Ripe and Ready Basil and Tomato with Seared Haloumi

Basil and Tomato with Seared Haloumi

Early summer’s kale, swiss chard, lettuce and garden peas are making way for tomatoes, carrots, beets, cucumbers, garlic and squash in my little garden plot. For someone who loves autumn and all its bounty this is a welcome transition. It is drawing to the close of summer, and all that time spent digging in the dirt under the hot, unwavering summer sun has paid off.  Armfuls of brightly coloured fruit and vegetables are ready for their moment to shine. The plethora of summer’s bounty, beautiful in its grandeur and vibrant splashes of colour, can be overwhelming to even the seasoned cook.  How can you enjoy the abundance of fresh produce without canning it or eating the same old recipes time and time again?  Our cookbooks, other blogs and any number of sources are inspiration for an abundance of unique and creative recipes which give us new ways to relish and rediscover those late summer gifts from the garden.

Remembering Julia Child with Caesar Salad You Eat with Your Hands

On television, in books, out in the blogosphere everyone today is celebrating the visionary Julia Child.'s centennial year. It was 100 years ago today that this engaging woman was born in Pasadena, California.  We are all blessed to be among those who owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Julia Child for her tireless guidance, enlightenment, inspiration, and encouragement through the decades. She set a tremendous example for us, not only with her culinary expertise, but also with her marvelous sense of humour, and her indomitable grace and aplomb in sticky situations and live television.  Her work speaks for itself!!!  Bloopers such as “First you take a leek…” would perhaps have destroyed the career of those less self-assured than our Julia. 

Ever since the film Julie and Julia came out, it seems Julia Child is on everyones radar, foodies and non-foodies alike. The fact that Julia started her passion for food and cooking so late in life makes us "kindred spirits" although, like me, I am sure she had a passion for food from the very beginning, she just didn't know it. She is so inspiring to me because of her outlook on life and her unending joy for her chosen path. I’m happy to say her wonderful recipes and independent spirit live on.

Patty Melt with Zucchini Coleslaw Makes You Want to Run Through the House with Scissors

Patty Melt With Zucchini Coleslaw

If you're of a certain age you will remember your childhood as a carefree nostalgic time. Throughout the summer you could be found playing outside with friends most of the day skipping rope, playing hopscotch and baseball, and riding your bike every where you wanted to go. My dad taught me to pay "conkers" and marbles. My parents could not reach me by cell phone and I am still here to tell the tale. We had  no bicycle helmets, ate mayonnaise, climbed trees, built rickety rafts on our local ponds, drank water from the garden hose (and even the kitchen tap). I am sure that if you are of a certain age you are proud that you survived all the other life threatening things we grew up with "back in the day." It kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors doesn't it!!!!!!!!! Joie de vivre!

The Best of the Beach with Cooking Light and Tuna with Red Pepper Pasta Salad

Tuna and Red Pepper Pasta Salad

Welcome Suppers to another edition of the Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club where each month we create a menu from the pages of Cooking Light magazine. If you would like to join us for one month throughout the year just send us a note and we will give you your choice of months to join in. This months theme "The Best of the Beach" was chosen by Sandi of Whistestop Cafe Cooking who is enjoying some time at the beach with her family. Hours spent scuffling along the water's edge, gazing at the waves or beachcombing, swimming, and fishing seems like the way to have total relaxation. Beating the heat beats working! I hope you are all keeping cool.

When Your Neighbour Hands You Zucchini Make Zucchini Ribbon Salad with Feta and Mint

Zucchini Ribbon Salad with Feta and Mint

After 3 years of crossing my fingers and my toes I was lucky enough to receive a plot in our local community garden. As a condo dweller I longed to run my hands through the dark earth, plant seeds and watch my dreams of being a locavore grow. You can't get any more local than that! This has always been one of the most rewarding ways to spend an hour in the cool of an evening. I planted late waiting for the rye grass to decompose in my organic garden, but, for the past month now I have been reaping the rewards with the first tell tale signs of a healthy garden, hand plucking insects and tending my weeds. For the past few weeks I have been gathering my coveted zucchini flowers making lightly battered fried zucchini flowers stuffed with feta and mint, and a zucchini flower risotto (recipe to come). Seemingly overnight those flowers spurted forth and I am now over run with 6-inch zucchini. Now what's a girl to do?

