Hi, I'm Andie.
I live near the Swiss Alps, in Bern, and I love not only melting cheese, but all kinds of Swiss cooking.
All in Oh Canada
Sticky dates make for a rich, sweet filling in this classic Canadian bake, in honour of Canadian Thanksgiving.
Dinkel is the German word for spelt and this ancient grain has been cultivated in Europe since the Late Stone Age. But after centuries of dominance, spelt production gave way to its heartier cousin, wheat, which required less care and yielded more grain.
Through the hard work of farmers and millers, spelt was saved, and protected, and now can be enjoyed in numerous forms, from pasta to these puffed spelt bars.
The Caesar was invented in my hometown of Calgary in 1969, the same year that my mum moved from Switzerland to Canada.
And she was in good company. Immigration from Switzerland to Canada really began in the late 1800s, when the Canadian Pacific Railway hired three dozen Swiss guides to help set up mountaineering tourism in the Rockies.
Part of the reason I'm still in Switzerland is thanks to this classic Canadian dessert.
Many years ago I received a compliment at a potluck dinner. 'Your carrot cake is better than my mom's.' I smiled, whispered 'thank you', and tried to avoid eye contact with the mom in question for the rest of the evening. I should have told everyone that that particular carrot cake was a pretty straightforward copy of a Canadian Living recipe, with a little bit of booze and mixed spice thrown in for colour. Oh well.
