Recipes

Teresa wrote about Doris's Russian Tea Cakes which are very similar to the Mexican Wedding Cakes that we served at our wedding dance:
"Just in case you're wondering what the differences are, here's my recipe (which I got from Doris) for Russian Tea Cakes. The recipes are very similar. I'm going to try your recipe the next time I bake..."

When we were in Tuscany, we hit the beginning of chestnut season. Castagne, a general term for chestnuts, are harvested from October through December. To harvest chestnuts, the whole ripe chestnut "pod" must fall off the tree. The spiny green pod must then be cracked open to reveal shiny, reddish brown chestnuts.

For our wedding I made these traditional Mexican cookies and wrapped them in white tissue paper. They're great anytime and they are very similar to Russian teacakes that our friend Teresa makes!

Although I have never met Al, it's clear that if we ever met up, we'd have lots to talk about not only about food (our mutual love of Italian food for example) but about life in general. Next time you are in Vancouver or we are in Portland, we have to meet Al, deal?

The way Al talks about food and cooking show that he is a good cook.

Our friend David Powell gave me his mum's recipe for traditional chocolate pots de creme. It sounds delicious (quote from David: "This dessert is bliss!") and easy! Thanks, David! I'll have to give this a try!

This is the recipe from Gourmet (April 2001) that I used for the banana cream pie I made for Roland's birthday. The pie filling is delicious--really rich, custardlike and a nice complement to the bananas.

The crust was a bit fiddly to make and next time I might just substitute the chocolate chip cookie crust with a chocolate cookie crumb crust or just a plain old graham cracker crust.

Here are some more German recipe links from Andrea (Vielen Dank nochmal, Andrea!): German Recipes and Bavarian Recipes. I think it's funny how Bavarian recipes are distinct from German recipes. Reminds me of Canada! Maybe Bavaria is a "distinct" society like Quebec :-) !

At Teresa's wedding in Toronto recently, we met Desiree who posted her recipe for adobo! Mmmm it sounds good, have to try it! Thanks Desiree!

A while back, Roland's sister, Madeleine (who is 6 months pregnant) was having cravings for orange chiffon cake. We'll be in Hamilton visiting her and her family next week, so I'll try out this recipe.

On Thursday night we celebrated the Summer Solstice by packing a picnic to enjoy while swing dancing at the Kitsilano Showboat. Lisa and CJ brought roast chickens, bagels and cream cheese, Roland brought some great Greek dips from Parthenon, and I made this potato salad.