Bake with abandon!
No recipe today. This story is the introduction to my first cookbook, The Messy Baker. It explains why chocolate chip cookies are my favourite comfort food. I stand on a chair pulled up to the counter. My nose hovers near my mother’s elbow as I …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
No recipe today. Instead, a story about chicken stock and teenage attitude. Save the bones. Always save the bones. For as long as I can remember, the remains of a chicken dinner found new life in Mom’s stockpot. She took an entirely utilitarian approach to …
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 …
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 …
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 …