If you want to drink Champagne all night long but don’t have the budget for it, look for a cremant instead. It sparkling wine from France – made exactly the same way as Champagne but made from the grapes of the region where it is produced. The one pictured here is Chateau De Montgueret, Cremant de Loire that we tasted in the test kitchen for an upcoming story. It’s great and only $19.95. I have been drinking it throughout the holidays with just about everything. (more…)

Christmas is behind us for another year and I am food-ed out. I always love the anticipation leading up to the day: deciding what treasures will be resurrected for the Christmas table, collaborating on the menu, the shopping at the bustling St Lawrence Market the day before Christmas. Inevitably overbuying because I can’t resist some new variety of cheese or the very freshest sea scallops that just arrived. (more…)

Here is another traditional holiday treat I thought I would try my hand at this year. This pastry is made in different parts of southern Italy with many variations. These ones have the filling made with chickpeas but they are also traditionally made with chestnuts. The filling is usually flavoured with Vin Cotto, a thick syrupy substance made from the leftover must of wine production. I always think of these as Italian mincemeat (more…)

Christmas eve in my family’s home means a fish feast. Part of our religious tradition is that we fast and do not eat meat the night before Christmas. Of course fasting in Italian culture is relative: being relegated to eating no meat calls for an extravagant feast of fish! The tradition is that there are seven different dishes that are part of the meal, representing various different religious symbols depending on who you’re talking to. Some Italians have eleven different dishes and some have thirteen. Growing-up, this meal consisted of traditional dishes that I really did not care for and it was demanded of everyone that they ate at least seven different items off of the table. (more…)

Every culture has some type of deep fried donut that is a specialty of the region. In my family, you cannot have Christmas without this version. My grandmother always called these Long-Johns and so now does the whole family. I can’t imagine that was the moniker in the old country but that is how our traditional evolved and now they will forever be known as Long- Johns! (more…)

Panettone is Italian Christmas cake, it is egg and butter enriched brioche type dough studded with dried fruits. For Italians the smell and taste of panettone is Christmas – it is given as a gift and eaten Christmas morning for breakfast. In Italy they are beautifully wrapped and hung in shop store windows. (more…)

Here is my attempt at the Danish cake from my previous post. I had to take two tries at it to get it as good as the version I had. The first one was a bit too cakey, not quite as cookie like as the original version - but edible none-the-less! I tweaked it and the second version is spot on. (more…)

As promised, I have done some research about chestnut products and where to buy them. Fresh chestnuts, chestnut puree, peeled vacuum packed and jarred chestnuts are mainly seasonal items so you will be hard pressed to find them year round outside of specialty food stores. You should be able to find them in most urban centres from November to January or February. In Chinese markets you will probably find dried chestnuts most of the time. (more…)

Today the Canadian Living test kitchen went for a holiday lunch at The Centre Street Deli and had a toast to our holiday break with some good Jewish smoked meat! The deli is a North Toronto institution and serves authentic deli goods from Matzo ball soup with homemade chicken stock, to hand sliced corned beef. Just the selection of mustards alone is the worth the trek to Thornhill! (more…)

I was at a tree trimming party on Saturday afternoon and my friend Debbie brought a butter pastry that was divine. We all voted it best treat on the Christmas cookie platter. She said she got the recipe from someone at her work that always brings it to group meetings.

I don’t have the recipe but I have been hunting around and I think it is a Danish recipe for shortbread called Sankager, or maybe it is Norwegian, both seem to make something similar. It is baked in a 9” pan and had almonds sprinkled over the top. It tasted very buttery with a hint of almond. (more…)