If anyone has been reading my blog for more than a year, you will know that I go positively loony when Meyer lemons become available in the stores again. These little jewel-like drops of citrus sunshine remind me every year that, as crappy a winter as we may be having in this part of the…
Category: recipes
Recipe Post: Slow Loris Chili Con Carne…erm, I mean “Slow Cooker…”!
Sadly, the warm days of summer are a distant memory in this part of the world, but the one good thing about cold, snowy, drizzly, wintery weather is that hearty warming soups, stews, and chili come back in rotation at the dinner table! This bright, colourful chili con carne recipe is simple enough, but delicious…
Recipe Post (updated): Al Trotter’s Signature Spaghetti Sauce (or, How I Got Sh*tfaced Just By Eating Dinner)
I really do love the flavour and richness of my own Spaghetti Sauce, which I posted about HERE, but there’s something about this Spaghetti Sauce recipe that is so wonderful, and delicious, and different enough from my own that it simply needs its own post. Here it’s called Al Trotter’s Signature Spaghetti Sauce, but to…
Food Facts: Say NUTS to Nut Allergies! 11 Great Substitutions Where You Won’t Miss a Thing
Story time! Once upon a time many years ago, I was cadging a ride home from a friend after a week-long vacation with a number of mutual friends. It was a long drive, and the day was hot, so I thought to do something nice to sustain us on our journey and brought along some…
Recipe Post: Batch Cooking Baked 5-Cheese Macaroni and Cheese
Muh gud, I lurves me some cheese. Can’t stay away from the stuff, which my hips and digestive system *really* appreciate, as you can imagine. Until I start experimenting with more nut cheeses (which I have already resolved to do this year, and I promise to write about my misadventures regarding THAT, you can be…
Recipe Post: Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies
Waaaay back when, I worked a contract administrative position for an amazing national Art Gallery in my home city. One of the things to know about non-profit organizations or institutions that receive funding from either the public or the government (many of which I have worked in over the course of my administrative career), is…
Recipe Post: Dairy-, Nut- and Soy-Free Chocolate Cake with Dairy Free Frosting
Some years ago, a Pastry friend and I had a cake commission for a dairy-free cake and cupcakes for a VERY allergic lady’s birthday. It was to be a black heart with a spiderweb in frosting, and of course everything had to be completely dairy-free. As I remember it, the recipient wasn’t overly fond of…
Recipe Post: Spaghetti with Roasted Grape Tomatoes and Basil
I’ll admit, this spaghetti recipe is usually my go-to in the late summer months, when fresh basil and tomatoes are at their peak of local freshness, and I don’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen cooking dinner. But I’ll bet it’s good anytime, especially when it’s cold and drizzly and you…
Recipe Review: Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Every so often, I have a special request baking commission, such as the vegan cookies I made HERE. I’ve even dabbled with gluten free (GF) baked goods before, with some success, like the GF macaroons I made, and some major failures, like the GF carrot cake that exploded all over my oven and irritated me…
Christmas Baking Recipe Post: Gingerbread Men for DAYS……
Recently, an amazing new friend and I had a hoot and holler of a time at the BirdHouse, making and decorating gingerbread men from scratch. The idea was to batch-bake and decorate a bunch of gingerbread cookies which we would then gift pretty much entirely to a big group of other friends we were hanging…
Christmas Baking Recipe Post: Chocolate Buche de Noel/Yule Log
This cake is so much fun to make! I made a few of these in my first year of Pastry School, and a couple of Vanilla ones as well, and they were very well-received. If you still have little time before Christmas to do some baking, then I suggest you give this cake a try….
Christmas Baking: Cranberry Maple Nut Tartlets
When I was learning how to bake professionally at college, I had the opportunity to participate in an auction that was being held by one of the Marketing students. And by “participate”, I mean “donate stuff to the raffle” for no remuneration whatsoever. However, I liked the person who asked me, and since I was…
