Happy 2024! It’s been a while - thanks for sticking with me! Here’s a recap of this past week’s cooking since I’ve been back in London, plus a little recap of holiday cooking back home in Nova Scotia.
Cooking
Crispy Coconut Fish Tacos: for Christmas, I received Mary Berg’s newest cookbook “In Mary’s Kitchen”, and she has a recipe for coconut-crusted haddock fish tacos with chipotle sour cream. I wasn’t able to find the recipe online to link, but I would recommend the cookbook to add to your collection. The only adjustment I made was skipping adding the avocado to the slaw so that it would keep for longer in the fridge. I’ll be adding this recipe to my regular rotation!
Other things I cooked:
Mary Berg’s Chocolate Chip Cookies: I also tried out the chocolate chip recipe from Mary’s cookbook. They were a bit sweet for me, I think next time I’d cut back a bit on the white sugar, but they do have that Subway-cookie-esq flavour to them. I accidentally bought gluten-free flour so mine were v flat, but I think if you’re looking for a classic chocolate chip cookie these are a good one!
Chicken and Lentil Pasta Salad: coming back from the holidays I was craving a big ol salad. I prepped some chicken thighs, cooked in a frying pan with Maritime Madness Chipotle BBQ seasoning, cooked some red lentil pasta (well rinsed once cooked), and prepped veggies like cucumber, lettuce and cherry tomatoes. I assembled the salads each day for lunch with Hope Bloom Basil Pesto Dressing, some crumbled feta, and some pita chips for texture!
Reflecting
I had a wonderful 10(ish) days back in Nova Scotia for the holidays. It was nice to slow down, cook with my favourite co-chefs, and spend quality time with my family and friends. Here are highlights of dishes from my trip:
Christmas Eve Shrimp Ring - BA’s Best Shrimp Cocktail
Christmas Day Desserts - Alison Roman’s Key Lime Pie, BA’s Lemon Meringue, and a riff on Molly Baz’s Miso Apple Tart
Boxing Day Brunch - Smitten Kitchen’s Cornbread Waffles and my Tangy Tomato Chutney (+ Bacon and Eggs!)
“Floating Day” Lasagna - Alison Roman’s A Very Good Lasagna and Iceberg Salad
New Year’s Eve Starters - my Chorizo Stuffed Dates with Spicy Marinara
Birthday Cake - Alison Roman’s All Purpose Chocolate Sheet Cake (big AR week!)
Eating
LF Bakery Za’atar Croissant: this is one of my favourite bites out in Halifax during my trip. Such an interesting combo for a savoury croissant - I will be thinking about this for a long time! (it’s the one with the sesame seeds on top)
Saving
This “Great Big Make-Ahead Salad” posted by @thekitchn - looks like a perfect salad for my next dinner hosting!
Listening
Thinking
About New Year’s Resolutions. For this year, I’m going to focus on making more sustainable choices - trying to waste less food, use reusable materials when I can (swapping out paper towel for cloths as much as possible - my kryptonite!), and investing in a reusable coffee cup as I’ve started buying coffee on my way to work a lot more since moving here.
Laughing
Have a great week,
Kaleigh
Everything looks wonderful!