EpiCurious Generations

Added a few orange beet chips for colour - totally optional but really good and easy to make Spending weekends at the cottage is something we have really come to enjoy.  They say that the best way to make it through a Canadian winter is to get involved in outdoor sports and activities.  With the amount of snow we have gotten  this year, we have been following this advice and I have to admit that so far the winter is flying by.

One of my favorite sandwiches - with julienned pear and chioggia beet salad Appetizer version drizzled with a little honey Julienne bartlet pear and chioggia beet + olive oil +seasoned rice wine vinegar + salt and pepper  One of the best memories I have of Paris is sitting in a café terrace, eating a croque monsieur (or croque madame) and people watching.  This French version of the ham and cheese is a staple in most brasseries and, with a small salad, makes for a very satisfying and inexpensive lunch.   Every restaurant has their own version, but the best ones are those made with brioche bread.  It is light and adds a slight sweetness that compliments the saltiness of the ham and cheese so well.

Fresh egg pasta stuffed with butternut squash, sprinkled with amaretti cookie and pepato pecorino cheese.  As is often the case when we travel, we like to discover small towns and villages and serendipitously wander into some little local restaurants hoping to find something wonderful and authentic.  We were very lucky when we spent a day in Cernobbio, Italy (on Lake Como) and we discovered Harry's Bar.  The choice to eat there was more about the terrace overlooking the lake than the restaurant but the menu did offer some wonderful choices.  

This was a last minute appetizer I decided to make on Christmas Eve.  As we got closer to the guests' arrival, I realized I had not planned much in the way of something to nibble on before dinner.  My mom was bringing something to help me out (like she always does :) but I decided this might be a good addition.

This is a little late for the Christmas baking section but I got a little busy with preparations for Réveillon (Christmas Eve) which we were hosting for my family at a cottage in St-Sauveur, part of the Laurentian Mountains one hour north of Montreal.  

This is a secret recipe in our family.  I have never given it away because people loved the cookies so much that it gave me a chance to make them something special for birthdays, Christmas, etc.  However, I am finding that I can access my favorite recipes very easily on this blog no matter where I am in the world.  This is very convenient.  As we are going home for the Holidays, my daughter, Sarah, wants to make the cookies for her boyfriend and his family and therefore, to avoid transporting of the recipe, I have decided to post it so she can have it on hand.  It is a recipe that I found quite a while ago and modified a little to be more Canadian.  So here it is - this may be here for the Holidays only!  Enjoy!

I love to cook and the best days are those when I have hours to spend in the kitchen, trying new things and listening to music.   They say that living in the present moment is the way to find true happiness and if I am cooking, I can usually get there.   I think this is why so many people love to cook.  You have to be present and focused on what is happening; the smells, the colours, the sounds and finally the coming together of the end result.  A meal does not have to be complicated or expensive to be good.  But, I do think that it must be made with attention and love (of the people you are serving it to, of food, of simple pleasures, etc.) and this will invariably come through in the end.