We are a large family. I am the youngest of six children. All of my siblings are married with children. Most of my nieces and nephews are married and about half of them have children. So when we get together as a family, there are 50 of us. Most of my family live in Winnipeg or within an hour of the city. One niece and her husband live in Australia and a great nephew and his partner live in British Columbia, but come home often, including at Christmas. So figuring out how to gather together to celebrate Christmas is a challenge. We find that Boxing Day is our best option and even then not everyone is able to join us. We are, however, still a big group with 45 hoping to attend this year. We have long out grown meeting in someone’s house.

For a few years we met in a hall in our Mother’s personal care home as well as in the party room at our sister-in-laws apartment building. A few years back we started to gather at Little Brown Jug, a local brewery where a couple of family members work. It’s a great setting. Centrally located, it means family coming from all corners of the city don’t have too far to travel. I think it would make my beer loving father very happy to know this is where we celebrate.

There isn’t any beer involved as we come together for brunch and to exchange gifts. There are gifts for all the little ones and we older folks pick names (if we elect) to participate in the gift exchange. I am always so impressed with the gifts that are given. They are always so personal and show that people really took the time to think about their shopping, and also that we all know each other pretty well.

Our brunch menu is pretty extensive and for many years my contribution has been quiche Lorraine.  Here’s my recipe.  Enjoy!

Ingredients

Pie crust*                                         
1/2 lb. bacon**

1 onion, chopped                            
4 eggs                                    
1 tbsp dried parsley 

1 cup, Swiss cheese shredded***

cereal cream, 1 cup

Salt and Pepper

Method

Dice bacon, and fry. You’ll need a tsp of oil if you are using back bacon. Remove cooked bacon and use the same pan to fry diced onion. Remove some of the bacon fat if you used side bacon. Place the bacon, onion and cheese into the pie crust. Beat eggs and mix with cream. Season well with salt and pepper. Pour into pie crust. Sprinkle with parsley. Bake at 350 for 50 to 60 minutes.

*These amounts are based on a store bough “deep dish” pie crust.  I make my own crust and my pie plates are a lot deeper so I increase the recipe by 2 eggs and ½ cup of cream.

** I use back bacon ends that you can buy at Fresco.

*** It’s harder to find blocks of Swiss cheese these days.  I’ve been buying mine at Bothwell.

Happy and merry everything!

Kath’s quote:

Love never fails.

I love tradition. I’m especially fond of traditions that are connected to holiday memories. One of the strongest food memories I have of our family Christmas is my Mom’s butter tarts.

According to my mom, this recipe dates back many generations on the Jones side of our family. I even have the special tart tins Mom used to bake them. I’m not sure how many generations used these pans but suffice to say they are well worn.

These tarts are different than the traditional Canadian butter tart. The shells are quite shallow, the pastry thin and crumbly. They feature currents, as opposed to raisins, lucky for me as I am not a raisin fan. The filling is sticky and crispy around the edges. They are delicious and bring me immediately back to my childhood.  

When I bake them I feel my mom beside me, telling me to roll the crust a wee bit thinner, and how much filling each tart needs. I wonder if she used to feel her own mother’s presence when she made them for the many years after her mother’s passing.  Recently I’ve been working on the recipe as the notes my mom had written down were a bit vague. For instance the recipe never said how many tarts you would get, and in the past I’ve just gone by feel. Rolling out tart shells and filling them as I go. When I ran out of filling, I was finished baking and would wrap up the remaining pastry for another purpose. But now that I’m sharing them I have done my best to fill in some gaps. So fingers crossed that they work for you.

I was thrilled to be asked to share them with my honorary niece and nephew (children of my BFF).  Ashley even went to thrift store on a visit to Winnipeg and found the exact tart pans I use. So over Zoom, connected to St. Paul Minnesota and Silver Spring Maryland, I showed the kids the ins and outs of the recipe. There was a bit of a struggle with the crust, lard is not readily available in the U.S. and shortening comes in a 20oz block and not a pound like here. But we muddled through and the end result was a hit. It was fun to do some Christmas baking together. I am pretty sure that one of my blood nieces or nephews will pick up the torch and continue to make these after I am gone. And I hope they can feel me telling them to roll that crust just a little thinner. I hope everyone who eats them can feel the love of all of the past generations that has been passed on from one to the next. Hope your Christmas baking is going well and you find ways to celebrate your own family traditions. 

