Seasonal Ontario Food

My love for stuffing (dressing?) continues to express itself! In this case, to heck with messing with an actual chicken - meatloaf is a lot easier, at least when it comes to cutting it up and serving it, and really, making the meatloaf mixture is not that much more work than wrestling with a slippery chicken.

I used ground chicken but I don't see why turkey wouldn't work just fine. This was a dish that was definitely well received.

8 servings
2 hours - 1 hour prep time


Make the Stuffing:
1/2 sandwich loaf of bread (250 grams; 1/2 pound)
1 recipe poultry seasoning
2 to 3 stalks celery OR 2 cups finely diced celeriac
1 medium onion
2 tablespoons mild vegetable oil

Trim the crusts from the bread, and set them aside to go into the meatloaf. Cut the remaining bread into 1 cm cubes and set aside to dry out a little.

Mix up the poultry seasoning and set it aside. Wash, trim and finely chop the the celery or celeriac. Trim and finely chop the onion.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet ovr medium heat, and cook the onion and celery until soft and reduced in volume. Mix in the poultry seasoning, then the bread cubes. Drizzle the remaining oil over them, and continue to cook the mixture, stirring frequently, until the bread cubes are quite dry and browned in spots. Turn the stuffing out onto a plate to cool.

Make the Meatloaf:
crusts from the above bread
1 kilo (2 pounds) ground chicken or turkey
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 teaspoon sweet Hungarian paprika
1/3 cup buttermilk
2 to 3 tablespoon ketchup

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Put the bread crusts into the bowl of a food processor, and process to coarse crumbs. Add half of the meat, the eggs, and the seasoning and process until just mixed. Turn this out into a large mixing bowl and mix the remaining meat and the buttermilk in by hand.

Lightly oil a 10" pie plate. Take about 60% of the meatloaf mixture and pat it into as flat a circle as you can manage in your hands, then place it in the pie plate and continue to flatten and spread it until it covers the entire plate with a cm or so protruding all around. Place the stuffing into the "crust" thus formed, and spread it out evenly. Flatten the remaining meatloaf into a neat disc to cover the filling. Put it in place, and pinch it sealed all around the meatloaf. Brush the finished meatloaf with the ketchup.

Bake the meatloaf for 1 hour at 350°F. Let it rest for about 10 minutes before you slice it and serve it. 




Last year at this time I made Mushroom Salad in Endive Leaves.

The mailbox is full of catalogues and in another 5 weeks it will be time to start planting onions and celeries, so it's time for my annual review of Canadian seed companies. The list is long this year! Partly I'm discovering places new to me, and partly there has been a real upsurge in the number of people going into the seed business. Excellent!

You can find my previous reviews here: 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013.

As usual, let me point out that if you are looking for a specific variety you can't beat Seeds of Diversity. The best place I have found for reviews of specific varieties is Cornell University's Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners site, although they have let their list of varieties get slightly outdated. Still, it's a valuable resource and I encourage people to use it and contribute to it.

We have been doing more and more of our own seed saving and trading, so our purchases this year are strangely weighted. We are still going to manage to spend over $200 at 8 different companies though! Yes, we are seed addicts! Still, I'm going to go on about things I think (or know) are good and interesting varieties rather than what we are actually buying, particularly.


Agro Haitai. We haven't purchased anything here yet, although as specialists in oriental vegetables they have a fascinating list. There are more F1 hybrids than suit our taste, but there are still plenty of open pollinated varieties too. They have 15 varieties of Pak Choy alone, along with Gai Lan, 6 kinds of Choy Sum, 9 kinds of radishes, Thai eggplants, and much, much more.

Annapolis Seeds. Located, not surprisingly, in the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia, this small company has a very interesting seed list. Their 2014 list is not up yet as I write this, but in general there is the largest selection of peas around, with The Pilot, Mrs Van's, Duke of Albany, Yorkshire Hero and Lancashire Lad being just a few of the offerings. King Sieg leek, Moonbeam watermelon (a dehybridized version of the popular Yellow Doll), Gaia soybeans (his own variety), Blooming Prairie and Kahnawake Mohawk beans,as well as many tomatoes including some Owen Bridge picked up on a recent trip to New Zealand.

The Cottage Gardener. This Ontario based company has a fine selection of very desirable varieties. Look for Arikara beans (a tough and well adapted regular for us!), Provider beans, Early Wonder beets, Bloody Butcher and Hopi Blue corn, Achocha, Tom Thumb lettuce (a personal favourite - stays delicious even as it bolts), Golden Purslane, Amish melon, Early Hanover (our best green) melon, British Wonder peas, Alma Paprika pepper, Galeux d'Eysines pumpkin, German Giant radish, and much more. We're giving Galilee spinach a try this year.

