local lunch box

the return of rhubarb

2012-02-11T16:25:00.000-08:00

You know those sad looking trays of produce, sitting forlornly on the reduce sale rack? This is the best place to start a recipe. Often fruit and vegetables that are almost overripe are the perfect, most flavorful start to a meal.

For example, the other day, I bought a tray of apples: a few Galas, a handful of Macintosh and a Honey Crisp: for 79 cents! This was the makings of a delicious applesauce, which, by the way, is always tastiest when you use a combination of apple varieties. And a few bruises don't really matter.

My second find at Fiesta Farms: rhubarb. It may seem strange in the middle of February, but the are a number of farms around Toronto that grow greenhouse rhubarb.

The bruised apples and the winter rhubarb ran into some honey, cinnamon and vanilla, and turned into this pink, sweet-sour applesauce. Here it is.

rhubarb applesauce with vanilla and honey
8 apples, peeled, cored and diced
4 large rhubarb stalks, chopped
1/2 cup water
1/4 to 1/2 cup of honey (depending on how much you love sour rhubarb flavour)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla paste

Combine all ingredients in a pot. Bring to a boil, then turn down to low and simmer for an hour. If you like your applesauce very smooth, you can puree it at this point.

Breakfast time! Here's the applesauce with some granola and yogurt in a delicious parfait.

homemade ketchup

2012-02-03T11:06:00.000-08:00

why bother? because it's sooooo delicious. Since there's so much acidity- tomatoes, vinegar - it will keep for around a month in your fridge. But trust me, you'll use it up long before then.

(As a side note - if you love homemade ketchup, with St. John's bread and Monteforte cheese in gooey grilled cheese sandwiches, along with many other delicious foods, you should come to Wychwood barns on Saturday mornings! There's a year-round farmer's market, and The Stop runs a Market Cafe, from 9AM to noon, where all sorts of brunch/lunch foods are served. I volunteer there, along with some other very talented cooks, so I can vouch for how tasty and mouthwatering the food is - and all the profits go back into The Stop's amazing food and gardening programs.)

homemade ketchup
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cans of whole tomatoes, including juice
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cider vinegar
salt and pepper
freshly grated nutmeg
2 tbsp dry mustard powder
pinch of cayenne

Saute onions and garlic in olive oil, until onion is translucent. Add all other ingredients, and simmer on medium-low heat for 45 minutes. Stir every once in a while, to make sure there's no sticking in the bottom of the pan. You might want to keep it partially covered, because there will be spattering. After 45 minutes, taste it! Add more sugar, vinegar or salt to you liking. Finally, puree with an immersion blender, or with a blender. If you like really thick, glossy ketchup, you can return it to low heat, and cook for another 10-20 minutes, but you have to watch it closely and stir often to keep it from burning. Really, this step is only if you want to go the extra mile.

Store in a container in the fridge for up to a month. Eat with grilled cheese, eggs, oven fries, where ever you'd eat that bland, sugary heinz ketchup (which will never look the same, after you taste this upgrade!).

ginger, ginger, ginger

2012-01-25T19:20:00.000-08:00

Ginger ginger ginger! So spicy, complex, delicious: pickled, in asian dishes, candied or in syrup. Last week I tried to make my own candied ginger. It turned out a little drier and more caramelized than I would have liked, but delicious none the less. David Lebovitz told me to slice the ginger as finely as possible, which I think was my downfall - I went overboard. Anyways, here's the recipes I used:

Alton Brown's Candied Ginger and David Lebovitz's Candied Ginger

What to do with all that ginger? Dip in in chocolate, mix it into granola, throw into baked goods. Eat it straight!

Also, I found myself with a bunch of left over simple syrup, strongly flavoured with ginger. I boiled it down and mixed in a cup or so of honey: voila! Ginger honey! Delicious in hot water with lemon to take off the winter chill.

my favourite lunch: grilled cheese

2012-01-25T18:04:00.000-08:00

brie and apple grilled cheese

The best combination - creamy brie, sweet apples, crispy, buttery bread. A revelation: mustard is awesome in grilled cheese, and of course I'm talking about Koslick's awesome maple mustard (the mustard man at St. Lawrence Market).

This sandwich here? Triple creme brie, thinly sliced apples, maple mustard and olive oil.

I'm not going to give you instructions on how to make a grilled cheese, I think it's a skill most of us learned early on in the kitchen. I am, however, going to suggest that you reconsider your ingredients and switch things up. Use new types of bread, olive oil instead of butter, exciting cheeses, condiments, tomatoes, apples, caramelized onions... the possibilities are endless!

A new trick I learned? Using my new mandolin to cut the apple slices. They were so thin that they cooked right through in the sandwich, making a gooey, soft and sweet centre.

meet mr. mandoline

2012-01-25T17:43:00.000-08:00

Mandolines are a slightly scary kitchen tool - one wrong move and you've shaved off the end of your finger. However, everything fun is a little bit dangerous, right? A mandolin is a necessary tool for creating paper-thin slices, beautiful and delicious in many recipes. Think of finely sliced potatoes in a gratin, or ribbons of beets or carrots for salads.

Here's a fast, fresh salad for winter - storage carrots and greenhouse cucumbers in delicate ribbons, with tangy, lemon dressing.

carrot and cucumber salad

1 carrot, scrubbed and sliced on a mandoline
1/2 cucumber, sliced on a mandoline
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tbsp olive oil
a handful of cilantro, chopped
salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Toss to combine!

dumplings, rice and sweet carrots

2012-01-17T11:26:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking a lot recently about the idea of menu planning - that perfect combination of dishes, connected by a theme, ingredient, season, region or feeling. Especially in Toronto, where every possible type of food is available, meals can sometimes become a mash-up of ingredients and dishes that don't really work together. But once in a while, a menu works perfectly. All the flavours work together. And don't forget the weather - beyond the simple fact of season, winter is a time for filling, starchy, hearty meals. Think roots, apples, vegetables that store well, spices and flavours that warm you up.

Menu planning can be difficult. It involves planning ahead, the mix-and-matching of recipes and ingredients. Try looking at the back of your favourite cookbook for ideas. Often, authors will group recipes by culture, theme or season. Or, check out Jamie Oliver's new cookbook Meals in Minutes. He's done all the work for you, and created tons of delicious meals, complete with side dishes and desserts.

Here's an asian inspired dinner for my boyfriend, complete with his favourite pot stickers and some green, spinachy rice. I didn't include a dessert, but a tapioca or rice pudding would finish the meal off spectacularly.

split pea or pork dumplings - green sesame rice - braised carrots with sesame and honey

dumplings
I posted a detailed recipe for dumplings a few weeks ago, but here's a list of filling ideas. Remember, you can pan-fry, steam, or boil these little guys in soup or broth! They are incredible versatile and freeze very well.

Traditional pork filling, from Epicurious
Yellow split pea, from 101 Cookbooks
Tofu and veggies, from Alton Brown
Tempeh potstickers, from Herbivoracious

green sesame rice
inspired by this post at They Draw and Cook - Sesame Green Rice. I used spinach instead of kale, but only because a certain someone who lives with me hasn't warmed up to the deliciousness of kale. Yet.

braised carrots with sesame and honey
Try substituting maple syrup and olive oil for a vegan version. Braising is a great, fast way to prepare root vegetables - it's fast like boiling, but you reduce the cooking liquid down to keep all the nutrients in the dish.

4 or 5 carrots, peeled and cut in 1 inch chunks
1 cup water
1 tbsp honey (or maple syrup)
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
Sesame oil, salt and pepper

Combine carrots, water, honey and butter in a pot. Bring to a boil, and simmer until almost all the liquid is gone. Turn the heat down, and sauté for another minute, stirring frequently. Add the sesame seeds, and finish with a splash of sesame oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

vegetarian carbonara

2012-01-17T11:12:00.000-08:00

Carbonara, whatever kind of noodle you choose, usually has bacon, parmesan and eggs. Yes, eggs! That creamy sauce is created not with cream, but by stirring eggs into hot, cooked pasta (although if you order carbonara outside of Italy, it probably has cream in it). Here's a delicious recipe I found by way of 101 Cookbooks January favourites list - Pasta with Greens "Carbonara" from Gilt Taste.

(The byline says it's for bacon lovers, but without bacon; because as any vegetarian will tell you, if they were forced to eat meat, they would choose bacon. It's been the undoing of many a herbivore.)

espresso chili, cheddar cornbread and kale slaw

2012-01-10T10:49:00.000-08:00

Here's a great winter menu: hearty, rich espresso chili, with a crispy cheddar cornbread for dipping, followed by a wintery and fresh kale slaw

Who doesn't want a big bowl of chilli after a weekend of skating and sledding? Well, no sledding yet, still waiting for that snow, but I've definitely been breaking in my new hockey skates.

This chili is a nice departure from plain old tomato-chili powder-onions fare. Every time I make a staple dish (vegetable stew, quiche, squash soup), I like to try out a new flavour combination or recipe. It keeps things interesting! This one is from David Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. The cornbread is also from his cookbook, but I added cheese, corn and green onions to spice things up.

(Even my cat thinks it smells delicious.) The kale slaw is from the Moosewood Collective's Cooking for Health, except I used my own favourite salad dressing instead of their suggestion. Like other vinaigrette coleslaws, it keeps well in the fridge for a few days.

espresso chili
3 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tbsp chili powder
1 can diced or crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup strong coffee or espresso
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cinnamon stick
2 cups dried pinto or black beans, soaked overnight and cooked
(or 2 14-oz cans of cooked beans, rinsed)
salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions, and cook 5 minutes. Add garlic and chili powder, and cook another minute. Add tomatoes, coffee, brown sugar, cinnamon, beans, salt and pepper. Simmer for 1 hour, covered, on low heat, stirring every once in a while. Serve with this delicious cornbread...

cheddar cornbread
2 tbsp butter
1 1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 cup buttermilk or yogurt
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 green onion, minced
1 cup frozen corn kernels

If you have a cast iron skillet, use it! Preheat the oven to 350, and pop the skillet in the oven with the butter. (Preheating the skillet with help develop a crispy, buttery crust.) If you don't have a skillet, grease a 9x9 pan with the butter. Combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, beat together the egg and buttermilk. Combine the flour mixture and the egg-milk mixture. Stir until just combined. Stir in cheese, onion and corn. Pour into skillet or pan, and bake for 20-25 minutes, until a fork comes out clean and the edges are browned.

kale slaw
1 apple, grated
1 carrot, grated
1/4 head of cabbage (about 1 cup grated)
4 or 5 large dino (aka black) kale leaves, stems removed, sliced finely
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp cider vinegar
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp grainy mustard
salt and pepper

In a bowl, combine apple, carrot, cabbage and kale. You want to kale and cabbage sliced as finely as possible - use a grater attachment on a food processor, or a mandolin if you have one. In a jar, combine oil, vinegar, maple syrup, mustard, salt and pepper. Close the jar, and shake to help emulsify the dressing. Pour over salad, mix, and let sit at room temperature for half an hour. This helps soften the kale and cabbage.

candied orange slices

2012-01-05T20:47:00.000-08:00

candied orange slices
4 cups sugar plus another 1/2 cup
4 cups water
1 cinnamon sticks
4 or 5 star anise pieces
10 cloves
2 oranges, cold from the fridge

Combine 4 cups sugar, water and spices in a large pot. Bring to a boil, and simmer until the sugar dissolves. Slice the oranges as thin as possible - about an 1/8th of a inch. Using one orange at a time - around 15 slices - put the oranges in the pot. Simmer for about 30 minutes, then flip the oranges over, and simmer for another 30 minutes. Remove the oranges, and dry them in the oven for an hour at 200 degrees, on a wire rack. Finally, sprinkle another 1/2 cup sugar on the orange slices before they cool. This will absorb any moisture that's left. One last step that will make these even more delicious: dip them in melted chocolate! They'll keep for a few weeks in a container at room temperature.

(Don't throw out the simple syrup that's left over from cooking the oranges - check out this recipe for a way to use it up - spiced apple gin fizz).

spiced apple gin fizz

2012-01-05T18:57:00.000-08:00

I invented this for my christmas party, only because I had a bunch of simple syrup leftover from making candied orange slices. However, simple syrup is great to have around for creating all sorts of cocktails and non-boozy drinks. Just combine equal parts of sugar and water in a pot, and simmer until the sugar dissolves. You can flavour it with whatever you like: mint, tea bags, citrus zest or ginger. For this recipe, I steeped star anise, cinnamon sticks, cloves and orange zest in the simple syrup. It will keep for months in the fridge.

spiced apple gin fizz
1 oz gin
1/2 oz spiced simple syrup
2 oz apple cider
2 oz club soda

Combine all ingredients over ice and stir.

(if you want to be real fancy, try freezing cranberries in ice cubes - it turns plain old ice cubes into gorgeous, festive drink coolers!)

homemade orange liquor

2011-12-21T13:08:00.000-08:00

In Europe, there's a common aperitif called '44.' It contains one orange, 44 coffee beans, 44 sugar cubes, and enough vodka to cover the whole thing for 44 days, while it infuses.

I reduced the sugar, and used clementines, purely because I didn't have a sealed container that an orange would fit in. The hardest part? Waiting over a month!

There's something delightful about stabbing an orange and tucking little coffee beans in the pockets, as well as the delicious smell of coffee and oranges while you're preparing it.

44 (orange coffee liquor)

1 orange, or 3 clementines

(I suggest using unwaxed, organic ones - you don't want waxes and pesticides seeping into your liquor)

44 coffee beans

1/2 cup sugar

enough vodka to cover everything (about a mickey)

Scrub orange or clementines. Stab all over with a knife. Push coffee beans into the holes. Put orange, sugar and vodka in a sealed jar. Shake every day, for 44 days. Enjoy by itself, over ice, or invent some delicious cocktails - anything where an orange/coffee flavour would be tasty.

arts and crafts

2011-12-21T11:57:00.000-08:00

Homemade gift wrap is kitschy, elegant and thoughtful all at once. This craft brought me back to kindergarten - potatoes make great stamps for little hands! Can you tell I want to be an elementary school teacher? You can buy rolls of craft paper at any art store, and I even found mine at shoppers drug mart. Try all sorts of shapes - potatoes are actually very easy and forgiving when carving. I used purple, not just because it's my favourite colour, but if I have any left over, it's acceptable for birthday present wrapping.

Stamped wrapping paper
kraft paper
potatoes
sharp knife
acrylic paint
glitter (optional but so necessary)

Cut a third of the potato off. Either press the potato into a cookie cutter and carve out around the edges, or carve your own design free-form. Spread some paint on recycled cardboard (your own little paint tray), and stamp away! Shake on glitter while the paint is wet.

Origami ornaments
Another christmas craft - I don't have a substantial collection of christmas ornaments yet, so I found my tree looking kind of bare this year. Instead of buying cheap christmas balls, I bought a package of silver origami paper at a craft store, and found this design for an 8-sided star. To make them last, you can shellack origami figures.

