At the moment we’re enjoying a spate of warmer weather in Ontario, perfect conditions for taking long walks and enjoying the burst of colors as the trees trade their green summer finery for the brighter shades of red, gold and orange as the days become shorter. It’s time to replenish the biscotti that were enjoyed by family and guests over the holidays and these maple pecan biscotti by King Arthur…
My father was a very intuitive gardener and his home-grown vegetables were prize-winners. By early August, an abundance of plump, red tomatoes filled baskets that we handed out to relatives and friends. We ate lots of tomato salad and ratatouille, but sometimes we just sliced a sun-kissed, ripe tomato, seasoned it with salt and ate it sandwiched between two slices of fresh white bread slathered with Hellmann’s® mayo. No matter…
I stopped by my friend Hélène’s house the Thursday before her son’s bar mitzvah and was privy to a glimpse into a Sephardic kitchen in action. Helene’s mother, aunts and mother-in-law were busily preparing a Moroccan beef tagine. As I sipped my cup of mint tea and nibbled on a freshly-baked semolina cookie, the women moved with the accomplished grace of an Olympic synchronized swim team, filling an enormous bowl…
This morning when I stepped out of the house at 7:00 a.m. for my morning walk, there was a slight nip in the air. It isn’t sweater weather yet, but that thick, warm air that enveloped me every morning in the month of August has dissipated. The summer is shifting into fall mode. Purple plums and dusky concord grapes are peaking out from their baskets in the supermarket and I…
In addition to the usual festive meals that we prepare for the Jewish holidays, for Rosh Hashana we try to step up our game a little bit by preparing simanim, or foods which serve as signs or symbols of our hopes and prayers for the new year. As a young girl, in our house simanim were limited to challah dipped in honey and the tzimmes or sweet carrots that accompanied…
I set out the ingredients to bake my signature chocolate marshmallow brownies, and realized that I was out of unsweetened baking chocolate. I hit the pause button and raced down the street to my local supermarket where I scanned the shelves of the baking aisle fruitlessly. Scouring the Hershey’s website and Amazon turned up …nada. Finally I phoned the Hershey’s helpline and was coolly informed that this product was no…
“How come I can’t act like a normal person and just throw something out”, I recently bemoaned to my sister. I was complaining about a box of peaches that tasted like they were never going to reach their sweet spot, and wondering aloud how I could repurpose them. “It’s called upcycling and it’s a good thing, using food in a way to create something better than the original. Make jam”,…
After experiencing below average temperatures in the month of July, summer has finally arrived in Toronto. Whatever seasonal pleasures you enjoy, nobody wants to spend more time than necessary in a hot kitchen. Stir-frying is the ideal preparation for a weeknight supper any time of the year. It’s also a wonderful way to showcase all the beautiful spring and summer produce that’s so readily available right now. With a little…
I’m not a coconut enthusiast and give most recipes that include coconut a quick pass. So how did I wind up with 4 cans of coconut milk in my pantry? I’m not really sure. However this recipe for coconut rice published by Tejal Rao in the New York Times makes milky, white, fluffy rice with just a hint of sweetness and no discernible coconut flavor. It’s as easy to make…
My mother tasted a banana for the first time, as an eight-year-old girl in Paris, shortly after the end of the Second World War. The precious fruit was a gift from her uncle who was serving in the American army, and who decided to pay a call on the French branch of the family before returning home. Mom was perplexed by this new fruit, not realizing that she had to…