Happy St. Patrick's Day!

It is not uncommon to experience 4 seasons in 1 day on the Emerald Isle regardless if it is in the dead of winter or the height of summer. It can be bright, warm and sunny in the morning and by noon you can find yourself being pelted by what the Irish term "lashing" rain. Tea shops and bakeries abound through the towns and cities where one can take refuge from the wet while enjoying a cup of tea and tasty goodie until the weather once again brightens outside.

On this day, we would like to share a favourite recipe given to us by our dear friend, Emma, who lives in a tiny village outside of Dublin who on a very damp, wet day in Ireland some years ago, baked up a batch of these delicious, delicate cookies and served them to us with pots of hot Brewley Irish Tea.

Enjoy a taste of Ireland!

Irish Lacey Oat Cookies
Ingredients:
½ cup of unsalted butter, melted
½ cup light brown sugar
2 tbsp. heavy cream
1 tbsp. corn syrup
½ tsp. vanilla
¼ cup of all-purpose flour
¾ cup of quick cooking oats
¼ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
Method:
Preheat oven to 350F. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, sugar, cream, corn syrup and vanilla with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Stir in the flour, oats, baking powder and salt. Beat together until a soft dough forms. Shape into a ball, wrap in wax paper and chill for 30 minutes. Use a tablespoon to form 12 balls. Place the balls on a parchment lined baking sheet and flatten with your palm. Make sure that there is lots of room between the
Cookies. Bake until golden brown and “lacey”, about 10 minutes. Col for at least 2 minutes to allow cookies to harden before removing from the baking sheet as they are delicate. Makes a dozen irresistible cookies!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!

Linda & Karen

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Queen Bee Butterscotch Pie

Queen Bee Butterscotch Pie!

Our mother, Isobel, is the ultimate Queen Bee. Looking back we marvel at how "she did it all". Wife, mother, business woman. She was a great role model for us. We grew up in the 50s & 60s at a time when most women stayed at home. Our mother was the only working mom in our neighbourhood. She worked as an executive for Columbia Records in the 60s.

Our family home was always very important to our mother. It was her sanctuary. She lovingly decorated it and re-decorated it. We as kids, loved all the changes and styles. Our parents loved to entertain in it. Although cooking was not her passion, she loved to sit down and enjoy a meal with family and friends. If Sunday was not spent at our Grandparents, mom would bake up her famous Butterscotch Pie. We loved its rich creamy pudding-like filling with its cloud-like meringue floating on top.

Today as we gather together as a family to share a meal, we have decided to make the pie from our childhood. In honour of our mother, we have christenened this pie: Queen Bee Butterscotch Pie. A perfect ending for a family day celebration!

Queen Bee Butterscotch Pie

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cup of brown sugar
6 tbsp. flour
2 cups of milk
3 egg yolks (reserve whites to make the meringue)
1 tsp. of vanilla extract
1 pinch of salt
1 prepared pie crust (baked & at room temperature)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350F. Stir together brown sugar and butter in a saucepan until the sugar is dissolved, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat to cool.
Beat egg yolks in a small bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, mix the flour with 1/2 cup of milk, until smooth. Then add beaten egg yolks and salt and mix well. Blend in remaining milk.
Add the flour mixture to saucepan with sugar/butter mixture and cook on medium/low heat until thickened, stirring constantly, about 30-40 minutes.
Remove from heat and add the vanilla extract, blending well. Let cool to warm before pouring mixture into baked pie shell.
Prepare the Meringue:
Ingredients:
3 egg whites
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
6 tbsp. granulated sugar
Method:
With an electric mixer, beat egg whites with vanilla and cream of tartar until soft peaks form
Gradually add the sugar, beating until still peaks form. Spread the meringue over slightly warm filling. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until the meringue is golden. Cool before serving.

Enjoy!

Karen & Linda

Happy New Year!

New year, new beeginnings! 2011 was a whirlwind of new adventures. We are delighted with our new partnership with the Village Grocer which expanded its store at its new location in
Unionville in July.
Life is a circle. Food was the main focus of our store when we opened it in 1981 on Main Street, Unionville. It was aptly called The Queen's Pantry as we were housed in the old Queen's Hotel. We sold bulk food (we were quasi-hippies in those days) and a variety of cheeses, breads and "gourmet items". This was 4 years before the Village Grocer had come to our area. Within a year, we expanded to include a tea room and some kitchenware. Within 5 years, we took over the entire ground floor of the hotel and added home furnishings to the mix. The Unionville/Markham area had exploded with the housing market boom. At this point, we focussed on developing our interior design business.
In 1998, we purchased the building on 19th Avenue in Markham and renamed it The Queensbridge Mill. We now had 7,000 square feet where we could showcase home furnishings in themed room settings. We also created a seminar room in the basement where we could host courses on design, entertaining and cooking--food never left our raison d'etre. From day one, our cooking courses always sold out first. We were not trained chefs but good home cooks who loved to entertain by gathering around the table with family and friends to enjoy good food, good wine and good conversation.
With our background in design and our playful nature, our cooking classes were always based on a theme. An Evening in Paris featuring a Bistro menu became a standard around Valentine's Day. A Tuscan Harvest Feast was introduced after our first trip to Tuscany over ten years ago and continues to reappear as each visit to this beloved region of Italy introduces us to new recipes which we are anxious to share with our customer base. The possibilities are endless....Picnique en Provence...An Irish Winter Feast.....An Alfreco Dining Experience....
A Menu was created and the stage was set to evoke the ambience of menu's region of origin.
Food equalled fun and pleasure to us, appealing to all the senses.
Three years ago, we started to invite Evan Macdonald, owner of the Village Grocer when we were hosting the big holiday feasting cooking classes where the star of the meal was something outstanding from his butchery department; namely Turkey at Thanksgiving, Beef Wellington at Christmas, Ham at Easter. Evan dazzled us with his carving skills and entertained us with his stories. They were a big hit. These events become magical feasts brimming with good cheer and fabulous food. So needless to say, when the opportunity to create a state of the art cooking studio at the new Village Grocer, we jumped at the chance!
2012 marks the dream coming true! We will keep you posted.

We encourage you to create your own magical moments around the table with your family and friends.

Linda & Karen