FBC Featured Member Blog: Kitchen Trials

Name: Katrina Kajganic

Blog Name: Kitchen Trials

Where were you born? Scarborough, Ontario

Where are you living now?  Bradford, Ontario

Why did you start your blog?

I originally started a little blogger blog to keep track of the recipes that I had tweaked, and the things that Bo (my husband) and I were doing through the first year of our marriage.

How did you decide on your blog name?

I had been thinking about trying to grow my blog into something a bit bigger one night. At the same time I thought I was a bad ass at tossing some vegetables in a pan and pulled out a camera to record my awesomeness to brag to Bo when he got home. As soon as I hit record half of the veggies flipped out of the pan, and I realized there was probably going to be a lot of trial an error to me becoming a truly decent cook.

What do you blog about?

Over the past couple of years it’s been mostly recipes. Still my little place to keep track of all the things I love to cook, only now I can share it with anyone who’s interested. There’s a bit of my life thrown in there too, and that’s something I’m going to try and interweave a bit more with the recipes. I want to be able to look back ten years from now and remember every moment of it.

What post are you most proud of and why?

This one’s easy, my butternut squash ravioli post. There is a version of this at a few different restaurants that I am just obsessed with. I could eat it every day, it’s just that I haven’t won the lottery yet to be able to eat out whenever I’d like. I became obsessed with figuring out how to make this, and ended up combining my favorite elements from a few different versions (like the fresh roma tomato sauce, toasted nuts, and quick pan fry). I can’t stress enough how great this tastes, but it does take a time commitment to make. So worth it though!

Which post do you wish received more love and why?

My pumpkin cake cookies, because they’re just so good I feel like it’s a shame if nobody else is enjoying them! They’re pretty darn easy to whip up, and great with or without the icing on top. My kids literally just circle the kitchen table while these cool shoveling them into their mouths. Bonus, they’re bite size, and who doesn’t like bite size food.

Which post’s success surprised you and why?

A post I did for southern style corn from the freezer. Don’t get me wrong, it has pancetta and is really easy and fast, so it’s a pretty awesome recipe. It got a lot of love on Reddit and it seems like every few months it pops up in popularity again. I’m just surprised at how popular it is. Lesson learned though, it’s the easy things that will strike a cord with people, and those are often the ones I never think to post about.

What is one (non-kitchen) gadget you can’t live without?

My iPad mini. I was such a hold out with this. My husband kept telling me that I would use it and love it and I fought him for a few years. I finally caved last October before we took a trip to Florida, and I’ve barely put it down since. It saves me during late night feedings right now!

What is one kitchen gadget you can’t live without?

My instant read thermometer! I use it for everything because I never trust myself with times. I’ll check bread dough before I rise it, and before it comes out of the oven, any meat that I cook, candy that I’m making (because every time I buy a candy thermometer I break the glass). It is an absolute life saver for me.

Favourite food, care to share a recipe?

This is the hardest question here. One thing that the entire family always loves to have though, is my apple crisp. It’s heavy on the topping, because that’s the best part, but still has lots of soft and gooey apple goodness underneath. Great, now I’m going to have to make this tonight, lol!

Kitchen Trials Old Fashioned Apple Crisp

Filling

• 10 medium apples, peeled, cored and sliced thinly
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 cup water

Topping

• 2 c quick-cooking oats
• 2 c all-purpose flour
• 2 c packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup butter, melted

Instructions

Filling

1. Pre-heat your oven to 350ºF with a rack in the middle position.
2. Put the apple slices into a large oven safe dish.
3. Sprinkle the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg over top of the apples, then toss to coat. Pour the water over the apples, do not mix.

Topping

1. In a medium bowl, mix together the brown sugar, oats, flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Pour in the melted butter and mix well to combine. The mixture should form medium chunks.
2. Evenly sprinkle the topping over the apple mixture.
3. Bake for 45 minutes, until golden brown and the filling is bubbling up at the edges.

What else should we know about you that may or not be in your “About Me” page?

Let’s see. I have a lot of quirks. Like, a lot. If I lose the lid to a pen I have to throw it out, and my spice drawer is full of matching jars with labels I made on the lid, in alphabetical order. That just makes good sense though, right?! We’re now up to three kids in the house and I’m pretty much just running on fumes. I also order in pizza WAY too often. I love The Walking Dead, classic rock and country music, beer, and strawberry margaritas. And BBQ, I love BBQ! Oh, and I’m handy, last summer I built a two level deck in our back yard.

What makes your blog unique?

I hope that I do! I try not to hold anything back. If I screw up, I’ll tell you. I’ll also tell you if I’ve tried something in the recipe and it didn’t work. I love showing my kids in the kitchen too. I hope that it’ll encourage other people to let their kids help more as well. Yes, it often makes the clean up A LOT more tedious (both the kitchen and the kids), but the best laughs I have during the day are watching my kids learn how to cook, and seeing how they try and figure out for themselves the best way to do things.

Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Google +
Instagram

SUBSCRIBE TO GET YOUR FREE SPICE BOX EBOOK

Email

SUBSCRIBE HERE

You are subscribing to the FBC Food Lovers Newsletter.
You can unsubscribe any time!

Click Me