February 22, 2015
I am on a bit of a roll here in the kitchen. I should spend as much time exercising. I had pizza dough that I purchased from a local Italian market in the freezer and took it out last night to thaw overnight in the fridge. This afternoon I rolled it out and made a simple pizza with tomatoes and basil and this little pear and gorgonzola flatbread just for fun, no special occasion. Pear... View Article
February 17, 2015
You know what it’s like coming back from an extended vacation. It’s great to be home and if you are like me, you are looking forward to your own food again. As good as food is when you travel, the familiarity of one’s own kitchen and food is always welcoming and comforting. I have been making very simple foods since we have come back. Clean and flavourful vegetable soups made only with vegetables, no grains... View Article
November 23, 2014
Once in a while I get a craving for cornbread. I like it a little sweet, a little tangy with a dense but not heavy texture. I bake it in a square pan, in a cast iron skillet, into muffins or as I did this time, in parchment baking cups. Cornbread can accompany a dinner, be served for breakfast, alongside a salad or with soups. I sometimes break it into crumbs, toast them in the... View Article
October 23, 2014
If you have ever been to Israel you’d know that the pita bread there is nothing like the dried disks of pita we get here. In Israel the pita is smaller, fluffier and so delicious it’s hard to stop eating it. I just returned from a short excursion to Israel where I indulged in some amazing foods both at restaurants and while visiting family. Let me tell you, Israeli food is worth a special foodie... View Article
October 1, 2014
Just in case you think I am holed up in here and cook-photograph-write and never go out, that’s almost but not always the case. Yesterday my foodie friend Val and I went on a foodie excursion south of here and had a blast. We call these the “two foodies and a hummer” excursions and we do them quite often. We stopped for coffee and pastries at Bliss Bakery in Peachland, photographed golden delicious apple harvest at... View Article
September 2, 2014
Pizza and flatbreads are nice to make any time of the year. With summer entertaining and perhaps casual foods on the menu, here is a flatbread recipe that can be used to serve as an appetizers with a glass of wine when friends come over. I make the dough in a food processor and bake it in very hot oven. It makes a chewy and crisp crust that is a nice base for many toppings.... View Article
June 20, 2014
If I see figs at the store I have to get them, provided they are ripe of course. Figs are one of the fruits that do not continue to ripen once it has been picked. If it is not ripe when you buy it it will not ripen in your kitchen. The figs should be soft to the touch but not mushy and should not ooze the syrupy juices. Here is a simple but so... View Article
May 22, 2014
After the Seinfeld muffin top episode I believe an entire industry developed from this idea. Muffin top pans popped up in kitchen shops and bakeries begun to offer this muffin alternative to anticipating muffin aficionados. I jumped on the bandwagon and bought a muffin top baking sheet and I have been totally in on the muffin top “movement”. I love the tops of the muffins. The bottom part is always tangled in the muffin cup and is... View Article
November 25, 2013
The other day I took an Indian cooking class at Poppadoms Taste India in Kelowna. Poppadoms is a fabulous Indian restaurant offering traditional Indian foods with a modern twist using local and fresh ingredients flavoured with spices brought over from India. Poppadoms is named after the paper thin, crisp, cracker-like bread traditional in Indian cooking. The owners of the restaurant are the Dosanj family, each working in and contributing to this thriving family business. Mother... View Article
November 7, 2013
Now that the weather has cooled down I started baking a little more. It’s nice to have something homemade available with a hot cup of coffee in the morning or offer to a friend who happens to drop by. Scones are not a uniform concept. They can be round, triangular, even square, large or small, taller or flat, sweet or savoury, cake-like or crumbly, made with flour or oatmeal and include raisin, currants, berries or... View Article
September 25, 2012
Pizza is one of the signature dishes in my kitchen. I love to make it, eat it and serve it. On weekends I always have pizza dough in the fridge, ready to be stretched, rolled and made into an impromptu snack or main course. Sometimes I buy fresh pizza dough from Mercato or Lina’s and keep it in the fridge for a quick pizza but mostly I like to make my own dough. I cook... View Article
September 11, 2012
I mentioned that with the abundance of blueberries in the markets I have been cooking with them a lot lately. Blueberry muffins are one of our favourites and I make these often so I thought I’d share the recipe today. These muffins are a please-everybody muffins, large and fluffy and made with eggs and dairy but I also have another way of making them, fat free vegan style that is also very good. Maybe I... View Article