Eagle Creek Seed Potatoes. I don't know of any other source in Canada (they're in Alberta) that specializes in a large range of potatoes for the home grower. This year their special offering is a set of 4 different variety packs: Fingerlings, Mixed Season, Gardeners Favourites and Heritage. This is a great chance to try a large variety of potatoes and pick your favourites. We already know our favourites: Pink Fir Apple, Purple Viking, All Blue, German Butterball and Russet Burbank. Our standard source of potatoes.

Edible Antiques. This is a new company in Prince Edward County, Ontario, or at least I just discovered them a couple of weeks ago. They are working with Vicki's Veggies, a well-known area grower of organics, for locally adapted seed. They have some interesting things; look for: Jackson Wonder bush lima bean (still trying for success with lima beans), Taiwan Swordleaf lettuce, D'Espelette peppers (a famous Basque heirloom), Sibley squash, and their own White Calabash tomatoes.

Greta's Organic Vegetable Garden. Greta probably has the largest list of organic garden vegetables in Canada. She's got 66 NEW varieties this year alone, 40 of them tomatoes. They include Sakata melons, Prize choy, Long Pie pumpkins, Old Jake rutabaga, and Trombetta di Albenga summer squash. Tomatoes include Berkeley Tie-Die, Captain Lucky, Casady's Folly, Pineapple Pig and Red Furry Boar amongst many, many others.

Hawthorn Farms. Hey, we've been here! They have a very well considered and locally adapted selection of seeds. In their new offerings, I know Kim is really chuffed about Matchbox pepper. Double Standard corn makes me wish I was still trying to grow corn. I am going to give Sokol Breadseed poppy a whirl. I have hopes that Tatume, a climbing zucchini, will help in the War Against the Bugs. Old favourites include Fortex and Trionfo Violetto beans, she has all my favourite beets, Purple Peacock brockali, Ping Tung and Listada de Gandia eggplants, Rossa di Milano and Siskiyou Sweet onions, Meeting Place Organic Farm snowpeas, and German Striped tomato. Brown Goldring lettuce gets rave reviews, and I'll be trying it this year.

Heritage Harvest Seeds. If they can grow it in Manitoba, I figure I can grow it here! This is a really exciting list of heirloom seeds, with an incredibly long and tempting list of beans. Dolloff and Deseronto Potato beans have been excellent for us. Gnadenfeld melons are our best orange melon by far. Chieftain Savoy and January King cabbages are our standard winter cabbages. Jaune de Doubs carrots have done well. We are going to try Tante Alice cucumbers this year. The list of treasures goes on and on. How I wish I had room to try Scaly Bark watermelon and Yellow Carrot-Rooted radishes, and, and, and...

Hope Seeds. Not updated for 2014 as I write, but I expect them to continue to have a small but good selection of heirloom seeds with an emphasis on Nova Scotia (their location), New Brunswick and Maine heritage varieties. Look for Jacob's Cattle, Maine Sunset and Baie Verte Indian beans, Golden Grex beets, Ashworth's Rat-Selected corn, Ruby Streaks mustard, New York Early onions, Gilfeather rutabaga, and Tribe's Tobique ultra-hardy tomato. They also have 4 kinds of Jerusalem artichokes (that's a lot!) and a good selection of unusual potatoes.

Mandy's Greenhouses. Mandy is getting out of the seed business, but she still has some stock and always had very interesting things. Have a look before it's gone.

Mapple Farm. Mapple Farm has a short but considered list of seeds - I'd really like to try French Scorzonera and Gobo burdock. However, it's their roots that they are known for, specifically northern-adapted sweet potatoes. Georgia Jet is widely regarded as the best, and we have also tried and liked Frasier White. This year we plan to give Ginseng Red a try. They also have Volgo2 Jerusalem artichokes, crosnes and horseradish. Their site is a little odd but useable, and you will need to pay by cheque, but if you want sweet potato slips THIS IS THE PLACE. They also sell Ken Allans extremely useful book on growing northern sweet potatoes.

Ontario Seed Company (OSC). You will find these seeds in racks in hardware stores all over Ontario in the spring, and you could do worse than to stock up there, although if you want the complete line it's best to check the catalogue. They do carry a number of F1 hybrids and Monsanto varieties, so do some research before buying (if that matters to you and obviously it's my opinion that it should). They also carry a large number of old reliable open-pollinated varieties, old and reliable enough to qualify as heirlooms.

Look for Soldier beans, Sweet Granite melons (an Elwyn Meader variety), Laxton's Progress #9 peas, Valencia peanuts, Hungarian Yellow Sweet and Sweet Cubanelle peppers, and Crimson Sweet watermelon. This year they have special collections of hot peppers, including one of Mexican peppers that looks extremely promising. 

