Author Archive: My Kitchen Wand

I think I have mentioned before that I am not a great fan of cooking with nectarines. In my humble opinion, the perfect accompaniment to this favourite fruit is a paper towel. However! the other day I was poaching some pears for a project and since I had a few ripe nectarines in the kitchen, […]

Back in the days when I was hosting students, each year always brought a last minute, fall out of bed and head out the door young man. Students that had all the time on the world for the latest video game at 3:00am but never enough for breakfast before class. I get it. In my […]

The seasonal weather has turned here and we are experiencing the first of the wet grey days that keep the rainforest healthy. I am also appreciating the fact I don’t need to water the newly sprouted grass seeds filling in the empty patches of the sun baked front lawn. So instead I am going to […]

I am posting this as a starting point. If you like light, airy, crisp cookies this is one to explore. Why explore? Because, like most cooking actually, it is open to adjustment. I made these as walnut and cinnamon cookies but then got to thinking about pecans with pumpkin pie spice or cashews with five […]

Labour Day weekend, I worked in the garden, fixing our side of the new retaining wall the neigbours had built this summer. That gave the “weeds” the freedom of a lovely summer as I am not good in heat. Summer has however come to an end. I will always say, please, pick only what you […]

I was looking for a plain simple cream base with good healing attributes to help someone with raw skin in a tender place and finally decided on coconut oil and aloe vera gel.  Aloe vera and coconut oil have a long history of use for skin related issues, acting as moisturizers and being gentle. It […]

Filo rolls can fill the bill in many places, served savoury with fillings like spinach and garlic or sweet with any number of fruits. Appetizer, main course or dessert are all possible if you have a box of ready made filo at home. The challenge can be that once the box is open, the pastry […]

Basbousa is the name I learned for this Egyptian sweet but I know that this style of recipe is known the Mediterranean over by many other names, basbūsah, harīsa, nammoura, shamali, revani or ravani, gabelouze, kalbelouz, and qualb-el-louz, ραβανί and ρεβανί. I am sure I have missed a few. Some variations have ground nuts mixed […]

If you have never made jam before, please know it does not need to be an all day, sweat on the brow adventure, unless of course you want to impress the family. Five or six jars can easily be whipped up in under an hour and will bring lots of satisfaction and appreciation as the […]

During my student boarder hosting days, I found that waffles and pancakes usually created an opportunity for sitting and talking instead of running out the door and phones actually got put aside. So if your family could use a little together time, try bribery. Not all waffles need to be be served sweet. Try these […]