Spicy Pumpkin Curry Soup

You can tell tastebuds run in the family when both my partner Luke and his little brother Jesse started eating this soup—both emitted so many monosyllabic words of pleasure that I knew it would be a recipe I needed to copy. This soup in the photo was made by Kerrie, Luke’s mum, but I helped! It is so simple and so delicious, and would be great made with squash or yam instead of pumpkin. Below is the four ingredient recipe (!) as well as some suggestions for alterations from yours truly.

(more…)

Edited: June 13th, 2010

Thai Chicken Pizza

I think you know a recipe is good when you’ve written about it before. Every time you make something you get a bit more insight into making it, though, and get to refine it over and over again. Maybe I’m a food nerd but I really love seeing how recipes can evolve and change. Sometimes it’s because I get adventurous, sometimes it’s because someone else is in the kitchen with me and says, “Why don’t we try this?” and almost always the results are great.

This pizza is one such recipe. I’ve made it vegan (except for the crust), I’ve made it for lunches, I’ve made it for Luke’s family (including hungry teenage boys). Every time it’s been a crowd pleaser!

The recipe contains some suggestions and variations (including the vegetarian / vegan), so keep those in mind depending on what’s in your fridge. The peanut sauce recipe I posted earlier this week is fantastic for this!

(more…)

Edited: May 2nd, 2010

Pretty As (Pumpkin) Pie

Every North American knows how essential pumpkin pie is to Thanksgiving and Christmas. And because my family has such an amazing pumpkin pie recipe, it’s a dessert I’ve truly, 100%, fallen head-over-heels in love with. However, pumpkin pie is not a staple here in Australia, so I’ve had to bring my Canadian heritage across the Pacific with me, and now seem to be the purveyor of pumpkin pie at every opportunity I get. Aussies love roast pumpkin as a savoury vegetable, so it’s pretty easy to convince them to eat it in pie form, too.

Pumpkin pie is–if not simple, not particularly difficult to make, either. It just requires a bit of patience and gumption, a willingness to not take shortcuts and good humour to make up for whatever mishaps might befall you on your pumpkin pie making adventures. If you’ve read Deanne’s intro to this blog, you’ll know of some of the adventures we three gals had on our pumpkin pie-making night–and while I’ve made this recipe ten times if I’ve made it once, it seems to happen differently every time… and I’ve been convinced on several occasions that it would taste horrible, wouldn’t set, poison someone, or fail completely… and every time, it’s come out as delicious as I remember my mum having made it.

I don’t mean to brag, but this pie has also won awards. It’s that good. It’s so light that even a novice pumpkin pie eater will enjoy it, so don’t let anyone refuse a piece! If you’re ready to take on the glory that is pumpkin pie, roll up your sleeves and prepare for an adventure…

(more…)

Edited: January 11th, 2010