Folks Gotta Eat

Folks Gotta Eat tag:www.folksgottaeat.com,2010-03-14://7 2012-04-16T00:22:49Z Movable Type 4.35-en Kale pesto for the win tag:www.folksgottaeat.com,2012://7.2818 2012-04-14T13:29:58Z 2012-04-16T00:22:49Z

Shana Hillman

Hello readers, sorry for the long absence, work has kind of exploded for me recently. It's good, exciting work - just a very busy time of year. However through this I've been dedicated to menu planning for the week and cooking as many healthy meals as possible. This is what is helping me keep my sanity, well this and riding my bicycle which makes me feel invincible. To aid in this effort we've resumed our service with Mama Earth Organics. A local company that delivers organic and local produce and other items once a week.

I think I've mentioned before that the Hubs is a bit of a picky eater. He's made huge gains since we've met. My greatest triumph is that one of his favourite vegetables is kale. Mama Earth allows you customize your box weekly for a small ($2) charge so I've been making sure our box is loaded with kale, chard and spinach every week.

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We love kale as a salad like this delicious one from Cubits Organics, as a hash with potatoes and paprika and simply sauteed with garlic and heaped along side just about anything.

Then I read a recent article that suggests that people who eat a healthy diet with "magnesium-rich foods such as green leafy vegetables, nuts, beans and whole grains," have a lower stroke risk. Turns out lead author Susanna Larsson and her colleagues at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm combed through research databases spanning the last 45 years to find studies that tracked how much magnesium people ate and how many of them had a stroke over time. For every extra 100 milligrams of magnesium a person ate per day, their risk of an ischemic stroke -- the most common kind, typically caused by a blood clot -- fell by nine percent.

With a history of stroke in Hubs' family as if we need an excuse to eat more kale!

One of our favourite ways to eat kale is as a pesto. This pesto is amazing on paninis and sandwiches, with pasta or on a pizza. Unlike basil pesto it keeps it's bright green colour when exposed to air or heat. It's also delicious tossed with boiled baby new potatoes. You can eat them hot or at room temperature like a potato salad. I've made this pesto with curly green, dinosaur and even red Russian kale and other than the colour they all taste basically the same and make a delicious pesto.

Kale Pesto

1 bunch kale of your choice

2 large garlic cloves - I used 2 massive cloves of Music garlic from Stratford Ontario

1 packed cup of flat leaf parsley leaves

½ cup lightly toasted walnuts - if you are allergic to nuts sunflower seeds work in a pinch

zest of one lemon

1 cup grated hard cheese - parmesan would be typical but I used some of Monforte Dairy's Toscano which is an aged hard sheep's milk cheese similar to a pecorino.

Olive oil - I used about ½ cup but I like my pesto on the drier side which is good for spreading on pizza crusts and sammies and I'll thin it out with pasta water when I make pasta.

Toast your nuts or seeds in a dry pan. Wash and dry your kale and parsley, in your food processor chop greens with garlic and then with the machine running drizzle in olive oil until the pesto comes together. Then blend in lemon zest and cheese.

This pesto also freezes wonderfully, just load it into freezer bags, push out all the air and stack in the freezer.

]]> Garden plannin' tag:www.folksgottaeat.com,2012://7.2811 2012-03-08T11:00:00Z 2012-03-18T01:37:04Z

Last Saturday I headed for one of the Toronto Seedy Saturday events, this one held at Scadding Court Community Centre which might be one of the finest examples of an amazingly diverse and well used community centre I have ever...

Shana Hillman Photo courtesy Shana Hillman

]]> These are just my purchases from the last weekend - I'm still waiting on a mail order of chile seeds and then there is all the seed l saved from last season.

Yikes! I think maybe I've overdone it a bit?

I don't start any seedlings in our house - we don't have an area or space near a window with good light where I could do this. Eventually I'd like to set up a little grow light and seedling station in the basement laundry room but until then I direct sow everything in the garden and buy things like tomatoes as plants.

It's not too late to check out a Seedy Saturday (or Sunday) event yourself.

Here are the rest of the Toronto events:

Toronto East, Evergreen Brickworks

550 Bayview Avenue, Saturday, March 10th 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Scarborough, Heron Park Recreation Centre

292 Manse Road, Saturday March 17th 12:00 noon to 4:00 p.m.

North York , Lawerence Heights Community Centre

5 Replin Avenue, Sunday March 25th 1:00 to 5:00 p.m.

Not in Toronto? Click here for a listing of Seedy events across Canada.

I'm now deep in planning for next season. I'm doing research on crop rotation, there are catalogues to study and fold over page corners in and I'm drawing terribly not to scale maps of the yard and our garden beds in a notebook.

I've been going through my photos from last summer and making notes on things I should change up this season. Here is the garden in late August. I really need to take these photos from the bathroom window on the second floor - you can't see the full scope of the yard and all the containers on the patio.

My first goal for this year is to get some real tomato cages. The wimpy bamboo stakes I used last year crumpled under the weight of the fruit. Plus I need to do a better job pruning said tomato plants. I also need find more opportunities to take advantage of vertical space as space is at such a premium in our yard. I'll need to make at least one other trellis and train more things to grow up the fence.

What are you planning for your garden this season? Got advice on crop rotation? Will you be heading to a Seedy Saturday/Sunday event? Let us know in the comments below.

Some of my favourite seed suppliers:

Cubits Organics - a great local seed company

Solana Seeds - a Quebec seed company that has the best variety of hot pepper and chile seeds I've found - I will have an amazing variety of peppers this year!

Urban Harvest - another great local Toronto seed company, they also sell plants and seedlings at farmers markets around the city in the spring. I buy all my tomato seedlings from them.

]]> Roasted Parmesan Green Beans tag:www.folksgottaeat.com,2012://7.2802 2012-03-03T11:00:00Z 2012-02-23T05:04:19Z

Shana Hillman Photo courtesy of Shana Hillman

Pinterest awhile back. I'm a visual person and so being able to pin images on a virtual bulletin board is so much easier than bookmarking page after page and not remembering what any of them are. This was one of the first recipes I pinned. Green beans are one of my favourite vegetables. Plus the Hubs and I have taken to having Sunday afternoon dates and one of our favourite activities is seeing a film at the TIFF Bell Lightbox and then having an early supper at their Canteen restaurant (yes we're practically seniors). One of our favourite things on the menu is the parmesan frites that come with the steak or burger. That tiny dusting of freshly grated parmesan is just magic.

