Maraschino cherries, peanut butter a sweet surprise

Homemade Holidays: Though not an exact flavour match, these Chocolate Cherry Surprises may scratch an itch for those missing Cherry Blossoms — the iconic (and divisive) Hershey’s treat discontinued earlier this year.

Only one pot required for ‘cookies with sticks’ in them

This recipe delivers on the holiday baking wishlist trifecta: it’s easy, requires little equipment and can be made months in advance.

For reasons beyond simplicity, these Chocolate Chow Mein Clusters have been a beloved part of Janet Sigurdson’s family Christmas traditions for decades. Her now 32-year-old son, in particular, has been a lifelong fan.

“I’ve been making these for 35 years; they’re inspired by a Canadian Living recipe from December 1990. I still have the clipping; it’s a little stained but readable,” she says.

“My son has had them for his whole life. When he was three, Christmas was approaching and he pulled on my shirt and said, ‘Mommy, mommy, make those cookies again… the cookies with sticks in them.’ And then he drew a circle with sticks — it looked like a little Sputnik.”

Traditional fruitcake laden with many memories

Susan Shortill isn’t a big fan of fruitcake. But she is a fan of this fruitcake.

“Fruitcake is polarizing. I don’t personally love it, especially when you would go to weddings back in the day and you would get that little chunk of dried-out (cake), but this changed my mind,” she says.

For one, it’s moist and chocolatey. For two, it comes from Dr. Sheena Guest, close family friend who hailed from Scotland and has since died.

Shortill has kept this Chocolate Fruitcake in her collection of stained, tattered and well-loved recipe cards for nearly 50 years.

Average family expected to spend $994 more on food next year: report

Expect food to take up a bigger share of household budgets next year.

The latest Food Price Report produced by several Canadian universities is projecting an average family of four will pay an estimated $994.63 more for food in 2026 than this year because of issues like trade and climate change. 

The increase, making for an estimated total bill of $17,571.79, comes from a projected four to six per cent inflation rate for food next year, according to the report produced by the agri-food analytics lab at Dalhousie University in partnership with several other universities. 

The inflation rate is higher than the roughly four per cent seen this year, and would outpace an overall inflation rate that's expected to decline to the Bank of Canada's two per cent target. 

Kentucky bourbon top sellers as N.S. starts selling off stockpile of American alcohol

HALIFAX - Nova Scotia’s liquor stores reported unusually brisk business on Monday, the first day they started selling off U.S. alcohol ordered off the shelves in February.

Premier Tim Houston had said the removal was in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to impose tariffs on Canadian products.

But on Nov. 27, the premier announced the $14 million in stockpiled booze would be sold off as of Dec. 1, with the profits going to community food organizations. At the time, he said about $4 million could be donated to these charitable groups.

On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Nova Scotia Liquor Corp. (NSLC) said its stores had reported a high volume of sales. “It was a much busier Monday than we typically have,” Terah McKinnon said in an interview.

New go-to cookie recipe voted best by family members

This chocolate cookie became a Conroy family favourite through extensive taste-testing and rigorous reviewing.

Sales of U.S. alcohol stock in Manitoba to benefit charities, premier says

WINNIPEG - The Manitoba government is going to sell alcohol products from the United States that it had pulled from the shelves to protest American tariffs.

Premier Wab Kinew told 103.1 Virgin Radio that about $1 million in U.S. alcohol products will be put up for sale next week, raising $500,000 for charity cheer boards that distribute holiday food and gifts in Winnipeg, Brandon and Thompson.

The Nova Scotia government made a similar announcement last week.

Kinew says the Manitoba government is still not buying any new U.S. alcohol products, but some of the items pulled from shelves and put in storage in March have expiry dates and should be sold.

Liqueur adds punch to flavour profile of apricot rugelach

The first recipe in this year’s Homemade Holiday series is a hands-on pastry that plays with tradition.

Festive dessert series begins with a good old-fashioned cookie swap

The next dozen issues of the Free Press are going to be high in sugar content and sentimentality.

Our annual Homemade Holidays series kicks off Tuesday and features 12 festive dessert recipes published over 12 days. The goal is to highlight family traditions, while providing readers with inspiration for their own holiday baking adventures.

Past editions have included vintage treats from the Free Press’s archives, reader-submitted recipes and staff favourites.

This year’s batch showcases the connective power of cookies.

Rogers Sugar reports $13.7M Q4 profit, revenue down from year ago

VANCOUVER - Rogers Sugar Inc. reported a fourth-quarter profit of $13.7 million as its revenue fell compared with a year ago.

The company says its profit amounted to 10 cents per diluted share for the quarter compared with a profit of $18.6 million or 13 cents per diluted share a year ago.

On an adjusted basis, Rogers says it earned 16 cents per share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 14 cents per share a year ago.

Revenue totalled $322.7 million, down from $333.0 million in the same quarter last year.

Independent grocers federation not happy with farmers’ call for cap on profits

HALIFAX - The Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers says it's disappointed and surprised that a farmers lobby group is calling for caps on the profits of major grocery chains. 

Gary Sands, senior vice-president of the federation, says his members are also unhappy with the National Farmers Union's push for publicly owned grocery stores. 

“I just find it disappointing that anybody in the Canadian food supply chain points fingers at anybody else in the food supply chain because they should know better," Sands said in an interview Wednesday.

"And I wouldn't point fingers at the suppliers. I wouldn't point fingers at the farmers."

Deal reached to allow grocers to avoid accepting beer and wine empties

TORONTO - Ontario grocers and The Beer Store have reached an agreement-in-principle on alcohol recycling that will allow the retailers to avoid collecting empties at their stores and gives a renewed role to the brewers, The Canadian Press has learned.

The deal averts a potential death knell for the Ontario Deposit Return Program, as some grocers warned they would refuse to accept empties as required starting Jan. 1, the same day The Beer Store is allowed to close an unlimited number of locations.

Details are still being worked out, but the broad strokes of the agreement mean that consumers will continue to exchange empties for their deposits at Beer Store locations, with grocers footing the bill and the brewers committing to ensuring there is a point of recycling available within 10 kilometres for the vast majority of the population.

"This is positive news for consumers and the environment," The Beer Store's president and CEO Roy Benin wrote in a statement. 

Puddin’ it out there: Family favourite sweet treats require minimal effort

This Homemade column features recipes for persimmon pudding from Eileen Ewanchuk, muskeg pudding from Grant Anderson and Aunt Rachel’s apple pudding from Cherry White.

Meal deals, nicotine and booze boost Couche-Tard sales growth

MONTREAL - Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. served up solid earnings growth last quarter despite cost-of-living concerns among customers, who CEO Alex Miller said are looking "to stretch their dollars" — on meal combos, nicotine pouches and beer, in particular.

Higher "meal deal" sales along with nicotine purchases and a change in rules governing alcohol sales in Ontario helped the convenience store giant raise second-quarter profits 4.5 per cent year-over-year to US$740.6 million. 

"Our meal deals are meeting their needs with the choices and options they want at an attractive price point," Miller told analysts on a conference call Tuesday to discuss the company's latest results.

The company's share price rose 4.9 per cent to close at $74.41 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.