Prairie Garden Seeds: Not updated for 2014 as I write. This is a seed-geeks delight, a little more trying to the novice. The listings run together and descriptions are laconic. But persevere, because there are lots of treasures here. Prices are low and quantities are high, the downside is that the packaging is makeshift. Jim Ternier specializes in Canadian heritage tomatoes, and has an amazing selection of heirloom grains for the small grower - a genetic treasurehouse in fact.

Look for Pencil Pod Black Wax beans, Odawa Soup bean, Coffee Bean fava, and Spanish Skyscraper peas. Raisin Capucijner, St. Hubert, Zeiner's Gold and Carlin soup peas. Simonet and Orchard Baby corns look promising. Lacinato Rainbow kale, Morton's Mix lettuce (that would be amazing veggie breeder Frank Morton), Giant Red celery, Phalzer Yellow carrots, Scarlet Ohno turnip, Boughem and Farnorth melons, Bozeman watermelon, Bellestar tomatoes... there's much more but I'm running out of room here.

Richter's Herbs is world-famous for herbs, yet a company from right here in south-central Ontario. If any herb seed, however obscure, is to be found anywhere, it's probably here. What a resource! They do have a selection of fairly standard veggies if you are already ordering, as well as the genetic and garden lottery they call SeedZoo. Check it out regularly for strange and fascinating things from around the world - but if you see what you want order it at once because quantities are limited and items won't be seen again once they are out.

Salt Spring Seeds. One of the oldest of the new wave of small Canadian seed houses, as you may guess they are located in British Columbia, and their seeds reflect the mild Pacific climate. They have traditionally had a good selection of the standard garden vegetables - they still do - but they seem to be evolving more towards small field crops such as grains and beans. Excellent! This is an underserviced area of seed selling, I would say.

If you want favas, lentils or chickpeas, they actually have a selection. More soybeans than anywhere else I know of. Wheat, barley, oats, amaranth, quinoa, and flax - they have them. Particular varieties that catch my eye include Gold Harvest and Swedish Red soup peas, Tanya's Pink Pod bean, Manitoba Brown soybean, Nodding onion, Darcy's Purple leek, Early Black Egg eggplant, Cossack Pineapple ground cherry, Isle of Capri and Michael Pollan tomatoes.

Solana. I suspect (but don't know) that this small seed house in Quebec does not grow much if any of the seed they sell, but prices are reasonable and they have been a good source of hard-to-find items. Look for St. Valery carrots, Aji Limon peppers, Tondo Liscio cucumber, Thai Long Green eggplant, and Yellow of Parma onions. They have the largest selection of physalis species and varieties I know of, and an impressive selection of peppers, both sweet and hot, including Aji Amarillo, Biquinho pepper, and the famous Spanish Padron. Lots of tomatoes too.

Stellar Seeds is another one from B.C. I haven't ordered from them, but they have been around for a number of years. Items that look interesting to me include Jack's Giant bean, Lily Mae's Little White cucumber, Tokyo Bekana mustard, Aunt Molly's ground cherry, Durabel leeks, New Red Fire lettuce, Punta Luze tomato, and Golden Treasure storage tomato (I have yet to try any of these, but they intrigue me).

Tatiana's Tomatobase. Tatiana's started off as the best tomato variety wiki around. It still is, but now she's selling seed too. She keeps a large number of varieties in circulation, so seeds will not always have been grown in the last year or two. However, she labels them clearly with the date and since tomato seeds are long keepers this will be fine for most people. She's the source for hard-to-find things you will want to grow out and save your own seed from anyway.

She is a great source for Russian varieties and in addition to the scads of tomatoes of every description that I will not even try to list, she has Hanson, Kupusnjara Salata, and Moskovskiy Parnikovyi lettuces; Aji Rojo, Faludi, Guajillo, Kop'yo Indeytsa, Osmarsko Kambe, Pasilla Bajio, and Pelso peppers; Khutoryanka, Kustovaya Oranzhevaya, Melonette Jaspee de Vendee, and Vitaminaya squash; Ananasnaya, Hero of Lockinge, Tam Dew, Valencia Winter, and Verte Grimpant melons. Want more? How about Cream of Saskatchewan, Kleckley's Sweet and Marmeladnyi watermelons. Poona Kheera cucumbers, Crimson Forest bunching onions, and Highland (Ethiopian) kale are some interesting items. I'm going to give the kale a try.

Terra Edibles is another Ontario supplier, one that has been around for quite a while. In fact I was ordering from them when we first had allotment gardens many years ago and heirloom seeds were very hard to find indeed. Somehow they have kept a low profile as the market has boomed, but they are still ticking along and have a great selection of well-maintained and adapted seeds. They specialize in tomatoes and beans, but there is a good selection  of other things too.

