Santa was very generous with the candy canes this year, so we had plenty to savour and plenty to stash. My latest peppermint experiment was sugar cookies, which came out wonderfully crispy and flavorful. Since Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, I used my heart cookie cutters. The heart-shaped cookies were very cute with [...]

Last night was a grill night—a big punta de ganso steak (outside round), potatoes, zucchini, red onions, and peppers. This cut of meat has so much flavor that we didn’t marinated it, but at the last minute Ed suggested adding some sort of flavorful sauce. What to throw together on such short notice? I happened [...]

I was looking for a creamy white chocolate frosting that really tasted of white chocolate, rather than being dominated by the butter. I generally prefer a cream cheese frosting, so I started there and experimented with how to work with the chocolate. I had much better results using a higher quality white chocolate instead of [...]

December is a really busy month around here. The kids start their summer vacation around the 10th, Ben’s birthday is the 14th, and of course there are Christmas preparations to arrange. I also have a lot of translating work this time of year, so I don’t get to spend a lot of time in the [...]

I started making my own yoghurt a couple of months ago,. Initially I just wanted to reduce our trash—all those little plastic yoghurt containers seemed so wasteful. But making yoghurt is so easy, and the result is so yummy, that it quickly became part of my routine. I’m now making a batch about once every week [...]

A friend of mine needs to make an egg-free pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, as her daughter is allergic to eggs. I love a cooking challenge, so I volunteered to come up with a recipe. This cornstarch pudding has all the richness of a classic pumpkin pie, but it is egg free and lower fat than [...]

I’m the only female in our household, other than various assorted pets. I don’t normally have a lot of girly girl energy, yet when I recently celebrated my birthday, I wanted a pink cake. I’ve been thinking about this cake for months, but my boys weren’t interested. They want chocolate, or maybe spearmint (green, of [...]