Marmalade

I luv marmalade! Probably just as much as Paddington Bear if not more. It isn't a big surprise that I will try many different flavours and varieties. I found this jar at Winners a few week ago. I was quite taken with the packaging and of coarse the lemon and lime combination. I found the lime flavour prevailed over the lemon which gives this marmalade a very unique taste. A delicious way to wake up in the morning. - JW

Crêpes

Last week I was looking around the usual places for cookbooks when I found this one. The Crêpe Book by Susan Herbert; Illustrated by Dennis Redmond; second printing 1976, Owlswood Productions. So when this weekend's breakfast request was crepes I knew exactly what book to reach for. I most often, if not always, use the Nigella Lawson recipe for crêpes. This cookbook is only 64 pages and has an introduction "know how" to crêpes. Stating that "the crêpe pan is essential". I don't own a crêpe pan. I use a smaller fry pan and I make wonderful crêpes! Honestly this is the one kitchen item I have passed up many times. That being said would I like one, yes... just for the absolute frivolousness! Until that day comes the fry pan works great. This book has helpful tips on how to fold and serve crêpes. I usually roll mine. I think that is the most popular way on doing it. Other ways are to fold, pocket, wedge and mound. The recipes include breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner ideas using crêpes. Pretty much letting your imagination run wild on how you can serve up an attractive meal.

I started with the basic crêpe recipe. The recipe called for the batter to be refrigerated for an hour. I didn't do that. I used the batter straight away and as you can see from the above photo they turned out fine. Mine were filled with mixed berries and whip cream on top with a dash of cinnamon sugar. So delicious! Not bad for not having a crêpe pan. - JW

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Yesterday I was desperate to bake something. Remembering I had some sour cream that was soon to go off, I decide to bake a sour cream coffee cake. Flipping through a few of my cookbooks I had finally turned up a recipe. And the photo above is the end result. The cake was served after dinner, warm. The sweet toothed masses devoured every crumb. Leaving little over half a cake left to be enjoyed over the next few days. Weekends are good for a dose comfort food. - JW

Chicken Salad Sandwich

Looking for an idea for lunch? How about my Chicken Salad sandwich. Chop up left over roasted chicken into bits. Chop a bit of celery and red onion. Add those three ingredients to a bowl. Add some mayonnaise and a bit of salad cream. Season with paprika, I added paprika with lemon and lime. You can season with salt and pepper, hot sauce, mustard... your options are pretty much endless. The same with your veg. Add whatever you like. Mix all together in a bowl. Getting all the flavours happy with one another. Then turn out the mixture onto slices of rye bread. Top with another slice of bread. Cut in half and there you go. One tasty sandwich! If it's cold outside, like it is today, try it grilled. Enjoy! - JW

Four Generations

This cookbook was given to me by my Dad. It looks as though it's been through the war and it probably has considering it was my Great Grandmother's. This homemade cookbook is 100 years old! Not only did my Great Grandmother use this book so did my Grandmother, his Mother, my Dad and now me. All the recipes have been typed out using a typewriter except for a few which have been hand written. Pages are filled with classic recipes and some to which I have never heard of. There are check marks and cross marks next to some recipes. Few handwritten notes.

All the recipes are still easy to read. She must have had a good typewriter and the paper is of very good quality, heavy and thick. All the recipes are typed on one side only. On the backside of each sheet is a faint imprint of a crest and these words that I can read by holding it up to the light: Superfine Linen Record, Made in Canada.

