Recipes
This is my recipe stream, where you can see all of my most recent recipe posts - if you'd like to browse recipe categories, or are looking for something more specific, please visit my Family Recipes page! I love experimenting and making things from scratch - baking pies, preserves, pickles, soups, salads, you name it - and coming up with delicious, easy recipes that become a part of my regular routine. Cooking your own food is really satisfying when it tastes delicious, and that's always my goal - food as good or better than I can get at a restaurant, but inexpensively and easily made in my own kitchen. I'm an advocate for trying new things - whether its making fresh pasta for the first time (still on my list to learn!) or making your own pie pastry (something I've been doing for years), it's often easy to make food from scratch, and it usually tastes a lot better. Check out my most recent recipes below!
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Camp Shaw – Our 2026 Camp Packing List
Our family have been camping for years, mostly at Ontario Provincial Parks, and over the years we've refined our gear packing list to try to ensure we don't forget the essentials. I'm posting it as a resource - it's a great jumping-off point for your own camp packing list.
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Summer Coleslaw with Apple Cider Vinegar Dressing
A simple, delicious Summer coleslaw that pairs well with BBQ. All measurements are approximate, so feel free to adjust, but if you doubling or tripling the recipe, don’t double the salt or garlic until you’ve tasted it first. It keeps well, and gets better if refrigerated overnight. Summer Coleslaw with Apple Cider Vinegar Dressing Makes 2 to 4 Servings Prep Time: 20 minutes chopping time, 20 minutes chilling time Ingredients – Apple Cider Vinegar Dressing Ingredients – Summer Coleslaw Instructions For more delicious recipes, visit my Family Recipes page!
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Spinach and Apple Salad with Crispy Almonds
I make this salad pretty regularly as a side salad for just about anything; it's super-easy to make, and the ingredients keep a long time (except for the spinach, of course), so it's easy to whip up if you want to add some greens to a meal. It's also delicious, and a little unexpected
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Ham and Gruyère Quiche (Crustless)
I came up with this Ham and Gruyère quiche as a way to use up the leftover baked ham from our Festive Dinner; it turns out that it's absolutely delicious, whether you eat it the day you make it or reheat it the next day.
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Fresh Pasta – Pasta Fresca all’uovo
I’ve been wanting to learn to make fresh pasta for quite a few years; I did make an attempt at it a while back, when I was replicating historical recipes (something I’m still really interested in). I found rolling the dough out with a rolling pin didn’t really work for me – I either didn’t have the upper body strength or the patience to get the thinness I was looking for. I’ve waffled on buying a pasta machine, because they’re a bit pricey and I’m not a fan of having kitchen gadgets take up space unless they’re really getting used. But then a friend lent theirs to me, and I’m…
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Cinnamon Rolls
This recipe for cinnamon rolls was originally written to be made with a standing mixer and a dough hook, but I’ve altered it. since I don’t have one. The only real difference is that it may take a but of muscle to get the dough ingredients combined (and of course, I got impatient, as I do, and got my hands into it to mix it thoroughly). I know that standing mixers have been The Thing for Serious Home Cooks for a long time now, but they’re expensive, and while I’m sure I’d get some use out of one, I mostly view them as a dust-catching status symbol that takes up…
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Shrimp & Bacon Fettuccine
This Shrimp & Bacon recipe has been a staple dinner of mine for a few years now; I love it because it's really simple to make, really delicious, and it always feels a bit indulgent and celebratory.
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Chicken and Rice Soup
I love this Chicken and Rice Soup, which was suggested to me by a friend on Twitter after I was given a giant bag of rice last year. But the way the original recipe was formatted and written at Bon Appetit (with autoplay video links, ugh!) made me crazy. So I’ve re-written it with some small changes (I hate kale, so I sub in spinach). I find the soup base itself a nice substantial chicken soup, but the garlic oil makes it addictive, and I always double that part of the recipe, at least. The rice does sometimes break down into mush, but I don’t mind that – it just…
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Pecan Pie
I made this for a friend’s birthday, and he said it was “the best pecan pie he’s ever had,” which is exactly the kind of response you want when you bake something for someone. It’s both the first one I’ve ever baked and the first one I’ve ever eaten, but I know I’ll be making it again, because it’s always good to play the hits. Pecan Pie Ingredients Directions Based on Epicurious’ Old-Fashioned Pecan Pie recipe with alterations.
