Cookie Failure!

Last year at this time I was in the Netherlands.  We had arrived just after Sinterklass had been there. The Netherlands celebrate Saint Nicholas on December 5/6 each year by putting out their shoes in hopes they will be filled with treats and gifts for the children.

Even though we had missed Sinterklass, we were still able to indulge in one of the special cookies that Sinterlass pass out - Pepernoten.  They are like a small nugget of gingerbread.  The hotel we stayed at the first night gave us a dish full.

While there I picked up a couple of cook books "Stuff Dutch People Eat"  is a bit of a tourist book but it did contain recipes for some of the items we had tried, and it was available in English.  It wasn't until I got back home, when I was looking more closely at the book that I discovered it was actually written by a Canadian that moved to the Netherlands!

I have tried a couple of recipes since but I waited to make the Pepernoten until now to celebrate Sinterklass.  Unfortunately they did not turn out at all.  I even made the recipe a second time with the same results.  They are supposed to be like a crunchy small nugget or marble.  Instead they flattened in the oven and became a hard inedible cookie.  Not sure what happened.  A quick internet search produced a recipe similar to what was in the book.  I do find when using European recipes there is some challenges,  as ingredients may not always be the same in Canada.  The recipe did call for self-rising flour, which is not commonly used in Canada.   Maybe next year I will give the recipe another shot.

After spending time in a small village north of Amsterdam - Makkum and then Amsterdam we went on a Rhine River Cruise and spent many afternoons at  various European Christmas Markets - a lovely way to spend the lead up to Christmas.  During our stop in Alsace, France I also picked up the second book in the picture.  I have a couple of recipes picked to make for Christmas, but have not prepared anything yet.  Hopefully I will have better success than the Pepernoten.

To start my Dutch meal,  I made Tomatensoep (Tomato Soup),  I left it a bit chunky and added some green onions, but it made for a quick tasty tomato Soup.

The main course was Hutspot met Klapstuk (Potato carrot stamppot).  The cookbook describes a hutspot as a traditional Dutch dish made by cooking and mashing potatoes together with carrots and onions, which is then served with a side of meat.  In this case meat and vegetables are all cooked in the same pot so the flavours blend.    The Dutch do seem to like to mash their food.  The cookbook describes it as one of the 3 ways the Dutch like to prepare food and/or vegetables.  It says they like to
1. mash the hell out of something
2. boil the shit out of something
3. deep-fry the life out of something.

We did have several lovely meals while in the Netherlands,  we ate at a pancake house one night - which we would describe as crepes,  another night of Dutch specialities - many of which were deep fried, but my favourite was the breakfast treat of chocolate sprinkles that were liberally put on toast or bread and considered breakfast - any excuse to have chocolate for breakfast works for me.

Remembering December 6

The date December 6 initially does not trigger anything for me, but as soon as someone says, Polytechnique, I am back at a small town Nova Scotia university.   Busy studying for exams and looking forward to going home for Christmas break;  when the shattering news came that people were shot at a Canadian university.

Living in residence, an all female dorm, we migrated to the lounge to hear more.  In the days when mass shootings were a rarity the news was heard to believe.  As details trickled in that all the victims were female and they were targeted because they were female.  Innocence was lost. University was supposed to be a safe place and even though we were over a 1,000 km away from Montreal we also felt violated.

Little was said,  what could be said,  as we sat numb by the news.  Oh many of us had already been targeted because we were female.  The nasty comment from a man when you rejected them,  various forms of sexual violence,  all the things we were told, as females, to keep quiet about, or taught it was normal. But this, the shooting at Polytechnique was beyond comprehension.

The next night, at the dining hall Christmas Dinner, a moment of silence to acknowledge what happened.  A nervous laughter filtered through the room.  I think, as females, we really wanted to scream or cry, but since you were not allowed to show your real emotions,  nervous laughter escaped to cover up the other emotions.

I wish I could say 30 years later, that the world was a better place for females.  That there was true equality.  Yes, there has been progress,  though it does feel that there has been some regression the last few years.

I have been fortunate,  I have not faced any overt sexual discrimination, but there has been subtle signs.  Just there in the background, the "old boys club" at work.  A male boss who really had no clue how to manage a group of high performing females, who ignored us, unless something went wrong and then you could felt the knife in your back.

My hope, as I reflect back 30 years ago, which sometimes just seems like yesterday, is that my 5 year old great-niece with her big bright personality never has that brightness diminished just because she is female.

A Special Cookbook

Last week (I am a little behind in posting!) I pulled out a very special cookbook.  It is a cookbook that many people have, but each one is different from the other.