Mom’s Butter Tarts

Ingredients

For crust

5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp salt

1 lb Tenderflake lard

1 Tbsp vinegar

1 egg, lightly beaten

Ice water

You will only need about ¼ of this dough for the tarts, the rest can be kept in the fridge and used for another purpose, also freezes well.

For filling

1 cup butter                 2 cups brown sugar

¼ cup milk                  1 cup currants

2 eggs, beaten             2 tsps vanilla

Method

For crust: Whisk together flour and salt. Cut in Tenderflake with pastry blender or 2 knives until the lard is pea sized within the flour. In a 1 cup measure combine the vinegar and egg. Add the ice water to make 1 cup.

Gradually stir liquid into Tenderflake mixture, adding only enough liquid to make the dough cling together. Gently knead the dough a few times, but be careful not to overwork it.  Just want it to come together, then gather the dough into a ball and divide into 6 equal portions. Wrap the portions and refrigerate. After 15-30 minutes your dough is ready to work with. Roll out one portion on a lightly floured surface. Cut into appropriate size circles of dough that has been rolled thinly.  Less than 1/8^th of an inch thick. The remaining portions of dough can be frozen for later use.

For filling: Use non-stick spray to coat tart shells. Place dough circles into pan. Place 1 tsp of currants in each raw tart shell. Over medium heat, melt butter, mix in brown sugar and allow sugar to melt.  Remove from heat and let cool. Once cool, stir in milk, egg & vanilla.  Pour mixture into tart shells about ¾ full.  Bake at 375ºF for 15 minutes. The filling may overflow the crust a bit so it’s important to use the non-stick spray.

Makes approximately 3 dozen tarts

Kath’s quote: “If baking is any labor at all, it’s a labor of love. A love that gets passed down from generation to generation.” – Regina Brett

Love never fails.

When I travel, one of the things I look most forward to is experiencing the food. The reality is that the version of ethnic food that we get here in Canada is not the same as when you taste it in its country of origin. Sometimes the food has been altered to better suit the North American palate. For instance I knew that my trip to Beijing China would be full of culinary surprises and there is no restaurant that I have encountered here at home that would come close to the crazy and diverse food I was offered there. Frog stew anyone?

Sometimes the difference comes from the fact that the produce is readily available in that country and looses something when it is shipped here. I love to sit on the beach in Mexico and eat fish that was caught that morning, served with guacamole made with avocados of perfect ripeness. There is just no way to capture that freshness 2,000 miles away.

I love tasting food prepared by hands that have been making it their whole lives. I always want to sample things a place is known for. Last autumn alone, I ate boxty in Dublin, schnitzel in Prague, tapas in Malaga.

Many years ago I traveled through Turkey and Greece I discovered that many of the dishes were almost identical. They both have versions of tomato, cucumber, onion, olive, and feta salad, as well as crispy filo pastry with nuts and syrup. The difference is one country just seems to have better cooks than the other. I won’t tell you who I thought did it better. There is already enough rivalry between the Turks and the Greeks.

When I return from a trip, I like to find recipes for the foods I ate on my trip and try them at home. Below you’ll find a recipe for Turkish lamb stew cooked in paper- a uniquely Turkish dish.

I think the trick is to be as open minded as you can when trying food from another country. I remember I was traveling with a Canadian woman who mid trip announced “You can’t even get a good hamburger here” to which I replied, “it’s pretty hard to get a really good kebab in Winnipeg”.

You can pretty much rest assured that not everything you eat will be to your taste, but try it all, or at least the things you are brave enough to try. Scorpion on a stick anyone, anyone? And you might be surprised at the fabulous taste sensations you discover along the way.

