What could express the down home goodness of our famous Albertan hospitality better than making a few gifts from your kitchen for friends and family? Here are a few favourite recipes I have developed or collected over the years. From easy chocolate bark to DIY soup, hot cocoa and cookie kits to slightly more involved thumbprint shortbreads and peanut brittle, I hope you’ll find something to increase your own joy as you increase that of others. Continue reading
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No, I’m not Italian. Yes, I’m a wannabe. Now that we’ve got that out-of-the-way, let’s bond because if you’re reading this, chances are, you admire the Italian culture and food as much as I do.
The year I did “An Italian Christmas” theme for our Alberta Food Tours pre-Christmas shopping tours for food lovers we were embraced by my Italian business owner friends. A lot of these recipes either came from them or were inspired by them. They are good, very good or in Italian, bene – molto bene!
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Nothing says party to me like a punch bowl. When I get my punch bowl out, it is usually to make something special for the designated drivers and youth in our crowd. Having someone fuss over a special drink for them, makes them feel as cared for as the other guests and that’s what hospitality is all about.
Still, if you are going to make a boozy punch the general formula is this – booze, more booze, fizzy beverage, spice and ice. Punch is easier than serving individual drinks and now that you know the formula, you can come up with endless “punch lines.” Read on for a bevy of holiday beverage ideas.
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There are so many calories floating around over the holidays, it pays to be wise and choose your dessert indulgences carefully. The recipes included here fit that criteria. They are definitely delicious and oh so worth the splurge.
Note: These recipes are part of my holiday recipe collection. They are tastes my family loves, and I’ve made every attempt to give proper credit to the creators. Continue reading
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For the first seven years that I ran my company, Alberta Food Tours, I used to create a day long food tour each November that was all about holiday shopping for food lovers. We did themes like Christmas commandoes, an Italian Christmas, International Festivities, a Country Christmas, a Cowboy Christmas and an Angelic Christmas. I’d plan the whole day with deals for my guests at great locally oriented food and kitchen stores and we’d always have a splashy lunch to fortify our efforts.
At the end of the tour, everyone got a copy of a collection of Holiday Feasting recipes that I had gathered according to each theme. I added a chapter every year. It’s important to note that, while many of the recipes are my own or my family’s, many more are from favourite cooks and magazines. I’ve strived to give proper credit here.
Many of my neighbours were on those early tours and they still cook from that recipe collection. Now, the next generation, my friend’s grown children, are also asking for their own copies of these fun tried and true treasures. I had a look at the recipes, gave them an overhaul and thought it’d be fun to share them with you too. Here on Savour It All™ blog, the recipes will find a permanent home and since the holidays – and life in general – are all about sharing, this seems the perfect solution. Continue reading
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I’ve had this recipe since 1983. I had just finished my nursing degree at Dalhousie University and was working at the IWK Sick Children’s Hospital and living with my dear friend Diane Bliss in Halifax. Diane grew up in Florenceville, New Brunswick and the recipe came from her Aunt Margie. This “Aunt” was not a blood relative but rather a term of endearment for her beloved neighbour Margaret McCain, a woman known for her good taste and devotion to children and family.
The McCain clan did rather well with frozen French fried potatoes. They are rather big in orange juice. And Diane had a fun summer job testing those yummy (addictive) Deep’n Delicious frozen sheet cakes in their corporate kitchens in Flo’ville. As wildly successful as Wallace and Harrison McCain made their company, I can only imagine how ever more exponential their success would have been if they’d added these chewy delicious chocolate chip cookies to their roster of offerings. It would have been a big poke in the belly to that little Pillsbury dough boy. I’m sure of it.
Anyway, I’m very grateful to Diane for making them for me all those years ago and for sharing the recipe. Thirty-five years later, they’re still my favourite. I hope you love them like I do. I truly think they are the best ever. Continue reading
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The crisp, cool days of fall have arrived in Alberta. Yesterday, instead of making salad, I got out my stock pot and made a big pot of soup for our dinner guests and we were all the warmer and cozier for it. The good people at Apple magazine anticipate the shifts in cook’s seasons so, back in June, they asked me for a “how-to” make soup stock column for the fall issue.
This assignment was easy and a pleasure because soup stock is one thing I always have on hand. I add it to my favourite linguini with clam sauce recipe, use it to add flavour to mashed potatoes and of course, I make a variety of great soups with it. Soup means a lot to me. I’m a volunteer for Soup Sisters and have even contributed to three of their best-selling cookbooks. Click the link below to read my column, stock up and have a happy fall making soup to your heart’s content.
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Fall is the time to make soup. Check out my latest column for Alberta Health’s Apple Magazine and > |
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