Michael Smith’s Family Meals (giveaway)
You know we recently vacationed in P.E.I, a place where beloved Canadian Chef Michael Smith calls home. You can’t go far on the island without seeing his face in a bookstore window or on a poster.
I’m a big fan of Michael’s cookbooks, Fast Flavours is in regular rotation – and his latest, Family Meals, is right up my alley. In fact, it hasn’t left my kitchen since it arrived in the mail; that is entirely the point of the book.
With sections such as ‘Lunchbox & Snacks’, ‘ Cook Ahead’ and ‘Family Meals in Minutes’, it’s obvious Chef Michael is familiar with juggling the demands of a busy household and a career. Â And while many family cookbooks deliver recipes to cook for your family, Chef Michael’s shows you how to have fun in the kitchen with your family. It’s a subject we love around here!
We gobbled up the nutmeg-scented Weekend Pancakes on a recent Saturday morning and I simmered a big batch of Sloppy Joes on my stove yesterday. Don’t ask me why, but I’ve never made sloppy Joes for my kids. “I think I’ll have another one.” said Noah, shyly, after making the first bun disappear in a twinkling.
The boys have pounced on Family Meals, too and we’ve bookmarked another  handful of dishes to make together: Rosemary Apple Braised Chicken, Broccoli Bacon Frittata and Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies.
True to Penguin’s style, the recipes are easy to follow, the photos gorgeous, and the book is a joy to cook from.  Michael Smith’s Family Meals is available online at both Indigo and Amazon and I’m giving away two copies today!
Giveaway!
Thanks to my publisher at Penguin Random House I have two copies of Michael Smith’s Family Meals to giveaway to North American readers.
To enter, leave a comment on this post and tell me what meal brings your family around the table. Or a favourite meal as a child…
That’s it!
Winners will be announced on Sunday, August 10. Good luck to all!
Shepherd’s pie is definitely a favorite of mine!
We LOVE Michael Smith around here! I knew he lived someplace in the Maritimes but didn’t realize it was PEI…what an idyllic place to live! How I would love to win one of these cookbooks. 🙂
Since our son is grown, and we all go different ways most days, most often we gather around the table for a leisurely weekend breakfast. I make traditional things like bacon or homemade sausage, fried or scrambled eggs, gluten-free pancakes, usually fruit like melon or fresh blueberries, and sometimes a good raw Cheddar too. When we do eat dinner together, in the summertime we like to grill, and in the winter I tend to make filling and substantial dishes such as Cincinnati Chili (my American roots), Shepherd’s Pie (I make mine with lamb), or any number of Tex-Mex dishes. Green Chili Enchiladas are always a favourite.
Love your blog!
My family gets really excited about fondue (so did my brother and I when we were kids). My kids call it fun-do. We have chicken and beef fondue for dinner using dipping sauce recipes from my grandmother, and then chocolate for dessert.
In the summer you can pretty much guarantee the meal that brings our family together around the table will be some sort of barbeque. Last night it was bratwurst and chicken breasts, with sides of green beans in sweet chili sauce, pasta salad, and lettuce salad. So good.
The one meal that brings both kids to the table is homemade pizza. Of course, any baked goods are always a hit too, so I often bake muffins, cookies, fruit desserts, etc. Our daughter is an adventurous eater but her younger brother (who has allergies) is hesitant to try new foods. I would love to win the cookbooks to get ideas for make-ahead meals and also for kids’ lunches for back-to-school. This year the kids are going to a school that does not have a hot lunch program so we are worried about packing lunches on a daily basis that won’t get boring.
We love make your own pizza, which we always do on Friday nights. I offer a bunch of toppings and let the kids build their pizzas. Their favourite toppings include homegrown spinach, bacon, and feta cheese!
I make a mac and cheese dish with peas that always brings the crew running.
My family loves homemade pizza and a chopped salad with lots of goodies:)
Best homemade dish that I can get all of my picky eaters to eat (including the hubs) is good old-fashioned stuffed pork chops. I try to add a few fresh veggies like snap peas or green beans from the garden. Then we have some yummy (lemon or cookies-n-cream or banana) Amish Friendship Bread with a side of fruit salad for dessert.
In the winter, my mom’s pot roast with veggies was always my fav. growing up. In the summer, it was hard to beat BBQ chicken with rice and fruit. Yum!
Chicken enchiladas will have them running to the table .
Dinner is the meal most often when we are all together for good food and conversation. My son loves to bake with both of us (mom or dad) and with his grandma. He loves to create salads and have input one meals. This is what brings us together.
a family favorite around here is a baked mac & cheese, with ham, and bread crumbs, and good to freeze…if there is any left…I try to involve the toddler whenever possible in the kitchen, would love to have more ideas as she grows (and hopefully as our family grows!). I love to cook, including cooking our healthy CSA veggies, which continually surprises my mother because she didn’t cook much when I was a kid…we did eat as a family but often at a restaurant or something canned.
Saturday morning breakfast is the kids favorite. Making pancakes in fun shapes, sausage, fruit, it’s a fun time. This time of year is also fun because the kids love to pick the veggies in the garden and help me make them for meals. Last night we picked carrots, beans, onions and zuchini for roasting and put pork chops on the grill. Always fun when the kids get involved!
