Adult Grilled Cheese & Quick Kitchen Sink Salsa

Several years ago, our good friends Barb and Kevin came up to the Upper Deck for a long weekend (pre nupitals and kids) and Barb made this delicious Grilled Cheese Lunch from Cottage Life Magazine. Now I don’t have the exact recipe, but it’s not rocket science so I wing it and I’ve been making [...]

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Dinner with Anna, André, Barb and Kevin

We had Anna, André, Barb and Kevin for dinner Saturday night. It was a bit of a challenge because Anna is a vegetarian (no fish, but she does eat dairy and eggs). I love these types of challenges – it really tests my creative and cooking abilities.
Menu

H.D.: Roasted Red Peppers with Sheeps Milk Feta and [...]

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Dinner with Brian and Joan

JT’s sister and her son (nephew Brian) were over for dinner on Saturday night. This pork loin roast is a fantastic recipe that we originally saw on Martha Stewart, when she had her Mom as a guest on the show. I’ve adapted the recipe, of course, but will link to the original in the title.
The [...]

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Contemporary Chicken Cordon Bleu, Mushroom Sauce & Cauliflower and White Bean Mash

We’re had my best friend Kim (from university) and her husband Michael for dinner last night, and planning a meal for them is always a challenge. Kim is allergic to gluten, potatoes, and soy; Michael doesn’t eat anything with nuts or onions or anything that is very different! The dinner was a huge success and [...]

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Sweet Onion Confit

This is an adaptation from a recipe from Easy Entertaining with Michael Chiarello on Food Network US. It’s caramelized onions that are so delicious and sweet, I make huge batches and freeze portions! It is a great staple for dips, pizza bases etc.

Sweet Onion Confit

Ingredients:

6 large mayan onions (vidalia also work)
2 tbsp cup extra-virgin olive [...]

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Braised Purple Cabbage with Seared Scallops & Cider Vinegar Dressing

As I mentioned in a previous post, this diet I am on is extremely strict; there are forbidden foods (such as beets, kale, carrots, peas, yellow beans, corn, etc – mostly because they are high in sugar!). But I am allowed red cabbage – a fantastic fall vegetable. I have taken an old recipe and [...]

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Home Smoked Salmon and Pear Chutney

adapted from Epicurious.com
This is one of the tastiest salmon recipes I have done so far, and each time is a HUGE success! I generally buy a large salmon fillet and serve it family style, because it is so beautiful, but you can do individual portions or steaks. You will want to marinate the salmon in [...]

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Valentine’s Day

Happy Valentine’s Day!
JT and I don’t really like going out for dinner on this occassion, our experience has been poor service and expensive menus, so we splurge at home!
Last night we started with little Mini Chive biscuits (From Food Network.com Barefoot Contessa) with Crème Fraiche (I’ve been having a difficult time finding it in the [...]

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December 19th Dinner Party – what a success!

It’s Wednesday, and all I am thinking is what the heck was I thinking booking a dinner party for 8 on a week night?!?! What the HECK? I have 3 couples arriving between 6:30 and 7 tonight and I work until 5pm!!! What the HECK? Fortunately, I have the greatest husband in the world and [...]

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Test Dinner Menu

This past weekend my niece Laura (John’s sister’s daughter) came down from London to do some shopping with me. I tested a dinner menu that we will be serving on the 19th. This is quite possibly the BEST beef I have EVER had. The small 750g beef was $33.00!!!! But really worth it.
Photo and [...]

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