Kagit Kebabi (Turkish lamb stew in paper) Serves 6
Ingredients

1 lb. potatoes
2 tbsp butter
2 lb lamb, cubed
1 onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, diced
1 tomato, peeled and diced
1 cup peas (fresh or frozen)
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp fresh dill
1 tsp dried thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Melt butter in a fry pan, brown meat evenly. Add onion and carrot, cover and cook until the juices are absorbed. Add the potatoes, tomato, peas, tomato paste dissolved in a little water, and vinegar. Cook for a few minutes more. Then add 1 cup of water, cover and cook over low heat for 1 hour. This is a good time to add your salt and pepper. It will need a significant amount of both. Preheat oven to 375ºF. Cut six generous size pieces of parchment paper. Place equal portions of the mixture in center of each sheet. Sprinkle with herbs. Gather the sides together and give a twist. Place the parcels on a cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Serve in the packages. If you don’t wish to cook in paper you can let the stew continue to cook in the pot for 20 minutes longer but I don’t think it’s as good.

Kath’s quote: “Eating good food is a global achievement and I find that there is always something new and amazing to learn – I love it!”-author unknown

Love never fails.

Over the past few years I have spent some time talking to Millennials about food, their cooking (or often more accurately) ordering-in and dining out habits.  And it seems to me that there are two distinct camps. The smaller group of the two, are the foodies.  Perhaps they grew up in a house where cooking was a family affair, or maybe they took full advantage of growing up with access to food network and endless food blogs and YouTube videos to teach themselves how to cook.  On the complete opposite end is the majority of young people who, for whatever reason, didn’t have the same exposure or interest in learning to cook.  

A few years ago I did a cooking class for four such young women.  All of them had very limited experience in the kitchen but were keen to learn and overcome the intimidation they felt.  All were interested in home cooked food that was budget conscious and didn’t take a lot of time.  One of the things we made was sheet pan pork tenderloin with bean and potatoes. See the “recipe” below.   

So here is my advice to the new cook.  
1) Start with the basics.  Learn how to make really good scrambled eggs. It’s a dish you are likely going to eat a lot in your life, so make the most delicious version you can.  The technique is simple and demonstrates that by doing a few things differently; you can take your food from alright to really yummy. Most of us tend to cook our eggs on too high a heat; we often forget to season them well. You can find a good tutorial on YouTube  

2) Cook in big batches. You may only be cooking for yourself or the two of you, but why not make a lot and prepare portions to enjoy for lunch, dinner the next night, or stick it in the freezer for down the road.

3) Master 5 or 6 dishes.  You likely don’t entertain the same people over and over again.  So why not learn to make a dish well and then serve it to each group of friends once.  Then, learn another and repeat. I would recommend recipes by Jamie Oliver, the Barefoot Contessa, or Food Wishes.  They all have videos you can follow.  

4) Not everything needs to be from scratch.  It’s OK to take short cuts.  Not everyone needs to make their own pie crusts.  A pizza made on store bought Naan bread can be as good as one made with homemade dough. If time is important to you, take the shortcut.

5) Never try a new recipe if you are having guests that you want to impress.  It is a good idea to practice first to make sure it is a dish you will be proud to serve.  Also keep in mind that if it is a flop, it may not be you, it could be the recipe.   

6) Simple food is the bomb!  In my opinion nothing beats a roast chicken with roast potatoes and veggies.  Making the fanciest food is not the be-all-end-all.  It takes time and patience to master complicated recipes.

Pork Tenderloin Sheet Pan Dinner

Ingredients
2 1 pound pork tenderloins, trimmed

1/2 cup hoisin sauce

1 pound green beans, stems trimmed

1 1/2 pounds baby potatoes cut in half lengthwise

4 tablespoons olive oil

kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

non stick cooking spray

Method
Position oven rack to middle lower position and preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray heavy duty baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.  In a large bowl, combine green beans with 2 tablespoons of olive oil,
1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground pepper. Arrange green beans in center of baking sheet. 

