March 22, 2024
Broccoli mashed potatoes. Folding chopped steamed broccoli into mashed potatoes adds a delicious element to this classic dish. You can keep it plant based by using potato water and plant based milk to mash the potatoes and fold in a little nutritional yeast for cheesy flavour. For a dairy version enrich the potatoes with butter, sour cream and grated Parmesan. I used a potato masher to puree them in the pot but for a finer... View Article
January 20, 2019
As soon as we arrived in Sydney (and even before) I was looking for cooking classes teaching Asian cuisine. I was interested in Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Malaysian, whatever I could find. From watching hours of Masterchef Australia I knew that there is a major Asian influence on Australian cooking, likely because of the proximity to South East Asia. From watching the show it seemed like almost everyone knows how to cook Asian food... View Article
June 3, 2018
Pasta, pasta, pasta. I can eat it every day although not necessarily with such a rich sauce. Today I was in the mood for ravioli and wanted to try a potato filling instead of the usual ricotta. I also had mushrooms and asparagus that I needed to use as we are off to another “exploring our BC backyard” adventure in the Sunshine Coast so this was an opportunity to use them in a sauce... View Article
April 1, 2017
So this morning I am off to begin a 30 day yoga challenge at Moksha Yoga across the street. What am I getting myself into? Can I even hold any of the yoga positions? I am better at hiking, walking, swimming and leisure biking occasionally (not to mention lunching) but my friend suggested we do it and I took her up on it. Granted, it’s good to surprise your body/muscles as they can get used... View Article
March 13, 2016
It’s hard to capture the charm of Florence in simple verse and its beauty inspired poets and writers to immortalize it in their prose. Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett eloped to Florence to get married and lived there many happy years afterwards. Unlike Rome, that took a little getting used to, Florence was a love at first sight. Walking through the ancient streets among magnificent palaces and works of art and in the footsteps of... View Article
January 28, 2016
Usually I am wary of eating around historical monuments but this is not necessarily true for Rome. We have found some incredible food near places like the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon and even Piazza Navona. Today was a take it easy day as we are wrapping up our 6 weeks stay in Rome. I can’t say that I “know” Rome like a local but I do feel that I got a good sense of the... View Article
December 2, 2015
After spending a few days in San Miniato for the white truffle festival we decided to head south and explore some of the Tuscan medieval towns, on my list for their unique history or wine production and to see the countryside beauty of Tuscany. We did not reserve hotels except for that night in Siena. We’ll stop where and when we want, with some time constraints of course. We fell head over heels for siena... View Article
November 11, 2015
We are keeping different schedule here in Italy with all the comings and goings and sometime late at night we just want something to eat. Unless I have a dish ready I invariably turn to a quick pasta and use passata as a base for the sauce. Passata is a useful Italian ingredient not well known at home so I thought I’d tell you about it. It is common in Italian kitchens and frequently called... View Article
November 10, 2015
You may find it interesting that after talking about all the towns in Tuscany that are “on the list” (whose list is it anyway?) our first excursion was to a town that is not, not “on the list” that is. We set off one morning for a three day excursion to Certaldo, about an hour and a half east from here inland, to meet Simone and his parents Luigi and Giuseppina. Luigi and Simone were... View Article
May 11, 2015
Tinhorn Creek Winery hosted one of their sold out long table dinners during the Spring Okanagan Wine Festival that I was recently invited to attend. Tinhorn Creek is well known in the valley not only for their wines but also for their fabulous events, from long table dinners at Miradoro restaurant to cooking classes, movies under the stars, open air concerts and this year dinner and dance in the vineyard (watch their website for details).... View Article
November 30, 2014
We just returned from a short stay in Vancouver, a four hour drive from our current home going west. The roads were treacherous following a first heavy snow fall and we passed several empty cars in the ditch along the way. Trucks were having a difficult time climbing up the hills, sliding right back down with little control. We were glad to arrive safe and sound at the Rosewood Georgia hotel in the center of town... View Article
September 3, 2014
Tomatoes pretty well ruled my kitchen this summer. Not all summer, the local varieties were not ripe and ready until August, but once they were available I kept coming back from the markets with boxes of them. They made their way into just about everything I cooked. They also look so beautiful on the kitchen counter that I think of them almost like flowers, decorative and beautiful but also edible. After enjoying them fresh every... View Article
