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Je suis fou a Paris
Paris: a city that’s , surprisingly, pretty much as good as people say it is. My sister Cassie and I got a last-minute deal on air and hotel for seven days in Paris at the end of March, and we jumped on it. While we were there, the sun shone every day in a picture-perfect blue sky, the temperature stayed steadily around the 18C mark, the flowers were blooming and the grass was green. We walked or took the Metro everywhere, saw most of the things we wanted to see, and really packed our days full of some of the best things that the city has to offer visitors. I…
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Butter Chicken
This Butter Chicken recipe is a wonder. The perfect mix of salty-sweet and spice, I’d recommend upping any spice that you like. I often put twice as much of just about everything, and it works out just fine. I like to say that this recipe is better than your mom’s Butter Chicken, but considering that 70% of the people I know are of Irish descent, that’s not much of a challenge (bless their hearts, but the Irish aren’t known for their deft use of spices). Let’s just go with the idea that this is pretty damn good, and that all of the people I’ve made it for ask for the…
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Lift up your heart and let out your voice: Peterborough Needs PCVS
When I started high school in 1991, I was nervous and excited, like a lot of kids going into Grade 9. Â Coming from a very small rural elementary school at the edge of the village of Keene, walking through the doors of this 160-year-old urban high school was like a dream. Â One of 50 students accepted into the Integrated Arts Program that year, I knew only two other people at PCVS, and I couldn’t have been happier about it. Elementary school had been, for me, completely brutal. Â Our family moved to the village when I was in kindergarten, and in a place where many families could trace their roots back…
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Beauty On, 2012
It’s become a tradition of sorts for me to write something here on December 31, a sort of summing-up and looking forward I would have scoffed at myself for doing a few years ago. But, as arbitrary as it is to do this on a particular date, it feels useful for me to say to myself ‘this is what I’ve accomplished, and this is what I hope to do now.’ This has easily been one of the busiest years of my life, and I’m thankful to have come through it with relative equanimity. A busy year at the museum meant that I’ve run more discrete events this year than I’ve…
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Concord Grape Pie
From the time I was little and well into my teens, my Papa would drive to the Niagara Region every Autumn to buy bushels of concord grapes so that he could make his yearly supply of of sweet red wine. Â Sometimes I would help out with the press, but mostly I was just eager to steal some concord grapes for myself, that incredible sweet-tart burst of flavour a treat that came with my favourite season. Â In the following months, the demijohns would bubble away in the basement, filling the whole room with the smell of wine. As an adult, I’ve often bought concord grapes at the market and been instantly…
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Vegan-Friendly Lemon Herb Dip
Normally I shun pre-mixed spices, but oddly, Montreal steak seasoning is awesome in this dip.  I may or may not have noted before my recent obsession with thyme in my food, but it may spring from having a front yard full of creeping thyme.  When I make this, it usually goes pretty fast, and since a can of white beans holds about 2 cups, you might as well double it. I’m also not a fan of requiring special kitchen tools for recipes, but coffee grinders are great for all kinds of things, and I’m sure ingenious non-coffee-grinder-owners will find some way to mill your nuts. As dips go, this one is actually pretty…
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Chickens in the sewing room
I got a call from the Co-op on April 5 saying that my chicks would be in the next morning between 9am and 10am. I made my final adjustments to the brooding pen, putting in the feed and the waterer, and adding a teaspoon of sugar to the water, which I'd been told to do the first time to pep them up after the trip. I popped over at lunch on April 6 and picked up the smallest of a pile of cheeping boxes, stopping quickly on my way to the car to take a look. When I got them home, I turned on the heat lamp, and grabbed each…
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Hearty Ham and Bean Soup
Coming home from an afternoon of cross-country skiing, I was ravenous and craving something hearty and piping hot. Thinking over the things I had in my fridge (some leftover ham, a cup or so of navy beans, some vegetable stock, half a bottle of rose, I decided to try making a soup. The result was this beauty, a soup so delicious I’m glad I don’t have to share it with my vegetarian sisters (sorry, dudes!).
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Movin’ on Up: C’mon lucky 11!
I’m always kind-of at a loss when it comes to these year-end things; do I make lists? Do I look back, or forward? It’s hard to strike the right note. There’s a lot on my mind these days. Architecture. Â Cholera. The way cities disintegrate and rejuvenate, like fields cycling through harvest years and fallow years. How to be in the right place in the right time. I just finished reading Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers, which was a great read and chock-full of fascinating ideas. I’ll probably write more about it in the future.
