Crispy chicken
We are just loving chili crisp and honey—it feels like every other meal at home is prepared with it. I’m using it to marinate both chicken and pork, tossed with noodles in a stir fry, or with rice. My intention here was to make a simple one-pan chicken and rice dish that I could simply […]
Heated driveways
After a couple of years of heavy snowfall paired with a few seasons of freezing rain and ice, homeowners are finally getting past the idea of shovelling the driveway and the sidewalks and moving towards heated systems. The technology has been around for a while, but for some reason, Canadians think that having a heated […]
Doom or Joy
In the face of another Middle East conflict, I’m struggling to find the peace and the love. Oh, I know I have that with my friends and family, but it’s an uncomfortable and scary world out there. Am I right? You know I am. And it’s very sad to think many of us now wake […]
Beloved dessert
was born in Sweden and came to Canada when I was six years old. As I learned to speak English, which was my third language, we stopped speaking Swedish and only spoke Serbian at home. Our culture and diet was mostly Serbian and so we didn’t keep any Swedish customs at home. I still have […]
Olympic wines
I like to say that in addition to chipotle, variety is the spice of life. For sports lovers, the last two weeks of the Olympics have been a Vegas-style buffet of variety — enough events to gorge on, dramas to drink up, and simmering rivalries to savour. The athletes have been the star attractions, but […]
Reach for the stars
This year I am celebrating sixteen years of working out with my buddy Paul. Sixteen years is a long time. Of course someone asked if I were still going to the gym—perhaps because of my “advanced years” or “at your age”. In spite of being a wise-cracker I told them I was still going but […]
Jazz it up
With the price of meat, especially lamb, it’s not an ingredient we get to enjoy often, so when I see them on sale I will buy and freeze if I’m not planning on serving them right away. Some people find the bones in loin chops bothersome, but we are used to eating meat on the […]
F-Day
Come on! On January 1st we all hoped 2026 would be better than 2025, much better. I know I thought it has to get better because how much worse than 2025 could 2026 ever be? Now, don’t get me wrong, 2025 wasn’t a complete dumpster fire. Our families made it so much better than it […]
Predictions from sommeliers
It’s often said that the LCBO is the largest buyer of alcohol in the world. But when you consider that Costco serves a far larger consumer base across the United States, and Tesco reaches many more people than Ontario’s 16 million residents, that claim begins to feel less certain. Big or not, the LCBO’s sales […]
Seasoning
We went to Ottawa last week for my birthday and we had lunch at a little place in the market called Soup dumpling Co. Naturally we ordered a couple of baskets of steamed dumplings although we both prefer fried dumplings. Of course they were delicious— but messy. They have written instructions on the table on […]