Tag Archives: recipe

Happy π Day!

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Hi Folks:

It’s March 14 once again, the one day of the year where everyone has the right to be at least a little more irrational than usual. For some of us that isn’t easy, but we do our best. 🙂

For the past several years we’ve honoured π Day by offering glimpses of that most alchemical of processes (pastry), although one year we shifted to Michael Smith’s Potato Bacon Cheddar Tart (with a bacon crust) and one year we offered a Cast Iron Shepherd’s Pie. This year we thought we’d shift once again and go with something a little more romantic. As the song goes, “When the moon hits your eye like a big peachzza pie…” WAITAMINUTE. Peachzza? Why not?

Flatbread in varying forms has been around for centuries, and while most tend to be savoury in nature, there’s nothing to suggest one can’t twist flatbread toward dessert as well. When we lived in BC’s Okanagan Valley, peach season was (and still is) a highly-coveted celebration. Woe betide those who failed to show up at the Saturday market much later than the crack of dawn because fresh peaches always sold out early.

NB: if you’re of the overly anxious type and can’t wait for peach season, it is possible to make peachzza with canned peaches. Just make sure to drain them well first. You can drink the drained-off juice separately (we promise not to tell anyone 🤫) Continue Reading →

Happy Pi Day!!

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Hi Folks:

It’s Pi Day (3-14)!! Since there are few things more irrational than the alchemical blending of fat and flour, it means it’s time for another recipe. A pie recipe, of course. Today’s recipe comes from the book, “The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Chocolate“ by Christine McFadden and Christine France. The book was a gift to us from Mike’s mom, and we trust the publishers won’t mind us sharing a recipe if we encourage you to buy the book. It really is a perfect gift for the chocolatier in your life. Before we get started we also wanted to mention how important it is to buy Fair Trade Certified chocolate. From the site:

You may not know it based on first glance, but chocolate products go through a lengthy process to earn the Fair Trade Certified™ seal. Producers and businesses we work with adhere to strict labor, environmental, and ethics standards that prohibit slavery and child labor and ensure cocoa growers receive a steady income, regardless of volatile market prices. It’s not an easy process. You can thank them for their commitment, and incentivize even more sustainably-made chocolate, by enjoying fair trade chocolate in its many forms, from chocolate bars, powders, and baking chips to ingredients in energy bars and snacks.

If you live in Victoria, BC, be sure to check out The Chocolate Project at the Hudson Bldg, and also the new Chocolat and Co on Fort Street.

Today’s recipe is for “Chocolate Truffle Tart” because, well, chocolate. ’nuff said.

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Happy π Day!!

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Hi Folks:

Happy Pi Day (3-14)! Today, devotees around the world dedicate themselves to the pursuit of all things irrational, and of course, really good desserts. BTW, if you want to know what the first 1,000,000 digits of π are, you can find that at the link.

As we have in previous years, we’re going to celebrate today with some pi(e). Since Marcia has grain sensitivities we’re going to forego the crust, and since we’ve already profiled Michael Smith’s wonderful Potato Bacon Cheddar Tart, we’re going to choose something equally savoury instead: shepherd’s pie. The recipe we’re using today comes from the folks at America’s Test Kitchen, here: Cast Iron Shepherd’s Pie.

NB: They did provide this recipe free for two days, but that period is now over. You can still view it by signing up for a free trial. That of course is up to you. As for us, it’s been so long since either of us have eaten ground beef we don’t remember the last time, but shepherd’s pie has been a comfort food recipe in both of our families for generations. We thought of using ground turkey instead, but we thought we’d go all out. We’re using organic corn instead of peas and while we usually replace potatoes with yams, we did find some lovely organic potatoes to use here. We’ll see how it goes!

Cast Iron Shepherd's Pie
Cast Iron Shepherd’s Pie

Okay, that’s it for now. Enjoy Pi Day, however you celebrate it! For more of our Pi Day posts (and recipes) click here.

Remember to hug the ones you love today. If you can’t hug a stranger, then at least offer them a smile. 🙂

Hugs,
M&M

P.S. While you’re wandering around the Cook’s Illustrated site, watch out for their Cast Iron Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe!!

Happy Pi Day!!

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Hi Folks:

It’s that time of the year (3-14) where we get to celebrate all things irrational, and so as we’ve done for several years now we thought we’d add a recipe or two. Mike’s Auntie Dona – at various stages in her life – ran a bakery, a restaurant, a catering service for several small airlines, and a cooking school. She was also quite a character. Wherever she is now, she likely has flour in her hair. These recipes are hers.

In case pastry has become your bête noire, here’s the one I used in the bakery and still do.

5 cups flour, 1 lb. lard, 1 tsp. salt… blend with pastry blender. Break 1 egg into a cup, beat and fill with water. Add to flour and stir and knead until it’s ready to handle. Seeing as how you’ve got that great lump of pastry there, make a pie or two, some butter tarts, turnovers (apple pie filling, zipped up with cinnamon and a few raisins) or raisin squares or just bake the shells and store them on a shelf. They’ll stay good for ages.

Now about those butter tarts. This recipe I gleaned from an old Mennonite cookbook and have used constantly over the years. Surprise, no butter in butter tarts.

Dona’s stolen recipe for butter tart filling

2 eggs, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1 cup brown sugar, handful of raisins. Beat the hell out of the eggs with your balloon whisk. If you don’t have one, stop right now and go and get one. I mean, really. Then put in the sugar and beat until you have big glutinous bubbles on top. Add your vanilla and raisins, put in tart shells and bake. Do use a 2-lb jam can to cut out your tart shells, 4-lb size for turnovers. Don’t bake butter tarts or anything with an egg base in a high oven. 325° at the most. I find 325 is best for these as a nice crust will form and they look beauteous. Gravy ladle fills the easiest. The amount makes 1 dozen.

