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As more people use the internet, iphones and other electronics to source recipes and tips while they cook, kitchen designers are finding ways to integrate electronics into our homes in ways that make them easy and safe to use.

I’m still in the dark ages when it comes to using electronics in my kitchen: if I find a recipe online that I want to make, I usually print it out and work from a paper copy. Occasionally I’ve used my laptop or my iphone but I feel too nervous about spills and goo clogging up my computer to do that more often.

Recently I’ve heard and seen some good ideas for making computers and electronics easier to use in the kitchen. From glassed-in counter top displays that allow you to see your computer screen with no risk of damage to touch screen systems like the Yummy to table top gadgets like this little holder that keeps your iphone elevated off the counter top in a position that is easy to read while cooking.

Do you keep computers and phones far away from cooking? Or are you cooking from a computer or phone screen and saving the trees that people like me routinely kill with all this printing?

Have you heard about the Blog Aid Cookbook yet?  If not, there’s great news ahead. You can help the survivors of the Haitian earthquake with just a click of your finger. Pretty cool, huh?

It’s all thanks to Dinner with Julie’s Julie Van Rosendaal who, mere hours after we all learned of the seriousness of the quake damage, emailed a group of bloggers and asked if we would send her recipes and pictures for a fundraising book she wanted to create to help the disaster victims.  Julie’s an old friend so I complied immediately. Apparently quite a few others did as well. The result, just three weeks later (!!) is a wonderful, full colour, print-on-demand cookbook.

All proceeds from the book sales will go to Haitian relief via the Red Cross and Doctors without Borders and, as if that weren’t cool enough, the people who helped bring the book to life, - West Canadian Graphics and Blurb are matching the proceeds raised. Likewise, if you purchase before February 12th, the Canadian government will match the total, too. It’s a trifecta of charity people!

Besides Julie and I the book is jam packed with recipes by other popular bloggers including:

Chef Michael Smith

Gail from http://thepinkpeppercorn.blogspot.com/ Pink Peppercorn

Emily Richards

Catharine from Weelicious

Cheryl from Backseat Gourmet

Jeannette of Everybody Likes Sandwiches

Nishta from Blue Jean Gourmet

Lauren of Celiac Teen

Charmian from Christie’s Corner

Shaina from Food for my Family

Marisa of Food in Jars

Shauna and Danny from Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef

Lauren from Healthy Delicious

Alice from Savory Sweet Life

Tara from Seven Spoons

Jess of Sweet Amandine

Helen from Tartelette

Pierre of Kitchen Scraps

Tim from Lottie and Doof

Tea from Tea & Cookies

Jamie from My Baking Addiction

Lori from Recipe Girl

Melissa from The Traveler’s Lunchbox

Brooke of Tongue-n-Cheeky

Aimee of Under the High Chair

This book makes a wonderful gift so consider it for your Valentine(s) or as a hostess gift, too.

Thanks for your support of the Blog Aid Cookbook! Even if you can’t buy one yourself, please post a link to this post as a facebook or twitter update to help spread the word. Thanks!

While I’m generally a warm weather lover, I do enjoy one aspect of winter cold: When it’s -15 °C and the wind is howling, there is not only very little incentive to go outside, but there is no peer pressure either. Absolutely no one is going to raise their eyebrows at you for staying home to cook and bake instead of heading outdoors to exercise when it’s this cold. (The exception might be those  odd people who go winter camping but I don’t know any of them so all is well.)

So, I’ve been taking advantage of the recent cold snap by keeping the oven warm. Pumpkin loaf and scones both popped out of that  toasty cavern last week looking (and smelling!) good enough to eat. While I’ve given you my cardamom and ginger spiked pumpkin loaf recipe before, I’ve been stingy with my scone directions. It’s time that changed. So, without further ado, here is my scone recipe. It’s adapted from one that was in Cook’s Illustrated a couple of years ago:

Toasted Maple Oat Scones

11/2 cups ( 375 mL) rolled oats

½ cup (125 mL) chopped pecans

½ cup (125 mL) homo milk (use light cream if you’re a skinny mini)

1 egg

¼ cup (50 mL) maple syrup

11/2 cups (375 mL) all-purpose flour (approx.)