]]> This is a super quick and easy side dish that tastes amazing. Maybe even better than the parmesan frites - maybe. They are a great accompaniment to a grilled steak or along side a shredded braised tomato pot roast served over polenta. I can't wait for summer when we've got fresh beans in the garden because they'll taste even better.

Roasted Parmesan Green Beans

Adapted from Skinny Taste (I use more cheese and oil so I'm guessing mine are not exactly diet food)

About a pound of green beans, trimmed and dry (or else the oil and seasonings won't stick)

1 tablespoon olive oil

fresh ground pepper

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

3 tablespoons fresh grated parmesan

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper for easy clean-up because you are lazy and never do the dishes but you like to be nice to the Hubs who does all the clean up because you do all the cooking.

Toss green beans in oil and season with pepper and garlic powder.

Spread beans out on the cookie sheet so that they all lay flat and place on the top rack of your oven. Bake 10 minutes, shake the pan to turn beans over; bake another 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with grated parmesan.

]]> Cure it yourself tag:www.folksgottaeat.com,2012://7.2808 2012-02-26T12:00:00Z 2012-02-23T05:05:23Z

Shana Hillman Photo courtesy of Shana Hillman

Porknography dinner as part of the Rusholme Park Supper Club people have asking where they could find Guanciale. The truth is I live in Corso Italia and I'll be damned if I can find it in any of our neighbourhood shops. I think the easiest way to get your hands on some would be to cure it yourself. But if you're having a hard time finding pork cheeks pancetta makes a great substitution. Back in the early days of Folks Gotta Eat I did a series of posts on making pancetta at home. Home-curing is seriously easy and I've been making my own pancetta on a regular basis ever since.

]]> Having a stash of pancetta in the fridge or freezer is a great staple. With some eggs and cheese you can make pasta carbonara in the same time it would take to order a pizza. I use cubes of pancetta to start my tomato sauces, to saute with kale and garlic, and to start lentil, white bean and minestrone soups.

So let's start from the beginning:

Pancetta: home-cured goodness

Early proof that the Hubs is insanely long suffering. Plus proof that Silence of the Lambs and scary serial killers are comedic gold.

Get your pancetta on

Instructions for making your own cure, sourcing ingredients, wet curing, rolling and hanging your pork bellies. A link to a great video showing you how to roll your pancetta and information about nitrates - to use pink salt or not?

Shana's big pancetta reveal

Your pancetta is ready - now what? Plus a fantastic recipe for a spinach and mushroom salad with a warm pancetta dressing.

So now that I've got pancetta mastered who's interested in trying another home cured meat with me? What should be next - the elusive Guanciale? Or maybe a nice Bresaola? Let me know in the comments and let's cure together!

]]> Soup Sisters tag:www.folksgottaeat.com,2012://7.2810 2012-02-23T11:00:00Z 2012-02-25T18:54:23Z

Shana Hillman Photo courtesy of Shana Hillman

On a cold and blustery Monday night in early February I was invited to attend a unique event on behalf of my day job. After work I made my way down to the fantastic Great Cooks on Eight cooking studio next to the old Arcadian Court in the flag ship location of the Hudson's Bay on Queen Street for "Soup Sisters".

Soup Sisters was founded in 2009 by Calgarian Sharon Hapton who had a very simple belief in the power of soup "as a nurturing and nourishing gesture that could make a tangible difference". Hapton believed that two of societies most prevalent issues, domestic abuse and youth homelessness would benefit from the care and warmth that comes in a bowl of soup. Delicious homemade soup is now being delivered to 20 residential shelters across the country.

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From the Soup Sisters website:

Hundreds of people come together across the country to produce over 8,000 servings of fresh and delicious soups for women and children each month. Since March of 2009, over 60,000 containers of soup have been delivered to shelters from coast to coast, and there is a growing network of 4,500 Soup Sisters participants across the country.

The concept is simple. Soup Sisters (and they even have Broth Brothers groups for men who want to get involved) local chapters run regular programs where participants pay a $50 registration fee to participate in a soup-making event at a local professional kitchen under the guidance of a chef facilitator. Each event produces approximately 150-200 servings of soup that are delivered fresh to local shelters. Events are social evenings filled with lively conversation, recipe and skills sharing, chopping, laughter and warm kitchen camaraderie that culminates in a simple, sit-down supper of soup, salad, bread and wine for all participants.

The people that come to Soup Sisters vary - on my first night there was a group of girlfriends who wanted a ladies night out and a corporate group from Starbucks Finance Department there as a team building activity.

The Great Cooks on Eight Toronto Satellite location provides soup to Red Door Family Shelter, Redwood and most recently the YWCA Toronto and our 1st Stop Woodlawn Shelter.

1st Stop gives women 16 years of age and older who are homeless or in immediate crisis free shelter and support. We provide on-site trauma and mental health support, addictions counselling, parent support and employment counselling, as well as basic necessities upon arrival (ex. toiletries, diapers, clothing). Through our career services and counselling programs, women get out of crisis and move on to independence and safety.

Everyone is divided into groups. This is my groups station. We are making sweet potato, corn and red pepper soup. We're given the recipe and under the direction of the Chefs and volunteer facilitators get down to business breaking down a huge pile of sweet potatoes, onion and peppers.

Getting our instructions and learning about the shelters that will benefit from the groups efforts. I hate public speaking but this crowd was so welcoming I completely forgot. You can also see some of the other stations ready to go.

That's a whole lot of butternut squash to fill those huge pots. Cooking on that scale is to say the least - challenging. I'm used to making my biggest pot of soup and it feeds the Hubs and I for a week. But these pots are massive. Thankfully these professional cooktops are up for the job!

Overseeing the enormous pot of minestrone.

Removing the Bay leaves from the Moroccan Red Lentil soup.

While we are cooking our soup the studio is transformed for our dinner.

For dinner we get to sample Spicy Jamaican Pumpkin Soup. It's one of their signature recipes and for good reason. It is amazing. No wonder it's requested by the kitchen staff and residents at 1st Stop!

By the time we've finished our dinner the soup is finished cooking and it's time to pack it up.

All soup is labeled with ingredients and groups come up with names for their teams - my favourite was the group who named themselves The Spice Moms.