In the same bowl, toss potatoes with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground pepper. Transfer to baking sheet and arrange cut side down on either side of green beans.

Remove silver skins from tenderloin.  Here is a great video of how this is done. https://youtu.be/ZclwXpf455s?si=WFotqlrUuPUjO8SE 

Next slather with hoisin sauce, sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Lay on top of the beans and roast for 20 to 25 minutes, or until thickest part of tenderloins reaches 140 degrees on a meat thermometer. 

Feeds 4 – 6 people

Kath’s quote: “People find cooking therapeutic. You get to make use of all of your senses, and that’s what makes this activity worthwhile. Cooking is a highly diverse subject, but what makes it unique is that it connects people from all over the world, regardless of their race, religion, or ethnicity. The vast variety of cuisines represent people and their cultures ever so beautifully. Most people find that cooking uplifts their mood. After all, good food is directly proportional to a good mood!” 

Love never fails.

Growing up, many of my friends, like me, had stay-at-home Moms. Considering my mother had six children and cared for her two little brothers and a sick dad when her first few children were little , it was no surprise that she needed to stay home. As a result my mom made almost everything we ate from scratch. She made jams, pickles, perogies, cabbage rolls, soups, stews, chili, casseroles, pizza, egg rolls and pies-she was always cooking. 

Every week she would make bread. A lot of bread. In her bedroom, the warmest room in the house, there were often large enamel basins of dough rising underneath tea towels. From that she would make loaves of bread, dinner rolls, and cinnamon buns.

I remember returning from my friend Elaine’s house, whose divorced mother worked full time, and asking my mom if we could buy the polka dot bread I had at her house: wonder bread. My mom gave me a little smirk and shook her head. I had no idea how good I had it. Later when my Mom was unwell and spent time in the hospital, my dad, who worked full-time and had four kids at home, would load us in the car and head to McDonalds a few times a week. I quickly discovered that processed food was not all I thought it would be and I would pine for my Mom’s home cooking. 

At culinary school, I was taught to make everything from scratch. And many things were worth the extra time and effort. When I started cooking professionally I discovered that most restaurants incorporate some short cuts into their recipes. 

So considering that I have the skill set and maybe even the time to cook from scratch, do I? Yes, and no. Let me explain. Do I always make my own stocks? If I have an abundance of vegetable scraps and a chicken carcass, then yes. But will I go out of my way to do so? No-that’s what Knorr Swiss is for.  Can I make puff pastry from scratch? Yes, but I can’t imagine doing so when I can pull a package from the freezer. I still mostly make my own pie dough, but on occasion I pick up a pre-made crust. I make tomato sauce when friends give me a ton of tomatoes, but my pantry is always stocked with a jar or two of spaghetti sauce. I think there is a balance to be had between what I buy and what I make. 

And then sometimes I’m able to find a middle ground. My Caesar salad dressing is an example of this. I’m not super fond of bottle Caesar dressing. It makes me a bit nervous that bottled salad dressings last so long in the fridge. I know how to make Caesar from scratch, beating egg yolks, lemon juice and slowly incorporating oil to make the perfect mayonnaise base, but you have to use it all up in a couple days to not risk making yourself sick. So instead I use store bought mayo and add all the rest of the ingredients to create a great dressing. Here’s my recipe. 

Almost from scratch Caesar dressing 

2 small garlic cloves, grated

1 teaspoon anchovy paste (I know you want to skip it, but don’t!) 

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 cup mayonnaise

½ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

salt and pepper to taste

Whisk all ingredients together. Add some oil to thin it out if it gets too thick. I transfer it into a bottle. It will keep a couple of weeks in the fridge. 

Kath’s quote: ‘Scratch’ has been used since the 18th century as a sporting term for a boundary or starting point which was scratched on the ground. The first such scratch was the crease which is a boundary line for batsmen in cricket. John Nyren’s Young Cricketer’s Tutor, 1833 records this line from a 1778 work by Cotton: “Ye strikers… Stand firm to your scratch, let your bat be upright.”

Love never fails.