Cozy Cooking

One of the things I love most about this time of year in Saskatchewan are the smells, both outdoors and indoors. The tang of fallen leaves, the smell of freshly harvested grain in the back of an old grain truck, the crisp freshness in the early morning air (and the occasional light snowfall), all combined with the smells of harvest foods cooking.

This is my favourite time year to get cozy in my kitchen. I love to whip out my cookbooks and dive headfirst into all the comforting recipes I can find. Cinnamon and ginger, maple and apple are the flavour combinations that conjure up fall and warmth for me.   

I think many folks are rediscovering baking or cooking, as another way to feel closer to the people they can’t be with. Preserving food is a link to my past, to my mother and grandmothers who taught me housewifely skills that I haven’t used much in the past few years. Recipes from them are the ones we turn to when we get together as a family, and that food conjures up memories from childhood and feelings of love and togetherness.

Cooking together is also a great way to pass on those family traditions and create new ones. Some of our recipes might be old and treasured, but technology has given us many ways to learn, and the library has a lot of resources that can help you connect to family in the kitchen (even if they’re far away).

If you’re in the market for live guidance with your new recipes, we have a few online programs you might want to explore. These ones are coming up in the next few weeks, but we do host food and drink programs throughout the year, so I recommend checking our website regularly to see what’s available:

• Regina’s own CJ Katz will teach a cooking class with recipes from her new cookbooks
• Cook a date night meal with Schoolhaus Culinary Arts
• Learn to cook a traditional Indian meal with Jay Parikh
• Follow along with a beer tasting from District Brewing
• Discover the joys of Indian sweets with Shafaq Rehan

Are video tutorials more your thing? Practice your cake decorating with free classes from Creativebug, one of our newest databases for crafters and makers. A couple of our favourites are Mastering Buttercream and Making Fondant Letters, but there are a lot of other options too.   

If you prefer eBooks, you can browse the excellent collection of cooking and baking e-books on Hoopla where you can borrow books on everything from cooking with kids to holiday favorites.

Does nothing beat the feeling of having a real cookbook in your hands? Browsing the shelves to see what jumps out at you can be a lot of fun. These are some of my recommended finds: 

• First Time Cake Decorating: The Absolute Beginner's Guide by Autumn Carpenter 
• Weeknight Gourmet Dinners: Easy, Exciting Meals for the Busy Weekday Chef by Mesieidy Rivera
• Making Bread at Home: Over 50 Recipes from Around the World to Bake & Share by Jane Mason
• A Spicy Touch: Family Favourites from Noorbanu Nimji's Kitchen by Nimji Noorbanu
• Everyone can bake: simple recipes to master and mix by Dominique Ansel

Whew! All this talk of food has got me hungry. I’m off to the kitchen to whip up a fall treat. I hope to see you at the library!

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Today's blog post was co-authored by two of our staffers from Connaught Branch: 

Diana: Natural Habitat: Curled up in front of a fireplace with a cat, a cup of tea and a good book.

Miranda: Natural habitat: Cuddling her dog while reading a good book, hiking somewhere beautiful, or – in non-pandemic times – hopping on an airplane to explore somewhere new.

Brandi - Marketing and Communications