Finally, popcorn garlands are a festive, cheap decoration, especially if you alternate with cranberries. Just keep them away from curious kitties, or else you'll have a mangled garland and a pile of kitty popcorn puke. It could happen.

braised parsnip and apple soup

2011-12-10T21:30:00.001-08:00

Braising: a happy place between sautéing and boiling. The speed of steam and liquid, and the rich flavour of browning and condensing. Amazing!

Sometimes it's nice to have a simple soup, with only one or two main flavours. This one is earthy and sweet, with a lovely pairing of apples and parsnips. If you don't have apple cider, just add an extra 1/2 cup of broth. Also, use oil instead of butter for a vegan soup.

I got the idea for this from Mark Bittman's cookbook, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. This is a take on his braised carrot soup. (such a good cookbook- very accessible, very comprehensive).

braised parsnip and apple soup

3 or 4 medium parsnips, peeled and sliced
3/4 cup water
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp maple syrup
salt and pepper, to taste
1 apple
3 or 4 cups of vegetable broth
1/2 cup apple cider

Put parsnips, water, butter, maple syrup, salt and pepper in a pot. Bring to a boil, turn down to medium, and cook, covered for 5 minutes. Uncover, add apples, turn heat to high, and cook until almost all the liquid is gone. Stir frequently to prevent burning. Add vegetable broth and cider, and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until parsnips are very soft. Use an immersion blender (or food processor/blender) to puree.

butternut squash hummus and homemade crackers

2011-12-08T20:10:00.001-08:00

Last week I headed up North to visit my friend, who is working as a dog sled guide for the winter. Not only did I get to spend some quality time with my friend, I got to hang out with 400 gorgeous sled dogs for a few days.

For the train ride home, Vanessa packed me some hummus that she made the night before. Some of it made back to my house, and onto these crackers (another recipe from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian). Leave out the parmesan cheese for a vegan cracker.

Traditionally, hummus has tahini and lemon juice in it, but peanut butter and cider vinegar take their place in this version that Vanessa invented.

butternut squash hummus

1 cup roasted butternut squash

1 can cooked chickpeas

2 tbsp peanut butter

2 tbsp cider vinegar

2 cloves garlic

salt and pepper

Puree everything in a food processor. Add a few tablespoons of water if you want a thinner consistency. Adjust the vinegar and peanut butter to taste.

parmesan and sesame crackers

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup grated parmesan

1 tsp salt + more for sprinkling

2 or 3 tbsp sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 400. Combine flours, oil, parmesan and salt in a food processor. Pulse to combine. Add 1/4 to 1/3 cup water slowly, while pulsing, until the dough holds together. Roll the dough out on a floured surface, to 1/8 inch thickness, or even thinner. Basically, as thin as you can get it.

Score wedges or a grid with a knife, so the crackers will break apart nicely later. Transfer onto a parchment lined cookie sheet by gently rolling the dough around your rolling pin, then unrolling it on the cookie sheet. Sprinkle with more salt and sesame seeds. Gently press the sesame seeds onto the dough with your palms, to help them adhere to the crackers. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until golden. Cool, break apart, and serve with dips and cheeses!

warm brussels sprouts and apple salad

2011-12-04T11:43:00.001-08:00

Brussels Sprout and Apple salad

1 pint brussels sprouts, shredded
1 apple, in 1 inch pieces
walnuts
olive oil
salt and pepper
maple syrup
(possible additions- roasted garlic, caramelized onions)

In a dry pan with no oil, toast walnuts, stirring so all sides of the nuts get toasted. Set aside and wipe pan clean. Heat some olive oil. Add apple, and sauté for 2 minutes. Add Brussels sprouts and cook until starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste, and a few tsps of maple syrup. Serve immediately, since Brussels sprouts don't like to wait around (they get bitter).

coconut vanilla tapioca

2011-11-28T20:13:00.001-08:00

Cooking with whole vanilla beans takes everything up a notch. It's like any of those premium, flavourful ingredients: truffle oil, saffron, maldon sea salt - it suddenly makes everything taste like a million bucks. I used a mix of cream, coconut milk and almond milk because that was what I had in my fridge; the cream adds some richness, but you can omit it for a vegan version - just use more coconut or almond milk.

Also, I found that making your own jam means you need to be more creative with it - it's time to move beyond peanut butter and jam sandwiches. A less sugary jam like this strawberry and rhubarb one makes a lovely topping for all kinds of desserts.

coconut vanilla tapioca

1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup 10% cream
1/2 cup almond milk
1 vanilla bean
1/3 cup large tapioca pearls (larger than minute tapioca, smaller than the bubble tea ones)
1/3 cup sugar
pinch of salt

Simmer milks and cream in a saucepan. Split vanilla bean and scrape seeds into milk/cream, then throw in bean too. After the milk has infused for 5 minutes, add tapioca, sugar and salt. Cook on low heat, stirring often for 15 to 20 minutes. Add a bit more milk if it dries out before the tapioca is cooked through. Remove the vanilla bean.

Serve hot or cold, with some jam on top.

the last of the bike rides

2011-11-26T13:00:00.001-08:00

After one too many ice falls, I'm going to be putting away my bike as soon as the snow hits the ground. I know, lame. I have lots of respect for all season bikers, but I just don't have the perseverance to join their ranks. Here's some beautiful art I found on my bike ride this morning. (It seems the Don Valley bike path has yet to be attacked by Rob Ford's war on graffiti.)

(I suspect there's a feral cat colony down here - right below the cat graffiti, beside a hole under the fence, there's usually an empty plastic bowl with cat chow scattered around on the ground. I've only ever seen one cat, but those guys are excellent at hiding.)

st. lawrence market

2011-11-26T12:46:00.001-08:00

Where else can you get birch syrup, blood oranges, a kettle shaped like a camel, pink sea salt, New Zeland honey, Montreal-style bagels, honey crisp apples, dutch liquorice, balsamic-fig mustard and apple bananas (yes, apple bananas)?

The Market. Which market? The oldest one in the city, of course! For over 200 years, there's been a market at the corner of Front and Jarvis. The lake use to reach right up to the back, and boats would unload goods directly into the market.

My favourite things to buy:

Koslik's maple mustard (try it on grilled cheese)
Future Bakery's market bread (soft with a crunchy, french style crust)
Buster's halibut sandwich (the best fish sandwich in Toronto, I have dreams about these)
chalk liquorice at Domino's in the basement (my Dutch addiction from when I worked at a candy store)
Stonemill Bakery's chocolate-marzipan croisant (fresh from the oven, almonds and chocolate, what could be better?)

And of course, all the delicious, seasonal produce in the North Market. This week: acorn and butternut squashes, brussels sprouts, nantes carrots, liberty apples and cabbage.

Saturday is not for the faint of heart - come prepared with bags, and get ready for huge crowds. However, this is the only day the North Market is open (5am to 1pm), where a plethora of Ontario produce, meat, honey and breads can be found. During the week, (Tuesday to Sat, 9am to 7), the South Market has stalls from around the world, and the crowds are much more manageable.

Go! What are you waiting for! Be prepared for the most delicious food experience ever.

(And, pick up some of these heirloom potatoes - the most beautiful colours.)

pear raspberry crumble

2011-11-26T12:42:00.001-08:00

Crumble is my go-to dessert, because the ingredients are always in my house. Fruit? Check. Oats, flour and sugar? Check. Butter? Definitely check. This is a recipe for last minute dinners, unexpected house guests, and middle of the night cravings.

Pear and raspberry crumble

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cold, unsalted butter (or grape seed oil for a vegan version)
1/4 cup walnuts
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
2 cups raspberries
4 or 5 pears, chopped in 1 to 2 in chunks
(don't worry about peeling them)
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. Combine flour, oats, sugar, butter, walnuts, cinnamon and salt in a food processor. Pulse until combined. In a greased baking dish, combine raspberries, pears, sugar and cinnamon. Toss to combine. Spread topping mixture over top. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until top is crispy, and fruit is cooked through.

revisiting old recipes

2011-11-16T09:48:00.001-08:00

Last week I made these, Cranberry orange spelt muffins, back from the first recipe I posted on this blog.

It's nice to go back and look at old recipes - sometimes you'll discover a gem you completely forgot about. I love looking though my mom's recipe box - complete with handwritten recipes from my grandma's kitchen, back in the Prairies in the 50s'. Another idea is keeping a recipe notebook - write down notes about meals to try, cookbooks to read and best loved recipes you will make again.

I organized all my recipes from this blog, have a look at the link at the top of the page!

raspberry flax pancakes

2011-11-16T09:21:00.001-08:00

This recipe is from Moosewood Kitchen's latest cookbook, Cooking for Health. I modified them a bit, only because the recipe called for 2 eggs, and I only had one. I substituted half a mashed banana, and I really like the slight banana flavour. Feel free to add a different fruit other that raspberries, or some spices like cinnamon. If you like sweeter pancakes, you might want to add a few teaspoons of sugar to the batter.

This makes about 15 small pancakes, so if you feel that's too many, just freeze some - cook all the pancakes, and once they're cooled, freeze them in zip locks, separated by parchment paper. Put the frozen pancakes directly into the oven or toaster oven to heat them up before eating.

Also, try using whole wheat pastry flour, also called soft whole wheat flour. It's a great flour to use in cookies and sweet baked things, and really makes a difference in the texture of the pancakes.

raspberry flax pancakes

1/4 cup whole flax seeds
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

1 egg
1/2 mashed banana
1 cup full fat yogurt
1/4 cup mild vegetable oil
1 cup water
1 tsp vanilla

zest from one orange
1 cup frozen or fresh raspberries

Grind oatmeal and flax seeds in a food processor, until it's the texture of cornmeal. Combine all dry ingredient in a bowl, and whisk together. In a separate bowl, beat eggs, banana, yogurt, oil, water, vanilla and zest. Pour wet ingredients into dry, and stir until just combined. Finally, stir in raspberries.

Cook on a griddle, about 2 minutes on each side. Serve with butter, fruit and maple syrup.

crumbly oatmeal and herb quiche crust

2011-11-15T18:23:00.001-08:00

You know when you get to the end of a loaf of sandwich bread? Those two end pieces that are left in the bag, that no one wants to eat? Make bread crumbs out of them. In fact, if you're like me, and you keep your bread in the freezer, just keep a bag for the butt ends of loaves, then toast them all up at once every few months.

Toast them, tear them up, and throw them in the food processor. Voila, bread crumbs.

Here's my favourite quiche recipe. This is from The Enchanted Broccoli Forest, a vegetarian cookbook classic by Mollie Katzen. Quiche is amazing, because you can use any combination of cheese, vegetables and crust. I've made pastry crusts, mashed potato crusts, and nut crusts. But this one is by far the easiest and tastiest.

You know what else? Quiche is good anytime of the day - it's eggy, so you can eat if for breakfast, it's awesome for lunch, cold with a salad, and it's definitely acceptable as a dinner, with a side of vegetables and grains.

And although I have never tried it, I hear vegan quiche can be delicious. Here's a Vegan quiche from Oprah, or 101 Cookbooks Spinach Mushroom Quiche, both made with tofu instead of eggs.

crumbly oatmeal and herb crust
1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 rolled oats
pinch salt
a few tsp of dried herbs (thyme, marjoram, oregano)
1/2 cup melted butter or grape seed oil

Mix all dry ingredients. Drizzle butter or oil over top, and stir to combine. Press into a pie plate, and pre-bake for 10 minutes at 350. When it's done, turn the oven up to 375 for the quiche

the quiche formula
1 cup cheese, grated or crumbled
3 eggs
1 cup milk (unsweetened almond or soy will work fine)

Take your cooked crust, and spread your cheese around the bottom of the crust. The fat in the cheese will help create a barrier between the crust and veggies that will prevent the crust from getting soggy. Now, get creative - you have your crust and cheese, now you need some veggies. Here's some ideas:

Sautéed spinach, nutmeg, and caramelized onions
Grated carrots and parsnips, sautéed with leeks
Roasted peppers and garlic
Steamed asparagus with fresh herbs

Whatever vegetable filling you choose, you don't want a lot of moisture. Spread you vegetables on top of the cheese.

Finally, the custard. Beat together egg and milk, and season with salt and pepper. Pour the custard over the vegetables. Finally, sprinkle some paprika over the custard. Bake at 375 for 35 to 45 minutes, until egg is set. Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

oatmeal with caramelized bananas

2011-11-15T11:36:00.001-08:00

There's something about cooking bananas that makes them sing. They develop a sweet, complex flavour that's totally different than fresh bananas, and they make a plain old bowl of oatmeal so much more exciting. Make these bananas as a topping for all sort of things: pancakes, waffles, tapioca or rice pudding.

oatmeal with caramelized bananas
(one serving)

1/3 cup large flake oats
1 cup almond, rice or soy milk
pinch of salt
handful of chopped walnuts

1 tbsp butter or grapeseed oil
1 banana, sliced
1 tsp cinnamon
1 or 2 tbsp maple syrup

Combine oats, milk, salt and walnuts in a pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until cooked (about 10 minutes). In a pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add sliced bananas, and sauté for 2 or 3 minutes. Add cinnamon and maple syrup, and stir to combine.

Serve oatmeal with some cold milk, topped with bananas. Sprinkle on some walnuts for extra crunch.

maple mustard salad dressing

2011-11-15T10:32:00.001-08:00

Ends of jars are so exciting. And useful. Every time I hit the end of a jar, whether it's jam, peanut butter, mustard or honey, I make some sort of sauce or dressing. I get to please two parts of my personality: the thrifty, 1930's side that hates throwing out food, and the messy, lazy side that hates doing extra dishes.

A peanut butter jar becomes the basis for a spicy thai peanut sauce, honey or jam becomes a bright, delicious salad dressing. Pour everything in the jar, shake, and you're done.

Here's a mustard one.

Maple mustard salad dressing

1 almost empty mustard jar (just a few teaspoons left)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/8 cup maple syrup
salt and pepper

Add everything to the jar, shake, and pour over greens. You can also make this in any jar, with a few teaspoons of mustard.

purple coleslaw

2011-11-09T16:44:00.000-08:00

In the Salvadorian stores in Kenzington Market, if you head to the back on the weekends, there are women, working out of tiny, tiny makeshift kitchens, making pupusas. The best pupusas in Toronto. They come in pairs, filled with beans and cheese, with a side of vinegary slaw, in a tiny plastic bag, of course.

In North America, coleslaw is often a creamy, bland mess of cabbage and mayonnaise. In South America, coleslaw usually comes in the form of Curdita, a vinaigrette based salad, with cabbage, jalepeneo and a hint of Mexican oregano.

