All this talk about favourites brings to mind the guest chef a few shows back, Erica Diamond.  In her web interview she mentions how much she and her kids love her mom’s banana chip muffin recipe.  This struck a chord because you could say that is the “go-to” recipe in my house for a snack or quick breakfast.  It’s a no-brainer on mornings when the kids are obviously a little sick of eating cereal day after day.

The recipe is so simple and after preparing it (at least) a thousand times I have it pretty much memorized, making it even faster to whip up a batch.  I will share it with you now, and perhaps it will become a tradition in your house as well.

Ingredients:

½ cup butter (softened)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs (beaten)

1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 3 bananas)

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. salt

1 cup chocolate chips

Mix the butter and sugar together, mix in eggs one at a time, add mashed banana.

Mix the dry ingredients together then add them to the wet ingredients.

Spoon into the muffin cups (greased or with paper liners), about ¾ full.

Bake at 350°F for about 20 minutes (they should be a bit golden on top).

A little tip, I also like to add a dollop of sour cream to the final mix, it seems to make the muffins just a little bit moister.

I hope you enjoy my favourite recipe.  Do you have one you would like to share? By all means let us know J

The Research Team

My siblings and I would dress up in makeshift costumes from our attic, sure they smelled like moth balls but half the fun was putting it all together literally the last minute before heading out the door. I was a watermelon slice one year, a Jack of hearts the next, and countless sports figures using my older brother’s leftover gear. The first year my son Spence enjoyed Halloween I made him a Dalmatian costume out of a white sleeper and some black felt, I was more creative then and had lots of extra time on my hands.  I leaned more towards the store bought costume experience in recent years, God bless online shopping.   He loved to go all out with the costume details and I learned quickly to wait until he was absolutely sure what he wanted to be before putting out the cash for his fancy costume! Kids tend to change their mind last minute, or maybe that was just my kid! Let’s just say making use of an unused wizard costume in August is a challenge!

So, my  baby daughter  Tess who  will be 6mos (corrected age)  at Halloween this year, is now the benefactor of all that Halloween Costume knowledge and she already has her hand me down costume ready and waiting. See pic!!!! Tess is going as a lobster; all I have to do this year is grab a stick of butter from my fridge! She is already a foodie.

Spence and I made some pretty cool pumpkins over the years too. We went through his favourite hockey team logos and cartoon characters. Now that Spence is a teenager ,  I miss those days but since our little addition of baby Tess, I look forward to many more years of celebrating Halloween , pumpkins and all the fun and of course the CANDY!

Jack

My Dad used to love the fall. For him it was the season filled with his two favourite things; football and soup!

I remember all us kids packing in the old station wagon and heading to Ivor Wynne stadium to watch his beloved Tiger Cats play.

Parking on strangers’ front lawns and the smell of stadium hot dogs still remind me of him, as does a piping hot bowl of soup to warm up when we got home.

My Dad always ate his food at the maximum allowable temperature, especially his soup. He had a steel mouth when it came to heat and for him there was no other way to eat a bowl of his favourite split pea and ham soup than piping hot.

Back then, as a kid, I would laugh at his quirkiness but in retrospect I get where he was coming from.

In fact, as much as I hate to admit it, I inherited a lot of my quirkiness and my love of a bowl of piping hot soup from him.

Coming inside to warm up with soup was and still is comforting to me. It feels safe.

Now it’s no secret that my Mum wasn’t the best cook on the planet, so my Dad’s beloved soup often ended up coming from a can. He would search high and low for the best ones; he adored hearty clam chowder, beef and barley and especially split pea with real ham! And when a friendly neighbour or friend was kind enough to make him homemade soup he was simply in heaven.

I started experimenting with soup making in my early twenties. Fresh pea with mint, turkey and barley, borscht, hearty chicken and dumplings…and split pea with ham and homemade croutons of course!

There is something almost magical to me about creating a delicious pot of soup to warm your family from the inside out in the cool fall months. I guess deep down inside we share the same soup DNA.  I am told, though I hate to admit it, even to you, that I unconsciously get up to place my plate/bowl in the microwave mid meal to re heat my dinners, and in particular, my  soup. Sad but true.

I guess the proverbial soup doesn’t fall far from the tureen… especially on those crisp fall nights!

