Blogger says comfort food in high demand
Christmas tends to be a time when people turn to comfort foods.
However, Charlottetown food blogger Barbara Mayhew says recipes that involve simple baking with easy ingredients have been intensely popular for most of the year due to the pandemic.
“When COVID started, people were looking for homemade bread. My biscuits were getting hits at the time because people wanted to go back to the basics,’’ said Mayhew, whose blog is myislandbistrokitchen.com. She also runs a Facebook page under the same name.
“(Maybe) it was because it made their home smell nice, made them feel good to eat those nice cozy foods or brought them nostalgically back to their ancestors.’’
By “comfort food”, which has been her main focus for much of the year, Mayhew is referring to pie, scallop potatoes, mac and cheese, biscuits, and — more specific to Christmas — chocolate peanut butter balls, scotch or shortbread cookies, spice cookies and sugar cookies.
“People are still looking for those basic old comfort foods, ones that are simple and don’t require a lot of unusual ingredients or ones that are expensive,” she says. “It really does make you feel warm and cozy and homey and the house smells fabulous when things are baking.’’
Speaking of simple-tomake food, Mayhew said another big favourite at this time of year is plum pudding.
“I have a number of steamed pudding (recipes) and the irony is there are no plums in it. My grandmother and my mother always referred to it as ‘ plum pudding’. They put raisins in it, not plums,’’ Mayhew said, adding that she also does a steamed cranberry pudding, a steamed carrot pudding, and the ageold favourite, sticky date pudding with toffee sauce.
“I think we like to eat. And, the East Coast has always been known for its good food and its hospitality.'' Barbara Mayhew Charlottetown food blogger
CHRISTMAS FLAVOURS
Mayhew gets stumped when asked to name her favourite Christmas recipe. She has several go-to foods during the festive holidays.
First on her list is scotch or shortbread cookies.
“They’re easy to make and they don’t take a lot of ingredients.’’
It comes down to granulated sugar, flour, and butter, although Mayhew adds corn starch, icing sugar, a bit of almond flavouring, and some vanilla.
“And, I love decorating them up. They literally melt in your mouth. You can have two or three of them and you’re not adding calories. I’ve never met anybody who doesn’t like a scotch cookie and they’re literally made with the plainest ingredients.’’
Fruitcake is next on her list of favourites, leaning towards the dark variety her grandmother used to make. While fruitcake can be made and eaten relatively quickly, Mayhew says a proper dark fruitcake can take weeks to properly age and mellow.
Rounding out her favourite Christmas foods, Mayhew lists plum/sticky date pudding, chocolate peanut butter balls, gumdrop cake, Nanaimo squares, and butter tarts.
“If I had to pick one of them?’’ she says, letting out a breath. “I don’t know; it would be a hard decision. Christmas is about indulging.’’
Mayhew also likes adding a twist to the basic oldies. This year, she features a Dundee cake on her blog, which originated in Dundee, Scotland. With ingredients like orange marmalade and a touch of whiskey, she describes it as a much lighter cake than the usual dark or light fruitcakes. And, it doesn’t take a lot of time to age.
BLOGGER TO WATCH
Mayhew has been blogging about food for the past eight years, choosing to combine her love of baking and cooking with a passion for writing and photography (she has a master’s in public administration).
She retired about a year ago, so she’s dedicating even more time to her blog.
“I have always baked and cooked and I love writing and photography. I thought (blogging) was something that I could do. For the most part, it’s something that I came up with on my own.’’
Mayhew doesn’t bring any culinary training to the kitchen. Like so many on the East Coast, she learned how to cook at the elbows of her mother and grandmother.
“When I saw the melamine bowl and the rubber-made spatula and set of butter cups come out, I would appear out of nowhere and push a chair up to the cupboard. I was like a sponge watching. Never once did they say, ‘Why don’t you go out and play?’ That’s how I learned to cook.’’
Baking and cooking have been a pastime on the East Coast for generations. Mayhew said there are two reasons for the love food gets in this part of the country.
“I think we like to eat,’’ she laughed. “And, the East Coast has always been known for its good food and its hospitality.’’
From mussels to lobster, potatoes to beef and pork or dairy, the Island has a rock-solid reputation around the world.
“I also think, over the years, people have either moved away or their parents or grandparents came from here and maybe they have recollections of coming here in the summer on vacation and grandmothers or aunties who would put out this big spread.’’
People may not be able to gather this Christmas as they have in the past, but Mayhew is confident there will still be a good spread of food and sweets on the table.
And people will continue to bake and cook comfort foods.
“In a lot of ways, it kind of has been like a (year-long) Christmas, with people turning to comfort foods when the pandemic started,” she said. “It’s kind of like a (Christmas) trend that started nine months ago that is going to continue through the Christmas season and into next year.’’
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter at medium speed until it is light in colour and very soft and smooth, about three to four minutes. Reduce the speed and gradually add the icing sugar, continuing to beat the mixture until blended and smooth, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula if required. Beat in the vanilla and almond extract, if using.
Sift the flour and cornstarch together. With the mixer set on low speed, add the dry ingredients and mix until all are incorporated, stopping to
scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as required. The mixture will be soft.
Divide dough in half and form each half into a disc shape. Wrap discs separately in plastic wrap and chill in refrigerate for about 15-20 minutes, or just until the dough becomes firm enough to roll out.
Position oven rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 300°F. Line cookie sheet(s) with parchment paper. Remove dough from refrigerator and, on a very lightly floured surface, roll each disc of dough evenly to approximately onequarter-inch thick.
With lightly floured cookie cutter of choice - about 1
3/4- inches to two inches in diameter - cut out shapes and transfer cookies to prepared baking sheet, spacing them about one-and-a-half inches apart. Gather and reroll scraps of dough until all dough has been used up and cut into shapes, being careful not to overwork dough.
Bake 22-24 minutes, or until
cookies are just set. Cookies will be very light-coloured.
Note that baking times will need to be adjusted if other sized cookie cutters are used.
Remove cookies from the oven and leave on the baking sheet for about three to four minutes. Using a flat cookie lifter, transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Cookies may be left plain or a small dab of icing may be piped onto the centre of each cookie and then, if desired, topped with a small piece of welldrained maraschino cherry, dragée, or cookie decorations of choice.
Yield: About three to threeand-a-half dozen cookies. Note that the exact yield will depend on the thickness to which dough is rolled and the size of cookie cutter used.
Saltwire Network will bring you a series of stories this week featuring food bloggers and cooks from around the East Coast, who will share their thoughts about the tastes of the season. See more at Saltwire. com/holidays