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Showing posts from August, 2011

When in Canada, eh?

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Kensington Market, Toronto, ON I just finished reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - a great book about one family's year of eating local foods - so naturally, when I arrived at Kensington Market in Toronto, I was excited to buy produce grown in Canada. Not only did I find local produce, I found something cool and new that I have never seen before at home - yellow plums! They are more tart than our red plums, which makes them great for baking! (See the Plum Primer .) This recipe comes from none other than Canadianliving.com . When I get home, I wonder if I could adjust down the sugar and use this recipe with sweeter plums.  Ingredients: 3 cups (750 mL) quartered pitted red or yellow plums or pluots, (about 2 lb/1 kg) 1/2 cup (125 mL) granulated sugar 1 lemon 1/4 tsp (1 mL) ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp (1 mL) ground cloves Preparation: Place plums and sugar in saucepan. Using vegetable peeler, peel off strips of lemon rind; add to saucepan. Squeeze lemon to make 1 tbsp (15

Ft. Lauderdale - Wish you were here!

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Ft. Lauderdale Beach I am always the first person to make excuses about why I can't cook - I don't have time, I haven't been to the grocery store, I just don't feel like it... the list goes on. But I do genuinely enjoy cooking , so when I go on vacation, it's great to be able to relax and make a meal for the people I care about . Making dinner for someone is also a great way to thank some one for their hospitality , if you are bumming a couch, or using the guest bedroom. (See  Three Tastes of Chicago ) So I jumped on the opportunity to stay in Ft. Lauderdale in an apartment with a well-stocked kitchen and with a friend willing to be subjected to my cooking. We went to the grocery store together and based our meal on the Thai Kitchen Yellow Curry 10-minute Simmer Sauce that caught our eye. The peppers were just the right amount of crisp and flavorful and the sugar snap peas were deliciously sweet and crunchy! Yellow Curry Chicken  Serves 4  Ingredients:  

Chocolate Scotcheroos & My New Allergen Pledge

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I don't pretend to be an expert on gluten-free foods , but I thought I knew a thing or two, considering my background. I have been compiling and checking the allergen information for the menu items we serve at my hospital for the past few weeks now. It was really frustrating when I realized how many allergens there really were in our foods, and how difficult it would be to eat a gluten-free or soy-free diet. Last week, I had a lesson in the difficulty of finding products absent of gluten, soy, coconut, dairy and many other mischievous allergens .  I made a false assumption that Rice Krispies were made of rice and hence were gluten-free. I was excited to blog about a delicious gluten-free recipe that I could share with one of my friends with Celiac disease. Before I sent it to her, I went on the Celiac Foundation's Website , only to discover that " malt ", a component in many cereals, contains gluten. Kellogg's does make a gluten-free variety from brown r