We first found Amish Paste and Opalka tomatoes here. Black Cherry and Black Plum are good'uns. Garden Peach, Green Zebra, Ildi, Jaune Flamme, Matt's Wild Cherry, Paul Robeson, Persimmon, Pineapple, Principe Borghese... it's practically a list of the tomatoes we've grown, although there's a whole bunch more yet to try. Beans include Cherokee Trail of Tears, Dragon's Tongue, and Greek Fazolia. There is Luther Hill and Stowell's Evergreen corn, Montreal and Oka melons, Golden Sweet snowpeas and Tall Telephone peas, Bulgarian Carrot peppers, Kakai hulless seeded pumpkins, and Tonda Scuro di Piacenza squash.

Ferme Tournesol. This small seed company is located in western Quebec, on the north side of the river from Salaberry de Valleyfield. They are market gardeners as well as seed sellers, so I would guess they have a good selection for that purpose. I actually found them through their interesting blog.

Six kinds of amaranth... okay, off to a great start here. Grenoble beans - what, pick them once a week?! There's a novel idea. All their pole beans are intriguing but Kahnawake Mohawk catches my eye in particular. Dolico Veneto cowpeas, wow. Chufa nuts - make your own horchata! Painted Mountain corn, and what's this? Abyssinian mustard, which looks to be the same as the Highland kale from Tatiana. Sugar Magnolia snap peas are hard to find but they have them! There's Tennessee Sweet Potato Squash, and Golden Midget watermelon. This was hard to find when I first tried it but now it seems to be around quite a few places. Tomatoes include Dancing with Smurfs, Montreal Tasty, and Wapsipinicon Peach.

Tree & Twig. This was the second seed grower we visited this year. Linda Crago doesn't have a large list, but again, some very irresistable items. As I write, the site is not updated for 2014.

Still, look for Blue Ribbon, Jade and Saskatchewan Dry beans. Christmas lima bean - we're trying this one out in our quest for a workable lima. She has the 3 Root Grex beet from Alan Kapuler. There's Snow White carrots, Piracicaba and Solstice broccoli, and Spigiarello, which I have been trying to get for three years now, and which keeps selling out, but I THINK I've been quick enough this year. There's Beedy's Camden kale, and Gigante kohlrabi; Painted Hills corn, Bushy cucumbers, Pandora Striped Rose eggplant, Little Gem and Yugoslavian Red lettuce, Orangeglo watermelon, Garden Huckleberry, Kiwano Melon, Morelle de Balbis, Sutton's Harbinger peas, Philadelphia White Box radishes, and Red Round turnip. The selection of tomato seed is small compared to the 100s of varieties sold as plants at her farm, but she has Green Doctors' Frosted Cherry, Federle, Pineapple, Stupice, and Ukrainian Purple.

Upper Canada Seeds. This Ontario company has been around for a while but now concentrates exclusively on tomatoes, which they grow themselves in Prince Edward County. Look for Beaver Lodge Slicer, Cuban Black, Doucet's Early Quebec Market, Ivory Egg, Japanese Trifele (Russian, naturally), Manitoba, Orange Banana, Ottawa, Peacevine, Arbuznyi, Black Brandywine, Cream Sausage, Flin Flon, Great White, Green Velvet, Pink Ice, Purple Bumblebee, Snow White, Big Rainbow, Kellogg's Breakfast, and Nebraska Wedding. How can anyone resist tomatoes? The names alone make them worthwhile.

William Dam Seeds. Well, you'd think by now I'd have nothing left to say. WRONG! William Dam Seeds may be last, but they certainly aren't least. They've been around for over 60 years, and their collection is well honed. They do carry a lot of F1 hybrids, and get seed from Monsanto, so do your research. They also have a great selection of Dutch vegetables, and prices and quantities are terrific. They supply the foundation of our garden in many ways, and are the best source for things like planting trays, fertilizer, row covers and netting. They have always supplied very reliable seed for us.

Our favourites include Guelph Millenium F1 asparagus, Chioggia Guardsmark, Early Wonder, and Touchstone Gold beets, Sorrento rapini, Groninger Blue collards, Amsterdam Maxi, and Flakkee Autumn King carrots, Telegraph Improved cucumber, Miner's Lettuce claytonia, Early Yellow Globe onions, Ostergruss Rosa and White Dream radishes, Giant Winter Viroflex spinach, Bright Lights, and Lucullus and Green Perpetual Swiss chards.

This year I'm looking to try Astro arugula (supposedly milder than the usual), Farmer's Long yardlong bean (dayneutral!), and Goliath broccoli (back by popular demand). Just when I think I know their list backwards and forwards, I make new discoveries. I've been trying to aclimatize Golden Berry (physalis peruviana) to our northern life for the last few years; meanwhile, it turns out they have had Little Lanterns under the name physalis edulis all along. Sneeeeaky. But now I'm on to them, and giving them a try. Likewise, we found a recommendation to use Baby Blue Hubbard squash as a trap plant for cucumber beetles, squash bugs and vine borers. Who has it? That's right, William Dam (and a few other places, to be fair. But they are definitely the first place to look.) 


