Woodward’s Dark Fruitcake

My long time friend, The Reverend Dr. Eileen M. Conway, often posts her culinary adventures on Facebook. One day she mentioned “Woodward’s Dark Fruitcake”, and that piqued my interest. I had an instant flood of memories of my Mom, who was a dedicated Woodward’s customer and employee. She also made a dark fruitcake every Christmas,…

Mary Berry’s Malay Rice

I became a huge fan of Mary Berry when I was introduced to her on the Great British Baking show, when she and Paul Hollywood were judges. More recently, we enjoyed her shows available on those channels you buy by monthly subscription. In particular, Mary Berry Classics. Most food shows I watch, I watch purely…

Cookie Crumbs – A Review

A visit to Bountiful Market in Edmonton is a joy. It’s spacious, it’s fun, and the vendors are all eager to help. In pre-COVID19 days, the vendors were very generous with samples. Bountiful Market has become more and more popular as the months pass by. It has become our favourite market as Michael and I…

Coffee (in isolation)

For some, coffee is what gets them up in the morning. I cannot deny the smell of coffee first thing in the morning is one of the most motivating of aromas. To raise it to a level of the sublime, have coffee perked outdoors over an open fire. Now that conjures up images of days…

Coconut Lentil Curry

Not sure if COVID-19 has stopped the May celebration of lentils, but I won’t let it stop me. The following recipe’s name should be something along the lines of Cathy’s Coconut Lentil Curry Recipe Modified from Keith’s Recipe who Modified it from the Endless Meal’s Web Page who Modified it from a Cookbook Called Vij’s…

Really Easy One Pot Rice and Beans

It’s been 25 days since the World Health Organization declared the coronovirus outbreak a worldwide pandemic. Michael and I have been following the recommendations and staying indoors and away from people as much as possible, only making necessary outdoor excursions to buy groceries, medication and wine. This is not much different than our pre-pandemic life,…

Beef Bourguignon – A Less Fiddly, but Equally Delicious Stew

Beef Bourguignon is a delicious, traditional French stew that involves many steps if you listen to Julia Child. One of the reasons French cuisine tastes so good, I believe, is because it builds tension and suspense as you wait for the food to be prepared and cooked. My simplified version still takes four hours to…

Fairmont Hotels and its Boozy new Cocktail Menu

Looking at the promo email sent to me, I feel I should have a few drinks under my belt and a bit of uninhibited slurred speech to write this post. Instead, it’s Monday morning, I’m sipping tea and anticipating a day of work ahead of me. But before I do so, I thought I’d take…

Sublime Summer Supper

This was a recuperation weekend, a weekend to relax and just do whatever sort of presented itself at the time. My only planned events were to complete a 500 piece puzzle and run some errands. Michael went down to Calgary to spend time with his sister and help around the home with those maintenance things…

Tea Quest at the Butchart Gardens

I was in Victoria this past week for work. I had a lovely supper in The Butchart Gardens dining room on Tuesday night (wild BC salmon, tarragon ricotta gnudi, summer squash caponata, almond crumb, tomato anchovy beurre blanc). Yes it was delicious. After dinner, I had the most amazing pot of Earl Grey tea. I…