Another cookbook I received as a Christmas gift this year was Urban Pantry: Tips and Recipes for a Thrifty, Sustainable & Seasonal Kitchen. Mack said the book had mostly positive reviews online, and after my initial read, I can see why. Author Amy Pennigton provides her ideas on what should make up one’s pantry essentials, [...]

After reading Mark Bittman’s Food Matters, I was inspired to try and incorporate more legumes into our diet (his goal was for every family in America to have a bag of cooked beans in their freezer). Cheap and healthy, it would also help add some variety into our meals. Although we did try many more [...]

I love receiving cookbooks as gifts; they’re usually thoughtfully chosen by the person with some knowledge of the gaps in my collection. One of the cookbooks I was given this past Christmas was The Ultimate Appetizers Book, by Better Homes and Gardens. Mack’s Mom thought as people who like to entertain (but don’t do it [...]

One afternoon, Mack remarked that he was craving Hamburger Helper. It wasn’t something he had a lot growing up, but then again, a desire for beefy, cheesy pasta is probably not that out of the ordinary! We had some ground beef (remnants of our cowshare) in the fridge, so hit the internet in search of [...]

I actually haven’t been cooking much these past two weeks – for lunches I’ve been subsisting mostly on pots of my two favourite soups, while dinners have been had out of the house. That said, in the last week, I did have to make a dish to contribute to a potluck at work, and did [...]

I hadn’t touched Donna Hay’s No Time to Cook for some time, but when I needed some inspiration for a few quick meals, I knew I would be able to find a dish or two that would pique my interest. Polenta with Mushrooms and Goat’s Cheese I clearly haven’t mastered the ratio of water to [...]

Cookbooks and magazines still remain a core of my recipe repertoire, but blogs are a significant source of inspiration for me. In some ways, it is less of a chore to bookmark a recipe on a blog for a rainy day than to deliberately seek one out in print. The two following dishes I made [...]

I’m certain that with the simplifications made to recipes these days to help the beleaguered home cook, some of the authenticity could be lost. But for the most part, I don’t mind – so long as the dish still tastes good. Two recipes I tried recently were a good illustration of this truth, at both [...]

I’ve mentioned in the past my penchant for one-pot meals, but over the summer, we tried to deviate from our usual formula with suppers made up of several different components. Roast Chicken, Green Beans with Bacon and Mushroom Pilaf I don’t know why the idea of roasting a chicken seemed so intimidating to me. Granted, [...]

I know it’s a bad habit, but as the weather has gotten cooler, our supper hour has migrated away from the dining table and onto the couch. I’d like to blame it on the return of the fall television season and hockey, but it’s just so easy to wind down the evening with dinner and [...]