Scratch Food with a Side of Geek Mom and Pop Culture.
After having guests over for hubby’s 40th birthday party, I found myself with several (many) leftover cans of Strongbow, an alcoholic cider that is popular with one person in particular. I’m not sure why I decided it would be a good idea to buy 8 cans for one professed cider-holic, but that’s exactly what I…
If there’s a silver lining to having to deal with the doom and gloom of winter, it’s that winter is prime citrus season in North America! So that’s why you’re seeing bags of clementines, meyer lemons and grapefruit everywhere… we’re in full swing right now (citrus season tends to officially kick off in November), and…
I can’t believe it’s December. Argh. NaBloPoMo kind of made the whole month just speed on by. So I’m playing editorial catch-up again, as I’ve been spending mo time at the keyboard and less time in the kitchen, making pie. Well, what can you do. Here I am at the last minute yelling “get your…
It occurred to me that I haven’t given pumpkin a fair shake, really. Most pumpkin recipes are all about overplaying the sweet, and while pumpkins are technically fruit (a berry, supposedly. Who knew?) they can hold their own in the savoury department. That is, they can hold their own in the savoury department if anybody ever…
What is the biggest problem with a holiday that turkey’s served? You have pounds of turkey leftover, and no stuffing. My friends, you can have your sandwich and eat it too: stuffing bread. Stuffing. Bread. Yes, I went there! it’s a slice-able loaf of bread that tastes just like it came out from inside of…
It used to be that the fall season was heralded by back to school sales, some lovely apples, and the changing of the leaves. Now I know that winter is coming when I see my first Instagram photo of a pumpkin spice latte. Within hours, the internet becomes full of Pumpkin Spice Everything and I’m…
You guys know how much I like my books. Raincoast Books was a dear and sent me Josey Baker Bread. It’s not only a fabulous recipe book with a cute guy in it, it’s a story about a guy who never ever thought he’d end up in the place he was as a full time baker;…
It’s been crazy busy lately, and I’ve been trying to clean out the chest freezer for the annual defrost (which I happened to miss last year, and possibly the year before, and *maybe* the year before that as evidenced by the package of bacon I found in the bottom from 2010). Hey, it was in the…
I’m not sure how it happened, but somehow Sunday morning has become pancake morning. Actually, that’s a lie; I know exactly how it became pancake morning. My son would be happy to eat pancakes every morning, every day of the week, but I convinced him with mommy magic that Sunday is the best day to…
It’s also known as War Cake, Depression Cake and Wacky Cake. The history of this cake goes back approximately 100 years, and has almost as many names and versions. Most people cite its origins around WWI during the time of rationing. This particular version of recipe below was more typical during the Great Depression, when…