This is about half the soup packed, it will be delivered to the shelters the next morning and be eaten or distributed by lunch!

The amazing and dedicated Soup Sisters volunteers and chefs from Great Cooks on Eight who make the events run so smoothly. Thank you all for a great evening.

I even talked the chefs into sharing their recipe for the pumpkin soup (actually it wasn't hard all participants were given a CD with all the recipes at the end of the night).

You have to make it. It's vegetarian, would convert easily to vegan and with it's spice and lime will make you feel fantastic.

Spicy Jamaican Pumpkin Soup

Correction - I'd originally said the Jamaican Pumpkin Soup recipe came from the folks at Great Cooks on Eight but in fact the recipe is courtesy of Christine Cushing, Cookbook Author and host of Fearless in the Kitchen.

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp butter (25 ml)

1 Tbsp olive oil (15 ml)

2 large shallots, chopped

2 green onions, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 bay leaves

3 sprigs fresh thyme

1/8 tsp ground allspice

¼ fresh scotch bonnet chile, chopped (or chipotle chile)

4 cups chicken stock (1 L)

to taste salt & freshly cracked black pepper

1 lb Caribbean pumpkin (about 4 cups chopped) or butternut squash

Juice of half a lime

½ cup coconut milk, optional (125 ml)

1. In a large pot, heat butter and olive oil on medium high. Add shallots, green onions, carrot, celery and garlic and sauté until soft and just golden.

2. Add remaining ingredients, except lime juice and coconut milk.

3. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer, covered, for about 45 minutes or until pumpkin is tender. Season the soup with salt and pepper.

4. With a hand blender, purée until smooth. Return to medium heat and bring to boil.

5. Add the lime and coconut milk and simmer for a few minutes to develop flavour.

You can make this soup anytime Jamaican pumpkin is available. It can usually be found at Caribbean specialty stores or markets. You can also use hard winter squashes like butternut squash as a substitute. Take it is easy on the Scotch bonnet chile. It's smoking hot!

]]> Porknography tag:www.folksgottaeat.com,2012://7.2807 2012-02-19T18:00:41Z 2012-02-20T16:07:10Z

Shana Hillman Photo courtesy of Shana Hillman

Valentines Day itself was a bit of a low key affair around our house (it being a weeknight and all) I still wanted to do something special for the Hubs. He puts up with a lot of crap from me and these hounds so he deserves nice things. Recently we've been more and more disinterested in buying stuff for each other. We bought a small house on purpose - having a big house would just tempt me to fill it up with crap we don't need. So our gift giving of late has focussed on more experiences we can share together. These types of gifts are so much better, the wine tastings, knife skills classes and trips to festivals and the things we learn from them last far longer than a bottle of perfume or a sweater ever could.

]]> Plus it's a chance to spend time together and even if the experience is a bit of a bust we'll at least have a funny story to share just the two of us.

I took to the internet to find the perfect Valentines gift for the Hubs and quickly remembered a series of dinners being offered just down the street from us at The Depanneur.

The Depanneur's website states simply that they are "a place where interesting food things happen."

The name dépanneur comes from the French verb dépanner, meaning "to help out of difficulty" or "troubleshoot" and is the name for convenience store in the province of Quebec. It's usually shortened to "Dep" and it's worth mentioning that unlike here in Ontario the Quebec convenience stores can sell beer and wine. During University we'd road trip to visit friends attending McGill University in Montreal and it was such a novelty to be able to go to the local "Dep" and feel badass buying French Canadian beers like La Fin Du Monde (end of the world) and Maudite (damned) partly for their names and partly for the pictures on their labels.

The Depanneur was once a ratty neighbourhood convenience store so the name is a nice play and no doubt provides nostalgia for folks like me and Montreal ex-pats. A cafe, brunch spot and upscale mini grocer featuring things like local organic veggies and handcrafted marshmallows by day The Dep is also the home of the Rusholme Park Supper Club by night. From their facebook page:

Dinners are served at meetings of the Rusholme Park Supper Club. To attend a meeting, you first become a member -- RPSC memberships cost $40 and include the cost of the meal. Memberships are valid for one day -- you renew your membership each time you wish to attend. No alcohol is bought, sold or served at meetings of the RPSC, but members are free to bring their own beverage of choice.

I just loved the underground nature of the Supper Club and when I saw the description of the next meeting it was a match made in heaven. Porknography - because nothing says love to your man like an all pork meal cooked up by the award-winning competitive BBQ team Pork Ninjas!

When we arrived the store was transformed with a long table stretching down the space that seated 20. We got there a tad late but that meant we got to sit right down at the end by our chefs and had a great view of everything they were doing.

It was all pretty fantastic.

Our First Course was pork cheek 3 ways:

Apple braised pork cheek over delicious creamy grits (seriously we saw them adding heavy whipping cream to finish them) and chive oil

Guanciale* Carbonara on an edible parmesan spoon

Guanciale Brushetta on brioche

*Guanciale is an unsmoked Italian bacon made from a pig's cheek or jowls.

I still can't decide if the pasta or the pork cheek and grits were my favourite. The Carbonara was creamier than any I've ever made at home but those braised cheeks were excellent. Tender, sweet and with an amazing edge of the nicest snow white fat. These cheeks came from happy pigs alright and I sure was a happy pig eating them!

Here is Jason Rees of the Pork Ninjas putting together the main course - a trio of their pulled pork sandwiches - their competition style sweet sauced pork, a vinegary North Carolina version and my favourite a South Carolina style with a mustard based sauce. Hubs and I just love mustard. I will seriously dream of this sauce. If the Pork Ninjas sold it I'd buy it and pour it on everything!

The pulled pork sliders were served with amazing coleslaw that had a nice spicy kick from Sriracha sauce and some smoked mac and cheese.

At this point I was fading. I did perhaps the smartest thing I'd done all evening and started discarding the top buns from my sliders because I had to leave room for dessert!

Because I had spied these adorable bad boys sitting off to the side waiting for us.

Chocolate Piggy Cupcakes made with rendered bacon grease instead of oil, dark chocolate cranberry stout with some candied bacon scattered throughout the batter.

Here is my cupcake served along side homemade candied bacon cheesecake ice cream and then off to the side a square of chocolate and peanut butter that was wrapped in bacon and roasted off. My father is a big fan of bacon and peanut butter sandwiches and it is a great, if pretty salty pairing.

