CEDAR PLANKED AND PEACH TERIYAKI GLAZED STEELHEAD TROUT

Finally, I got my sister and her writing partner (a.k.a. Jamie Tremain) to my house for a celebratory dinner in honour of their mystery novel The Silk Shroud which is soon to be published.

The soon to be famous (infamous?) Jamie Tremain(Pam Blance and Liz Lindsay)

In spite of the fact that Liz was a bit under the weather we had a grand evening. My BFF Shirley joined us and the four of us enjoyed an "all girls" evening complete with champagne for toasting the up and coming authors.  Lots of giggles, some serious discussion about life and love (what girls' night is complete without that?) and if I say so myself a fabulously prepared Peach Teriyaki glazed Steelhead Trout smoked on a Cedar Plank and served with ever so slightly charred fresh Ontario Asparagus.  How simply Canadian is that?

Steelhead Trout on a Cedar Plank with Peach Teriyaki Glaze

I should have recorded the conversation because a week and a half later I really don't remember everything we chatted about.  I do remember talk of travel, books we've read and are yet to read, and THE upcoming novel.  There was a lot of laughter, talk of grandchildren and much fixing of all the ills of the world.  But actual details... I'm short on those.  I should have gotten one of the writers to ghostwrite this post. 

So I will just do what I do best and get down to the recipe. Which might in itself prove difficult because I didn't write down a single note as I prepared this meal. Not to mention all the talking, giggling and other distractions that were going on while I prepared it.  Did I mention there was wine involved?  If you've been reading my posts I don't have to mention that wine, when there is good food and great company, is always involved!

CEDAR PLANKED STEELHEAD TROUT WITH A PEACH TERIYAKI GLAZE

1. Soak a cedar plank intended for use on a barbecue in water for a minimum of one hour.

2. Wipe the trout (about 2 lbs. for 4 servings) with a damp paper towel and then pull out any large pin bones you might find.  Gently run your hand along the piece of fish until you feel the bone(s) poking through the flesh.  Use a clean pair of needle nose pliers to pull the bones out. Don't worry about getting them all because you won't.

3. Put the fish on a plate and keep in the refrigerator until about 30 minutes before you want to cook it.

4. Make the glaze: In a small saucepan mix 1/2 cup each of Soy Sauce and Sweet Rice Vinegar, 1T Minced Garlic, 1T Minced Ginger, 3T Brown Sugar, 1T Honey, 3T Peach Jam (I used homemade from last fall).  Heat over medium-low heat until sugar has dissolved and it is just bubbling and becoming a little syrupy. Remove from heat and let cool down.

5. You can now do one of two things.  When the glaze has cooled down a lot pour some over the fish and let it marinate for a little while - 30 minutes or so.   OR you can forget this step like I did and instead put the glaze on the fish AFTER you put it on the cedar plank on the barbecue. Either way is fine; both work; it all depends on how many people are talking at one time and where your wine glass is...

6.  Turn on the barbecue to medium high heat and let it get heated up.

7.  Remove the cedar plank from the water, shaking most of the excess off, and place it on the barbecue over one of the burners.  Turn all the burners down to medium-low or low, close the lid and let the cedar plank start to smoke a little.  If it catches fire spritz it with some water to douse the flames.  Once it is smoking, turn the heat off under the plank, but leave the other burner(s) on medium to low.

8.  Place the fish skin side down on the cedar plank (either already covered with some glaze or glaze free (see step #5). If not already covered with glaze, use a brush and brush some onto the fish.

9.  Close the lid of the barbecue and leave it alone while you go get the asparagus ready.

10. Clean asparagus, snap off and discard the woody bits at the end; and toss the asparagus in a dish with some sea salt, fresh cracked pepper, a little olive oil and a teaspoon of sesame seeds.  Roll them around in the dish with your hands to make sure they are thoroughly covered with oil and seasonings.

11. After 15 minutes or so check the fish and brush on some more glaze - don't be shy about it but don't glop it on either.

