Bake with abandon!
This month’s Canadian Food Experience Project focuses on resolutions. I could have used my culinary bucket list as my contribution, but I don’t do proper resolutions and felt this was a bit of a cheat. Then I rethought things. I’ve been wearing blinkers. The word “resolution” …
It has snowed so much lately my shovel and I are on a first name basis. It sees my boots coming and says, “Hello, Charmian.” I nod, pull my hat down over my ears and grab the chirpy shovel in a choke hold. Together, Shovel …
The Canadian Food Experience Project – The Christmas Edition – Walnut Crescent Cookies In our family, Christmas changes little, year to year. Once the New Year arrives and the decorations are packed away, all Christmases Past roll together into a single, hazy holiday scenario to …
The holidays are rushing in and the panicked questions have begun. With crazed eyes and shaking voices, friends ask me for easy holiday recipes to take to a party or serve their own guests. They always say “easy” with extra emphasis, pausing before and after …
This improv recipe is a testament to my impulse shopping, poor sense of timing and the power of the common cold. Impulse shopping: A few months ago, I found fresh Cornish hens at the butcher shop. As I stood at the meat counter waiting to …
In my early teens, I had a brief but passionate flirtation with tinned Bean with Bacon soup. My mom, like a sensible parent, didn’t try to talk me out of my crush. She figured I’d eventually come to my senses, and let me ride things …
Concord Grapes leave me conflicted. They fill up my senses in a way that would do John Denver proud. They also break my heart. When I see their deep blue-purple skins overflowing the baskets at the market stalls the joyful, creative part of me wants …
A lot of recipes, especially for jams and sauces, call for a non-reactive pot or bowl. When a recipe writer specifies a non-reactive vessel, we’re not trying to be confusing or cryptic or sound like a know-it-all — even if that’s how we come off. …
Growing up, my mom’s homemade grape jam appeared on the table in recycled baby food jars with a paraffin wax seal. While the jam bubbled and the jars boiled, she melted bricks of wax on the stove top in an old tomato juice can with …