Mixed with the typed recipes are some handwritten ones as well. These pages look like they were very well used. It is unclear who's handwriting it is. It could be my Great Grandmothers or my Grandmothers. It is very delightful receiving a cookbook like this. - jw

Colcannon

This Sunday breakfast consisted of a simplified version of Colcannon. Served with a side of veggie sausages and topped with green onion. This is a very easy dish to make for breakfast or dinner. Traditionally Colcannon is made with carrots and cabbage or kale and cabbage. I wanted to test this recipe just to see how well it would be received by the hungry masses and then take it from there. I omitted the carrots and cabbage. Essentially to make colcannon you boiled potatoes, carrots and cabbage together in a pot. When they are tender drain and mash together. Add butter and brown sauce to the mash to flavour. Serve immediately. My version of colcannon is to mash all veggies together and turn out the mash into a lightly greased 9x11 pan. Then with a spoon make six indentations. Crack an egg into each. Bake covered in an 375º degree oven for 20 minutes or until each egg is poached to your liking. Serve hot. -jw

Fifteen Brownies

For the past 3-4 weeks I have had a luv/hate relationship with the cooker. Both elements stopped working at separate times, weeks apart. Finally today all seems right with the oven as the second element has been replaced. Thrilled with things returning to a normal pace in the kitchen, I couldn't wait to whip something up. The recipe of choice was Jamie Oliver's Fifteen brownies. The famous fuchsia silicone pan from Fifteen London was a gift from my friend whom I took there for dinner. We both ate the five coarse vegetarian menu option and got to meet the Head Chef that night. It was a very lovely dining experience.

Since then that fuchsia pan has been used quite a few times. The sweet thing about the pan is that the recipe is imprinted right on the bottom of the pan. If you haven't been to Fifteen London and do not have his signature bakeware, not to worry, you can find the recipe at Jamie Oliver's website and use whatever pan you have. Just type in bloomin' brilliant brownies in the search banner. The recipe on the website added dried sour cherries and chopped nuts. I didn't add either. Also because I just got a new element in the oven I was being cautious and may have left them in a bit longer than suggested. Still they turned out bloomin' brilliant! Tonight I will serve it with a bit of ice cream and sliced strawberries on the side. -jw

© copyright photos by Jacqueline Williams

Going Coastal

This by far is one of my favourite cheeses. It is a slightly crumbly aged cheddar to which my mouth waters for... melting in my mouth... awaking my taste buds...! Coastal British cheddar has a distinct flavour that works well with crackers, plain or topped with chutney and sandwiches, a ploughman's. Wish I had some on Saturday to top my chicken burger off with. As rich and glorious as this cheese is I find eating a little on it's own goes a long way. Don't be alarmed at the crunchy bits. That is the calcium crystals which form in cheeses once they have hit their maturity. If I remember correctly it costs $6.99 Cdn for 200g. Expensive but worth it. -jw

© copyright photos by Jacqueline Williams.

Burger Time

The weather is warming up and so the push for summer is beckoning. Nothing like enjoying a chicken burger on a Saturday evening for dinner. I grilled them stove top with a little olive oil and mixed in seasonings, breadcrumbs and smoked paprika. I served it with lettuce red onion and dijon chardonnay mustard. You can tell from the picture I added a bit more dijon. The only thing missing was a sliver of parmesan cheese. - jw

Freshly Squeezed

Usually I have my grapefruit cut in half and the sections carefully ran through with a knife in the mornings. I luv digging into the little pie shaped pieces hitting the right angle to avoid getting a squirt in the eye. When I was a kid my happiness for grapefruit was nonexistent. Instead I marvelled in oranges. This week I have been fighting of a horrible cold which seems to have centred around my tonsils. I am feeling much better. This morning however the lowly bag a ruby red grapefruit with it's remaining four sat on the floor begging for me to do something with it. Or it could be since I bought a new bag of grapefruits that I am wanting to dive into that bag. Whatever it may be I decided to squeeze the heck out of those four grapefruits for a glass of juice!

When I said squeeze that is exactly what I meant! The old fashion way... hey so much can be said for originality. Making juice this way gets your blood flowing... muscles working. Another great tension/stress releaser.

As you can see I whipped those remaining four grapefruits out of shape. I squeezed every last drop I could get. You can see the beautiful colour of the juice settling into the bottom of the container. Absolutely stunning!