Another of the guests was even nice enough to share with us some of the same chocolate cranberry stout from Muskoka Brewery that was in the cupcakes. What a great label design eh?

When dinner was over we literally had to stagger out of there. In hindsight jeggings were likely the wrong choice of what to wear. But what a great night. We had interesting conversations with our table mates, ate great food and learned about the competitive BBQ circuit.

We can't wait to renew our memberships for the Rusholme Park Supper Club and see what future meetings have in store. However this might be a pretty hard act to follow!

Do you have any underground supper clubs or similar in your city? I'd love to hear about them in the comments area below.

]]> Brown and Wild Rice Pilaf tag:www.folksgottaeat.com,2012://7.2799 2012-02-18T12:00:00Z 2012-02-13T01:49:31Z

Shana Hillman Photo courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons and Whitneyinchicago

pantry challenge? It was super successful. I got linked to by Tracy of Shutterbean herself and the Homefries blog and we got a lot of new readers and comments. But then of course my somewhat naughty sounding title led to an onslaught of spammers of the X-rated kind. Doh. Anyway the pantry makeover was also successful in opening my eyes to all the good stuff I had right under my nose (and for pointing out some of my obsessive shopping habits but I digress). I've since been dedicated to eating things in the pantry and I'm not allowing myself to buy anything new until I've checked to see what's in the pantry and if anything we've already got could be used instead. For example if I want to make homemade Mac n' Cheese and we are out of elbow macaroni I am not allowed to go to the store when there is perfectly usable penne in the pantry.]]>

I also found some kinda pricey ingredients in the pantry that I guess I was saving for a "special occasion". What that special occasion is I have no idea. We had a jar of dried porcini and wild mushrooms and some great wild rice that I'd forgotten all about. So I decided there was no time like the present to use these things because if I kept waiting for "special occasion" the things would go bad first and THAT would be a real waste.

Wild rice is not really a rice at all but the seed of an aquatic grass. It grows in the shallow lakes and rivers of Saskatchewan, Manitoba and northwestern Ontario. Unlike much of the cultivated or paddy-grown American wild rice, Canadian harvests focus on rice grown organically in natural bodies of water. Wild rice is a challenging crop to grow and is not suitable for large-scale production. No wonder it's the most expensive type of rice.

Wild rice has a chewy texture and a nutty flavour that lends itself to game and poultry. Though expensive, wild rice triples in volume when cooked. I like to get my wild rice from Forbes Wild Foods at various farmers markets around town, it's about $9 a package. I mix it into long grain brown rice to make it go even further.

Wild rice is easily digestible, high in fibre and protein (double that of brown rice) and a rich source of vitamin B, iron, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, calcium, phosphorous and carbohydrate. Plus it's gluten-free.

It's nutty earthiness lends itself well to the mushrooms, thyme and garlic in this pilaf. I served it along side a roast chicken, braised leeks and some parmesan roasted green beans (recipes coming soon I promise) and it was perfect for soaking up all the juices of the leeks and chicken.

Brown and Wild Rice Pilaf with Mushrooms

1 ½ cups brown rice

½ cup wild rice

3 tbsps of butter

3 tablespoons of olive oil

½ cup dried mushrooms (I used a wild and porcini mix also from Forbes)

4 cups assorted fresh sliced mushrooms (I used a mix of cremini and shiitakes)

3 or 4 big fat garlic cloves crushed in a garlic press

1 tbsp of fresh thyme, chopped

1 tsp salt

black pepper to taste

about 4 cups water

Put dried mushrooms in a bowl and cover with boiling water to rehydrate. I used about ¾ of a cup of water.

Melt half the butter and olive oil over medium high heat in a deep heavy pot. I used my IKEA enameled cast iron Dutch Oven for this. Saute mushrooms, garlic and thyme until browned - remove from pot and set aside.

Melt the remaining butter and oil in the mushroomy pot, add rices and cook until toasted and golden brownish.

Return sautéed mushrooms to pot and mix into rice.

Drain off dried mushrooms reserving their tea - mind the very bottom for sand or grit. Add water to the mushroom tea until you have 4 cups total. Add liquid to rice and mushrooms and bring to a boil.

Cook uncovered for 10 minutes then cover pot, turn down to the lowest setting and allow to simmer/steam for approximately 30 minutes until all water is absorbed and rice is tender.

Leftovers make a great cold salad with toasted pecans, chopped apple, celery, fresh parsley and dried cranberries. Serve over baby spinach and you've got a great lunch to take to work.

]]> Cold weather comfort tag:www.folksgottaeat.com,2012://7.2798 2012-02-12T19:00:00Z 2012-02-18T00:36:30Z

Shana Hillman Photo courtesy of Shana Hillman

There is nothing better than gratin anything. A quick inventory of the kitchen and I discovered we still had a few of the potatoes we dug at my parents on Thanksgiving left. I had also gotten some gorgeous leeks from my favourite vendor, Highmark Farms, at the Wychwood Barns Farmers Market Saturday morning. Those Highmark boys are super charming and cute - so who am I to resist their leeks? I also found a fennel bulb in the fridge that was looking for a home. A quick internet search (potato, leek, fennel) and I had a recipe. We had some good aged Ontario cheddar in the cheese drawer and even some whipping cream I had bought to make dessert so I was good to go.

Potato Gratin with Caramelized Fennel and Leek

Recipe just barely adapted from Modern Beet

1 large fennel bulb, trimmed, cored, and any bruised outer leaves removed sliced as thinly as possible

2 leeks, white and light green parts only, sliced thinly

1 tablespoon olive oil

butter for pan

4 medium potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped

Fresh cracked pepper

1/2 cup grated old cheddar - I used Balderson's 3 year old.

1/2 cup grated parmesan

Approximately 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Heat olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat then add the fennel and leek and stir to coat. Reduce heat to low and cook until fennel and leeks are caramelized, about 40 minutes, stirring every now and then to prevent burning.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter the bottom and sides of a baking dish (I use a medium sized oval pyrex that looks nice enough I can serve from it at the table). Grate and mix the two cheeses together.

When fennel and leeks are caramelized, assemble the gratin: layer 1/3 of the potatoes in the baking dish, overlapping slightly; sprinkle with pepper. Spoon half of the fennel and leek mixture over potatoes and spread evenly.

