Drunk on Scotch BBQ Salmon Salad

Drunk on Scotch BBQ Salmon. I started fishing with my dad back in 1955.  My dad would take us kids fishing down to the Hespeler Speed Dam or Puslinch Lake. We would catch some stream trout or lake pickerel pike, perch and pumpkin fish. These small Sun Fish from the Pumpkin Fish strain were what we would catch most all day. My dad told me way back then that these small fishes would feed you better than a big old bass. The pumpkin fish have more good omegas and nutrients in larger volumes than any other fresh water species that he told us back then. Like perch they can be...

Pioineer Beef BBq on a Bun

Beef BBQ on a Bun Back when my dad worked at the Iroquois Hotel during the 50’s, it was a very busy hotel and known for its good food. A lot of kitchen help was needed and a lot of the area mom’s filled the many positions as cooks and restaurant help. As the decades changed a lot of the ladies were trained to be good cooks and carried on cooking in other Galt/Preston/Hespeler restaurant kitchens. They were the one’s responsible for cooking up good fare in places like The Knotty Pine, Preston Pioneer BBQ, Moffatt’s, Breslau and numerous other dinning establishments...

Pass Over The Perogy’s

  Perogy’s are Little Pillows of Joy! A large solid wood table sat in the kitchen with my grandmother’s hand crafted homestead chair and well hued benches which could easily sit a dozen people. This vast table was used as the main preparation table that all my aunts and us kids sat at while hand prepping the many perogy’s, cabbage rolls, and other cultural delicacies from early homestead recipes. The different yearly holidays meant lots of company to feed. My Ukrainian mother and Romanian father had 21 siblings between them and about half of my aunts and uncles...

Easter Baked Canadian Ham Shank

Easter Ham Dinner When I put a column together it sometimes comes with the memory of the first time I was exposed to the food item and its recipe as so in this instance. It was the early fifties and at five years old my father a hotel chef handed me my first set of cooking whites complete with cloth bag hat and apron. Actually this was a form of day care during my childhood years. While I got set up to peel some potatoes my dad was cleaning the fish he got that morning and was also receiving the daily hotel staples from the different suppliers. First to arrive was the JM...

Ruby Red Grapefruit Cake

My dad being a chef had lots of his pre 1950’s retro recipes that were handed over to me as I mastered them to his specs. He was more concerned about the flavour quality obtained and was not as finicky in the way it’s final presentation. I like to describe my way of being taught baking by my dad as colonial style. Now don’t get me wrong, my father was a very tolerant baker and over his 40 years as a Hotel Chef taught lots of lady bakers to be personal when it comes to making a cake. The fancier you like if you have artistic abilities or the time allotted standard approach...