July 11, 2015
A salad in Israel is a ritual. They have it with every meal, including breakfast but it is not necessarily the green leafy salad we are used to here (although they do have green leafy salads loaded with good stuff there as well). The traditional Israeli salad is made with ripe tomatoes, crisp cucumbers, sweet red pepper and a sweet and pungent white onion and then you can add lots and lots of chopped flat... View Article
July 5, 2015
The local farm stands just opened this weekend and I enjoyed the first of the summer “market runs” that I am so good at:). The large farmers market has been open for a while but there still are more crafts than produce stalls over there. Hopefully the trend will reverse soon as produce ripens and is ready to be sold. I am sure that not everything I bought is local, but the quality was good... View Article
June 13, 2015
We don’t have local corn yet but the corn I found in one of the produce markets is very good, so I have been buying and serving it in various ways in the last few weeks. This salad was inspired by an image I saw in Bon Appetit a few weeks ago of a grilled corn salad made with half of the corn roasted, the other half raw. I made up my own recipe but... View Article
June 7, 2015
Here is a simple dish to make with either baby potatoes or fingerling potatoes. I steam them first and then sauté in olive oil. I add the broccolini towards the end of the cooking so they finish cooking together. You could cook the broccolin i sep[arately and combine them at the end if you wish. If you don’t have broccolini you could use red pepper or broccoli instead. There are two camps in culinary circles... View Article
May 26, 2015
I just came back from another fabulous dinner event at God’s Mountain Estate in Penticton, a dinner catered by the incomparable Dana and Cameron of Joy Road Catering. These signature events they call alfresco dinners are held throughout the season (May to October) at the B&B overlooking beautiful Skaha lake. This evening it rained when we arrived and Dana and her team set the long table under cover on the porch overlooking the lake, so... View Article
May 17, 2015
On a recent extended stay in the Yucatan I attended a cooking class (several, really) and watched local Maya women making corn tortillas by hand, beautiful, symmetrical, thin and perfectly formed round tortillas. When you watch them making it seems so simple, roll the dough into little balls and slap it into a perfect rounds between the palms of your hands. Not so fast. Try and do it yourself and let’s see how easy YOU... View Article
May 6, 2015
I am sure anyone who cooks has some foods that they can make without a recipe and soups must be among them. Do soups really need a recipe? You kind of build a soup layer by layer with what you have on hand. This beans and pasta soup is the one I go to when I need a good hearty soup that doesn’t require any special trip to the store because I usually have all... View Article
May 2, 2015
I am not a huge fan pf smoothies but every now and then I feel like making one, and not just for breakfast. It’s a good thing to make when you are cleaning the fridge and have a little bit of this or that left from your last shopping trip (which in my case was probably yesterday). I am not referring to wilted things, those you can throw out. I am talking about good quality... View Article
April 29, 2015
I am off to Calgary for the day to see my friends. Sometimes it’s nice not to think about packing a suitcase and booking hotels yet travelling to a different city, experiencing new sights, sounds and the feel of another place. I am catching an early morning flight out of Kelowna with no luggage to worry about and a rental car is waiting for me at the airport in Calgary. Does that count as jet-setting?... View Article
April 27, 2015
I have been waiting for artichokes to arrive and they finally have. Nothing says spring to me like these compact soldiers wrapped in protective layers of thorny armor. I have written more about them here. Once you get past the initial intimidation this not-so-familiar vegetable tends to cause, you find that it really is a rather simple affair to work with. You slice it through the middle, peel back the thorny leaves around the stem... View Article
April 27, 2015
How many ways can you make a bowl of oatmeal? To me, the possibilities are endless. This rich version is not an everyday oatmeal but a nice one for a special morning when you want something hearty and fun. I am on my way to a broadcast of Swans Lake from the Royal Ballet of London (they broadcast performances to local theatres worldwide, thankfully) and from there to a cooking class at the one and... View Article
April 26, 2015
Grains and legumes form a large part of our every day food at home. They show up at breakfast, in soups, salads, main course and even desserts. This easy version of rice and beans is good with the addition of caramelized onion. The onion, slowly caramelize until it is golden and crisp in spots, is reminiscent of the classic middle east dish of rice and lentils called mujadara. I fold the caramelized onion into the... View Article