What’s your favourite soup?

Jack

Another highlight was sleeping “under the stars” with my siblings and the neighbourhood kids in our backyard. We’d plan everything meticulously, flashlights, bug spray and especially the food! We needed tasty treats that would keep us going all night long!

One of my favourites was fudge. Fudge always reminds me of end of school year field trips, country stores up north but most importantly of my Mum. The one dessert my Mum made for us kids (that we actually ate) was her fudge! It was so simple and I’m sure that’s why it became a family summertime tradition.

That and because all the ingredients were already found in our kitchen. The coolest thing about my Mum’s fudge was that she made it in ice cube trays. I’m sure it was out of necessity, with 9 kids making equal portions means less fighting about whose piece was bigger. Here is my Mum’s original recipe with an added bonus of PEANUT BUTTER! I plan to pass this one on to my kids Spence and Tess! Enjoy…And let me know your family summertime traditions.

PEANUT BUTTER FUDGE

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3/4 cup peanut butter1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

Directions:

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar and milk. Bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter and vanilla. Pour over confectioners’ sugar in a large mixing bowl. Beat until smooth; pour into an 8×8 inch dish. (OR ICE CUBE TRAYS!!!) Chill until firm and cut into squares. (or pop the ice cube tray into the freezer and twist and serve!)

1)    I hate heating up my non air conditioned house with my oven!

2)    I hate cleaning my house when guests come over…with a newborn baby girl  and a teenage son at home I have no time to sweat the small stuff!

I know, I may appear to have a lot of pet peeves here… but I do have a solution…Dining al fresco, from start to finish! From BBQ apps, like melted cheesy quesadillas to grilled salads and marvellous marinated mains to great grilled desserts… it all tastes better outdoors… (everything tastes better when you don’t have to clean up, don’t you find?)

I never used to think desserts and BBQ-ing went hand in hand… But necessity is the mother of invention (did I mention how much I hate to clean my house?) Right, well, in order to keep everyone outside on warm summer nights I needed to “think outside the oven” and get inspired.

My inspiration came while reading an article about grilled peanut butter and banana sandwiches…Brilliant! I came up with one of my all time favourite summer desserts…BBQ Bananas with peanut butter and chocolate sauce drizzled over top! Worthy of any Royalty!

Try grilling all types of other fruit skewers with fun dipping sauces… like fresh grilled pineapple chunks with melted dark chocolate and cinnamon sprinkled peaches with sweet cream cheese dip!

Remember, there‘s no need for a campfire to make the perfect smores! And lots of cakes and pies can be adapted for the BBQ.

I’m also a big fan of any dessert with warm apples… but if the thought of heating up your oven  makes you sweat, just grill some cored, cut Granny Smiths for about 20 min (turn after ten), then spoon over a simple streusel topping (here’s mine which I mix together ahead of time and leave it in the fridge: 1/2 cup oatmeal, 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup packed brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 cup butter chopped up and some pecans). Bake on the BBQ for an additional 5 min and serve with your favourite whipped topping or vanilla ice cream and watch your guests go nuts!

The possibilities are only limited to your imagination! So create your own BBQ Dessert invention and let me know what inspires you!

Jack

I love to experiment with great “empty the fridge” brunch Omelette (depending on my cravings that day) and different variations of French toast (try challah bread or raisin bread or adding orange juice or grand Marnier to your mix), but my all time fav egg dish is Eggs Benedict. The ultimate brunch trifecta…eggs, breakfast meat and hollandaise!

I used to only order Eggs Bennie in restaurants. The whole egg poaching issue was my deterrent, until I got the right egg poaching pan. (I highly recommend investing in a good one that won’t stick!) And so… I brought brunch home permanently. There is nothing like eating brunch in your pj’s while reading the weekend newspaper! I make two Eggs Bennie versions for my guys at home: Peameal bacon and smoked salmon. I use the same base for both; whole wheat English muffins, cooked spinach (frozen cubes-so easy) and lovely warm hollandaise sauce (homemade or if I’m feeling lazy I grab a packet from my pantry). I top with fresh herbs (dill with the salmon and chives with the bacon). Its so simple and everyone in my house devours them. (And if you have fussy eaters the options are limitless!)

