Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and all that

 

May all your tables be full, your bells a-jingling and your tummies full over the holiday season, where ever you are in the world, in Summer Sun or Winter White.  The mad dash of shopping and bopping are finally done and it’s time to unwind in front of a roaring fire with some mulled wine, [...]

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Persimmon for Pudding

So these Persimmon things and I have not had the most understanding of relationships. In fact, there seems to be a complete lack of communication and I feel rather like I do nothing but give, give, give and the persimmon does nothing but take, take, take. I was on the verge of walking [...]

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The South African Cookie

Crunchies are something a lot of South Africans grew up with, like Hershey’s Kisses in North America, or hot, roasted chestnuts in Europe. Yet, I never ever thought that they were in fact a purely South African treat.
“What are those?” I was often asked when giving out Cookie Gifts last year at this time.
“Crunchies. [...]

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Basler Brunsli

These little hearts of joy were a new thing for my cookie collection this year. This is traditional Swiss cookie-making at it’s best, if you ask me. Chocolate, cinnamon, cloves and almonds, what’s not to like? And with no butter or other fat in it, it’s a conscience-soothing nibble at this cookie-glut [...]

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Winter Wonder land and some Mulled Wine

And just as I finally turned the oven off, the skies turned the snow on and poor, dear Toronto was generously bedded down in a thick blanket of white, bringing the city to an eerie, ghostly quiet as most people stayed indoors, drinking hot beverages by the fire, no doubt. Not, I, naturellement, [...]

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Cookies!!

Phew! Finally I can sit down to a nice cup of tea, wipe the flour from my forehead and, more importantly, wash my apron. The poor thing is starting to look more like a piece of modern sculpture than an apron, so covered is it in flour and cookie dough and various bits of [...]

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Broccoli and Pepita Pesto

The Christmas bake is upon us, here. My kitchen is covered in a fine and persistent film of various flours and sugars and nuts and fruits and the ever wafting air of things being baked greets the marvelous Mr P every time he comes in to see what’s what. It’s perfect weather for [...]

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Fireside Dinner Fit For Winter

We haven’t had a housewarming, per se yet. But we decided last week that something was needed to make our house feel like home. And I also needed something to kick start the kitchen a little. A Winter Dinner was quickly put together, some friends asked around and the fire was [...]

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Maple Spiced Cup Cakes … with a little surprise

Isn’t there something magical about a cupcake? Stupid easy to make, requiring, in general, no special ingredients that you don’t normally have in the pantry and taking just about no time at all to whip up, yet they illicit a disproportional amount of joy and happiness in the recipient. Everybody, surely, loves a [...]

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