Cottage closing weekend, a bit early

This year we had to close the cottage down a bit early because of weekend obligations. It’s never fun but we’ve got it down to a science so it generally goes smoothly.
Because it’s a work weekend, I try to make most of the food easy and fast. For the first time in months, we were [...]

Read Full Post »

Lemon Almond Madeleines

Adapted from Epicurious.com
I love these light cake-like cookies on their own, or presented as a lovely dessert, with sauces and fruit. I reduced the sugar and made minor changes to the directions. Hope you like them.
Makes 24 Madeleines

Ingredients

4 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 [...]

Read Full Post »

Frozen Strawberry Dessert

Today is my birthday.
A very good friend has decided to go on the Bernstein diet (yes, that is 5 referrals for me!) and we were having them over for brunch this past Sunday to celebrate our July birthdays. I had to come up with a brunch that was Bernstein friendly and JT did one for [...]

Read Full Post »

Frozen Lemon Mousse

I have a friend from KPMG days, actually from Peat Marwick days whom I have been meeting for lunch every quarter. Everytime we meet, we alway say we should get together as couples, but it never happened, until now. They kindly invited us for dinner on Saturday evening, for which our contribution was a Frozen [...]

Read Full Post »

My Roof Top Tomato Garden

This is my last attempt at growing vegetables. Let me reminisce for a moment.
The first summer in this house, I turned the garden into a vegetable garden  (which later became our cocktail lounge and then the addition) and planted tomatoes, peppers and zuchinni. No sun, no success.
The following year, during the winter, I bought a [...]

Read Full Post »

JTs Birthday Dinner

Last Thursday was JTs birthday, we won’t say how old he is, but suffice it to say that I am significantly younger! We decided to stay in for dinner and have our dinner out on Saturday at Le Select Bistro, when things are not so hectic as a weekday. JT decided he wanted his no [...]

Read Full Post »

Iced Brie

From the LCBO Summer 2008 Magazine, Lucy Waverman

8 oz (250 g) brie, rind removed, cut into pieces
¼ cup (50 mL) white wine
¼ cup (50 mL) grated Parmesan
2 tbsp (25 mL) unsalted butter
1 tsp (5 mL) dry mustard
Pinch cayenne pepper
Pinch paprika

Combine brie, white wine, Parmesan, butter, dry mustard, cayenne pepper and paprika in a food [...]

Read Full Post »

Fred’s Not Here Jalopeño Corn Bread

This recipe cuts in half very nicely.
Makes about 20 Corn shaped corn breads.

1  1/4 medium ground corn meal
1 1/4 all  purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar (I used Splenda as I was making these for my diabetic father-in-law)
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2  cup diced jalopenos (if you like thnings [...]

Read Full Post »

Potato Pancake Hors d’Oeuvres with Yogurt and Chives

A couple of weeks ago, I bought some potatoes for a specific dish, but for some reason I ended up leaving 2 medium sized Yukon Golds unused. They sat in my vegetable crisper for the duration (I know, I know, potatoes should not be kept in the refrigerator, but I have no other place to [...]

Read Full Post »

Kim, Rob and Chloé Dinner

We are having my good friend (and boss) Kim, her hubby Rob (the TV Star as he so loves to remind us – we’ll get to that later) and their lovely daughter Chloé. I’ve had a few bad hits with dinner with Chloé (she used to eat everything and now she is 7!) so  we’re [...]

Read Full Post »