elsewhere: southern biscuits & citrus yogurt cake

I thought I had biscuit-making all sewn up. And then my friend came from North Carolina with a bag of biscuit mix (Just Add Buttermilk!) and my world view changed. You can read just how fluff*tastic they were along with why Southern flour is better (along with a few tips & tricks from other bloggers) in my latest post for ReadyMade magazine.

Over at Poppytalk, I talk bundt and share a citrus yogurt cake recipe made with my stash of Seville Oranges. It's a super easy cake to make that looks as beautiful and bright as it tastes.

elsewhere: smoky chipotle ranch + seville oranges

I've been busy in the kitchen whipping up a pretty fantastic salad dressing. When I discovered an open can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce in the fridge, I decided to make a Southwestern style ranch dressing. Spicy and smoky and tangy from the buttermilk, it's a great way to dress up your greens. You can get the recipe over at Poppytalk!

Last week I found myself in possession of the elusive Seville orange (that's a bitter orange - better known for making marmalade). I wasn't sure what I'd make with them (remember two years ago I made this quick ice cream), but I put the call out over at ReadyMade for a little assistance. Got any ideas besides marmalade? Gimme a hand in putting a dent in my supply!

salted butterscotch oatmeal cookies

Last week my good old friend left Vancouver and headed back to the South. The night before she left, I decided to make some cookies for her to take back on the plane. If she had to leave the sunny and very spring-like Vancouver weather for the snowed in streets of Durham NC, she might as well take something nice for the harried trip home. She, like myself, appreciates the sweet and the salty together in one bite and these oatmeal cookies turned out to be pretty delicious. I was initially worried about using butterscotch chips but the salt really helped to tame that kid-friendly flavour into something almost sophisticated. Well, maybe not sophisticated, but something that at least goes well with coffee or a double-strength earl grey tea. Crispy, salty and sweet, these oatmeal cookies turned out quite tasty. You can get the recipe over at Poppytalk.

Interested in a little winter libation? How 'bout sneaking over to ReadyMade and checking out my Olympic spirits? A little Maple Leaf Sour to warm you up while watching all that snow and ice on television? I think so. Make mine a double!

Blog Aid Recipes for: Haiti Cookbook update:

Just this very second, I got a knock from Canada Post at my door. Inside of the box was the Blog Aid cookbook. After tearing up the packaging, I'm just stunned at how wonderful the book looks and I'm already drooling over the recipes. The cookbook sales were spectacular and all told $47,166 was raised and sent to Haiti!! So a big thank you to everyone who bought a copy. You can find out more about this project here.

moroccan chickpea and vegetable stew

I'd love to say that I'm back in the kitchen, but it's been a slow process getting things back to normal. Not because I don't have the will, but because my time is short. There's been work to catch up on and I've been so lucky to have one of my best pals visiting from North Carolina, so when it comes down to cooking and baking, I've been slack and leaving everything instead to restaurants. It's a fun get-away but I'm missing my kitchen.

However, there is one recipe that I have made that is so simple and so ingrained as a meal standard, it's always a welcome dish. This Moroccan chickpea and vegetable stew was one of the very first meals I made for this blog way back in 2005. The recipe was loose and I didn't have a camera back then, so I feel justified in giving it another go. It's a goodie. It's vegan, hearty and a perfect warm cure for the February blues. You can find the recipe over at Poppytalk. So enjoy a bit of spice and warmth and I've already got a recipe or two up my sleeve, so stay tuned!

winter squash & caramelized onion biscuit pie

Last summer I made a pretty spectacular pie. It was filled with sun ripe tomatoes, fresh corn and basil from my garden. I loved it and made it often. But then summer turned to fall and now winter and I still think of that pie. So instead of waiting, I did something about it. I made a great winter pie.

Squash and caramelized onions along with the strong tang of Swiss cheese take a pie that was the star of summer into the land of scarves, mittens and rain boots. This pie is winter and it's good. You can get the recipe for this beauty over at Poppytalk where I'm resuming my Wednesday column after a bit of a holiday break.

red lentil curry dip with pita chips

I've been living on take out pizza lately. I haven't made a dent into my holiday baking yet, but I'm sure there's still time (right?). Luckily, I did manage to eek out some pretty fantastic whole wheat biscuits on the weekend. And tonight I resisted the ease of picking up the phone for delivery and took time out of my crazy work schedule to make peace with my neglected kitchen. I looked in cupboards and rooted through the back of the fridge and I managed to cook a wonderful Maritime-style fish chowder (I'll post the recipe later). It was good to take a break because it meant time to myself doing what I enjoy doing: chopping, stirring, smelling, tasting. My good, calm, reassured old self came flooding back with every turn of the spoon and it was like I had never left.