I’m on bedrest right now with my pregnancy so I don’t get to check off a lot of Eggs Benedict options on my hospital menus! I think that’s the first thing I’ll make at home when they spring me. In the meantime, my sister drops off warm back bacon and egg sandwiches from St Lawrence market to tie me over. I call it “brunch on a bun”, and the best part about them is I eat them in my PJ’s with the weekend paper. Linen tablecloths are overrated; it’s the food that counts.

Happy Brunching folks! Share your favourite brunch recipes; I’d love to hear about your weekend mornings.

Jack

I remembered back to the many contests my brother and I used to have. Our Valentine’s Day competition was to see “Who could fit the most red hot cinnamon hearts in our mouth at once”.

Those candies were crazy spicy and keeping an entire handful of hearts in your mouth without laughing or choking was a feat in itself. The winner’s claim to fame would be bragging rights and a bright crimson tongue that lasted the entire day.

Valentines day seemed so simple when I was a kid. There was no store bought perfection. Homemade lopsided heart cakes were the norm and Valentine’s didn’t come in bulk from the drug mart either.

Red construction paper cupid cut outs and glued tissue paper shoe boxes filled with homemade Valentine’s were what we looked forward to all year.

Old school Valentine’s Days need to make a comeback! Less e-greetings andstore bought designer cupcakes.

I say we all should go back in time and make our own old school V-day from scratch. Wishing you all a homemade shoe-box full of cut out hearts on your desk Valentine’s Day morning…

Jack

Every year on New Years Eve we go to my sister Lisa’s house and have a great 4-course meal with wine pairings for each course. Lisa’s husband is a wine expert and has a cool cellar in their basement; he knows more about wine than anyone I know. This year I skipped that part of the evening (bun in the oven and all),but it was still fun to see the pairing unfold. They always invite a very different and eclectic group of 8-10 people and we are the standard pivot couple. There are a few musicians in the crowd so the night ends with guitars strumming and me singing off-key. Not pretty, but fun!

As usual, they did not disappoint with the menu this year: amazing artisan cheeses drizzled in honey and walnuts, the mystery soup of the year (a spring pea with mint) the lobster course (a must-have tradition that always has elbows and shells flying), and the main event (abeef tenderloin that melts in your mouth like budda!).

I brought delicious molten chocolate cakes for dessert and the meal ended with a champagne toast at midnight.

A perfect way to kick off a great new season of great recipes and introduce this baby on the way to the wonderful world of food!

How did you celebrate the holiday season

Jack

This time of year is very busy for me at the restaurant. I work practically every day, and long hours at that. But despite the crazy schedules, I love the excitement of it all. The holidays are always a time of joy for us at the restaurant, with happy customers coming in to celebrate with their families.

I’d like to take the time to wish you all very happy Holidays. May the New Year bring you joy, happiness and excitement!

Happy Holidays!
Warren

P.S. Look for our brand new season of what’s cooking coming up right after the Holidays. We’ve got tons of easy recipes and tips and tricks your family is sure to enjoy in 2011!

That’s right. Christmas has come and gone,like a hurricane! But the holiday season isn’t over just yet….

Break out the sparklers, confetti guns, cocktails, appetizers, and put together that “power-hour” dance mix. When the clock strikes 12 on December 31st, people all over the world will cheer and wish each other a very Happy New Year, ringing in 2011! For some, this event is no more than a change of a calendar. But I’m part of the others, where the New Year symbolizes the beginning of a better tomorrow. Something to think about in this upcoming year is to DARE. Make some of your New Year’s resolutions about trying new ingredients, new cocktails, new music, and new restaurants to start off your NEW YEAR. I know I will.

As a foodie, other resolutions that I take into consideration are:

1. Spend more time with family and friends
2. Make more time for fitness
3. Tame the bulge
4. (Sometimes) quit judging restaurants by their exteriors
5. Enjoy life more
6. Visit more food destinations
7. Conquer a Food Fear
8. Learn something new
9. Help others
10. Get more free advice from our nutritionist Patricia Chuey

Thank you for your ongoing loyalty in watching what’s cooking. It’s a great TV show (and magazine) to put together and we’re looking forward to bringing our viewers more of “the good stuff”. So if you look forward to a good year ahead, spread your happiness with wonderful New Year wishes (and food) and keep watching.

Richard