Cover with half the cheese and sprinkle with half the thyme.

Repeat for one more layer. Top with remaining potatoes.

Sprinkle remaining grated cheese over gratin, then pour in enough cream so that the liquid is at the same level as the top of the potatoes.

Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until top is golden and gratin is fork tender. Enjoy!

You'll notice the drips down the side of my pan, I'd recommend setting your pan on a cookie sheet to catch drips or else you'll have a heck of a mess on the floor of your oven, a bunch of smoke in the house and an opportunity to test your fire alarms like we did. Yeah it's always exciting here at Casa Hillman. The beagles are even giving me stink eye for waking them up from their post snow frolic.

What are you making on this cold and blustery weekend?

]]> Feel better granola tag:www.folksgottaeat.com,2012://7.2796 2012-02-05T14:00:00Z 2012-02-17T23:42:46Z

Shana Hillman Photo courtesy of Shana Hillman

Cancer is a goddamn bitch. Right now I have two friends at either end of the cancer spectrum. One is undergoing radiation treatments for breast cancer (thankfully caught early and with a great prognosis) and other who has been years cancer free but who's thyroid might have called it quits - an unfortunate side effect of the radiation treatments that helped save her from lymphoma years ago.

Both these friends are very committed to their health. They've never smoked. They eat well - local, organic, vegan even. They exercise, cycle and walk everywhere, practice yoga and tap dance, which makes it all even more unfair.

]]> We've been talking a lot about diet lately and my friends are stepping up their good habits all the more. Eating a rainbow of colours daily, tons of whole grains and more kale than you can shake a stick at.

Then this week our gorgeous girl Penny Lane had to go to the vet for a biopsy on a lump in her dog armpit (I'm sure there is a technical term for this part of her anatomy - but I don't know what it is so armpit it is). We will get the results next week but until then I'm chewing down my nails.

Normally in bad times I fall back on food - comfort food, rich, creamy, bad for you baked goods, potatoes swimming in butter, cream and cheese. When work gets stressful I run to the nearest fast food chain. I make brownies or cookies for friends in times of need. Boys got you down? I can be counted on to show up at your door with ice cream. But what to do when friends are worried about their health and more committed than ever to clean eating? What to make when eating right is top of mind?

I figured a batch of my homemade granola might do the trick. It's filled with good fats from the flax and other seeds, vegan because I traded the usual melted butter for olive oil, sweetened naturally with raw honey and maple syrup and the dried cherries and cinnamon are bursting with antioxidants. Did you know that cinnamon has more antioxidants than many so-called antioxidant foods, ounce-for-ounce? For example, one teaspoon of cinnamon has as much antioxidant capacity as a full cup of pomegranate juice or a half-cup of blueberries.

It might be simple minded or naïve of me to think a little jar of cereal is solve anything but I hope at the very least I can bring a smile and moment of healthy decadence to all our mornings.

Shana's Feel Better Granola

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

¾ cup almonds, coarsely chopped (I used a mix of raw almonds and roasted salted marcona almonds I had to serve with drinks during the holidays - they are fattier and to me taste closer to a macadamia nut)

½ cup raw sunflower seeds

½ cup flax seeds

¼ cup sesame seeds

½ cup shredded coconut

¼ cup good cooking olive oil - this isn't the place for green and grassy tasting extra virgin olive oil you'd use as a bread dipper or in salad dressing but you don't want to use crap either - use a good oil you'd cook with

¼ cup honey - I used the last of the Ontario goldenrod honey we got at the Savour Stratford Festival

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1 tsp ground Saigon cinnamon

For serving:

½ cup dried apricots, chopped

1 cup dried sour cherries if you can't find them or find them too expensive dried cranberries are a good substitute

Directions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a large bowl, combine oats, almonds, seeds, coconut, oil, honey and syrup; mix well to coat.

Spread on a parchment-lined cookie sheet (this prevents sticking and makes clean up a breeze) or two in an even layer.

Bake until the oats are lightly golden, approximately 30 minutes, stirring halfway through. Cool the granola completely on the sheet, stirring it around a couple times so it doesn't stick together (it hardens as it cools). Mix in dried fruit and store in jars at room temperature for up to 3 weeks.

Saigon Cinnamon

Native of Vietnam, Saigon Cinnamon contains the highest percentage of essential oil so its flavor is much stronger and sweeter than traditional Ceylon cinnamon. With more essential oil it's both spicy and intensely sweet and I figure has even more of the good antioxidants. Chunks of the whole bark are used to flavour the broth of Vietnamese Pho soups. I get mine from Spice Trader here in Toronto which sells organic herbs and spices.

]]> Fantastic Quince tag:www.folksgottaeat.com,2012://7.2795 2012-01-31T03:07:02Z 2012-01-31T04:16:52Z

Shana Hillman

I love quince, they're like uber floral pears. Or what I imagine the love child of a pear and a lychee would taste like. They can be a bear to find but Whole Foods (or Whole Paycheck) is a reliable source and my predominately Portuguese/ Italian neighbourhood has them at many of the fruit markets in the late fall and early winter.

The quince tree is thought to originate from Iran and only grows in warm climates. Quince was once considered a symbol of love, fertility and as such was a ritual offering at weddings. The Romans appreciated its essential oils and used it to make perfume.

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They are most often used to make preserves and jellies now. The amazing Membrillo paste served with Manchego cheese in Spain is made from quince.

The flesh of the quince is generally too hard and astringent to eat raw and must be poached before it can be used. Seriously try a raw slice - it will be like some mythological creature just sucked all the moisture out of your mouth. But the sourness disappears with cooking and the fruit holds it's shape wonderfully.

I like to poach quince and keep them on hand to eat with yogurt or if I want to make a quick tart or tarte tatin. The slices are also wonderful mixed into a regular apple pie. It will be the best apple pie you've ever had and no one will quite be able to figure out why.

Like pears, quince ripen from the inside out, so you should look for quince that are still quite green and firm with a little fuzz. You can let them ripen in a bowl on the table - they'll fill the house with a wonderful smell and you'll know why the Romans liked them. When they are a light yellowish green they are perfect. If you wait until they are fully yellow like I did they'll poach really quickly and won't take on the stunning ruby red or pink colour. I was upset mine didn't turn pink so I pleased to find out via the intranets that they were still good - they just wouldn't be turning pink.

