Gardening: Planting a Bloomin’ Flower Box

Planting Flower Boxes

Ryan and I have a small balcony off the back of our third-floor apartment. Since the view of the garage isn’t that great, I decided to beautify the balcony with flower boxes. Naturally, I want to plant blossoms that attract bees and butterflies, but which will also last all summer. Native plants too, if I can swing it. And I’ll […]

Lemon Dill Pesto

Lemon Dill Pesto

I find that bunches of dill I get at the market are often very big – too big to use up before it all wilts and goes icky. So why not make a batch of lemon dill pesto! If you don’t have any fresh chervil, you can add 1/2 cup flat leaf parsley instead, for […]

Cucumber Bites with Herbed Goat Cheese and Olives

At a recent party, these cucumber bites were one of the most simple items featured on the menu, but were also one of the first to be completely gobbled up. Goat cheese is often quite crumbly, so we softened it by stirring in a bit of milk, and then we flavoured it with dill and garlic. […]

How I Organized My Spices and Herbs

How I Organized My Spices, Kiku Corner

I do a lot of cooking from different cuisines…Indian, Japanese, Persian, Arab, Mediterranean, Canadian among them. All of these use varying spices and herbs. Naturally I had to store these spices so they would be easily reached while cooking. I put two Ikea inserts into a drawer next to my stove to hold my spice […]

Dilly Lentil Salad

Dilly Lentil Salad, Kiku Corner

   Several summers ago, I spent a few weeks at our family friends’ farm north of Toronto. Their Polish grandparents came to visit and brought along a few giant bunches of fresh dill. For the next several days, every meal included dill, much to one grandson’s chagrin. Potatoes, eggs, fish – all covered with dill. […]