Three Price Conscious Hallowe’en Treats

A trip to the grocery store is a quick way to get the neighbourhood kids sorted out for Hallowe’en but homemade for/with special friends can also be reasonably priced when making these three options; Rocky Road, Trailmix Bark and Rice Krispie Toffee Clusters. Let’s start with the chocolate. There are two types of chocolates available […]

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Handwashing as Ritual

Most of the recipes from My Kitchen Wand contain a few words about preparation, separating then from now, shifting a state of mind before beginning so that good energy flows. Honour the apron you put on to protect your clothes. It is no different than vestments or a robe in anchoring a different state of […]

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Blackberry Cake with Lemon and Rum

During blackberry time, the brambles in safe places are full with pickers gathering their summer treats. Do you have a favourite place to gather blackberries? Jean knew where these peak of perfection berries were hiding on her street and I whipped up a simple cake to spread the wealth. All sorts of fruits can be […]

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Beets with the last of the garden herbs

Legend says that eating beets was the secret to Aphrodite’s beauty. Which makes me wonder if that is the reason beets are painted on the wall of the Wolf’s Lair, a brothel in Pompeii that was preserved when Vesuvius erupted in 79AD. Might beets be the original aphrodisiac, making Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, Pleasure & […]

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Decorating Baby Boos

Baby Boos are those small albino pumpkins that are all the rage. The larger white pumpkins are known as Ghost pumpkins, Snowballs, Luminas or Caspers (as in the friendly ghost) and the other day, while at a market,  I was given five of the little ones. Having posted a video a few weeks ago about […]

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Alien Veg Minis with Blue Bantha Topping (aka parsnip muffins with cream cheese icing) )

My intention when I began this post was to remind those of you that preserve and garden that there is always a good time to be checking through your hoard. I came across these bottles yesterday while looking for something else. Even though still well sealed the contents are…past their prime. Additionally the lovely parsnip […]

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Using violets to test ph from My Kitchen Wand

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 […]

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Sherry & Spice Poached Nectarines

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, […]

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Purslane Pesto

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 […]

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Ricotta in Filo with Blueberry Sauce

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 […]

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