Recipes

Citrus-Topped Poppy seed bars I'm feeling wistful today. Maybe because Mother's Day is approaching and for the first time in years, I won't be at the same table as the Woman Who Gave Me Life. (Don't panic. My mother is alive and well. I'm observing pandemic...

Indian-Spiced Roasted Cauliflower Soup You can't make a zebra change its stripes, or a leopard change its spots, or a cook change her favourite spice combinations. I am partial to Indian and Mexican flavouring, so have cumin, coriander, and various chilis at the ready. You'll find...

Salted Caramel Brownie Cookies These are the cookies that Jack built. Sort of. I adapted them from Leite's Culinaria, who got them from Katie Workman. I've no idea what inspired her -- other than chocolate brownies -- but they're ideal for chocolate lovers. They're so...

Easy Orange Buttercream Icing I'm a big fan of citrus. If a dish tastes flat in almost any way, my first thought is to add lemon juice, orange zest or a hint of lime. Most of the time this small adjustment delivers big results. While there's...

No-Egg SPice Cake This week, my grocery store had flour aplenty, but not a single tin of baking powder. Of course, for the first time in a decade, I was out of baking powder. And when I can't have something, I crave it. The second I saw...

No-Knead Semi-Sourdough Rye Bread In true Gemini-fashion, I'm following the rules and breaking them at the same time. I observe pandemic protocols -- I practice physical distance, wear gloves when grocery shopping, wash my hands frequently, and go out only when necessary. But once in the...

Roasted Squash Soup with Sage and Hazelnuts This Roasted Squash Soup with Sage and Hazelnuts started out as a straightforward concept. Thanks to an impulse buy, a kabocha squash landed in my grocery cart along with a packet of fresh sage. I figured I'd sort out...

Bev's Best Banana Bread I'm not a banana fan. They're so pushy. They will smother every ingredient in a fruit salad -- except for obnoxious cantaloupe. They leap from peanut butter sandwiches just to annoy you, and will slime-up a perfectly decent cream pie. Banana splits...

Easy Black Bean Soup Back in 2000, I lived in Australia for a year. I craved this Easy Black Bean Soup. Really badly. I'm not sure if it was a classic case of wanting what you couldn't have or merely a tasty way to make it through...

Black bean and Roasted Red Pepper SOup Yesterday, I looked at cooking dried legumes at home. I mentioned that beans could lose their colour if soaked too long. I should add simmering them too long will have a similar affect. This soup proves my point. It's quite red...