I also used up the last of my amazingly flavourful Ontario goldenrod honey I got at the Savour Stratford Festival. Since the honey is the only real flavouring I'm using this is where you want to use the best honey you can get your hands on.

Poached Quince

Recipe adapted - just barely from David Lebovitz

5 cups water

1/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup honey

1/2 lemon, quartered

4 large, or 6 medium, quince

Mix the water, sugar, honey and lemon in a large pot and turn it on to medium-to-high heat.

While the liquid is heating, quarter, peel, and remove the cores of the quince. Make sure to removed anything tough or fibrous, being very careful with the knife as quince are very hard. This is not the place to use a dull knife - a dull knife and a rock hard quince could spell disaster of the finger kind.

Simmer the quince (do not boil) for at least an hour, until the quince are cooked through.

Cooking time will vary, depending on the quince. They're done when they are cooked through, which you can verify by piercing one with the tip of a sharp knife. Mine cooked very quickly but as I said I'd let them ripen on the table a tad too long.

To store, pour the quince and their liquid into a large jar or container and refrigerate. Quince will last as long as they are submerged in the poaching liquid for a couple of weeks.

The honey/quince poaching liquid or syrup is also delicious drizzled over crepes or added to a glass of Prosecco.

]]> Pantry porn tag:www.folksgottaeat.com,2012://7.2791 2012-01-22T22:00:00Z 2012-01-27T12:52:00Z

Shana Hillman Photo courtesy of Shana Hillman

HomeFries Media while I commute and one of their contributors is Tracy from Shutterbean. I've linked to her recipes before - she gave me the ratio for my homemade granola bars and I think every recipe I've ever tried from her site has been delicious. Then they issued a pantry challenge and I physically recoiled from my computer screen and glanced nervously at my own pantry. Behind the door was a dirty secret. Does anyone remember the Friends episode where Chandler discovers neat freak Monica's secret closet? That was kind of like our pantry.

]]> In a moment of bravery I give you our before pantry:

Look at this. Can you see how there are things balanced on top of jars? Ready and waiting to fall over and smash on our ceramic tile floors, preferably when I'm in bare feet and surrounded by adorable beagles who will cut their tiny paws? Bags of bulk purchases flopped on top of other jars? Everything thrown in there all willy nilly with no reasoning?

Yeah I needed to do something about this and stat!

The first step was to make a big pot of coffee and the next was to haul everything out of the pantry. You'd think this is everything but no big items are all stacked on our dining room table (of which I forgot to take a photo of but I think you get the point).

I guess it has to get worse before it gets better right?

Fun facts about what I discovered once everything was taken out and I'd scrubbed out the cupboards:

we have five kinds of salt (table, kosher, sea, pink Himalayan and Sel Gris from Brittany)
I had bought at three different times three different silver sprinkles for baking and they are all unopened
We have three boxes of couscous (Israeli, whole wheat and regular) and I can't remember the last time I made couscous
a huge jar of popping corn (our hot air popper caught fire in our rental and went in the garbage so I obviously paid a mover to move that corn to this house almost two years ago)
we have cardamon pods, seeds and ground cardamon

You can shake your head. I did.

Yes that is a Jiffy brand corn meal muffin mix. I might make most everything from scratch these days (even taco seasoning) but Jiffy cannot be beat for quick corn bread or even cornmeal pancakes. I have a friend who brings me boxes of it from south of the border in Buffalo where it's 3 boxes for a dollar at the Dollar Store. I know this is all that is wrong with cheap food but I can't help myself. It's one of my few weaknesses left. I also use it to make a childhood favourite breakfast - Johnny Cake. Which is really just warm cornbread topped with butter and syrup. It's awesome.

I'm sad to report a ton of stuff went in the garbage and compost. Expired things, the popping corn, all the little half used packages of sodium filled packaged taco seasoning.

2 hours later and here is the after:

The top shelf is all spices in matching tiny jam jars, the next three shelves are all my nuts, dried fruits, baking supplies, pastas, grains, beans and all the little jars of fancy jams and things we got as Christmas gifts. The fourth shelf is more baking supplies (including the FOUR bags of icing sugar I unearthed - apparently I'm planning on making a lot of icing in the future?) and finally the bottom shelf is all my oils, vinegars, Asian sauces and some jarred goods.

And here is the open shelving where we keep all the big stuff, flour, pastas, quinoa and lentils.

We'll discuss the state of all the crap that I've got hanging on the side of fridge at another date....but in the meantime here is a closeup:

On the top left you'll see all my Indian spices from one of my favourite Toronto companies Arvinda's who make wonderful spice blends with local Stratford, Ontario garlic. I use their blends making soups, curries and even as rubs on grilled meat and vegetables. They also offer some excellent cooking classes. I took one offered at the LCBO (that's our liquor store dear American readers) it was so informative and delicious and we learned about pairing drinks to spicy food. I can't recommend them enough.

Anyway it's a bit like pantry porn isn't it? You can't tell but all the spice jars are labeled on top too. I just wanted to sit in front of it all afternoon and look at it's beauty. Instead since I could clearly see all that I have at my finger tips I made some of my homemade granola with dried cherries and almonds.

Now I'm going to sit back and admire this pantry some more until next weekend when I'll clean out our fridge AKA where condiments go to die.

Will you be taking the pantry challenge? Do you have a secret closet or cupboard of shame in your house? Please share in the comments - misery loves company after all!

]]> Talking turkey (parts) tag:www.folksgottaeat.com,2012://7.2784 2012-01-06T11:00:00Z 2012-01-27T12:54:17Z

Shana Hillman Photo courtesy of Shana Hillman

turkey. I also love a bargain. So when I saw our local grocery store had chopped up all their expensive free-range turkeys into less expensive pieces to try and get rid of them after the holidays I had to snap up a whole pile. Wings will be perfect slow roasted in a sticky sauce and scarfed in front of the TV. Drumsticks will make great stock or I'm kind of tempted to try making big roasted "Caveman Pops" like Pioneer Woman. Usually the drumsticks can be tough (even more so on the free-range birds who are actually allowed to use their legs!) but I think brining them will solve that problem. But with the thighs I made this amazing and comforting soup with dumplings that cooked so fast it is even great for a weeknight meal. ]]>

One of our New Years resolutions was to make sure the meat that we do eat is treated well, raised right and killed with dignity. But this can be expensive which leads us to resolution two - to eat less meat if it means spending more on the meat we do eat. These turkey pieces were perfect as you all know I'm a big fan of dark meat, braising and using the whole animal.

