Make an old-time Strawberry Pudding

Make an old-time Strawberry Pudding

Prairie Palate: The recipe first appeared in a newspaper in 1918

A century ago, Canada was at war. The battle for Vimy Ridge took place on April 9 to 12, 1917, during which 3,600 Canadians lost their lives and thousands were wounded. Back in Canada, families supported the war effort in many ways, including in their kitchens. They were encouraged to be frugal, eliminate kitchen waste, […] Read more

Edible flower gardening

Edible flower gardening

Flowers not only look good in the garden, lots of them make great eating

Some people prefer to grow flowers and some people prefer to grow good things to eat, but me, I like to do both at once. Edible flower gardening. Here are good reasons to eat flowers: Flowers taste good. Think of peppery nasturtiums, tangy tangerine marigolds, sweet red clover and the blossoms of herbs. Flowers are […] Read more


Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

In honour of my Irish grandmother here’s a traditional potato recipe

Since St. Patrick’s Day is nigh upon us, I dedicate today’s musings to my grandmother, Josephine O’Hara. Or, as I knew her best, Grandma Jo. Grandma Jo was proud of her Irish heritage. So proud, that dinner on St. Patrick’s Day was akin to Christmas or Easter. In other words, a feast. There would be […] Read more

Mexican pork carnitas

Mexican pork carnitas

There’s lots of oranges and limes available now so this is a perfect time to make this

I remember the first time I picked an orange. Not from the produce section. Not from a fruit bowl. Not from the recesses of my Christmas stocking. Picked an orange from a real orange tree. I remembered it today because I just picked an orange and the smell took me back to the first time […] Read more


Swiss Rosti (see recipe at bottom).

The mysterious potato

Once thought of as toxic, it's now the most consumed vegetable in North America

One summer day I was picking potato bugs in my little patch of community garden when a young mother came along with a babe in a stroller and another on the way. She asked what I was doing and a conversation ensued: Her: “Where do you get the potatoes?” Me: “I got these potatoes from […] Read more

Boys on hay bale

Is the farm a healthier place to grow up on?

Prairie Palate: Get Well Soon Meat Loaf

As we head into the winter cold season, I am feeling quite smug. I rarely get colds. I have no allergies and a stomach as impervious as a cast iron pan. I attribute the healthy state of my immune system to growing up on a farm. Mucking about in the garden, eating bugs and dirt, […] Read more


Choose a good cut of beef such as tenderloin or flat iron steak (see recipe further down).

Well done, medium, rare or… raw?

Prairie Palate: Steak Carpaccio

My friend Joanne said she would not eat raw lamb, and that was fine with me. So while everyone else at the table made adventurous forays to try the lamb, she watched bemused. When they liked it, she looked puzzled. And when the bowl was almost empty, she finally picked up a piece of pita […] Read more

flapper pie

Grandma’s prize-winning flapper pie

Prairie Palate: Flapper Pie recipe

[Updated May 9, 2017] I’ve been going through a box of my grandma’s souvenirs and so I can tell you that, in 1957, she won first prize for her flapper pie at the Saskatoon fair. She also won red ribbons for her saskatoon pie, cherry pie with lattice crust, toffee, chocolate cake (layer), four fruit […] Read more


rollkuchen

Meals in the field?

Harvesting season is so busy, but make meals a time to get together with family

In my family, harvest suppers were a simple affair. My dad preferred a cold supper in a lunch box containing no item he couldn’t eat with one hand while steering the combine with the other. The driver of the grain truck (usually my brother Tom) might come in for a quick supper in the time […] Read more

Cooking food on a stick

Cooking food on a stick

Prairie Palate: Fruit Kebabs

My dad celebrated a significant birthday recently so of course we had a wiener roast. It’s my dad’s favourite meal. Few things are more “summer” than an open fire and food cooked on a stick. When we were little (my siblings and me) we followed Dad into the “woods” around the dugout to hunt for […] Read more