Category Archives: Foundation Skills

Vol au Vent is the French for “windblown” and is a reference to the lightness of the puff pastry shells that can be used for both savoury and sweet fillings. They can be made appetizer size and go all the way up to main course size. For many years it was possible to purchase them […]

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 […]

Most of my recipe choices when posting are intended for special occasions. Please don’t think fresh baking is on every day’s menu in this house. For that reason, this would not be a typical choice for My Kitchen Wand. However, keeping healthy is much of the “job” of a kitchen witch and I am notoriously […]

Mincemeat has an interesting history, a bit of which we will get to in a moment. I thought though that I would start with the pears as this mincemeat has no meat in the recipe. I first came across a pear mincemeat recipe in a Ball recipe book at least two decades ago. It was […]

This is a dual purpose post. My first intention is an October cookie suggestion that can be made with or without cookie stamps. This is my Scottish grandmother’s brown sugar shortbread with added pumpkin pie spice. Four simple ingredients that can be ready in 5 minutes if the butter is already at room temperature. My […]

Have you ever added pumpkin puree to spaghetti sauce? Sacrilegious might be too soft a word for purists but I am going to suggest a leap of faith. Not only are there a list of benefits to getting more pumpkin in your diet, adding that container of puree sitting in the back corner of the […]

Most of us grew up with a family brand of mayonnaise and nothing much tastes better than what we are used to. If Hellman’s, Miracle Whip or something similar are your automatic choices, opening the door to exploring can be a big adventure. One of the considerations is that fresh made mayonnaise is best kept […]

This really is a variation of the chevre recipe posted here, using cows milk rather than goat. Think of it as a hack if you would like to as Ricotta is a cheese usually made from leftover whey from previous cheesemaking. It is one last attempt to gather the remaining milk solids. For that reason […]

Darina Allen tells the story of a student in one of her Balleymaloe cooking classes that had managed to overwhip some whipping cream. Darina was able to catch her just before the spoiled cream ended up in the garbage and explained that there was no need to throw out the butter she had just made. […]

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 […]