This is not a traditional curdita recipe, but an amalgamation my favourite elements of coleslaw. It's a delicious, light side to go with tacos, quesadillas or texas pulled pork.

spicy purple coleslaw

1/4 head purple cabbage, grated
1 carrot, grated
1 celery stalk, finely minced
1 green onion, minced
handful of cilantro, minced
1 small jalepineo, minced

1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/8 cup olive oil
salt and pepper
1 tbsp sugar

Combine all the vegetables in a bowl. You want a really fine grate, for the best texture of salad. No big pieces. Pour over the vinegar and oil, and season with salt, pepper and sugar.

guacamole

2011-11-09T16:36:00.000-08:00

Don't mess around with avocados - there's a simple way to get the pit out of that creamy, ripe flesh. Cut the avocado in half, working around the pit. Twist the two halves apart. Hold the half with the pit in one hand, and firmly chop your knife into the pit. The blade should get stuck in the pit. Twist your knife, and the pit should come out cleanly. Finally, if you want slices, just slice right into the avocado half, right against, but not breaking the skin. Then, use a spoon to scoop out the slices.

Guacamole

2 avocados

a handful of chopped cilantro

1 green onion, minced

dash of cumin

squeeze of lemon

salt and pepper

Mash the avocados in a bowl. Add all other ingredients, and mix to combine. Taste for seasonings.

Note: To store guacamole in the fridge for a day or two without it turning brown, just lay a piece of saran wrap right on top of the dip, pressing to get rid of air pockets. It's the oxygen that reacts with the avocado, so if you create a seal, it will stay bright green.

chocolate banana brownies

2011-11-09T09:01:00.000-08:00

These are the best brownies ever. Period. And they only have 6 ingredients. In the realm of brownies, they're soft, cake-like, and you can add any flavouring you like. My favourite is banana, which makes these brownies even more moist and delicious. They're originally from the Moosewood cookbook, and here's Heidi's version, over on 101 Cookbooks. I used her suggestion of swirling in the melted chocolate at the last minute, creating a marbled effect - the chocolate swirls are both visually appealing and tasty.

Best Brownies Ever
1 cup butter, softened
1 3/4 cup brown sugar
5 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
5 oz. semi-sweet chocolate

Optional: 1 cup mashed bananas, 2 tsp espresso, 2 tsp orange zest, 1/2 cup chopped nuts, 1/2 cup cocoa nibs, cinnamon and all spice, 1/2 cup peanut butter.

Preheat oven to 350. Cream softened butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined. Add vanilla, then the flour, stirring until just combined. Add optional flavouring. Spread into a 9x13 pan, lined with parchment paper. Finally, melt chocolate in the microwave, and pour on top of batter. Swirl the chocolate into the batter with your spoon. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until set.

PS - you can use plain old all purpose flour, or you can use whole wheat pastry flour, you won't taste the difference because of all the chocolate and butter.

vegetable love

2011-11-08T10:41:00.000-08:00

What could make this delicious plate of vegetables even more appetizing? (Besides an edible nasturtium garnish, of course.) Something tasty to dip them in!

Lemon and Herb Dip
1/2 cup sour cream or greek yogurt
1 lemon, juice and zest
2 or 3 tablespoons of fresh herbs, minced (cilantro, oregano, chives, etc).
salt and pepper

Combine everything in a bowl. Serve with vegetables or crackers.

PS. The secret to eating more vegetables: delicious flavours to enhance them. Homemade salad dressings, dips, flavoured oils. Give your vegetables a little love.

shortbread + caramel + chocolate

2011-11-01T12:31:00.000-07:00

Millionaire bars: think twix bar, but with a shortbread twist on the cookie layer. Apparently these are big in England. Instead of posting a recipe, I'm going to send you to these delicious links. Every recipe is similar, just with different twists on each layer: shortbread bottom, followed by a caramel layer, finished off with chocolate. Enjoy, and give them away, because not only are they super rich (hence the name), they're super addictive.

Blue Eyed Baker's Millionaire's Shortbread
(classic, simple, delicious. the recipe I used for the picture.)
Millionaire Shortbread from Food52
(a fancy version with creme fraise and smoked salt.)
Vegan Millionaire Shortbread
(because everything should have a vegan version. scroll down a bit for the recipe.)
Millionaire Bars from the Food Network
(minimal ingredients. try using a jar of dulche de leche for the caramel.)
Not Without Salt's Twix Bars
(slightly different, same idea. complicated yet impressive.)

fantastic falafel

2011-11-01T11:25:00.000-07:00

Cheap, tasty, fast, healthy. This is called the world's easiest falafel recipe on Food52, and it actually lives up to its name. All you need is a food processor. The trick to the recipe is soaking the chickpeas overnight, so don't try and use canned chickpeas, the texture won't turn out right. It seems crazy, soaking the chickpeas, but not cooking them, right? But it works! I haven't tried leaving out the egg, but I'm sure you could replace it with some olive oil and make it vegan.

You can make really small patties, and serve them as appetizers with the tzaztiki as a dip. Or, make larger patties, and serve in a traditional falafel sandwich - in a pita, with some greens, hot sauce, tomatoes and tzaztiki.

Also, these freeze really well. Form the patties, then freeze them, separated by parchment paper. Just leave them out overnight to thaw before frying them.

This recipe makes about 15 small patties.

World's Easiest Falafel

2 cups dried chickpeas, soaked over night
1 small onion, peeled and cut into chunks
1/2 cup mint, washed
1/2 cup cilantro, washed
1 tbsp cumin
salt and pepper
3 cloves garlic
1 egg
1 slice of bread, torn in pieces

1 lemon, juiced
1/2 cup canola oil, for frying

Combine all ingredients in a food processor, except canola oil. Process until there are no chunks left, and you have a smooth paste. Form into small patties. Heat oil in a frying pan, and fry in batches, flipping once, until brown and crispy. Put the falafels on paper towel, to soak up some of the oil.

Tzatziki

1 cucumber, in chunks
1 cup greek yogurt or sour cream
1/2 cup mint
salt and pepper
1 lemon, juiced

Rinse out the food processor, and add all ingredients and pulse a few times, just to chop up the cucumber.

nutella

2011-10-22T20:13:00.000-07:00

Mmmmm. Melt in your mouth, smooth and hazel-nutty, chocolately and rich. But store-bought nutella is not that great for you: the first two ingredients? Sugar and modified palm oil.

This version is less sweet, and much healthier. Next time, I'm going to make it with all dark chocolate. What to do with a whole jar? The nutella website has a idea: make banana bread, and swirl a 1/2 a cup into the batter before you bake it.

Soon, you too will be standing in front of your refrigerator at one in the morning, eating this straight from the jar with your finger.

Homemade Nutella

1 1/3 cup hazelnuts
1/3 cup almonds
1 3/4 whole milk
7/8 cup powdered whole milk
3 tbsp honey
6 oz dark chocolate
5 oz milk chocolate

Preheat oven to 350. Spread the nuts on a cookie sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes, until toasted, stirring once or twice.

Put the nuts in a clean towel, fold the towel over, and rub them until most of the skins come off the hazelnuts. Put the hazelnuts and almonds in a food processor, and pulse until you have a fine, fine grind.

Heat the milk, honey and milk powder over medium heat, whisking until all the milk powder is dissolved. Pour mixture into the food processor and pulse to combine.

Melt the dark and milk chocolate in a double boiler over simmering water. (Alternately, you could chop up the chocolate and microwave it, stirring every 30 seconds, until it's melted.) Add melted chocolate to the food processor, and pulse to combine. The nutella will be very runny - don't worry, it will get much more solid after a few hours in the fridge.

Store the nutella in a jar in the fridge for up to a week (since it contains fresh milk products). You could also freeze some of it, if you don't want to eat it all in one week.

delicious dumplings

2011-10-15T16:31:00.000-07:00

As we were eating our dumplings, my boyfriend (who grew up eating a lot of traditional chinese food) turned to me and said 'this is the first real chinese dish you've made.' Seriously? Five years later, and this is the only chinese dish I've accomplished? But when I think about, I tend to veer towards Japanese recipes (miso soups, sushi) or Thai (curry, noodles, anything with coconut milk). Maybe, subconsciously, I knew my cooking probably wouldn't measure up to a) his mom's, or b) all those delicious, authentic chinese restaurants we go to.

Time to give it a try. I used a combination of these two recipes (Golden Pot Stickers from 101 Cookbooks

and Pork Pot Stickers from Epicurious), and made dumplings.

And yes, this is a vegetarian blog, and I'm definitely a vegetarian, however, since I think the way to every person's heart is through their stomach, I have learned to cook meat. Better than a lot of meat eaters I know. This is a great example of a dish that has a meat and meatless version. I make things like this all the time - pizza, chili, soup, curry - dishes where almost every ingredient is the same, except for the pork/mushrooms, or beef/tempeh, or chicken/tofu. You get the idea.

So delicious. So easy. So authentic. Almost as good as his Mom's. Success.

Vegetarian Dumplings and Not-so-vegetarian Dumplings
(Makes about 30 dumplings each. Freeze some filling for later, the wrappers keep up to a month in the fridge. Or, assemble a bunch and freeze some for later).

Split pea filling:

1 cup dried split peas

1/2 cup finely chopped cabbage
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp grated ginger
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 minced green onion

Combine split peas and 1 cup of water in a pot. Bring to a boil, then turn heat to low and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, until split peas are cooked. Puree the peas in a food processor. Add all other ingredients to food processor, and pulse to combine.

Pork filling:
1/2 lb ground pork
1 egg
1/2 cup finely chopped cabbage

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp grated ginger

1 tbsp minced garlic

1 minced green onion

Stir all ingredients in a bowl. That's it.

Assembling and cooking the Dumplings:
Dumpling wrappers (in most asian grocery stores, just like wonton wrappers, but circular)
bowl of water
flour for dusting
oil for frying (not olive oil, something that can stand a higher heat, like grape seed)

Dust a work area with flour (the more flour you get on the bottom of each dumpling, the crispier they'll be). Separate out a bunch of dumpling wrappers (better to do this now before your hands get all gooey and sticky). Hold a wrapper in your hand, and add a small spoonful of filling. Dip a finger in water, and wet the edges of the wrapper. Fold one side over to the other, and seal the edges, pinching as you go to make little pleats. Put the finished dumplings on a plate. Continue until you get tired of making them, or you use up all you filling.

Heat a pan with a few tbsp of oil at a fairly high heat. Add one layer of dumplings, and cook for 4 or 5 minutes, until the bottoms are crispy and browned. Add a 1/3 cup of water to the pan and cover. Let the dumplings steam for about 5 minutes, until all the water has evaporated. Continue with the next batch.

Eat! You can dip them in plain old soy sauce, or make this delicious dipping sauce.

Dipping Sauce:
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp water
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp sriracha sauce

Combine in a bowl. Dip away!

thanksgiving

2011-10-15T15:43:00.000-07:00

When I think of thanksgiving, I think of sage, walnuts, maple syrup, mushrooms, sweet potatoes and apples. Inevitably, all these flavours made their way into my thanksgiving meal in some form or another.

Here's a thanksgiving wrap up:

(because these recipes should make there appearance more often than once a year)

maple brussel sprouts
sweet potato casserole
cranberry and apple stuffing
mushroom gravy
rosemary and lemon chicken

Wait, chicken? Aren't I a vegetarian? Yes, yes, and that includes not eating chicken (despite what many grandmothers may think, chicken is included the 'meat' category). I may be a vegetarian, but I'm not succeeding in brainwashing those I love. I believe in making loved ones delicious food they enjoy, and if that means roasting a chicken (a free range organic chicken, of course), then so be it. And that chicken might as well get the royal treatment, with lemon, rosemary, onions, sage and a bed of root vegetables. (And a 'Taps' send off when it went into the oven. I think my boyfriend was mocking me, but it was kind of sweet.)

pies galore

2011-10-15T15:36:00.000-07:00

I don't know what possessed me, but I made two pies for thanksgiving. One of the savoury persuasion, out of the pages of Food and Drink (that glossy LCBO magazine everyone drools over), and one sweet one, from 101 Cookbooks.

And why not make two pies? They keep excellently in the fridge, and I'm still finishing them off, a week later. Here's the savoury one - Mushroom and Squash Pie with a Cheddar Cheese Crust. It took a long time to make, but if you're trying to impress someone, go for it! Spend your time cutting out intricate pastry oak leaves! It tastes delicious, especially the flaky, cheddar filled crust.

The sweet one was equally delicious, but didn't make it into any photos - a Maple Buttermilk Pie. Think custard, maple syrup, and a hint of lemon.

sunshine

2011-10-15T15:19:00.000-07:00

The sun has a different quality in each season. Summer sun is hot, direct and bright, for sunglasses and sunscreen. Winter sunshine is harsh and blinding, reflecting off snow. Spring sunshine cuts through winter chills and promises new things.

Then there's my favourite - fall sun is nostalgic, gentle and lazy. It calls for sweaters, hot chocolate and crunchy apples. It's also the best kind for long naps in bed with cats.

kale and oregano pesto

2011-10-07T21:14:00.000-07:00

Around this time in the fall, I realize I should have been using my fresh herbs far more than I have been, because now they are all going to die, and it's going to be a long winter.

Sigh. Hindsight is 20/20.

This is an attempt to recreate that awesome pesto made by Sunflower Kitchen (you know that brand, the one that makes the best spicy hummus and delicious zesty pesto). This is almost as good. Play around with the amounts until you get the flavour you like.

Kale and Oregano Pesto

2 cups chopped kale
1 cup fresh oregano
about 1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
2 garlic cloves
salt

Combine everything except the olive oil in a food processor. While it's turned on, add the oil in a slow stream. Add a few tablespoons of water if it's not runny enough. Store it in the fridge for a few weeks - a layer of olive oil on the surface will keep it from discolouring.

100k

2011-10-07T21:09:00.000-07:00

This isn't a post about a recipe or a food. It's about smells. One of those beautiful fall days last week, I packed some snacks, dressed up in some bike gear, oiled my chain and headed out on a long bike ride - from the beaches out to Port Credit.

I was trying to accomplish a century - and not even a real century at that. Riding a century is biking 100 miles in one day, but I decided on the easier metric version for a start.

Instead of a day of delicious food, this was a day of delicious and not so delicious smells: coffee beans at Mercury where I stopped to say hello to a friend, bread from the Weston bakery all along Queen East, barbecue from a school picnic in the beaches, sewage from Ashbridges Bay, burning sugar from the Redpath factory, seaweed and fish by the waters edge, and underneath it all, the crisp fall smell that says you're soon going to need more than a sweater.

I came home in one piece. It really wasn't that hard. Four and a half hours later, all I really wanted was a bath. Oh, and, I forgot to put my odometer back on after a stop at the library, but I swear, it was 100 kilometres.

Spiked Olive Oil

2011-10-07T14:24:00.000-07:00

Not spiked with booze, but with flavour! This is adapted from 101 Cookbook's Magic Sauce. And by adapted, I mean I was missing ingredients, so I substituted others. Flavoured olive oil is a great start or finish to any meal - you can use it to start off whatever you're making (eggs, sautéed vegetables, croutons), or finish off a meal by drizzling it on top. Any herbs, spices or flavourings can be added to olive oil to spruce it up; try keeping a jar in your fridge.

Spiked Olive Oil

1/2 cup olive oil
1 tbsp each fresh rosemary, sage and oregano
Juice and zest from 1 lemon
1 tbsp paprika
1 crumbled bay leaf
pinch of red pepper flakes
salt and pepper

Gently heat the olive oil on medium heat. Finely chop the herbs. Remove the oil from the heat, and stir in all other ingredients. Store in the fridge for a few weeks.