The original recipe calls for chicken thighs but I think after making both versions several times the turkey one is even better. It is super comforting for cold winter nights and the dumplings are some of the lightest and fluffiest I've ever encountered.

Easy Turkey and Dumpling Soup

Adapted (just barely) from Chow.com

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

2 celery stalks, sliced

2 carrots, thinly sliced

1 large or 2 medium leeks

4 big Ontario garlic cloves, minced

1 carton low-sodium chicken broth (ideally you'll have homemade turkey or chicken stock in your freezer but I was out)

1 pound boneless, skinless turkey thighs, cut into bite-size pieces (this must have been a monster turkey because I only used 2 thighs)

1/2 small head green cabbage, sliced finely (about 6 cups)

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

Dumplings

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup fresh chives, chopped

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup milk

3 tablespoons melted butter

1. Heat oil in a large, shallow pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, leek, celery, carrots and garlic and season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cook until onions and leeks begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add broth and thighs and bring to a boil. Cover, turn down heat and simmer for 20 mins until meat is cooked through and veggies are soft.

2. Meanwhile, whisk together flour, chives, salt (the original recipe called for a TABLESPOON of kosher salt which I'm pretty sure was a typo because it was FAR to salty even the teaspoon I'm using is borderline especially if you are using salted butter - and I love salt), and baking powder in a large bowl to break up any lumps. Stir in milk and melted butter until dough just comes together (it will be very thick).

3. When turkey is cooked through (it will be firm and opaque), add cabbage and parsley and reduce heat to medium low. Add additional salt and pepper if necessary. Cook for another 10 minutes.

4. Once cabbage is soft drop 1 heaping tablespoon of dumpling dough at a time into soup and repeat until all dough has been used. This will pretty much cover the entire top of your pot. Cover and cook until dumplings are fluffy and cooked through, about 10 more minutes.

What is your favourite way to use leftover turkey or turkey parts? What are your food resolutions for 2012? Please share in the comments!

]]> Oops!... I Did it Again tag:www.folksgottaeat.com,2012://7.2785 2012-01-02T14:39:27Z 2012-01-07T17:22:28Z

You might think the title of this post refers to overdoing it on cocktails on New Years Eve (and you'd be partly right) but no I am referring to my almost pathological tendency to over do it when it comes...

Shana Hillman Photo courtesy of dps on Flickr Creative Commons

just in case.

We always host people at our house for New Years Eve. What once was a wild night of revelry has been replaced by more sedate and family friendly affairs. What hasn't changed is our tradition of cheese fondue. Over the years I've switched up the cheeses, done a beer base or white wine but cheese fondue is always a constant.

]]> This year I decided to go with the classic Swiss fondue with Gruyere, Emmental and a splash of kirsch. In addition to several different breads for dipping we had sliced apple, blanched asparagus, cherry tomatoes and fresh snap peas. Of course we also had several hot hors d'ourves, a selection of sushi, assorted charcuterie, salty snacks, fruit, an amazing cheese ball and several other spreads and dips.

We also made fantastic champagne cocktail called a French 75 made from gin, Champagne, lemon juice, and sugar that I read about over on Shutterbean. Wikipedia tells us the drink was created in 1915 at the New York Bar in Paris---by bartender Harry MacElhone. The combination was said to have such a kick that it felt like being shelled with the powerful French 75mm field gun (I thought my Dad would approve!) They were very delicious, you'd never know how much alcohol was in them. I can also attest that the next day I felt like I'd been to war. Thank goodness for the movie channel and a Hubs who covered all the dog walks that day!

Of course there were so many leftovers. My fears of our guests going hungry were unfounded. In fact everyone was so stuffed I didn't even get around to putting out the sweet things! But those leftovers were a lovely treat the next day when I was hungover. After a steady diet of soda water and reheated hors d'ourves all day I finally felt well enough to deal with some of the excess last night. Remember when I wrote just a few days ago about the famous "Wifesaver Breakfast Casserole"? Well I had a ton of our cubed breads (olive and red pepper fougasse, sourdough baguette and some pumpernickel) cheeses (gruyere, emmental, cheddar), asparagus, tomatoes and prosciutto leftover so I heaved them all in. Check out my little helper desperate for me to drop something - I might have fed her the cheese rinds shhhh.

I beat up 8 eggs, a couple of cups of skim milk and a heaping tablespoon of the lovely pesto one of our guests had brought and poured it over. I covered it and popped it into the fridge overnight.

The next day I baked it covered for about 40 minutes and then uncovered for another 10 before letting it rest for 15 minutes before serving.

Wow - how delicious. But unless the stars align and we happen to have all these wonderful components available in the house at the same time it's likely never to be repeated. But we'll sure have fun trying to duplicate it.

How did you spend New Years? Did you need intensive recovery time on New Years Day? Let me know in the comments below.

]]> A great and easy start to 2012 tag:www.folksgottaeat.com,2011://7.2783 2011-12-31T01:00:00Z 2011-12-31T04:18:44Z

Shana Hillman Photo courtesy of Shana Hillman

It has been a lavish, fattening holiday season. I think I've eaten the better part of an entire glazed ham and I've just polished off tin of Cadbury chocolate finger biscuits while uploading my photos for this post.

January 2nd will be a day of reckoning but I do intend to end 2011 with a bang. A bang of the cheese fondue and champagne cocktail variety. Then I will spend New Years day lazing about the house watching marathons of Criminal Minds on A&E in my pajamas or maybe if we're feeling especially spry going to grab Dim Sum and then catching some blockbuster blow 'em up movie with lots of 3D and special effects. Nobody's resolutions actually start on New Years Day. That day is all about recovery and whatever will aid in that. Kale, brown rice and virtue can wait one more day don't you think?

]]> Growing up my mother and many of her friends all made the same breakfast casserole for Christmas morning. I think they all were reading the same magazine or got the recipe from the same person. It was layers of white bread, processed cheese slices and peameal bacon layered in a casserole with an egg and milk mixture poured over it all. It was prepared on Christmas Eve and refrigerated until morning. While us kids opened our stockings Mom would pop it in the oven and an hour later after the presents were opened and we'd struggled to assemble some new toy breakfast was ready with little muss and fuss. I don't remember the exact name but it was something terrible like "housewives helper" or similar*.