Aaand that's about it. Goodness, writing this was a job. Imma go lie down now... and dream of lots of marvelous veggies to come this summer.

A classic Waldorf salad is made with celery, but regular celery is long gone. You can still get celeriac, but it is apt to be expensive and hard to find. Belgian endive makes a good substitute, bulked out with a little cabbage to help pull it out of the bitter and into the sweet.

Walnuts are the classic nut to go into a Waldorf salad, but I had pecans, and I think they worked better than walnuts would have anyway. Again, they are richer and sweeter and balance the Belgian endive a bit better.

4 servings
20 minutes prep time


Make the Dressing:
3 tablespoons mayonnaise (light is fine)
3 tablespoons buttermilk
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon anise or fennel seed
1/8 teaspoon celery seed
3 or 4 black peppercorns

Whisk together the mayonnaise, buttermilk and salt. Grind the anise seed, celery seed, and peppercorns, and whisk them into the dressing. Set aside until the salad is ready.

Make the Salad:
1 large outer leaf of Savoy cabbage
1 large head Belgian endive
1 medium crisp apple
1/3 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Wash and trim the large, though central stem out of the cabbage leaf. Cut it in half, stack the halves, and roll them into a cigar shape. Cut it into thin shreds. Trim the endive, cut it in quarters lengthwise, and likewise shred them into thin slivers.

Wash the apple, cut it in quarters and remove the cores, and cut each quarter into fairly fine dice - about the size of the chopped nuts. Chop the nuts, if they are not already chopped.

Mix the cabbage, endive, apple and nuts in a small mixing bowl and toss with the dressing.




Last year at this time - well, okay, last year for Christmas or maybe it was New Year's - I made Smoked Trout and Barley Salad, a much fancier and richer salad than this one.

I hope it is still possible to find acorn squash. These are my Thelma Sanders, of which I still have quite a few sitting in the laundry room, sound as nuts. I suppose this doesn't help much now, but it definitely makes sense to stock up with local squash in October or November, if you don't grow your own, as they will keep in a warmish spot quite nicely for a couple of months anyhow, and quite likely longer. 

These would make a reasonable vegetarian main dish, if you used the vegetable broth, or a very good side to roast chicken, turkey or ham.

4 to 8 servings
2 hours 30 minutes - 30 minutes prep time


Pre-Cook the Barley & the Squash
1 cup pot barley
3 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large acorn squash

Put the barley with the water and salt into your rice cooker, and cook. Alternatively, it can be cooked on top of the stove; simmer until tender (al dente) and most of the water is gone.

Cut the squash in half, and scook out the seeds and string. Rub the cut sides lightly with a little oil. Bake at 350°F for 30 to 45 minutes, until soft enough to poke a fork into a piece without forcing it, but not completely done, either.

Both of these steps can be done up to a day ahead, and refrigerated. This recipe only uses some of the cooked barley, but it hard to cook less and the leftovers can be used in soups, salads or casseroles. If you don't have an immediate other use for it, it can also be frozen until wanted.

Finish the Stuffed Squash
2 cups button mushrooms
1 large leek or 3 medium shallots
2 tablespoons mild vegetable oil
1 teaspoon rubbed savory or basil
1/4 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 cups of the cooked barley
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock

Have the semi-baked squash halves arranged in a lightly-oiled baking pan, out to come  up to room tempreature, while you make the stuffing. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Clean and trim the mushrooms, and chop them. Peel and chop the leek fairly finely, and rinse and drain it well, if you are using the leek. Otherwise, peel and finely chop the shallots.

Heat the oil in a large skillet and cook the mushrooms and leeks or shallots until quite soft, stirring regularly. Mix in the seasonings, until well coated in the oil, then mix in the barley. Continue to cook for a minute or two longer, stirring contantly, until well mixed and fairly dry. Mix in the nuts, cranberries and chicken or vegetable stock. Continue cooking for just a minute or two longer, until the stock is absorbed. 

Divide the stuffing evenly between the squash halves, pressing it to form a neat mound in each. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes, until the squash is tender.

These were quite popular! I thought the texture was a bit too hard; they were solid rather than crunchy. The flavour was really good though.  Again, as with all crackers, it's really important to get them thinthinthin.

Added: 13/01/2014. I just discovered half a dozen of these, forgotten in a cookie tin. WOW! They have actually improved with sitting, I would say. These are good!  Plenty crunchy, and the flavours have really blended and developed. Yum.