Here it is, in its element, finishing off a poached egg with kale and caramelized onions.

taking the plunge... into canning!

2011-10-01T14:05:00.000-07:00

I went to Chinatown, bought a 20 litre stainless steel pot, and took the plunge into jam making. (The pot was for water-processing the jars, a method that seals the jars so you can store them on the shelf indefinitely, instead of filling up your freezer or fridge).

This year's jam recipes:

Peach Butter
Strawberry Rhubarb Jam
Peach-Raspberry Jam
Raspberry Curd
Blueberry Freezer Jam

I would recommend Food in Jars for all things canning related. My favourite recipes of the bunch were both from this website - a slow cooked Peach Butter, and a perfect Strawberry-rhubarb jam that was not too sweet, with just enough sugar to balance the tartness of the rhubarb. You can also get good information at the Certo and Bernardin websites (brands of pectin), however, most of their recipes have lots and lots of sugar.

Benefits of making your own jam: imagine opening a jar of strawberry-rhubarb jam, the taste of summer in the dead of winter, the adorable little jars lined up on your shelf. Also, as soon as you start canning, everyone else you know who cans will trade with you! I've already acquired pickles and peach spice jam.

This year I conquered jam, next year, pickles and tomatoes. Also, next year, when I have a larger canning budget, I will definitely invest in some tongs for lifting jars out of the boiling water. I would not recommend trying to lift large, boiling hot mason jars out of a giant vat of bubbling water with spatulas and oven mitts. It can be done! But tongs would have made it easier.

fall flavours

2011-10-01T13:51:00.000-07:00

My favourite berry cobbler, with cornmeal and almonds.

Slow-cooked peach butter on toast.

Butter makes everything taste better, especially popcorn.

Iced coffees are turning into lattes, with cinnamon, of course.

The mint is going to seed, time to dry it for tea.

Last of the tomatoes.

roasted red peppers

2011-09-24T17:29:00.000-07:00

Sheppard peppers are everywhere right now: those long, red sweet peppers that are probably on sale at a fruit market or farmer's market near you. The best way to preserve them? Buy a whole bunch, and make roasted red peppers. You can store roasted red peppers in the fridge for a week or so, covered in a bit of olive oil, or separate them out into jars or zip locks, and freeze them for up to 6 months.

Roasted Red Peppers

Red peppers

Olive oil

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425. Halve peppers and remove seeds. Toss with oil, salt and pepper. Spread in a single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet, and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until they just start to blacken. If you want a smoother texture in whatever you're making with your peppers, then you can remove the skins. Place the peppers in a bowl, cover with saran wrap or a lid, and let them steam for a few minutes. The skins will peel off very easily. Otherwise, you can just store them however you like.

What to make with those peppers? Put them on pizzas, throw them in pasta, make soup or sauce. Here's some recipes to get you inspired:

Roasted Pepper, Tomato and Bean Salad from Seasonal Ontario Food

Roasted Red Pepper Soup with Corn and Cilantro from Food52

Sunflower Seed and Red Pepper Pate from Honest Fare

Roasted Red Pepper, Basil and Provolone Sandwiches from Food42

millions of peaches

2011-09-18T20:40:00.000-07:00

com-pote (noun) /ˈkämpōt/

1. Fruit preserved or cooked in syrup.

2. A dish consisting of fruit salad or stewed fruit.

Ok, so what's with all the names for cooked fruit? There's jam, jelly, compote, stewed fruit, fruit preserves, curd, chutney, coulis...

This one is definitely a compote. You could eat it on pancakes, waffles, french toast, yogurt, ice cream, or all by itself. Make a bunch, and freeze some for the depths of winter.

Go, run to the market! Buy baskets and baskets of peaches! Because in a few weeks, they'll be replaced by apples, and the only peaches available will be hard, mealy, and have a hefty environmental price tag.

Peach Compote

4 cups peeled, sliced peaches

2 tbsp maple syrup

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 cup water

1/2 tsp cinnamon

pinch of salt

Combine everything in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then turn heat down and simmer for 15 minutes. The compote will thicken more after it cools. It will keep in the fridge for about a week, or for a few months in the freezer.

the mysteries of pie dough

2011-09-18T20:06:00.000-07:00

It worked! It seems so difficult, so complicated, something left to pastry chefs and grandmas, but don't let that pie crust fool you: it's not so hard, and it will make you look like an expert. Plus, it will always taste a million times better than that freezer pie crust (with its perfect scalloped edges and cardboard flavour).

Was this the key to my success? The ice water? Who knows, but I followed the recipe exactly, and it made a crusty, flaky and light crust. Here's what went in the crust: a Leek and Kale Tart, from fiveandspice on Food52.

Leek and Kale Tart

(This time I used the cornmeal crust from the original recipe, but it's pretty labour intensive, so next time I might use another, quicker crust, or even make it crustless. Try a mashed potato crust, recipe here.)

3 leeks, thinly sliced, light green and white parts only

1 tbsp olive oil

1 bunch of kale, stemmed and chopped into ribbons

3 cloves of garlic

1 cup gruyere cheese, grated

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 cup yogurt

2 eggs

salt and pepper

prepared pie crust

Preheat oven to 350. Heat oil in a pan. Add the leeks, and sauté over medium heat for 5 minutes. Turn heat down, and continue to cook the leeks for another 10 minutes. Add kale and garlic, and a 1/4 cup of water. Cook another 5 or 10 minutes, until the kale is cooked. Remove from heat, and stir in cheese, lemon juice, yogurt and eggs. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Put filling in pie crust of choice. Bake for 35 minutes.

rye and honey

2011-09-17T19:49:00.000-07:00

Forcing yourself to do something every day- maybe it's sketching, practicing an instrument, or taking a photo- can be annoying but rewarding. Making yourself try new recipes can be just like that; sometimes not the most fun, but the only way to expand your repertoire and become a better cook. I picked this recipe for the rye flour, which I've never cooked with before.

It's from the gorgeous Food52 website (here's the original posting), and it's a homely, not-too-sweet cake that would be delicious with some butter and jam and some English Breakfast tea. Think of it as a cake/quick bread hybrid, with some rye flour thrown in for a rich, hearty flavour. It's dense and moist, and will keep well for quite a few days - an excellent snack or dessert to take for lunch.

Rye and Honey Cake

1 cup rye flour

1 cup all purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp cloves

1/2 cup honey

2 large eggs

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup milk

1 cup prunes, chopped

Preheat oven to 350. Combine all dry ingredients and mix. Add honey, eggs, butter and milk, and stir until combined. Fold in chopped prunes. Line a 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper. Pour in batter, and smooth out around pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a fork comes out clean from the centre of the cake.

dinner for one

2011-09-10T17:10:00.000-07:00

While my significant other is off travelling the world, I'm stuck making meals for one. It can be daunting (and so tempting to resort to eating things out of a bag... or the freezer... or just getting take out). Here's a solution that can be gourmet, delicious and only takes as long as your favourite pasta takes to cook.

Switch it up, and use whatever's in your fridge. With some tasty cheese and fresh herbs, any pasta dish can be restaurant-worthy.

Linguine with Kale and Tomatoes
Handful of linguine
Kale, stemmed and torn up
Olive oil
A few garlic cloves, minced
Cherry tomatoes, halved
Olives, pitted
Basil and oregano, chopped
Salt and pepper
Parmesan reggiano

Cook the pasta in well-salted, boiling water. While the pasta is cooking, heat some olive oil in a pan. Add garlic, and cook 30 seconds until fragrant. Throw in the tomatoes, olives and herbs, and cook for another few minutes. When the pasta is almost done, add the kale leaves to the pasta water. Drain pasta and kale, and add to pan with tomato mixture. Toss, season with salt and pepper. Top with cheese! Only fifteen minutes to a gourmet meal for one.

save your seeds!

2011-09-10T16:54:00.000-07:00

Every fruit and vegetable has a hidden history. Some come from far away, some were crossbred and cultivated for strange reasons (a monarch's favourite colour, for example), while many others mirror human stories of slavery and destruction (bananas come to mind).

These are Matt's Wild Cherry Tomatoes. This little tomato has a happy story: it comes from Eastern Mexico, which is the region where tomatoes were first domesticated. The wild seeds were brought to North America a few decades ago, and these tasty, tiny tomatoes have become a popular staple in many gardens. They're tiny, sweet and prolific. Since buying a package of seeds four years ago, I've been saving seeds from my favourite plant each year. That investment of 3 dollars for that first pack of seeds has turned into thousands and thousands of delicious, tiny tomatoes. What a bargain!

It's fall, and that means it's seed saving time. Don't forget to take a few minutes to save some seeds from all your favourite plants. Or, you can pick out some favourites from the market - save the watermelon or squash seeds from your favourite vendor, and next year you can grow your own.

feasting in the county

2011-09-06T14:10:00.000-07:00

This weekend I went to Prince Edward County! My friends have a farm, right near Sandbanks park. It's a beautiful place, filled with lots of beautiful food. (You should check out their blog, Argos Acres.)

There were lots of animals,

... and I visited a cheese factory.

My friend has a sprawling garden, and this chard got cooked with some chickpeas, lemon zest and onions, and it was a part of a ...

... feast! There's corn, tomatoes, pears, caramelized onions for the burgers and tofurky sausages, quinoa salad, and sun-dried olives with orange zest.

There were pears from a back yard and cherry tomatoes,

and olives galore!

Also, the largest mushroom ever - a puffball, a kind of wild mushroom, that got sliced up, marinated and barbecued.

And the food went deliciously with local cider and barley beer.

Don't forget the watermelon from the stand down the street,

and lots of corn!

It was all made in the outdoor kitchen, the best place to cook in the summer,

and there were marshmallows to end the evening, of course.

once in a while...

2011-09-06T12:27:00.000-07:00

... you need some deep fried food. My annual visit to the CNE was filled with delicious delights!

This needs to be recreated at home - two waffles, still warm from the waffle maker, and a slice of vanilla ice cream. Soooo good.

My boyfriend requested I bring home a two dozen donuts. He got lucky and got twice that amount.

I would never buy or eat this. But it's a fascinating idea, and apparently many other people thought so, judging by the very, very long line up.

making jam

2011-09-06T12:13:00.000-07:00

There's only one thing to do in the late summer when there's an abundance of fruits: make jam! If you're scared by the idea of canning, with the sterilizing, and the jars and the equipment you need, then try freezer jam. All you need is fruit, sugar, lemon juice and liquid pectin. Look for recipes online, or on the instructions that come with the liquid pectin.

(also in the picture - spiced apple pear jam)

Blueberry Freezer Jam
4 1/2 cups crushed blueberries
4 cups sugar
2 pouches of liquid pectin
2 tbsp lemon juice

Crush the berries with a potato masher, in a food processor, or with your hands. Add the sugar, stir, and let sit for 10 minutes. Add pectin and lemon juice, stir, and let sit for 3 minutes. Fill containers with jam (glass canning jars can be put in the freezer). Put lids on, and leave containers for 24 hours at room temperature to set. The jam will keep in the freezer for up to a year, or thawed in the fridge for a month.

raspberries and blueberries

2011-08-22T13:27:00.001-07:00

Raspberry curd! Recipes in previous posting. So delicious on ice cream, yogurt, pancakes, waffles, toast, or in squares with shortbread.

Blueberry oatmeal squares, so crumbly and so delicious. Recipe also in previous post.

berries galore

2011-08-20T21:02:00.000-07:00

Nothing like an evening with Fleetwood Mac and a new (!) fridge full of berries. I went berry picking yesterday with my Mum at Andrew's Scenic Acres, out by Milton, and returned home with tons and tons of blueberries. Also in the spoils were a handful of raspberries, black currant juice, raspberry honey and six gorgeous gladiolas.

Now what to do with all this fruit? Well, it's a good thing I'm a prolific bookmarker; when you read as many food blogs as I do, it's hard to keep up with your recipe to-make list. I must have over 300 bookmarks in the 'food and recipe' folder. Sigh, one day.

Anyway, amongst the bookmarks, I stumbled upon this post from Tea and Cookies for raspberry curd. Now, I've made lemon curd and rhubarb curd, but never raspberry! The colour alone was enough to convince me. There seems to be 100 and 1 ways to make curd: eggs first, eggs last, butter cold, butter one tablespoon at a time, throw everything together in a faux curd (from my favourite Martha recipe for Lemon Squares - seriously, make this recipe! It will get you rave reviews at any pot luck). Tea and Cookies raspberry curd is a pretty simple affair, and it turned out delicious!

With the bucketfuls of blueberries, I started with a straight-up recipe from Canada Living: Blueberry Oatmeal Squares. The jury's still out on those, since they're still in the oven, and I had to make a few substitutions.

Recipes and photos to follow - you all know how food hates to be photographed at night. Gotta wait for that natural sunlight.

Summer fun!

2011-08-18T10:52:00.001-07:00

Here's a delicious drink I had a few weeks ago at my friend's lovely farm ... to quote a her, "it's like a girl party in my mouth!" Sangria is really only as good as the ingredients you put in it. Any combination of delicious juice, something sparkling, and some sort of wine will be excellent, and you can always throw in some extra hard liquor for a kick - may I suggest brandy for a red wine sangria or peach schnapps for a white wine sangria? Best of all, drink it on a lazy summer's day with some tasty summer food.

Summer Sangria

1 bottle of Moscato (or another sparkling white)

3 or 4 cups of tropical juice (we went for Ceres 'Medley of Fruits')

1 can of club soda

Seeds from one pomegranate

Combine and serve over ice! (With a crazy fruit garnish and umbrella, just because it's sangria.)

recipe doodles...

2011-07-11T13:25:00.001-07:00

Inspired by theydrawandcook.com, click on the image for a larger version.

eat your flowers

2011-07-02T07:36:00.000-07:00

Who says vegetable gardens can't have flowers? My mum is constantly bugging me to grow more flowers, but my argument is that vegetable plants have beautiful flowers. I seem to only be able to buy things that are edible. They may not be large and showy, but they are more subtle in their beauty. Plus, you know they are going to grow into something delicious.

A Geranium (gift from mum, obviously, but the petals are edible), pepper and tomato blossoms, and scarlet runner beans.

mango mania

2011-07-02T07:21:00.001-07:00

Gourmet popsicles are huge right now. This recipe is from an article in The Star, and it's unbelievably tasty. Add more or less sweetener, depending on how tangy and sour you like your mangoes.

Mango-lime popsicles

5 ataulfo mangos (the smaller, sweet, yellow mangoes), peeled and chopped

juice and zest of 5 limes

1/4 cup of sugar (to taste)

1/2 cup of water

Combine everything in a blender or food processor. Blend, and pour into popsicle moulds. No moulds? Use plastic cups and chopsticks. Just freeze the popsicles for two or three hours, then stick in the chopsticks - the popsicles should be frozen enough to hold the sticks straight. Then freeze for anther 4 or 5 hours. To remove from the moulds, just run under hot water for a few seconds.

overnight soaking is so worth it.

