The pumpkin-storm hovered over the food blogosphere for a long time. It started around here at the beginning of October, for our Canadian thanksgiving, gained momentum through Halloween and the American harvest holiday, and was still just going at full speed for Christmas. Pumpkin scones, breads, cookies were ubiquitous. Pumpkin pies, cupckakes and cheesecakes? Omnipresent. The festive veg even wriggled its way into less expected hosts, such as chili and brownies and curry and white chocolate blondies and bread pudding and whoopie pies… Phew! But for some reason, I just wasn’t feeling it.

Maybe it was just me being defiant and expressing my non-acquiescence to what everyone else was doing. But for whatever reason, I kept my palate entirely clear of the autumn favorite. However, now that the squash and co. storm is over, I find myself really lusting after a good, moist pumpkin muffin - in all its sweet, spicy, comforting, glory. So here I am in January, humbly seeking out recipes for everyone’s favorite October vegetable (the one that I snootily shunned during proper gourd-centric months). Read More

Growing up in Atlantic Canada, a Sunday evening wasn’t complete without a bowl (or several) of warm apple crisp. The vanilla ice cream (and my heart) would melt on contact, in full surrender. It was a final hug of the weekend, providing the courage to start another week of school. After an afternoon skating in the backyard till our toes were numb, or sliding from our yard into our neighbour’s on our man-made mountain (a happy by-product of driveway-shoveling… with New Brunswick-style snow storms, an impressive sliding mountain really doesn’t take long), there was nothing like warm, gooey apples under buttery oats to take the chill out of our cold, rosy cheeks.

That being said, a quarter-century of Sundays and my eye started wandering away from my apple crisp hugs, and I landed in the arms of another, bolder and more exciting crisp… with sweet cherries… and almonds.

Cherry crisp is like the best of cherry pie meeting the best of apple crisp. The cherries release lots of juice, making a thick, rich, delicious filling. The addition of sliced almonds to the topping is perfection. The toasty, nutty crunch is nothing short of divine with the gorgeous, soft cherries. Read More