36 crackers
1 hour prep time, not including boiling the potatoes


1 1/2 cups whole rye flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 to 2 teaspoons fennel OR caraway seed
the finely grated zest of 1/2 orange (can use 1/2 teaspoon dried zest)
1 cup mashed potatoes
3 tablespoons mild vegetable oil
1/2 to 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit a large baking tray.

Mix the flour, salt, fennel or caraway seed, and orange zest in a small mixing bowl. Mix the vegetable oil  into the mashed potatoes. Mix the mashed potatoes into the flour, turning the dough out to knead briefly on the parchment paper when it gets hard to mix. Knead just until you have a smooth dough; don't overdo it.

Roll the dough out as thinly as you can, keeping it in a rectangle. Trim, patch, and re-roll to end up with a neat, straight-edged, evenly thin rectangle. Cut with a pizza cutter into crackers. Sprinkle the coarse sea salt evenly over the crackers.

Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until dry and hard, browning slightly at the edges. Let cool, during which time they should crisp up even more, then break them apart to serve.




Last year at this time I made Carrot Dip or Spread... yes, it would be good with these!

I made 2 kinds of crackers this year for Christmas. I thought this was the better of the two myself; but the others disappeared faster, so apparently that was a minority opinion. Still, these have a nice dry-crunchy sandy texture from the cornmeal, and the seasonings make them delicious plain or with cheese. Like all crackers, it is very important to make them as thin as you possibly can. Otherwise, they are not crispy, just tough.

32 crackers
1 hour prep time


1 cup soft unbleached flour
1 cup fine cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon rubbed dry rosemary leaves
1/8 to 1/2 teaspoon crushed red chile, such as Aleppo
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 to 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Tear off a piece of parchment paper to fit a large baking tray.

Mix the flour, cornmeal, and seasonings together in a small mixing bowl. Melt the butter and mix it with the buttermilk. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. When it gets too stiff to mix easily, dump it out on the parchment paper and knead briefly until well amalgamated into an even dough. Don't let the dough sit, but roll it out at once - it will get very stiff and hard to work with unless you get right to it.

Roll out the dough as thinly and evenly as you can, on the parchment paper. Keep it in a neat rectangle as well, trimming and patching the edges to do it. Cut the resulting rectangle into crackers with a pizza cutter. Lift the parchment paper carefully onto the baking tray. Sprinkle the tops of the crackers evenly with the coarse sea salt.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until dry and firm, and slightly browned around the edges. They will continue to harden as they cool. Break apart the cooled crackers to serve.




Last year at this time I made Red Cabbage, Carrot & Onion Stir-Fry.

This is a simple, classic dip that goes together very quickly. The original recipe, which I got from our family cookbook, called for tarragon. I hate tarragon, but you could replace the savory or thyme with a couple of tablespoons of fresh tarragon. Actually, I think chervil would be excellent, but chervil is next to impossible to find.

There was a fair bit of this left over from our Christmas party. I sautéed some more mushrooms with a chopped leek, added the dip to the pan until just heated, then tossed it all with pasta and cabbage, and I think it was an even bigger hit than it was as a dip. 

12 to 16 servings
20 minutes prep time - but allow an hour to rest


250 g fresh button mushrooms
1 or 2 cloves of garlic
1 cup cream cheese (light is fine)
2 tablespoons mayonnaise (light is fine)
1/3 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons dried chives (OR 1/4 cup fresh)
1 teaspoon rubbed savory or thyme
1/4 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
the juice of 1/2 lemon

Clean and trim the mushrooms, and cut them into quarters. Peel, trim and slice the garlic. Put them in the bowl of a food processor with all the remaining ingredients except the lemon juice. Process until well chopped and blended, but leave a little texture to the mushrooms if you can. Add the lemon juice and pulse it in, then scoop it out to a serving dish. Keep in the fridge until wanted.




Last year at this time I made Squash or Sweet Potato Puff.

Need a last minute Christmas present or stocking stuffer? Don't want to go out in the freezing rain? Here's something that can be whipped up pretty quickly with cupboard staples.

Christmas is nearly upon us, and now that I am kind of back in the swing of posting it's time to take another little break. Things are going to be very busy over the next few days, even though we are probably not going to go down to visit Dad and his partner. (We have learned our lesson from Snowmageddon.)  Stay warm and safe, everyone, have a good Christmas, solstice, or whatever, and if I'm not back before then, best wishes for a happy new year.

12 servings
1 hour 45 minutes - 45 minutes prep time


10 cups popped popcorn
1 cup peanuts or other nuts of your choice
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup Sucanat or dark brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix the popped popcorn and the nuts of your choice in a very large mixing bowl. You will have to stir hot syrup into this so you need lots of room!