I've since borrowed mom's idea and used it to make several upscale breakfast casseroles or stratas. They are perfect for brunches and good for serving a crowd. A little bit of work the evening before and you've got a delicious almost effortless meal the next morning. I've done a goat cheese and asparagus version for a Mother's Day brunch and switching up the breads and cheeses can give you almost limitless options.

We live in Toronto's Corso Italia neighbourhood and all our local grocers are stacked with Panettone at this time of year. It's hard to resist these imported Italian sweet breads - they are often packaged beautifully and look like big presents. Filled with raisins and candied peel and meant to be served in slices with sweet wine to be honest I didn't see the appeal. Despite being lavish with eggs (panettone are made with whole eggs and even extra yolks for good measure!) and butter (to epitomize the richness and generosity of the season) they always seems a bit dry to me. Maybe it's because the ones we get were likely baked months ago, packed and then imported to Canada. Not wanting to waste these relatively expensive breads (we always seem to get at least one as a gift) I discovered they make a fantastic pain perdu or "lost bread" casserole in the style of my mother's old recipe.

I think they look like big mushrooms:

This version of the breakfast casserole is on the sweet side so I serve it with a fruit compote, a baked glazed ham and a green salad with lots of bitter greens for our family's Christmas brunch. It's now become a tradition of our own.

A breakfast casserole like this is are the perfect use for any panettone you have hanging around from the holidays that you don't know what to do with or want to rid yourself of before starting back to work after the holidays.

I think the smartest thing would be for me to whip one of these up before I start indulging on New Years Eve so the next morning I can have something comforting and delicious to nibble at and offer any strays who've crashed over at Casa Hillman the night before. Even in my foggiest state I'll still come across as the hostess with the mostess.

Shana's Panettone Pain Perdu

1 Panettone (cut into 1-2 inch cubes)

8 eggs beaten

1 ½ cups milk

1 cup heavy cream

¼ teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Butter for the pan and more for the top.

Preheat oven to 325. Grease a 9x13 casserole dish. Pack with panettone. Pour egg mixture over, cover with foil and refrigerate over night. In the morning pull out of fridge, dot with more butter (the amount will depend on how you feel), replace foil and bake for approximately 45 minutes until eggs are set up. Remove foil for the last 5-10 minutes to brown up the top. Allow to rest for at least 15 minutes before serving. The eggs will continue cooking. Serve with syrup or a fruit compote. I used rhubarb berry compote I preserved up in the early summer and it was a tart and perfect pairing.

Enjoy your evening and here's to all sorts of delicious treats to come in 2012!

*I was just reminded of the name of the 1970s casserole over on facebook. It was called "Wifesaver Breakfast Casserole" which is funny as breakfast was usually my Dad's domain. I think the only time my mother ever darkened the kitchen in the mornings was to make this once a year dish.

]]> Pimping my Preserves! tag:www.folksgottaeat.com,2011://7.2780 2011-12-13T12:00:00Z 2011-12-13T13:30:26Z

Shana Hillman Photo courtesy of Shana Hillman

fig jam, 12 jars of crab apple jelly and 12 big jars of spicy dill pickles that I could give for gifts come the holiday season. Luckily I am now gainfully employed but really aren't handmade gifts better anyway? Plus preserves also make wonderful hostess gifts.

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To make my gift preserves extra special I also think it's important to decorate or doll up my jars. So I've been collecting bits and bobs of paper and ribbon all year and tucking them into my craft basket in anticipation (yes I'm that person who saves ribbon when you give me a gift).

Those who also know me know how competitive I can be - basically I make Monica from Friends look tame. So when the fantastic folks at Well Preserved announced they were bringing back their Pimp that Preserve contest I knew I had to enter. I then proceeded to twitter taunt friend and fellow blogger Laura from Cubits (she was a finalist last year) that I was going to beat her this year. I'm actually not sure what I like best - winning or the leading up smack talk....I think it might be the smack talk.

If you haven't read Well Preserved you should. Excellent, excellent preserving posts of all kinds - not just jams people but we're also talking fermenting, drying and all sorts of other ways to preserve your food. Plus there are good recipes and ongoing conversation about our food and where it comes from.

So the rules of Pimp that Preserve are simple - embellish, package or otherwise 'dress up' your favourite jar of preserves with anything you like as long as it doesn't damage the contents or break the seal. All photos of entries are shown on the Well Preserved facebook page. So head on over and "Like" them and then have a look at the pictures. You need to "Like" Well Preserved in order to vote but I bet you'll enjoy their community so much it won't be an imposition. There are some awesome ideas from the other contestants - for the preserves and the decorating. I am in wonder at the creativity in the community!

You can vote for me and my pimped preserves by "liking" my photos - there are two. Here is some info on my entries and photos so you know what to look for.

I like to do gift themes each year. Like a couple of years ago almost everyone in my life got a scarf. They came from all over and were all sorts of designs and materials but having chosen the same item for everyone made it life much easier, when shopping I just had to look for scarves and it narrowed down my hunting quite a bit.

This year many of the ladies in my life are getting brooches and such for Christmas - everything from lovely handmade things from local artists and craft shows to vintage sparklers from flea markets and vintage stores.

Plus I had my stash of preserves I'd made for holiday giving so for Pimp That Preserve I've done my fig preserves with red Japanese paper from the Paper Place and these amazing ceramic flower pins that I picked up from artist Julie Moon at the City of Craft event this past weekend. I think her flower pins look almost like the flowers in so many of the Japanese papers and I only wish now I'd bought one for myself!

Then so the boys wouldn't feel left out I got a bunch of these stag buttons from Kid Icarus and packaged up pickled hot peppers from our garden for them with brown paper and some printed masking tape (also from the Paper Place). I think they look very Scandinavian next to the Japanese paper don't you think?

Then to be super glam (because pickles are glamourous!) I did up my spicy garlic dill pickles with leftover yellow wallpaper from our dining room and silver satin ribbon, this one has a vintage bee pin. Insect jewellery was especially popular during the Victorian age and then regained popularity in the 1930-1940s and those later ones are quite reasonable at some of Toronto's antique and vintage shops.

So there we go - it's a handmade Christmas! Now head on over to the Well Preserved facebook page and give one of these photos a like!

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