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!

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!

Crack is Whack Christmas Crack!

Dutch Oven Detour (recipes that should have been included in the Dutch Oven Cookbook)

Wow - so sorry to have been away for so long - life has a funny way of getting in the way things...anyway glad to be back and with the holiday's just around the corner we're in full on DO (dutch oven) mode.  Oh...and in case you noticed we've encountered a few...ummm...challenges with our URL (www.thedutchovendiaries.com) - which you may have noticed isn't currently working - and if  you haven't noticed - shame on you!  Anywho - we're workin' on it - in the meantime, you can find us right here at www.thedutchovendiaries.blogspot.com.

So Christmas Crack seemed to burst onto the holiday baking scene last year - introduced to us by the very talented Kilted Chef.  The holiday baking scene hadn't experienced a frenzy like this scince Martha Stewart introduced us to cookie flooding!  Everyone was talking about it, it was even named the "must have" holiday treat of 2011 by Good Housekeeping magazine (totally made this up).  The interesting tidbit about this sweet treat is that it is made using saltine crackers (premium plus).  The crackers bring the salty to this highly addictive sweet'n salty snack.  Saltine crackers are baked with a brown sugar butter mixture that forms a toffee base, this is layered with chocolate, and then topped with candy cane pieces and nuts.