Sometimes I like to get down to some serious cooking: refined techniques, delicately prepared ingredients and well thought out, balanced dishes. Other times I like to cook for the fun of it – no measured ingredients or planned recipe, just cooking. This dish definitely falls into the latter category. That's not to say that you couldn't have a refined grilled dessert, however doughnuts grilled until warm and smokey on a maple plank topped with blueberry crumble shouldn’t be taken seriously.

I couldn’t get butter tarts out of my head and wanted to make more, as if the previous two dozen weren’t enough! Instead I decided to switch up the usual butter tart by adding the crunch of cornmeal to the dough and the sweetness of pure Canadian maple syrup in the filling.

I actually liked these "butter tarts" more than the "traditional" recipe I tried earlier. It just goes to show you that playing with a recipe can be fun and delicious.

It just isn’t the holiday season without some freshly baked ginger bread or a glass of eggnog. I absolutely love the rich creamy taste and silky texture of eggnog. Admittedly I get really excited when I discover the cartons of eggnog in the dairy aisle at Sobeys each year. So in this recipe I decided to take my love of eggnog to the next level by using it to create a sinfully delicious eggnog crème anglaise or custard sauce.

Entertaining during the holidays brings out some old favorite recipes and one of mine is Baked Brie. Our extern student, Pia, was eager to give her spin on an old classic. After some discussion, caramelized shallot with garlic, mushroom and thyme were to be the flavour builders and puff pastry was chosen to wrap it all up.

What do you get when you cross an American Pecan Pie with a British Treacle Tart? They are small enough to be eaten in a few heavenly bites. They have a crisp, crumbly shell with a sweet soft filling... any guesses yet? Its Butter Tarts, eh! Whether you like them plain, with nuts, raisins or both, it just wouldn’t be the holiday season in Canada without them.