Posted in Food and..., tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, alliteration in the kitchen, cookies, family on April 14, 2024| Leave a Comment »
A young family member recently recounted a dramatic story about his exploits in the kitchen, wherein he attempted to make sugar cookies and (spoiler alert) managed something closer to crepes.
Not sure how that happened, but I applaud his enthusiasm. I also hope to encourage his culinary curiosity by providing a more reliable recipe. Time to test cookie recipes!
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Posted in Food and..., tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, #distraction, cookies, food, Thoughts, work on February 12, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Wanted: recipes for cookies that go well with afternoon tea. Because how am I supposed to work when all I can think of are cookies?
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Posted in Food and..., tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, #ifyouarenotsickrightnowenjoyit on January 5, 2024| Leave a Comment »
We’re not feeling 100% here at Chez J so we’re stocking up on couch time and sick tea. What is sick tea? For us, it’s Celestial Seasonings’ Raspberry Zinger with a lot of lemon juice, ginger, cinnamon, and a boatload of honey or maple syrup, depending on what’s in the pantry. (I may also snack on hot sauce, because sinuses don’t clear themselves!)
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Posted in Food and..., tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, Thoughts on January 2, 2024| Leave a Comment »
This holiday season, I discovered that my oven is running 25F degrees too hot. I note this fact here as a helpful reminder that a cheap oven thermometer can be quite informative, and that the timing on some of the recipes I’ve posted here may not match yours. If, you know, your oven actually works as it should.
Even so, happy baking!
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Posted in Food and..., tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, #frostyadultbeverages, recipes on December 15, 2023| Leave a Comment »
The other day I ran across a recipe for something called English Milk Punch. Primary ingredients? Rum and curdled milk.
Say what now?
How to Make English Milk Punch
Essentially, English milk punch is made up of two distinct parts that are combined. The first part is a rum, sugar, and citrus juice mixture. Then, hot milk and spices are added and allowed to infuse until the milk curdles.
Wait a minute—did he just say something about curdled milk? Seriously? And you want me to drink it and serve it to my guests?
Now, I don’t drink a lot of alcohol but it is the warm and cozy spiced beverage season (™) and this recipe sounded just weird enough to be wonderful. I had to try it.
It took a bit of time but was, in the end, both fun and delicious.
Verdict? Worth it. And if you happened to leave a glass of this out for a certain big bearded, red-clad gentleman come Christmas Eve, I don’t think he’d mind at all.
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Posted in Food and..., tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, creativity, recipes, Thoughts on November 27, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Still working on that mushroom soup recipe.
Here’s the thing: My default recipe is a little complicated.
I don’t mean that in a bad way, but in a creative sort of way. The truth is, the recipe for this soup is straightforward. Here, I’ll lay it out for you:
The devil is, of course, in the details. I wrote out the whole recipe and discovered two things.
One, I have a hard time doing a thing the easy way. Well, that’s not entirely true. I tend to take a recipe, strip it down to the basics, then build it back up again so that it has what I consider the essentials of taste and texture. This leads to a basic recipe with many, many caveats.
And two, my memory for little things like quantities is not great. Both of these factors are further complicated by the fact that I never quite make a recipe the same way, and the point is to hand this off to people who want it to taste the way it did at a certain time (2023) and place (the wilds of northern Ontario).
So… stay tuned!
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Posted in Food and..., tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, cross-border living, food on November 22, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Oh, right, tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I tend to forget holidays because, paradoxically, I have two sets of them to track.
Thanksgiving? We’ve already done that, haven’t we? Yes, but no.
So today I am prepping a list of holiday-related food to make, along with a series of Plan Bs in case holiday-specific foods are not available.
Because why, Canadians might ask, would anyone look for fresh turkey or cranberries in November?
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Posted in Food and..., tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, baking again, creativity on November 8, 2023| Leave a Comment »
I’m looking to make a new special-occasion cake and find myself with too many recipe options. We’re also under a bit of a time crunch. So of course I will take three of these possible alternatives and combine them into something I hope will work.
Wish me luck!
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Posted in Food and..., Holidays, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, Thoughts on November 2, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Now that Halloween has come and gone, you may find yourself wondering what to do with all that candy. And really, does candy spoil?
Good* news, candy eaters, your typical Halloween treat will last well into the next season or even longer, depending on the type.
How Long Does Halloween Candy Last? – Eater
And on the off chance that you find yourself with an excess of aging candy (not a problem I generally have), these ideas might help:
What to Do With Leftover Halloween Candy
40 Best Leftover Halloween Candy Recipes – What To Make With Leftover Candy
15 Leftover Halloween Candy Recipes | The Kitchn
What to Do With Leftover Halloween Candy | Bon Appétit (Reese’s peanut butter cups in brownies? Sounds good. But Black Licorice Vinaigrette? No. Just… no.)
* Look, it’s been established that excess sugar is not great for our health. You know it, I know it, and the kids bouncing down the aisles at the grocery store before having a meltdown and collapsing into a sugar coma know it too. As the purveyors of other addictive products like to say, know your limits!
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Posted in Food and..., Holidays, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, Thoughts on October 9, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Today I’m grateful for family, friends, and an excuse to try a recipe for pumpkin cheesecake pie.
Happy Thanksgiving, Canada!
J.R. Johnson 
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