After all that squeezing I managed to get about a half pints worth of juice. Not bad. Look at the beautiful colour!

No added sugars. Just pure and simple and packed with lots of vitamin C! Very refreshing. Enjoy the warm weather and your Friday! - jw

Quinoa

I saw this cookbook on the sales table at my local bookstore and couldn't say no. Not because of the sale price, which I thought wasn't much of a sale price, but because I have cooked with quinoa before and not many, if any, of my cookbooks have recipes incorporating this grain. Cooking with Quinoa: The Supergrain by Rena Patten; New Holland Press is an interesting book on getting you informed and on your way with quinoa. What is quinoa? What does it look like? and Preparing quinoa? are brief but helpful segments at the front of the book. I don't know about you but it helped me realise that I was indeed pronouncing the word quinoa wrong. Quinoa is pronounced keen-wah. This cookbook comes with mega photos and recipes to one side of the page. Recipes range from Soup, Breads and Pasta, Salads, Vegetarian, Meat, Poultry, Seafood and Sweet Things. The recipes deal with quinoa in it's three forms: a grain, flour and flakes. Quinoa is very high in protein, gluten and wheat free and full of vitamins. A tiny grain with mega results.

I took it upon myself this Sunday to make the pancake recipe from this book. Hoping that the organic quinoa flour would go undetected. I have cooked and baked with soy and rice flour before and it went unnoticed. Quinoa flour is different... it is quite fragrant. Even though the recipe called for 1 cup quinoa flour I cut that in half and used a 1/2 cup of organic quinoa flour. My kitchen senses were right on the mark. I think if the full cup was used some might have been struggling to get over the taste. Nonetheless there are many more pages with recipes to try. Lots of salads, main dishes and of coarse chocolate cake! - jw

Lasagna

It's all about layering with this classic dish. Whether it be vegetarian or meat lasagna it is a comforting dinner that won't disappoint! Preheat your oven to 375º. First prepare the 9x13 glass baking dish by adding a tablespoon of olive oil to the bottom and swish around to coat the bottom. You can also use a spoon to move the olive oil around then add some pasta sauce, whether it be homemade or from a jar, into the bottom of the pan. On top of the olive oil. Spread around the bottom of the pan. When done, set aside. In a skillet on top of the stove brown your choice of meat or veggies or both together. I used ground chicken. Soy ground is wonderful too! Adding fresh garlic and a pinch of salt and pepper. Sauté everything until meat is brown and veggies are just tender. Return to your prepared baking dish and line with lasagna noodles... fresh, pre-cooked or oven ready. I used oven ready.

When the pan is lined with noodles add your meat mixture. On top of the meat mixture add a bit of grated mozzarella cheese. Layer with more noodles on top.

On top of that empty a tub of ricotta cheese and spread around and top with more grated mozzarella.

Again top with noodles. Covering the entire surface as best you can. You may have to break or cut them to fit. Using oven ready noodles is always fun because you have to snap them to break them apart. Then you get all these little bits. It is like a jigsaw puzzle that you have to put back together.

Once that is done add a generous amount of pasta sauce on top of the noodles. Add more grated mozzarella cheese on top of the sauce. You may also add freshly grated parmesan. Now your lasagna is ready to go into the oven. Bake for 30-40 minutes until cheese is melted and all is bubbly. Checking after 20 minutes. Depending on your oven you may want to cook this in a pre-heated 350º oven for 35-45 minutes, again until cheese is melted and all is bubbly. No need to cover in foil... i made that mistake and some of the cheese stuck to the tin foil. It was not fun trying to rescue as much of the cheese as I could.

And when all is said and done your lasagna should come out of the oven looking like this! The cheese has melted. Everything bubbling hot and smelling delicious. Ready and waiting for everyone to dig in.

In the end this is what was left. Minus the piece shown in the pan. My nine year got a hold of that. Lasagna never last too long around here. - jw