It’s 1 a.m. and again, I cannot sleep. During these hot, dog days of summer I can barely muster an attempt to lay down my sweaty head on my sweaty bed. Instead, I park myself in a kitchen chair facing off against the portable air conditioner, sinking my teeth into yet another dish of frozen blueberries. Oh, what […]
Looks Like Chicken
Ahhh, the end of spring break and the beginning of back to school. Arrgh! Back to the madness of clean laundry, packed lunches and ironed clothes. I still choose my daughter’s outfits as she cares nothing for style and fashion, which is something I greatly care about, but alas, am hopelessly inept at assembling anything fashion […]
Zumb and Zumba
Tonight was the last of my Zumba classes. For the rest of the class, that is. I had my last dance six weeks ago. I contemplated showing up for the final class, you know, just to show I am not a total quitter. But then I got sidetracked by my teriyaki chicken dinner, and my son’s […]
The Land of the Misfit Mom
Demanding Children: Are those for you? Selfless Mama: No, they’re for you. Ungrateful Children: But we don’t like your ’70s stuff. Selfish Mama: OK then, they’re for me. Defensive Children: Noooo! We love the chocolate! It’s just… you’re always trying to make us like stuff from the olden days. Indignant Mama: The Olden Days? The Olden […]
Adams River Salmon Run
It’s that time of year, when rivers run red with spawning salmon. We have been to many salmon runs before, but we had never been to the world-famous Adams River Salmon Run. Oh, the stories of glory we heard about the masses of massive salmon like nothing you have ever seen before. But the real […]
November Frost
November cold pierces like tiny shards of glass. November sun takes the bite out of winter and makes delicate frosted flakes. I think Tony the Tiger would like this. Although it no longer feels like fall and it’s a mere month from winter, we have no snow! Throughout the valley, the sun is shining, skies are blue, clouds are […]
Taco Filling Omelet
There’s nothing better than the weekend breakfast. Funny I should say this, because I hate breakfast. I never eat breakfast during the week, unless you want to count downing a bottle of Boost on the way out the door. So, technically, I drink breakfast. But weekend breakfast is awesome. Because I get to sleep […]
Grilled Greek Salad
I first made this a couple years ago when family came to visit. Chop veggies and feta cheese and marinate in vegetable oil, salt, pepper, oregano, crushed garlic, red wine vinegar and a bit of sugar. (Note: I don’t use cucumber in my Greek salad due to an allergy, but you go right ahead and […]
Off My High Horse
Sometimes I fancy myself as some tough-as-nails rebel. Sometimes I imagine I am quite the bad-ass. Always, always reality proves me wrong. Way back in time before I was married or had children, or half the half-sense I do now, I had a brilliant idea to go horseback riding. I was in my 20s and had […]
Good Morning
It’s carnival time! The gentle, soft floating of hot air balloons in town marks the start of Winter Carnival. And this makes a wonderfully good morning to wake up and see a gigantic smile in the sky!
Ski Day
Today’s the day my husband packs up the kids and heads for the hills to ski down the slopes while I stay home and worry myself sick about defective chair lifts, broken ankles, getting lost in the trees, frost bite, and any number of gruesome images that can and will pop into my overprotective head.
Don’t Give Me A Break
This morning I broke the last of the six fruit bowls my Aunt Rose gave me for a shower gift. I was eating frozen peas when the glass slipped from my clumsy clutch and crashed on the living room floor. Not only did I break the bowl, I broke the rules. 1. Standing while eating. 2. […]
Seven Layer Halva
Halle-lu-jah! Halva-lu-jah! One of my favourite Christmas time treats is halva! When I was a kid, there were three flavours – vanilla, chocolate and marbled. How exciting it was to see my mother unwrap the brown paper from the halva block and slice off small chunks for us to slowly savour. I really had no idea […]
Brandy
Cake Pops
‘B’ Day
It’s “B” day! Yaaay! That’s when the kids get to go to school dressed up as something that starts with a ‘B.’ Booooo! That’s when parents have to Beg, Borrow and Buy stuff so the kids can go to school dressed up as something that starts with ‘B.’ My son decided to go as a […]
Owl in the Family
Last week was my son’s turn to bring home his class mascot, Brownie. This guy is amazing. He helps with homework, plays cards, picks apples, feeds the chickens, supervises the other animals and is an all-around good guy. He was so much fun, my son forgot to return him to school. Day after day after […]
Hen Party
These girls are so pretty, their colourful combs compete with the blooms.
Fennel – A Special Treat
I must have inherited my love of licorice from my father. Throughout my childhood, I could always find a package of his beloved Licorice Allsorts tucked away in a kitchen cupboard or perhaps stashed in my dresser drawer. While I loved the licorice, the “allsorts” part didn’t much appeal to me, so I spent a […]
Hairy Melon – Big, Hairy Deal!
