Biscuits and Gravy
A staple of Southern cooking, biscuits and gravy makes for a delicious breakfast. It also can be very easy. A tube of country biscuit dough and leftover pork gravy. Add…
Apple Fritters
Before I ever went to Tim Hortons, I thought apples fritters were fried apple rings in a light batter. That’s what I had eaten somewhere, sometime long ago. I loved…
Cranberry Jello
Cranberry sauce with turkey is great. The red berries add a festive splash of colour to a plate of turkey at any time. But you can dress up even your…
Frozen Burritos
My husband likes having a supply of frozen burritos. Make rice and veggies or salad, nuke the burritos and there’s a quick meal. But he couldn't find any in our…
Mac and Cheese Salad
When I first saw macaroni and cheese salad, I thought how odd. Either mac and cheese or pasta salad, but both in one? Eventually, I tried it. I changed my…
Pal-o-Mine
June was taken up with taste-testing Pal-o-Mine chocolate bars. It started with an item on Information Morning on Saint John CBC Radio. After an absence of several months, Pal-o-Mine bars…
Moose and Potatoes
Canned moose meat that a friend in Newfoundland sent us. A pan of potatoes, carrots and turnip slow cooked the way my nephew in Alberta makes them. A coast to…
Cold Plates
If you want to get some practice in at making cold plates, American Thanksgiving this Thursday gives you the opportunity. The essential ingredients are there: turkey, ham, dressing and potatoes.…
Cucumber Relish
Green relish isn't expensive or hard to find. So you may not feel it's worth it to make your own. But when I buy a jar, it's not nearly as…
Fish with Chickpeas
Meia-desfeita de bacalhau com grão is salt cod with chickpeas and hard boiled eggs. It is so good. A friend in Newfoundland made it but I didn't write down how…
Lady Ashburnham Pickle
A mustard relish, Lady Ashburnham pickle originated in New Brunswick. It is also called Lady Ashburn or Lady A relish. Whatever you call it, it's the best mustard pickle that…
Egg Foo Young
Not much in the fridge but eggs and bok choy. Egg foo young, maybe? No, you need bean sprouts, the Joy of Cooking and online recipes told me. Can I…
Beef in Brine
I accidentally made Jigg's dinner for St. Patrick's Day. First time ever. Husband comes home with groceries: "look what I found, beef 50% off." Beef in brine, the package said.…
Cream Soup
In Joan Clark's novel The Birthday Lunch, Laverne makes asparagus and Stilton cream soup and Coquille St. Jacques for her sister. How delicious! Cream soup makes a warm and hearty…
Cream Cheese Spread
My mother-in-law made us a book of family recipes. One is her mother's recipe for cream cheese, olives and nuts sandwich spread. That looks good, I'd think every time I…
Swiss Steak
Here is a recipe for Swiss steak as made by Elizabeth (McDonald) Smock, and written down by her daughter Marji Stewart. That's Elizabeth's grandson who is cooking the Swiss steak…
Juicer Rhubarb
Bought a juicer. A Cuisinart, on sale. More precisely, it's a juice extractor. Fruit or vegetables go in, spin around while little blades separate the pulp from the juice. First…
Asparagus Casserole
This baked asparagus and cheese casserole is my mother-in-law's recipe. It was one of her potluck favourites because it travels well and easily warms up in a microwave. And if…
Coffee Pods
Keurig coffee - wonderful. The K-cup - not so much. Concern about the plastic coffee pods started almost as soon as the Keurig coffee maker came on the market. Each…
Fish Cakes
A can of tuna and presto, you've got fish cakes. Quick and easy, they make a simple or dressed up dinner or lunch. Tuna, bread crumbs, an egg, and onion.…
Ratatouille
One thing I thank a long ago boyfriend for is introducing me to ratatouille. He used the Joy of Cooking recipe, but added ground beef and cumin. That radically changes…
Apple Chutney
Apples left over from a good crop this year from our trees. As much jelly and juice as I could handle making, apple crumble too. Maybe apple chutney? Lots of…
Zucchini Noodles
When only a giant zucchini will do: to make zucchini noodles. Zoodles some call them. Use them the same way you use pasta. They taste great, and they are gluten…
Cheese Stuffed Zucchini
A zucchini that escaped, hiding under foliage in order to grow huge. Stuff it. With what? What about a cheese stuffing? Something light and summery for the last days of…
Fruit Cobbler
In my never-ending spring search for things to do with rhubarb, I found a Robin Hood Flour cobbler recipe in my recipe scrapbook. A cobbler has fruit on the bottom…
Avocado Time
Any time is avocado time, but sunny summer days especially. Here are two really easy avocado side dishes. The first you may not have thought of. The second you likely…
Beef Stew
Beef stew is one of the easiest things to make. Brown meat cubes, add veggies and liquid and let it cook slowly. Plan on a couple of hours of cooking…
Tamale Pie
With salad or garlic bread on the side, tamale pie makes a perfect winter's night meal. It's a Tex-Mex type of shepherd's pie or baked polenta with tomato sauce. My…
Cauliflower Cheese
I made baked cauliflower cheese with cherry tomatoes for supper one night. It was so pretty I had to take a picture. It tasted so good that I thought I…
Salsa
An excellent medium tomato salsa. It is chunky so if you want a smoother salsa, cut your veggies into smaller pieces. If you want it hotter, increase the jalapeños. To…
Basil Pesto
Basil is easy to grow, and each plant produces a lot. There's only such much fresh basil you can use at any one time. So make pesto with that abundance.…
Dill Pickles
I've always liked dill pickles, but I didn't like homemade ones. They just didn't have the crunch that Bick's and any store-bought ones had. Then I tried dills that Helen…
Bread and Butter Pickles
