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.

Remembrance day is a time I take very seriously. Growing up with a Dad who was a World War II veteran, I saw first hand the long term impact of the sacrifices he made as a young man. I remember hearing my dad wake almost every night yelling out in fear. Was it his sleep apnea, his night terrors, it’s hard to say?He had a hearing impairment as a result of flying 35 missions as a bomber with the Royal Canadian Airforce before his plane went down.

He was injured and eventually sent home. Both my Dad and his younger brother Tom enlisted voluntarily, eager to serve their new country as they had only moved to Canada from Czechoslovakia a decade earlier.

My uncle Tommy was stationed in London for his tour of duty in the Army, and after returning home, enlisted with the Airforce. Tragically he died in a training flight in Saskatchewan. The crash happens December 13th but the plane was not found until Christmas Day. He was 21 years old.

My dad didn’t talk about his time of service. I remember asking him to tell me about the war. My dad looked at me with kind eyes and replied “Susie, there is nothing romantic about war”. I never asked again.

So every Remembrance Day I think of my Dad and his brother, but when I see the Silver Cross Mother, my heart breaks for my Gramma Felicia having to say good bye to her boys as they headed off to war. She also welcomed them home, only to loose her youngest a short time later.

Felicia Pajak was born in Poland where she met Frantisek Kvapilik. They married and had three boys, Zeslaw (my Dad), Thomas, and Miloslav, who died as an infant. The family moved from Poland to the Tatra mountains in southern Slovakia (formerly Czechoslovakia). After the tragic loss of their workhorse, their major form of income, Frantisek decided to move to Canada in 1929 with Felicia and the two boys following a couple of years later. Their daughter Geraldine was born in Limerick Saskatchewan on the family farm in 1939.

My grandmother was an excellent cook. I have memories of her little kitchen with soup noodles drying on the back of every chair and countertop. Each of us kids has fond memories of favourite dishes and baking but we all remember her delicious fried chicken. Unfortunately, my grandmother never wrote down any of her recipes. They were all in her head. All we know for sure is that she coated her chicken in crumbs she made from her homemade bread and she fried the chicken in lard. No wonder it was amazing! I have never been able for find a similar recipe, so instead I have provided you with mine. It will never compare to my grammas, but it’s pretty good and I think of her whenever I make it.

Fried Chicken

Buttermilk Marinade
8 pieces chicken
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried mustard
½ teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon dried sage
2 cups buttermilk

Flour Dredge

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1½ teaspoon salt
1½ teaspoon garlic powder
1½ teaspoon paprika
1½ teaspoon dried basil
1½ teaspoon dried thyme
1½ teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Vegetable oil to be 1-2 inches deep in a deep frying pan or enough oil to fill deep fat fryer.

Place the chicken pieces in a large bowl. Add salt, pepper, garlic, dried mustard, paprika, and sage. Stir to coat the chicken evenly. Pour the buttermilk over the seasoned chicken. Stir well to coat the chicken.

Refrigerate this mixture for at least 1 hour, but the longer you marinate, the more tender it will be. It may be left overnight as well.
In a shallow dish, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, garlic powder, paprika, basil, thyme, onion powder, and cayenne pepper.

Heat the oil to about 340°F. You want to be able to fry the outside to a crisp golden brown without burning while still cooking the chicken all the way through!

Remove each piece of chicken from the marinade, put it into the shallow dish with the flour mixture and toss. Make sure the whole surface of each piece of chicken is coated very well.

Place the chicken pieces into the oil. You may cook 4 or 5 pieces at a time, but don’t crowd the chicken. Turn as necessary and fry until golden brown. It will take about 15 minutes for each piece to cook. Make sure each piece is fully cooked – the internal temperature should be 170°F. I recommend keeping a candy thermometer in the oil as you cook, the temperature might crop some as you place in the cold chicken so you will need to adjust the heat according to stay around 340°F.
Allow the chicken to drain on a wire rack to help the chicken stay crispy.

Kath’s quote: “LEST WE FORGET“

Love never fails.

Another beautiful, sunny and warm day in Brooklyn.

It was our last full day. I felt like we had seen the sights and I was content to stick around the apartment and “live” there for a day.

At lunch time, D found a great Jamaican Deli just around the corner from us. We ordered jerk chicken and D chose this as one of his sides. I am not sure it is Jamaican but I know that the locals often eat macaroni salad with soda biscuits in Mexico and it was a staple in his home, growing up.

We also discovered great shopping that was almost in our backyard. D stocked up on discounted Gap blue jeans.

When it was time for dinner, we decided that we would venture out to shop for some local ingredients and use the great kitchen in the apartment.

But the darkened skies coaxed us into staying home.

Instead, we knew that Junior’s was a famous deli in Brooklyn and there were still a couple of “Must eat while in NYC” items on our list. D ordered brisket on latkes.

I just wanted to latkes. But truth be told, I really only wanted New York style cheesecake so I ate one half of one of the three enormous latkes.

And savoured the cheesecake. We smugly thought we had dodged getting soaked in the rain, but we felt horrible when we realized our Uber Eats delivery person was on a bicycle.

Early the next morning, we were back in Toronto, where more eating adventures took place.

Kath’s quote: “We broke up because he ate a slice of my cheesecake!” ~ Unknown

Love never fails.

