This week’s New Yorker (the food issue) features a piece by Calvin Trillin poking fun at “Quebec’s Funniest Food,” which is, of course, poutine. I am not a big fan of defining a people by the food they eat, let alone mocking them, but poutine seems to make Americans laugh the way  we all really […]

The trick to great French fries is to fry them twice; first for five minutes at a lower temperature  and then again at high heat.

I haven’t even seen a jar of Ovaltine in decades, but guest blogger Rhianna Padamsey is reliving her youth with this look at the chocolatey drink. – ska The onset of fall inevitably conjures up a variety of images: scarves, long slow braises, extra blankets, changing leaves, pumpkin spice lattes.. However, it’s not often – […]

I never thought that almost-raw tuna could be considered a comfort food, but I’m coming around. On busy weeknights (and even the odd weekday lunch when L and I sneak home for a bite) this straight-forward dish is a light and elegant meal that I find myself craving. Done right, tuna is a rich but […]

I make a couple of batches of this simple jelly every year because it helps out in so many ways. I use it as a glaze for pork or chicken. Mixed with white wine and a little stock it is a great braise for carrots or squash (I reduce it to a thick glaze after […]

We are lucky to have a great source of artisan bacon (among many other delicacies) in our neighbourood but it’s probably too close (and too delicious) for our own good. I often buy a pound a week and that’s raised our consumption by at least four times what we used to eat when we bought […]

Even if you get to sit at the same table as a former president, as I was lucky enough to do a couple of days ago at an event in Monreal, you don’t really get to know him. Still, this is a food blog and I had lunch with George W. Bush, so, I am […]

I thought I’d share part of an e-mail I got from L after she had read the post below. A light-hearted reminder that pragmatism is always on the menu: “So, I will get chicken breast and romaine lettuce for dinner?  And then we are going to the fitness centre. Sorry I didn’t raise and kill […]

I have spent the last year or so trying to encourage everyone in my family to become closer to the food they eat. No small task considering that L won’t eat anything that looks remotely like it did when it was alive (nothing dead with eyes can get through the front door) and that our […]

L’s colleague Debra gots lots of compliments for her scones made using the recipe below (Scones, swans and Summer’s gone)