If there was ever a soup in Nova Scotia that will warm you right through on a cold day its hearty seafood chowder! I absolutely love a great bowl of seafood chowder, but admittedly I am a bit of a “food snob” especially when it comes to chowder. I blame it on my need for top quality and uber fresh ingredients, which is critical when it comes to seafood. I also feel really great chowder needs to be prepared with love and care; you can’t simply throw together a pot of seafood chowder!

Guess what today’s blog is about, give up? Soup, I know that I have put a couple of soup blogs lately but soup is so good this time of year and there is no shortage of soup recipes. I had some leftover things in the fridge and pantry so I thought of making a new soup recipe. I had some leeks, mushrooms that were nearing the end of their usefulness and I have been using quinoa for another project so the combination seemed like a good idea.

Holy smokes it’s cold! I don’t know about the rest of Canada, but out the cold Arctic winds have found their way out East. I say cold, but I really mean bone chilling cold, so cold that I can’t take the kids ice skating on the pond or tobogganing. Bruce, our Newfoundland dog on the other hand doesn’t seem to mind our very chilly early morning walks.

I know very little about the celebration and traditions of the Chinese New Year. After only scratching the surface, I can appreciate the importance of family during the celebration and the incredible amount of symbolism on the banquet table. Traditionally whole fish and chicken are served, and I mean whole, head to tail and feet, something we don’t often see here in North America. Serving them whole symbolizes togetherness and prosperity through the year; they are also served whole because the act of cutting and slicing has negative connotations, such as severing family ties.

At this time of the year millions of people are preparing for the Chinese New Year and I wanted to show you how to make one of my favourite dishes, Vegetable Lo Mein. This simple recipe is easy to prepare and will feed a lot of people, however due to the large assortment of vegetables there is a lot of knife work. You could start preparing the day before as long as you cover the cut vegetables well when you store them in the fridge. Lo Mein means “tossed noodles”.