Blog Post List

This blog post list contains the most recent blog posts from The Messy Baker in reverse chronological order. You can also browse by recipe category or use the search function.

    I'm abandoning you for the next little while. But it's for a good cause. I'm stage managing Canada Cooks the Books. It's a student cooking competition with a twist. Culinary students go onstage with cookbook authors and make a recipe for a Canadian cookbook in hopes...

You've all heard the expression "Dollars to doughnuts." But in my world the expression should be, "Doughnuts to Morocco." Those versed in Moroccan cuisine might assume the connection comes from sfenj, the popular Moroccan street food that closely resembles the North American doughnut. You'd get a Brownie point for your knowledge, but you'd be wrong. That logic is far too straight-forward. When Joanne and I made the hand-forged sour cream old-fashioned doughnuts, the conversation started with how much we missed cooking together and quickly bounced about like doughnuts frying in hot oil. We careened through brownie baking in our shoebox of a kitchen, rolled past knitting expeditions and landed hard on travel memories. By the time the doughnuts were being packed up, we had made a pact to celebrate our 50th birthdays with the two of us taking a trip together. Like we had to Banff, Montreal, Cape Cod, England, Lisbon and New Zealand. Sometime in 2013, we will take a trip together. Some place we've never been. Somewhere bright and lively and exotic, filled with smells and sights unlike those on Southern Ontario. Somewhere our husbands have no interest in going. Morocco is high on the list. And I've been dreaming of tagines and sweet North African spicing ever since.
Will my brushes with greatness never cease? First, my friend Dana is a judge on The Food Network's Recipe to Riches, then Super Jess included me in her Doughnut Bonanza, and today my husband launches his very own book -- Leadership and Purpose: A History of Wilfrid Laurier University. By Andrew M. Thomson. Yes, world, nine years ago I married a professor and today I'm sleeping with a published author. Not a cookbook author, mind you. But I did manage to convince him to include one recipe. And I've made it to celebrate the day.
Luscious Lemon Pudding It's a cold, raw, rainy morning and I'm breakfasting on Grandma Glo's Luscious Lemon Pudding, which won last night's Recipe to Riches challenge. I had hoped to serve it to guests tonight, but I don't think there will be enough left. I'll be making a second batch later today as it's an easy recipe and I'll take any excuse to justify my stand mixer's existence. I admit, before the episode aired, I was rooting for Glo McNeil, partly because she's 82 and partly because her recipe has lemon in the title. I'm always on the look out for a good lemon recipe since it's one of the few desserts my father likes. And frankly, if I have to make another Lemon Meringue Pie for a family occasion, I just might throw it at someone. The problem? I'm no fan of pudding. I find it slimy with a disconcerting skin-like seal. But  I was willing to throw myself on this one for my father's sake. The results were a delightful surprise. Luscious Lemon Pudding has all the elements of the pie my father loves -- lemony, sweet and creamy -- but without the fuss of pastry. It's ubelievably light and, as if I was being rewarded for my sacrifice, the "pudding" is actually a velvety sauce that swims below the mousse-like topping.

May I drop another name this week? How about Jess Thomson? She's an award-winning food writer, a photographer and a recipe developer who once completed a marathon recipe-writing stint by producing a recipe a day -- for a whole year. I wouldn't be surprised if...

How much do I like my friend Dana McCauley? I like her enough to bump my weekly Modern Family fix to watch her in action. Dana is one of the judges on the new Food Network show Recipe to Riches. She joins a distintguished panel of...

Plums and nectarines

I always thought I had a pretty good childhood. Each winter, my father would make a skating rink in the back yard, which we and our friends would use for noisy hours on end. And when we came in bright pink and shivering, Mom defrosted us with mugs full of homemade hot chocolate. I had a grandmother who let me eat dessert first and an aunt who invited us to her cottage each summer for long weeks spent doing absolutely nothing in a way only a pre-Space-Invaders child could do. If there was one thing missing from my youth, it was a dog. I now know the missing element was actually an orchard.
I set 'em up. You delivered 'em. Punch lines, that is. Last week I asked you to come up with a great one-liner using the October 5th trivia I provided. The winner gets two tickets to the Delicious Food Show (courtesy Three Farmers Camelina Oil)  in Toronto, and Andrew and I get a few laughs. Everyone glommed onto the Monty Python reference. We got nudge-nudge, wink-winked by a few people -- online and off.  Kathryn even drew inspiration from the forest setting for a musical tribute using The Lumber Jack Song. And that's okay. But the stand out winner was Reena. She used not one but two of the references, deftly combining Monty Python's debut and Rodney Dangerfield's death in this oddly fitting punchline:
Someone, who looks suspicious like my husband, informs me that I missed the whole appreciation concept when I moaned about Thanksgiving in Saturday's post. Apparently, it's all about gratitude and love, not weather preferences. He's right. As usual. While I might not be ready to offer you pumpkin recipes, I was and am very grateful. For many things. Like this view of the garden. And my sister's help with the planting when the 200 daffodil and tulips bulbs I bought somehow expanded into 1200+ .
Jade Soup is bursting with leafy greens and herbs - TheMessyBaker.com I'm feeling rather ornery. It's Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend but the weather is downright balmy and I can't face the thought of autumn, let alone winter. I don't care that the leaves are turning glorious colours or the nights are perfect sleeping-weather-cool. I don't want to make the obligatory pumpkin pie -- even if it's damned good. I don't want to slurp delicious squash soup or gobble succulent stuffed turkey. And if you're just a tad like me, you don't want to either. At least not this weekend. Not this early.