, this salad is perfect if you’re hoping to feed a crowd of people with diverse dietary restrictions. It’s also great for lunches, as the fibre will keep you feeling full until the day is over. It’s also a bit addictive, especially after it’s had a day to marinate in the fridge. You can serve it with pita or some fresh bread, but it’s perfectly fine on its…
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Tuscan Chicken Skillet
I’m always looking for reasonably quick, easy recipes that are reasonably healthy and freeze well, so that I can take them to work for lunch. Tuscan Chicken Skillet ticks all of the boxes, but it’s also super-delicious. It’s nice, when you’re surrounded by take-out lunch options that aren’t great for your but are incredibly tempting, to have something home-cooked and tasty ready to go. I try to spend Sunday nights cooking, so that I can eat well all week, and though it’s not always possible, when I do have the time it’s awesome. I’ll note that this recipe was initially written up as a low-mess, one pot meal,…
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Roasted Cauliflower with Sesame Seed Oil
Easy and delicious (though admittedly not beautiful), I made Roasted Cauliflower with Sesame Seed Oil last night and ended up eating almost an entire head of cauliflower by myself. Technically I guess it’s a side dish, and a super-tasty one, but it’s the kind of thing I’m likely to eat as a main, because it’s quick and really filling. This simple recipe works best if you have a roasting dish that just barely fits the dish, and that also has a lid. This will help keep the cauliflower moist, and also helps the sesame oil flavour to infuse the cauliflower, which is totally amazing. Sesame oil is one of my favourite…
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Crepes
Crepes are such a simple recipe, but the real work is in the frying, which is a sort of alchemy of heat and timing. Crepes in the pan aren’t something you can walk away from; they need your complete attention, something I’m not always very good at. When we were kids, Nana Cynthia ((You can read her diaries from her teenage years in/around London during the Blitz in WWII here.)) used to make us crepes; always the same delicious topping, lemon juice and confectioner’s sugar. I’m a little taken aback by the weird combos that you can get on crepes – fruit, whipped cream, whatever – when in my opinion, they are always…
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Sweet Potato Salad with Orange-Maple Dressing
Sweet Potato Salad with Orange-Maple Dressing - delicious, flavourful, and great energy food that kept me going when all I wanted to do was lie down in the grass and sleep.
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Nana’s Tea Biscuits
When I was little, we spent a lot of time at my Nana Cynthia’s house, and she involved us in making many delicious things. Several of my favourite recipes have come from her. Whether eating or hanging out, the kitchen was the centre of the home and definitely her domain – most of my memories of her are in her kitchen, a lit cigarette ((Always Player’s Plain!)) in one hand, and a glass of Papa’s home-made, sweet red wine in the other, telling me stories about her life as a teenager in and near London during WWII. She died a couple of years ago, and my mom has been…
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Simple Spaghetti with Sausage
Sometimes I just crave tomato sauce; not fresh tomatoes, or even cooked ones, but that hyper-sweet, almost candy-like tomato sauce that was a staple of my childhood spaghettis. I’m still working on this one – maybe more wine, some thyme, some balsamic vinegar? I feel like it needs a little more umph. But when I’m just straight-up craving tomato sauce, this will more than do the trick. I guess it doesn’t matter that’s it’s not complex – it’s easy to make, and good to eat! I’ve been using Yellow Tail Shiraz to make this dish, because you end up with a lot of leftover wine, and it might as well…
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Jalapeno-Cheese Dip
A delicious, spicy, cheesy indulgence! My sisters and I made this Jalapeno-Cheese Dip for the first time last February, when I’d just moved to Toronto for a new job and was feeling quite lonely in the big city. They came up to visit, and we made and ate this while mostly-ignoring the Super Bowl in my big, weird empty condo sublet. It’s definitely comfort food, definitely not an everyday dish, but a good warming appetizer for special occasions (like sister nights!). 2 8-oz packages of cream cheese 1 cup of mayonnaise 4-6 jalapenos, chopped and deseeded 1 cup of cheddar cheese, shredded 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese, shredded 1/4 cup diced green…
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Buttermilk Pancakes
When I bake my favourite Chocolate Cupcake recipe, I’m always left with a huge amount of leftover buttermilk and no real idea what to do with it. Often enough, it would end up going to waste, until I started making this recipe. I always think of pancakes as being heavy, boring, and a bit of a hassle to make, but these Buttermilk Pancakes are quick, easy, and fluffy, and pretty good even without maple syrup. I bet they’d be great with honey, too, or with a little lemon juice and icing sugar, like Nana’s Crepes. Ingredients 2 eggs 2 cups all-purpose flour 2 tablespoons sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder 1…
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Chocolate Cupcakes
I swear, these chocolate cupcakes are the easiest thing in the whole world. You mix it all in one bowl. Â It takes less than 15 minutes, and then you pop them in the oven. Â Easy-peasy. Like many a child of the 80s, I grew up with cupcakes and cakes made from boxed cake mixes. Â Once I started baking and realized that making cakes from scratch required very little extra work, and resulted in a vastly superior flavour, I was kind-of confused as to why anyone thought that those boxed cake mixes were a good idea. To me, they always end up tasting like stale vegetable oil and sugar, even more…
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Ugly Soup
This is a recipe from my good friend and longtime co-conspirator Ashley, who is a great cook and sometimes posts recipes here. Some years ago when I was feeling pretty under-the-weather, she shared with me this recipe for a soup that she created. This is totally comfort food, for me, when the cold weather hits; it’s essentially a Chicken Noodle Soup, if Chicken Noodle Soup wasn’t salty, bland, and disgusting and was instead somewhat heavenly and delicious. Anyway, now you know where I stand on Chicken Noodle Soup. This recipe will do all of the things you want from said grotty soup, but will do them with vim, vigour, and…
