Many Canadians are lucky enough to be able to celebrate Family Day this February 16. It's the perfect time for a holiday - mid-winter blahs are at their peak, and the period between Christmas and Easter is the longest stretch we have to endure without a holiday. So Family Day comes as a very welcome … [Read more...]
Liquid Love
Valentine's Day is here again, and if you've known me for a while, you'll know I'm always on the lookout for a novel, non-cheesy way to share the love, hopefully without putting on ten pounds in the process. I have a thing about chocolates (too predictable) and roses (ditto). Dinner at a fab resto … [Read more...]
A Little Liberation
I was lucky enough to spend the entire month of December with my two daughters visiting with my family in Southwestern Ontario (I normally find myself situated in Calgary, and my youngest sister is a Londoner now), hopping around from one person's house to the next, living out of suitcases and … [Read more...]
New Holiday Cuisine Classics
Just like everyone else, I have my favourite holiday foods: Turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce Mashed potatoes and gravy "Nibble Bait" (a kind of party mix my mom and little sister make each year) My mother-in-law's gingerbread cookies Egg nog with nutmeg But, you know, I'm … [Read more...]
Uncertainty
Lately I've been thinking a lot about how much we, as humans, know about our bodies. It's amazing, really. I mean, think about it: we have decoded the human freakin' genome, people. It doesn't get more detailed than that. And then again, we know so little about how it all works together. At the … [Read more...]
Three Lunches in Italy
You know, I never thought I would love Italy so much. When I was in high school, I had a lot of Italian friends, and I thought I had a reasonably good grasp of the culture and cuisine of that country from having dined in countless downstairs kitchens, drinking homemade wine out of juice glasses or … [Read more...]
Mmmm… Malta!
Okay, just dropping in for a super-quick post (internet access on cruise ships is sloooow and costly!). But I had to share with you the unbelievable restaurant I went to in Mdina, Malta today. It was called (go figure) the Medina Restaurant, and it was in a tiny little courtyard down a winding, … [Read more...]
Sangriaaahhhh…
Remember I told you I was going on a Mediterranean Cruise? Well, we spent our first day in Barcelona before boarding the boat, and for that first dinner I went with two friends to a traditional Basque restaurant, called Txicitera. There I shared a 1litre pitcher of what was simply the best Sangria … [Read more...]
We Have a Winner
Well, two winners, actually. In Days 4 and 5 of the Fruitsational 5 Day Menu Planner, lunch features a Baked Apple Chicken Roll-Up and Homemade Chicken Fingers, respectively. And in my house, with my kids, chicken is evidently the way to go. They loved both the roll-ups and the chicken fingers. … [Read more...]
Fruitsational!
When I got this menu plan from the nice people over at Motts, it just seemed like a fun thing to try with my kids, not to mention a potentially time-saving solution to the school-lunch mad rush we go through daily. So I put the idea to my eight year-old daughter: if I get this stuff and make these … [Read more...]