Bring the vegetable oil, Sucanat and honey to a boil in a good sized, heavy bottomed pot. Set a timer for 5 minutes. Keep it boiling steadily, stirring constantly. Medium heat is what you want. At about the time the timer goes, the vegetable oil will mostly disappear into the syrup. This is the moment you've been waiting for. (Use the timer just as a guide.) Remove it from the heat, stir in the vanilla, and pour it over the popcorn.

Use a spatula to scrape out the pot. The syrup should be stirred into the popcorn as quickly and evenly as possible. It doesn't hurt to have another person do this as you are pouring and scraping out the syrup. Be careful! Syrup burns are very nasty.

Spread the popcorn out evenly on a lightly oiled cookie sheet. Bake it at 250°F for 1 hour, stirring once or twice during that time. Allow to cool and break it up slightly, so that there are no very large clumps.




Last year at this time I made Cranberry Turkey Meatballs in Mushroom Gravy. 

I still had some cooked spaghetti squash left, so it went into this casserole. Very nice! You could serve it as a side dish with plainly cooked fish or chicken, but it's rich enough to make a good vegetarian main dish as well, which is how we had it. A green salad or steamed green vegetable will complete the meal. 

4 to 6 servings
1 hour prep time, plus 1 hour to pre-cook the squash,
not including cooling time


4 cups cooked, loosened spaghetti squash strands
8 to 12 button mushrooms
2 large shallots
2 large cloves of garlic
1/4 cup chopped dried tomatoes
2 tablespoons mild vegetable oil
1 teaspoon rubbed basil
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
2 teaspoons arrowroot or cornstarch
salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
140 grams (5 ish ounces) chevre (soft goat cheese)
2 tablespoons bread crumbs
1 teaspoon butter

Pierce the spaghetti squash with a fork, and roast it at 350°F (on a tray) for about hour, until soft. Let cool, then cut in half and discard the seeds. Loosen the strands of squash from the shell with a fork, and discard the shell.

Preheat the ovent to 350°F. Wash, trim and slice the mushrooms. Peel and dice the shallots. Peel and mince the garlic. Chop the tomatoes.

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Cook the mushrooms and shallots until quite soft and slightly browned, stirring regularly. Add the minced garlic and basil, and cook for a minute or so longer. Add the dried tomatoes and most of the chicken stock. Mix the arrowroot in with the remaining chicken stock, and when the vegetables have simmered for a few minutes and the tomatoes look softened, stir in the remaining stock with the cornstarch. Season with salt and pepper to taste; the amount of salt will be affected by whether your chicken stock is already salted or not. Mix in the chevre, until it is completely dissolved.

Oil a 2 quart casserole dish (8" x 11" baking dish). Mix the spaghetti squash with the sauce and spread it in the prepared pan. Sprinkle it with the breadcrumbs and dot with the butter. Bake for about 45 minutes, until browned and bubbly around the edges.





Last year at this time I made Crisp Winter Salad with Cottage Cheese Dressing.

This is a bit of a gimmick more than a recipe, but at least it's an attractive and good-tasting gimmick. Roasted Brussels sprouts make great "eggs" in little nests of spaghetti squash tossed with cheese and herbs. Serve them as their own course as part of a formal dinner, or with a piece of roasted or poached chicken breast alongside and call it the whole thing.

This was a spaghetti squash I grew myself, and it separated into nice clean strands, just as it should. I've had more troubles with purchased spaghetti squash being too soft and mushy, which is really annoying when they are not cheap. Pity we are not good growers of squash, generally getting few and small ones. I hope that one of these days we will get the amendments right and win the battle of the bugs.

Makes 4 to 6 servings
1 hour 20 minutes - 20 minutes prep time


1  1 kilo (2 pounds) spaghetti squash
1 kilo (2 pounds) Brussels sprouts
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon rubbed oregano
1/2 teaspoon rubbed savory
1/2 teaspoon rubbed thyme
freshly ground black pepper to taste
a little more grated Parmesan to sprinkle over, if you like

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Wash the squash, and stab it in several places with a fork. Bake it - on a tray; it may leak - for 40 to 45 minutes, until soft.

Meanwhile, wash and trim the Brussels sprouts, and cut a cross in the base of each one to facilitate faster cooking. Toss them with the oil in a baking pan, and put them in the oven when the squash is about half done (20 or 25 minutes still to go). Sprinkle them with a little salt first if you like.

Have the butter and grated cheese standing by, along with the seasonings. When the squash is done, remove it from the oven and cut it in half. Scoop out and discard the seeds, etc from the middles, then use a fork to pull out the strands. put them in a bowl and toss them with the butter, cheese and seasonings.

