The Kitchen Operas

Kathakali is the traditional dance of India, and tells the stories of the epics.  Usually Kathakali dances last all night, and take place at the temples for religious festivals.  The cultural centre has set up a show perfect for tourists: you get to see the dancers put on their makeup, they explain the traditions, give a little demo, and then do excerpts of a dance.

We began our South Indian tour with a few days in Goa — India’s smallest state, known for its beaches. We thought it would be a great way to get over the jetlag, and oh it was a perfect plan! Our hotel had fantastic breakfasts — from the morning masala dosa to the buffet laid [...]

Sundays to me are a perfect baking day. You get a baked treat for one of your meals or snacks, and you have leftovers for the rest of the week. There’s nothing like waking up on a dreary & rainy Monday morning and having homemade muffins waiting for you. These are savoury muffins, and a [...]

She’s baaaaaaaaaaaaack, and she’s got a leek: My sister, Heather, and I teamed up with leek “Henry” (apparently named after her car) to create a new veggie pie.  Yes, this is my second veggie pie this week, but sometimes you just need pie. [Heather says: I like pie.] Heather loves mushrooms, and puts them in [...]

This pie is based on my WWII Woolton Pie.  As back during WWII, the British were eating under food rationing, they often made pies with a lid and no bottom crust.  We’ve gotten used to it around here, and do most of our savoury pies with only a top crust.  If you want a double [...]

We’ve been doing a lot of salads around here lately, and it’s been a lot of the same thing over and over again… delicious versions of either our veggie Caesar salad over Romaine or my lemony arugula salad.  But after a while, 2 salad options get a bit tiring, but we still want salad.  So [...]

Remember the Tortilla Scoops with Spicy Nectarine Salsa we made as appetizers for my Pampered Chef party?  Well these are a breakfast version, inspired by the great deliciousness of baking tortillas in a muffin tin, filled with stuff.  I turned these into Tex-Mex breakfast nibbles, by stuffing them with spicy refried beans, sharp old cheddar, [...]

Dear Soup, How do I love thee?  Let me count the ways. 1) You are magic.  Somehow, soup as a whole is always better than the sum of its parts.  You put veggies in a pot with some water, and they come out tasting incredible.  Magic. 2) You make me love winter.  Because who doesn’t [...]

As delicious as the Chanterelle Tortellini Aglio e Olio were, Louise and I decided that we wanted a second stuffed-pasta option.  And so, Butternut Squash Tortellini in a Sage Butter were born: This is a very traditional combination of flavours, and for very good reason.   Butternut squash + sage = heaven. And on a side [...]

So now that you know how to make your own Fresh Egg Pasta, you can get on with Operation Tortellini and start stuffing delicious vegetables into divine dough! As a very first hint, if you’re going to make stuffed pasta, make the filling first so it can rest while you make the pasta. And if [...]