UPDATE: Whoo hoo! We found a new place to live. I'm so excited. And no, it's not the dump above. I found a place today a few minutes from where we live now that has a spectacular ocean/city/bridge/mountain view. It has a big deck, a creek running beside… Read full post »

Someone asked me the other day if I had a favourite Christmas gift. 

I hesitated before I spoke. I thought about the beautiful Birk's diamond and ruby ring my husband gave me two years ago. It is a delicate ring with four small rubies criss crossed by pave diamonds in… Read full post »

This started out as the title suggests -- thanks to Beth Mann for the idea -- but it has morphed into something more. I'm going to mention the corny movies that always manipulate me into crying, then some of the more serious ones that evoke tears.… Read full post »

 After great pain a formal feeling comes

After great pain a formal feeling comes--
The nerves sit ceremonious like tombs;
The stiff Heart questions--was it He that bore?
And yesterday--or centuries before?… Read full post »

It was a cold day. A day that held the promise of snow on the prairie where the wind was always bitter and from the north. That morning my parents had quarreled.

"I hope you had fun with your whore," my mother had screamed from the bathroom, where she was… Read full post »

Given all the comic U.S./Canadian invasion brouhaha and banter that has been going on at OS as of late, I have decided to take this opportunity to show Canadian superiority in the culinary department. Presto, I am sharing some quintessential down-home Canadian recipes -- my versions of them – a… Read full post »

There are a million nacho dip recipes out there, but this one is special. Cream cheese special. I first sampled it at a party. I remember hovering over it almost the whole time I was there, which was kind of embarassing since I didn't know the hosts, but the dip was… Read full post »

Potatoes Dauphinoise

I love all things potatoes and this is one of my favourite potato dishes. This French recipe was created in the 18th century in the "Land of the four mountains": Lans, Villard de Lans, Autrans and Sassenage. The original recipe calls for heavy cream -- … Read full post »

I’ve been making ratatouille all of my adult life. Ever since a Hungarian college friend in Montreal introduced me to this savoury vegetable dish, I’ve been hooked on it. For some bizarre reason however, I’ve never actually written down a recipe until now.  Making it up as I go… Read full post »

Baked Brie

Doesn't everyone love hot, gooey, runny cheese? I know I do. Brie wrapped in pastry and baked until it has thoroughly melted inside is one of the world's easiest yet tastiest appetizers.  I also like to serve it as a dessert. This is one of those dishes that never… Read full post »

The old joke goes: it’s a recession when your neighbour loses his job, a depression when you lose yours. Depression is a word, a metaphor, an illness and a ghost that has haunted my life from my earliest memory.  I was born at the end of the baby boom into one… Read full post »