12.  Place the asparagus on a vegetable grill for the barbecue spreading them out in a single layer.  If you don't have a special grill use a heavy duty aluminium pan.  Place on the burner(s) beside the fish.  The burners should be on low. Brush the fish again with a little more glaze.  Close the cover and pour another glass of wine for your guests and yourself.

13.  Check on the asparagus from time to time to make sure it isn't burning - move them around on the grill or in the pan to cook more evenly.  A little charring is okay.

14.  After the fish has been cooking about 30 minutes everything should be ready.  Use your judgement;  unless the fish was very thick it should be cooked by now. Try flaking it gently with a fork and you will know. If you like the asparagus cooked more leave it on longer, if you like it more fresh-crisp take if off a few minutes sooner. Remember you are the cook - you are in charge.  Actually this is a very forgiving method of cooking fish; if it gets left on a few minutes more it stays moist and delicious.

15. It's too difficult to remove the fish from the plank safely, so I removed the cedar plank and the fish together to another wooden platter and placed the asparagus in a small rectangular dish for serving.  Just make sure the plank is not burning at all!  If you must have a starch, some plain steamed Basmati rice would be nice or just a warmed crusty loaf of bread would do.

16.  Carefully cut the fish into four pieces add some lemon wedges and voila dinner is served!  Pour some more wine....

I've been informed by dear husband that this meal MUST be recreated at some time for his enjoyment...

Do let me know if you try this recipe.  It works equally well with Salmon, Salmon Trout, or even Arctic Char.

Cheers

Chelly

Spring Cleaning or Spring Cooking?

I love spring cleaning.... no that's a lie.  Cleaning is not my forte.  I think my sister would agree when the domestic genes were handed out in our family she got the cleaning one and I got the cooking one.  If it's a choice between cleaning the house and searching out recipes for tonight's supper or an upcoming dinner party I may start out with a duster in my hand but I always end up with a grocery store flyer, a cookbook and a cup of coffee.

But I do love the idea of spring cleaning.  Every year I have the same plan - get every corner of the house tidy and clean, with everything in its place.  With that accomplished I can spend the summer guilt free and outdoors gardening or better still barbecuing and entertaining. 

But it never quite works out that way for me.

Anyone who knows me well knows I am easily distracted especially when it comes to housework.  I never seem to get anything finished.  My "to-do" lists are never completely crossed off.  Sometimes I have to add things at the end of the day in order to cross them off because I ended up doing something totally unrelated to my original plan.

So I have learned over the years the best way for me to get things "ship-shape" (my mother's words) is to plan a dinner party.  It doesn't have to be a big one it just has to have a guest list that includes someone that I don't want seeing my untidy home!

This spring's guests are my sister Liz and her writing partner Pam (a.k.a. Jamie Tremain).  I have invited them both for dinner to celebrate the signing of their first novel.  And because I live a fair distance away from them they are staying overnight so I have to get the entire house in order for their stay. 

Don't get me wrong - my prime motivation is to celebrate the success of all their hard work.  I am so proud of them both and can't wait to pop open that bottle of champagne that's been put aside for this occasion.  I want to let them have an evening of well earned down time before the hectic business of marketing their novel gets into full swing. An evening of girl talk and silliness is always a good thing and if it helps me get my spring cleaning finished in the process, is that a bad thing?

So now I have a little more than a month to get everything in order for my house guests.  I know exactly what needs to be done.  

I have a list.

It's prioritized.

First things first.

But wait... 

The sun is coming out.  Maybe it will be warm enough to barbecue tonight.  

I should check the flyers - maybe I can get some fish.  Or maybe some lamb.  Pork chops.  No, steaks we should have steaks and a salad, a nice salad.  Hmmm now what wine will we have?

Cheers,

Chelly

p.s. I will post soon what I end up cooking tonight.  Well I will try - I do have some spring cleaning to get done you know!