Enjoy Marinated Mozzarella and Pepper Salad as the Virtual Supper Club Celebrates

Marinated Mozzarella and Pepper Salad

We are so glad you have decided to join us once again for our Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club. This is a monthly event where a group of ladies and one gent in two neighbouring countries get together on the first Wednesday of every month to create a delicious meal with a theme in mind. This is our third year of the Virtual Supper Club where we continue to share a love for Cooking Light magazine with an emphasis on healthy eating and living. This is a team effort where we combine what Cooking Light readers like best...good food with great company!! This month we are joined by two of the original members of the Virtual Supper Club... Helene of La Cuisine d'Helene and Shelby of The Life and Loves of a Grumpy's Honeybunch. Welcome ladies while we celebrate Canada's 145th birthday, a theme chosen by Jerry of Jerry's Thoughts Musings and Rants. If you would like to join us as a guest blogger for one month as we create a menu based on a theme from the pages of Cooking Light sometime in the upcoming year send us an e-mail.

Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club Memories of the Mediterranean Brings Us Chicken with Olives and Lemons and Fresh Mediterranean Salad

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  Chicken with Olives and Lemon with Fresh Mediterranean Salad
  

  
  

We are so glad you have decided to join us once again for our Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club. This is a monthly event where a group of ladies and one gent in two neighbouring countries get together on the first Wednesday of every month to create a delicious meal with a theme in mind. This is our third year of the Virtual Supper Club where we continue to share a love for Cooking Light magazine with an emphasis on healthy eating and living. This is a team effort where we combine what Cooking Light readers like best...good food with great company!!!This month the Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club takes us on a sojourn to the Mediterranean. So easy to find delicious recipes!Would you like to join us as a guest at our virtual table? We are looking for bloggers who would like to join in our monthly themes. One of our members chooses the theme for the month and as a team we create a menu from recipes from the pages of Cooking Light magazine from appetizers to dessert following that supper theme. If so please leave a comment with your e-mail and I will include you in one of our following months themes over the next year. Or contact me through my sidebar.

Celebrate Mom with the Virtual Supper Club and a Fresh English Pea Salad with Mint and Pecorino

Fresh English Pea Salad with Mint and Pecorino

We are so glad you have decided to join us once again for our Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club. This is a monthly event where a group of ladies and one gent in two neighbouring countries get together on the first Wednesday of every month to create a delicious meal with a theme in mind. This is our third year of the Virtual Supper Club where we continue to share a love for Cooking Light magazine with an emphasis on healthy eating and living.This is a team effort where we combine what Cooking Light readers like best...good food with great company!!! This months theme " A Celebration with Mom" was chosen by our very own Giz of Equal Opportunity Kitchen to celebrate mom this Mothers day, a subject near and dear to her heart.

Dreaming of Italy with the Virtual Cooking Light Supper Club and Crispy Greens with Tonnato Dressing

Crisp Greens with Tonnato Dressing

When I tell people one of my goals in life is to travel to the Adriatic Coast of Croatia or take a hot-air balloon ride over the Cappadocia area inTurkey it simply does not evoke the response as when I say I will be spending 5 weeks in Italy this coming fall. Maybe we all dream of being in Italy.

Yes I will be spending 5 weeks in Southern Italy exploring the art of making pizza in a wood fired oven in Naples; renting a medieval house in the Portico Antico of a mountain village and learning from an Italian nonna how to make the local pasta dishes; travelling Sicily with a group of food enthusiasts and preparing arancini, pistachio gelato and making our own couscous; living in a 13th century convent in a coastal resort town in Calabria with a volcanic island as my view; and balancing between the sea and the mountains in a pedestrian only town on the Amalfi Coast where the road was built only 10 years ago. This is my sojourn in a nutshell where my dreams will become a reality as I discover the hidden treasures of Southern Italy.

With My New KitchenAid® Food Processor Holiday Meals are Meant to be Shared

Stuffed Turkey Breast with Sweet and Sticky Glaze and Holiday Slaw

Life is a gift. Remember how great you feel when your life is filled with love and joy and health and creativity? This is what the holiday season is about. Not necessarily about the dozens of cookies baking in the oven or the presents under the tree but about sharing all of life's gifts with these special people in your life. Then again those same wonderful people need nourishment and what better way to show how much you care by making something special and reconnecting over a carefully crafted meal. For me this is definitely a highlight of the season.

