Your Stories

Samphire - so exoctic but so close to home January, 2010

Some years ago I was in Prince Edward Island for a Canadian book publishers convention and was invited to visit and enjoy a meal with Marc Gallant in Rustico. Marc was an electic personality who greeted us dressed in bare feet, denim cut-offs, royal blue velvet dinner jacket, white shirt and bow-tie. He served mussels in a nest of curry sauce on individual shells on a locally crafted platter with shades of blue and pearl.

The Beginning of a Long Journey December, 2009

Serendipity "is the effect by which one accidentally stumbles upon something fortunate, especially while looking for something entirely unrelated." You may say "it is written", it is destiny. This is my story, the one I fell upon, the one I am still writing, the one I am struggling each day to produce, to invent, to fabricate, and most of all to create. My life should have a sense. I always felt this from the very beginning. I should leave a trace - One that is significant to me, to my family, to my community, to this place we call "earth". This trace should make some kind of difference.

The Romantic Keeper of Lebanese Culinary Traditions November, 2009

Barbara Abdeni Massaad was born in Beirut, Lebanon. She moved to Florida, U.S.A. at a young age and gained her real culinary experience while helping her father in the family owned Lebanese restaurant. After moving back to Lebanon in 1988, she entered university and gained a degree in Advertising-Marketing. She worked for an array of respected institutions, then decided to pursue her passion for cooking and photography. Determined to gain proper experience within the culinary world, Barbara trained with several renowned chefs at Lebanese, Italian, and French restaurants.

Bergerac November, 2009

THE BACKWATER OF THE SOUTHWEST COMES OUT OFTHE SHADOWS

Say the word “Bergerac” and one image comes to mind: A swordsman, with a very big nose is hiding behind a bush. This is Cyrano de Bergerac as imagined in the play of the same name by Edmond Rostand in 1897. He is in love with the beautiful Roxanne, but because of his nose and his awkward, country-bumpkin manners, he cannot bring himself to woo her. Instead, he will help his friend Christian win the beautiful maiden, by supplying his handsome, youthful friend with verse, who will in turn spout them up to the balcony to an impassioned Roxanne, who is suitably impressed. “Tis well known, a big nose is indicative of a soul affable, and kind, and courteous,” says Cyrano of himself. The play is a gentle tragedy of sorts, of love unrequited and nobleness in excess of the common, and it is entirely fiction.

The Vineyard Monastrell November, 2009

I just finished an old John LeCarre novel, Our Game, in which the protagonist is a retired spy named Cranmer who has inherited a vineyard from an eccentric uncle. It’s a typical LeCarre novel, with its tone of masculine regret and unfulfilled longing, secrets from the past that impose themselves on the present and so on.

Fashion in Food at the James Beard House October, 2009

What happens when a talented, young, handsome designer gets in the kitchen with NY's top culinary talent? The saying "the way to a man's heart is through his stomach" does not apply to men only. The female crowd at the James Beard foundation went wild last night as Zac Posen fed the girls his tastey treats and mingled with them taking pictures and letting them lust over his food and good looks.

Riverdale Farm Farmers' Market October, 2009

One of the many positive things about having been laid off as a Creative Director last year is that I have been fortunate enough to be able to channel my creative interests into other aspects of my life. Much of that has involved traveling, yoga, and discovering new delights at Toronto Farmers' Markets all over the city. For a few usually fabulous months each summer and into fall, weekly and twice-weekly farmers’ markets spring up in pockets all over town.

Colette in Bali October, 2009

Lingering at breakfast in Bali is one of my favorite things to do. With a view of the lush greeen rice fields, delicate sarong clad women serve us fruit shakes made with aloe vera, banana and papaya. Platters of exotic fruit abound with descriptive names like "snake fruit" for its reptilian skin; it looks like elephant garlic once peeled and is slightly crunchy and has a mildly sweet nutty/apple flavor. Mangosteen is one of my favorite fruits. It has a thick dark purple cork-like skin that cracks open with the pinch of three fingers.

George and I October, 2009

I love food. Sometimes I love it too much, which in turn makes me hate it and myself for indulging in some of the high calorie high taste concoctions I encounter.
My sister often remarks with fascination, how the most wonderfully tasting things are most often the worst for you health wise, an opinion which I used to agree with.

The Excitement of Christmas Morning October, 2009

How does one capture that feeling in words? Waking up at 5 a.m., checking the clock, knowing it’s way to early to get up and yet the butterflies in one’s stomach and the thoughts of the beautifully wrapped presents waiting downstairs under the Christmas tree ensure falling back to sleep an impossibility.

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