September 27th: spaghetti squash with pomodoro sauce

I have been working for years on squash, trying to get myself to like them. I try all the varieties, and I try all different approaches to them. Nothing seems to work. I do like a tiny acorn squash, roasted and drenched in maple syrup, about once a year. I have yet to convince G or O to get on board the squash train, and I can't really blame them.


However, with our veggie baskets from the farm including several squash recently, I'm on task again. In the past week, I've cooked two spaghetti squash and one delicata. I have three more delicatas and two huge acorns to get through yet. Jeepers. I did some searching on Epicurious and found this spaghetti squash with pomodoro sauce recipe which - surprise! - all three of us ended up liking. I had reservations about spaghetti sauce on squash; it just sounds wrong, but, it actually works. The sauce is so flavourful itself, you actually don't taste the squash, and the texture of the squash is close enough to pasta that it doesn't seem weird. Best bonus: upping the health factor with more veggies! The sauce is spicy though; if you have spice-averse eaters, I recommend cutting back on the red pepper flakes.


We had enough sauce left over that tomorrow night I'm going to cook up some sausage in the sauce and have it over pasta for real.

Notice the purple basil on the sauce - gorgeous!

I served this with Mediterranean pork chops from October 2011's Chatelaine, but they were not too exciting, so I'm tossing the recipe.

September 25th: vegetable ranch dip, onion soup ribs and double-stuffed baked potatoes

For lunch: veggies and dip. Easy vegetable ranch dip from Epicurious, and it was delicious!

For supper, I made my easiest-to-prepare rib recipe, a favourite for many years now, from June 2005's Chatelaine: Barbecued onion soup ribs. The recipe produces a sweet and slightly spicy set of tender but crisp ribs: simmered in onion soup, barbecue sauce and Tabasco, then finished on the barbecue.

To accompany, I made green beans amandine and double-stuffed baked potatoes. The potato recipe I made up as I went along. It went something like this:


Double-stuffed baked potatoes


3 medium baking potatoes, scrubbed
1/4 cup unsalted butter
3 tbsps milk
125 g bacon, chopped, cooked, and drained
1-2 green onions, diced
1/2 cup shredded old Cheddar cheese
sour cream (to serve, optional)

Preheat oven to 400°F. Prick potatoes all over with a fork, and place directly on oven rack. Bake, turning once, until tender, about 45 minutes. Remove from oven (leave oven on), cut potatoes in half lengthwise, and slice up centre of potato flesh with a knife. Set aside until potatoes are just cool enough to handle.

Scrape potato flesh into a medium bowl, leaving skins intact, and add butter, milk, bacon and green onions to bowl. Mix well. Stir in cheese. Scoop potato mixture back into skins, filling to heaping. Place in a baking dish and return to hot oven. Cook just until cheese is melted and filling is piping hot, about 10 minutes.

Serve with sour cream, if desired.

Makes 3 generous servings.

September 21st: roasted beet and clementine salad

I was debating whether or not to write about this one - I didn't keep the recipe - but it was pretty good, so I decided to go with it. I loved the beets, Olivia loved the oranges, but nobody loved it enough to bother cooking it again. Greg didn't have any; he wasn't home the night we ate this. From October 2011's Chatelaine: roasted beet and clementine salad. When I searched "beet salad" on the Chatelaine website, it came back with 14 hits, so there may be another gem on the list.

To accompany, I made, from October 2011's Chatelaine: spaghetti squash with cranberries, which neither Olivia nor I enjoyed. Definitely a recipe to toss.