2 tbsp (30 mL) baking powder

½ tsp (1 mL) salt

2/3 cup (150 mL) cold butter, cubed

½ cup (125 mL) dried sour cherries or cranberries

1 tbsp (15 mL) turbinado or other coarse sugar

Preheat the oven to 300°C (150°F). Spread the oats evenly over a baking sheet. Arrange the the nuts at one end. Toast for 5 to 8 minutes or until lightly golden.  Transfer to a rack to cool. Measure out 2 tbsp (30 mL) of the oats and set aside. Increase the oven temperature to 450°F (225°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk the milk and egg until smooth. Stir in the maple syrup. Measure out 1 tbsp (15 mL) of this mixture and set aside.

In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture is mealy in texture. Transfer to a bowl. Add the cooled oats and nuts. Blend well. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the milk mixture. Blend until a ragged dough forms. Use lightly floured hands to bring the dough together into a ball.

Lightly dust a clean work surface with a little flour. Sprinkle half the reserved oats over the flour. Transfer the dough to this area and pat into a circle that is 1-inch (2.5 cm) thick. Sprinkle with remaining oats. Brush with the reserved milk mixture and sprinkle evenly with coarse sugar. Using a sharp knife or a pastry chef’s scraper, cut the dough into 8 wedges. Transfer to the prepared pan. Bake on the middle rack for 12 to 14 minutes or until golden. Serve warm.

Did I mention to you that my husband is writing a cookbook? Well, he is. And, it’s already two weeks overdue to be submitted to the publisher. That means I’ve been jumping in and helping him with last minute testing and proofreading. As a result, even though I desperately needed and wanted to go for a manicure, we spent all Saturday afternoon making oxtail ravioli.

To be honest, spending time in the kitchen with him again is rather fun. I think I’ll miss it when he goes back to working downtown at his restaurant. Likewise, I learned a lot about making ravioli and thought I’d share some tips with you in case you get inspired to give it a whirl yourself. I can’t share Martin’s recipe since his book isn’t published yet, but I’ll add a couple of links to other good sources after my tips.

• Don’t try to make ravioli with bought fresh lasagna noodles from the grocery store. They are about 1000 times too thick. If you don’t want to make fresh pasta, substitute wonton wrappers instead.
• No matter what filling you choose, be sure to roll it into compact little balls so that there are no air pockets in the final raviolis.
• Let the freshly made ravioli cure for an hour or so before boiling so that the egg used to make the two layers of pasta cling to one another has time to set.
• Keep the fresh ravioli in a single layer on a cornmeal or flour dusted tray. If freezing, flash freeze in a single layer and then bag the ravioli.

Some recommended recipes:
-Artichoke Ravioli with Tomatoes
-Mango Chicken Ravioli
-Ravioli Caprese

Good ole canned pumpkin. Why do we only use it to make pies when it makes such a moist, yummy loaf to eat in the evening while you watch 30 Rock? Seriously, why is that?

Pumpkin Spice Loaf
2/3 cup (150 mL) softened butter
½ cup (125 mL) lightly packed brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup (250 mL) pumpkin puree
1 tsp (5 mL) pure vanilla extract
2 cups (500 mL) all-purpose flour
1 tbsp (15 mL) baking powder
1 tsp (5 mL) ground ginger
½ tsp (2 mL) each ground cinnamon, cardamom ad nutmeg
½ tsp (2 mL) each baking soda and salt
1 cup (250 mL) chopped pecans or walnuts
ginger sugar (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Place the butter in a large bowl and beat with a wooden spoon until light and fluffy (feel free to use an electric mixer if you prefer). Blend in the brown sugar and beat until light. Beat in the eggs, adding one at time. Blend in the pumpkin and vanilla until well incorporated.

