It's a tough job, but someone had to eat cake-though not before veggies-at this year's recipe contest judging, held in the Cape Breton Highlands.
You sent us your recipes and we treated them with care. We sorted them, scanned them, did some preliminary judging, and set aside the 25 or so quarter finalists. Then we did it all again and again, until we had seven recipes in each of the two categories. After the last scanning, we were surprised, but pleased, that all four Atlantic Provinces were represented as finalists in Saltscapes' 5th Annual Recipe Contest.
We chose a wonderful location-this time in Cape Breton (we like to mix it up from year to year)-with a good culinary team headed by an excellent chef who would prepare your recipes for the final judging. With this settled, we reached out for a panel of judges to taste and rate the seven veggie dishes and seven cakes, submitted by you, the good home cooks of Atlantic Canada.
Everything was in place as the Saltscapes team of Linda Gourlay, Heather White, Diane MacDougall and a very appreciative me set out for Keltic Lodge, that magnificent gem of the Atlantic on the eastern side of the Cabot Trail, in Cape Breton. "En route" we played the role of giddy tourists, taking in the Island's sights, the sounds and sampling local tastes. We stocked up on local CDs and books, ate fricot and snow crab legs, and envisioned colonial life in the 18th century garrison town of Louisbourg.
Weary travellers, we were warmly welcomed by Walther Lauffer, Keltic's general manager and Dale Nichols, executive chef-who promptly plied us with refreshments. After a delicious dinner, we settled into our comfortable lodgings for a good night's rest.
The next day, we had a tour of the kitchens and met some of the culinary team who had prepared the finalist recipes exactly according to the directions. The judges arrived, eager to do their duty. Yvonne LeVert, a Cordon Bleu chef and educator arrived from Sydney. Sheldon Currie, author of Margaret's Museum and Down the Coaltown Road, drove in from Antigonish, and Les Single, of Halifax and Ingonish Beach, also brought his educated palate along to taste and critique. The judging was blind, with only code numbers identifying the recipes.
According to Yvonne LeVert, the judges connected well and "the food entries assured us that home cooking in the Atlantic Provinces is alive and well."
Thank you to all who entered.
Now, let me introduce the winners.
GRAND PRIZE WINNER
Poppy Seed Cake
Submitted by: Marian Hamilton, Sackville, NB
Credited source: A B&B owner in Germany
Prize: Nova Scotian custom-made ottoman from Bass River valued at $500 and Saltscapes apron
Marian Hamilton, of Sackville, NB, offers proof that it pays to enter the Saltscapes Recipe Contest, and enter often. Having won third prize with her Apricot Curry Chicken Casserole in 2003, she strikes pay dirt again, this time as the grand prize winner-getting the most points of the finalists in both categories. Her Poppy Seed Cake so impressed the judges that they may still be raving about it. I know I am.
The retired English teacher, who counts cooking as just one of her hobbies, says there are no limits to learning. Having been a painter on porcelain for 20 years, more recently she has organized a reading club, where a group of 12 or 13 friends meet about six times a year to review the books they've read.
"In January, everyone does a book review on one or two of the books they received for Christmas, while fall books are chosen from summer reading lists," she says. But there's still time for baking, and hosting the reading group is an excellent opportunity to try new recipes.
The recipe that won the grand prize, however, is not a new one. It's a recipe that was given to her by the host of a bed and breakfast operation in the Rhine Valley, Germany, when she visited there a few years ago.
Although Marian says she usually just sprinkles icing sugar on the cake, we were glad the cake baked for the judging was iced with delicious orange icing, following Marian's recipe. The choice is yours, but take our advice and make this cake.
Cake Category
1st PRIZE
Chocolatea Macaroon Cake
Submitted by: Renovia Spence, Springhill, NS
Credited source: An adaptation of her grandmother's and her own recipes
Prize: $250 gift certificate from Sobeys and Saltscapes apron
Although Renovia Spence, of Springhill, NS, says she couldn't do without Saltscapes and its recipes, entering the 2005 Recipe Contest was a first for her.