Bread and butter pickles you buy in the store are thinly sliced rounds of cucumber only. But most of the recipes for them include sliced onion and sometimes chopped green…
Fruit Crumble
Fruit crumble is one of the easiest desserts to make - and very, very delicious. The one I made today is fresh rhubarb and frozen black cherries. It's based on…
Pineapple Pizza
The other night, my husband said he was going to make pizza. What kind, he asked. Pineapple and ham, I said without hesitation. They're small, he said, so anything else?…
Apple Jelly
Making apple jelly is like making any other fruit jelly except you don't need to add pectin. Apples have loads of pectin. When I started making jams and jellies and…
Apple Juice
It's been a good year for our apple trees. They grow near the house, in the fields and woods. More apples than the deer can eat. Different kinds - red, yellow,…
Rhubarb Juice
Last summer, looking at my still flourishing rhubarb patch, a friend said "We used to make pies and jam and then made the rest into rhubarb juice." Really? This had…
Roast Guinea Fowl
Hi Dorothy, from time to time I'm going through your web site. You are doing a great job to cover all fields and sharing with other people. I also checked…
Macaroni and Cheese
This stove-top macaroni and cheese is the best ever. I've made it a lot of different ways, and love this recipe. It is easy and consistently good. Makes 4 main-course…
Zucchini Boats
Got huge zucchinis? Stuff them. Here is how my husband makes them using left-over spaghetti sauce. The ingredient quantities below are for one zucchini, which makes two zucchini boats. Adjust…
Perfect Rice
The trick to perfect rice, steamed with grains nicely separated, is wash it first. Put the amount of uncooked rice you want in a pot and add water. You'll see…
DIY Kraft Dinner
KD - Kraft Dinner - is the ultimate comfort food/fast food, especially for Canadians (says Wikipedia) who have grown up on it since it came on the market in the…
Corned Beef Macaroni
A 'how we think she made it' recipe for corned beef and macaroni that my grandmother Burwell cooked. It should look like a stew or thick soup. Grandma said it…
$40 Beets
Several years ago, my husband grew beets and decided to pickle and can them. He had watched me bottle relish and tomatoes and thought ‘I can do that.’ So he…
Grilled Zucchini
If God has blessed you with so much zucchini that even the chickens run away when they see you coming, here is one solution. Grilled, for the freezer. Preparing Grilled…
Rhubarb Jelly
This year, with a lot of rhubarb, I wondered about making jelly. It is more time consuming than jam, so I hadn’t done it in a long time and never with…
Phoenix Eggs
These beautiful little eggs are from my great nephew's Phoenix hens. They’re maybe half the size of a large supermarket egg. But they’re twice as flavourful. I think that has…
Rhubarb
If, like me, you’ve been watching your rhubarb plant get bigger and bigger but you don’t feel like making a pie or jam, here’s what you can do. Just cook…
Carrot Cake
My dog Jack loved carrots. For his 7th birthday, I made him a carrot cake from my mother-in-law’s recipe. He, and we, loved it. As you see, the cat did…
Tomato Macaroni
Macaroni and ground beef in tomato sauce, it's homemade Beefaroni. When I was a kid, this was what I liked best that Mom made. It was a treat! I had…
Pickled Eggs
My sister told me an easy way to make pickled eggs. She uses a large jar with a regular style lid because they go through them quickly. If you figure…
Cooking: Basics
I'm a self-taught cook, and not a great one. But I enjoy cooking, find it relaxing (usually) and like to experiment. I have cookbooks and use them, but also know…
TVP Pasta Sauce
If you’re vegetarian or not, TVP is your friend. 'Textured Vegetable Protein’ is a soy product that looks like bacon bits or small cat kibble. You can buy it in…
Zucchini Biscuit Quiche
This kind-of quiche is a really easy, fast and light meal. Once, when a friend was visiting, we were talking and I had the veggies sliced, everything mixed and the…
Caesar Salad
Years ago, a friend and I used to go the Newfoundland Hotel’s main dining room, the fancy one, for one thing. Caesar salad. The waiter would come with a trolley…
Meatloaf
This is my mother-in-law’s recipe and it’s the best meatloaf I have ever tasted. The addition of pork makes it juicier than those made with beef only. Sometimes I've added…
Tomatoes
Freezing is probably the easiest way to prepare a supply of tomatoes. In season, buy a large quantity of them or grow your own. At other times of the year,…
Helpful Hints
Here are some hints and hacks that I've found helpful. Laundry, chickens, eggs, bacon, onions, croutons, microwave sauces and polenta, simple kitchen tools. How to do stuff, and how not…
Waifs and Strays Christmas
My partner and I were alone one Christmas. We realized a few of our friends would be too so we invited them for Christmas dinner. As you do especially at…
Coleman Stove Stir Fry
This is a success story, a risky entertaining move that worked. Years ago when I knew something about cooking but not a lot about having dinner parties, I wanted to…
Meal plans
When you're making a meal, buy the right parts and remember all of it. I learned this one New Year's Eve. I cooked dinner for three friends. I’d decided to make…
If you don’t eat it, don’t cook it
This was the stupidest meal I ever made, even though it worked out fine. When I was young and foolish, I invited a young man I was trying to impress…
Entertaining with ease – or not
Entertaining at Home With Ease is a book co-written by my late mother-in-law, Dr. Marjorie Stewart. Her main point about dinner parties is make it easy for yourself and that,…
Preserving: Basics
It's not hard preserving food and doesn't have to be especially time-consuming. You can freeze, can or dry foods for use later. It's a good way to make use of…