Food Archives

7 hours ago

Adeline Panamaroff

Rosehip Jelly | Adeline Panamaroff

Rosehips are the fruit that roses make after they flower and lose their petals. From my days in Girl Guides, I learned that rosehips are a good trail food with their large amount of vitamin C.

My Granny, during the hard war years, once used rosehips as a vitamin supplement for her own child. Only once I started to explore the world of wild edibles did I look again at the rosehip as an ingredient for jelly.

Wild or domesticated roses can be sourced for their rosehips from August to October. After a light frost, they are even sweeter, so waiting for later in the growing season maybe even better. Wild roses can be found throughout natural green spaces, as undergrowth in treed areas. Domesticated roses can be found in landscaped public parks.

2 weeks ago

gluten free

Acorn Pancakes | Adeline Panamaroff

Oak trees are not native to the western Prairies, yet they have been planted here in Edmonton and have habituated quite nicely. They are a common and sturdy presence in many urban parks and green spaces.

In mid-September, they are easy to find, even if you are not tuned into looking for them. Simply by walking under an oak tree, you can not miss the knobby acorns that you will walk over as they fall from above.

3 weeks ago

Adeline Panamaroff

Highbush cranberry sauce | Adeline Panamaroff

My Granny deeply loved her highbush cranberries. They were taken from root cuttings that she found along the highway between her small prairie town and the border city to which she made an annual trip. (In order to see her parents.)

She prized this late August-early September fruit so much that once she had her fill of them, she invited trusted friends to share in the bounty.

4 weeks ago

Photocredit: Adeline Panamaroff

Rose Petal Syrup | Adeline Panamaroff

The stronger the scent, the stronger the flavour. The wild rose that is native to zone 3 growing areas blooms in May and June. If this is the type of rose, you wish to use for syrup, harvesting the petals would be in the early spring.

Alternatively, rose petals can be harvested all summer long from domesticated roses that have been planted by the city along roadways and in parks.

Adeline Panamaroff joins the Ladiescorner.ca team as a weekly urban food columnist. She has long had a passion for urban food foraging, food preservation and storage.

1 month ago

Adeline Panamaroff

Chokecherry Jelly | By Adeline Panamaroff

Chokecherry jelly was a staple in my Granny’s kitchen. Along with pin cherry jelly, it would appear on the breakfast table to spread over our toast when we came to visit. It can be a great filler for jelly rolls or thumbprint cookies.

It can also be mixed in with other fruits to make things like chokecherry/apple butter. (I made this a few years ago.)

This fruit tree is ubiquitous in the Edmonton area and under-utilized by the average forager, so it should be easy to acquire fruit for yourself. There is also a domesticated variety with dark purple leaves.

1 month ago

Saskatoon Berries

Wild Saskatoon Berry Pie | Adeline Panamaroff

Saskatoon berry pie is the best in my book.

They can also be thoroughly mixed with rhubarb, which is cooked along with the berries in the above recipe. This mix of fruits gives the pie a tangy edge.

Both picking these berries, and making the pies, have been a summer ritual for me for many years.

2 months ago

Food preservation

Gooseberry Jam | Adeline Panamaroff

This jam can be preserved by other methods than hot water canning, like pressure cooking or freezing. Follow the method that works for you and the space you have for storage.

One of the challenges of making this or any other jam is orchestrating several processes, cooking the fruit, sterilizing things, and getting the hot water bath ready, so that it can all be done just as the jam is being boiled for the 2nd time.

Note: While it may be financially daunting to get canning supplies like the jars, and a canning cauldron, they can be found at used shops like Value Village, and Find, or at garage sales for very affordable prices. Plus, as mentioned above, you can forgo this step and just freeze the jam in empty yogurt containers.

Spiked Milk | Photo provided by Chef Doreen Prei

9 months ago

Chef Doreen Prei Christmas Recipe

A Christmas Recipe with Chef Doreen Prei

Ladies Corner Magazine was fortunate to have been able to feature Executive Chef Doreen Prei in our winter edition. She is the Executive Chef at May, Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton. She is also a food columnist with CBC’s Radio Active. She is an award winning chef. In 2015, she won the Gold Medal Prize at the Canadian Food Championships. Prei is a Michelin star trained chef who has cooked in private restaurants and hotels in Germany, Ireland and Canada.