Edna Stabler - Our piece of her legacy

It's more than a little ironic that I, the family foodie and knitting addict, do not own this colourful mouse. Through a cruel twist of fate, years ago my husband interviewed Edna Stabler, an icon of Canadian food culture and author of Food that Really Schmecks. He was simply doing a job for the Waterloo Historical Society's Oral History Project. "Callow youth that I was, I didn't realize the extent of her significance at the time," Andrew says. "All I knew was that she'd written a cookbook."

While Edna talked about how she got into writing and the people who helped her along the way -- like Pierre Burton and Peter Gzowski -- what does he remember most from this potentially legendary interview? Three things:

• It was a long drive to Edna's house
• She knit throughout the interview
• She didn't offer him any food

When Andrew was leaving, Edna gave him a little mouse she'd knit. "I took it to be polite," Andrew says. Thank heavens his mother drilled some manners into the lad. This loud, bent-faced mouse has more cultural significance than a whole army of Hazel MacCallion bobbleheads.

Andrew's interview is held in the oral history section of the Kitchener Public Library's Grace Schmidt Room. The mouse lives on top of his bookshelf guarding the chocolate stash. And I forgive my husband for not appreciating his time with Edna. After all, his field is business history, not baking.

Sticker Shock

A while ago, I caused some confusion when I posted a recipe for hummus and mentioned my belly dance classes. Yes, I dance. Just not very well.

When I cleaned up my office, I located the missing bumper sticker -- which had been filed away carefully so as not to get lost (or found for that matter). The bumper sticker inspired an essay, Sticker Shock, which runs today in the Globe and Mail's Fact & Arguments section.

No recipe. No culinary lesson. Just an opportunity for blatant self-promotion.

The future of toast?

According to Inventables, the think tank behind the transparent toaster pictured above, if their R&D team can figure out a way to get the glass hot enough, you'll never be surprised by singed crusts again.

I see two flaws in this plan.

One: They assume people in the future will want only one piece of toast. While dieters might find this useful, families, toasted sandwich fans and the average breakfast eater won't.

Two: They assume people in the future will have time to sit and watch the toast turn the desired shade of brown.

My prediction? In a multi-tasking effort to make up for the time lost to single-slice toasting, users will set the timer and direct their attention to other things, like coffee. They won't burn toast any less often. They just won't have to eject the slice before they find out their mistake.

Clearly, their R&D team needs fewer techno-geeks and at least one busy woman.

Hiding Spaces

Today's lesson: Smart husbands hide the chocolate stash out in the open. Can you see the two packages of Lindt? The spines says,"Dark chocolate with pieces of orange and almond slivers."

Neither could I -- at first. Very clever of Andrew to store them amidst textbooks on Confederation and the plague.

Listen to Your Mother

Today's lesson: Paring knives aren't good for opening jars of olives.

The good news: The doctor says the puncture wound to my sister's left hand did only minor nerve damage. Nerves heal at a rate of 1mm a day, so she should be back to normal in about 3 weeks.

The bad news: In the meantime, I have to wash her dishes.

Never assume

Today's lesson: If you lend cookware to a cat owner, always wash it upon return. Just because all traces of food have been removed doesn't necessarily mean it's clean.

Whisky Works - As the Barrel Turns (Episode 19)

This week, we learned that the elves put their tiny little heads together and instituted a (lower) class action against As the Barrel Turns, not for the bad puns or weak story lines, but because they want a share of the profits.

So, we brought in our lawyer, John Smart, who was called to the bar 32 years ago and never left. When his law school dean said, "Always remember, doctors have affairs; lawyers drink." Smart took this advice literally -- as do most lawyers. (Right Phil?)

Smart assures us the elves don't have a leg to stand on.

We heave a sigh of relief as Smart files a defense and presents his briefs.

Although the ruling may well be overturned on an appeal, the barrel wasn't. Smart executed a legal right turn and ...

left us his bill that guarantees only he will see a share of the profits.

Toasting Nuts and Seeds

This week I posted a couple of recipes that call for toasted nuts or seeds. Janie asked how to do this, so I figured she's not the only one who might be confused about this technique. No wonder. There are actually three methods, all of which require your undivided attention.

