Author Archive: My Kitchen Wand

I was visiting the other day and nestled on the kitchen counter were jewel toned bottles of marmalade. I asked what flavour they were and was told it was Ma Made. Ma Made? My mind went in several different directions. “Have you never heard of Ma Made?” I was asked. “No”, was my reply. Thus […]

Sometimes life is spontaneous. This recipe is one of those times. I felt like baking and I knew there were people coming for tea. I looked around my busy/messy kitchen and wondered what might be quick and easy to put together.  There was only a little butter sitting at room temperature. I was out of […]

Fruit jellies are something I have toyed with making for many years, ever since I received the Candy addition of The Good Cook/Techniques and Recipes by Time Life Books, published in 1981. This recipe is one of the reasons I substituted apple juice for black currant juice in this previous post for black currant jelly. […]

Over the past two days I have shared some black currant recipes that I had been playing with over the long weekend. The jelly and curd left me with cooked berries that were definitely still useful. This post is all about what other options are available for the left over mash. Black currants grow locally […]

A fruit curd is a usually tangy, sweet spread used in cakes, on scones, for tarts and pies and as a topping on ice cream, pancakes or waffles. Lemon curd is probably the most well known flavour. Lemon meringue pie, began as lemon curd topped with a meringue. Black currants are another tangy fruit, currently […]

I so enjoy black currants as a flavour and even had several bushes in a previous home. They do not require full sun and do well in shadier areas, unusual for berries. They also do not generally need a lot of attention and can be left to their own devices. Black currants grow wild across […]

Sweet baking, dairy products, and honey are all contributors to a Beltane celebration. This traditional Celtic dessert has them all. Tansy, an herbaceous, perennial plant, is well known in England. It is considered a special addition to Medieval Easter celebrations. Tansy is native to Europe, making it’s way across the pond and then across the […]

These chocolates were inspired by an orange marzipan chocolate bar a friend of mine found by Niederegger. It is traditionally a less sweet marzipan option and was my step-mother’s preference. While they were made in the form of Easter eggs, it is possible to use other mold forms of your choosing, especially during the rest […]

Purslane falls into that unfortunate category of plants that get ripped out when they get identified as weeds. It is, in fact a highly nutritious vegetable that can be used in all sorts of dishes, from salads to pesto, to burgers, sandwiches or a steamed side dish. Although it also has several additional, not so […]

As summer comes to an end there is still time to enjoy the last of the orchard fruits (and get some really good deals!). There can also be the issue of what to do with it all! Being the recipient of a goodly supply of ripe nectarines, I made several calls and spent a lovely […]