Homemade Yellow Mustard
1 hr 45 mins
Helen was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and has lived in the โGTAโ (Greater Toronto Area) all her life. Her earliest memories of food are typical of the English/Irish cooking of the day, which in Helenโs words meant โgray vegetables, potatoes, and well-done meats, sometimes with a token salad.โ Fancy wasnโt on the menu growing up. Helenโs mom taught her the basics so she wouldnโt starve, but the kitchen was always her motherโs domain. Intruders were welcomeโto do the dishes.
As newlyweds, Helen and her husband became involved in round-robin dinner parties, which encouraged Helen to expand her cooking skills. Her most memorable dinner party involved a chocolate fondue that had so much kirsch in it she had to make coffee as everyone waited for cabs so they could get home safely. No one was given a choice to drive home after that dessert. (Helen deemed the night a huge success.) Not long after that, she started watching Julia Child and Jacques Pรฉpin. In terms of cooking, she was hooked. Around the same time, Helen started collecting cookbooks and trying more and more new recipes and techniques in the kitchen. Soon everything was fair game.
Fortunately, when it comes to food, Helenโs family and friends are happy to try most anything that sheโs prepared. Theย Slow-Roasted Pork Shoulder with Stuffed Squashย wowed her husband. Helenโs mother is extremely fond of theย Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. The guys at the curling club loved theย Duck Prosciuttoย andย Bacon Jam. ย And Helen? Sheโll tell you that her favorite recipe is theย Smoked Salmon Pizza. No, itโs theย Sunday Roast Beef. Hmmm, itโs probably theย Chilaquiles. Actually, like most of us, sheโs not able to choose just one.
Helen and her husband now live in Churchill, Ontario, a quiet village an hour north of Toronto. They have three grown children, an 8-year-old granddaughter, 2-year-old grandson and a 4 legged furry rescue who had decided she is not a dog but a princess. Helen has worked for three of the major Canadian banks, as well as with her husband at his business in Toronto, and is currently an office administrator for the Lisbon Group in Bradford. Sheโs also spent many years teaching ceramics in the evenings, practicing archery, and making jewelry. She previously tested recipes for Americaโs Test Kitchen and when her tenure there was done, she discovered Leiteโs. โI canโt imagine doing this for anyone else now,โ she says. โI love the sense of community here and look forward to many more years of happy testing.โ
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