It is my "Mom's Cookbook"!  The recipes she collected over the years from friends and family.  From potlucks and church socials.  From tv shows and copied from magazines.  Many of the recipes in this cookbook were made frequently.  Others would be popular for awhile until they were replaced by a new popular recipe.  A few made their way into the book, probably obtained at a potluck, never to be made (that I recall!)

I pulled it out because my brother was looking for a particular recipe.  Sadly, many of the dishes that my mom was known for - her meat pies, her bread and biscuits and her baked beans were never written down.  They were kept in her head, made so many times,  she no longer needed a written recipes.  Including the Lemon Snow recipe that my brother was looking for. (Though we did find it in an old cookbook)

With her meat pies, she just adjusted the seasoning and the ingredients based on the amount of meat she had - it was never a set amount.  My mom was an old school cook, she often measured ingredients in her hand.  As a kid I would try to follow along, she had portioned the salt in her hand for whatever she was making; when I asked how much salt she was using?  She told me 1 teaspoon, not believing her,  I questioned the amount in her hand.  She found a measuring spoon, poured the salt that was in her hand into the spoon.  It measured exactly 1 teaspoon - not one crystal over!  I have spent the last few years trying to recreate her meat pie, I've almost got it, but I know it will never be the same as my Mom's.  A common refrain from anyone who tries to recreate their mother's (or grandmother's or father's or who ever) recipe.

I had to change up my menu a little bit from my usual routine.  Appetizers were not something that made it into Mom's Cookbook, so I just made a main course and dessert this time.

The main course is a dish I don't really recall - I think it was one that ended up in the category "never to be made again "  It was simple called "Ham & Potato Casserole".  Not sure if some ingredients were missed when copied over because it seemed to be missing something.

The dessert was a very popular, frequently made recipe. The name in Mom's Cookbook is "Confetti Squares" I have also heard them called "Tweedie Squares".  They are a very nostalgic square.  I brought them into work and one person was in heaven, as she was overcome with childhood memories of eating the square at her grandmother's at Christmas.   She told a story that her grandmother would hide the squares in hopes of saving them for Christmas day, but she was always able to sniff them out!

I noticed the writing on some of the pages has started to fad. I will have to do some work to preserve the book.  It is not enough just to type up the recipes.  It is not the same thing as looking at perfectly types recipe on the computer, as leafing through a book in your mother's own handwriting, stained with bits of food showing which recipes was most popular.
My mom has been gone 11 years, but looking at her recipes brings her just a little bit closer to me.

Celebrating Canadian Food

If you have never tried a recipe from a Marilyn Smith's cookbook, now is the time!
One of Marilyn's claims to fame is she is the only Professional Home Economist who is also an alumnus of the Second City Comedy Troupe!  She is also the self-appointed Queen of Fibre who is on a mission to show how enjoyable pulses, legumes and lentils can be and they add fibre to the diet.

The side effect of the added fibre - farting; just shows you have a healthy colon.  Things Marilyn explains every chance she can,  particularly on National Farting Day!  Yes there is a National Farting Day: March 1 annually.

As the Queen of Fibre she titled her latest cookbook with her tagline Peace, Love and Fibre as she continues to reign over her fibre queendom.

I have picked one of her older cookbooks to review,  actually Facebook picked it for me! A picture of HOMEGROWN Celebrating the Canadian Foods We Grow, Raise and produce With 160 Recipes popped up as my Facebook memory of the day.  Don't recall why I would have posted the picture, I am guessing I had either just got the book or was making something from it.  Whatever the reason, it seemed like a good reason to pull it off the shelf again.

Homegrown is a compilation of recipes from members of the Ontario Home Economics Assocation which celebrates great Canadian food.  It sometimes seem Canadian Food has an identity crisis.  If you say you are going out for Italian Food or Thai Food - certain flavours and images come to mind.  If you say you are eating "Canadian" tonight - people would give you a blank stare and ask so what exactly are you eating.

We need more cookbooks that celebrate all the wonderful food that is grown and produced right here in Canada - Maple Syrup, cranberries, pulses, legumes, oats, barley, beef.  I could go on and many of these items are prized around the world.  When you think local ingredients - this is the book to help you create with them.  

I started tonights meal with a very simple yet elegant first course - Baked Goat Cheese with Cranberry Compote (there was also an alternate with Pear Compote) 

The sweet tart flavours of the cranberries, with a little saltiness from the prosciutto combines nicely with the creaminess of the goat cheese rolled in walnuts for a little crunch.

I followed that with Chickpea and Cauliflower Curry served with Creamy Herbed Polenta 
I love polenta but hate making it, in this version you cook the polenta in the oven.  Such an easy way that make a delicious creamy polenta.  I will certainly be adding this recipe to my repertoire.  

