Move over Betty Crocker, we are making our own cake mixes! Yes you no longer need those over priced boxes from the grocer. Here are the Duncan Hines/Betty Crocker copycat recipes I promised you. There are always a couple of these floating around my pantry – yes, even a pastry chef needs a short cut…
Favourite things…. Roasted red pepper Tomato soup
The first heavy frost advisory rang out from my iPad today. It meant I had to get the last of my tomatoes off the vines or risk losing them to frost. I had at least 14 cups of Roma tomotoes I popped into a roaster to cook up and freeze for later. Roasting & freezing…
DIY Baking mixes …
Instant mixes are easy to grab and save time but at a cost. They tend to be over priced. I had long since stopped buying them, because of additives, preservatives and colourings. When I dedicated myself to creating a pantry for bit more self sufficiency, I wanted to replace all those mixes you see in…
Rosh Hashanah – Apple Honey Challah
We are fast approaching Rosh Hashanah – Jewish New year. So this week we set aside canning and talk BREAD! I have long since known a Jewish man, named Micheal. When I was but a teen he once told me…”Your never too poor to buy good Bread”. He would gift us with fresh bagels each…
Pantry basics – DIY Extracts
One of my Pantry basics includes vanilla. I must have vanilla extract in my pantry- which is why 2017 changed how I do vanilla. Most of North America doesn’t even know about cyclone Enawo, aka the vanilla bean destroyer – but ever since it stormed across Madagascar in 2017 – I have been making my…
Comfort food… Potato Bacon soup
Cold rainy days of fall means comfort food. Comfort food means many things to many people. For some, it’s ice cream sandwich, for others it’s a big plate of pasta. For me, it’s anything with potatoes. I could eat potatoes 100 different ways, and never tire of them. I blame my Irish roots for that….
Mango Salsa
I am a sucker for sweet salsas. There is just something wonderful about combining a salty crunchy corn chip with the soft sweet taste of mango. I remember the first time I ever had mango salsa. My mother bought it by accident. At first taste she expected the hot spice she was used to, to…
Urban Gardening & Bruschetta in a jar
I am trying to become more self sufficient. Although I will never be fully independent like any homestead – livestock bylaws prevent chickens or goats (not that my husband would allow a goat – he would freak)- and our downtown backyard size, active boys and a dog it limits our options – so gardens it…
Good dishes & Peaches and cream pie…
Summer Vacation is almost over. I reflect on things as I sit and eat my Peach pie off my “good dishes”. I once heard a story of a christian woman’s prized dish set, a gift, sat in the china cabinet untouched her whole life. She never brought it out for company, it might break. Kids…
Unsolicited advice, power of prayer and Sour Dills
Un.Sol.ics.ited : Uninvited, not asked for, or done voluntarily. We have all had our share of unsolicited advice. I recently got some at the beach. I have a 4 mos old puppy. He is not a covid dog, impulse buy or time passer. He was bred for and will be a therapy dog – correction……