My favorite meal as a child was when my mom would make lasagna. It was such a process cooking up all the separate ingredients, then assembling, then baking. I think helping her make it was my favorite part:)
Taco night
My children are all grownups now and don’t live with us any longer; however, a family breakfast favorite is cream eggs. I make it for holidays and whenever any of them are visiting us. It was a standard learn-to-make recipe when I was a home ec high school student. My sister-in-laws contend it is a favorite among their families as well. So easy yet so tasty!
homemade pizza!
This summer it has been a twist on BLT night! Homemade bread, bacon, veggies from the garden. And this year we made homemade pesto to add even more flavors. Nothing beats summer!
We all have different tastes, so usually a meal will please at most 3 of the 5 of us. But everyone loves tacos! We have those at least every other week.
Families have their favs and ours is no exception !!! Sometimes the thought of holiday meal favs comes to mind first but then there are the casual favs that everybody looks forward to at various times….
How about corned beef and cabbage and the followed the next night by reuben sandwiches using the left over corned beef …..Always a favorite combination !!!
Michael Smith is a special pal in this household …. He always gives us fresh, new ideas in the kitchen !!!
swedish pancakes bring our family around the table. yum yum
One of my fav meals as a kid was when my mom would buy all fresh deli meats, beautiful bread and cheese and we would have a “picky” meal. Excellent fast food I now realize!
When I was a child my favorite lunch was tuna sandwiches, with tomato soup and/or hot tea. The hot tea was special.
I just cooked a pork loin with roasted potatoes, carrots, and onion (with a pan gravy)…turned out wonderful! Hubby very happy….! thanks for the giveaway!
When I was a child, dinner was always eaten at the kitchen table with the family. We would laugh, eat, spill milk, and talk about our days. Our collie (Laddie) would wait for us under the table and got the occasional milk bath. He just took it in stride; we were his family.
That kitchen table was the place where we played board games, did homework, held birthday parties, and just talked and laughed. Dinner was a special time and my mom was a great cook. My father thanked her every night for a wonderful dinner (even if it was just boiled beans with a ham hock). My favorite memories center around that kitchen table.
Right now, one meal we all love is pretty simple: some type of baked fish (salmon, tipalia, cod), roasted vegetables (whatever’s in season, plus potatoes), bread, and salad. To be honest, I don’t have any distinct memories of specific meals as a child that were unique to our family, but we did always eat dinner together and it’s that that I remember so clearly. Everyone sitting around the table, talking about things, and passing food around.
My favorite meal as a child was my mom’s homemade chicken tenders – the sides were usually butter noodles and green beans or peas. I also loved mom’s salmon cakes with peas or spinach. My own family rejoices when I make baked ziti, roast chicken, or anything with home fries on the side. Thanks for the giveaway!
I always loved homemade spaghetti and meatballs! My mom’s meatballs are so good!
I love new cookbook recommendations! My family has a couple of favorites that I make that receive huge HOORAYs when they see them on the menu plan:
Chicken Enchiladas
Chicken Pot Pie
Spaghetti and Meatballs
fish tacos are one of few meals that always puts smiles on everyone’s faces!
Truly, each night we sit around the table to eat together, whether it be a simple pasta dish or grilled dinner. My kids love a basic pasta with red sauce though!
My boys love anything with lots of toppings, though they probably will but all the topping on the side and eat them desperately. Silly kids
My family loves caesar salad and pasta. Oodles and oodles of pasta. My boys are carbohydrate fiends.
My family loves to eat! They are absolutely excited anytime we have B4D (breakfast for dinner), hamburgers, tacos/enchiladas, pot pie or pasta.
This cookbook looks awesome!
Tacos are always a bit hit in my house!
Burgers and homemade fries.
My family loves roasted chicken with salt, pepper, thyme, and butter! Add a lemon too if I have one. I really enjoy reading your blog and your recipes are yum!
Hamburgers with homemade bread buns is definitely a favorite!
Tacos! It’s our family specialty! Thanks for the chance.
Apricot roasted chicken
I loved cheese potato casserole when I was a kid. I couldn’t get enough of it!
Pasta!
Homemade chicken pot pie and homemade chicken a la king are big favorites around our house.
Without fail my family is sitting and waiting when I make tacos – ground beef or turkey simmered with onions and green bell pepper and my special taco seasoning blend. Served up on corn tortillas with queso fresco sprinkled on top. Broccoli slaw on the side.
My favorite meal from my childhood – my mom would always have dinner on the table by 5:30pm and it was always meat, starch and veggies. My favorite meal combined all three in her pasta salad – chunks of cheese, pasta, tomatoes, cucumbers, cubes of roasted turkey, cubes of salami, broccoli, red bell pepper all tossed in Italian dressing.
Our family favorite is beef stroganoff. It is one thing both my kids love – and it was a favorite of mine as a child too.
Fried rice or burritos will always get my daughter to clean her plate!
My three boys are ecstatic when I make Italian wedding soup, or meatball soup, as they call it. Makes rolling all those mini meatballs well worth it! Thanks for your post on PEI, you have inspired us to start planning a family trip there for next summer. Anne is my favorite and the pictures you posted just did me in!
That is a tough one, my kids love soups and stews all year long. I would have to say the top three are good old beef stew quickly done int he pressure cooker, Manhattan clam chowder and chicken curry, which they call yellow chicken. 😀