February 16, 2014
The Costa del Sol consists of several towns built from the beach to the hilltops above. There is hardly a break between towns and you can drive from one to the next without really noticing you left one and entered another. It’s a major tourists destination and there are probably hundreds of thousands of hotel rooms in the various resorts as well as apartments and homes as far as the eye can see. One interesting... View Article
January 17, 2014
Valencia oranges on the tree Valencia is the easternmost province of Spain, hugging the Mediterranean coast between Catalonia in the north and Murcia in the south. We drove down the coast of Valencia along highway N-322 en route to the Costa Blanca, a region lined with resort towns nestled between the mountains and the Mediterranean. The resorts are interspersed with sleepy fishing villages that once used to dominate this coastline. The name Costa Blanca was... View Article
December 7, 2013
Bonjour from Paris. I scheduled this post to be published while I am in Paris to keep you entertained while I am away from my kitchen getting ready to post from Paris and Spain. Did I say Paris three times in one sentence? you get the picture. I am probably sitting in Parisian cafe right this very moment, warming up (It’s chilly here in December) with a cafe au lait and getting covered by a... View Article
November 23, 2013
I am starting to “psych” myself for travel in preparation for our long stay in Europe this winter. I love to travel and finally the time has come and we can go on extended stays in destinations that interest us. This time it’s a month in Paris and two months in Spain, how is that for a for a trip to Europe? Can you believe it? Going to the Garnier opera in Paris, Christmas on... View Article
November 18, 2013
For many home cooks chocolate is one of the scariest things in the kitchen, and in my not-so-humble opinion, for no reason at all. (Golda Meir once said: don’t be so humble, you are not that great). True, things can go wrong, but they don’t have to and in any event, almost all chocolate mistakes can be corrected by simply melting the chocolate and starting again. You can’t say that about other culinary mistakes. More... View Article
November 7, 2013
Here is a fun little sweet bite to make when crab apples are in season. I had these crabapples left over in my fridge and they still looked good and tasted good. Instead of making a crabapple preserve of some kind, I thought I’d make them into little caramel apples. I love caramel and candied apples almost as much as I love cotton candy:) but find them too hard to eat when they are made... View Article
November 7, 2013
Now that the weather has cooled down I started baking a little more. It’s nice to have something homemade available with a hot cup of coffee in the morning or offer to a friend who happens to drop by. Scones are not a uniform concept. They can be round, triangular, even square, large or small, taller or flat, sweet or savoury, cake-like or crumbly, made with flour or oatmeal and include raisin, currants, berries or... View Article
October 16, 2013
Fall desserts are usually more elaborate than summer desserts. I barely bake anything in the summer, relying more on fresh fruits and light sauces for dessert. Now I find myself in the mood for heartier desserts, pastries, cooked sauces and heartier foods. Baked apples, poached pears cooked figs are but few of the things I am making these days. But I am not quite ready for a lot of baking and like to use up... View Article
October 6, 2013
Chocolate is always a good idea. Chocolate mousse is a classic, isn’t it? Everyone knows what it is and everyone probably tried it. Classic chocolate mousse is usually made with egg yolks and cream and maybe even espresso. It involves cooking the egg yolks over simmering water, beating the egg whites and combining everything with the melted chocolate. Too much work? Don’t want raw eggs in your mousse? Then his recipe is for you. It... View Article
October 3, 2013
Ease into fall baking with these lovely little cookies with a touch of cinnamon. Cut them into stars, hearts, rounds or other shapes. The dough is soft so you will have to work with a portion of it at a time, refrigerating the rest until ready to roll. I also suggest to roll it between two layers of parchment paper, the dough behaves nicely sandwich in the layers of parchment and you have less to... View Article
September 30, 2013
As I am rebuilding my cookbook collection I buy new books that have been recently published to replace old ones I can no longer find. With fall in the air I turn back to baking and have a few favourites I tend to go back to over and over. Last night I was up in the middle of the night, awakened by stormy winds that overturned chairs on the rooftop patio, blew away cushions and... View Article
August 17, 2013
If you asked my family what dish is the essence of summer in Kelowna they are sure to say “Peaches and Cream”. Ripe, juicy Okanagan peaches peeled and sliced into wedges, simply drizzled with the incomparable Blackwell cream (don’t ask about the fat content of the cream, I won’t admit it) and maybe a light sprinkling of sugar and we are in summer culinary heaven. Right now I have a flat of peaches I purchased... View Article
