It is has been a very long time since I have posted. My personal life has been in chaos for almost the past year now but I am trying to come back to my new reality and get my mojo back. Baking has just become part of my routine again in the past month or so and this no-knead focaccia has been a fan favourite amongst my friends. So I decided I had better get to it and write a post after many requests for the recipe.
Pumpkin Loaf
It is fall and time for all things roasted and baked. This recipe uses both techniques if you like but you can also take the easy way out as well. For this Pumpkin Loaf I used a pie pumpkin that I had roasted and mashed. It probably doesn’t add that much flavour but it does give you that feeling of accomplishment especially when you grew the pumpkin yourself!
No-Bake Strawberry Cheesecake Pie
Well it is Canada Day and time to celebrate this awesome country we are lucky enough to call home. So in celebration I made this No-Bake Strawberry Cheesecake Pie. The berries were picked at a local farm- Twin Rivers Farm in Thessalon. This is the first year I didn’t pick the berries myself but bought them picked. It has been so hot here – 30 degrees C and I can’t stand the heat!
Montreal Style Bagels
I have been making all of my own bread during this pandemic and we were getting a little tired of toast in the morning. So today I decided it was time to tackle bagels again and specifically Montreal Style Bagels. We have been several times to the Byward Market in Ottawa and the bagels there are the best I have ever had so to try and copy those was my mission.
Winter Spice Snickerdoodles
November is here so that means frosty mornings, scraping ice from windshields and baking yummy goodies to warm us up. I’ve always liked Snickerdoodle cookies because of the cinnamon coating of course! But what if you added all the warm spices like cardamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg to the mix? And what if you browned the butter first? Well I experimented and the result was wonderful. That soft pillowy texture of a Snickerdoodle with the deep flavour of the browned butter and spices was just about perfection. So let’s make this a thing and call it Winter Spice Snickerdoodles.
Blueberry Oatmeal Crumb Bars
One of my favourite summer rituals is picking wild blueberries. This year with the spring being so wet and cold and even into June the berry crop has been patchy to say the least. But my one favourite picking spot has been loaded and I have picked it 3 times so far. Hope it has one more picking left in it as you can never have too many wild blueberries and I still haven’t frozen any!!
Crunchy White Chocolate Chip Cookies
I’ve seen a few recipes lately that include crushed cereal in the list of ingredients so of course I was intrigued. I took one of my basic cookies recipes and added crushed corn flakes and this is the result: Crunchy White Chocolate Chip Cookies.
For this version I used white chocolate chips but they would be just as wonderful with milk or dark chocolate or even nuts and coconut. Sometimes I just like having one or two star items, the crunch of the flakes and the sweetness of the white chocolate ( my favourite) make this cookie a winner.
Peach Upside Down Cake
Peach Upside Down Cake is a showy and delicious dessert but surprisingly very easy to make. Even better is that the fruit works best in the cake if it is canned not fresh so this is a dessert you can make any time of the year. I was originally going to make a Pineapple Upside Down cake but guess what? – no pineapple in the pantry so peaches were up.
Citrus Glazed Sugar Cookies
Lemon and lime are two of my favourite flavours and when they are combined in this Citrus Glazed Sugar Cookies it is heavenly. This cookie is just another variation of the Frosted Sugar Cookie recipe that is one of my staple cookie recipes. For this version I added some lime zest to the cookie dough and rolled the cookies instead of slicing and glazed instead of frosted. The finished cookie is polished and delicious. What more could one ask for in a cookie?
Lemon Strawberry Tea Biscuits
This recipe for Lemon Strawberry Tea Biscuits is one of those standard recipes everyone needs to have in their kitchen. You can enjoy the biscuits warm out of the oven just as they are, or slathered with more butter and strawberry jam, or cooled then split and topped with whipped cream and more fresh strawberries. Any way you choose to enjoy them you will love this recipe.
