Homemade Lasagna

We all have our favourite lasagne recipes.  My mother-in-law puts eggs in hers, very traditional for the Italians.

We've discovered an easy way to make homemade lasagne that tastes as good as Nona's (well, not as good, but it will do).

Use your favourite lasagne recipe, but substitute fresh lasagne noodles for dried, boiled ones.  It's that easy!  I might be a slow learner and maybe everyone else already knew this, but just in case you didn't.....

No need to boil the noodles ahead of time, simply place them in your dish as you would with the precooked ones.  I make my sauce a little more watery than usual so that the noodles absorb the sauce and cook thoroughly.

The other substitution is to use half mozarella and half fontina cheese.  Forget the calories!  For sure, this is not low-fat or low calorie, but boy is it good.

And we always include the ricotta cheese as a layer as well.



Trust me, it's better than this picture looks



Canada's East Coast - A little slice of heaven!

We recently drive out to the east coast and stayed in Halifax, Nova Scotia and rented a cottage right on the ocean in PEI.  Canada is truly a beautiful country!  I love that we have such diversity in our landscape, from the flatlands of Saskatchewan where you can see forever, to the tall redwoods of the West Coast, to the charm of Quebec City.  And I really love the east coast with the quaint fishing villages, the warm and friendly people, and the rustic coastline.  If it wasn't so far from my home in Ontario, I would be very tempted to purchase a cottage out there.


Here are a few pictures from our trip out east:
  

Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia



Near Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia





Look at these babies!  Caught fresh that morning.
They were so tender, juicy, and sweet.





It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Yeah, it's "sweater weather"!  I'm not a heat person and this summer was unseasonably hot.  I find myself dragging and tired in the heat, so I'm very happy that the nippy, cooler weather is slowly coming in.  And oh yeah, my hair is very happy that the humidity is gone too!  This is the time of year that I come alive.

The beautiful fall palette with the warm oranges and russets is nature at it's best.  Mother nature paints a beautiful landscape.

And I love decorating with pumpkins and mums.  Can't wait to go on some fall hikes, go apple picking, maybe visit a corn maze.....

Bye bye summer!  Til next year....

Attention All Foodies!

If you're into food like we are, then you might be interested in Toronto's upcoming food show.  It's called the Delicious Food Show (hmmm, the title could be a bit more inventive....) and it's on from Oct. 20-23 at Exhibition Place.

"A world-class culinary extravaganza designed to bring together the best in food, cooking and entertaining."  Sounds good to me!

Check their webpage for further information:  www.deliciousfoodshow.com

Another Great Cookbook - In My Mother's Kitchen

I read cookbooks like other people read novels!  I'm quite content sitting and reading a good cookbook, imagining the flavours, the colours, and the ingredients.  Even if I never make anything from the cookbook, I enjoy reading them.

"In My Mother's Kitchen" is a new cookbook by Trish Magwood.  Trish used to have a television show called "Dish" on the food network.  I always found her recipes creative and inventive, using standard ingredients but displaying them in a unique way.  Here's a link to her website:  www.trishmagwood.ca.

This book is chocked full of tried and true recipes from Trish's friends, family and of course from her collection.  Many are great cottage recipes - quick and easy.

Cakepops

If you're not familiar with these little guys, check out www.bakerella.com for more inspiration.  A cake pop is a little cake on a stick.  You won't believe what Bakerella does with cake on a stick! 


Aren't these the cutest!!



Bakerella has published these little goodies in a cookbook:

What a wonderful way of celebrating a new arrival, a holiday, or making a casual get-together into a special event! 

Blueberry Muffins, to die for!

These muffins are so moist and creamy, thanks to the sour cream in the recipe.  I bring a muffin to work everyday for my mid-morning snack.  I usually try to make something healthy, but once in a while, I throw caution to the wind (I know.... I'm a nutball!).

These are the best Blueberry muffins ever!  They almost taste like a dense white cake.

This recipe is from http://www.allrecipes.com/ , one of my favourite recipe sites!

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups sour cream
• 2 cups blueberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease 24 muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.
2. In large bowl beat eggs, gradually add sugar while beating. Continue beating while slowly pouring in oil. Stir in vanilla. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, salt and baking soda.
3. Stir dry ingredients into egg mixture alternately with sour cream. Gently fold in blueberries. Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes.

Notes:

• I always add more blueberries to the mixture as I like them chock full of fruit. 
• You can easily use frozen blueberries.  Do not thaw them beforehand and fold gently, otherwise, you will get purple muffins!  Pretty but maybe not the look you're hoping for.
• Not a fan of blueberries?  You could easily substitute raspberries, strawberries, peaches or chocolate chips.