Braised Lamb Shanks

March 15 – The Ides of March. My husband always likes me to prepare a special menu designed to pay playful homage to the great Julius Caesar.  But Paul also should have been wary of the Ides of March; he has fallen victim to a stomach virus and we have had to cancel this evening’s meal.

And what a shame that is.  The temperatures here have warmed up enough to thaw out the barbecue – which in itself is reason to celebrate – and I had planned to grill a couple of New York strip steaks and serve them with a garlicky and regal Caesar Salad.  And the beverage of the evening would have of course, been a Bloody Caesar; the quintessential Canadian cocktail! 

I suppose I could still cook that all up for myself, but I don’t think the enjoyment level would be the same. Although nothing says I can’t have a cocktail later when the sun crosses the yardarm – whatever that might mean. My mother always said that and with her British accent it always had the right level of hoity-toity to it that would alleviate any pangs of guilt for having a drink by oneself in the afternoon.

Alright then, an Ides of March dinner is off the table, so to speak, so now I will look to March 17^th - St. Patrick’s Day; another day in March to celebrate food and drink.  

St. Patrick’s day always makes me think fondly of my mother-in-law, whose birthday was celebrated on March 17^th.  Her birthday was actually March 18^th, but being born into an Irish-Catholic family at the beginning of the 20^th century it appears the family wanted a St. Paddy’s day baby and for most of her life she believed that was her birthday.  It wasn't until she applied for her Canada Pension and had to request a copy of her birth certificate that she found out her true birth date. Evidently she was quite distressed by this until it was realized that the year of her birth had also been registered incorrectly and the government owed her a year’s pension.  Just goes to show that there is always a silver lining.

St. Patrick’s Day also reminds me of someone else in my life that furthered my love of cooking.  A very good friend from my husband’s youth owned a restaurant for a few years before his sad and much too early passing.  Tony loved to feed people and when you went to his restaurant there was something wrong with you if you went home hungry! 

Conversations between Tony and me always involved food and its preparation.  So many times he would drag me into the back of the restaurant’s kitchen and into the walk-in freezer and excitedly (he was Italian) show me the humongous prawns he had bought that day, or the trays of steaks that would be next week’s special.  On more than one occasion I would return to our table, much to other diner's curious looks, with a wrapped up frozen leg of lamb or prime rib of beef to take home with strict instructions from Tony that when I prepared it he was to be invited for dinner.  I think, no I know, Tony enjoyed having a meal prepared for him as much as he enjoyed preparing one for others. 

So it was one St Patrick’s Day that I cooked a beautiful roast leg of lamb, with mashed potatoes and minted peas for Tony and six more of our friends.  As usual, he brought the wine.  And what a wonderful memory that is; the nine of us crammed around our dining room table in our wee little dining room, everyone talking and laughing.  The men all reminiscing about their days in high school and we women rolling our eyes at the same stories and jokes we have all heard a million times.  Have you ever noticed how really good memories seem to be connected to really good food and friends?

There was another great St. Patrick’s Day dinner party that I fondly recall – this one was totally unplanned.  Well mostly unplanned.  We have another very good friend from my husband’s high school days that I love to cook for.  Michael is Irish and one year when his wife was out of town I insisted he join us for a proper St. Patrick’s Day dinner.  It was a weeknight so it was just going to be the three of us.  Well…. I decided I would cook lamb shanks braised in Guinness.  Never mind that I had never cooked or even eaten a lamb shank before, I was totally confident I knew what I was doing. 

Now Michael is a hearty eater, as are my husband and I so I bought nine lamb shanks.  I did not think that was too many; they were frozen and looked really small.  Did I mention Michael is Irish?  So lots of potatoes were peeled and readied for boiling.  By about three o’clock in the afternoon I started to realize I had way too much food for three people – hearty eaters or not we were not going to eat this amount of food.  In a bit of a panic I called my husband at work and told him my dilemma.  Not to worry he would find more people to join us for dinner. Somehow he managed to find three other friends who were available last minute on a weeknight to come into the city for a feast.  In fact now that I think of it, it was the same three friends from my earlier spaghetti and meatballs post.  Sometimes the impromptu parties are the best parties and this was indeed one of those – I can still hear the laughter and feel the love around that table.