Divide the spaghetti squash onto individual serving plates, and form into little nests. Serve with the roasted Brussels sprouts divided amongst the nests, and with a little more cheese sprinkled over top if you like. You will need to work quickly as I found the spaghetti squash cooled off fairly quickly. They could go back in the oven to stay warm if you need a few extra minutes to get other parts of the meal ready, as long as your plates are happy with that.





Last year at this time I made White Chocolate Mousse with Cranberries, on the occasion of my mothers birthday. I was just thinking about what a fabulous knock-out dessert it was, and that I should make it for Christmas dinner this year, and there it is. Oh yeah, I think so. It was SOOO good.

It has been my opinion, ever since childhood, that the best part of a Christmas (or Thanksgiving, or turkeys-were-on-sale) turkey is the dressing, or stuffing. (We can discuss religion and politics and even computers at our dining table. But don't get us going on whether it's properly called dressing, or stuffing. You'll notice I waffle on the topic.) So I'm always interested in bringing that flavour profile to other dishes.

I'm going to have to come up with a lot of bean dishes this winter, since we ended up with jars and jars of dried beans. Seed selection for the win! Also, we just plain planted a lot. Anyway, here is my first new bean dish of the season, and I am declaring it a success. Apart from the fact that dried beans are always a bit slow on their journey from jar to table, this is very easy to make, and requires little attention as it cooks. We both thought it was really tasty.

These are my rare and exotic Deseronto Potato beans, but navy (pea) beans are readily available and should work perfectly well for this dish; really any mild white bean.

We were impressed by the Deseronto Potato beans, by the way. This was the first time we actually tried any even though it is our second year of growing them and we got a decent crop last year. Unfortunately, last year I put them away in a glass jar when I thought they were well dried down, but I was wrong, and they went mouldy. The seed beans were okay as I had stored them in paper bags, but it's been a long wait to try these. THIS year I made sure they were well dried in our food drier before they went into the storage jar!

4 to 6 servings
3 hours - 30 minutes prep time. NOT including pre-cooking the beans.


2 cups (450 grams; 1 pound) dried white beans
2 recipes Poultry Seasoning
2 large onions
OR 4 to 6 shallots
6 stalks of celery
OR 2 cups peeled, finely diced celeriac
salt as needed
2 tablespoons sunflower seed oil
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock

Put the beans (rinsed and picked over) into a large pot with plenty of water to cover them. Bring them to a boil, then turn off the heat and cover them, and let them sit and soak for an hour or so. Repeat the boiling and soaking one or two more times, until the beans are soft enough to eat. You can, and probably should, do this the day before you bake them.

When you are ready to proceed, mix up your poultry seasoning. If you decide to use canned beans, and your chicken stock is salted, you should probably omit the salt, as they will have plenty already. I found it necessary to use an extra teaspoon (so 2 teaspoons altogether) but neither my beans nor my chicken stock were pre-salted.

Preheat the oven to 300°F. Peel the onions or shallots, and chop them finely. Wash and trim the celery or celeriac, and chop it finely. Drain the beans well.

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Cook the onions (shallots) and celery until fairly soft. Halfway through the process, add the poultry seasoning and mix it in well. Add the beans and mix them in well, then transfer everything to a 9" x 13" baking pan. Or you can mix them in the baking pan; whichever you think will be easier. Spread them out evenly and pour the chicken stock over them.

Bake for 2 to 2 1/2 hours until starting to dry and brown just a bit on top. That's it; easy! We had ours with cole slaw.




Last year at this time I made Leek & Garlic White Bean (!) Soup, and Michael's Grandmother's Pickled Onions.

You may have noticed, if there's anyone out there still to notice.

This has been a difficult season. Dad fell down the stairs and spent a week in the hospital being observed; fortunately he was just badly bruised and there were no long-term repercussions. This was followed by a discussion with my mother-in-law about how we think she shouldn't be driving anymore; fortunately, she agreed and we will now be spending a certain amount of time driving her around. UNfortunately, this was followed by her suffering from gallstones, kidney stones, and heart irregularities, and the driving started immediately and with a vengeance, not to mention the waiting around in doctors offices. Again, we are lucky that in spite of these problems she is basically in very good health.

While all this has obviously eaten up a certain amount of my time, the real problem (for me) is that it all sent me into a complete funk. Intellectually, I've known for a long time that we are all getting older. However it was a lot easier to ignore 2 months ago when I didn't even know any of this was on the horizon. So I've been busy digesting all this change and it turns out I needed such a complete break from the blog that I couldn't even bring myself to post a be-back-sometime message.

Since I have now been able to cope with the idea of posting a be-back-sometime message, I guess that means things are improving, and I'll be back - sometime - probably even this month and if I am able to get myself in gear, later this week. In general, though, I suspect I'll be posting at a slower rate than I was.

Hope you all have happy, holidays, with the people you love, and a healthy and productive new year.