There are a few common misconceptions about jam-making that I don't quite get. And I'd like to clear them up now, if possible.

1) you must make an enormous batch, requiring pounds of fruit, an enormous pot and every square inch of counter space available.

2) you must use proper canning equipment, buy jars with sealable lids, and process your jam at so many pounds per inch for a precise length of time, lest you give someone botulism.

3) you must buy packaged pectin, be exact with your measurements and then feel some degree of panic over the possibility that your jam might not set.

4) it will take you all day, or at least most of the afternoon.

Really guys, it's just not that big a deal. Jam is just fruit cooked down with sugar and acid (ie. lemon juice). So … Read More

Afternoon tea isn't just for Mothers' Day. It just so happened that we went for Afternoon Tea at the Banff Springs Hotel on Mothers' Day weekend, so I can pretend that was orchestrated on my behalf, in honour of my most excellent motherness.

But really, I'd take a tower of tea sandwiches and sweets, warm scones with clotted cream and a mountain view on any afternoon of the year.

Having lived in Calgary since grade 2, I've made my share of day trips to Banff. But over the past year I've rediscovered the place, newly appreciative of the fact that it's an easy hour's drive away, and enough of a change of scenery to make a regular weekend seem like a long weekend, even if you bring your blackberry and laptop with you. Friday afternoon we threw our stuff … Read More

For some reason, a bag of Cheezies (the real, Hawkins kind - they're Canadian, did you know?) with a bottle of big red wine has become my idea of heaven on a Friday night. (Achievable dreams are important-yes?) It occurred to me awhile ago that I could in fact make something similar. These are easy, snacky, and a great way to use up the last of the cheese ends (any kind, really) in your fridge. I'm not sure revisiting these cheesy bits (which were oh-so-popular in the 80s, often made with frozen puff pastry) was altogether a good idea. (It might be better to save this recipe for occasions at which more than one person is present, if that person is you.)

They also, it turns out, make a great nibble alongside a bowl of soup, if you need a sort of ballast that doesn't … Read More

SHUT UP.

A Nutella latte.

deVille on first street.

I went for elevenses today; Pierre, author of the (award winning!) cookbook Kitchen Scraps, made crumpets. I know! For real! Crumpets! Only the very best butter transport system ever created!

Crumpets are made out of a wet, yeasty batter - thicker than pancake batter but thinner than bread dough - cooked in a hot skillet in crumpet rings (or cookie cutters, or cleaned-out tuna tins opened on both ends) until they're set enough to flip and cook until crusty gold on the other side. Why pancakes and waffles are so commonly made on Sunday mornings but crumpets aren't I have no idea. It's totally unfair. Maybe I'll go to the UK and ask them. Over crumpets.

The recipe isn't quite done yet. Pierre deemed the batter too sticky. They were quite fabulous, even … Read More

Honestly, I haven't been this excited about a new restaurant opening in a very long time.

CHARCUT Roast House, which has been in the works for in the neighbourhood of 3 years now, is finally open. Yes, it's a carnivore's Disneyland. But there's a lot on the menu for non-meat-eaters too. I already know what I'm going to have first: Romaine and Crispy Chicken Skin with Buttermilk Dressing. (I got a preview of the menu, which will be altered daily - love the hand-written note: because you can't have any salad without meat.)

There are wonderful people at the helm here - a lot of very big hearts. The menu will change daily as they play in the kitchen. You have the option of your own table, a seat at a long communal table (a thick slab of wood that came all the way … Read More

Last night was our Julie & Julia-themed dinner party, to celebrate the movie's release tomorrow (!) attended by some of my favourite Calgarian writer-eaters: Pierre, Gail, Gwendolyn and Cheryl and their significant others. It was a potluck - which are making a comeback, have you heard? I heartily recommend them - people love to bring food, and if not, they can always buy stuff. It takes the pressure off you, and minimizes dishes.

Everyone was instructed to bring something out of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, which is seeing a holiday resurgence in sales thanks to the movie. I made - what else? Boeuf Bourguignon. It needs a good long time to braise - slow cookers work fabulously for this - and in fact is better after a couple days in the fridge … Read More

Dinner tonight was fresh biscuits topped with deconstructed roasted tomato and garlic bruschetta.

See what I did there? Made dinner sound like something you'd pay a fortune for (or I would, anyway) if you ordered it off a restaurant menu? Really what "deconstructed" means is I ate what calorically counted as dinner standing up over the stove, mopping sticky, olive-oily tomato juices and teak-coloured cloves of garlic off the roasting pan with chunks of warm biscuit. It was so good I couldn't even make it to the table. When Mike and W came downstairs, they got leftover warmed soup and eggs on toast, respectively. I realize this sounds like far more of a summer meal than one you'd make while knocking on winter's door. (Hell, who are we … Read More

Question: is it really 2 for 1 pizza when one pizza is $9.75 and two are $18.95? I didn't think so.

So we passed on Inglewood Pizza for Spillery Pizza (yes, the website still says Paul's - it hasn't been updated yet), which was really very good, and chased it with a little bag of delicate, chewy, gluten-free amaretti made by my friend Pina. She and her mom have launched a delicious biscotti/amaretti company called Piccola Cucina, and I'm proud to say she's managed to get in with some coffee shops around town, and these little babies are served at Holt's trunk sales and private shopping nights. (If you need someone to take care of your holiday baking and package it all up for you, she's your girl. And a really sweet one at that.)

I couldn't look a mini chocolate bar in the eye this morning. By this afternoon I didn't even want one each time I walked past the bowl. What do you do when Halloween candy has lost its appeal? (Or when prices have been slashed by an irresistible 75%?) Chop them up (a post-Halloween massacre) and make cookies. Dress them up, if you will.

While we're on the subject - has anyone noticed the peanut butter cups aren't even full-sized anymore? Silver lining: they make great deep dish cookies. This peanut butter dough will turn out either - a chunky cookie packed with chopped Oh!Henrys, Snickers and Carmamilk bars, or a peanut butter cup inside a peanut butter cup. Of course, you could use any basic soft cookie dough - oatmeal, brown sugar (as for chocolate … Read More