The same "kitchen as restorative" feeling came last Friday. I was attending the party of this lovely lady later in the evening, but I was freaking about about whether I could make the time to bring something, let alone even show up (although what excuse could I make since she lives just one floor below in the same building). So instead of panicking over the emails in my inbox, I headed to the kitchen where I chopped, blended and sauteed myself back into a better frame of mind. After the dip had been made and the spoon had been licked (because that is a cook's prerogative), I realized that everything under control. Taking the time out to cook helped to sort out my thoughts and gave me the time away from the computer to put things into perspective. And during a holiday when everything seems kind of crazy, it's nice to escape into cooking.

Now go on and grab that red lentil curry dip and pita chips over at Poppytalk. It's delicious and healthy and possibly just the thing to soothe your harried soul.

hot chocolate toddy

Hot drinks always help to keep the cold at bay. Throw in a bit of Tennessee whiskey and woo-ha, it'll warm your bones in an instant. You can get the recipe for this hot chocolate toddy over on Poppytalk.

And stay tuned, later today I'll be posting some great holiday baking & gift ideas along with a special treat!

napa mustard slaw with apple & walnuts

Winter is a busy time when you've got a craft business. There's craft fairs, holiday orders and a lot of extra work. Double it when you add in your own web business. Add in a blog or two, and things start to slide. But I'm not going to beat myself up. Instead, I'm going to celebrate because I've created a very tasty little salad in between coding, designing, folding, packaging and selling. In fact, I've made for than a few meals out of it and within the past 2 weeks, have probably made it more times than I'd care to admit. It's delicious and great and it's a perfect reminder to why salads are to be eaten year round.

And this slaw is perfectly seasonal. Cabbage? Totally available. Apples? Oh boy! And the vinaigrette? It's a delicate, powerful and sophisticated mouthful. I think it helps that the magic ingredient is a homemade vanilla meyer lemon marmalade gifted to me by a wonderful food blogger, but I'm sure any other marmalade will provide just the perfect touch. So hunker down this winter with a slaw and forgo the soup once in awhile.

Please take a peek over at Poppytalk where I've also gone slaw crazy! Over there I've posted a delicious Asian-inspired and super colourful vegetable slaw with pineapple, diakon and a ginger dressing. So let's just take some time in the coming month to remember vegetables alongside candy canes, chocolate and the like.

napa mustard slaw with apple & walnuts
1/2 head of napa cabbage, shredded
1 tart apple, julienned
1/2 c walnuts, toasted & roughly chopped

vinaigrette
1/4 c olive oil
1-2 T grainy mustard
1 T marmalade
2 T cider vinegar
1 t honey
salt & pepper

In a large bowl, add in the cabbage and apples and toss well. Whisk together the vinaigrette ingredients, taste & adjust, if necessary and pour over salad. Scatter walnuts over top and serve.

thanksgiving basics: onion, celery & sage bread stuffing

This is always a strange time of year for Canadians. We've already had our Thanksgiving weeks ago, so all of this American hoopla over the holiday seems like it's a "been there, done that" kind of deal. But this year it's a little different in our household and we kinda let Thanksgiving pass us by. I was busy and we ate soup. No big deal or so I thought.

But this Saturday, we took a run for the border into Bellingham WA and picked up a pre-brined Trader Joe's turkey (HELP! Quick question: Do I wash/rinse/soak the pre-brined turkey or just rub it with butter and bake it? Answered on Twitter = rinse.) Once I was caught up in the Trader Joe's frenzy, it was like I was on auto-pilot or something. I just wanted turkey and all the things that come with Thanksgiving. And one of the big things I missed this year was stuffing. And this old fashioned and kinda basic stuffing is something you can make without a turkey or even a chicken. It's my mom's age-old recipe and I love it. But this time I added in walnuts and apples just to put my own stamp on it. Don't even want to think about turkey? No worries, just make the stuffing a part of your vegan meal. It's easy. Head over to Poppytalk for the recipe and the story and get stuffed.

chard with fettucini, lemon and cheese & a carrot call-out

It's winter and the CSA I belong to loves giving me chard and kale. My favorite way to prepare it is to saute it with garlic and shallots and then toss it up with lemon and Parmesan cheese. It's easy, quick and super tasty. Get the recipe over at Poppytalk.

Another thing that my csa loves to give me is carrots. I'm practically swimming in them. I've recently made soup, slaw and a spiced carrot quick bread, but I'd love to hear what some of your favorite ways of preparing them are. Help a girl out!

lemon cornmeal shortbread cookies

I know, I know...another cookie recipe. Really, if that's the worst thing in the world then I'm happy I'm living in a cookie-filled world. However, this cookie is a bit different from most cookies that I make. For one, it's got cornmeal in it which gives it an amazing sandy grit. I'm saying sandy grit and you might be thinking, uh oh, kinda weird. But it's good. Trust me. The sandy grit in your teeth is so much better than the sandy grit in your bathing suit after a day at the beach.

