tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-166659872013-05-22T21:43:02.371-04:00Confessions of a Cardamom AddictOmnivorous ramblings by a habitual eater.jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152931556148877553noreply@blogger.comBlogger582125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16665987.post-51970154047879185252013-05-20T17:04:00.001-04:002013-05-22T21:42:42.476-04:00Mr Bean, our little boyLong time Cardamom Addict readers know this handsome boy to the left--this is, of course, Mr. Bean. If you follow my @cardamomaddict Twitter account, you know things have been rough for this dear old cat these past few weeks. Unfortunately, one week after being diagnosed with both liver and pancreatic cancers, this lovely boy passed away.
Mr. Bean (Beanie to those who knew and fed him best) jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152931556148877553noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16665987.post-21584182270862165542013-02-24T00:15:00.001-05:002013-02-25T15:08:44.105-05:00Real pancakes, from a box That's what she said. And she meant it...without irony.
I suppose the phrase wouldn't have struck me if she and her troupe hadn't just spent the previous so many minutes trying to convince the rest of us that they were so much more advanced than us in every way: general sophistication, professional knowledge and the almighty and indisputable measurement of Twitter followers. One even made a jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152931556148877553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16665987.post-71317014147665411942013-01-06T15:24:00.002-05:002013-01-09T10:01:32.094-05:00A few days late, I bear cake
A belated happy 2013 to all--may it bring you and yours laughter, opportunity, friends and whatever good things you wish for.
I know some of you have been wondering why my entries have become increasingly sporadic these past few months. The last half of 2012 brought pervasive change.
While Hagia and Zeus are no longer padding around the house, two new companions have trotted in. Those of jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152931556148877553noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16665987.post-90582571904893422422012-12-25T19:57:00.001-05:002012-12-25T22:09:55.841-05:00Happy Christmas!
Happy Christmas and a Jolly Holiday to all my friends, followers and fans. I wish you all peace, love and laughter this holiday season.
cheers!
jasmine
I'm a quill for hire!
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Geneviève BergeronHelene ColganNathalie CroteauBarbara DaigneaultAnne-Marie EdwardMaud HaviernickBarbara Klucznik-WidajewiczMaryse LaganièreMaryse LeclairAnne-Marie LemaySonia PelletierMichèle RichardAnnie St-ArneaultAnnie Turcotte
Montreal Massacre
jasmine
var _sttoolbar = {}stBlogger.init("http://w.sharethis.com/button/sharethis.js#publisher=d8473b77-4112-4b3a-b63e-f9f6ccb8104c&type=jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152931556148877553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16665987.post-89428981266026344862012-10-22T23:52:00.003-04:002012-10-23T12:45:01.086-04:00Zeus: my big, strong boy
For those of you following my Twitter feed, you'll know that I've had a pretty rough time over the past few months with my cats Hagia and Zeus. Hagia passed away in July and last week her brother Zeus lost his battle. They were both about 17years old.
They were born in my parents' garden on 1 September 1995. Zeus, the eldest of the litter was the most adventurous of the four. My father jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152931556148877553noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16665987.post-78304408730350962772012-10-08T16:17:00.001-04:002012-10-08T16:17:50.722-04:00Happy Thanksgiving! Pumpkin swirl cheesecake
Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadians! I hope all of you have had a safe and wonderful weekend, surrounded by good friends and family...and...of course a table ladened with the bounty of the season.
My Dear Little Cardamummy asked me to bring pumpkin pies to dinner (yes, plural). I was all set to whip up something special but my body had other plans.