Oven Baked Chicken Schnitzel with Sweet Potato Wedges and an Autumn Coleslaw that Steals the Show

Oven Baked Chicken Schnitzel

with Sweet Potato Wedges and an Autumn Coleslaw

For anyone who reads these pages occasionally you will know that I recently indulged in a shopping weekend in Washington State. Shopping has its place in the world but there comes a time, usually after a mornings splurge, when my thoughts move over to my next foodie adventure! If the truth be told it is not simply about nourishing the body but about the experience. Kindred spirits will agree it is undeniably true that our travel experiences are usually centred around all things food related. This trip was no different.

On a Sunday drive through the Cascade Mountains I found myself in a fairy tale village perched on top of the misty Cascade Mountains with an elevation of about 1,100 feet! Leavenworth is fashioned after a Bavarian Village in one of the most beautiful settings you could imagine. The drive to the village alone is exhilarating, although on this day it was a misty, rainy morning! If you can look beyond the "kitsch," where there is a Bavarian motif around ever corner, you will find a very resourceful town that is worth a visit. There is always something happening!!!! Oktoberfest had just ended and I haven't attended a festival since growing up in the Kitchener/Waterloo area, but I was in the mood for some premium German ales and some classic schnitzel!!!

Dreaming of Italy with a Simple Salad

Tonno e fagioli

Lidia Bastionich and Grilled Tuna Rollatini under Tomato Lemon Marinade Served with Calabrese Salad

Grilled Tuna Rollatini under Tomato Lemon Marinade
Served with Calabrese Salad

Lidia Bastianich is one of the most-loved chefs on television, a best-selling cookbook author, restaurateur, and owner of a flourishing food and entertainment business. She has married her two passions in life, her family and food to create a career that is unparalleled. She lives her life as they do in Italy where food isn't just food... it's a revelation!!!! Food is one of the cornerstones of Italian culture and even if times are changing and life is more and more frenetic, Italians still find never ending pleasure in sitting at a table and sharing a good meal together.

Warm Gnocchi Salad with Carpaccio of Heirloom Tomatoes and Basil

Walking through the farmers market this time of year, you can't help but realize that tomato season has arrived.  Tomatoes are available all year round but it’s not until the summer that they really come into their own. When wandering you can literally feel the excitement at farmer’s markets and fruit stands all over the valley. Perfectly plump workhorse beefsteaks, pints of adorable cherry tomatoes just begging to be snacked on, and of course, the queen bee of the pack, the knobby heirlooms, in every shape and size imaginable, are just now making their noble debut.  The rich tapestry of colors, the diversity and depth of flavour, and the general beauty of the tomatoes provide an experience that your average grocery tomato just can't match.

Pesto Cherry Tomato Caprese Salad Caught Their Eye

Pesto Cherry Tomato Caprese Salad

As seen on Honest Cooking...

With social media at an all time high the opportunity to enter contests for fabulous trips, washers and dryers and "everything but the kitchen sink" is something I find myself drawn to. The thought of free trips, kitchen appliances and dinner out really appeals to me..it probably appeals to you too! It is the same reason I buy lottery tickets, even if the chances are "slim to none".  After all someone has to win!! You can't win if you don't enter...right.

With the influence of my friend Judi of The Last Wonton I have been inspired and even entered a couple of food contests lately. Imagine my surprise when I was a finalist, and then the winner of "The Best Pesto" recipe in a recent contest over at Whole Foods. For those of you who read these pages you are well aware of my love for pesto!!The people at Whole Foods associated with Food 52 prepared a few recipes they found interesting and this tasty little salad came out on top. I have posted this recipe before, and with a few minor changes it caught the eye of the judges.

Martha Stewart's Goat-Cheese Salad with Basil Vinaigrette Does Double Duty

Goat Cheese Salad with Basil Vinaigrette

Happy Canada Day!!!!!!

