Anne McAlpine: March 21, 2019

Some of you who have been reading Anne’s column over the years will remember that on a few occasions there had to be a “guest writer”. Well, the time has come up again. Mom is recovering from a compression fracture in a vertebrae and has asked me to write her column for the next couple of weeks.

Could you imagine having all of your favourite recipes at your fingertips? No more trying to remember which cookbook the recipe was in or thumbing through all those recipe cards. I have just that place. My son, Dominic’s school, published a cookbook in commemoration of their 50th anniversary. The Catholic School Council at St. Martin of Tours Catholic School in Stoney Creek put together a collection of favourite recipes of past and present students, family members, and school staff. This recipe book has become my ‘go-to’ for the tried and true favourite family recipes, as well as new ones. Many of my family’s favourite recipes have already appeared in mom’s column, so I have included some of the new favourites I have found. When making the four cheese dip you might as well double the recipe and use the whole package of frozen spinach as your guests will be asking for more of this warm cheese dip. The Asian coleslaw is a nice twist on the traditional coleslaw salad, with the extra crunchiness of almonds and Mr. Noodles. If there is one thing that is always in my freezer, it is rhubarb. When rhubarb is in season I wash and dice the rhubarb and freeze it in 2 cup bags so I can easily make the rhubarb cake when I get a craving for rhubarb. I have taken this cake to several potluck suppers or treat days at school and always end up with requests for the recipe.