The Leaf in a Page

Classic Nanaimo Bars I always thought these delicious bars were difficult to make. Anything with three layers had to be, not only difficult, but time consuming. Guess what? Not so! All you really need to know, is how to warm something up, mix ingredients together, and spread the ingredients into a pan. Voila!  You don't even have to turn your oven on. The best way to quickly make these squares, or any square for that matter, is to measure all your ingredients before you start. Then you simply follow the instructions and before you know it, you have Nanaimo Bars. Bottom Layer Unsalted butter                                                          ½ cup        ...

If you find butter tarts too time-consuming try this butter tart square recipe which is a quick one to make. You do have to wait to eat them, as it takes time to set the topping. They are worth the wait and will satisfy your craving for the butter tarts. These squares are great to make ahead and bring to a gathering as your contribution. The sticky gooey topping on the shortbread bottom makes them an all-time favorite. These are also great for bake sales.  For an adult version, you could soak your raisins overnight in a 1/4 cup of rum.  What you need: 9x13 baking pan, bowls for mixing, parchment paper and spatulas. A pastry blender is great but optional.  Butter tart Squares Ingredients:  Base §   2 cups of all-purpose flour §   1/2 cup granulated sugar §   1 cup of butter (if you use unsalted butter add 1/4 tsp salt)   Topping §   1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled §   4 large eggs, lightly beaten §   2 cups...

  Holy Jalapeno Cheese Bread This is such a soft tasty loaf of bread. It could be made as a cheese bread if jalapenos are not your thing. I come from a family of 10. Mom struggled every day trying to find ways to feed us and the only spices we had in the house were turkey dressing spices, cinammon, nutmeg and cloves. Of course we had salt and pepper seasoning which made all the meat, potatoes, macaroni or kraft dinner tasty. As an adult living in the Halifax/Dartmouth area I finally tried jalapeno peppers on a plate of nachos at the restaurant called "The Thirsty Duck" (no longer in existence). It was my nursing class, after exam, celebration spot to go. It took several tries before acquiring a taste for the peppers. Once you do enjoy the taste of jalapenos this loaf of bread will give you just another chance to enjoy and celebrate any ol' accomplishment you choose. I wish there was another photo to share but be assured you will not be disappointed. Makes 3 loaves Bre...

  Winston Knot Challah baking in the oven.   Challah is a Jewish Celebration Bread and has much significance to the culture. It is often braided with three strands standing for truth peace and justice. Twelve humps on a braid stand for the miracle of 12 loaves for the 12 tribes of Israel. If you shape your braid into a circle it means no beginning and no end. Each style are used in different celebrrations. The cultural meaning of so many breads gives us much to learn. Wait until I do the white bread post! For a spiritual meaning of the ingredients I found one from a web site: https://www.ohelsara.com/women-and-the-home/hafrashat-challah/the-symbolism-of-challah/ which reviews the ingredient and the significance of each. It is interesting, but the main point of bread for most is that we share it, it tastes great and it fills us. Challah has loads of protein because of the milk and eggs, which makes it especially perfect for sharing and filling you up. It makes a beautiful f...

  Soft Molasses Cookies You have to try this recipe. Especially if you long for a soft molasses cookie you probably had as a child. They are great on their own as a large cookie that fits your whole hand, or made smaller to tease the taste buds. I have put a spicey buttercream in between and turned them into a mini molasses woopie pie. It was so good.  Ingredients: Sugar                                     1 cup Shortening                          ½ cup Butter                                   ½ cup Molasses  ...

 Who doesn't like a tea biscuit with a warm bowl of soup or a quick snack with molasses poured all over it. Maybe a side of baked beans to go with that? I remember making tea biscuits for visitors to accompany a lobster boil. It was perfect. We also made a huge batch of apple jelly from apples we brought home from an outing, and decided it was perfect thing to put it on a warm tea bisucit. There was what seemed to be an abondoned farm house down the road from where we lived in a town called Geary, 44 years ago. I was about 5 1/2 months pregnant with our first child. David and I hiked over to the apple tree mid September in that farmyard and filled a book bag with beautiful red apples. I know what ends up in book bags kids. Stollen contraband for one, hehe!! If you are in the mood for memories here is the " Tea Biscuit' sure to bring a few memories of your own.  Tea Biscuits Recipe:   Preheat 425F/218C There are two recipes here. One for cups and one for grams. All purpo...

I call this the best fudge ever for several reasons 1. Ingredients are usually readily available in the house. 2. It only takes a bit of time to make Prep 5 min, Cook 5-7 min, Stir and pour 3-5 min. 3. Turns out perfect  each time. 4. Most importantly, it is my mom's recipe and it brings me home when I need a little emotional treat. 5. I used to offer fudge for fundraisers at work. I worked on the inpatient floor at our local women's and children's hospital. Sometimes we just needed something and fudge would start to raise money. We bought hand held fetal monitors for one of our specialist who went to an African community. We also bought movies for our VHS machines before Netflix took over. Other times some of our own staff were in a crisis, health or otherwise, and my fudge would raise several hundred dollars each time to help our cause. Trust me this is good fudge. Lets not waste any more time with blabber about this or that and start with preparing all you need. ...

War Cake Big Raisins The first time I ever heard of War Cake was when dating David. His mom was making it around the holidays and it was Dec 1977. I asked why they called it war cake and his mom Edie, told me it was an easy, affordable cake with no dairy or eggs that people could send off to the men at war during war times. Edie also said the spices provide a way to preserve the cake so it will last for a while. I found more information at http://www.bcfoodhistory.ca/canadian-war-cake/ which has a very good write up about the history of war cake which agrees with Edie’s explanation.   Edie MacPherson circa 1978 The recipe I am sharing came from a cookbook she gave me so I could recreate the war cake for David. She changed it a bit and I made that version a few times but after reading a few others I noticed one with baking powder, whilst most of the originals have 1 or 2 tsp of baking soda only depending on the amount of flour the recipe called for. T...