Happy Halloween

Wishing you all a spooky and spectacular All Hallows Eve!  Read More

You Picked A Fine Time to Leave Me Lucille…

Sometimes you just can”t get a good picture, and it”s just not fair. Recently, I have discovered that this mostly happens with soup. Last week I made this wicked tasting, mind blowing and amazing pumpkin soup and I wanted to share it”s loveliness with you, but my friends, it was just not to be. I have sadly discovered that pumpkin soup is indeed shy to the food obsessed paparazzi, and for good reason.. it just does not photograph well (at all!). Do not let the lack of pumpkin soup picture stop you from making this soup. It”s so good, I have decided to name it the Lovely Lucille Roasted Pumpkin Soup, reason being for those of you who may not know – Lucille Ball was very shy and was a lovely orange colour herself.. and like this soup.. she had spice! recipe adapted from: Lynn Crawford”s Roasted Pumpkin Soup from The Food Network Lovely Lucille Roasted Pumpkin Soup 4 cups cubed pumpkin (I used my heirloom Cinderella style pumpkin from All Hallows Eve) 2 tbsp olive oil 2 tbsp butter 1 onion diced 3 large cloves of garlic – more if you like 1 tbsp of cumin 1 tbsp of mustard seed 1 tbsp of red pepper flakes 1 tsp cinnamon 4 cups of veggie stock 1/4 cup honey salt and pepper 1/2 cup thick REAL yogurt (non of that low fat, watered down crap) NOTE: I cut my pumpkin into cubes and popped it into the oven the night before, 350 degrees for like 20 to 25 minutes ought to soften it up. Then I refrigerated it until I was ready to make the soup. In a large pot add the olive oil butter and onions. Cook off for about 2 minutes add the spices and garlic and cook for a few more minutes. Add the pumpkin and veggie stock, bring to a boil. Simmer the soup for 30 minutes then blend well. It should be all mooshy and broken down now. Stir in the honey add salt and pepper to taste. Pour soup into a bowl and top with nice thick yogurt and don”t try and take its picture! Also,don”t skip the yogurt,its spicy “as all Lucille get out” and you”ll need the nice cold yogurty goodness to chill out your buds.  Read More

Caramel Pecan-Pumpkin Pie – 'nough said.

There is a common theme on radio I have been hearing lately – it is the theme of thanks. For instance, this afternoon I was driving around, picking up things I need for the long weekend (yes – wine), I heard Sook-Yin on CBC”s DNTO (Definitely not the Opera) interviewing people after she had held the door open for them somewhere in busy downtown Toronto. The idea here was that she was interested in the response of people to the good deed of a stranger. Whether or not these people said ” thanks” or ” thank you” after she had held the door open for them made her question them – why did they.. or why, sadly did they choose not to? The point of the story was that we are now forgetting our thank-yous here and there and well, everywhere. While there are some of us out there that are still thanking everyone as much as we can – we are now losing the meaning behind those small words – thank you. Here we are, second weekend of October and it is already Thanksgiving weekend. As I promised you in my last entry, I have found a way to incorporate those Savannah Pecans (not local!) into something local and delicious. So here it is.. my very first attempt at a homemade pie completely from scratch. There is a post here on apple pies that I made with my friends last year, but I had no hand in the pastry making at that time. This time.. its all me.. and the verdict will be dealt tomorrow – where I will offer up this pie as thanks to my mum for making us a big dinner. Thank you. I really mean this one – Thank You for reading. It is always a surprise to me to see comments or even have people talk to me about what they read on my blog. It makes me feel connected to everyone in a completely new, different and truly satisfying way! Yes, very web-nerdy of me, but happy all the same. Happy Thanksgiving! Credit where credit is due – This recipe can be found in: Better Home and Gardens New Cookbook (Breast Cancer Prevention Special Edition) Single-Crust Pastry 1 1/4 cup flour (Arva Flour Mills is a great place to get this!)1/4 teaspoon salt1/3 cup shortening 4 to 5 tablespoons Cold water In medium bowl,stir together flour and salt. Cut in shortening until pieces are pea-sized. Sprinkle in cold water by the tablespoon,working in with a fork until all the flour is moistened. Form dough into a ball. On a floured surface, roll out your dough so that it is about 12 inches in diameter, roll it onto rolling pin and place it into your baking pie dish. Try not to stretch. Trim pastry. Fold in edges. Go to next part! Caramel-Pecan Pumpkin Pie 2 slightly beaten eggsAbout one cup and half of FRESH LOCAL pumpkin (peeled, cooked and pureed).1/4 cup half and half cream3/4 cup sugar1 tbsp flour1 tsp grated lemon peel1/2 tsp real vanilla1/4 tsp salt1/4 tsp cinnamon1/4 tsp nutmeg1/8 tsp all spice1/2 cup brown sugar1/2 cup pecans2 tbsp butter, softened In large bowl combine eggs, pumpkin and half and half cream. Stir in sugar, flour, lemon peel, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice. Pour mixture into your pie crust. To prevent over browning place tin foil along edges of pie crust. Bake for 25 minutes at 375 degrees. While pie is baking get the pecans ready:In medium bowl, combine pecans, butter, brown sugar. When 25 minutes is up, remove pie from oven, remove foil, place pecan mixture on top of pie. Place pie back in oven for a further 20 minutes or until the top is golden and bubbly.  Read More