Over the years working as a caterer I have had lots of clients with dietary restrictions. I was once asked to make two desserts in honour of someone who was a gluten free vegan with a nut allergy. Wow, talk about a tough case.

It can be tough to cook for folks with dietary restrictions but I love a challenge.  In fact, I always strive to find dishes that can be enjoyed by everyone. I feel badly for folks who show up at a party and all they can eat are the rice crackers and raw veggies, without the dip. These days there are a variety of gluten free and vegan products available at your local grocer. 

Over the years I have found some amazing recipes that I likely would have never tried without it being necessary. Here’s one example. My favourite chocolate dessert that I first made for a gluten-free friend is now a regular in my repertoire. 

Flourless chocolate cake with chocolate ganache 

For the cake:

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips 

1/2 cup unsalted butter

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 large eggs, slightly beaten

1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa powder

For the chocolate ganache:

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips 

1/2 cup heavy cream

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease an 8-Inch round cake pan with nonstick cooking spray. Cut a piece of parchment to fit the bottom of the pan. Place it in the bottom of the pan and spray it with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside. 

To make the cake, put the chocolate and butter in a large microwave-safe bowl, and heat until the butter is melted and the chips are soft, about one minute. Stir until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. If you need to reheat, do for 10 seconds at a time and stir. 

Add the sugar, salt, and vanilla extract and stir to combine. 

Add the eggs and stir until smooth. Add the cocoa powder and stir until just combined. Don’t over mix. 

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake the cake for 25 minutes or until the cake has a thin crust on the top and the center registers 200°F on an instant-read thermometer.

Let the cake cool on a wire cooling rack for 10 minutes. Loosen the edges of the pan with a butter knife and carefully turn it upside down onto a cake plate or serving plate. The bottom of the cake will now be the top of the cake. Let the cake cool completely. 

While the cake is cooling, make the chocolate ganache. Combine the chocolate and cream in a medium microwave-safe bowl, and heat until the cream is very hot so it will melt the chocolate. I always start with 30 seconds and check it. It might take longer, it just depends on your microwave. Remove from the microwave, and stir until the the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth. 

Spread the chocolate ganache glaze evenly over the cooled cake. Let the glaze set up for a few hours before cutting and serving the cake. I always put it in the refrigerator to speed up the process. 

Cut the cake into slices and serve with powdered sugar and raspberries, if desired. This cake is also great with whipped cream or ice cream.

Kath’s quote: I like to serve choclate cake, because it doesn’t show the dirt.” Phyllis Diller

Love never fails.

We finally awoke to a sunny day! I had coffee on the balcony and soaked it up.

Our gorgeous Home Exchange Apartment was even more so, in the sunshine. Every morning, especially in the rain, I was hesitant to leave this wonderful space.

We took a bus to Brooklyn Heights, where many gather to get a view of the Manhattan skyline.

I love NY brownstones. I always thought the most beautiful ones were in the Gramercy Park area where we often stay. But Brooklyn brownhouses had an elegance all their own. This window box was planted with colourful lettuce! Brilliant.

The leaves had just started their yearly turning to yellow and red.

It was the Sunday of the Canadian Thanksgiving and we were in search of a church to give thanks. We arrived a bit early for the service in this 1878 beauty.

We found ourselves at Montague Bagel where we grabbed coffee and tea. Across the street from us was this line up to get into a bakery. Wish we had the time to scope it out.

If you recall, on the Saturday of that weekend, the Israelis had been attacked by Hamas. We wanted a reverent place to pray for peace.

The stain glass windows were exceptionally beautiful. I am always drawn to angels but especially in threes. I imagine that they are Sisters #1, #2 and #3!

I was also attracted by this window. The beautiful woman to the right wore the colours of the Caribbean. My favourite sight in the world.

We spoke to a parishioner who had attended the church through its restoration. When she told me that the ceiling was wall papered, I liked it a wee bit less.

To be honest, when I knew that we were staying in Brooklyn, this is how I imagined it. Although our apartment was conveniently located, my eyes were always in search of a glimpse of Manhattan.

The waters edge had been made into beautiful docks and walking areas, complete with a merry-go-round and lots of great restaurants.

Speaking of restaurants, there were line ups at two in this area, both featuring Manhattan Pizza. D and I shared a pie. Lucky for me you could order it half red and half white.

With a spicy Italian sausage and ribbons of fresh basil, it was divine.

Before we headed back into Manhattan, I spotted this dichotomy of old and new NYC.

Doug was intent on visiting FAO Schwartz at their new location in Rockefeller Plaza to buy toys for our Wee Ones.

D decided that I find a restaurant for dinner and to relax in, while he scooted around Time Square to find the last of his souvenirs. The Brooklyn Diner did the trick. I was still too full from lunch so I had this for my supper.

D decided that he just had to have a diner burger and he was very happy with his choice.

This is my guy. It struck me anew as I posted this picture, that D is THE perfect person to travel with. He figures out all the logistic in advance, so we never (okay-rarely) get lost and we always take the most affordable and efficient mode of transport available. And….I think that he is very easy on the eyes! Married almost 40 year and the sight of him still makes my heart skip.

Kath’s quote: “Life is short, eat desert first“!-Authour unknown

Love never fails.