Classic, Perfectly Perfect Mac and Cheese

For when you're out of KD 

It's no surprise that mac and cheese is one of my favourite foods. And this is my classic favourite recipe for mac and cheese. I've posted a few mac and cheese recipes, but I've never posted just my average, run of the mill mac and cheese recipe. I made this the other night and the colour and crisp was so lovely looking I decided to photograph and post it.

Halibut Fish Tacos with Spicy Kimchi and Peanut Satay

Halibut fish tacos topped with peanut sauce, and homemade kimchi and a drizzle of siracha

Ahh spring.

As we know spring is not here so to speak. However, what IS here is halibut season. I work a few days a month at Pacific Fresh Fish, and one of my treats is halibut. Our store preps the halibut in house which means we have lots of left over scraps of halibut kicking around. Now I know 'scraps' doesn't sound astonishingly appetizing, but all it really means is the pieces of halibut that can't be cut into perfect sized fillets. While these little pieces may not be fillet sized, they're perfect for tacos, fish sticks, fish cakes, and any other little fish nibblies your heart might desire. The added bonus of the halibut trim is that it's probably 1/8th of the price of regular halibut. Eating tasty fish AND not spending 25$ for an 8 oz serving? Victory.

Now back to spring. Spring has decidedly NOT sprung. We thought it had, but ha-ha, tricksy winter. It was just hiding. There is still snow on the ground. Again - despite it being May. So I've been trying to eat bright and zippy summery foods to trick my brain into not being super depressed by the approach of our 7th month of winter.

Fish tacos for me are one of the easier and more filling but also healthy week night dinners. This particular iteration of tacos includes almost everything I love, as well as several recipes from this handy-dandy blog of mine.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Crisped Sage, Walnuts, and Bleu Cheese

Topped a hearty serving of bleu cheese of course. 

Is there really anything better than a sweet potato? Yummy, warm, sweet, savoury, starchy and oh so good for you. If I had to pick it might be my single stand alone favourite food. Other than bleu cheese. SO WHY NOT COMBINE THEM?!

Easy Seared Yellow-fin with Zesty Avocado-Lime-Jalapeno Salsa

Fresh, watery cucumbers...rich creamy avocados... tart and bright lime and jalapeno...
rich and quick seared yellow fin tuna. An early taste of summer. 

So this is the healthiest and freshest and summer-iest thing I have had in a loonnnng time.

For those of you in Saskatchewan - you know what the weather is. For those of you outside, picture a grim January day full of slush, snow, cold wind, and harried looking people. Then stick that day in April and consider that we've been coping with this from November through now and it is showing NO signs of letting up. I actually just wrote 'it is snowing no signs of letting up' and that too, is correct. It snowed another inch last night. It has been snowing for SIX MONTHS. We have actually had SIX MONTHS of winter. Think about that - SIX straight months of winter. And considering we're fast approaching May, it doesn't look like summer is showing up any time soon.

Curry Roasted Potatoes with Date Chutney

Curry Roasted Potatoes with Date Chutney

These humble potatoes are now ruling my life. I am often a busy busy girl. I'm sure many of you can relate. I also don’t eat meat, so sometimes making a fast dinner that feels like a meal is hard. Sometimes I get lazy and don’t want to spend any time on food. These are the times I usually succumb to the call of a grilled cheese, mac and cheese, or other cheese based products. And don’t get me wrong – cheese is great. It’s just nice to have alternatives. I've been particularly busy these past two weeks and subsequently have had two potato centered dinners.

ALTERNATELY – these are a super tasty ‘ooh-you-fancy’ side to things. Easy. Cheap. Fun. Tasty. If you want to spend the 7 minutes to make the chutney (aside: MAKE THE CHUTNEY. IT IS INTEGRAL) you will be a happy, happy potato person. I've made these as a side with steak, with blackened fish, with Cajun shrimp, and as noted above, as a lazy person’s dinner. Yes, I know curry roasted potatoes are nothing exciting or particularly challenging, but this date chutney is completely outrageous.

White Chocolate, Cranberry and Seasalt Cookies

Poppin' fresh out the kitchen. Not pictured: cat trying to lick cookies. 

Oh. Em. Gee.

Here I am. Back again.

It’s been only – oh 6 months? Clearly, a lot has happened. First and foremost, I decided to stop being such a lonely bummer and to try and get involved and get busy with things. This led to the second and secondmost change: running for public office. Which shockingly led to the third: winning. Fourthly, fifthly and sixthly, I became much busier, ended up on another City Board and had to learn to manage my time all over again. Which I think I have gotten the hang of since the new year.

I was warned against ‘blogging’ lest it somehow tarnish my minimally noticed public persona. I thought about it for awhile, and obviously didn’t go right back to blogging. But I thought, what the heck – I don’t say anything offensive, everyone likes tasty things, and if someone doesn’t like my food, well gosh. That’s just the risk you take.

So here I am – back on the blogosphere (blogiverse?) with a guaranteed to delight, totally in-offensive, charm offensive cookie. Inspired by the oh-so-delicious Starbucks white chocolate and cranberry bars, here is a tasty, treat: White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies. I saw these while flipping through a cookbook I own and decided to give them a whirl. BTW the cookbook 'Salty Sweets' is on sale right now at Chapters and it is a fantastic cookbook. Everything I've made in there has been delicious and turned out perfectly. Especially these cookies. I’ve made them about 5 times now and they are fantastic. Decadent without being too rich, a little different, and really easy to make.

In conclusion:

Oh. Em. Gee.