I Want a Dutch Oven Cookbook!

I Want a Dutch Oven Cookbook! - Purchase your very own Dutch Oven Cookbook from Nimbus Publising

Monday, September 16, 2013

"Just Nan's" Scratch-My-Back Cookies



Dutch Oven Detour - “Just Nan’s” Scratch-My-Back Cookies


Peter’s Mamma recently passed along his Grandmother’s recipe books to him – pure gold!  Chock full of handwritten food spattered recipes, random notes written throughout, pages falling out, covers held together with tape – all signs of coveted and well used recipes.  Handwritten recipe books like these are a bit of a lost art – these days the interweb is our cookbook!

Pratically Perfect Peach Crumble



Dutch Oven Detour - Practically Perfect Peach Crumble
(adapted from Martha Stewart's Peach Crumble)


Last weekend we headed to the Valley just in time to catch the end of the peach season here in Nova Scotia.  It was our first visit to the Dempsey’sCorner Orchards in Aylesford – a U-Pick paradise.  In addition to the perfectly ripe peaches – you can pick your own pears, plums, corn, grapes, pumpkins…and even sunflowers!  We left with a bounty of beautiful tree-ripe peaches (lots of peach preserves in our future!) and a few new friends, including these adorable little fellas. 

Saturday, June 29, 2013

A Canadian Sandwich

Dutch Oven Detour:  Maple Cream Sandwich Cookies



Poutine, Ketchup Chips, Coffee Crisp, Milk in a bag, Ginger Ale, Alexander Keith’s Ale…all of these food items have something in common – they are CANADIAN!!!  From far and wide - we stand on guard for thee!  We eat Beaver Tails…as long as they’re coated in cinnamon and sugar, doughnut holes - called Timbits and contrary to popular belief – we eat regular bacon – not CANADIAN Bacon!...although the movie “Canadian Bacon” starred Canadian actor John Candy.  We sometimes refer to Lunch as Dinner…and Dinner as Supper?!  AND Yes! - We refer to our currency as Loonies and Toonies – AND No!  We do not live in Igloos!  We pronounce it ABOUT - NOT A-BOOT (well at least not all of us anyway) and yes we say EH! – EH! - EH! - EH! – get over it eh!

Okay…now that we have that cleared up, let’s get back on topic…FOOD!

Sunday, March 24, 2013

My Oh My What A Big Lemon Meringue Pie!

Lemon Pie Filling – (recipe adapted from) Pies & Pastries, Pg. 199 – Evelyn V. Zink (Mrs. B.E.)



Sweet’n tart lemony curd, fluffy sweet meringue topping, all atop a rich flaky pastry – who can resist a decadent lemon meringue pie?  There are lots of variations out there – whether it be the store bought variety, “Homemade” via a boxed powder filling, or made from scratch – we’ve never really met a lemon pie we didn’t like…and that is saying a lot given Jan's serious aversion to eggs.

In preparing for this post we were very much inspired by the Foodie Cult Classic film “Toast” – a biopic film based on a bestselling memoir by Nigel Slater, a British celebrity chef.  Set in the 1960s and 70s, the film features retro culinary delights prepared by the main character’s stepmother (played by Helena Bonham-Carter) as seen through the eyes of a child – these over-emphasized, colourful and whimsical dishes eventually inspire the child to follow his culinary dreams.  At one point in the film a baking war is waged between the adolescent Slater and his stepmother in an all out battle to produce a larger than life deep dish lemon meringue pie - the kind of things pie dreams are made of.

Food Stylist Katherine Tidy's Famous Lemon Meringue Pie from "Toast"

While we’ve eaten plenty, we’ve never actually made a lemon pie – so naturally for our first one we’d challenge ourselves by making a giant, cartoon sized version.  Go big or go home we say!