Ever since then braised lamb shanks (sometimes in Guinness, sometimes in red wine) has become a fairly regular St. Patrick’s Day meal in our house.  Served with lots of creamy mashed potatoes and sweet green peas it is the perfect comfort food.  Add some good wine and even better friends it is a dinner party waiting to happen. 

Braised Lamb Shanks

Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients:

6 – 8 Lamb shanks, fresh or frozen

1 Cup all-purpose flour mixed with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 Tbsp. butter

3 Tbsp. olive oil

3 Onions chopped

4 Cups beef broth

3 Bottles of Stout or 1 Bottle Dry Red Wine

2 Large Bay leaves, 3 or 4 Sprigs of fresh parsley, 2 or 3 Sprigs fresh thyme tied together with kitchen string

Defrost lamb shanks if frozen. 

Pat the lamb dry with paper towels and dredge in seasoned flour.  Shake off excess flour and reserve.

In a large Dutch oven heat the oil and butter over high heat.  Brown the lamb shanks on all sides.  You may have to do this one or two at a time, placing them on a plate to keep warm while you brown all of them.  Put your range hood exhaust on as this will be smoky.

Reduce the heat to medium and add more oil if necessary and sauté onions until soft.

Add the reserved flour and cook for a few minutes until blended.

Add the broth and stout or wine and whisk until there are no flour lumps.

Place the lamb back into the Dutch oven along with any juices that have accumulated on the plate, add the herbs and bring to just boiling.

At this point you can do one of three things.

1.    Cover, reduce the heat to low and continue simmering for about 2 hours. 

2.    Place the covered pot into a pre-heated 275F oven and cook for 3 hours or more.

3.    Place everything into your slow cooker (if it’s big enough) cover and set to cook on low for 6 hours or so

I like it when the meat is falling off the bone so I usually opt for the longer cooking times. 

Check on the lamb from time to time and stir gently making sure nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Regardless of which method you choose, near the end of cooking time remove the meat to a platter and keep in a warm oven.  Remove the herbs and pour the gravy into a bowl and place in the fridge or freezer for 20-30 minutes until the fat rises to the top and you can skim most of it off.

Meanwhile start cooking your potatoes.

Pour the gravy back into the pot, put the meat back in and gently reheat while you finish mashing potatoes and cooking your choice of vegetable. (I always serve sweet peas with lamb, often cooked with a couple of sprigs of mint)

Taste for seasoning and add more salt & pepper as needed.

Serve everything “family style” or plate up individual plates each with a big mound of mashed potatoes, a side of peas and a lamb shank, all covered with the gravy.  YUM!

Goes equally well with a glass of Shiraz, Malbec, or a bottle of Irish beer!  And don’t forget your friends or family – this is a meal to share!

Cheers

Chelly

Saturday Night Grilled Fish Supper for Two

I don't know about you, but I have had it with the winter of 2014-15!  It has apparently been the coldest February on record and I believe it.  And because of the cold all the snow we've had has stayed.  Yesterday was February 28th and I so wanted to barbecue something.  Last fall I had my nephews bring my shiny brand new gas barbecue up onto the deck so that I could get to it through the winter and do some grilling.  This photo taken from my back door shows why I haven't barbecued a thing all winter...

It's been like this pretty much since Christmas so until we get a spring thaw - which doesn't look to be in the near future - I won't be grilling any steaks soon.

Still, that urge to grill something - not just broil it, hit yesterday morning anyway.  I do have a small indoor grill that while it won't get hot enough to cook a steak properly, it will do a pretty good job on a piece of fish or chicken. 

Our local supermarket carries some beautiful fresh fish and this week they had Canadian Steelhead Trout on special. A nice fillet of that, some fresh asparagus and some mini red-skinned potatoes and we have a meal in the making.

