Mack celebrated his birthday on Tuesday. He probably gets short-changed somewhat because it falls so close after Christmas, but he usually has the day off of work for the holidays, which means we can spend the day together. Mack loves LEGO, so we had already made plans a few weeks ago to check out Wheels, [...]

This year, I’ve made a conscious effort to make more vegetarian dishes. Some are hit or miss (a cheddar apple soup we tried recently was definitely the latter), but the two below did not make us miss meat. Polenta Pie I immediately bookmarked Mollie Katzen’s recipe for polenta pie as soon as I saw it [...]

The Saturday before Christmas, Mack and I had brunch with Grandma Male at the Blue Chair Cafe. I’d been meaning to try the restaurant for brunch for some time, after having a positive experience on one of their music nights earlier this year. We were hoping a musician would be lighting up the atmosphere during [...]

I hope everyone had a good Christmas! We’ve been putting our feet up over here…we haven’t had this relaxing of a holiday in some time. Much of that relaxing has been in the form of watching Mad Men from the beginning – it really is dangerous having access to an unlimited trial of Netflix, with [...]

Potlucks were so much a part of my childhood holidays that it wasn’t until much later in life that I realized some families didn’t celebrate the way that we were used to. Never did any one family make all of the dishes; instead, each family was responsible for one or two sides, while the host [...]

My Mum always does a ton of Christmas baking. She makes a variety of cookies like clockwork every year – from almond crescents to jam pinwheels to butter balls, our house was always full of good things to eat and give away this time of year. My baking routine isn’t so measured – most of [...]

What did you eat today? Gruel for breakfast salmon w/sesame sauce for lunch and shepherd’s pie for dinner. What do you never eat? Blue Cheese! What is your personal specialty? I can make a mean pasta sauce. Complete this sentence: In my refrigerator, you will always find: Parmesan Cheese. What is your weekday meal standby? [...]

On the snowiest of nights last week, Vicki and I made our way to Istanbul Restaurant, the location of our volunteer appreciation dinner (we’re so fortunate to sit on a committee that chooses to highlight different ethnic cuisines every year – last year, it was Ethiopian). I can’t say it was the easiest place to [...]

Christmas indeed snuck up on us, didn’t it? I’m looking forward to Christmas morning and all, but there are still a few days of work standing in my way! I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday full of family and good eats. On to this week’s food notes: Daniel Costa, formerly of Red [...]

On December 1, 2010, the Edmonton Journal and Calgary Herald launched Taste Alberta, a series to be featured in both papers on a weekly basis. Journal staff, local foodies, and area farmers were invited to the Shaw Conference Centre’s beautiful River Valley Room that evening to help celebrate the launch of the series. Taste Alberta [...]