2011-07-02T06:58:00.001-07:00

I cooked dried chickpeas for the first time a few weeks ago, and I'm converted. Don't get me wrong, there will still be a few cans hanging out in my pantry for those last minute recipes. But the texture and flavour was so much better, and they cost a fraction of the price of canned... not to mention the environmental impact of importing dried beans is much lower than the weight and bulk of canned. All they need is an overnight soak in lots of water (throw the pot in the fridge to prevent it from fermenting, especially in the summer weather). Then just cook them in their soaking liquid for around 2 hours, until tender.

Here's a delicious recipe from Vegetarian Times. The second time I made it, I substituted some sweet potatoes for some of the carrots, with very satisfactory results. Tagine is a North African stew, traditionally cooked in a heavy clay pot. Moroccan versions usually include stewing meat, various vegetables and some sort of fruit - apricots, raisins, quinces or pears.

Chickpea Tagine with Carrots and Honey

2 Tbs. olive oil
1 small onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced (1 Tbs.)
3 cups of cooked chickpeas (or 2 cans)
3 medium carrots, sliced into thin rounds
¼ cup dried currants
1 tsp. ground turmeric
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cumin
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
2 tsp. honey
salt and pepper
Saute the onion and garlic in a large pot, until translucent. Add chickpeas, carrots, currants, spices and honey, along with 2 cups of water. Simmer for 20-25 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve, garnished with sour cream or yogurt and some cilantro or parsley.

attack of the monster rhubarb

2011-07-01T21:19:00.000-07:00

I was out at a farm a few weeks ago, and there was some giant, overgrown rhubarb plants. Surrounded by thorny vines from a neighbouring weed, harvesting stalks was a dangerous task. But well worth it. The best recipe for vast quantities of rhubarb? A delightful, tart, bright pink beverage.

Rhubarb-ade

10 cups of rhubarb

1/2 cup water

1-4 cups of sugar

Roughly chop the rhubarb. Cook in 1/2 cup water in a large pot for 30 -45 minutes. The rhubarb will break down and turn into 'stewed fruit.' Once the rhubarb has broken down, add sugar to your liking - 1 cup will give you a very tart drink, and 4 cups a very sweet drink. Pour the stewed rhubarb in to a fine sieve, and set over a large bowl. Encourage the rhubarb to strain by pressing with a ladle or large spoon. You are going to have lots of pulp left in the strainer. Save it and add it to a crumble or pie! What you want is the rhubarb syrup that has drained into the bowl. This is the concentrate for your drink. Dilute it with water to your liking - I found 1 part syrup to 8 parts water was about right.

Possible additions? Ribbons of mint, club soda, or strawberry garnishes.

I wish I had a picture - it's the most attractive, remarkable shade of pinky-purple. You could also use the syrup in cocktails. Gin, rhubarb syrup, club soda? Mmmmmmm.

Conquering the slimy squash

2011-07-01T20:51:00.000-07:00

I'm not a picky eater, but there are some vegetables I don't normally buy. So, my resolution for the next few months is to pay attention to those vegetables I normally ignore, walk past, and turn my nose up at. This week had two contenders: summer squash and radishes.The former...I've had too many slimy, bland experiences, the latter is just too spicy for me. Here's this week's attempt at conquering the unloved vegetables.

Roasted Patty Pan Squash

A tasty, caramelized way of conquering the summer squash.

5 or 6 patty pans

2 green onions, cut in 1 in. chunks.

olive oil

salt and pepper

fresh herbs (I used basil and oregano)

Cut the squash in 1/2 in. slices. Toss with onions, oil, salt and pepper, and roast at 400 for 20-30 min, until brown and crispy. Toss with herbs and eat.

Roasted Radishes

roasting radishes totally changes their flavour. The spicy bite mellows, and they become sweet and delicious.

Radishes.

Oil.

S + p.

(is this really a recipe?)

Thats it - just slice them as thin as possible, toss them in oil and season, and roast at 400 for 20-30 min. So good!

Pizza Sauce

2011-02-19T13:19:00.000-08:00

There's one hundred and one recipes that start with a plain old can of tomatoes. Here's a delicious one I saw on Jamie at Home yesterday.

Simple Pizza Sauce

Olive Oil

Handful of fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped

A few garlic cloves, sliced

One can of whole tomatoes

One can of tomato paste

salt, pepper

1 tsp sugar

Heat some olive oil in a large pan. Add garlic and basil, saute for a few seconds. Add the can of tomatoes, break them up with the back of a spoon. Simmer for 5 minutes. Over a bowl, strain the sauce through a mesh sieve - use a spoon to push as much liquid out of the tomatoes. Discard the solids. Return the strained sauce to the pan, add the tomato paste, salt, pepper and sugar, and simmer for another 5-10 minutes, until the sauce has thickened.

truffles and caramels

2011-02-19T12:49:00.000-08:00

Candy and chocolate for your winter blues, although yesterday it certainly didn't feel like winter. Faux spring weather is trying to trick us into forgetting there's still one more month of winter to get through. These recipes are both from Not Without Salt.

Vanilla Spice Caramels

Chocolate Truffles

Banana bread pudding and crosswords

2011-02-18T13:42:00.000-08:00

The perfect saturday afternoon - baking and crosswords. Sometimes dry, stale leftovers are a good thing - like in this banana bread pudding I made up this afternoon! It's just stale chocolate chip banana bread, sliced bananas, and a bread pudding custard (milk, eggs, sugar and cinnamon). Who knew leftovers could be this luxurious?

Just look up some bread pudding recipes, and start experimenting with all sorts of fruit-bread combinations, maybe with some special appearances by nuts, chocolate or spices.

(Also, Wordplay is an excellent documentary, all about the NYT crossword).

raspberry pancakes

2011-01-31T15:07:00.000-08:00

Lemon zest + raspberries = some top notch pancakes. Who knew?

There's no photos, because the pancakes were hideously misshapen, however, they were delicious. I used a vegan pancake recipe from the Veganomicon cookbook... not my favourite, because they refused to separate from the pan. But the lemon brings out an amazing flavour in the berries. I'm sure a little lemon zest might be equally delicious with blueberries or strawberries. It'll take your pancakes from normal to a-MAY-zing. (And if you are looking for a delicious, non-vegan pancake recipe, there's one in that old classic, the dog-eared Joy of Cooking - it involves cornmeal and honey, and it's quite spectacular.)

Springtime! Only two months away...

2011-01-23T10:40:00.000-08:00

It's -30 out today, so what better pastime than to stay in bed and peruse online seed catalogues? I had some inspiration from a recent visit to The Stop's greenhouse at Wychwood Barns. That compost smell, the tiny green leaves ... I could make a list of the sites I'm going to be looking through, or I could direct you to these lovely ladies, who have already done a much better job than I could:

Seasonal Ontario's extensive list of seed companies,

and You Grow Girl's info about how to steer clear of Monsanto.

winter blues

2010-12-30T19:07:00.000-08:00

I spent tonight curled up in an armchair, sipping peppermint tea and catching up on some cookbook reading. It had me dreaming about summer: homemade peach bellinis, berry tarts with a toasted nut crust, tangy marinated vegetables and sweet corn and heirloom tomato pizzas.

Will winter never end? Is it too late to start planning next year's garden? Time to start perusing the seed catalogues...

apples at the farm

2010-12-26T14:18:00.000-08:00

Pictures from Hart House Farm in October, on the Niagra Escarpment. It happened a while ago, but I finally had some free time on my hands to look through my photos. It's nice to think about the farm while in the middle of this cold, cloudy weather (without any snow to brighten things up... *sigh*).

butternut squash... again

2010-12-26T09:00:00.000-08:00

I never knew butternuts last so long, but two of these ones, seen here in September, are still happily hanging out under my kitchen table waiting for this kind of delicious winter recipe:

Squash and Pear Soup

1 butternut squash, halved and de-seeded

olive oil

1 onion, diced

1 or 2 cloves of garlic, minced

4 or 5 sprigs of thyme

4 or 5 sage leaves

3 pears, peeled, cored and diced

4 cups vegetable stock

1 cup soy milk/milk/cream

Preheat oven to 375. Rub squash flesh with olive oil, and put facedown on a cookie sheet. Cook squash for 45 min to 1 hour, until tender. Meanwhile, saute onion in olive oil until translucent. Add herbs and pear and saute for another minute. Add vegetable stock and squash, and simmer for 10- 15 minutes, until pear is tender. Process the soup in a blender or use an immersion blender. Add the milk or cream and gently simmer until hot again. Serve!

orange tempeh and kale

2010-11-30T14:17:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a while since I wrote anything, but one of my classes today made me reflect on the importance of finding just a few moment to write for yourself every once in a while. So, while I may not have time to write out a new recipe, here's one I've been making a lot from the beautiful 101 Cookbooks blog - Orange Pan-Glazed Tempeh. Every time I make it, I modify it a bit, perhaps throwing in whatever vegetables I have around. Today it was a wintery mix of cabbage, kale and swiss chard. Seriously, there's still kale and swiss chard growing in my garden! It will be a christmas miracle if it's still there in four weeks. I've made some makeshift cold frames with old windows.

And since I have nothing else new, have a look at some of the excellent blogs in my list to the right!

Making Apple Cider

2010-10-19T17:30:00.000-07:00

Cooking from the garden

2010-10-19T16:18:00.000-07:00

Chickpea, green bean and tomato salad with lemon-rosemary dressing

1 cup green beans, cut in 1 inch pieces

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1 cup diced cucumbers

1 cup cooked chickpeas

Juice and zest from 1 lemon

2 or 3 tbsp fresh rosemary, minced

1/8 cup olive oil

2 tbsp dijon mustard

1 tbsp honey

salt and pepper

Steam green beans for 3 to 4 minutes, until beans are bright green. Rinse beans in cold water to stop them from over cooking. Combine beans, tomatoes, cucumbers and chick peas in a bowl. To make dressing, whisk together all ingredients and pour over salad. It'll be even more delicious after it's marinated for a few hours in the fridge.

Crustless Quiche with Swiss Chard and Potato

1 large bunch of swiss chard, leaves and stems separated

1 onion, diced

1 garlic clove, minced

3 large potatoes, thinly sliced

fresh herbs

salt and pepper

olive oil

4 eggs

1 cup milk, full fat yogurt or buttermilk

1 cup bread crumbs

olive oil

1/2 cup to 1 cup crumbled goat cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Strip leaves from stems. Chop stems, and saute in a large pan over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add garlic, onion and fresh herbs, and saute for 2 more minutes. Add potatoes, a few tbsps of water, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Add swiss chard leaves, cover, and cook 2 more minutes, until wilted. Remove from heat.

Whisk together eggs and milk. Grease a round quiche pan or a 9x13 square pan with olive oil. Cover the bottom of the pan with bread crumbs. Cover bread crumbs with vegetable mixture. Pour egg mixture over vegetables. Crumble goat cheese on top. Bake for 40 minutes.

food and plants of the summer, in photos

2010-09-12T19:07:00.001-07:00

For me, summer memories are marked by food; fresh produce, cooking dinner parties with friends, long summer nights of campfires and delicious desserts. Now that the nights are getting cold, I'm thinking back on my favorite moments of this summer!

Wild strawberry snack on a hike in the niagara escarpment.

At the beginning of summer, every room in the house was filled with peonies from my backyard.

Mmmm, rhubarb curd, which was made into some delicious rhubarb squares.

I finally got a microplane grater, a present from my lovely boyfriend! It makes lemon zesting and parmesan grating a breeze.

Lots and lots of beautiful plants. More to come!

butternut squash

2010-09-12T05:00:00.000-07:00

I cut four hulking, creamy-coloured butternut squashes off their vines yesterday! Here's a delicious risotto for the end of the summer.

Roasted Butternut Squash Risotto

2 cups butternut squash, peeled and cubed

1 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped

1 tbsp dried sage

6 cups vegetable stock

2 tbsp olive oil

2 small onions, minced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 cups arborio rice

1/2 white wine

olive oil, green onions and roasted squash seeds for garnish

Preheat oven to 375. Toss squash, olive oil, sage and thyme together in a baking dish. Bake for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until squash is tender.

Meanwhile, in a pot, bring stock to a boil, then reduce to low heat, just enough to keep it hot.

In the largest skillet or pan you have, heat olive oil. Saute onions and garlic for a minute. Add rice, and cook for another minute, stirring constantly, until rice is coated in oil and looking toasty. Add wine, and stir until wine is absorbed.

Adding 1/2 stock at a time, continue stirring rice. Wait to add the next 1/2 cup until the stock has almost all been absorbed. Keep stirring and adding stock until you've used it all. It'll probably take around 30 minutes. Stir in butternut squash cubes, and serve! Garnish with green onions, a splash of olive oil and some roasted squash seeds.

hot, hot heat

2010-07-19T14:43:00.000-07:00

Updates from the jungle that is my garden:

Some garlic 'bulbi.' This isn't the part you eat (that's under the ground), but you can plant these in the fall for garlic in the spring!

The garlic bulbis a week later, after loosing the protective covering.

From right to left: upside-down cherry tomatoes (in the red bucket), a sunflower with no flower (yet), butternut squash vines, and scarlet runner beans.

Baby pepper that will one day be red!

Sigh, they grow up so fast.

It hitched a ride inside on some swiss chard. I saved it from a death by drowning.

Prolific rainbow chard, the first tomatoes and hard-necked garlic.

Lime basil. It tastes like lime!

Basil and Tomatoes

2010-06-11T12:20:00.000-07:00

Spring pizza: here's a dough made from red fife flour, always an excellent shortcut for a fast dinner. This dough is from the farmer's market around the corner from my house, but you can find some premade at lots of bakeries (there's a place in Kenzington that sells pizza dough for $1.50!).

Ok, it's canned pizza sauce, but I was in a rush,

Sliced tomatoes, basil and minced garlic scapes,

Montforte feta and mozzarella...

And no final picture. We ate it too fast. A big pizza needs about 15 minutes at 375.

Rhubarb Squares

2010-06-11T11:37:00.000-07:00

Finally a day off, to sit down and watch reruns with my cats, catch up on some much needed laundry, and catch up on some much needed blog posts!

Spring is here. And so is rhubarb, fresh herbs, garlic scapes, and wild strawberries. Mmm, and edible flowers and radishes for delicious salads.

(Grilled cheese with caramelized onions and far too much butter, which is why it was so good, and salad from the garden)

Here's a recipe I've been making a bunch of this spring.

Rhubarb Squares

This recipe has three parts - a fruit puree, a crust and a curd. But totally worth all the work.