The second thing I love about these, it's that they are shortbread cookies. Not too sweet, slightly crumbly and I could satisfy my late night cookie craving even though I was all out of brown sugar. Oh, and they are also lemony which is always a good thing. And like all late-night cookies, they are really simple to prepare. So head on over to Poppytalk and bake up a batch.

apple cinnamon biscuits

Wake up to these babies. They are light, fluffy and perfect - and chock full of apples and spice. They taste like autumn, especially when eaten with an apple-cranberry-rosemary sauce. Or apple butter. Or smeared with cherry jam. Even plain, these biscuits are the bomb. Get the hot little recipe over at Poppytalk.

whole grains & vegetable soup

Yesterday I woke up and my eyeballs hurt. I was also walking around like a zombie. Despite having a good night's sleep, I just couldn't seem to wake up, so doing things like talking to clients and working on design mock-ups took incredible amounts of effort.

I'm fighting a cold bug and I don't want it to win, so for lunch I whipped up this vegetable and whole grains soup. Loaded with dark leafy greens (kale to the rescue?), garlic and anything else I could find from the crisper and pantry, it was the perfect meal. And today I feel better. I don't know if it was the soup, or the copious amounts of water I drank, or even the vitamins that I popped, but for the sake of a happy ending, let's say it was the soup!

As today is Wednesday, you can find this cold-busting soup recipe over at Poppytalk. And if you have any leftovers, you can always eat this as soup. Or you could do what I did this past summer and turned soup leftovers into veggie burgers. Your call.

spicy roasted tomato & black bean soup

The pressure is on! Tomorrow is the first day of the Vancouver One of a Kind Show & Sale and there is all kinds of prep work that needs to be done. Walls are painted, shelves are installed, cards & birthday calendars are packaged up but there's also carpet and under pad to be laid, furniture to be set up and then just the general nervousness that comes with a big event. Let's just say that it's a soup kind of week.

Earlier , when my thoughts were still about what to eat for dinner than the panicky thoughts that are filling my brain at the moment, I roasted up some tomatoes, garlic, herbs and jalapeno peppers. At that point, I wasn't sure what I was going to make. A pasta dish maybe? But it had been a while since I had made soup, and when that thought entered my head, I just couldn't shake it. Into a stock pot these fragrant tomatoes and peppers went, along with some onions and celery for balance, some homemade stock and a can of black beans. A squeeze of lime near the end also didn't do this recipe any harm either. For the recipe, please head on over to Poppytalk.

So wish me well at the sale if you are from out of town, but if you are in Vancouver tomorrow until Sunday, please stop by our booth (we'll be at booth G18: The Hob Snobs Craft Collective). I'll be the nervous red-head wishing she had a bit of spicy soup to help calm her nerves.

pickled sweet peppers

Well now, I didn't expect my last post to be such a pity party. I'm sorry about that, but I'm also floored by all your wonderful comments. I guess the stress of my real life was poking it's way into my blog life, but so it goes.

I know my life will get some relief once next weekend is over with. I'll be participating in the One of a Kind show which is a large (read: massive) art/craft show where I'll be sharing a booth at the Vancouver Convention Centre with 2 other lovely ladies. I guess I wasn't prepared for all the work involved (like buying carpet, painting hard walls, having enough greeting cards and calendars for 4 busy days of dealing with the public, etc., etc.). My nerves are a bit shot, but I'll get through it.
As you can probably figure out by all the photos, I'm currently obsessed with sweet peppers. More peppers? Yup. More pickling? Uh huh. While my last fermented pickle experiment was only semi-successful, this is a very safe and sound "quickle" and they're rip-roaringly delicious. Crunchy, flavourful and perfect. You can read more and follow the recipe over at Poppytalk.

bold green beans

When I get green beans, I usually end up making my usual snacking lemon-garlic beans. I LOVE them so much that I'm starting to see green beans in a one-track kind of light. When I got some beautiful, crazy long (but not Asian long) green beans in my CSA share, I tried something new. I still wanted that zing and that bite that my dream beans give me, but I wanted some new flavours. Let me introduce you to these bold babies. They are perfect. Crunchy from a quick steam and a toss of sauteed walnuts and they also have power, thanks to garlic and ginger. For the recipe, you'll have to head over to Poppytalk and get it there.

Want more green bean recipes from my archives?
Green Bean Bundles
Green Beans & Tofu in a Thai Coconut Sauce
Green Bean Quinoa Salad
Colourful Chopped Vegetable Salad
Pasta Primavera

coronation grape galette

Yup, I made a galette out of grapes. I know, I know, you probably just snack on grapes or maybe scatter them into a chicken or waldorf salad. But making a pie out of my favorite grape ever is a worthy cause. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream and I'm in heaven. Best thing, it's not even hard to make. You can get the recipe and the story over at Poppytalk, where you'll find me posting about food on Wednesdays.