"It was my first recipe contest ever, but now I'll enter again," she said excitedly, on hearing that her Chocolatea Macaroon Cake won first prize in the cake category. "It's a beautiful cake," she says of the recipe her grandmother called Black Tea Cake, but she felt it needed a new name when she "turned it around a bit" to make it her own.
"I didn't know what to call it, but thought Chocolatea Macaroon described it well."
While Renovia loves to bake and try new things, this is now the only cake she makes since her five children have grown and have homes of their own. "It's always been our favourite cake," she says.
Her husband, Ernest, retired after 35 years in the Navy, also loves to cook. Depending on the categories of future contests, he might enter a recipe or two of his own, Renovia says. Will they compete or collaborate? Is there room for two contest winners in one family? Only time will tell.
The judges found Chocolatea Macaroon Cake to be "moist and attractive" with the black tea being "a nice addition."
2nd PRIZE
Cocoa Apple Cake
Submitted by: Susan MacMillan, Lunenburg County, NS
Credited source: C&H granulated sugar package label
Prize: KitchenAid accessories valued at $150 and Saltscapes apron
Susan MacMillan, of Lunenburg County, NS, has been making her prize-winning Cocoa Apple Cake since the 1980s, and it's still one of her favourite recipes. As an "Air Force brat" whose family moved around a lot, she started baking molasses cookies for her sister and two younger brothers when she was just nine years old.
"I had a good audience and I learned a lot," she says. "Soon my baking got a great reception from grown-ups as well."
Born in Halifax, she met her husband, Robert Shaw, while attending the University of Guelph, in Ontario, where she became a microbiologist and he received his PhD in meteorology. For 21 years the couple worked in California, and it was there that Susan found the recipe for her delicious cake on a package of C&H sugar.
Now they're enjoying retirement near Lunenburg overlooking the water where, in season, they can see the Bluenose II under sail and the lobster boats coming and going.
While her husband kayaks and enjoys other outdoor activities, Susan entertains her "Knitting and Twitting" group-where her Cocoa Apple Cake is often requested. For the past four years, she has also been baking cakes, cookies and squares for "the little girl next door," Ashton Falkenham, now 15.
Having entered the contest on the advice of a neighbour, Susan says she will enter again.
3rd PRIZE
Old Lunenburg Sour Cream Cake
Submitted by: Nancy Cornu, New Minas, NS
Credited source: Family recipe
Prize: $100 worth of Grohmann Knives and Saltscapes apron
Nancy Cornu of New Minas, NS, couldn't be more proud of her Old Lunenburg Sour Cream Cake, which captured third prize in the 2005 Saltscapes Recipe Contest.
It's a family gem handed down from grandmother to mother to daughter, but perhaps no one appreciates it as much as Nancy, who has been making it at least once a month for the past 40 years.
"My mother and grandmother used this recipe for their Sunday family dinners." she says. "My grandmother was a wonderful cook and lots of Sundays she had 18 or 20 people for supper."
Nancy, who lives with her husband and cares for her mother, doesn't feed such a large crowd on Sunday or any other day of the week. Their only son lives in Alberta, but he brings his family home frequently for visits, and the cake is always waiting in the freezer.
Having retired from selling real estate in the Kentville, NS, area, Nancy now has lots of time for cooking and baking. "I'm an old-fashioned bake-from-scratch cook," she says.
This wasn't the first time she entered her cake in a recipe contest. Three or four years ago, it captured first prize in a contest featured in the local newspaper, The Advertiser. While giving it third place, our judges felt the cake would benefit by more lemon juice, topped with a sprinkling of grated lemon rind for an even tarter flavour.