Preheat oven to 350.

puree:

5-8 rhubarb stalks, in 1 in. pieces

1/8 c. sugar

Combine rhubarb and sugar, let sit for 10 minutes. Add 1/8 c. water and heat over medium heat, until rhubarb has broken down and fruit has thickened. Set aside to cool.

crust:

4 oz room temperature butter

1 c. flour (also works well with all purpose gluten free flour + xanthan gum)

1/4 c. sugar

pinch of salt

Prepare a 9x5 baking pan, and line with parchment paper. Combine in a food processor, pulse until dough forms. Press dough into pan, then let sit for 15 minutes.

curd:

3 egg yolks

1/3 cup sugar

pinch of salt

1/2 tsp lemon zest

1 1/2 tbsp butter

In a double boiler whisk together eggs, sugar and salt until warm. Add rhubarb and zest, stirring constantly, until warm. Remove from heat and stir in butter.

bake:

Bake crust for 20 minutes. Spread curd on top of crust, and bake for another 10 minutes. Let cool, then refrigerate for easier cutting.

Back from winter, ready for spring

2010-03-23T12:55:00.000-07:00

Oh vey, it's been a long time. I don't seem to have much inspiration in the winter. It's not that I haven't been cooking, but it's been a transitional time of gluten-full to gluten-free. It also seems that the less busy I am with other projects, the less inclined I am to write about cooking. Stupid? Yes.

Well, it's gardening time, and I couldn't be more excited. I built - well, assembled is more like it- a grow light. (Although I totally built the shelf underneath, with some power tool help from my bf). The garlic I planted last fall is peeking out, and it's warm enough to dig around! I created a makeshift cold frame to start some greens... more on that experiment later.

I went out and bought a heating pad for my peppers. Please germinate! Here's looking forward to a dry and hot summer, unlike the last one. Maybe my pepper plants will actually produce fruit this year.

And yet again, I have way too many veggies to fit in my yard.

Making Apple Cider

2009-10-24T07:53:00.000-07:00

Apples, apples, apples. It's a good thing there's so many ways to prepare them, because they're going to be a staple for the next few months. In the past few weeks I've made apple/cherry applesauce, baked apples, apple and walnut stuffing, apple and cheddar grilled cheese, squash and apple soup... the list is endless. I bought a peck of Spy apples two weekends ago, and they're disappearing fast from their basket in my closet (I know, weird, but it's cool and dark, perfect for storing apples). It seemed like a large amount at the time, but in retrospect, I could have gone for the bushel.
Last weekend I went to Hart House Farm. It was a delightful chance to get out of the city, and included stealing apples from an orchard (just one!), getting lost on the bruce trail, sitting in the autumn sun next to quarry ponds, and helping make apple cider!

Mulled Apple Cider

4 cups apple cider

2 0r 3 thin slices of orange

1 cinnamon stick

1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

Combine all ingredients in a pot. Over high heat, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove orange slices and cinnamon sticks and serve!

Baked Apples

6 apples

1/8 cup brown sugar

1/8 cup melted butter

1/2 cup trail mix (I used a mix with pecans, raisins and sunflower seeds)

1 tsp cinnamon

pinch of salt

about 1 cup of apple cider

Hollow out apples - the easiest way I can figure is to cut a cone shape down into the top of the apple, then use a melon baller to take out the rest of the core. Just be sure not to go right through the apple; leave a thin layer at the bottom. Then, use a paring knife to score a circle in the skin around the centre of the apple. This will prevent the apple from bursting through it's skin.

Combine butter and sugar. Add trail mix, cinnamon and salt. Stuff each apple with this mixture. Put apples in a baking pan. Pour over apple cider, until there is about a 1/2 inch of liquid in the pan. Bake for 40 minutes. If you let the apples cool somewhat, the liquid leftover in the bottom of the pan will thicken, making a delicious sauce. I served the apples with plain yogurt. You could be decadent and have them with vanilla ice cream.

Spinach, Roman Style

2009-10-12T18:22:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday, I picked up some interesting looking spinach at the East Lynn Farmer's Market. It was shaped like large arugula leaves with deep red stems, reminding me of beet greens. I tried to find out what it's called - and found an interesting plant called Malabar spinach, which isn't really a spinach at all. I'm going to look into growing it next year. It's a hot weather plant that forms long vines, and tastes like a mild spinach.

Anyway, that wasn't the plant I bought.

The spinach I bought might be Bordeaux spinach. It's a F1 hybrid, bred specifically for those green mixes. Presumably the idea with to add some colour to the plastic boxes of gas-treated salad mixes? Anyway, it was delicious in a fritatta with roasted red peppers and goat cheese, and it was even tastier as the spotlight in this dish. I've fallen in love with pine nuts, and started adding them to everything I eat.

Roman Style Spinach
(adapted from a New York Times article from the 80's. The original had raisins in it, which sounded... different? I'll be brave and add them in next time I make this.)

1 small bunch of spinach (about 5 or 6 cups), washed, dried and coarsely chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/8 cup of pine nuts

Heat olive oil on med-high heat in a saute pan. Add garlic and pine nuts, cook, stirring often, until browned, about 1-2 minutes. Add spinach and cook until wilted, about 3 or 4 more minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

I enjoyed this with polenta and leftover mushroom gravy from thanksgiving.

Soups for rainy weather

2009-10-08T10:15:00.001-07:00

Leek and Potato Soup (with special appearances by corn and red pepper)

There's chunky, broth based soup, and then there's ultra -smooth, pureed soup your grandma would love. Sometimes I feel like something in the middle! Removing and pureeing just a bit of the soup can make it extra creamy without adding cups of milk or cream. My lactose intolerant boyfriend also appreciates this.

(this soup disappeared to fast to be photographed. Here's an ingredient instead.)

A note on leeks: they can by sneaky vegetables, hiding dirt and sand in between their leaves. I cut off almost all of the green part (and feed it to my compost worms), then slice the leek lengthwise in half. Then I rinse it, making sure to check between the layers.

2 tbsp olive oil

2 large or 3 small leeks, cleaned and sliced thinly

4 fist sized potatoes, peeled and diced

1 red pepper, finely diced

salt and pepper

6 cups of vegetable broth

1 cup milk or cream (leave out for a dairy-free soup, just add 1 more cup of broth)

2 cups of fresh corn (about 2 cobs)

Heat olive oil in a large pot. Cook leeks for 5 minutes, then add potatoes and pepper and saute for 5 more minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add broth, and simmer soup for 20-25 minutes, until potatoes are tender. Remove 1 cup of soup and puree with an immersion blender (or other blending device). Return pureed soup to pot, add milk (if using) and corn. Simmer (but don't boil!) for another 5 minutes, until corn is cooked to your liking.

I enjoyed this soup with grilled cheese: some gluten-free cinnamon raisin bread with spy apples and aged cheddar. Mmmm. Finished leftovers the next day with my new favorite crackers - Mary's something or other, made out of rice and quinoa.

Curried Pumpkin and Apple

Here's a creamy vegan soup I invented for one of my New England Pie pumpkins.

1 pie pumpkin, halved with seeds removed

2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, diced

2 apples, diced (no need to peel, the skin will break down)

salt and pepper

2 tbsp curry powder

4-5 cups of vegetable stock

1 can coconut milk

Preheat oven to 375. Rub pumpkin flesh with 1 tbsp olive oil and place face down on a cookie sheet. Bake for 30 minutes, or until soft. Remove from oven and let cool. Then scoop the flesh into a bowl.

Heat other tbsp of olive oil in a large pot. Sautee onion and apples for about 10 minutes, until soft. Add curry powder, salt and pepper and saute for 1 more minute. Then, add cooked pumpkin and stock, and simmer for 10 minutes. Finally, puree soup until smooth, then add coconut milk and heat through. The end!

gardening update

2009-10-05T18:34:00.000-07:00

Almost time to clean things up for the winter - ripping up plants, throwing around compost, pulling up bamboo rods and stacking pots. By some divine miracle, the tomato plants are still thriving. Here's some harvest from last weekend: 2 New England Pie pumpkins, some potatoes (actually, the only two potatoes my plant produced), and three tomato varieties: Juliet, Green Zebra and Matt's Wild Cherry tomatoes.

For the first time this year, I'm saving seeds! It's about time, I'm kicking myself for not saving some Montreal Tasty tomato seeds from last year. There are numerous containers of fermenting seeds on my kitchen table. I should probably let my roommates know what they are before someone throws them out. Here's what I'll have for next year - planting and trading:

Matt's Wild Cherry Tomatoes

Juliet Tomatoes

New England Pie Pumpkin

Butternut Squash

Marketmore Cucumbers

And - look! I grew fruit! Somehow more exciting than carrots and beets, this year I grew gooseberries and 'Hearts of Gold' melon (below).

Also, I just realized I like blackberries. Usually, I'm lured towards the raspberries and blueberries and give the blackberries a pass, but last week I read a recipe for blackberry sauce in the book Gluten-free Girl (also an awesome blog), and picked some up at St. Lawrence. I only used 1/2 pint for the sauce, and was forced to eat the other half. How have I lasted this long without realizing how delicious they are?

Blackberry Sauce

adapted from Gluten-free Girl

I used this sauce for my once-monthly fish extravaganza - it's delicious on a pan-fried salmon fillet. I used up the rest in some plain yogurt, and I imagine it would be amazing on ice cream, too.

1/2 pint blackberries

1/4 cup water

1 lemon, juice and zest

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

Just simmer everything together for 10 minutes. Shauna's recipe suggests straining the sauce, but I like the crunchy seeds, so I left it as is.

return from the land of very good and very bad food.

2009-09-26T20:53:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I wrote. A very, very long time. It's not without trying - I can count on the fingers and toes of all the people I live with (which is a lot) the number of times I've made something and thought to myself "I have to write down this recipe and post it!" As far as food is concerned, this has been a summer of extreme highs and lows. I feasted on strawberries, rhubarb and asparagus here in Toronto; I ate loaves and loaves of bread with pasta and vodka sauce in New York City; I devoured a whole watermelon to myself beside the Hudson River; I singlehandedly cooked a local dinner for a party of 30 at my graduation; I made cupcakes that looked like penguins. Those were good. The bad? My favorite two weeks of the year at Trafalgar Castle: camp! Let's just say, the food has never been great. This year the cafeteria provider Armark sunk to new lows. Note the piece of art we made out of stale fortune cookies and a sweet and sour sauce that had the consistency of Jello and the colour of, well, Jell0.

too cute to eat.

food art!

sprawling children's vegetable garden in New York City Botanical Gardens, the Bronx

Addiction to farmer's markets intensifies when the berries begin to appear.

first real food at camp: a giant tray of sushi.

more cupcakes: nests for the penguins!

my boyfriend's not so healthy choice. he regretted ordering a large coke.

But now the weather's getting colder, and I'm back at my computer. Also, no more gluten excuses. From now on, all my recipes will be without gluten: wheat flour, rye, oats, barely soy sauce, etc, etc. It's time to start writing down recipes again. So here we go:

Oven Roasted Tomatoes

I'm not going to lie, I actually got sick of eating tomatoes. I know I'm going to hate myself when January comes, but it's true. My Juliet, Wild Cherry and Green Zebra plants were so prolific that the tomato bowl on my counter was never empty, July to September. This week I gave up and threw them all in the oven for later in the winter.

tomatoes

olive oil

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 300. If using cherry, juliet or plum tomatoes, cut them in half. Anything larger and you'll want to cut them in wedges or slices. Lay out the tomatoes on parchment lined cookie sheets. Drizzle with a very small amount of olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 3 or 4 hours at 300, the turn the oven down to 200 and cook for a few more. Just keep checking them - you'll know they're done when they're completely dried and shriveled up! Watch out if you're cooking different types and sizes of tomatoes at once, they will be done at different times.

Duche de Leche

Here's a simple, easy thing I was first introduced to, strangely, by my diabetic friend. It couldn't be easier if it tried. If you've never had it, it's kind of like caramel sauce, but thicker and more delicious. Try it in crepes, with apple slices, or on top of ice cream. I even used some as a filling in some gluten-free brownies.

1 can of sweetened, condensed milk

Bring a large, deep pot of water to boil. Add can of milk, unopened. Boil for 3 hours. That's it! Just be sure to keep adding water, making sure the can is always covered. Store in a sealed jar in the fridge. I've read that it keeps for a month, but it would never make it that far in my house. I've also read that this method is dangerous, but no cans have ever exploded in my kitchen, and I know a bunch of people who make it this way with no problems.

Local eating, figs for spring

2009-06-19T12:09:00.000-07:00

I'm a local eater in a big way. Two weeks ago I bought my first strawberries since last summer, and truly, absense does make the heart grow fonder. And the fruits of waiting are very sweet.

Once in awhile, I just have to eat something from far away. I've spent the last few years sorting out my own personal food choices - and food choices are just that -incredible personal (and political). There's a few things I'm not willing to give up, for example, bananas and chocolate. But for foods like these, it's possible to be fair and environmental. Fair trade, organic bananas are available at quite a few places in Toronto. It's a step up from organic, where farmers are free from harmful pesticides, but are still only paid around a dollar per box. Fair trade means the farmers are getting fair market prices: around 8 dollars a box. The difference to us? Actually the same price as organic bananas, around $1.29 a pound. That's where the personal choice comes in. Am I in a position to spend 40 cents more than commercial bananas to ensure what I'm eating is not harming farmers, and that those farmers are getting enough money to reasonably make a living? Chocolate? Same deal. Cocoa Camino is my favorite organic fair trade brand, but there's a bunch out there.

So here's something I eat a few times a year. Figs have a unique taste. And, along with bananas, they were one of the first plants to be cutivated for human consumption, around 11,000 years ago. Here's a fig salad, surrounded by some local ingredients.

Strawberry Fig Salad
makes 2 servings

8 figs, sliced crosswise across the top (see picture)
1 cup strawberries, sliced
1/4 cup goat cheese

1/4 cup toasted walnut pieces
2 tbsp grapeseed oil (or olive oil)
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp maple syrup
salt and pepper

Combine strawberries and figs in a bowl. Crumble goat cheese and walnuts over top. Whisk together the oil, vinegar, maple syrup, salt and pepper. Drizzle over salad.

This is what I ate with the salad. I had all the fixings for an awesome pizza, but I have yet to tackle gluten-free pizza dough. Instead, I made a big giant rosti (recipe here) and then broiled it for a few minutes, covered in sliced tomatoes, basil leaves, kamalata olives and raw milk feta. It was delicious.

gardening in the rain

2009-06-17T13:31:00.001-07:00

My garden's been slow to get going this year - cold May weather, too much work, too much graduating and partying. Yesterday I finally had a whole day to weed, plant, mulch and tidy. At least a hour of that was spent wading through the lamb's quarters that were engulfing my snow peas and beets.

The squirrels and cats have been (mostly) foiled by large amounts of chicken wire covering every possible surface. Something small is still getting in, but it definitely isn't my 15 pound cats. They aren't that agile.

Foraging in the recycling bin has become a habit - containers for seed starting, toilet paper rolls for protecting tomato seedlings, water and pop bottles for make-shift cloches.

Also, I've discovered the joys of gardening in the rain. No bugs, no sun, nice temperature, and soil so easy to work with! Nice spring surprise- (below) I'm overjoyed to see that my cosmos and cilantro both re-seeded themselves!

