I have dozens of frozen egg yolks that I would love to use up. (See here for how to freeze eggs and other ingredients.) But I don’t want to make any more desserts, so I have been looking for new savoury recipes that require egg yolks. This egg yolk vinaigrette only uses up 1 egg yolk, but it’s a delicious start. 🙂 You can use it as a dip for vegetable sticks, or as a dressing on leafy salads or cold, cooked vegetable salads. (The caesar dressing recipe here also uses an egg yolk.)
Cooking with Alison’s Mom (Part 5)
According to Chinese medicine, “dong chong cho” or ‘winter worm summer grass’ or caterpillar fungus (ophiocordyceps sinensis), has many health benefits. Despite its high price tag, many Chinese families will boil it in a soup to improve their health. After being boiled, the “dong chong cho” does not really taste like anything, and it has a nice slight crunch in texture. This is how my mom makes “dong chong cho” soup.
John is obsessed with donuts, and since I needed to preoccupy myself while recovering from a concussion, I decided to make giant donut pillows that could double as halloween costumes. I am a beginner, self-taught sewer, so if I can make this, anyone can. You could also make tiny accessory donut pillows, if preferred. The steps are the same, you just need less material.
Curried white bean and sweet potato soup made without coconut milk
I was inspired by The Bean Ladies at Toronto’s One of a Kind Show in December, 2013 to make a curried white bean and sweet potato soup. The flavours of this soup are mild; the spice from curry and cumin is balanced by the subtle sweetness of the sweet potatoes and brown sugar. To add richness and/or another layer of flavour to the soup, try making this soup with coconut milk. I have also given these soups away as gifts in the form of meals in a jar (DIY meal in a jar instructions provided below). This soup can easily be made gluten free, dairy free, vegetarian and vegan. See another recipe that was inspired by The Bean Ladies here (Split Pea Soup and DIY meal in a jar).
Example of a meal in a jar (split pea soup)
When John proposed to me this summer, he presented the engagement ring in this wooden ring box. I instantly loved the ring box and was even more blown away when I learned that he made it himself. So I asked him to share the DIY instructions on Cooking with Alison’s first guest post. Don’t worry if you don’t own any tools, because John doesn’t either. He shares below how he was able to get access to tools and woodworking help for very little money.
Although we have different tastes, my dad and I share a love for good coffee. Last summer, I took John and my dad to an informal coffee tasting session at Starbucks in Unionville, ON. It was very interesting, as I had no idea that drinking coffee could be so complex and sophisticated. Here is what we learned from that coffee tasting session.
Cooking with Alison 