So there you go. Have some fun with it! And since you have pastry dough left over, maybe put together a pumpkin or lemon pie or something. Check our Food section for more recipes.

Hugs,
M&M

Happy Pi Day!!

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Hi Folks:

That most special day of the year is upon us once again! While it will be another 97 years before we’ll have a really special Pi Day (3-14-15, 9:26:53), any excuse to eat baked treats is a good one!

Since the idea of combining irrational numbers and desserts is a bit nutty, we thought we’d offer up two slightly nutty recipes for you today. The first comes from the oldest cookbook we have on the shelf (so far): The Good Housekeeping Cookbook (© 1942, edited by Dorothy B. Marsh). Continue Reading →

Happy Pi Day!!

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Hi Folks:

It seems Pi Day (3-14) is upon us once again, and there’s no better way to celebrate all things irrational than with pie! In the past we’ve profiled recipes for pastry and for various dessert pies; this year we thought we’d take a different tack and mention a crustless, savoury pie instead: a potato bacon cheddar tart. The recipe comes from our favourite Canadian chef, Michael Smith, and may be found here: Potato Bacon Cheddar Tart.

As Michael himself would say, the best recipe for cooking is to cook without a recipe! To that end, and since Marcia can’t eat nightshades (including potatoes), we use yams instead. And if you want to switch up the cheddar for some other firm cheese like Havarti, that would probably work too. Have fun with it!! The recipe is pretty simple and straightforward to make, although, as mentioned, it’s important to stagger the placement of the bacon around the centre of the pie plate to avoid having a big mound in the middle. And remember to put a baking sheet underneath to catch the drips.

Bon appetit! Now, the 100,000th decimal place for pi is… ? Oh ya… 6.

Hugs,
M&M

P.S. Happy Birthday, Uncle Albert!! E=MC2, huh. We’ll believe you. You could always see the beauty in the sinuous undulations of the rim of the crust, and you recognized that baking is all chemistry and physics… 😉

Happy Pi Day!!

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Hi Folks:

It’s that one day of the year again (3-14) where we celebrate all things irrational by honouring the most famous of their brethren, pi (Ï€). And as any mathematician worth his or her salt with tell you, nothing associates better with pi than pastry! It may be the perfect alchemical blending of flour and lard, egg and vinegar… or it may just be the homonym. No matter.

pi-blue-2400px

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Happy Pi Day!!

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Hi Folks:

For those in the know, today is Pi ( π) Day (3-14). Today however marks a Pi Day that comes by only once a century because we have 3-14-15 9:26:53! Twice in one day! How cool is that?

As with our previous Pi Day post, in a moment of non-rational thought we thought we’d post a recipe! A pie recipe, of course. This one marks a favourite of Mike’s dad – a French Canadian tradition called Sugar Pie (or Tarte au Sucre in French).

To make this pie you’ll need a pre-baked pie shell. If you need a good pastry recipe, see our previous post!

Without further ado:

Sugar Pie

Ingredients
1 baked pie shell
3 cups (750 ml) pure maple syrup
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup (125 ml) demererra brown sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. (30 ml)  unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp. (5 ml) vanilla extract

Reduce/thicken the maple syrup by ¼ to ⅓ by placing it in a pot on the stove and boiling it for about 10-15 minutes or so. Set it aside to let it cool before continuing. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).  Mix the remaining ingredients in a large bowl then add the maple syrup and combine. Pour the mixture into the prepared pie shell and bake for about 35 minutes until it has risen slightly and is somewhat firm to touch. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool before serving.

NB: As the name implies, this pie is very sweet. You may wish to balance it with a nice dark roast coffee and/or some vanilla bean ice cream.

Enjoy!

Hugs,
M&M

It’s Pumpkin Time!

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Hi Folks:

Last year we did our Food post on pumpkins (A Plethora of Pumpkins) after Hallowe’en but we thought maybe this year we could be proactive.  With Thanksgiving recently behind us, what better time to talk about pumpkins?  In last year’s post we offered up some of our favourite pumpkin recipes; we’re going to add some more this year but with Hallowe’en still before us we thought we’d also add in some links to sites that offer free pumpkin carving templates.  In the past several years pumpkin carving has evolved into an art form unto itself and none of these templates approach that level of intricacy, but they do give you an opportunity to get creative and messy with your kids (or just you, if you don’t have kids):

Have fun with them!  Remember too that if you’re going to be cooking your pumpkin(s) after Hallowe’en, use a beeswax or non-toxic candle inside.

Okay, on with the recipes.  I like to give credit for recipes where I can, but I also think it’s fascinating that recipes are like stories, passing from friend to friend, from generation to generation, sometimes getting modified/adapted along the way.  I’ve had these recipes for a very long time and I don’t know who the authors are, but our thanks to you, whoever you are! Continue Reading →

A Plethora of Pumpkins…

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Hi Folks:

Since Canadian Thanksgiving and Hallowe’en have come and gone and American Thanksgiving is just around the corner, this time of year there are a plethora of pumpkins about.  Most often used to make Jack-O’-Lanterns and then either left to rot or offered up in tribute in some form or another to the musical group ‘Smashing Pumpkins‘, pumpkins can be cooked and made into many wonderful treats.  It is a bit time-consuming, but much better (in our opinion) than purchasing canned pumpkin from the store when there are so many real ones laying about. Continue Reading →