A world in quarantine changed us all, I think, in big and small ways. We’ve heard about wild life returning, the clearing of the skies, people singing on balconies. Personally, I find it hard to articulate the subtle changes I sense in myself after months of forced seclusion. Stopping for […]
Subtle flavour and gentle sweetness are sensory pleasures I discovered later in life. My husband and I stumbled, together, across an obscure Japanese bakery in Markham, years ago, and the lightness of a strawberry shortcake we found there is with us still. Later, I tried, for the first time, an […]
Four years ago I became interested in bees and pollinator plants. A number of books about Colony collapse disorder caught my eye and, the way I saw it, with more bees in my backyard I could help save a species essential to our food supply and have more tomatoes and […]
This morning my garden looked beautiful – full of promise. Japanese irises, discovered at a community plant sale last spring, unfurled in a show of purple. I bought five clusters, but only two have rooted deeply enough to bloom this summer. Roots: living things that must push hard in a […]
When my grandmother passed away I unearthed, in her garage, a large envelope stuffed full and carefully labelled: Recipes Collected For Years. In it I discovered a gold mine: booklets from the ’50s with tips on how to bake prize-winning cookies, a school-issued curriculum for young ladies, Tested Recipes, published […]
With tugs and twists of grey yarn, I fashion a heel for my knitted sock, whiling away the time that, some days, feels endless. I miss seeing others face to face. Although I know I should be anxious for nothing, I struggle. Some days it’s overwhelming to have so little […]
I tried, once before, to reproduce the golden deliciousness of stuffed yuca as I remembered it from Peru. But I failed. Just boiling and frying yuca acceptably seemed beyond my capabilities. Still, what better season will there ever be for trying new things at home? Step One: Have someone else […]
How many times have I passed over yucas in the grocery store, selecting, instead, the more familiar Yukon Gold potato for mash, fries and soups? My first taste of yuca, also called cassava root, was in Peru. Stuffed yuca, served to us hot and golden in a relative’s home, was […]
Could it really be true that one month from today my chamomile will look like this? A few years ago, on a whim, I bought a packet of seed. I love any flower that remotely resembles the daisy and I like chamomile tea, so… it was worth a shot. To […]
Traditional yeast has been hard to find since COVID-19 hit, so I’ve been using instant… still good, but sometimes I long for a different kind of loaf. Like sour dough. On Day One I mixed a cup of whole wheat flour with half a cup of water and left it […]