Author Archive: My Kitchen Wand

Do you really need an underlying reason to make flapjacks on a cold winter morning? Pancake Day will be here shortly and with it the coming of Lent. For some, pancakes were seen as a cleanup of the last of the `good stuff`before a voluntary period of lack. For others, they were a sun shaped […]

When your household is two people, a recipe for 12 is just too much so here is one for 6 banana muffins that is quick, simple and a little healthier than many. It came together one night when I was looking for something to nibble after a busy day and sitting all alone on the […]

Instead of rolling out cookie dough this Valentines, how about decorating doughnuts for a change of pace? These baked chocolatey treats are easy to make and getting every one round the table to help finish the artsy part might just get every one off their phones. You will need: 1/3 cup Dutch-process cocoa 7/8 cup […]

We have new neighbours! They follow a vegetarian, no egg diet and came for tea last year. I decided to go with my regular wacky cake recipe and substituted out the egg for a little vinegar to help the baking soda along. This is an old recipe for chocolate cake that has been around since […]

Meyer lemons have been available to the general North American public since the early 1900’s. They are smaller and brighter with a smoother, thinner skin than Eureka lemons, the variety most commonly seen in local produce stores. Thought to be a cross between a regular lemon and either an orange or mandarin, Meyer lemon rinds […]

I try to post recipes that do not require a trip to the store for non standard equipment as the first step. In this case, a substitute might be a mini muffin or tart tin that would allow you to make doughnut holes. Unless the plan is to make more than two or three batches […]

There is an underlying concept in Imbolc that shows itself again in the preparations for Lent. Spring cleaning includes the process of going through “stuff” and sorting out what is needed and still useful and what is not. Going through the fridge probably brings up an assortment of containers pushed off to the side, some […]

The reason that milk and soft cheese is so much a part of Imbolc (also known as Brigid’s Day) is that farms with sheep and cows were busy with new little ones, meaning their moms had milk to give, both for their babies and the household. Fresh milk meant, fresh butter and fresh cheese and […]

Between the influence of Brigid as a triple aspected diety (one who represents all three phases of a womans life, maiden, mother, crone); her connection to weaving and other domestic arts as seen celebrated through brigid crosses and the traditions of offering bread to the land to enhance the coming agricultural season, I wanted to […]

Imbolc is the first festival in the Wheel of the Year after the Gregorian calender celebrates the New Year. It can be a time of cold where only what has been preserved was available to eat and those supplies might be dwindling so although celebration feasts are enjoyed, the meals would have been plainer than […]