2010 February « Nest and Sparkle

Archive for February, 2010

Cream cheese pasta

At the risk of sounding like a shill for the cream cheese company’s latest campaign, I have to say that I have been “cooking with philly” lately with good results. Good in the sense of convenient, easy and reasonably tasty. I won’t call this a recipe, but here is my freestyle method for throwing together a cream cheese pasta for two people with whatever ingredients are kicking around the fridge or freezer. It takes as long as boiling pasta plus five minutes of stirring things together. (more…)

February 28, 2010 at 1:28 pm 2 comments

Broccoli soup

This was my first attempt at making broccoli soup from scratch. I did a bit of poking around on the internet for recipes, but wasn’t able to find one without lots of cream. And you’d be surprised at how many broccoli cheddar soups contain big dollops of processed cheese spread as the magic ingredient. No thank you! So instead of using a recipe, I just cooked the way I usually do – with a general idea of how to make the basic dish – here, a soup – and then taste testing along the way until it’s something worth eating. (more…)

February 20, 2010 at 12:42 pm 2 comments

Vegetable lasagna

I’m not sure if the world needs any more veggie lasagna recipes, but it’s such a staple in our kitchen that I’ll post it anyways. This is the dish I make when we’re craving easy comfort food or planning a meal for a crowd. I’m always relieved to have a solution that pleases our vegetarian, gluten-free sensibilities and also generates rave reviews from meat-atarians. For a vegan version, tofu substitutes well for the cottage cheese and a generous helping of garlic breadcrumbs on top is just as good as cheese. (more…)

February 13, 2010 at 1:23 pm 5 comments

To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

Since summer I’ve been re-reading books by some of my favourite authors, including Carol Shields, Alice Munro, Patrick Lane, Sharon Butala, Isabel Huggan, Jan Zwicky and Marilynne Robinson. Now I’ve come to one of the best yet: Virginia Woolf.

I read Virginia Woolf’s books when I studied English in university, and To The Lighthouse is the one I would recommend most. It’s about the fleeting moments of happiness that spring up in our lives, experiences that may last only for a short time but linger on as memories that shape our lives and perspectives for much longer. In the case of this book, that moment is a dinner party where the main character is surrounded by family and friends. Appropriate for readers of food blogs I’d say! (more…)