Gingerbread Person Cookies

Ginger Bread Cookies. One of the first cookies that I remember my great aunt would bake was gingerbread men. Every Christmas she would make a full array of seasonal holiday cookie treats. I like the taste of ginger and it is most satisfying to the taste bud. When I was baking Xmas cookies in mass amounts for a restaurant bakery. The traditional Christmas baking was all done with hands on passion following original family recipes. Each batch of dough was hand crafted and the cookies that came from the dough batch were all slightly different with no two cookies looking the...

Classic Salisbury Steak

Salisbury Steak is an easy dinner option that’s classic comfort food. The first step to making a mouthwatering Salisbury steak is to ask the butcher to grind you some fresh marbled chunks of sirloin for the meat patties. I like to use a 90% lean ground triple a range fed beef, because it has a lot of flavor but it’s not overly greasy. The meat is mixed with panko crumbs and simple steak seasonings, then formed into the oval salisbury steak. I use a well seasoned cast iron skillet to pan fry the patties to a mouthwatering golden brown. To the skillet making a simple...

Banff Hotel Watermelon-Ginger Fresca Eli...

Banff Springs. The summer of 1966 was just a round the corner. The Beatles tunes were filling the air waves, high school was behind me and I got my driver’s license. At 16 I had already worked 10 years cooking alongside dad and at other part time positions. I was mostly a weekend banquet, breakfast and lunch cook. The Iroquois Hotel, Loft Pancake House, Knotty Pine, Moffat’s, The Kitchener Market were just a few of the places that I cooked as a junior. I was learning short order cooking and became well organized and efficient at cooking breakfast and lunch fare. I was...

Skipjack Tuna Melt

Skipjack Tuna Melt. Well it’s great that the local eateries are starting to reopen with out door seating and social distancing tables inside. Can’t wait to get back to the golf course and all the most excellent patios. Meanwhile back in the galley I had just purchased 2 tasty chive and onion scone from the local Cobbs. This skipjack tuna is line and poll caught and is packaged with due respect. Lightly smoked or cured with Low sodium, and hand cleaned vacuum canned using ecofriendly packaging. The thing I like is that identification labels and codes show no...

Nut Meg Marmalade Orange and Rhubarb Muf...

It’s Rhubarb Muffin time again. The farmers markets have an abundant supply of rhubarb this summer. I like rhubarb and the memories how it was such a great kids treat dipped into sugar sucked and eaten like a lolly-pop. My favourite is the ruby petit stem variety. Nice small flavourful stems that are old strain and have a strong refreshing rhubarb kick. The native Indians made lots of medicines and a favoured alcoholic drink that I once tasted at a pot luck meal and recall very little about that day. When juiced makes great flavoured ice tea and my favourite is a...

Lemon Coconut Layer Cake

Lemon Coconut Layer Cake One of my prize recipes that I was taught way back, came from my Aunt Marie. I made this recipe several times and it still is one of my favourite tasting desserts. So, the next time you feel that you want to have some fun baking and want to try something that is down right scrumptious and simple to do, give this recipe a whirl. Ingredients needed for the Lemon Filling; 1/3 cup plus 1 tbs fresh squeezed lemon juice 1/4 cup water 2 tbs cornstarch 3/4 cup granulated sugar 4 large egg yolks zest of 2 lemons 4 tbs unsalted butter, cut up into small...