20 years on, I’m Still a Fan of Charming Chef Jamie Oliver

May 25, 2020

This appeared as a longer feature article in the Toronto Star food section on January 26, 2000, after I discovered Jamie Oliver’s fledgling show “The Naked Chef” on TVO. I spoke to Jamie in the flesh a few months later when he was consulting at a London restaurant – the Toronto Star article appears below this one. Twenty years later, he’s had his ups and downs, and I am still a fan.

Jamie Oliver must have supernatural powers. He can make a person leap out of her comfy chair, run downstairs, fling open the freezer and act on an overpowering urge to roast a leg of lamb. I should know. It happened to me. Under slightly different circumstances, it also happened to Jody Read, acquisitions programmer for TVO. Read more…

“It’s Only Shepherd’s Pie But I Like It!” Says Keith Richards

May 1, 2017

Keith Richards liked this article by me so much, he signed a copy. It appeared in the Toronto Star in the summer of 1994 while the Rolling Stones were living in Toronto rehearsing for their Voodoo Lounge tour. (Update: I’ve recently perfected the ultimate version of Shepherd’s Pie that appears on the Recipes page of this site.)
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My Top Spots to Nosh in South Beach, Miami

March 21, 2016

My ultimate Key Lime Pie, Florida’s signature dessert (scroll down for recipe)

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Miami, Fla: I call Miami “New York on the beach.” Read more…

I Serve up Two of the Best Fruit Desserts I’ve Ever Tried. Yer Welcome!

July 6, 2015

The recipe for this French Apple Tart comes from ‘America’s Test Kitchen’

Food magazine covers often catch my eye.

Such was the case recently when I was browsing the racks of a newstand at the Toronto airport on my way to to visit my elderly mum in London, UK. Read more…

Nanny and Child Reunion: My Dear Evelyn and I Find Each Other After 50 Years

March 1, 2014

L – Evelyn in Montreal ca 1947 R – Evelyn and me in Morrisburg ca 2011

This appeared as my column in the Toronto Star on June 25, 2005. IN MEMORIAM: Evelyn died in May, 2015. Read more…

The Tale of my Missing Cookbooks and How I Made Lemonade from Lemons

December 5, 2011

It all began about a year ago when I gave two people I had no reason to distrust full access to my large, fully-furnished house while I was away.

All went well for several months during which time I would visit the place occasionally to pick up mail and move items to my new place – mostly clothes, work-related stuff and some important papers.

The pride and joy of my former abode was its cookbook library: a room I had specifically designed to hold the 1,200 or so cookbooks I had accumulated during my almost 40 years as a member of Canada’s food media. Many of those – 18, to be exact – were spent as food editor/columnist for this country’s largest newspaper the Toronto Star where I received review copies of cookbooks on a regular basis. Read more…

Peach Galette – Finally Got it!

July 20, 2011

When I get obsessed with a recipe, it pervades my waking and sleeping hours.

Of late, it’s been peach galette, how much ground almonds to use in the layer below the peaches, what oven temperature, how long to bake – the list goes on. Then comes the testing and re-testing until Ross and I are eating the dessert daily and the freezer is full of various renditions, all clearly labelled. Read more…