The day I was to bake I awoke jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152931556148877553noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16665987.post-43232464948530551742012-09-09T20:13:00.002-04:002012-09-09T20:39:23.991-04:00I be canningYes, I know...I've taken another break.Lots happened in the past few weeks, gobbling up my time like a four month-old kitten gobbles up tinned food. Most of what's kept me busy hasn't been foodish, but some has. What you see is a sampling of this year's canning adventures. I'll probably blog one or two recipes, but here what's come out of my kitchen (recipe linked, where available):jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152931556148877553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16665987.post-60289265458050114092012-08-15T21:34:00.006-04:002012-08-17T23:19:05.312-04:00Happy Birthday Julia: Rocquefort and Pear SpiralsHappy 100th birthday to a woman who forever changed American kitchens.As I wrote in my tribute for PBS.org's celebrations, Julia Child was a woman who taught more than just cooking. She taught viewers to think on the fly, because no matter how much we prepare for perfection, perfection is never guaranteed.Think about that in context of today's Stepford Wife-ian cookery shows. Click over to Foodjasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152931556148877553noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16665987.post-81296256738107511592012-08-06T18:41:00.005-04:002012-08-06T20:29:51.975-04:00Cook For Julia: Seeni SambolFor the next few days PBS food celebrates what would have been Julia Child's 100th birthday. Their senior food editor sent me a note several weeks ago asking me to write a tribute--you can find it here.In as much as she was a great force in American (and North American cooking) I have to admit that I really didn't know all that much about Julia. From her various cookery shows, I knew she was ajasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152931556148877553noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16665987.post-73490041453946777072012-07-26T00:00:00.001-04:002012-07-26T00:00:02.193-04:00My Darling One: Five years laterFive years ago today the man I loved passed away. A lot has happened in those years--new home, new job, new opportunities, new romances--but I know he is still with me, cheering me on in my victories, hiding his head in embarrassment when I proffer a Jasmine-ism, and consoling me when things just don't go as expected.In general, my life is good and I know how lucky I am. I love my day job jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152931556148877553noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16665987.post-79482428172782088322012-07-22T20:00:00.000-04:002012-07-22T20:00:03.516-04:00Mmm...Canada: Wild boar chops with red wine and mushroom sauceMy weekly visit to Matt my butcher, is always a treat. Apart from having wonderful meat, he's a font of great information and advice and he usually has something that tempts my culinary soul. The other week was no different. My eyes brightened as he told me Perth Pork, a local family-run farm, delivered gorgeous wild boar chops to his shop. Quite honestly I'm not entirely certain that my part jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152931556148877553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16665987.post-69539243830264864732012-07-19T19:00:00.005-04:002012-07-19T19:23:22.603-04:00Julia's LegacyHello,As many of you know, PBS.com's food section is marking what would be Julia Child's 100th birthday on 15 August 2012. Several weeks ago, their senior editor contacted me (as well as chefs and other foodbloggers), asking if I'd write a tribute, noting Julia's impact on my life. What an honour!The celebrations started a little while ago, so you can explore many aspects of Julia's life--the jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152931556148877553noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16665987.post-78371032675629025982012-07-14T19:44:00.009-04:002012-07-15T13:59:24.528-04:00Hagia: My Little OneHagia was the littlest of the litter born on 1 September 1995 in my parents' garden. We them took in: Zeus (then called Sofia, but that's another story), Groucho and Scutterbotch. Scutterbotch, an affectionate marmalade tabby, was adopted out within a few weeks and Groucho, a grey kitty with anger management issues, eventually found a home with the exbf. Hagia and Zeus stayed (Bean later jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152931556148877553noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16665987.post-7917646682487221342012-07-08T22:56:00.004-04:002012-07-08T23:43:58.349-04:00Mmm...Canada: Bumbleberry GruntThere are just some words that bring a smile to my face."Bumbleberry" is one of them. Sheer onomatopoeic bliss, to my ears at least.I've done some reading on bumbleberry--and while it may not be a Canadian term, it certainly is embraced in many kitchens across my fair land.Add "grunt" -- both as in a Nova Scotian blueberry grunt and another bit of culinary onomatopoeia referring to the sound of jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152931556148877553noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16665987.post-67357655472420380022012-07-01T19:16:00.002-04:002012-07-01T19:49:27.463-04:00Mmm Canada: Made In Canada CupcakesHappy Canada Day!I know they don't look like much, but these little cupcakes carry a grand name--well, the recipe on which they're based carries a grand name: Made In Canada Cake.Lately I've been interested in older cookery books (Canadian and otherwise) and those issued by community groups, so when I came across them the other day while reading an article looking at some historical Canadian jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152931556148877553noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16665987.post-14493771619686056512012-06-10T21:14:00.003-04:002012-06-10T21:29:03.351-04:00WIP: Lemon-rhubarb cakeHas it really been more than a month since I was last here?Eeek.My absence wasn't intentional. Thanks to unreliable home Internet service...more than three weeks of unreliable home Internet...and phone...and TV service (don't you love the lack of provider competition, combined with bundling that "saves" the customer money?) I've not really been able to post. Those adventures haven't ended (I jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152931556148877553noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16665987.post-35467213735734090832012-04-29T20:44:00.005-04:002012-05-01T19:35:25.509-04:00Red Lamb CurryWhenever my parents go to India, I send them on excursions to bring something back for me. Sometimes it's a tiffin, sometimes it's a pashmina. Last year I asked for English-language cookery books specialising in Kerala's cuisines.They returned with three thin shopworn paperbacks by someone only named as "Mrs. K. M. Mathew." The books really didn't elaborate on her life--she edited a woman's jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152931556148877553noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16665987.post-44208833595300851722012-04-22T21:12:00.005-04:002012-04-22T21:13:49.918-04:00Maple Harissa Chicken Wings
This post should have been a cookbook review.
