“Your eyes are bigger than your stomach,” was something I heard a lot during my childhood. Perhaps it was because my parents had lived through food rationing during and after the Second World War. Or perhaps I was just a greedy child. Whatever the reason, I blame my parents for the emotional scarring that has […]
The Canada goose stomping around the still-frozen lake last week honking angrily pretty much summed it up for all of us. My goose is a little rusty, but I am convinced he was saying: “You gotta be kidding me – it’s the middle of April for crying out loud!” Looking on the bright side, it seems […]
This has been a busy month for travel – Seoul, Kyiv, The Hague, Munich and Berlin – and all of it for work. Travelling on business has its perks – just this week I stood on the line where the Berlin wall once stood; I saw the barricades still standing in Kyiv’s Independence Square; I squeezed […]
Do you say sCAL-lop or sCALL-op? Turns out there is no debate. Years ago, when I was the best man at a wedding in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, a life-long scallop fisherman – and the father of the bride – set the record straight for me and threatened bodily harm if I ever said scallop wrong […]
soup, tomatoes, cream, chicken stock, celery seed
A midlife crisis can be great. What’s wrong with a new Porsche or a well-equipped man cave? Even a boys’ golfing weekend in South Carolina could work – Spring Break for pseudo-seniors. Or, how about going back to school part time for two years and spending every waking hour outside of work desperately trying not […]
My grandmother was a remarkable woman. Widowed young just after the Second World War, and armed with not much more than a fierce work ethic, she left Scotland and emigrated to Canada with her three daughters – the smallest just three. I think that took great courage. Nana lived upstairs from us in the house […]
There’s nothing quite like seeing the faces of a group of adults at a dinner party when you put a plate of these beauties out for dessert. The calorie-counters who insist on half-servings and surreptitiously check their smart-phone apps to see if they can squeeze in another glass of wine… The polite pickers who quietly […]
I’m pretty sure my New Year’s Resolution wouldn’t approve but, oh well, after my little mid-winter fling with these cold-oil fries, we’re no longer on speaking terms. (It was a strained relationship from the very beginning – that can happen if you make a hasty commitment on New Year’s Eve.) There’s no going back now. […]
As someone who likes food, it’s not surprising that Copenhagen is one of my favourite cities. It is, after all, home to the world’s best restaurant not to mention some of the greatest beer. And, unlike Canada, where restaurants seem to close their terraces at the first nip of coolness, you can eat outdoors in Copenhagen […]
Meats, Roots and Leaves 