When I think of curries I think of something creamy and yellow.  I know there are a whole variety of curries out there but that is the first image I have when I think of curry.  That this curry is tomato based and rather than using a pre-made curry powder,  it has you create your own curry powder mixture is why I choose the recipe.  At first you think really all those spices, but you end up with a flavourful curry with a nice hint of heat in just over 1/2 hour.

I finished off with Oat Barley Cookies.  A cookie you can almost feel good about eating as it is a source of soluble fibre.  It contains Barley Flour which was a new ingredient for me, but I found it easily enough at my local bulk food store.
The cookie provides you the satisfaction of having something sweet after a meal without being a full size dessert.

Like always I have several more recipes earmarked to try,  not sure I will get to them all before I select my next cookbook.  For now, I think I will go have another cookie with a cup of Tea.  Till next time Enjoy.

Fundraising Cookbooks

It is the season when various service groups and church are holding fall/harvest suppers to raise funds.  There have been advertisements for various dinners around my local areas.  There is the usual Turkey and Roast Beef dinners, but one place was serving beef stew and another lasagna.

In the days before Pinterest or a quick google search for a recipe, many of these organizations also published Cookbooks.  Community members contributed their "best" recipes to the endeavour,  someone would type them up or maybe they would have the Cookbook professionally designed.  Either way they were usually a good fundraising initiative as it often include popular recipes from community gatherings that the owner hadn't shared before the book was published.

I have a few of those types of cookbooks in my collection and I selected one of them this week.  Country Cooking - A Canadian Collection of Favourite Home Tested Recipe it came out in 1996, but it does not say what group created the book.  I received it as a gift I don't know where it came from.

Looking at these types of cookbooks is always fun.  You can see what was popular at the time and the ingredients that were readily available.  Many of the recipes in this book rely on convenience foods like canned cream soup, cake mixes, or canned meats to create the dishes.  Many are based on trying to feed a lot of people quickly with little fuss.  The recipes also assume a certain amount of cooking skills.  The cookie recipe I made, had very simple instructions "cream sugar into butter, add the rest of the ingredients and bake at 350 F for 10 minutes".  That is why new cooks find these types of cookbooks frustrating.

Cookbook historians use these books as research on the evolution of a recipe, but also community evolution.  As I write this I am trying to recall a quote I heard about exchanging recipes at a funeral receptions being like trading gold - they were hot commodities.    If anyone knows the quote please share!

I usually try to pick a recipe that has an ingredient I have not tried before, or try a new technique.  This time I just randomly picked recipes that looked interesting.  The book opened to a page with various spreads and cheese balls - so I felt it was a hint that I should make one as my appetizer; but  I couldn't resist making a soup - cool weather and warm soup you can never go wrong, so we have two appetizers.

I started with Ham & Cheese Ball with Fresh Tomato Soup.  There is a little quote at the bottom of the soup recipe from the author saying it was the best fresh tomato soup she has ever tasted and she made it frequently.    I picked it because it included potatoes in the recipe which I thought was unusual for tomato soup. I found the taste too the soup to be a little lacking.   I think it is a case that the quality of the tomatoes make a big difference.  Grocery store tomatoes just don't have the same flavour as fresh from the garden!  Maybe I will try again when I have access to garden fresh tomatoes.    On the other hand the Ham & Cheese Ball would be worth a repeat performance as a party appetizer.

From there I moved onto Neopolitan Pot Roast served with Perogi Pie.  The Perogi pie was very rich and really meant to be eaten alone but it did work with the pot roast.  Baked in tomatoes, onions and seasoning it made for a very tender roast with a nice sauce.

With so many dessert options it was hard to narrow it down to one item.  In the end I decided to keep it simple with Orange Cookies.  If you like orange flavour this is a cookie for you.  Good orange flavour without being overwhelming.    Nice way to end the meal.

Though I am still debating about trying the 7-up Cake!  Yes it does have 7-up as an ingredient!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Rose Reisman has written 19 cookbooks. In 2002, she published The ART of Living Well - Light cooking and Eating to fit the way we Live.

The cookbook was a fundraiser for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation and I had the opportunity to see Rose Reisman demonstrate several recipe during a fund raising event for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.  The price of admission to the event included a copy of the cookbook and a chance to meet Rose.

I do recall trying several recipes when I got the book including Yukon Gold Potato Soup and Rose's Famous Light Fettuccine Alfredo, but one recipe keeps me pulling the book off my shelf "Creamy Shrimp and Dill Spread"  A tasty shrimp dip that is a hit whenever I bring it somewhere.  Needing to bring an appetizer to an event - I reached for the trusty recipe.

