The Van de Ven’s rooster

The handsome rooster here? He posed for this picture.

It sounds far-fetched, I know, but as I watched with camera poised as he and his lady friends strutted by, the rooster stopped to shake a tail feather or two and toss his waddles and comb. At first I thought he was defending his territory, but no. This rooster ...
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Wild strawberries on Gilmour Street, Peterborough, ON

Meet Fragaria vesca. (What? Based on the title you were expecting something else? These are wild strawberries, not strawberries gone wild.)

Also known as the woodland strawberry in deference to its natural habitat in the forests and meadows of the Northern Hemisphere, out there in the wild the whole plant is a tasty treat — ungulates ...
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Sunday morning breakfast table

Poached eggs. Vintage sunflower pattern creamer and sugar bowl by designer Vera Neumann. Asparagus. My grandmother’s spring flowers tablecloth. Potato-spinach hash. CBC’s Michael Enright murmuring in the background. Strawberries. Monogrammed cloth napkins, a gift from my friend Anne. Apricot-Riesling and raspberry jams. Plum spread. Rye toast. A breeze from the open window. Hot coffee in my mug from ...
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The 3-H approach to good cooking

High, Healthy and Happy 3-H Mennonite Cook Book: A Collection of Swiss-Canadian Mennonite Recipes.

Apart from being the longest cookbook title I’ve ever laid eyes on, it also made me giggle. High? Not exactly what I’d expect from Mennonites. Or from my grandmother, for that matter — the book was in her collection. When my family sorted ...
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China Lily factory sign, Leslieville

The bottle came out when we ate stirfry with rice. Its elongated, giraffe-like neck stretched upwards from a fat base stickered over with the distinguishing canary yellow and black label. The inky blackness of the bottle’s contents stained the glass and the inside of the plastic cap a muddy brown, while sticky dribbles from wayward shakes adhered ...
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Puckery, garlicky, spicy pickled asparagus*

I know it’s not exactly Friday today. But in order to bring you this Friday snippet of food fun, I actually had to pickle the asparagus first, which is a weekend job. I accomplished it, as planned, on Saturday. For the purpose of this post, however, let’s pretend it’s Friday and the weekend ...
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Seville oranges, halfway to being marmalade

Bitter. Oh, so bitter. Yet intensely fragrant. A fruit of perfect balance.

That’s the calling card of the Seville orange (Citrus aurantium), also known as the sour orange or bigarade. Its fleeting season, a scant few weeks in the dead of winter, makes this fruit’s appearance at markets a much-anticipated event.

With thick, pockmarked, and highly fragrant skin ...
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Sweet corn soup shooters

Here’s the scene: People are arriving at your cocktail party on an icy January evening. The biting wind has driven the temperature down to a frigid –20°C. Guests unwind scarves from their necks, shake out their hair from the confines of toques, and sling their bulky long coats over the entryway banister before entering the dining area while ...
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Pastéis de nata (Portuguese custard tarts)

I say “natas”; you say “custard tarts.” We’re both right and they’re one of the simplest, most delicious pastries around. You’ll find a little history behind this popular sweet and tasting notes on natas from some Toronto bakeries in my “A Tart for All-Comers” piece published over at TasteT.O. this ...
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