When I was growing up, I thought in very simple terms: salads consisted of lettuce, pasta, or (super ick!) Jell-O. On any given night in my childhood, my mum would always have a salad to accompany supper which was composed of iceberg lettuce, sliced beefsteak tomato, and cucumbers (it also wasn’t a salad if it wasn’t topped with Kraft Zesty Italian salad dressing, it was the 1980s after all). One of the most important things about humans is our Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Linger”
Cooking can represent some of the happiest moments in your life. (8)
A few months ago, when we were visiting my folks, my mum got us tickets for a cookbook signing. As we lined up at the bookstore with the hundreds of other people waiting to have their moment with the author, my dad – neither a home cook nor cookbook aficionado – remarked at “all of the cookbooks” he noticed displayed on a nearby shelf Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Simply Jamie (w/ Bonus Mini Review: 5 Ingredients Mediterranean)”
I can’t help but think back to last fall when I was bustling around the kitchen in preparation for my friend to arrive. While grey clouds floated by outside my kitchen window, and the rich red and jewel-toned orange and yellow leaves fluttered in the breeze, I felt happy to be putting the finishing touches to the cake I baked. Having friends over for coffee was a regular occurrence before the pandemic but standing there at the counter, trying to artfully swoop the Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: 100 Afternoon Sweets”
Sitting back in my desk chair, I read through the introduction of Claire Thomson’s Veggie Family Cookbook (her ninth book – read reviews for Home Cookery Year here and Tomato here), and I am drawn into the warm and inviting kitchen of a woman who adores cooking for her family. If you’ve ever seen any of Thomson’s Instagram cooking reels, Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Veggie Family Cookbook”
Happy 2025! In starting the new year, I can’t help but look back on the old one and feel that it was personally both long and forgettable. Favourite activities like reviewing or baking slipped away and, by the time what I affectionately think of as “Cookie Season” came around, I had lost the gumption to even think about, let alone bake any cookie boxes. Talking it over with a friend, she encouraged me to, at the very least, bake something for myself. I had promised my daughter that we would be baking together, and what my friend suggested ended up giving me a different perspective on Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Small Batch Cookies”
Although my favourite seasons are autumn and winter, I do find spring and summer to be thrilling as new plants grow green and flourish in the warmth of the seasons which are unencumbered by thick layers and clompy boots (but give me warm woolens any day). And, while taking the long walk home after school drop off the other day, I happened upon a yard with chickens! Peacefully clucking while searching out tasty Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: The Side Gardener”
“Pattern over plate” (3)
Recently I was sent a copy of Desiree Nielsen’s Plant Magic and, immediately I was interested in her approach because she is a plant-based (vegan) recipe developer and registered dietitian (click on the link to see what this credential means in Canada, where Nielsen is based). She uses her professional knowledge of nutrition to inspire home cooks – for Nielsen, it’s about a lifetime of good nutritional patterns rather than feeling bad or Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Plant Magic”
Utterly enticed is how I felt as I opened the cover of Özlem Warren’s latest cookbook Sebze: Vegetarian Recipes from My Turkish Table. As a vegetarian cooking for a family of vegetarians I am always looking for delicious, nourishing recipes for my family to enjoy and, flipping through Sebze (which means Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Sebze”
Much of what drives me forward as a cook is the desire to preserve those warm feelings of family and home that I experienced as a child, eating meals so lovingly made by my family. Food connects us to each other and to all the home cooks that came before – and, what I’ve found reading through Sophie Kaftal and Bobby Zielinski’s Kitten and the Bear Cookbook is that they’re not only preserving the sweet and most delicious offerings from gardens and orchards, they’re maintaining and building a “…fairy tale life full of beauty, tradition, and the art of daily ritual.”(2) For those who have Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Kitten and the Bear Cookbook”
There is an inexplicable joy that occurs when you find a favourite cookbook or recipe. When a well-written recipe flows and the resulting meal works out exactly as it should and is met with delight from those enjoying it, can there be anything better? Recently I was sent a copy of Murielle Banackissa’s Savoring: Meaningful Vegan Recipes from Across Oceans. Banackissa is a Montreal-based recipe developer, food photographer, and blogger who focusses on sharing vegan recipes inspired by Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Savoring”
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