Julie Van Rosendaal: Finding Joy In A Grandmother’s Recipe Box

I’ve had the pleasure of calling Julie Van Rosendaal a friend for more than 20 years. I’m thrilled she has a new cookbook, Kathie the Mail Girl’s Mother’s Cookies…and other good things from my grandma’s recipe box, because it gives me the chance to share both her story and my admiration for her here.

Julie is the author of 14 cookbooks, a syndicated CBC Radio columnist, and the food columnist for The Globe and Mail. Her Instagram community numbers more than 53,000 followers, and her website, Dinner with Julie, is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for recipe lovers. But this kind of success did not happen overnight.

Mix the Right Ingredients

When Julie was a little girl, she already knew she wanted to be a food writer and cook. While her friends were reading Archie Comics, Julie was devouring Canadian Living and Chatelaine, inspired by Canadian food icons like Elizabeth Baird and Anita Stewart. The kitchen was always her happy place. Baking especially was her jam.

Although she earned a photography degree from the Alberta University of the Arts, her first business was a cookie bakery. That business eventually became her first cookbook, One Smart Cookie.

When Julie wanted to break into food writing, she wrote letters to small-town newspapers across Alberta asking if she could contribute recipes and food stories for free. She simply wanted a chance to learn and build her craft.

Let Rise

As Julie’s career grew, she consistently lifted others up along the way.

When I needed help developing the food styling for A Spicy Touch, the cookbook I wrote with my mentor Noorbanu Nimji, Julie spent two full days coaching us, lending us props, and sharing her expertise. She refused payment, saying, “I know how hard it is to self-publish. I just want you to do well.”

She has mentored countless writers and photographers through the Okanagan Food and Wine Writers Workshops and spent many hours teaching free Zoom cooking workshops for teenagers. She is one of the most generous and inclusive people I know.

Punch Down and Let Rise Again

I’ve always thought of Julie as a fountain of creativity. But even deep wells can run low.

After some very difficult personal circumstances over the past few years, her usual joy, humour, and energy for cooking seemed to fade for a time. Gradually, with support from family and friends, she found her way back.

In Kathie the Mail Girl’s Mother’s Cookies, Julie shares that receiving her grandmother’s recipe box from a caring cousin became part of that healing journey. Those handwritten recipes helped reconnect her with the comfort, memory, and joy of baking once again.

Fresh From the Oven

This cookbook is pure nostalgia.

Inside are the beloved Canadian classics many of us grew up with: Hello Dolly Squares from bridal and baby showers, Soft Ginger Molasses Cookies from farm kitchens, Butter Tarts, Flapper Pie, and all the comforting homemade favourites that filled cookie tins and Tupperware containers across the country.

The recipes feel familiar in the very best way — like opening a handwritten recipe box at your grandmother’s kitchen table.

I hope you’ll treat yourself to a copy. This book feels like a warm hug from one of Canada’s most beloved cookbook authors.

And to tempt you even further, I’m sharing Julie’s shortcake recipe below. Stew some rhubarb, slice some strawberries, whip some cream, and bliss out on these soft, sweet little beauties.

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