Visiting farmer's markets over the past month, I've been tempted by a few tasty-sounding tomato plants. Along with the five Matt's Wild Cherry I grew from seed, there's a Green Zebra, two Purple Cherokees, four Candy Cherries, two Golden Cherries, and a giant Plum - with tomatoes growing already! I'm also growing peppers for the first time - Marconi Long Red and Purple Beauty.

Rhubarb four ways

2009-05-28T17:49:00.000-07:00

I have a confession: I have never bought, cooked, grown or eaten rhubarb (I'm not counting bad, store-bought strawberry rhubarb pie). But I'm trying something new. Inspired by all these posts about rhubarb (at Seasonal Ontario Food and Tea and Cookies), I spent the week cooking these four recipes:

Rhubarb Compote

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 lb rhubarb (about 10 to 12 thin, long stalks)

1 tbsp butter (or coconut oil)

Cut rhubarb into small cubes. Toss with sugar. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-low. Add rhubarb. Let cook for 2 minutes without stirring, then cook for 10-12 more minutes, stirring occasionally.

Possible experiments: today I stuck with plain old white sugar, but I'm going to try going all local with honey or maple syrup next time... not sure how the maple would taste with the rhubarb, but it can't be bad! I'm sure the rhubarb would overpower. I'm also going to try a vegan version using coconut oil instead of butter. And finally, I'm going to try using less sweetener. This one was delicious, but I would love it to taste even more tart.

Enjoyed on: vanilla ice cream, custard, yogurt, pancakes, potato rosti, toast and on spoon, straight from the jar.

Variation - Strawberry Rhubarb Compote

Exactly the same as above, just add some halved strawberries after the rhubarb has cooked for 5 minutes. You might want to add less sugar - the strawberries get mighty sweet when cooked. This compote is a lot runnier than the straight rhubarb - great for waffles, pancakes or ice cream!

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

*Note - This is a new crumble recipe for me - it's gluten free! I'm a big fan of crumbles with oats in the topping, but the almonds in this recipe make an awesome, crunchy crisp. This makes a rather tart crumble (according to my mom and boyfriend- I thought it was just right). Increase the sugar if you want a sweeter taste. Serve with delicious real, local, organic whipped cream!

1/3 cup sliced almonds
1/3 blanched almond flour (usually in the fridge in health food stores - like the big carrot)
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 tbsp cold butter (coconut oil or vegan margarine for a vegan version)
dash of salt
2 cups strawberries, hulled and halved
4 cups rhubarb, diced
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp lemon juice

Spread sliced almonds on a baking sheet (I used whole almonds and chopped them roughly). Toast in oven at 350 for 8 minutes. Throw almonds, almond flour, brown sugar and salt in food processor and grind into a fine meal. Transfer to a bowl, and cut in cold butter, making a chunky, cornmeal-like mixture. Set aside. Leave oven on at 350 for later.

Combine strawberries and rhubarb in a bowl. Toss with sugar and cornstarch. Sprinkle lemon juice over fruit.

Grease a 9 by 9 in. baking dish. Spread fruit in bottom, then sprinkle crumble topping evenly over fruit. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until fruit is thoroughly cooked and topping is browned.

Rhubarb Applesauce

*Note- use 2 or 3 types of apples if you can. This makes any applesauce taste better. Also, if you're using organic apples, leave them unpeeled (if you don't mind a few bits of skin - and if you're using some sort of red apple, it will turn the sauce a pretty red colour).

5 or 6 apples, cored and chopped
5 or 6 stalks of rhubarb, diced
2-3 tbsp maple syrup

Combine apples and rhubarb in a pot with a few splashed of water. Cook on medium/low heat, stirring and smushing occasionally, until everything is soft and mushy to your liking (anywhere from 20-40 minutes). Stir in maple syrup to taste.

Along with the rhubarb, here's my finds from the market this week: cabbage, cornbread, bok choy, a cucumber. apples and delicious kalamata olives. Mmmmm.

In 4 months, this vine will be bursting with New England Pie pumpkins... I'm already thinking of the delicious things I'm going to bake.

Cheap & easy dinner, plentiful & bountiful asparagus

2009-05-13T11:38:00.000-07:00

Potato Rosti with grilled asparagus

*this makes delicious dinner for 2. For one person, just make a smaller rosti, cutting amounts in half.

3 large potatoes

1 onion, peeled

salt and pepper

3 or 4 tbsp olive oil

1 lb asparagus

2 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350. Grate potatoes (leave skin on) and onion. Season with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a skillet (one that can go in the oven - no plastic handles!). Make sure pan is coated well with oil to avoid rosti mishaps. Pile grated potato and onion mixture in skillet, pressing down and forming a huge, pan-sized potato pancake. Cook on medium heat for 7 or 8 minutes. Run spatula under edges to loosen, then place a large plate face down on the rosti. Flip the entire thing onto the plate, then slide the rosti back onto the pan (now cooking the uncooked side). Put the skillet in the oven for another 7 or 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, perhaps while the first side of the rosti cooks, break off the tough ends of the asparagus. Toss on a baking pan with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. When you put the rosti in the oven, throw in the asparagus. They'll be done the same time as the rosti! (8 minutes). Roll them around once for even cooking.

Meanwhile, while asparagus and rosti are in the oven, fry two eggs.

Serve each rosti piled with asparagus, topped with an egg (maybe with a side of homemade applesause for the rosti).

Cheap, cheap dinner. The whole thing costs between 2 and 4 dollars, depending on whether you're using organic ingredients. Use butter instead of olive oil and you have yourself a 100 mile dinner, possible much much closer, especially if you're lucky enough to have an asparagus bed in your backyard. No excuses for that woody, tasteless asparagus from Peru right now - everywhere has Ontario asparagus, from No Frills to Dufferin Grove to St. Lawrence Market.

cooking on earth day

2009-04-22T19:10:00.000-07:00

Sweet Curried Carrot Soup

2 tbsp olive oil

2 small onions, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp ginger, minced

2 tbsp thai red curry paste

3 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

1 apple, peeled and diced

5 carrots, peeled and diced

6 cups water

1 bouillon cube

1 can coconut milk

more coconut milk and arugula to garnish

Saute onions in olive oil for 5 minutes, until soft. Add garlic, ginger and curry paste, stir and cook for a few more minutes. Add sweet potatoes, apple, carrots, water and bouillon cube. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes. Puree in a food processor or with an immersion blender. Add coconut milk, and heat for 5 more minutes. Serve with a spoonful of coconut milk and a few pieces of arugula.

*Note: Clearly, I spent earth day cooking. What better thing to do than to cook up some tasty food with some local, organic produce? Onions, garlic, sweet potato, apples and carrots, all from less than 100 miles away. I remade my last recipe - the cornbread quiche - because it was just so good.

wonderful experiments!

2009-04-18T20:08:00.000-07:00

Cornbread Quiche

Here's some almost-local quiches. I used gluten-free cornbread from Dufferin Grove market (locally made, some non-local ingredients). The wild garlic and mushrooms come from just outside of Toronto, and eggs, yogurt and feta cheese are available from numerous organic farms around the GTA all year round.

*Note - this makes 4 mini quiches. They keep well for a few days in the refrigerator, and reheat in the toaster oven.

4 slices of cornbread
4 tsp olive oil, more for sauteing
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1 stalk wild garlic, minced
3 eggs
1/2 plain 3% yogurt
1/4 crumbled feta cheese
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350. This is a three part recipe. First, the vegetables. Saute the mushrooms and wild garlic in some olive oil in a pan.

While the vegetables cook, make the crust: oil four muffin tins with olive oil. Press slices of cornbread into muffin tin, creating 4 mini crusts. Don't worry about crumbling or squishing the cornbread - just mold and press, then cook for 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, the custard: combine the eggs, yogurt, feta, salt and pepper in a bowl. Whisk with a fork.

Combine everything: take the crusts out of the oven, fill with mushrooms, then top with the egg mixture, and bake for 10-15 minutes, until the egg is set. Remove from the muffin tins.

You could really make these with any vegetable filling you like, or switch up the cheese! Say, tomatoes and basil with mozzarella, or broccoli and cheddar. Also, you could try using plain old whole wheat bread, or even filo pastry for the crust.

100-mile salad

2009-04-16T20:42:00.000-07:00

Here's an easy salad for spring. It's all 100-mile (sans dressing and olives), and can be all year long, using Ontario greenhouse cucumbers and tomatoes. I can't wait to make this with the Matt's Wild Cherry Tomatoes and Marketmore Cucumbers from my garden. The feta cheese I used was this delicious stuff I found at Dufferin Grove Market today. Other purchases? Gluten-free corn bread (best darn gluten free bread I've ever had), 3-bean sprout mix, and wild garlic!

Mediterranean Salad

2 tomatoes, diced

1 cucumber, diced

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

big handful of kalamata olives, pitted and halved

crumbled feta (however much or little you want)

juice of 1/2 lemon

2 or 3 tbsp olive oil

sea salt and fresh ground pepper

Combine all the vegetables and feta. Sprinkle with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Keeps well for a day or two in the fridge. I served my leftovers on top of a big handful of sprouts - there's more than enough dressing to go around, especially after the tomatoes have been marinating for a day.

more beets...

2009-04-15T10:27:00.000-07:00

I swear this is the last post about beets. I roasted a bunch to put in salad, but instead, I found this recipe from Seasonal Ontario Food. I'm finally using up the last of the cranberries I had frozen in the fall. This is my favorite new recipe since... well, in the past few weeks, and I have been cooking a LOT. My favorite part about thanksgiving is the cranberry sauce, and this recipe is definitely healthier than the usual way I get my cranberry fix - eating leftover sauce in spoonfuls, straight from the fridge. The beets, apples and cranberries go great together. It's delicious hot or cold.

Cranberry Apple Beets

4 or 5 cooked beets
1 cup frozen cranberries
2 apples, coarsely chopped
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp grated ginger
1/2 cup apple cider or apple juice

Peel and dice beets. Put in a pot with all the other ingredients. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes, until the cranberries pop and everything is softened to your liking. Eat!

Beets beets beets

2009-03-24T14:50:00.000-07:00

I've been eating a ton of beets recently. It's just that time of year, the lull before April asparagus. Let's see - beet and romano cheese risotto, a simple apple and beet salad, roasted beets, delicious beet and goat cheese salad, and the giant pot of borcht I made last week! It took me... a while to get through it, but I easily pawned some off on my mom. Freeze some for a suprise a month or two from now.

Borcht

The amounts in this recipe are approximate. This is a clean out your fridge kind of soup, don't use what you don't have, add things like cabbage or tomatoes if you have them!

3 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 or 3 stalks of celery, chopped
3 beets, peeled and chopped
1 potato, chopped
2 apples, chopped
2 bay leaves
8 cups of vegetable stock (I used 2 boullion cubes with 8 cups of water)
sea salt and pepper to taste

In a large, heavy bottomed pot, saute onions in olive oil for 2 minutes. Add celery and carrots, and saute for 5 mintues more. Add beets, potato and apples, bay leaves and stock. Simmer for 30-40 minutes, until beets are cooked through. Remove bay leaves, season with salt and pepper. Puree in a food processor to desired consistency - add more water if needed. I used my immersion blender for the first time! I left some chunks for texture. It was delightfully easy!

Some new food I've enjoyed recently! First a disclaimer: I have a general distaste for anything spelled with a "z." Not as in zebra or zap, but added z's, especially in food product names: such as "T-ribz," a vegetarian version of the carnivorous food. I never would have bought this product because of the aforementioned "z," if not for the friendly sample woman at the Big Carrot. However, now I know the deliciousness of t-ribz, I think I can manage to get past the name. I have no idea what actual t-ribs taste like, since the last time I ate them I was 9, but these are an amazing, generally healthy vegan fast food! They're made by Sol, whose whole line of prepared tofu and veggie burgers are vegan AND gluten free. Basically, they're strips of firm tofu covered in a tomato paste/tamari/barbecue-style sauce. I fried mine in a bit of olive oil and at them on a bed of quinoa, but the sample lady told me to try them for breakfast with potatoes! I might try recreating the sauce at home sometime, but for now, in the middle of exams, it's a great fast food.

So, my birthday party a few weeks ago! I hapily feasted on leftovers for at least a week, but no one bought me a crock pot, which I'm a little disappointed about... just kidding! My boyfriend gave me an immersion blender AND a bike! Soon, I will be carrying around tupperwares full of pureed soups and sauces on my new green Miele road bike. For party food, I tried out a bunch of new recipes - not a great idea right before you invite 20 people to eat at your house - but they all worked out great! Here's one of my favorites:

Corn and Avocado Quinoa Salad

1 cup quinoa, cooked
1 cup cooked corn kernels (frozen or leftover corn on the cob)
2 green onions, sliced
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1 red pepper, diced
1 avocado, diced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
salt and pepper

What is quinoa you ask? A delightful ancient seed - it's technically not a grain - that comes from South America, but is also grown in Eastern North America. 6,000 years ago, it was one of the most important food sources in South America, but was scorned by Europeans during the conquest of South America, who thought of it as 'Indian Food.' It's a complete protein (meaning it has all essential amino acids), is gluten-free, and high in iron and magnesium. Plus they have these cute little tails once they're cooked - I think it's the endosperm.

Rinse your quinoa! Most important step for tasty quinoa! I soak mine in warm water for 10 minutes, then give it a few rinses in fresh, cold water. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil, add drained quinoa, reduce to low heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until all the water is absorbed. Let quinoa cool.

Meanwhile, prep veggies. Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, cumin, paprika, salt and pepper. Pour over veggies in a large bowl. Toss to coat. Add cooled quinoa, stir and fluff. The end! (If you're making this ahead, leave out the avocado until right before you serve it so it doesn't get all brown and mushy).

PS. check out my new lists of cookbooks and other books, with reviews to come. also, here's two of my kitties - they're looking forward to helping out in the garden (read: lounging in the sun while I do all the hard work).

forgotten vegetables:

2009-03-09T11:03:00.000-07:00

Celariac root, jerusalem artichoke, dandelion greens, tatsoi, rapini- those weird vegetables you pass by at the farmer's market every week. Don't cast them aside just because they don't show up in cookbooks. How do I cut it open? Is the skin edible? What the heck does it taste like? And why is it called a Jerusalem Artichoke? Google it! The answers are all there...

Rapini is maybe a better known vegetable, but one I always forget about. Is it broccoli? Is it spinach? Anyway, here's a recipe from Vegetarian times I made the other night; it's super simple, with minimal ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen.

Rapini with Beans and Cherry Tomatoes

1 bunch rapini, washed and coarsely chopped
olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1 cup cooked navy beans or white kidney beans (aka cannellini beans)
Parmesan to taste
salt and pepper
Cook the beans (or use canned). Heat the olive oil in a big pan (I used my wok). Add garlic, cook for 30 sec. Add the rapini before the garlic starts to burn. Saute for 5-7 minutes, until the rapini is cooked. Set aside on plate. Add more olive oil to the hot pan, then add cherry tomatoes and saute until blistering. Add beans, cook for 2 or 3 more minutes until the beans are heated. Season with salt and pepper. Pile (nicely) on top of the rapini. Grate lots of cheese on top! Or, sprinkle with tasty bread crumbs for a vegan version.