Thank you for joining me once again as I travel along with Mary of One Perfect Bite on a culinary journey.  Gourmet Live brought out a list of the 50 most influential women in food...Fifty women game changers. Some are chefs, some are food writers, and some are women who are passionate about the creative process. You could certainly add or detract women from this list, but no matter what these women have all influenced us in one way or another. Being a woman and passionate about food myself I wanted to explore and not only learn from the masters but recreate some of their dishes to better understand what has shaped and molded them into who they are today. Follow us on this journey while we take an in depth exploration of these women's lives and what makes them who they are.

Do You Eat Caesar Salad with Your Hands?

"The only real stumbling block is fear of failure.

In cooking you've got to have a what-the-hell attitude."

~ Julia Child

I first of all want to thank you for your patience while my IT friend rid me of the nastiest computer virus yet. I think I will recommend him for Sainthood. A writer without Internet or access to their blog for a few days is like being a chef without any ingredients. I literally felt like someone had strangled my voice and hid my keyboard in a black hole. I know I am being over dramatic. I don't know if it is possible to catch up on all your wonderful posts, but I will do my best. I am more than happy to say..she's back......

There’s something so wonderful about cooking from a recipe. By following the directions, ingredient for ingredient, you are channeling the culinary spirit of the chef that created the dish. When the dish is complete and you sample the flavours, you are able to sit back and take an objective view. You can marvel at the genius that married those singular flavours together but by cooking dishes created by the masters, you begin to understand the inspirations of a chef from the inside out. The recipe is a starting point and a guideline since from there you are on your own and limited only by your imagination!

And so to honour the masters Gourmet Live brought out a list of the 50 most influential women in food...Fifty women game changers. Some are chefs, some are food writers, and some are women who are passionate about the creative process. You could certainly add or detract women from this list since it is one persons opinion, and biased from an American point of view, but no matter what these women have all influenced us in one way or another. Being a woman and passionate about food myself I wanted to explore and not only learn from the masters but recreate some of their dishes to better understand what has shaped and molded them into who they are today.

Spinach Kiwi Salad with Orange Poppy Seed Dressing for Kitchen Play

Spinach Kiwi Salad with Orange Poppy Seed Dressing

A short while ago I was asked to participate in a Progressive Party over at Kitchen PLAY for the month of June. Who wouldn't want to wear their hostess hat and contribute to a blow out affair with 5 other talented food bloggers each assigned wildly different courses. We were all challenged to create one of 6 courses incorporating kiwifruit from ZESPRI®.

This month my assignment was to bring you a delicious salad course for this culinary challenge sponsored by ZESPRI® Kiwifruit. First grown in China and a nutritional powerhouse, the furry little kiwifruit is full of surprises!! When I was a little girl growing up in Southern Ontario kiwifruit were considered an exotic specialty. My mom would cut one in half and with spoon in hand I would consume several of these tropical jewels in one sitting. Kiwi fruit has always been immensely popular especially during the past two decades, and deservedly so!!!

Garlic Shrimp Florentine with Tomatoes and Garlic Breadcrumbs for Feed The Hope

Garlic Shrimp Florentine with Tomatoes and Garlic Breadcrumbs

Back in 1867 a newcomer to Canada from Vedano, Italy by the name of Carlo Onorato Catelli established Canada's first pasta plant on Saint-Paul Street in Old Montreal where he paved the way making macaroni and vermicelli by hand. Since then, the small operation has grown to include a full range of CATELLI® pasta shapes and varieties.

From now until June 16th the company is running their Help Catelli Feed the Hope campaign where you can enter their weekly contest and win $250 in groceries as well as $250 for your local food bank. You can also help Catelli set a record and be one of the 5,000 people to sign up and pledge to eat pasta on May 31st for Hunger Awareness Day. For every person that signs up Catelli will donate 1 serving of pasta for every family in need. If they reach 5,000 people they will donate 10,000 extra servings.

Chicken with Tonnato Mayonnaise and Fresh Spring Greens for an Alfresco Dinner

Chicken with Tonnato Mayonnaise and Fresh Spring Greens As seen on Honest Cooking

When I first started learning to cook in my home kitchen, one of the initial things I discovered was that the key to outstanding meals was using good quality ingredients. As time passed I realized that this meant either growing or purchasing the best local ingredients available which with today's trends has become easier and easier with a resurgence of farmers markets, specialty food shops and local producers.