THE RECIPE

Simple Grilled Fish Supper for Two

Ingredients

2 6oz Fish Fillets - I used Steelhead Trout, but Salmon, Rainbow Trout or Arctic Char would all work beautifully

1 Tspn Dried Dill Weed

1 Lemon 

1 Bunch Fresh Asparagus

1/2 Tbspn Sesame Seeds

16 Mini Red-skinned Potatoes

Olive Oil

Sea Salt & Fresh Ground Pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat your oven to 400F.

Rinse potatoes and dry them.  Place in a small bowl and toss them in a couple of tablespoons of good olive oil making sure they are evenly coated; sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.  Tip them into a small oven proof baking dish (I use a small heavy frying pan) and put them in the oven for 25-30 minutes.  Keep an eye on them and shake the pan every now and then to make sure they cook evenly. If they seem to be cooking a little too fast, turn the heat back to 375F.

Meanwhile heat up your indoor grill to high heat. (If you don't have an electric grill by all means use a grill pan or a stove-top griddle)

Sprinkle fish fillets with salt & pepper and the dried dill weed and then give them a good squeeze of 1/2 lemon and a little drizzle of olive oil.

Clean the asparagus and then break off the tough ends. Using the same bowl as used for the potatoes, toss asparagus in no more than 2 tablespoons of olive oil, salt & pepper and the sesame seeds.

By now your grill should be hot.  Turn heat back to med-high, place the fish flesh side down and arrange the asparagus on the grill around it.  

After a few minutes the fish should be seared enough that it will release from the grill and allow you to carefully turn it over.  

Continue cooking, moving the asparagus around to evenly cook and flipping the fish again if you want a darker look to the flesh until everything is cooked to your satisfaction. About 12 - 15 minutes; maybe more if your grill doesn't get terribly hot or if your fillets are quite thick.  You just have to watch it and when the fish begins to flake easily it's cooked.  The asparagus is cooked when it is lightly charred and softened.  Try not to over cook the asparagus as it is so much nicer with a bit of bite to it.

By now the potatoes should be cooked.  You'll know they are ready because the aroma of cooked potatoes will be wafting from your oven.

Plate everything up, garnish with the other half of the lemon and enjoy with a nice glass of chilled Pinot Grigio and someone you love.

I hope you enjoy this little promise of spring as much as my husband and I did. Maybe soon I will be able to re-create it on the barbecue...

Cheers

Chelly

Spaghetti & Meatballs, Good Friends and Wine

The aroma of homemade spaghetti sauce simmering on the stove is so appealing I don’t know why I don’t make it more often.  Well I do know…  

Homemade sauce, while not difficult to make, does take time and when life gets busy it’s easier to get your “pasta fix” by going out to eat or just opening a jar of sauce from the grocery store.  I love to go out for dinner, but that can be pricey, and sauce from a jar?  Well it’s sauce from a jar; convenient and although many choices are very good, you can’t beat homemade.  Same goes for meatballs; not hard to do, but so much better than the ready-made frozen variety.  

So when I have a Saturday afternoon free, making spaghetti and meatballs from scratch is something I really enjoy doing.  I usually have the ingredients on hand and if I don’t, dear husband is always happy to oblige and go to the grocery store when I’m cooking Italian. (He grew up a few blocks from Toronto’s Little Italy so there are never any complaints when dinner is an Italian-inspired meal)

A hearty and comforting meal such as this deserves more than just two to eat it.  So when the urge to cook Italian hit a few weekends ago the call went out to some friends with a last minute invitation to join us for a casual Saturday night supper. Two of our closest friends live a few doors away and the four of us regularly get together for a meal either at their home or ours.  You might think seeing so much of each other would make it difficult to have anything new to talk about, but somehow the conversation is always fresh and we are sure to have a fun evening. Then a second call to another long-time friend, a bachelor, who if he's not busy, is almost always happy to join us for an impromptu dinner party; and he always brings good wine! 