September 20th: apple crisp

Last week, Olivia and I spent some time on Sunday apple-picking at our local orchard. Last year when I took her I waited till too late in the season and we ended up picking apples out of a barrel rather than off the trees. This year I thought I was smart, going before summer was over, but nope. We went too late in the day this time - who knew Sunday mornings were wild times for apple-picking? - and by the time we went on Sunday afternoon, there were only green apples left on the trees. We picked some anyway; Olivia was bored after picking about 4, though she did love running around through the fallen apples and trying not to fall herself. Then I stood in line for 10 minutes to pay $2 for my 2 lbs of apples, during which time, Olivia went climbing on boulders and got lectured by another mother who felt the need to tell my child what to do. I splurged on apple cider and a candied apple, which cost way more than the apples themselves, and we went home happy. Then, green apples to deal with...


After a week, and the apples were still green, I decided to cook them. I had originally thought applesauce, but then I decided to go fancy and make apple crisp. But on a weeknight, I wanted it to be fast, and if you want fast and weeknight-friendly, I recommend Michael Smith. I found this dead easy apple crisp recipe and made it quickly while supper was cooking. It's not the most fantastic apple crisp ever, but it required few ingredients, came together quickly, and I cooked it in half the time recommended. I don't like my apples to be complete mush. Good stuff, and Olivia loved it. Apparently I haven't made apple crisp in the part of her life she can remember, because she was confused: "I like this applesauce, I mean apple cider, I mean, what is this?"

September 18th: steak and mushroom pot pie

My favourite meal of all time - the one I would request on my deathbed - is my mom's steak and mushroom pie, with puff pastry crust. Only, on my deathbed, I would have it all to myself, because there is never enough to go around. I didn't quite recreate this tonight, but I made a variation on it, and it turned out pretty well. We three were impressed. In my case, rather than using a good quality steak, quickly cooked, I had pulled some stewing beef out of the freezer, so I got that simmering and left it for an hour while I napped, then went back to the kitchen and proceeded to make the rest of the recipe. I had intended to put both carrots and potatoes in the pie too, but I was tired after spending the night before with friends from out of town, then getting up to teach a class in the morning and finally heading out of town for a baby shower, so I ended up going simple and the pie was filled with just beef and mushrooms, with a touch of onion and garlic. I could eat mushrooms till the cows come home and it tasted great ... though more veggies would have upped the filling-ness of it, as well as the health quotient. Ah well, here is what I came up with:


Steak and Mushroom Pot Pie - long-cooking variation


canola oil
1 lb stewing beef, cut into bite-sized pieces
freshly ground black pepper
2 cups beef stock
1 bay leaf


[options to add potatoes and carrots here! - 1-2 of each]


1 cup diced onions
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound mushrooms, any variety, chopped


1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp all-purpose flour


1/2 397 g package frozen puff pastry, thawed


1 egg, beaten (optional)


Heat the canola oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. When hot, add beef and season to taste with pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid evaporates, 10-15 minutes. When pan is starting to dry out, pour in stock and add bay leaf. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for at least one hour. Nap if necessary.

[If using potatoes and carrots, chop them and add them to the pot at the end of the hour, simmering until just cooked, 10-15 minutes.]

Using a slotted spoon, remove meat [and any veggies] to a bowl and set aside. Pour liquid into a 2-cup measuring cup and set aside. Return Dutch oven to stovetop, increase heat to medium, and add canola oil.

When hot, add diced onions, and cook, stirring frequently, until onions soften, 4-5 minutes. If onions start to burn, reduce heat. Add minced garlic and stir for 1 more minute. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, another 5 minutes. Then stir in Worcestershire sauce. Sprinkle flour over mixture and stir frequently for 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, add enough water to the measuring cup to bring the liquid amount back to 2 cups. Add all of liquid to pot, stirring to deglaze pot. Return meat and vegetables to pot and simmer gently.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Roll out puff pastry to 1/4-inch thickness. When oven is hot, remove bay leaf from pot and pour pie filling into an 8-inch square baking dish. Place puff pastry overtop, covering to sides, and folding or crimping sides in as necessary. Slice vent(s) in centre of crust to allow steam to escape. If desired, brush pastry with egg.

Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, until top is golden and puffed and filling is bubbling. Remove from oven, let stand several minutes, then slice and serve.

