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

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


Breakfast is the best!

Breakfast is the best!

Prairie Palate: A morning muesli recipe

Breakfast is my favourite meal of the day. This may come as a surprise, given my penchant for experimenting in the kitchen. I love a good, multi-course, try-something-new, dirty-all-the-dishes dinner now and then, but the satisfaction of such a herculean effort is elevated by the simple unworried recovery of breakfast. Just one dirty bowl at […] 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


Asparagus Quiche with Parmesan Crust

Wild asparagus is hard to find

Prairie Palate: It prefers an undisturbed area, so the more land that is cultivated, the less it can find suitable habitat

Not long ago, I was asked if I had ever picked wild asparagus. The answer was “No,” but it got me thinking. I’ve picked wild mushrooms, wild strawberries and wild mint but I have never been so lucky as to come across a patch of wild asparagus while walking in the great outdoors. Come to […] Read more

Fondest food memories

Fondest food memories

Prairie Palate: So many good memories of my mom involved food

I lost my mom this spring. She had Alzheimer’s disease so, in a way, we had lost a great part of her already. It was incredibly sad. I was assigned the task of writing her obituary for the local newspapers. As I scanned the fondest memories of my mom, it seemed so many of them […] Read more


Baked pork chop rice — Hong Kong style

Baked pork chop rice — Hong Kong style

This may look intimidating to make but it is well worth the effort

Editor’s note: Amy Jo Ehman will return. We are happy to have Diana Chan as a guest columnist while Amy Jo is away. Sizzling fried rice and crispy breaded pork chops topped with a flavourful tomato-based sauce and gooey cheese, all baked together in the oven. Gook joo pah fan, or baked pork chop rice, […] Read more

Deanna Brown was thrilled to be selected as a contestant on 'MasterChef Canada.'

A celebrity chef in the community

When people call Deanna Brown a celebrity chef it makes her laugh. “I’m neither a celebrity nor a chef! But I love to cook!” And after being a contestant on season two of the national televised cooking competition, “MasterChef Canada,” she’s keen to continue learning everything she can about cooking — on and off camera. […] Read more