Celebrating Bastille Day with Maille

If you’re in France, July 14th is known as la fête du 14-juillet (the July 14th holiday) or more officially, la fête nationale (the National Holiday). It is a day to celebrate French national pride by honoring the blue, white and red and the values of liberty, comradery and equality.  Outside of France this holiday […]

Taste: A Feast for the Senses

I have been counting down to the Taste of Toronto festival since leaving the gates of Historic Fort York last year.  After being in attendance for their successful inaugural year, the date for 2015 was one I knew I had to save and for good reason; this summer food festival is feast for the senses.  […]

A Prelude to Paris with Barton & Guestier

As a blogger I am delighted to receive invitations to food and wine events, particularly when those events introduce my palette to new tastes.  The invitation that I received to attend a food and wine pairing early in April for a French brand known as Barton & Guestier was particularly welcome for it fell exactly […]

A Feast Fit For Forty

“Eating is not merely a material pleasure. Eating well gives a spectacular joy to life and contributes immensely to goodwill and happy companionship. It is of great importance to the morale.” ~Elsa  Schiaparelli This quote is particularly true when it comes to celebratory occasions such as birthdays, which I recently celebrated. While I typically gather […]

Tortes of the Times

It is said that birthdays are nature’s way of telling us to eat more cake. Over the course of 40 years I have certainly heeded that advice while relishing in celebratory confections. As I mark a milestone this year I can’t help but take a retrospective look back at birthdays past reflecting on many things, […]

How Italy Does Italian: Italy at the Table

It is said that Italians embrace le gioie della tavola (the joys of the table), for it is in gathering around the table where warmth, joy and magic are created, in particular when it comes to what is on the plate.  Those joys were definitely evident recently at an event called “How Italy Does Italian: […]

St. Patrick’s Day: A Feast of Fortune

I once read a quote about Irish luck that started out with the words, “ample food and sturdy drink”. If these are in fact two important components of Irish luck, then good fortune should be mine when it comes to menu planning for a feast in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. Though born and raised […]

#NutellaFace2015

Anyone who has been following my blog or who knows me personally can attest my love for the chocolate and hazelnut spread known as Nutella. I have grown up enjoying this Italian pantry staple and have not only passed that love on to my own children, but to friends and followers alike. There is just […]

World Nutella Day: Uniting Nutella Lovers One Spoonful at a Time

What happens when you take two fabulous food writers, combine their love of an Italian childhood staple and add in a dash of genius and creativity?  You get the birth of a global holiday dedicated to the celebration of Nutella, a winning recipe in my books. On February 5th, lovers of chocolate and hazelnut will […]

The Lentil Hunter

May, a celebratory month, one showered with affection, for our mothers, for the queen and her unofficial kick-off to summer and for a delicious and versatile legume.  May is Love Your Lentils month, a time to pay homage to produce that has become a Canadian National treasure.  Canada in fact, is the world’s largest producer […]