Eggs are a healthful and budget-friendly food

A couple of weeks ago, my daughters and I were preparing food one afternoon for guests arriving the next day. I wrote a list of things to do. My older daughter enjoys eggs, so she wanted to complete the “hard cook one-dozen eggs” item from my list. Although “hard boiled” often is used to describe[...]

What’s for dinner?

On the way home one day, my husband and I were discussing the eternal question, “What’s for dinner?” Our daughters were sitting in the backseat, observing their sometimes embarrassing “parental units.” I think my husband felt the need to “ham it up” for the entertainment factor. “How about spaghetti and meatballs for dinner?” I asked.[...]


Ease up on the salt

Which shaker gets filled with salt and which gets pepper?” my daughter asked one day. She was examining small ceramic rabbits dressed in pastel-coloured spring attire. “Fill the one with three holes with salt and the one with two with pepper,” my husband responded. ‘Filling the three-holed shaker with pepper might be better for our[...]

Take steps to avoid kitchen fires

I recall a little incident that taught me a lesson a few years ago. My nose detected an unpleasant scent. My brain recognized the odour and soon my feet were running down the hall. I think I leaped over my then-three-year-old daughter on the way to the kitchen. “What smells?” my son asked as I[...]


Savour the flavour of eating right

When I opened the front door of our home one day, my nose detected a wonderful aroma. I knew my husband had a food preparation “project” in progress and our family would be the delighted recipients. He had made homemade pastrami. The pro­cess involved brining the beef, applying a rub, smoking it on the grill[...]

Have you ever eaten edamame?

What is that?” my husband asked. I think I detected a note of disdain in his voice. I could almost see a thought bubble above his head with, “What is she trying now?” I was putting the contents of a bag of steamed edamame in a bowl. Yes, they looked a little like fuzzy green[...]



Stay safe and healthy during extreme cold

The roads are really greasy today. Be sure to allow plenty of extra time to get to work this morning,” the weather announcer said. I looked bleary eyed at my alarm clock and saw that it was 5 a.m. I must have fallen asleep watching TV, then the station went off the air and came back[...]


Honey, you shrank the fruit

I think Dad may be drying socks in the dehydrator next,” our son said with a laugh. My husband rolled his eyes and glanced in my direction. I think he wanted me to defend him. Earlier this fall, I bought a new food dehydrator. We had a bumper crop of large apples, and our kids[...]

Let's focus on 'more' instead of less

They have biscuits and sausage gravy on the menu. I bet they know how to make it here,” my husband noted while we were travelling in a southern state. Sometimes restaurants cut up links instead of using ground meat, so the gravy is not flavoured throughout. As a server walked by with a steaming plate[...]