Weekend calls for summer staples

We are not trying to jinx this weekend by talking about the potential for warm weather. We are Canadian, it is the May long weekend and right now snow does not seem to be in the forecast … we are still keeping our fingers crossed though!

This week we have two recipes for you: guacamole and black bean salad. Enjoy them with your favourite …Read more

Encore pupil named to dance team

In November, tap dancer Adrian Eitzen will lace up his tap dancing shoes and take to the stage, but instead of dancing for his instructors at Elmira’s Encore Dance Studio, he will be tapping in front of an international audience at the World Dance Championships.

Auditions for the Canadian National Dance Team attracted some of the best dancers from across Canada on Easter Monday, with more than 300 participants competing for positions on the team to …Read more

A salad that will wow them

Here’s a first course that is sure to wow just about anyone: who doesn’t love a good Caesar salad? The intention of a first course is to open your taste buds with some spice, and to set the mood for the rest of the dinner. This Caesar salad recipe is full of amazing flavours: the anchovy gives it its necessary body, while the capers add a ‘je ne sais quoi’ of earthy flavor. We use canola oil because it’s neutral in flavor, where olive oil can overpower the dressing.  Use a very fresh egg, as that will take away any concern …Read more

Her cancer fight is personal

For most three year olds, the hospital is a foreign and very scary place. For Stacey Frey, it was practically a second home.

Frey, who is now in her fifth year at Elmira District Secondary School, was diagnosed with leukemia when she was just two years old. By three, she had gone through chemotherapy and was no stranger to the local hospital. But her memory of her experience with the disease includes only flashes of reflection; she …Read more

A great Mother’s Day tradition

A little relaxation, a warm sunny day and well behaved kids – I do not think that I am asking for too much this Mother’s Day! Some moms will be taken out for brunch, some will be served breakfast in bed. But I will have the pleasure of making buttermilk pancakes with my kids. They are super easy to make and so much more satisfying than the boxed varieties …Read more

Students go down the rabbit hole

Their parents would probably be encouraged to learn that the biggest challenge Ted Frey has faced in directing Alice in Wonderland is coaxing his young actors to be sufficiently rude.

The play being staged by Park Manor Public School is based more closely on Lewis Carroll’s book than the Disney movie, which Frey detests. He explains that there is a lot more nastiness in the story than people …Read more

Vinaigrettes drizzled over spring

Our feet are now firmly planted in the spring season. The first asparagus, wild leeks and soon-to-be-seen fiddleheads are (in a chef’s world) definitely the most exciting part about this time of year. And what better way to celebrate this than combining grilled vegetables and fresh Spring Onion Vinaigrette.

In most grocery stores we see an entire aisle dedicated to pre-made processed salad dressing, which, in …Read more

Time for some salty language

This week we thought we would take this column in a new direction. Our other articles have focused on a recipe and the inspiration behind it, but this week we would like to answer the number-one question that is posed to us on most nights that we work, the salt question: What kind of salt should I use? Kosher, table, or sea salt? When and where should I use a …Read more

Rebuilding from rubble

In the early part of January, a woman in her mid-sixties travelled from her hometown of Port-au-Prince in Haiti to Leogane, a town just about 20 miles west. She had gone to visit her daughter and her three grandchildren, aged nine months, three and seven years old.

Shortly after arriving at her daughter’s home, Leogane was the epicenter of the largest earthquake to hit Haiti since the 18th century. The woman’s daughter was beneath the …Read more

Who’s got your back?

I’m sure that you’ve wanted something so badly that it consumed all your thoughts, all your time as you spent every waking hour thinking about it. Patiently waiting until you can finally acquire that which you are searching for.

However, have you ever felt like you’re going at things in life by yourself? Or that you’ve been trying your best at accomplishing something, and even though you’re surrounded by people, it still feels as though …Read more