I have a confession to make: whenever I’m at Ikea I always end up at the food market, I usually ponder how bizarre it is to get excited about food from a furniture store, and I always walk away with some lingonberry jam and Daim.
I love lingonberry jam…
It’s one of those preserves that has a delicious balance of sweetness and tartness – it’s used as a condiment in sweet and savoury dishes in Scandinavia where it grows wild.
I usually stir it into my porridge, use it in thumbprint cookies, or just on toast or pancakes.

I initially used lingonberry jam in this pie only because I was out of blueberry jam – which is what the recipe I found calls for.
This pie is buttery, sweet and slightly tart – a simple and truly lovely dessert.
It’s based on the traditional Icelandic ‘wedded bliss cake’, which from what I’ve gathered uses rhubarb or prune jam, but I think lingonberry jam works perfectly here too.
This first time I made it, I served it with vanilla sauce (using Bird’s Custard Powder).
It’s good with whipped cream, or ice cream or plain.
It’s also one of those pies that tastes better the next day – I call them ‘next day pies’

 

I don’t do well with chaos and transitions; but that’s exactly what I’ve had to contend with these past couple of days.
See, the bathroom is being renovated; this needed to happen, but I wasn’t prepared the mess and upheaval that came with the process.
I thought about checking into a hotel for a few days – but luckily, I can recognize when I’m being a tad dramatic.
The repairs took just a few days, and the new bathroom is nice – almost worth the inconvenience.
This weekend was settling, all we did was put up the Christmas tree.
And for dinner both nights we made salad; a hasty salad – put together using stuff from around the house; apples, nuts, raisins and arugula.
The arugula, apple and walnuts salad is a take on Waldorf salad, based on this variation using Kale.
I love this salad, especially the dressing which uses apples, raisins and walnuts.
The dressing is creamy and tangy from the vinegar; and the salad is crisp, crunchy, sweet and tangy.

 

I’ve had ice cream on my mind these past few days, I know it’s a strange time to want ice cream; it’s rainy and cold.
I made coconut milk ice cream all summer long, I’ve decided ice cream is good all year round so I’m going to keep at it.

I’ve been making this coconut milk ice cream for several years now, it’s why I started buying canned coconut milk, and now I’ve found so many other uses for it – from baking to whipped cream. I have a few too many cans of coconut milk in my pantry, and this weekend we’re making ice cream!

This recipe has evolved, and I suspect it will continue to; lately I’ve been adding a arrowroot powder to the mix and I do get great creamy results.

I quite like it; a comforting bowl of ice cream on a cold rainy day.
It’s no bowl of soup but this works too!
I try to keep a variety of toppings on hand; toasted coconuts flakes, nuts, sprinkles and sauces… mango, chocolate, strawberry…

 

A couple of months ago I got a jar of morello cherries (in light syrup) from Trader Joe’s.
It was a bit of an impulse buy, but I’d always wanted to try them.
The lone jar sat in the cupboard for a few months, them one day I just started eating them straight out of the jar.
These cherries are wonderful; I wish I could find them fresh when in season.
I love to pile them atop pancakes too.

I thought about tossing some into a batch of banana bread I was making a while back.
I thought about it for a second and just dumped them in!
It turned out beautifully tart – perfect breakfast fare.
It was delicious the next day with a bit of almond butter sauce
And the syrup from the cherries is spectacular in smoothies

Hominy porridge is a popular breakfast food in Ghana, and in Jamaica too, although it’s prepared slightly differently.
Hominy is dried corn kernel that’s been processed to remove its hull and germ.
The ancient traditional process, called nixtamalization keeps the corn from sprouting, hence extending its storage life for food.
And according to Wikipedia, nixtamalization also…

“ converts some of the niacin (and possibly other B vitamins) into a form more absorbable by the body, improves the availability of the amino acids, and (at least in the lime-treated variant) supplements the calcium content, balancing maize’s comparative excess of phosphorus.”

Hominy porridge is also a street (breakfast) food both in Ghana and Jamaica.
My earliest memory of eating hominy porridge was when we’d visit my grandmother in Koforidua.
In the mornings, the women would come by the house carrying pots of breakfast wares; and they’d announce what they were selling in a sing-song tone.
My favourite was the hominy porridge, I’d keep an ear out for her, I’d run and get my grandmother, we’d come out with bowls and get generous helpings of delicious hot hominy porridge.
We’d add sugar and a few tablespoons of evaporated milk, and settle in to eat breakfast – and that’s how I’d start my day at my grandmother’s.
I didn’t eat hominy porridge for a while after my grandmother passed away, it didn’t taste like I remembered it when I tried it again years later. It had lost its specialness.
In a way, I think I needed to be in a happy place to be able to remember it like it used to be.

A few years ago I picked up a bag of dried hominy at the store, I wasn’t even sure that it was the same thing, and I had no idea how to make it.
Instinctively, I emptied the bag into a slow cooker, added water and set it to cook overnight.
Next morning I walked into the kitchen announcing in a sing-song tone that my porridge was ready.
This time it reminded me of my childhood, and enough time has passed to add on new memories.

I love having this for breakfast, especially on weekends – my recipe has evolved a bit.
I add a bit coconut milk, and I add toppings too; blueberries, cashews, raisins, dried cranberries, shredded coconut.
It’s really really good, and hearty and filling and delicious.
There isn’t much to the recipe, just one part hominy to three parts water or milk or coconut milk.

Whole hominy is usually sold canned, frozen or dry, and can be found in Latin American grocery stores or the international aisle of grocery stores.
Grits and tortilla flour are made from ground hominy.