It is rather ironic that I had reached for this book considering October is Breast Cancer Awareness month.  Also when you are female and turn 50 you get contacted to have a Mammogram, and today was the day.  Even though we have not found a cure for breast cancer (or cancer in general) the survival rate for early detection improves every day.  The friend that I attended the Rose Reisman fundraising event is a 20 year breast cancer survivor,  a cousin is almost a 30 year survivor.  As uncomfortable as the screening techniques may be - they help save lives.  Get it done!  It could save your life.

So what recipes did I try from The ART of Living Well............

To start I selected "Sweet Red and Yellow Pepper Soup", because it called for charing the peppers first. For some reason I was always worried that I would burn the peppers so I have never tried to char peppers before.  Charring peppers was not as hard as I thought!  I love pureed soups and this one had a great combination of flavours.  Warm soups are a great fall weather food especially on cooler rainy days.  I think we will see a repeat appearance of this soup soon.

I decided to make a bonus appetizer "Asparagus Prosciutto Cheese Tortilla Slices"  when I found some nice asparagus at a reasonable price and I had all the other ingredients already.  I had originally dismissed the idea of making this recipe because I didn't think I would find  asparagus.  Though I was a bit disappointed with the recipe - it seemed to lack flavour.  I think some additional herbs or seasoning would help if I make it again.

The next course was "Salmon Parcels Wrapped in Rice Paper" with "Japanese Curly Noodle Salad with Sesame Dressing".  I thought they would complement each other both having asian flavouring.

I find salmon, cooked right,  has such great flavour, that there is no need to add other flavours to compete with the salmon.  In this recipe you spread the salmon with hoisin sauce before wrapping it in rice paper to cook.  A sauce made with coconut milk is then served with it.   The salmon was juicy in its crisp rice paper wrap - an interesting way to serve salmon.

The salad was a nice fresh salad to serve with the salmon,  with crunch coming from toasted almonds and the dried noodles.   A great salad to bring to a potluck.

Hungry for chocolate (who isn't hungry for Chocolate!) I indulged with " Sour Cream Brownie Cheesecake".  A reduced fat version with all the great taste you would want from a cheesecake, with enough chocolate flavour to satisfy even the most die hard chocoholic.  I would certainly make again if I had to bring dessert somewhere.   The only problem is it does make a large cheesecake,  and even though it is low fat you should still be mindful of the amount to eat.  So I need some help eating up the cheesecake - anyone want some?

Lets go pick some apples

When there is a nip in the air and the trees become more colourful we start to think of a popular fall activity -  Apple picking.  Many of us head out to orchards with friends and family to pick crisp, sweet apples to enjoy during the fall.

A group of colleagues and I made the annual track this weekend.  We have been doing this for over a decade.  A local orchard agrees to donate apples to a local food bank, we supply the labour and deliver the apples.    It sounds like a lot of work, picking a 150  bags of apples, but many hands make light work.  Afterwards we reward our hard work with a potluck picnic in the orchard!

With little planning we always seem to put together an amazing spread.  Food always seems to taste better when outdoors, and when you get to enjoy it with friends it is always better.

In honour of this fall tradition, this weeks cookbook pick is a theme cookbook - all about Apples!
The Apple a Day Cookbook by Janet Reeves entices readers to include apples in many dishes that they would not have thought an apple belonged in!

As you know my goal is to create a 3 course menu from the selected cookbook each week,  which I did this week, but I spread the dishes over 2 days.  The appetizer and dessert I brought to the picnic and the main course  was for supper the next day.  

This weeks menu included:

Curried Apple Soup

Chuckwagon Beef Stew

Pumpkin Apple Butter Pie

The curried apple soup was very easy to make with ingredients most of us have at home.  The warm soup was great to have on a cool day with just enough heat from the curry to make it interesting.  It will certainly be a soup I make again.  

Each year after we pick the donated apples we usually pick apples for our own use.  Most of the apples I pick get eaten fresh, but a few will find their way into Apple Jelly and Apple Butter.  A jar of Apple Butter left from last year was the reason I choose the Pumpkin Apple Butter Pie recipe.  A twist on the traditional pumpkin pie.  The addition of the apple butter made for a softer filling than a typical pumpkin pie, but provided an interesting hint of sweetness. 

The Chuckwagon Stew seems like a typical stew with the exception of apples.  I was concerned that the apples would overpower the stew or cause it to be too sweet.  I was pleasantly surprised the stew tasted delicious and you would hardly know apples where in it, as they pretty much dissolved into the stew.
A great way to add a little more fibre to your stew.

This week I will take some time to convert a few of those apples into Apple Jelly and Apple Butter but for now I think I will go eat an apple.