Celeriac, also known as celery root,  is an odd looking root vegetable with its knotty exterior.  Celeriac has a celery flavor and can be eaten raw or cooked.  It is often used as a flavoring in soups and stews. It can also be used on its own, usually mashed, or used in casseroles, gratins and…

Making bread is something that I really only do on occasion or when the mood hits me.  Épis de blé is a baguette that resembles a sheaf of wheat and is traditionally served during harvest time.  This bread recipe begins with a starter dough and has to be made 18 hours ahead of time.  Click…

Last weekend I was at the Farmers’ Market buying local produce and decided I wanted to make a squash soup.  I didn’t have a recipe per se so I surfed the web and found a couple recipes, BC Tree and Home Made Soups, from which I made this soup.  Winter squash has a mild, sweet…

Fall is a lovely time of the year and even though it is a sign that winter is on its way, it’s also the time when local vegetables are at their prime.  Where I grew up, September and October meant pickling, preserves, jams and jellies and this recipe is one of the ones my Mom…

I drive my daughter to school and every day I pass by one particular intersection that has four interesting and diverse corners.   On one corner is a building called FRED.  The corner across the street from Fred is Gus’ Pub and across from the pub is a shop selling Middle Eastern food.  The remaining corner…

Fall harvest is full of ripe vegetables and what better way to make use of the vegetables than by preparing this dish.  Spaghetti squash is an oblong seed-bearing variety of winter squash.  When raw, the flesh is solid and similar to other raw squash but when cooked, the flesh falls away like strands of spaghetti. …

Catchy title for a blue cheese!  This cheese is named for its pungent aroma and is just one of the amazing cheeses made by Willem and Maja van den Hoek, owners of That Dutchman’s Farm in Colchester County, Nova Scotia.  Originally it was Maja’s homemade bread that supported the business until the cheese making found…

Ribs covered in a rich, sticky glaze means finger-licking goodness!  You might want to start out using a fork and knife but eating with your fingers is the only way to really enjoy these beauties.  The ingredients are oh, so Asian and the air in our home was filled with this lovely fragrance.  Beef ribs…

Cooler weather somehow always conjures up memories of eating homemade soup from my Mom’s kitchen.  She was always making sure we had something to warm us up and a hearty soup invariably did the trick!  Broccolini is a green vegetable similar to broccoli with small florets and long, thin stalks.  It is a cross between…

I enjoy preparing this sort of meal but I was shocked to see that the shrimp were imported from Thailand!  Surely with the Atlantic ocean on our doorstep I could find it locally.  The Nova Scotia Fisheries and Acquaculture site show that shrimp fishing is alive and well in Nova Scotia.  “The Scotian Shelf shrimp…

Shrimp scampi is a deliciously decadent Italian seafood dish. It is a rich, buttery treat and is simple to prepare. According to the culinary research published on the Food Timeline, “The earliest reference to shrimp scampi in The New York Times is a restaurant advertisement published May 9, 1956 for The Tenakill Restaurant in Englewood…

My husband, who’s English, introduced me to these pies a long time ago. It’s one of food items we look for when we’re in England.  I love them and the pork pies from Australia are also scrumptious!  Having had my share of these little beauties over the years, I said I would some day make…