However it’s served, soufflé is a classic example of how the French chefs turn basic ingredients like eggs, butter, milk, and cheese into something easy yet elegant.

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Much has fascinated me in my lifetime – in fact I wonder if my name, which means “fascination” had anything to do with the way I turned out. You know, they say people often grow into their names...

I have been fascinated by nature and sno… Read full post »

When lifestyles make it increasingly common for families to spread out across the world pursuing independent fortunes, we treasure any chance to ge… Read full post »

 But it was too late, Nicole spotted the man whom she had treated to coffee and Danish a while ago. He was coming out of the shop now, and he saw her too. He flashed her a big smile as he rubbed his stomach in a circular fashion with his right… Read full post »

This is the first Linzertorte I made.  I'm proud of my efforts and the result. Read full post »

Nicole had never been good at guessing people's age. He approached her as if he were about to ask a question. He was fairly clean dressed except for a tattered, hand knitted blue and brown striped scarf that he had wrapped twice around his neck. He had possibly a day's stubble… Read full post »

Nicole always felt uncomfortable when a beggar approached her. It was not that she minded giving whatever little change she carried with her, but it was rather the thought that… Read full post »

  "And we praise You, my Lord,

for our Sister Earth,

who sustains us with her fruits,

and colored flowers, and herbs"

From the “Canticle of the Saint Franci… Read full post »

Based on my memoir :  http://www.amocalalive.libsyn.com  ~ Audio Interview

 

Nothing like the night's immense dark blanket helps me see things crystal clear. Like a bolt of lightning, details in their clarity, flash for a second whe… Read full post »

I'm now a full-fledged empty-nester since my son and daughter have flown the coop seeking their fortunes around the world, an… Read full post »

I was a guest on live talk show the other day. Talking about self esteem, identity, values and some personal anecdotes to illustrate nuggets of time-tested values. My host was lively, bright, fast-paced, and she bombarded me with evocative questions, that made me think even as I tried to sound c… Read full post »

 ~ an anecdote from my teaching life ~

Bringing humor to the classroom helps to deal with young people. It may have even helped me to survive my teaching life ! While I was boiling in the cauldron with my other burned-out colleagues, I tried everything to be innovative and make life-… Read full post »

Being a culinary enthusiast and having sampled a variety of gastronomical wonders, I consider myself very fortunate. Sometimes I even wonder if my prowess in the kitchen could be in part due to my cultural endowment.

Over the weekend, between entertaining, writing and paging through a collection of e… Read full post »

 His parents threw him out, "Because," they said, he "hung around with wrong company - he future Mafia of the neighborhood - not the kind they wanted their son to hang around."

His father gave him many chances to change; his mother pleaded with him. But finally that was it. … Read full post »

 Fate works in strange ways. It has always for us.

I saw the three calls he attempted on my cell all afternoon. What's the use of carrying one if you leave it in the pocket and check your coat in, at the lobby?

In a way I'm glad I… Read full post »

                                                  &… Read full post »

 Anna Pavlova- 1912

 As history shows, some of the gastronomic creations that conquer our tastes as well as our fancy are results of either pure coincidence or sheer luck. Often times, what we have come to taste and love is the outcome of an error, forgetfulness or outright dare pepp… Read full post »

I looked for You. . .

I looked for you

in the autumn-splashed streets

of a rainy, late November in Montréal.

I thought I saw your face

in a store window

on St. Catherine Street- but

when I reached to touch your lips… Read full post »

I have a confession:

I am reading my book, WILL OF MY OWN, (www.dictionmatters.com) every night before I go to sleep - for the second time - from the beginning. I'm trying to judge it objectively. Sometimes I find it childish and amateur- because I wanted it to be of… Read full post »

My sister and I call each other Mma, after Alexander McCall Smith's beloved fictional character, Mma Ramotswe (founder of Number One Ladies Detective Agency).

Here is my response to my dear Mma's question.

She wrote:

“I am thinking of getting my teeth whitened for my December Dance Showc… Read full post »

"Revolution consumes its own children"  -  G. Büchner

I am a tail-end Baby Boomer. I became familiar with the term in my later life as its implication bonded many of my generation, regardless of our origins, in a life time's worth of warm reminiscences or sad memories which, to new gen… Read full post »

Smooth skin stretches
over fine blood vessels
mapping the hand
which offers me the largest bouquet—
blue and purple roses I’ve never seen before
scattered among
ordinary red, pink, white and yellow ones —
The roses so sharp in my mind, yet the face
hovering above the bo… Read full post »