So there you have it - the perfect recipe for a perfect evening of camaraderie, conversation, laughter and of course some silliness.  In my opinion there are few things better than good friends seated around a table laden with hearty food and good wine to lift one’s spirits on a cold Canadian February night.

THE RECIPES

Basic Tomato Sauce for Pasta
Makes 6 servings

This is a simple sauce that makes a good base for adding your own favourite ingredients.  Sautéed ground beef or veal and mushrooms will make it heartier.  If you like olives go ahead and add them in. Love garlic? Please add more.  Make it your sauce.




Ingredients
2 or 3 Tbsps Extra Virgin Oil
2 or 3 Medium Cooking Onions, chopped (about 1 lb.)
1 Large Green Bell Pepper, chopped
2 Heaping Tsps Dried Italian Herbs *
Sea Salt & Fresh Ground Pepper, to taste
4 Large Garlic Cloves, minced
1 Cup Dry Red Wine, Chianti works well
2 - 28 Ounce Cans Whole Tomatoes, preferably San Marzano
1 or 2 Tbsps Tomato Paste
Pinch (or more) Red Pepper Flakes, optional
2 Tbsps Italian Parsley, chopped

Heat enough olive oil to cover the bottom of a large heavy saucepan over medium heat.

Add onions and green peppers and sauté until soft.  Add garlic and cook for a few minutes, watching that it doesn't burn.  Add a little more oil if necessary.

Add the dried herbs and salt & pepper to taste.  Don't use too much salt as you can always add more at the end.

Add the red wine, increase heat and cook off the alcohol.

Reduce heat to medium-low and add the tomatoes with their juice.

Add the tomato paste.

Stir to combine, cover and maintain a low simmer for at least 30 minutes; 2 to 3 hours is best.

If you like a smooth sauce, use an immersion blender and blend until you are happy with the consistency.

Taste for seasoning, adding more herbs, salt or pepper as required.  If using, add the red pepper flakes, keeping in mind the meatballs will be spicy.  I put the pepper flakes on the table for those that like things really hot!

Meanwhile make the meatballs.

* Use any combination of dried herbs - I used a pre-mixed blend of oregano, basil, thyme, marjoram and rosemary.  
You can use fresh herbs, but I feel the dried stand up better to the long cooking time. 

Spicy Beef and Sausage Meatballs
Makes 12 to 16 meatballs

My husband loves hot Italian sausage. Me? Not so much - I prefer leaner meat products.  His all-time favourite pasta dish is rigatoni with sausage and he will order that most of the time.  I don't mind the occasional grilled sausage on a bun at a summer barbecue, but I'm not a big fan of it otherwise.  But if marriage teaches anything it is the art of compromise so a while ago I tried making meatballs with a combination of ground beef AND sausage meat.  It was an instant success.  I'm sure I wasn't the first to come up with this, but it impressed my husband and was the answer to satisfying both of our palates.  The leaner beef cuts the fattiness of the sausage while the sausage adds amazing flavour.  If you prefer less heat by all means use a sweet or mild sausage, but do use Italian for the authentic flavour it will impart.

Ingredients
2 Large Hot Italian Sausages, about 1 lb.
1 1/2 lbs. Medium Ground Beef
2 Heaping Tsps Dried Italian Herbs
2 Tbsps Tomato Paste
Sea Salt & Fresh Ground Pepper, to taste
1 Egg, optional

Preheat oven to 375F.

Split sausage casings and squeeze the meat into a large bowl.

Add the ground beef, herbs, salt & pepper and tomato paste.

Add the egg if using. I feel there is enough moisture with the fat from the sausage and tomato paste.  You may need to add some breadcrumbs if the egg makes the mixture too wet.

Mix everything together with your hands.

Using a spoon divide into equal portions and roll into balls. Make them any size you wish - I usually weigh the portions and make the meatballs about 3 ounces each.

Place them on an ungreased baking sheet and bake in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes.  

