Author Archive: My Kitchen Wand

Beacon hills are networks of bonfires, optical telegraphs, often used to signal the next village that invaders were coming and to man the defenses. They were placed on high points (hills) in the landscape so they could be seen as far away as possible. In England, the Michael leyline, an earth energy line, runs from […]

I have posted in the past about making lemon, orange and vanilla flavoured sugars for use throughout the year. At this time of year the violets are out and violet sugar is a simple way of preserving some of that lovely aroma for Beltane/May Day….. …and the rest of the year. Spring time is flower […]

There are not a lot of dishes with quinoa that I think of as comfort food. This is one of them. It is an all in one ( protein, carbs and vegetables ) casserole that is easy to take along to potluck and gatherings. It is also a pop a couple of scoops in a […]

Spring has arrived where I live and the wild violets are in bloom. In the weeks to come look for candied violets, violet sugar, wild violet jelly & syrup posts but today I wanted to focus on violet’s ability to indicate ph. From simple.wikipedia.org comes this definition “pH (potential of hydrogen) is a scale of […]

In some parts of the world, spring has sprung and it may already be too late to gather fresh needles but if you are still buried under snow and ice, feeling like spring will never arrive, there is something that can be done before the shoots push up or buds open; collect new growth evergreen […]

A galette is a simple free form pastry that can be filled with either sweet or savoury deliciousness. This one is made with a processor puff pastry but regular pastry is also an option. Try whipping up a few batches of pastry and popping them away in the freezer so that when inspiration strikes all […]

This year Ostara and Easter are about as far apart as possible so there are still several weeks to enjoy the flavours of the season. Hot Cross buns are one of those flavours. This no knead, overnight bread is a simple way to create a tasty addition to a lunchbox, weekend brunch or afternoon tea. […]

In January, I shared my adventure judging a chocolate cake throwdown. This past weekend, I stepped out of judging for the Mac & Cheese throwdown and what a range of dishes showed up! We had a white wine & white cheddar option, topped with panko with truffle sauce on the side. A vegan recipe with […]

Food has fashion cycles. Just like clothes there are times when something is all the rage and then eventually you can not find a Harvey Wallbanger anywhere. Dessert coffees are one of those things. For a time almost every restaurant was featuring Spanish & Irish Coffees. Things have moved along but I wanted to use […]

One story suggests that Scotch eggs have been around since Fortnum & Mason, a London department store, invented them in 1738. The Scotch part may have originally come from “scotched” rather than Scotland meaning “with anchovies” in the way that “a la mode” now means “with ice cream” and “Veronique” implies there are fresh grapes […]