Farms to Tables: Scott Stephenson, Tory Daw craft 2026's 'Citizen' meal
BY SCOTT STEPHENSON
It’s hard to envision a Huron County meal without the beef. From the Huron County Beef Producers’ annual steak dinner in Brussels to Cardiff’s Catering’s plowing match banquet, beef-based gatherings are a tradition woven into the very fabric of local living.
Since a beautifully prepared piece of meat just has a way of bringing people together, for this year’s edition of The Citizen’s 100-kilometre dinner, we contributed a simple clay cooker inside round roast from 5 Chicks and a Farmer in Seaforth.
Before cooking, soak both parts of the clay cooker in cold water for 20 to 30 minutes. Do not preheat your oven.
Tie the roast securely with butcher twine to help it hold its shape during cooking. Before it goes into the cooker, give your roast an extra layer of local flavour with a simple marinade local honey and cayenne-infused salt from the Lake Huron Sea Salt Co. Sage, rosemary, and thyme from the garden can also lend a hand, flavour-wise.
Arrange the vegetables carelessly around the roast, cover the pot with its lid and place it on the middle rack of a cold oven. Set the oven temperature to 400 degrees and cook for approximately two to two-and-a-half hours, or until the roast is tender. Lightly salt the vegetables and roast after the first hour of cooking.
The result is a stalwart meal that is special without being complicated. The clay pot gently steams the roast as it cooks, helping create tender beef surrounded by vegetables infused with savoury flavour.
Using a clay cooker makes this roast both fool-proof and delicious. It also makes for an impressive presentation. After cooking, the entire pot can go straight from the oven to the potluck table, ready for the lid to be lifted and the carving
to begin. Carefully carry the entire clay pot to the table, lift the lid and enjoy the moment when everyone gathers around for the first slice.
By Tory Lynn Daw
There is something special about baking from a recipe that has been loved for generations. Every holiday season, I pull out my grandmother’s gingerbread cookie recipe - a piece of paper that has seen countless Decembers, flour-covered hands, and years of family traditions.
My grandmother passed away many years ago, but every time I make these cookies, I feel a little closer to her. The familiar scent of ginger, cinnamon and cloves filling the kitchen brings back memories that no photograph ever could. It’s more than just a recipe; it’s a connection to someone who helped shape my life.
One of the things that makes her recipe so special is its secret ingredient: butterscotch pudding mix. It might sound unexpected, but it’s what gives the cookies their signature soft, chewy texture. Rather than the crisp snap of a traditional ginger cookie, these are more like soft gingerbread: warm, tender and comforting with every bite. It’s a little family secret that makes the recipe truly unforgettable.
Time has not been kind to the recipe itself. The paper has become faded, stained, and worn from years of use. Some of the words have become difficult to read, each crease and smudge telling the story of just how often it has been cherished. While it makes following the recipe a little more challenging, I wouldn’t trade those signs of love for a pristine copy.
These gingerbread cookies have become my way of honouring her. Every batch is a reminder that traditions can outlive the people who started them, carrying their love forward through something as simple as sharing homemade cookies with family and friends.
Some recipes feed our stomachs, but the most treasured ones also feed our hearts. My grandmother’s gingerbread cookies will always be one of those recipes, and I hope to keep making them for many holidays to come, preserving not only the cookies themselves, but the memories and love that come with them. And as long as that well-loved recipe card survives another holiday season, so too will a little piece of her legacy.
You will need:
• One package of cook-and-serve butterscotch pudding
• A half-cup of butter
• A half-cup of brown sugar
• One egg
• One and a half cups of flour
• A half teaspoon of baking soda
• A half teaspoon of ground
ginger
• One teaspoon of ground cinnamon
Combine the pudding mid, butter and brown sugar until smooth and stir in the egg. Combine the flour, baking soda, ginger and cinnamon and stir into the pudding mix and cover and chill for one hour, spreading to an eighth of an inch thickness.
For the royal icing, you will need two large egg whites, one teaspoon of vanilla extract and three cups of confectionary sugar.
Beat the eggs and vanilla until frothy and add sugar, mixing together on high. Then add food colouring, if you so desire.