There will be a lot of fat rendered out so you will want to drain them on a plate covered with paper towels for a few minutes.

Put some sauce in a medium sized saucepan and gently place the meatballs into the sauce.  Add more sauce to just cover them.  

Meanwhile, cook spaghetti according to package directions. Drain, return to cooking pot and add in enough sauce to coat.  Pour spaghetti into a big serving bowl and top with the rest of the sauce, and if you wish, the meatballs.  I prefer to serve the meatballs separately in their own dish covered in sauce.

Garnish both with chopped parsley, and serve with grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, crusty bread and a green salad.  On this occasion we had a big garlicky Caesar salad. 

And wine... lots of good red wine.

Cheers,

Chelly

The First Thing I Ever Cooked Was Not Edible…

But that's because it was invisible.

Let me explain... 

Dartha is not my name. Dartha was my paternal grandmother; my Nana.  In the 1960’s she used to live with us for part of every year.  During those visits, before I started going to school full time, she was my playmate and best friend.  It was a friendship that lasted until she passed away in the early 1970’s.

Nana and I would talk and watch TV together.  She would tell me stories of when my father was a boy and teach me things; like how to play Bingo or Roulette.  Seriously, I was three and had a toy Roulette game, purchased by her no doubt. That explains my current enjoyment of the occasional visit to a casino.  But more to the point she taught me how to cook.  Not real cooking - I was far too little to reach the stove or pick up the heavy cast iron pans that were once hers and then my mother’s (and now mine) - but pretend cooking; hence the title of this, my first post. 

Nana would sit at the kitchen table and instruct me in her methods of preparing a roast turkey dinner, or a big pot of soup or maybe one of her special desserts and I would pretend to cook, stirring empty bowls and pots full of imaginary ingredients.  The recipes were endless.  Nana had a vast knowledge of cooking and of course when you are preparing pretend food, the pantry is always full of every ingredient you will ever need.

Born in the 1880's on a farm in Listowel Ontario, she was raised by her maternal grandfather.  When she was about eighteen she moved to Toronto where the census records of the time show her as "a domestic".  Married young and widowed twice she raised six children mostly on her own.  She ran a boarding house to support them and at one time was a camp cook "up north".

The meals we would "prepare" together fueled not only my preschooler’s imagination, but fostered in me a lifelong love of cooking.

Family and friends tell me I’m a good cook.  I like to think that’s true but what do they know?  They all love me – they have to say that don’t they?

Not necessarily… my husband will tell you I have had my share of disasters in the kitchen and a few truly inedible meals have ended up in the garbage in favour of a take-out pizza.  As for family gatherings and dinner parties with friends there was a time when I would practice each and every recipe I planned to prepare until I was absolutely certain I could pull it off.  And I sometimes still spend hours going through cookbooks and surfing the internet in search of the perfect recipes to prepare for my guests.

A chef I am not, but I think I can say I have become a fairly competent home cook and there is nothing I enjoy more than preparing a well cooked meal and serving it to people I care about; whether it’s a quiet supper for two or an extravagant dinner party for eight.

So welcome to my first post on my first blog.  I have been considering doing this for some time and have put a lot of thought into what I want it to be. Or more accurately, what I don’t want it to be.

It is not my aim to teach you how to cook by providing a photographic chronicle of each and every step of a recipe. Websites and blogs that do that can be very informative, but I sometimes find it annoying having to scroll through picture after picture of a recipe in progress when all I really want is to get to that recipe the search engine pointed me to. 

So I will assume for the most part that you are comfortable in your kitchen and know your way around a recipe.  That’s not to say I won’t explain things or provide a photo of the end product – there’s nothing worse than a confusing recipe and it’s always nice to see what you’re supposed to end up with. 

As for what my blog will be, let’s find that out together.  

Nana and me around 1962

I will see you here again soon with some of my own recipes which I hope you will enjoy and will inspire you to actually try them out.

Cheers, 

Chelly