As I’m peeling the skin from a Hairy Melon, I realize what a long way I’ve come from my childhood staples of carrots, corn and peas. More importantly, I realize what a long way my kids have come from where I had been at their ages. They eat more variety of vegetables and fruits than […]
Karela – The Better Bitter
During one long, hot summer day, I decided to search for a refreshing new food as an alternative to the endless watermelon wedges filling my plate. At the market I noticed a shiny object; an intriguing-looking vegetable called Chinese bitter melon. It looked like a pickling cucumber; but gnarly instead of knobby. Even the […]
Chayote – Out of Your Gourd
If one didn’t know better, one could easily mistake a Chayote (Chy YOH Tee) for a pear having a major meltdown. While it shares the pear’s shape, size and colouring, this Mexican gourd’s skin is fraught with folds of what could be misunderstood for fatigue and worry. But once you peel back the furrowed, light-green […]
Okra – My Pod
Seedy and slimy are not my usual favourite qualities in friends or food, but I’ve made an exception for Okra. A flowering plant in the mallow family (related to cotton and cocoa), Okra produces beautiful green fruit in long, slender, curved pods. Sometimes referred to as lady fingers, Okra is also known as ‘gumbo’ particularly […]
Yuca – Bark is Worse Than the Bite
I have food sensitivities – not just lactose intolerance or a curious allergy to cucumbers; I mean I’m queasy about the appearance, texture, and even names of certain foods. By my early 20s, I overcame most of my childhood food aversions, but occasionally some still crop up. Like yuca. It sounds so bad; it has […]
Baby Bananas – The Best of the Bunch
It was about 12 years ago in Rome when I first spotted them at an outdoor produce market. Amidst the vibrant shades of red, purple, green and orange, my gaze centred on the little fruit with bright yellow skin, sparsely flecked with tiny brown dots. Baby bananas! How adorable! What is it about miniatures […]
Ataulfo Mango – Just in Case
I love this time of year when my beloved mangoes are readily and affordably available by the case. But if I had one complaint about mangoes, it would be the stringy flesh. And if I had another complaint, it would be the large pit. Not that I am complaining, because I would pick a mango […]
Nuts About Lychee
It wasn’t exactly love at first sight when my sister brought home a plastic bag of small, round, bumpy-encased fruits called lychee. And even after peeling open the reddish-brown shell to discover a translucent-white glossy fruit, I still wasn’t exactly smitten. But at first bite, it was a different story. Its sweet, juiciness was […]
I Heart Artichokes
If ever there were a vegetable so full of intrigue, it could be the centrepiece of a steamy romance, a potboiler and a hotbed of controversy, the globe artichoke would take the prize. With its ties to mafia, royalty, celebrities and even the gods, the artichoke has been called a monstrosity, rhapsodized in poetry by […]
Kohlrabi – Down to Earth
Often described as a little Sputnik, Kohlrabi may look like something from out of this world, but this member of the cabbage family is very down to earth. Growing just above-ground, Kohlrabi is an easy and prolific vegetable to grow, adapting well to various climates and geographic areas. Some say Kohlrabi was popularly grown throughout […]
Say Yes to Ya Pear
When I find a new food, it is always surprising to discover its history, and how it has been enjoyed by cultures around the world for thousands of years. I don’t like missing out on the good things in life, and foods from around the world are definitely some of the best things to enjoy. […]
Kale – Turn Over a New Leaf
While kale is anything but new, it’s not exactly the most popular green to populate a plate. You may have been served a leaf or two as a garnish at your favourite restaurant, but that doesn’t do this versatile leafy green justice. Kale may look frilly, but these colourful leaves are hardy stuff. Tough enough […]
Strawberry Papaya – Fruit of the Angels
Reportedly declared, “the fruit of the angels” by Christopher Columbus, papayas, like explorers, have made their way from Central America and the Indias to Hawaii, Mexico and Florida. I never much liked this fruit, preferring a deliciously sweet mango over the blandness of papaya. Then I encountered the strawberry papaya. Sweeter and less acidic than […]
Honk If You Love Gooseberries
Thanks to my Grade Six ‘scary berry’ training, which taught me to never trust a wild berry, not once have I strayed from the safety of the familiar strawberry, blueberry, blackberry or raspberry bush. Despite tempting, vibrant-coloured berries bursting from shrubs, with branches reaching over fences as though they were beckoning, ‘pick me, pick me’, […]
Belgian Endive – A Mistake Worth Making
What do potato chips, Popsicles and chocolate chip cookies have in common with a leafy vegetable from the chicory family? They were all discovered by accident. The difference is, Belgian endive is a much healthier choice than the other three. Whether you pronounce it, EN-dive or on-DEEV, Belgian endive was one of history’s better […]
Prickly Pear – From Desert to Dessert
While the thought of eating a cactus plant sounds more perilous than pleasurable, the prickly pear cactus is one plant that provides a triple whammy of healthy edible fruit, vegetable and flower. Grown widely in the United States, Mexico and South America, the prickly pear cactus also proliferates in the Mediterranean and some areas of […]
Celeriac – The Life of the Party
Celery is one of the last picks I would ever reach for on a vegetable platter. I’ve always considered it as nothing more than filler amidst the tasty crunch of peppers, carrots and broccoli. And yes, I am aware of its good qualities such as high-fibre content, negative calories (it takes more calories to consume […]
Here Comes The Sunchoke
It’s been a long, cold winter. Having endured the teasing of the sun occasionally poking through the clouds only to be followed with more snow, more wind and more cold, I was happy to snatch a little ball of sun from the produce market. Actually, a little ball of sunchoke. Also known as the […]
Enter the Daikon
I have a love-hate relationship with radishes. As a child, I loved to watch them grow in our garden. It was always the little green radish leaves that were the first to poke up through the soil. I knew I didn’t have to wait long before I could wrap my little hands around a bundle […]
Persimmon – The Sweet Sensation
Known to the ancient Greeks as the ‘fruit of the gods’ a persimmon can be a bitter bite or sweet sensation depending on the variety of fruit you are eating. In North America, the two most popular types are the astringent Hachiya and the non-astringent Fuyu. While both contain tannins, the Hachiya tannins are more […]
Welcome to Jicama!
I wouldn’t have given it a second glance if the name hadn’t popped out at me like a flashing neon light through the bleak, wintry darkness. Maybe it was the fluorescents playing tricks on my already failing eyes, but I thought the label said “Jamaica.” What a coincidence as that was exactly where I wanted […]