Posted in Recipes on Oct 27th, 2009
Sometimes a girl needs an average sort of muffin. Someone wholesome and reliable, the sort of muffin you can bring home to your parents and count on to get along with your best cup of tea, mug of coffee, even your favourite stew.
This average applesauce muffin forgoes fluffiness for a moist, honest-to-goodness crumb. He skips [...]
Posted in Recipes on Oct 13th, 2009
You’ve got to admire the prima donna boldness of purple cabbages. While savoy cabbages’ crinoline leaves crinkle shyly under pressure, and average green cabbages go almost unnoticed in their Plain Jane simplicity, purple cabbages are bright, brazen and audacious. They’d pucker up their purple lips and flirt with your boyfriend in a heartbeat. Shamelessly.
Don’t bother [...]
Posted in Recipes on Oct 7th, 2009
The sunshine has surprised all of us this fall, bursting forth frequently and with rare sincerity for this time of year. This past weekend it beamed over the Sunshine Coast, where we gathered with friends to celebrate Tara and Doug’s wedding. It glistened the ocean, dappled the trail beneath cedar trees, and warmed our walks [...]
Posted in Recipes on Oct 1st, 2009
The weather has turned, and the oak trees around the corner have been heavy with acorns and raindrops. In the gaps between showers, neighbourhood squirrels have been scurrying, moving the bounty of nuts to hiding spots in preparation for winter.
There is something to be said for this simple sort of life.
But the sad truth is, [...]
Posted in Recipes on Sep 28th, 2009
Given September and the season, we have been blessed with more sunny skies than we could have hoped for here in Vancouver. But today, as the month draws to a close, showers have slipped in and with them the suggestion of cozy sweaters, woolen socks, and the scent of cinnamon and apple cider to warm [...]
Posted in Recipes on Sep 20th, 2009
There are certain fundamentals in a woman’s life that appear deceptively easy. Walking in stilettos. Liquid eyeliner. Breast feeding (this according to girlfriends who have experienced motherhood, not from personal experience). And baking perfect scones from scratch.
Scones, like stilettos and liquid liner, have long been my nemesis. In spite of the fact that they require [...]
Posted in Recipes on Sep 16th, 2009
This is a recipe for the simplest of simple soups.
Onions? None. Garlic? Nada. Notably missing from action: shallots, ginger, curry, coconut milk, chicken stock, carrots, celery fronds, fresh herbs, dried herbs, splashes of lemon, squirts of lime, and all spices beyond a sprinkle of salt and a dash of pepper.
But raise not a skeptic eyebrow [...]
Posted in Recipes on Aug 18th, 2009
Once in a while, even the most cheerful girl is entitled to feeling inexplicably blue. And on such days, when life calls for chicken soup but there is no time to make it, sunflowers but your favourite florist is closed, a new sparkly bauble but your pocketbook vetoes the purchase… a girl can always whip [...]