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Short Rib-Stuffed Agnolotti del Plin
Tools Ingredients Pasta dough Roasted Braised Short Ribs Pasta Filling Pasta Sauce Method Day One Roasted Short Ribs Pasta Dough Day Two Roasted Short Ribs The Filling Pasta Filling the pasta Cooking the finished pasta Alexi Chatzilias tenant
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Ham and Gruyère Quiche (Crustless)
Fresh Pasta – Pasta Fresca all’uovo
Dilly Beans
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Christmas Recipes from the House of Shaw
Festive recipes from our family gatherings
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Poulet en cocotte (Roast Chicken in a Pot)
Like many people, I spent this Thanksgiving apart from my family due to the pandemic. I’d had a rough week for a whole bunch of reasons, and was feeling really sad about missing out; cooking a big feast with and for people I love is one of my favourite things. But we decided we’d eat together over video chat, so I went ahead and made up a whole dinner like I’d do at home, though on a smaller scale – pumpkin pie, stuffing, melting potatoes, spinach salad with macintosh apples and sliced almonds, and instead of a turkey, a lovely roast chicken. Roasting a chicken is pretty straightforward, and I’ve…
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Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon
A comfort food based on roasted brussels sprouts, with caramelized onions, bacon, and a lovely vinaigrette - it's quick, easy, and delicious!
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Roasted Mediterranean Chicken and Vegetables
This is a nice quick, healthy dinner that’s very filling and tasty. I’ve often made it for dinner and than saved leftovers for lunches. It definitely tastes best warm, though it’s okay cold. It’s also great with pasta, to make it a heartier meal – I had some leftover cooked pasta, and heated it up with some leftovers of this dish, and it was great. Adding the bocconcini a few minutes before serving gives it a chance to melt, which is really nice. You could also add oregano to the balsamic vinegar mixture, or a different variety of vegetables that roast well; I’ve never tried it with zucchini, but I…
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Chicken Burrito Bowls
Usually I don’t love marinating chicken. It takes extra time and planning (at least an hour), it feels wasteful (the leftover marinade goes down the drain, and people often recommend marinating chicken in a ziplock bag, which most will then throw away), and a lot of the time the flavours aren’t exciting enough to justify the extra prep and waste. But the marinated chicken for these Chicken Burrito Bowls turned out perfectly – flavourful, spicy, and delicious – and the amount of marinade leftover didn’t feel excessive. So I totally recommend this one, and if you can leave it overnight, it’s even better. It would probably work really well for…
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Morroco-Inspired Carrot Salad
This Morocco-inspired carrot salad is perfect; healthy, lemony carrots and chickpeas with the salty feta and pistachios and a nice hit of sweetness from the dates and pomegranate arils.
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Black Bean Chipotle Soup
A deliciously spicy, flavourful soup that’s warming and filling. This time of year, I like bright, spicy flavours and hearty soups that kick you out of your post-festivities malaise and get you back into the kitchen. This soup was serendipitous; I didn’t feel like cooking, and I was irritated that the grocery store didn’t have half of the ingredients I needed for the recipe I wanted to make. I felt grumpy that I had to come up with something on the fly, and thought this was going to be one of those soups that you made and ate dutifully without really enjoying it. I cooked it based on a recipe,…
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Cassie’s Banana Bread
This is my sister Cassie’s banana bread recipe; I made it for the first time this week. Cassie’s critique was that I mashed the bananas too fine – she likes more chunks of banana in the baked loaf. So keep that in mind! This is a nice, straightforward recipe that turns out delicious every time – or at, least every time I’ve eaten it! Cassie’s Banana Bread Ingredients 3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/3 cup melted butter 2/3 cup honey (less with more banana) 1 egg, beaten 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 teaspoon baking soda a pinch of salt Directions Preheat the oven to 350…
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Glazed Baked Ham
Baked Glazed Ham has replaced our Roast Turkey at Christmas Dinner - it's delicious, easier and faster than a turkey, and is a nice change if you're looking to do something different.
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Bûche de Noël
This is our family’s favourite recipe; there are loads of different ways you can make a Bûche de Noël or Yule Log, but this one, with a flourless cake and whipped-cream filling, is (in our opinion) the best one. This recipe is very quick and easy to make; on Boxing Day, I usually bake the cake in the morning before I put the turkey or ham in the oven. That gives the cake lots of time to cool, and I usually assemble it and make it presentable before the meat is done roasting. You can also make it the day before. When we’re feeling energetic on Christmas Day, we make…