Because nuts and seeds are naturally full of oil, there's no need to add any extra. All you do is apply some heat and a watchful eye.

Stove top method: This works best for small quantities of seeds or chopped nuts.

• Heat a non-stick pan over medium-high. Add nuts.
• Stirring constantly, cook for about 2 to 3 minutes or light brown.

Oven method: This works best with large quantities of whole nuts.

• Preheat oven to 350F.
• Spread nuts on a baking sheet or in cake pan.
• Bake for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are light brown and fragrant.

Microwave method: Not my favourite since you don't have as much control, but better than nothing.

• Spread nuts on a microwaveable plate.
• Cook at High in 2-minute bursts stirring between sessions.
• Total cook time is between 6 to 10 minutes depending on microwave and nuts used.

You really can't do wrong with any of these techniques. Just be sure you don't get distracted. Otherwise, your nuts will resemble my toast banner.

Lemon-Loaded North African Dressing

These days when you order a salad, the dressings choices are so varied they could have their own menu. But years ago, when I fell in love with this lemon-loaded version, the only competition was -- and had been for decades -- Italian, French, Thousand Island and blue cheese. Period.

You had to go to ethnic restaurants for Greek or Caesar, and the now standard balsamic, raspberry, poppy seed and honey mustard were unheard of. No wonder everyone went crazy when ranch arrived on the scene.

This spicy, over-the-top, lemony dressing was the signature dressing at a now defunct local bistro. My taste buds were so starved for excitement I begged for the recipe. One of the kitchen staff scribbled the ingredients on a piece of paper and slipped it to me when management wasn't looking. The romantic little bistro is now a noisy pub and I've no idea what happened to the sous chef who shared the kitchen's secrets, but the recipe remains.

Be warned. This is not for the faint of mouth. You'll pucker, you'll scrunch your eyes and after a bite or two, you'll be converted.

Lemon-Loaded North African Dressing Makes 1 cup

Ingredients

• Grated rind of 2 lemons
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/8 tsp Tabasco
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 1/2 tsp each: coriander, cumin, sugar, paprika
• 1/2 tsp dry mustard
• salt to taste

Mix well and serve on mixed greens or pour over steamed vegetables and chill for a spicy summer salad.

Mysteriously Good Sour Cream Apple Pie

Truth be told, I'm not much of a pie fan. Despite my passion for dessert, I can walk away from most fruit pies without feeling the emotional tug that sends me to the cookie jar like cat hair to carpets. Until a few weeks ago, apple was at the bottom of my pie list. While I love the crunch of fresh apples, the oatmeal topping of Apple Betty and can even appreciate the elegant simplicity of a baked apple, I just couldn't wrap my brain around sticking perfectly good fruit in pastry and drowning it in sugar.

As part of my grueling research for the Anita Stewart's Canada cookbook review, I tested several recipes. While they were all good, only one dish gave me an "aha!" moment -- and that was Great-Grandma's Sour Cream Apple Pie, a recipe from Stewart's own great-grandmother.

Not too sweet, creamy and incredibly easy to make, this pie ended up on my table twice during the testing period. I just had to try a version with Balkan yogurt to save a few calories. Worked like a charm.

I've not idea why this dish appeals to me when most apple pies are just an excuse for French vanilla ice cream. Maybe it's the way the sour cream cuts the sweet. Maybe it's because the cinnamon is sprinkled on top, never mingling with the apples until the fork hits your mouth. Maybe it's just motherly love passed down from generation to generation.

I obviously need to do more research...

Great-Grandma's Sour Cream Apple Pie Serves 6

Ingredients

• One 9-inch pie shell, raw (I used the No Fail Pastry recipe)
• 3 or 4 large tart apples
• 1 cup white sugar
• 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup sour cream (Balkan yogurt works nicely)
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425F.
2. Peel apples and slice into the pie shell.
3. Set aside 1 tbsp sugar for topping.
4. Mix remaining sugar with flour, salt and sour cream.
5. Spread sour cream mixture over top of apples.
6. Mix cinnamon and remaining sugar together. Sprinkle over pie.
7. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350F and continue baking 35-40 minutes or until bulling and lightly browned.
8. Serve warm.