But it's not.
A few months ago I received a gorgeous-looking book about Moroccan cooking. Then I read it.
Augh.
Let's ignore the writing style that oozes braggadocious smarm and reeks of self-satisfaction.
Let's ignore little gems like telling the reader if they want to use this cookbook they should get a scale that weighs in fractions of a jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152931556148877553noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16665987.post-15481029981251824672012-04-15T20:00:00.001-04:002012-04-16T19:17:54.834-04:00Ceci n'est pas un fruitcakeThis year I hemmed and hawed over what I wanted to make for Easter Dessert. Pies, cakes, ice creams--they all flitted through my mind as non-descript actors flit through the minds of fickle teenaged girls: nothing truly grabbed my attention for more than a few days. TVO currently airs Edwardian Farm--a 12-episode programme chronicling two experimental archaeologists and one historian living thejasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152931556148877553noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16665987.post-51435578762211164942012-04-06T21:20:00.005-04:002012-04-13T10:26:38.908-04:00Good Friday: Seafood PieIt seems as if everyone I know who's keeping Good Friday is having a fish fry today. Don't get me wrong, I love a good fish fry (tempura, beer batter, heavily spiced and dry fried--it's all good), but I just didn't want to go through "all that" ... not that it's arduous--if you're looking for a good deep fried fish recipe, here's my catfish fingers recipe.After an oddly warm winter, we're back jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152931556148877553noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16665987.post-80148263214368666802012-03-17T22:25:00.006-04:002012-03-18T12:56:37.386-04:00Happy St. Patrick's Day: Guinness-Braised Beef RibsHappy St. Patrick's Day to one and all. I hope you are able to spend the day with those who mean much to you.This year's Guinness-inspired recipe was supposed to be Guinness-braised shortribs. I bought a couple of slabs of shortribs from my favourite butcher and put them in the freezer, until I had time to create this recipe. Sounds like a good idea, right? I'm thinking ahead, making sure my jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152931556148877553noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16665987.post-52525106374770892112012-03-12T20:19:00.004-04:002012-03-12T21:05:26.325-04:00Irish Cream Chocolate Sandwich BiscuitsI checked my BBM the other day to find a colleague changed her avatar. This in itself is not remarkable--pretty much everyone on BBM (except for me) seems to change their avatars regularly. Sometimes it's a wee self portrait or image of their child. Sometimes is a vacation snap or some other image that strikes their fancy.What caught my eye was an image of an Oreo cookie, with a note wishing jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152931556148877553noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16665987.post-13138280291346181392012-02-19T21:08:00.002-05:002012-02-19T22:01:43.484-05:00Avocado, Goat Cheese and Tomato MuffinsMy sweet tooth is shrinking.I can feel it.I've made two batches of brownies in the past six weeks and could barely get through one piece...in total. I've migrated away from muffins, fruit and/or honey-sweetened granola. I don't really want a sweet in the evening.That said, I still want to bake--I turn out the occasional cake, but I'd rather try my hand at BBA. The other week, when I made my jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152931556148877553noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16665987.post-44386947269391585092012-02-14T19:51:00.010-05:002012-02-20T19:14:02.104-05:00Valentine's Day: Nunneries, sequins and Big Green EggsMe: "I think I'll become a nun."Friend: "You won't like wearing black and white."Me: "Maybe if it were sequinned."Real conversation...today...Valentine's Day.I think the above says it all, and my current romantic predicament. So here I am, looking for Mr. Right...again. He's elusive and at this moment I'm not sure he actually wants to be found. At least not where I'm looking.Even though it jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152931556148877553noreply@blogger.com2