Claudia not only cooks fantastic recipes that were passed down to her from her mother. She also has a great vault of recipes that she received from friends and coworkers. This recipe was given to Claudia a long time ago by her coworker (and my former boss) Barb. I’m not sure if this is a Barb original, or one that was passed along to her. Either way, it’s delicious enough that me and Claudia had to share it with you.
Now like most recipes featured on this blog, this isn’t necessarily the healthiest. There is a lot of cheese. I mean a LOT of cheese. However, you can make your own low-fat modifications on each ingredient to make it less artery clogging. We’ve used part skim cheese, whole wheat tortillas and low fat mushroom soup in this blog rendition. It still turned out amazing. We hope you give this one a try – even if it is on a “cheat day”.
Claudia will be heading off shortly to the lovely state of Arizona. She reminds me frequently that the weather is averaging 80 degrees fahrenheit and that she will be basking in the sun’s rays for a few weeks, while I struggle to leave my home in -30 celsius weather here in Winnipeg. Therefore, I figured this dessert is perfect for the present occasion. Layered Lemon Bars not only remind me of summer evening BBQs at my parents, but are also a refreshing and light dessert that perfectly follows the heavier and hearty meals of winter.
This recipe is not a Claudia original. But these cookies are so delicious we had to share them immediately. One of my coworkers made these a few weeks ago and was nice enough to share one with me. After one bite I knew I had found cookie love. This recipe is from the Food Network Canada show Eat, Shrink and Be Merry. Not only are these cookies absolutely delicious with it’s creamy, gooey peanut butter texture and sweet gingersnap flavour, they’re also not that bad for you! In moderation of course. If you ate all 20 of these babies, you would probably need to do a little run on the treadmill…for 3 hours. Still…totally worth the 3 hour sweat.
I have absolutely no idea where Claudia got her Mexican cooking skills from. This recipe is one of the many dishes that has wowed not only my family, but my friends as well. I would be lying if I didn’t admit that there were a few times during my younger years when I would come home from a fun evening of dancing with my friends and we would search my parents the fridge to see if there were any leftovers. On the instances where we found Chicken Fajitas, we felt as though we had won the lottery. This dish is a very healthy and delicious addition to anyone’s dinner repertoire.
My Baba is well known for 3 of her culinary endeavours in our household. #1 – Perogies. #2 – Spaghetti and meatballs. I have no idea where a Ukrainian woman learned how to cook Italian food, but it was amazing. #3 – This Bavarian Cheesecake recipe. It is to die for. I remember every summer when Claudia, my Dad, my brother and I came back from our 3-week stints in Saskatchewan, Baba would have a big batch of spaghetti and meatballs and this dessert to welcome us home. It was so comforting and definitely worth sharing. Apples, cinnamon, cream cheese, crunchy walnuts and my own optional addition – caramel sauce. How can you possibly go wrong with this rich delight? You will win friends, boyfriends, girlfriends, and probably even world wars with this dessert. Trust me, it’s a winner.
Claudia and I started our food blog back in June. Over the past several months, I have come to the realization that the food blog community is enormous and full of tons of passionate people willing to share their ideas and creations with those who have similar interests. I have been very fortunate to have been invited to share some of our Claudia’s Cookbook recipes on other great food blogs. I wanted to take this opportunity to recognize them here and encourage some of our followers to check their fantastic blogs as well.
Sweet as Sugar Cookies – Lisa has started up a great Sweets for Saturday recipe exchange that she asked us to be a part of it. Every Saturday, food bloggers can post their favourite dessert recipes to her website. We recently contributed our Nanaimo Bar recipe! We encourage you check out all the other amazing desserts posts and food blogs on her site.
Prairie Story – Alison is a fellow Manitoban and food blogger extraordinaire. She also has a great recipe swap on her blog that we have been actively involved called Recipe Swap Thursday. Same idea as Sweets for Saturday, only these recipes can encompass any food item, not just desserts. We’ve contributed many of our recipes including our Date Squares, Nanaimo Bars, Chocolate Chow Mein Clusters, Cabbage Rolls and Pumpkin Scones. Prairie Story not only has some amazing recipes that we definitely think you should try, we also think that our blogs could be sisters as Alison features many of her own Polish family favourite recipes as well!
Miz Helen’s Country Cottage – Miz Helen is a food blogger from Dallas, Texas. She posts some great recipes that she plans to make over the next week for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Each week we look at the menu line up and wish we could one day be a guest at Miz Helen’s dinner table! She also does a great recipe swap each Thursday called Full Plate Thursday, where we were invited to feature our Nanaimo Bars recipe on.
Thank you to those mentioned above for inviting us to be a part of your communities! We look forward to meeting many more food bloggers as we continue with Claudia’s Cookbook and can’t wait to grow our own online food community as well.
Growing up I never realized two very important things about Claudia’s Nanaimo Bars. Number 1 – they are a classic Canadian dessert. Number 2 – they are delicious! Like a spoiled brat child, I didn’t really care for Nanaimo Bars. I’m fairly certain it was the texture of the coconut. I wasn’t a huge fan. Fun fact: to this day I’m still not a fan of Bounty chocolate bars either! However as I got older and my palate became more sophisticated, I learned to love these Nanaimo Bars in all their glory. To this day, Claudia only makes these beauties for Christmas. I think that is part of the appeal. Sweet, creamy and chocolatey rich, they are definitely a once a year treat that everyone should enjoy.
I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, “I ate three times my body weight in holiday baking a mere month ago. Why would I want to bake and eat any more – especially when my New Years Resolution is to eat healthy?!” I hear what you are saying and feel the same way. Except when I am faced with these amazing chocolatey treats (like last night when I went over to my parents for dinner) and throw all my good eating intentions out the window.
Claudia has made these little treats for Christmas for as long as I can remember. I don’t know how it’s possible, but I seem to fall further and further in love with them every year. They are probably one of the simplest desserts to make and fulfill even the biggest chocolate cravings. Sweet with a hint of salty, these crunchy gems are a must try. You will thank me – I promise!
This is by far Claudia’s favourite Ukrainian dish. Kutia is always served as the first of the twelve traditional meatless dishes during Christmas Eve. Served cold, Kutia is essentially a sweet wheat soup. (more…)
Ukrainian Orthodox Christmas is celebrated on January 7. It is tradition that on Christmas Eve (or “Sviaty Vechir”) 12 meatless dishes are prepared as it mimics the Nativity Fast, which no meat, eggs or milk (including cheese) are allowed during the supper. Only fish, mushrooms and various types of grain are allowed as the main offerings. (more…)