I ate this along with some delicious maple-soy glazed mackerel, and it was the tastiest (and prettiest) meal I've had in a long time. Speaking of mackerel, I've started eating fish in the past month, after reading Tars Grescoe's Bottomfeeder. It's a very interesting book about the state of the world's fisheries. You would think that after reading about cyanide bombs in coral reefs and collapsing fishery dates set for 2050, I would have no interest in fish whatsoever. But ever since I went vegetarian, I've been craving seafood, sneaking in some smoked salmon at a party once a year, maybe some cocktail shrimp at a free function.

However, after reading Bottomfeeder, I've decide to be educated in my fish choices and go for it once or twice a month. Never again will I fall for Atlantic smoked salmon or cocktail shrimp, which might as well be the factory farmed meat of the sea. Atlantic Salmon is raised in environmentally disastrous fish farms, and most shrimp come from chemical filled in-land ponds in India or the Philippines, which are responsible for poisoning local food sources and clear-cutting mangrove forests. Instead, I'm sticking to fish closer to the bottom of the food chain, such as mackerel, a fish that matures in only 2 years (versus some large fish that can take 10-20 years). It also comes from nearby - there's a large mackerel population that spawns in the St. Lawrence. Check out the book for more information, or websites like Sea Choice or Seafood Watch to find out what fish are an ethical and environmental choice. Here's a tasty mackerel recipe!

Maple-soy glazed Mackerel

1/3 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1/4 cup soy sauce (tamari for the gluten-free)

1/8 cup red wine

Preheat oven to broil. Combine all 4 ingredients in a small saucepan, bring to a boil, then turn down to medium heat. Simmer for 7 or 8 minutes, until the liquid has reduced to about a 1/4 cup of thick glaze. Set 2 mackerel fillets in on some foil in a baking pan, skin side down. Brush 1/3 of the glaze on fish, then broil for 2 minutes. Remove fish, brush another 1/3 of glaze on, then broil for 1 more minute. Repeat once more (for a total of 4 minutes cooking time, using up all the glaze). Eat! This glaze can turn any food into amazingness. I tried in on broiled tempeh this week.

PS. Almost planting time! I'm starting off my tomato and squash seedlings next weekend!

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

2009-02-27T17:34:00.000-08:00

I finally borrowed Veganomicon from the library! It's an awesome vegan cookbook; beautifully designed, clear and conversational. And, the whole thing is available on Google Books! Anyway, here's the first recipe (of many) that I tried out, with a few minor changes. It's wheat free, and obviously, vegan. Don't let this turn you off - I brought them to school and fed them to a bunch of non-vegans with no complaints. Actually no complaints AND enjoyment and delight! (Although dancers are pretty much always eating, you can feed them anything sweet and free and they will be happy.)

Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies (wheat-free chocolate chip cookies in Veganomicon)

1 1/2 cups oat flour (just throw some rolled oats in a blender or food processor)
1/4 cup oatmeal (I added this for some extra texture)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp ground flax seeds
1/4 cup soy milk (or rice or almond or chocolate soy milk - that's what I used)
1/4 brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup chopped dark chocolate (try a flavored chocolate - orange or mint)

Preheat your oven to 375 (my oven is a little over-excited, I turned it down to 350, but I don't have a thermometer to check the real temperature). Whisk together the oat flour, oats, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the flax seeds and soy milk. Add both sugars, canola oil and vanilla and whisk until the oil in emulsified, about 1 minute. Mix the wet and dry ingredients together, then fold in the chocolate chunks. Spoon tablespoons of batter onto a slightly greased sheet - be sure to leave at least 1 1/2 inches between the cookies - they spread! Bake for 8-10 minutes, then let them cool a bit on the sheet. Don't let them completely cool on the sheet though! My first batch glued themselves to the sheet.

I used Endangered Species Dark Chocolate with Mint, but you could use any dark chocolate bar well-chopped. My next batch will be with Cocoa Camino's Dark Orange, maybe with some pecans thrown in. Can you tell I'm a big fan of dark chocolate? Sorry for the lack of picture - they were gone too fast to photograph!

seedy excitement

2009-02-22T14:18:00.000-08:00

(Sad, sad kale, but still putting new leaves out after being abandoned in december. Kale is a biennial, so I'm hoping it will come back to life with new vigor when it comes out of its deep freeze.)

Last Thursday I was wandering around Dufferin Grove Market, picking up some sprouts and carrots, when I happened upon a beautiful oasis (in the form of a seed display set up by Urban Harvest). I completely forgot they were going to be at the market this week, and was SO excited. I'm sure my friends will mock me at the excitement I felt to see rows and rows of growing possibilities, but after I started my first full-size garden last year, I really just can't wait to get back outside and dig my hands into the dirt. The only thing that gets me through the dreary, dreary Toronto January-March hump is dreaming about new varieties of winter squash and lima beans. Especially when all that beautiful white snow has turned into frozen grey banks filled with cigarette butts. Spring is less than a month away! Soon my garden will look like this again:

(salad greens from last year's garden)

Here's the seeds I picked up:

Cape Gooseberries - I've never even eaten gooseberries, so this will be a surprise! They're a member of the tomato family, have husks, and look kind of like tomatillos

Hearts of Gold Melon - a heirloom from 1895, with 1kg fruit

Christmas Lima Bean - I only bought this because the woman selling them told me to. She had me hooked on "tastes chestnutty and has the texture of baked potatoes." Heirloom from 1840. I needed something to replace my Kentucky Pole Wonder Beans from last year - which were ok, but not my favorite.

Marketmore Cucumber - dependable. I haven't grown cukes before, but the butternut squash last year was so easy, I can't wait for more vining plants.

Tatsoi - a green with an interesting name! use it in salads, or by itself.

Matt's Wild Cherry Tomato - the possible precursor of the modern day tomato! tall vines, many tomatoes - apparently they taste like raspberries. I will get back to you on that. You hear about this tomato everywhere, and I can't wait to start it off in a few weeks. Dates to 1889!

New England Pie Pumpkin - I have recipes already planned for these babies: some gluten-free pumpkin waffles, a delicious pumpkin loaf my mom made me last year, and some of those nifty pumpkin-as-soup-tureen recipes. You cook the soup/stew right in the pumpkin! From 1860.

Mammoth Melting Sugar Snow Peas - Don't heirlooms just have the best names? Seriously, they can make the vegetable-hater just want to give it a try. Mammoth melting? Who wouldn't want to plant these? My peas were not the most productive last year, but I have my fingers crossed.

goodbye wheat, hello potatoes

2009-02-19T20:21:00.000-08:00

I'm branching out into the wheat-free world after finally figuring out that I'm intolerant to the stuff. But life looks fine on the other side! At Dufferin Grove's Thursday organic market I found sweet potato bread (ooh!) made with rice flour and a tasty kamut and spelt bread (delicious and hearty).

The other day I was complaining to my boyfriend about how I keep forgetting about these delicious recipies; you know how you make pizza dough for 3 or 4 months and then forget about pizza for a year? So tonight I pulled out a recipe I hadn't made in ages. I'm sure every vegetarian slightly interested in cooking has at least one of Mollie Katzen's/Moosewood Collective's cookbooks in their kitchen; I know I have three or four hanging around. But the one that gets the most milage is definately The Enchanted Broccoli Forest. Mollie's section on quiches is great - tonight I broke out the mashed potato crust. 1o times healthier, ten times tastier than your average pie crust. Here it is.

3 average sized potatoes
2 tbsp butter or olive oil
1/2 onion, minced
salt and pepper

Quarter and cook potatoes (don't bother peeling them, unless they're not organic - potatoes have high levels of pesticide residues on their skins). Mash them with the butter, salt and pepper and raw minced onion. Press the mashed potatoes into a greased pie plate. Bake at 375 for 40 minutes, brushing with oil halfway through.

Now for the filling. So you have your crust. Next you need a layer of cheese. Usually I go for volume, not flavor - just some average grated mozza or cheddar. You need enough to cover the bottom, creating a layer protective fattiness between the crust and egg. Tonight I tried something new - a tangy sheep's milk cheese from Dufferin Grove.

Next- the vegetables! The possibilities are endless. Some of my favorites - spinach sauteed with onion, nutmeg and dry mustard; tomatoes and fresh herbs, mushrooms (only when my mycophobic boyfriend isn't around); and today, red swiss chard with onions and garlic.

Finally, your custard: 3 eggs and one cup of milk/yogurt/sour cream/any combo of the three.

Sprinkle with a little paprika, bake it at 375 for 35-40 minutes, then let it rest 5 minutes before cutting. Mmmm, wheat free quiche.

granola, the staple of breakfast

2009-02-17T18:43:00.001-08:00

I'm an oatmeal person. Steel cut, quick cooking, large flake, instant; with apples, bananas, soy milk, raisins, dates, chocolate chips, brown sugar, maple syrup... you get the idea. I will (most mornings) get up a half hour early just to make it, and I will keep doing this until I finally get that slow cooker I've been dreaming of - March 21 is my birthday, by the way.

On those mornings I can't drag myself out of bed, granola is a great stand-in. But it's SO overpriced, and usually filled with extra oil and not enough nuts and fruit. The solution: make some! Here's one of my favorite recipes. It's so delicious, it barely lasts a week in my kitchen. It's wonderful with soy milk or yogurt, covered in some organic bananas or peaches. Or, use it in baked apples or as a crumble topping.

Granola with many options:

1/4 cup juice (apple, orange, mango, whatever)

1/4 cup honey or maple syrup

1/4 cup nut or seed butter (tahini, almond, sunflower, plain old peanut)

1 tsp vanilla

4 cups large flake oats (not quick cooking)

1 cup nuts (again, whatever you want)

1 cup dried fruit (raisins, apricots, dates)

Preheat oven to 325. Whisk together juice, honey or maple syrup, nut butter and vanilla. If your nut butter is lumpy, heat the mixture a little to help it get together. Set aside. Grease 2 9 x 13 pans, and spread oats and nuts evenly between the two. Pour the liquid over top of the oats and stir everything together. Bake for 20-25 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so. This recipe is touchy because of the honey and juice - one second it can be fine, the next it's burnt. It's best to stay in the kitchen and make something else while you keep an eye on it. After it's golden brown and out of the oven, stir in the dried fruit and let it cool before storing in a sealed container.

Try different combos! The one in the picture is orange/honey/walnut/raisin. Other options? Apple/maple/pecan/apricot! The possibilities are endless. You could also throw in some shredded coconut, wheat germ, flax, sunflower seeds or sesame seeds.

in search of nature at yonge + dundas

2009-02-11T09:37:00.000-08:00

Going to school on one of the most unimaginative, tree-less campuses in Canada can be a depressing experience, especially when it comes to green spaces. A four block radius of the Ryerson Theatre School reveals four food courts, three malls, thirty-seven Tim Horton's (more or less), twenty-seven buildings with ten or more stories and... seven trees? The closest we get to nature is that time last October when a hawk had its nest on roof of a nearby apartment building. As I walked past the skating rink on the way to class last October, I saw a crowd of students watching the hawk rip apart a pigeon on the top of that giant rock. Ah, nature.

However, only two blocks east, among the marginalized and destitute, lies Allan Gardens, sadly forgotten but not completely ignored. It's a really beautiful collection of buildings - it reminds me of parasols and Victorian dresses, and when you look up the history of the gardens, it gets even more interesting. William Allan, one of the first settlers of Toronto, built his house - "Moss Park"- on the land that now houses Allan Gardens. But the gardens are actually named after his son, George William Allan (who was president of the Toronto Horticulture Society and mayor of Toronto). George Allan gave the donated the property to the city, and it was named after him when he died in 1901. The original pavilion burned down a year later, and the present palm house was built in 1909, making this year its 100th birthday!

You can find more info on Allan Gardens here and here, including some old photos. And, if you feel like playing librarian/detective, Toronto Archives has tons of old photos... none of which are available online, unfortunately. (But the Archives site does have 1,000's of photos of Toronto dating back to the 1800s.) The greenhouses are sadly empty, save for some business workers on their lunch, the odd homeless person looking for a warm break from the winter weather and a handful of gardeners. Last time I was there I asked one of the gardeners what happened to all the big, old goldfish I remembered in the ponds. He replied, "Raccoons - they break in through the heat vent. A few months ago I came in in to find them high up in the branches of the palms over there, gutting the fish." Just like the hawk, even in the most man-made environments, certain animals still manage to carve their own niche and thrive in the inner city.

winter garden dreams

2009-02-10T14:58:00.000-08:00

This out-of-character Spring weather has me dreaming about gardening... ripe tomatoes, fresh kale, cilantro straight from my backyard. Last year was my first attempt at gardening, and I can't wait for this year; new heirloom varieties to try, more of the delicious butternut squash - from the seeds I saved from last year! Anyway, since this weather certainly won't last, the only thing to do is start planning, and I'm looking forward to attending my first Seedy Saturday, an annual gardening fair and seed exchange run by the Toronto Community Gardening Network. This years, it's being held at the new Wychwood barns on February 28th, 2-6 pm. Last year, I got most of my seeds from Urban Harvest, who I discovered at a booth at Canada Blooms. Just looking at the names is exciting and intriguing: Sweet Mammoth Basil, Atomic Red Carrot, Dinosaur Kale. I can't wait to put on my mud-caked keds and get covered in dirt.

cranberry-orange-spelt muffins

2009-01-28T20:13:00.000-08:00

Today Christmas came... 11 months early! I remembered about the cranberries I bought from St. Lawrence Market way back in October and hidden away at the back of my freezer. I went searching for some cranberry muffin recipes, and ended up combining a few - this one is mostly based on a recipe from the whole foods website for blueberry spelt muffins. It's more of a dessert muffin; there's a lot of sugar in them. Hopefully that's counteracted by the spelt flour - I've been trying to cut down on wheat lately... which can be difficult, especially when your dancing five hours every day. Anyway, here it is!

muffins:

4 tbsp softened butter
2/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup 3% yogurt
2 large eggs
1/2 orange juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp orange zest
2 cups spelt flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups frozen cranberries

strudel:

1/8 cup rolled oats
1/8 cup oat bran
1/8 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp canola oil (or butter)

Preheat over to 375. Cream butter and sugar together. Stir in yogurt, beaten eggs, orange juice, vanilla and orange zest. In another bowl, combine spelt flour, baking powder and salt. Add wet ingredients to dry, and stir until just combined. Stir in cranberries. Spoon into muffin cups (my batter made 9 jumbo muffins). For the strudel, combine all four ingredients. Sprinkle over each muffin. Bake for about 25 minutes, until golden brown and a fork comes out clean.

blogging!

2009-01-20T18:32:00.000-08:00

ok, here it goes. into the wild world of blogging. i recently made a zine for christmas - a collection of my favorite recipes from the last year. now's my chance to make a more polished version (and not have to print it off at ridiculous prices for color photocopies).