Vegetable Category
1st PRIZE
Vegetable Pot Pie
Submitted by: Treva McNally, Charlottetown
Credited source: Canadian Living magazine
Prize: $250 gift certificate from Sobeys and Saltscapes apron
It isn't often you hear that vegetables are a person's favourite food, but that's the way it is with Treva McNally, of Charlottetown. And when she saw the category turn up in Saltscapes 2005 Recipe Contest, she knew she had to enter.
It was a good move, since her Vegetable Pot Pie took first prize in the category.
Having found the recipe in the December 1995 issue of Canadian Living magazine, Treva often includes it in annual brunches she prepares for about 25 friends. "A couple of years ago, I took it to a potluck supper. It was delicious, with all the winter vegetables," she says, adding that she loves to buy her root vegetables and other local produce at the Charlottetown Farmers' Market.
When her two daughters, Elizabeth and Cathy, were growing up, Treva encouraged them to cook and bake. With "no restrictions in the kitchen," both daughters have inherited her love of cooking. Now that her daughters have homes and families of their own, Treva doesn't bake as much as she used to. "I love to bake, especially pies and cakes, but there's no one to eat them anymore," she says. Except of course for the four grandchildren, three who live nearby and visit often.
Treva's husband, Foch, was always the family bread maker, but now that the task has been turned over to a bread machine, he makes just their favourite buns, a version of Overnight Buns.
Having been successful with her first entry in the Saltscapes Recipe Contest, Treva says she's looking forward to the next one.
2nd PRIZE
Warm Green Bean Salad
Submitted by: Marjorie McGee, Montague, PEI
Credited source: Toronto Star
Prize: KitchenAid accessories valued at $150 and Saltscapes apron
Now that Marjorie McGee, of Montague, PEI, has retired from nursing, she can devote more time to her second love, cooking, and more recently, entering recipe contests. Her Warm Green Bean Salad made a huge impression on our judges, and the rest of us who had the opportunity to sample it. In fact, it captured second prize in the vegetable category.
"I've been making this recipe for at least 10 years now," Marjorie says. "My husband and I just love it. I make it for company when I can get fresh green beans, and everyone raves about it." Sometimes she uses frozen green beans-but never for company.
She says she found the recipe in the Toronto Star during the 30 years she lived in Ontario. In 1995, she and her husband, Elmer, retired to his home province of PEI, where they entertain frequently.
"We both like to cook and love to try new things," Marjorie says. "I like to cook everything, although I don't bake much anymore, other than muffins."
She has had some of her recipes published in the local newspaper, The Guardian, but this was the first time she has entered the Saltscapes Recipe Contest.
3rd PRIZE
Roots & Cabbage on the Barbecue
Submitted by: Nancy Griffiths, St. John's, NL
Credited source: Original recipe
Prize: $100 worth of Grohmann Knives and Saltscapes apron
Nancy Griffiths, of St. John's, NL, is always looking for creative ways to serve vegetable side dishes. When she came up with Roots & Cabbage on the Barbecue, she liked it so much that she decided to enter it in Saltscapes 2005 Recipe Contest. It captured third prize.
"I have found several recipes that steam vegetables in foil packets, and I thought it might be interesting to prepare our favourite local vegetables this way," she says. "To my delight, this recipe has become a regularly requested side dish by both family and friends, especially vegetarians, who sometimes find themselves out of the loop at barbecues."
The dish is easy to prepare and can conveniently be made ahead to take along for cooking later at a barbecue. Using an aluminum pan instead of foil wrap makes the dish easier to handle, says Nancy, and the pan can be reused.
Nancy has been cooking since she was 16, growing up in Placentia Bay. Her father taught her to make bread as well as some of Newfoundland's famous dishes, such as pea soup, fish cakes and boiled dinner. She also loves to make jams and jellies.
Since she and her partner, Jim, have half a share in an organic co-op farm, she likes to experiment with salads, using cucumbers and other vegetables that they grow.
This was her first recipe contest. We hope it won't be her last.