Cranberry and Walnut Muffins

Here are four things that make me feel Christmassy:

1. listening to Christmas carols while cooking
2. singing along to Christmas carols
3. the smell of baking muffins with cranberries and orange
4. my fingers around a mug of steaming spiced tea

apple cake (whole grain baking)

Birthdays are a time for a big celebration! This blog and my day-to-day eating habits are both 95% healthy; but there are times when a treat is in order. This cake still has a few healthy features, as you may spot, but it is very sweet and definitely celebratory!

lamb kebabs and pitta bread

These minted lamb kebabs convinced me that if I have to choose cuisine from just one region of the world to live on, it would have to be Middle Eastern. When Asha (from Fork Spoon Knife) announced that this month's Velveteers challenge was to make Middle Eastern street food, I was extremely happy. The fresh mint with lamb, on a soft, fresh pitta, with fresh cucumber salad and juicy tomato, topped with yogurt--it's all so fresh!

persimmon cookies

Persimmons are a Japanese fruit that are the size of a medium tomato. Their skin becomes bright orangey pink before they are fully ripe, so the key to knowing if a persimmon is ripe is in the feel. My two persimmons were sitting the fruit bowl quietly ripening for two weeks before I knew they were ready. They began to feel like the thin, shiny skin was the only thing stopping the fruits losing their shape. It was as if the insides of the persimmons were thick jelly. The fruit becomes exceptionally soft when ready--don't eat them any earlier.


Fortunately I had waited long enough. The flesh was bright orange and pink and slid out easily with a spoon. It only took a single pulse of the blender to make a runny pulp. Simply in Season said they would make a nice smoothie, of which I have no doubt. The pulp was very sweet and would be lovely with a banana, some nutmeg, and maybe a small scoop of vanilla ice cream. But these persimmons were for cookies.


Simply in Season (World Community Cookbook) is a cookbook arranged by the seasons. It was commissioned by the Mennonite Central Committee, the same group behind More-with-Less Cookbook, an environmentally conscious cookbook well ahead of its time (it was published in 1976). More-with-Less and Simply in Season are two of my most used and trusted cookbooks. The persimmon puree provided a sweet base for these moist autumnal cookies, which had more dominant flavours of nutmeg and cloves. The crunchy pecan pieces and soft raisins make each bite interesting.

Persimmon Cookies
adapted from Simply in Season (World Community Cookbook)
makes 3 - 4 dozen small cookies
1 c sugar
1/2 c butter or margarine, softened
1 c persimmon puree (from 2 persimmons)
1 egg
2 c flour
1 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t ground nutmeg
1/2 t ground cloves
1/2 c pecans or other nuts, chopped
1/4 c raisins

Preheat the oven to 375 F/190 C.
Cream together the sugar and butter.
Blend in the persimmon puree and egg.
In a second bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, and spices. Add gradually to the persimmon mixture, blending well.
Stir in the pecans and raisins. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking trays.
Bake for 7 - 9 minutes.

turkey lentil pilaf

Do you think this is a bit over organised? I laid out the spices with the spoons for measuring them as I was cooking today. Everything in my life seems to depend on organisation at the moment. In fact, being a teacher often seems primarily about staying organised. Maybe that's why I like my job!

In the end, Ant and I thought this pilaf was a little bit boring, despite having an interesting spice combination. Next time I would add some chopped spring onions and a squeeze of lemon juice to liven things up.

Turkey Lentil Pilaf
serves 6
from Simply in Season

500 g ground turkey or chopped chicken
1 c chopped onion
2 or 3 garlic cloves
3 T fresh mint, chopped, or 1 T dried mint
1 1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t peppercorns, crushed, or 1/4 t pepper
1 c dried lentils
3/4 c brown rice
2 c broth or water
1 large tomato, chopped, or 1/2 c tomato sauce

Cook the turkey or chicken in a large pan until it is no longer pink, about 5 minutes.
Add the onion and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes, until tender.
Add the mint, cinnamon, and pepper and cook for 2 minutes.
Add the rest of the ingredients and cover. Bring to the boil, reduce heat, and simmer until rice is cooked, 45 to 50 minutes. You may need to add water as the rice and lentils absorb water.

lamb kofte kebabs and borscht

In my continued quest to find meat dishes I enjoy I have discovered this recipe for lamb kofte. Simply in Season cookbook has it as "middle eastern meatloaf" and one of its variations is to grill it it in small cylinders to use in pittas. We like the taste better than the ones we buy at the kebab shop.

400g lamb mince
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t allspice
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 t ground coriander
Mix and then shape into cylinders. Grill and serve in pitta pockets with tomatoes and parsley salad.

I made Borscht, a Mennonite dish, for the first time yesterday (also from the Simply in Season cookbook). It is made with beetroot and so it comes out really pink in colour. It's really easy to make with chicken, carrots, potatoes, dill and parsley. Justin is staying with us for a while and we enjoyed it together last night with toasted pitta.

chard utopia

Mum and Dad gave me a new cookbook while we were visiting with them in August: Simply in Season. It's a companion cookbook to the Mennonite classic More with Less, which I have loved and used for years. Today I used it to make a variation of spanikopita called Chard Utopia (!) for our church harvest lunch tomorrow. It was my first time working with filo (or phyllo) pastry and very exciting it was too. First I chopped up mounds of greens, including chard, rocket, and the one that Sainsbury's simply labels "greens".


I added feta cheese, and garlic.


Then I layered the greens mixture with the pastry sheets, each one brushed with olive oil. It came out a lovely golden brown colour, but we will have to wait until tomorrow to see if it tastes good.

veggie bread ring

Ant and I have almost slept off our jet lag and we're pleased to be in Halifax with the parental figures. Yesterday Mum helped me bake a veggie bread ring. Baking is not really my thing, but I gave it a go because this recipe sounded really interesting. Here is the veggie filling, made with purple cabbage, broccoli, shredded carrot, chives, cottage cheese and cheddar cheese.


Then I rolled out the zucchini bread dough and spread the filling on it.


I rolled it up and cut it into a ring like this. Fancy, eh? We ate it when Kevin and Sonya came over for dinner last night. The recipe is from Simply in Season, a cookbook which my Mum bought both for herself and me.


Yesterday afternoon Ant and I spent some time with Tawnya. Since it was raining we headed into Perks and had a hot beverage. Tawnya has become a lover of espresso after her time in Italy. She said the Perks double espresso was not very smooth and was burnt. Ant had a "coffee crisp", which was very sweet. And I had this green monstrosity, which smelled like seaweed and tasted like vanilla had been added to mask the real flavour. Apparently it is very healthy, but I was unable to finish it because it was quite vile.