my Father always toiled at the earth above the rocks he kept our yard a solitude of quiet and play a kinder garten circled by the elm hedge and shaded by the twin aspen it was always home and always work. my Father always toiled at our garden on the verge of my perception I…
Baked Brie with Maple-Apple Jelly
I’ve talked many times about the hedonistic pleasures of food, but there are going to be few things in life that get more hedonistic than baked brie in all its molten, gooey glory. When I created my maple-apple jelly in the fall, I knew I was going to be tested in terms of what I…
Marinara Sauce … from harvest to scratch
There is making things from scratch … and then there is making them from harvest to jar or, in my case, from seed to jar. And as satisfying as all my preserves have been, there was nothing more satisfying than making my own marinara sauce with the tomatoes I grew myself. While the recipe that…
Green Cherry-Tomato Ketchup
Green ketchup … yes, homemade green ketchup made from the green cherry and pear tomatoes from my garden. So much of life comes from being in the moment and taking chances. When I took the chance to join The Canadian Food Experience Project, I didn’t know what I’d end up writing about let alone what…
Maple-Apple Jelly
At its most fundamental level, cooking is pure chemistry and physics. At its most profound, it is art, tradition, culture, identity and love. Nothing arguably combines both as purely as making preserves. Thus when I took up the most recent challenge in The Canadian Food Experience Project chose to make it personal, I found myself with the challenge…
Pickled (Shishito) Peppers …
Confessions: my name is not Peter and I don’t pick peppers. However, hypothetically, if Dale received a quarter of a peck of Shishito peppers in his CSA share, how many pickled peppers could he make? Well, it turns out the answer isn’t very straight forward because it depends on how you prepare the peppers and…
“Joseph Bellarmin” ( Double IPA), Microbrasserie de L’Île d’Orléans
It is truly remarkable how much the essential same ingredients can continually play out different surprises on the palette. It is probably one of the things that is fascinating me so much about this beer portion of the blog. Who is Joseph Bellarmin? Well, according to the words on the side of the bottle, he…