Calamari a good BBQ option

As we approach the midway point of our barbeque season it is nice to change up the menu a little bit.

Calamari is a relatively inexpensive, low fat, low sodium seafood that is high in lean protein. The low cost makes calamari the ideal seafood to experiment with, as you are not putting out a large sum of money in the event you do not cook it perfectly the first time …Read more

Where cats rule the roost

Heather McCullough lives in a full house. The longtime Elmira resident shares her Arthur Street home with her husband Jim, her three children who come to visit, their dog Sophie, and an aquarium full of fish. Oh, and don’t forget Bubba, Jasper, Bob, Mini-Me, Molly, Chocolate and Silver – a handful of the many Tonkinese cats who sit atop couch cushions, window frames, and the mantelpiece …Read more

What to do with all those tomatoes?

This year’s hot, dry summer has produced amazing tomatoes, ‘a bumper crop’ according to reports. And although we’ve had tomato recipes in this column before, the ones we are referring to now are the tomatoes coming from your own backyard.  So many are being produced this August that bacon sales have hit an all time high as people try for the perfect BLT sandwich …Read more

Kin Club takes on Family Fun

What started out as a simple canoe trip has evolved into something much more meaningful for Bill McBay and, he notes, the entire community.

In fact, what is now the annual Family Fun Weekend has led to the formation of the area’s newest service club. The festivities planned for Aug. 20 and 21 at the West Montrose Family Campground mark the first big event for the Kin Club of Woolwich and its president, McBay …Read more

Keep a few staples on hand

Sometimes all you need is an idea. I know many people who don’t mind putting a meal on the table for family or friends, but the inevitable question always pops up: ‘What am I going to make for dinner tonight?’ Or, you can do what we do: let the refrigerator speak for itself by always having a supply of just a few key items that have a long shelf life, that most  people like, and go with just about anything …Read more

From Elmira to Stockholm

“Mitt namn är Sarah.”

Eight-year-old Sarah Lucier and her brothers Owen and Evan have spent their summer reading Pippi Longstocking books, eating lingonberry jam and listening to Swedish lessons on their iPods.

The family is moving to Sweden for two years, taking the opportunity offered by Paul Lucier’s job at Research in Motion. He will be RIM’s managing director in Europe and Russia, focused on developing …Read more

There’s no time like the present

Here is the challenge. You need to make this recipe now. Do not cut it out, put it on your fridge and tell yourself that you are going to make it next month for so-and-so’s birthday or in December for a Christmas party.

Some of you may think that I am talking crazy, because this dish contains scallops and so many of us …Read more

Back in the saddle again

On October 6, 2008 West Montrose’s Shannon McTaggart was merely weeks away from crossing a major life goal off her list. A marathon runner who was training for an ironman triathlon in Florida that fall, McTaggart had spent the past seven months conditioning her body; cycling more than 30 hours per week, passing up time spent with her family in order to prepare for the big race.

That afternoon she was cycling one of her usual routes, on Hwy. 6 just outside of Arthur. One minute she …Read more

Time for some “not really” cooking

So, we have a confession to make. Even we, as chefs, have our nights where we do not want to cook. Summers are busy with soccer games, a golf game or meeting a friend on a patio leaving very little time to spend in the kitchen. But we still want to eat great tasting food; there is absolutely no compromise there.

Lucky for all of us, it is very easy to ‘not really’ cook with all the great food, produce especially, that is …Read more

The secret of their success

In June 1948, Ron Bock took Doris Brodrecht on their first date: a screening of the film ‘Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House.’ The Cary Grant movie depicts the tale of a couple moving from the Big Apple into a gigantic home in the country, but Ron doesn’t remember a single thing about it.

“I can’t tell you anything about the movie, I’m afraid,” said Ron. “I wasn’t really paying attention; I was …Read more