Makes 4 servings, unless you are on your deathbed, in which case, enjoy the whole dish yourself!

September 11th: green beans amandine

My comments from the first time I made this: "I loved it. Greg was indifferent." This year, second go-around, he is on board. He says it's because I cooked the green beans so perfectly this time. I recommend upping the almonds to a 1/2 cup for the full recipe (I made half the recipe). I loaded my serving with extra lemon zest and lemon juice and it was oh so tart and delicious. The toasted nuts give it a lovely - nutty - flavour. Will do again, especially since I have buy-in from the fam now. From May 2010's Today's Parent: Green Beans Amandine.

September 9th: salmon niçoise platter

We had friends over for dinner. One is a chef. A little intimidating, since I claim to be all good on the food-making front, but have no credentials to back me up. I decided to go simple food, simple to prepare, and hope for the best. Worked out perfectly. From August 2009's Chatelaine: Salmon Niçoise Platter. I make a few adjustments: cook 1 egg per person and reduce the capers by half. Of interest to me is the fact that the picture on Chatelaine's website is nothing like the one in the magazine, on which I modelled my presentation, although I don't have a platter big enough to hold all the food. I made the full recipe (6 servings) for 4 adults and 1 child and there was not much leftover. That, and we had two small baguettes on the side. And room for dessert afterwards. I take the "6 servings" suggestion with a grain of salt.

Top: roasted salmon.
Bottom, L-R: potatoes, green beans, eggs, marinated artichoke hearts, smoked salmon.
Not pictured, but also served: tomatoes, olives, baguettes.

September 7th: chicken enchiladas

Not my usual inspiration for recipes: this one came to me by way of a review on facebook, and the link introduced me to Pinterest, which I hadn't come across before. The recipe itself - Chicken Enchiladas - is from a blog called Pink Parsley. I cut back on both the chili powder and the fresh jalapeno, and Olivia still said it was too spicy, so thank goodness I cut out what I did. I used chicken thighs rather than breasts, as they stand up better to the longer cooking. Greg fell in love with me over this meal; I have to say, I saw that coming. These are really good. Warning: Time Consuming!

September 5th: rosemary roast chicken with maple-mustard sauce

From the keeper book - actually simpler to prepare than my go-to Perfect Roast Chicken, but you need a few more ingredients on hand: from October 2005's Chatelaine: Rosemary Roast Chicken with Maple-Mustard Sauce. The sauce is incredible.

September 4th: Sausage Pizza Roll-Ups

I may have finally discovered the secret to whole wheat pizza dough: vital wheat gluten! I found this in the health food aisle of the grocery store, and it says on the bag that if you add 1 tbsp per cup of whole wheat flour to whatever yeast-based recipe you are making, your crust will rise, rise, rise. And it worked for me.

For starters, I made this pizza dough recipe I found on epicurious. It is an excellent dough, and may be my go-to pizza dough recipe from here on out.

With my dough ready to go, I made a variation on Sausage Roll-Ups from August 2010's Today's Parent.

I used swiss chard in place of spinach.

The crust was thin, just crunchy enough, with a delicious sausage filling. The filling is just on the dry side, so keep some salsa or pizza sauce on the side for dipping.

September 2nd: Tuna wrap

This is a perfect at-home lunch (I find it doesn't pack well): filling, delicious, nutritious. From July 2009's Chatelaine: Avocado Tuna Wrap.

August 30th: Potato and Cheddar Cheese Soup

My friend Janice loaned me a booklet of soup and salad recipes collected from several years of the milk calendar. I had my doubts, as many milk calendar recipes I have tried have been duds. However, I perused the booklet on my bus ride home from work, and found one I figured I should try. I already had all the ingredients to make Potato and Cheddar Cheese Soup, from 1988, so it seemed logical to give it a go. I was pleasantly surprised, and Greg and Olivia loved it too. To be tried again!