My very first job out of University involved me traveling from one coast of this country to the next on a regular basis. I spent at least two weeks of the month on the road and because of that I was able to see the majority of Canada before I was 25 years old. It was a great pre-kid job and I look back on those traveling days fondly.
Whether I'm baking for my children's school functions, birthday parties, or my daughter's recent Christmas Caroling Party, I love creating fun and easy treats that bring smiles to my children's (and their friends') faces.
I know that vanilla is easy and fairly inexpensive to buy, but when paired with a cute gift tag and a family heirloom recipe for muffins or cookies, homemade vanilla makes a super cute DIY food gift for friends, neighbours, and colleagues.
My grandfather made the best pot of coffee in the world. He could rival any barista with a few scoops of ground coffee available at every grocery store around the country. I have no idea what he did to his coffee but I remember loving every single sip (or gulp after I became a sleep-deprived mother). During the holidays my grandfather believed that Christmas Cheer should extend to his morning coffee and we would free-hand pour Baileys Irish Cream into his perfectly brewed coffee.
Making a ham in the slow cooker is the epitome of “set it and forget it” but most people still assume you spent all day slaving over a hot stove whenever you put any kind of roast on the dinner table. But as with all of my company-worthy Canned Soup Mom Recipes the simplicity of this Slow Cooker Balsamic Maple Glazed Ham Recipe will be our little secret!
Simply toss your ham into the slow cooker.
Mix up the balsamic vingear, maple syrup, and Dijon mustard.
It all started with a simple little request from my son to have Clone trooper and Stormtrooper cupcakes at his birthday party. Honestly, I didn’t even know there was a difference between Storm and Clone troopers, and pretty much assumed all the white-uniformed-robot-looking-guys were the “bad guys,” but boy was I wrong and my almost 6-year old was more than happy to give me a Star Wars 101.
March Break is right around the corner and for many of us the kids are home and looking for something to do. For our family, all the after school activities are on hiatus too, so that means our evenings are a bit more relaxed and perfect for getting the kids into the kitchen.
If you’re looking for a couple of easy kid-friendly recipes they can really "help" make, here’s a list of the recipes my kids and I will be cooking this March Break.
Meatloaf is one of those home cooked comfort foods that often come from recipes passed down for generations. My favourite (and easiest!) meatloaf recipe is pretty basic so when we decided to invite another family over for dinner and meatloaf was the agreed-upon main course, I wanted to come up with something that was still basic enough the kids would eat it but interesting enough to put on the dinner table for guests.
When we lived in Edmonton, one of our family night traditions was to head to West Edmonton Mall, park at the “Bourbon Street” entrance and head to The Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner. No matter what meal you order at Old Spaghetti Factory, it comes with soup or salad to start and dessert. My girls love Caesar salad, but my son always ordered the minestrone soup which thrilled me because it is full of veggies!
It seems like not that long ago but it’s been at least eight years since I was sitting under the Mediterranean sun in a Greek olive grove at a long table filled with tourists and locals speaking as many languages as there were people. There were bowls of just-picked olives along the table and I’ll never forget how warm they were when you ate them. At first I wondered if our hosts had warmed them but then realized they were warm from the sun — never having actually been inside a factory or a can.