Add the flour. Sprinkle the baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, baking soda and salt over the flour. Stir these smaller amounts of dry ingredients into the flour. Using deeper strokes, blend the dry ingredients into the butter mixture until almost fully combined. If adding nuts, fold them in.

Scrape the batter into a lightly greased 9 x 5 –inch (2.5 L) glass loaf pan and smooth evenly to fill to the edges of the pan. Sprinkle with ginger sugar, if using. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes on the centre rack of the oven until the loaf springs back when lightly touched on top. Cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Turn loaf out and cool completely before slicing. Makes 10 servings.

What other recipes do you make using canned pumpkin?

It’s that time of year again. Time to pull out your cocktail party clothes and brush up on current affairs because the holiday season party invitations are going to start rolling in!

Or, maybe you’re thinking of hosting a holiday shindig. If so, chances are mini-quiches are on your list. They’re a party time stand-by but unfortunately, so many of the bought frozen quiches are just awful! Yet, people keep tossing their good money away by buying them. Such a shame when they are so very easy to make ahead, freeze and then heat in the oven when you need them.

All you need to do is whisk together
8 eggs
4 cups (1 litre ) 35% cream

Seriously, that’s it. Then, toss some yummy stuff like cheese, ham, salt, pepper, mustard, green onions and such together and divide them evenly between blind baked tart shells. Fill with the egg mixture and bake at 350ºF (180ºC) until the filling is jiggly and just barely set. Cool to room temp, place in zip top bags and freeze until needed. To serve, bake from frozen on a parchment-lined baking sheet at 350ºF (180ºC) until the crust smells toasty.

Fancier. Butterier. As yummy as ever before but just more (deservingly) popular. Butterscotch is trending up and that can’t help but be good!

From butterscotch desserts appearing on more fine dining restaurant menus to a twitter chat I had with @finecooking a couple of weeks ago, it seems like I can’t pass the day without hearing a butterscotch reference.

It’s even on sitcoms: on a recent episode of How I Met Your Mother, it was declared that “Butterscotch is Canadian women’s chocolate.”

While I can’t speak for the entire Canadian female population, I can say that chocolate is my chocolate but butterscotch is my butterscotch. Confused? It’s the same as how silk is silk and wool is wool. Both are great but they’re different. And, like a wool sweater over a silk shirt, they’re often fantastic together!

That said, one of my favourite childhood desserts is Butterscotch Meringue Pie; it’s a study in soothing dessert goodness.

What about you? Butterscotch or chocolate? Canadian or American? Fess up!

Dana’s Definitive Butterscotch Meringue Pie

1/2 cup (125 mL) all-purpose flour
1 cup (250 mL) dark brown sugar
2 1/2 cups (625 mL) hot milk
4 eggs, separated
3 tbsp (45 mL) butter
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla
1 pre-baked pie crust, 9-in (23 cm)
1/3 cup (75 mL) granulated sugar

Stir the flour with the brown sugar in heavy saucepan. Slowly whisk in the milk until smooth. Cook, stirring almost constantly, over medium heat, for about 5 minutes or until thick and smooth; reduce heat to low and cook for 5 minutes longer, stirring often.

Beat the egg yolks and stir a little of the hot milk mixture into eggs. Pour the egg mixture into pan, stirring constantly and cook for 3 minutes longer. Stir in the butter and vanilla. Pour into pie shell. Cool completely.

Beat the egg whites until foamy; gradually beat in granulated sugar until soft peaks form. Mound on top of custard, spreading meringue out to edge of crust. Bake in 350°F (180°C) oven for 7 to 10 minutes or until golden.

Tips:
• Because this pie and topping are so sweet and rich, use a lard or shortening-based piecrust to ensure that the crust is a foil to the other elements.
• To pre-bake the piecrust, prick the raw shell all over with a fork; line with foil and pie weights or dried beans. Bake in a preheated, 400 F (200 C) oven for 20 minutes; remove foil and weights; bake for 10 minutes longer or until golden. Cool on rack.

If you read yesterday, you know that I’m taking the easy way out to end the week by recycling some of my favourite cold weather comfort food posts.

