Sumptuous ice wine
As temperatures plunge, winemakers await the ideal moment to make scrumptious ice wine from grapes that were deliberately left hanging on the vine well past their normal harvest time. Although Pliny the Elder makes reference to frozen or vine-dried grapes in the first century, the first documented eiswein was produced in the Franconia wine region […]
The memory game
Did you ever play the old parlour game we used to call Kim’s Game (or more simply, the Memory Game)? You were shown a tray containing about two dozen items. The tray was then taken away. You had to recall as many of the items as you could. If you got halfway there, you were […]
Profiled
When it happened to LOML and I, we thought it was funny. It happened when we were driving along Eglinton Avenue in Mississauga. A police cruiser pulled up behind us. The officer hit the flashing lights and whooped the siren a couple of times. Uh oh and a giggle or two. Were we driving over […]
Protecting the nest
How time flies. It was Halloween when I attended an open practice for the Eagles before the start of the regular basketball season. Coach Dooley put the boys through the paces for more than an hour, then let them loose for a few moments to chat with the local media. Bernard Thompson told me that […]
Yuletide sparkle
Part of Christmas, for some, is sharing a glass or two with family at the festive table. What better way to celebrate than with a glass of locally produced sparkling wine? There are four distinct methods for making sparkling wine. The first is to simply inject carbon dioxide into the wine, the same method as […]
Castor canadensis
Turns out my frost-driven pace along the morning trail takes me past new-fallen trees that the night marauders of Slab Creek have targeted. Actually Gord, my neighbour up the road, tipped me off that beavers were going at the trees in the park. I asked him to keep them at the swings, slides and sandbox—there […]
Singularity and the body cam
Edmonton MP Peter Goldring issued a press release that had folks scratching their heads a few days ago. Even after an emergency re-education meeting with the Prime Minister’s Office, followed by a swift retraction, they were still shaking their heads. And that includes me. The retraction was unequivocal: “Earlier today, I issued a press release […]
HO, HO, HO
I am seriously up to my neck in ho, ho, ho. I must be getting old, because it seems as if we just put away all of the decorations and here we are again. The parades have passed. The streets and shop windows are looking their festive best. If you’re a celebrator of the Merry […]
Post Cereal hockey cards
About this time last year, I was pleased to report that the Post Cereal Corporation was unveiling a series of junior hockey cards on its cereal boxes. I have discovered that Post is at it again. My grandson, Hunter, is most pleased with the results. I caught up with Hunter after his game last Saturday […]
A toast
This week, the town of Wellington is saddened and diminished by the passing of two talented men in the prime of their lives. Drew MacCandlish, whose floral designs enhanced so many County weddings, has left a legacy of inspired plantings in the threeacre Oeno Gallery sculpture garden at Huff Estates. For three seasons of the […]