Creamy Pumpkin Pie with Maple Whipped Cream

Wow your guests with this winner of a pumpkin pie made all the more special by its decorative border. Use three-quarters of the pastry to make the checkerboard border and use the rest to make jam-filled tarts with the kids. Or use the extra pastry to make the braided or leaf border variation. Top slices with the maple-spiked whipped cream topping.

Pork Tenderloin Stuffed with Caramalized Onions and Cranberries Topped with Crusted Goat Cheese

My family and I own a 16 acre farm of organic cranberries. When I saw the challenge was to use local products, I couldn't resist working with this wonderful, beautiful and tasty fruit. I serve these with roasted buttercup squashe. The sweetness of the squash blends well with the sweetness of onions and cranberries.

Maple Choux au Craquelin Nests

Pecan Cream & Apple Flower Pie

Cherry-Berry Bannock Shortcakes with Maple Toffee Sauce

This twist on strawberry shortcake uses sweetened mini versions of bannock, a traditional aboriginal bread, in place of the usual biscuits. The maple-kissed toffee sauce adds an extra Canadian touch.

Cornish Game Hen with Maple, Ginger and Cranberries

This recipe is an homage to slow cooking, fine Canadian ingredients and a nod towards the 100 km diet. On a fall or winter's afternoon, I love braising so that my house is redolent that my guests know that they are in for a mouth-watering treat when they walk through the front door. Although this recipe calls for Cornish hens, chicken breasts or legs may be substituted. This dish and sauce makes a great companion with mashed potatoes or wild rice and a vegetable. Green beans with either crumbled goat cheese or toasted slivered almonds makes a great side dish. I have an excellent side dish, Shiitakes and Manitoba wild rice that I would love to submit along with the Cornish hens. However your contest only permits one entry per contestant. For a stunning presentation, plate on either a white or light coloured dish. Garnish with fresh herbs (like thyme used in the recipe or minced flat leaf parsley). This can go easily well with either a white or red wine (e.g. an oaked Chardonnay, or lighter red - both Canadian, of course).

Angel Food Cake with Strawberry-Rhubarb Compote

This light and airy cake is the perfect end to any summertime meal, especially with the divine combo of strawberries and rhubarb. 

Togarashi Beef Burgers

The bold flavours of Japanese togarashi, ginger and miso add a trendy twist to the beloved burger.

Spring Forest Skewers with Steak and Morels

Every spring we would eagerly anticipate the phone call. We never knew when it was coming. Sometimes it came in April, sometimes in May, and sometimes in June. Grandma would call and tell my Dad there was a package coming for us bus parcel express and that he had better be there to meet it . My Dad would shout, "Grandma's sending morels!" The entire day was then spent in morel anticipation. Dad would take one of the kids out to buy the finest steaks money could buy, and to be at the bus station to get the morels when they arrived. No matter what time of the day it was, he'd then rush home and prepare a to-die-for steak and morel feast. When my Grandma got a little older and could no longer go hunting for morels, the roles shifted. Dad took the whole family out searching for morels every spring. (That's when fiddle heads, which are found in the forest at the same time as morels, were added to the morel feast.) Sometimes we were successful, and sometimes we were not; but when we were fortunate enough to find the elusive treats, Dad always packaged some on ice and bus parcel expressed them to Grandma. This recipe melds the succulent, addictive flavour of morels with the scent of springtime in the forest. It is a Canadian gastronomic delight!

Grilled Rack of Lamb with Blueberry Shiraz Reduction Sauce

I am very excited about entering my recipe in the 2009 Canadian Living Cook of the Year Contest. I am an avid home-cook and love creating new and exciting home recipes to make for my family and friends. I am a firm believer in seasonal cooking, using the freshest ingredients available, and making use of local ingredients whenever possible. Consequently, I was delighted to see that this year's contest was to feature Canadian ingredients. I wanted to take things a step further and include some local Newfoundland ingredients. Newfoundland and Labrador has some wonderful producers for fresh, often organic, produce, seafood and meat products...and of course the island is well known for it's abundance of wild berries. Berry picking is a provincial past-time in late summer and early fall and many families, including my own, can be found on the hillsides or barrens, bent over and collecting gallons of sweet, juicy berries to be used fresh, or to be frozen for use during the long winter months. I knew as soon as I read about this year's contest that I wanted to feature these berries, along with our wonderful, locally-raised lamb and artfully crafted local wines, in my recipe. I hope you enjoy a taste of Newfoundland!