On the list today are recipes from my sweet kitchen:
• Microwave butterscotch pudding
• Tarte Tatin
• Super crisp ginger cookies
• Butter Tarts

What sweet treat epitomizes warming comfort for you? Again, feel free to link to your site or recipes that we can all bookmark for a day when we need an indulgence.

Tacos. They aren’t just filled with chili powder spiced ground beef anymore. Recent trends have seen fish tacos win fans from coast-to-coast and so-called Korean Tacos trucks are cruising the streets in big US cities like LA, New York and Seattle. Likewise, meatless tacos and tacos that feature slices of meatloaf as the star filling have recently been featured in national magazines.

At our house, tacos are a regular menu item. We’re soft taco lovers and I’ve been known to fill our shells with pulled pork, vegetarian chili, seared hoisin glazed duck and even stir-fry.

What happens at your house? Are you a taco kit household or an anything-goes-in-a-tortilla household like ours?

Does everyone have food memories that take them back to their childhood? Probably. I know I have many.

At this time of the year, popping a semi-seedless Ontario Coronation grape on my tongue and feeling that burst of juicy goodness takes me right back to age 11 when my family lived in a house whose former owners had valued self-sufficiency very highly. Our standard-issue suburban yard was crammed full of wonderful fruit-bearing plants: damson plums, peaches, apples and pears grew in our backyard. All around the house, positioned above the lower storey windows like living awnings, were full, glorious grape vines whose leaves shaded the house all summer.  I fondly remember, as an 11-year-old, teetering on my desk chair to open the window, sliding back the screen and picking a bouquet of blue-black grapes to eat before settling down to memorize my first list of spelling words for the school year.

Coronation and the other Ontario blue grape variety, Fredonia, are only available from mid-August to late September, so this is the perfect weekend to pick up a basket if you don’t have a grape vine growing over your bedroom window.

During the rest of the year, most commercially-available table grapes sold in Canada are imported from places like California. You can easily distinguish native blue table grapes from other table grapes by examining their size and skin. Imported table grapes are considerably larger than the blue grapes Canadian home gardeners can grow and they have skins that cling to the flesh of the fruit. Canadian-grown blue grapes, on the other hand, are each about the size of a small marble, cluster in tight bunches on the vine and feature ‘slip’ skins that can easily be removed from the fruit.

These wonderful little grapes are still a favourite of mine to eat out of hand, but I also like to add them to salads and use them in this once-a-year focaccia recipe:

Coronation Focaccia

1 envelope fast-acting dry yeast
2 1/2 cups (625 mL) bread or all-purpose flour (approx)
1/2 tsp (2 mL)  salt
3/4 cup (175 mL) very warm water
1 tbsp (15 mL) lemon juice
1 tbsp (15 mL) liquid honey
1/4 cup (50 mL)  melted butter
2 cups (500 mL) Ontario blue grapes, halved and seeded if necessary
1/3 cup (75 mL) muscovado or granulated sugar

1. Stir yeast with flour and salt and reserve. Stir water with lemon juice, honey and melted butter in a large bowl. Stir in half the flour mixture and blend well. Stir in remaining flour mixture and turn out onto the counter. Knead for 5 minutes or until smooth and elastic,  adding up to 1/2 cup (125 mL) extra flour if necessary. Place in a lightly buttered bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Rest for 10 minutes.

2. Turn dough out of bowl and press out all the air. Roll dough into a large rectangle. Scatter half the grapes over dough and sprinkle with half the sugar. Brush around the edge of the dough with a little water and fold dough like a letter to make a rectangle. Crimp the edges of the dough to seal. Sprinkle with remaining grapes, turning skin side up and pressing gently into dough. Sprinkle with sugar. Transfer to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.

3. Tent bread with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 400F (200C). Bake focaccia on middle rack for 25 to 30 minutes or until well browned. Immediately loosen bread with a spatula from pan (it will be saucy on the bottom) and slide onto a rack to cool. Makes 1 loaf.