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My First Hammam
My trip through Morocco has been terrific so far, with many serendipitous encounters and lots (and lots, and lots) of interesting, friendly new people. Last night at my Fez guest house, Pension Dar Bou Inania, I met an American woman who’s also traveling solo. Melissa joined myself and some other Canucks for breakfast at Cafe Clock (my home-away-from-home in Fez), and asked me over pancakes and fresh-squeezed orange juice if I’d be interested in joining her at the Hammam this afternoon. I’d tried to get to a hammam with some other travel friends in Meknes, but had missed the appointment, so I was happy to find a companion for our first…
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Morocco Day 1 – Casablanca to Rabat
This is a draft – I’m working on getting more details and photos! (Sep 25, 2026) Check out the main page on Travelling Solo in Morocco for more advice and information. Flight in to Mohammed V International – waited in line at Customs for 1.5 hours, because we’d arrived just before the Libyan soccer team, who were playing in the semi-finals of (???) against Morocco, so the Customs agents slow-rolled them, which delayed us. When I finally got to the Customs Agent, I greeted him in Arabic and English, and he looked pleased/surprised and asked ‘Do you speak Arabic?!’ “Just three words!” I replied, and he laughed & stamped my…
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Backpacking in the Maghreb: going to Morocco!
In ten days, I’ll be travelling to Morocco via Air France. I’ve always wanted to travel, to be one of those people who somehow manages to pick up and leave, has the money and the leisure to go, doesn’t have a thousand pressing commitments back home keeping them tied down. I’m not one of those people, but I’ve managed to make a space for myself somehow anyway. I didn’t need to take any extraordinary measures; I just decided I was going, and everything worked out around it. For two years I’ve been idly watching Travelzoo for flights to Morocco, and finally in June, I saw a deal I couldn’t resist.…
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Nana-Approved Turkey Pot Pie
2017 Update: I posted this Turkey Pot Pie recipe in 2010, and two years later my lovely Nana died. This recipe still reminds me of her; her approval meant a lot to me. 2010 Original post: This is essentially a basic turkey pot pie recipe, but I like to think that I’ve particularly made it mine by emphasizing the thyme, salt, and pepper. This savoury pie could probably handle a little sage, too, but have a light hand – the thyme really makes it irresistible. And don’t be stingy with the salt and pepper. I find too that no matter how badly I think I’ve screwed up the homemade pastry,…
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Mango Chutney
About a week ago, I was grocery shopping and saw a flat of mangoes for $3. It was too good to turn down, but then I had a flat of overripe mangoes kicking around my kitchen. So I looked online at a bunch of recipes for canning mango chutney, combined a few, modified them to suit my own tastes, and came up with a chutney I’m pretty happy with. It’s a dead-simple recipe that would be a good one for first-timers, as it’s not too fussy and doesn’t take a lot of time. Just remember to wash everything in hot, soapy water, and let everything air-dry – that’s really the…
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Blackberry Tart
A few days ago, my sharp-eyed sister Cassie (award-winning Biologist and painter) spotted a patch of blackberry bushes growing wild in our neighbourhood.  They seem unnoticed, and untouched by even the birds and squirrels (seems strange of the squirrels to ignore such tempting ripe fruit and instead eat all of the seeds in our birdfeeders, but they do).  Gleaming like jewels, untouched by pesticides and bursting with sweet-tartness, they’re too tempting. Despite scratches from the brambles and bites from the mosquitoes, I went up with my basket and picked 2-3 quarts last night.  And tonight I experimented a little and made a tart that turned out (if I say so myself) beautifully. Ingredients…
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So you want to make a difference: 7 Strategies for community organizers
A community's greatest asset is its skilled workers; protect yourself, and the important work you do, by avoiding the pitfalls. I've given this a lot of thought, having been involved in the community sector a long time, and often fallen into the traps described above. As paid staff, volunteer, and Board member, I've both asked too much and been asked too much. There's not a mistake on this list I haven't made myself, sometimes over and again. So, as much to remind myself as to educate anyone else, here are seven strategies for making a positive difference in both your own life, and that of the community!
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Country Fried Chicken
This is another of my Mom’s late-70s-style recipes, hand-written on an index card and stored in her recipe-box. I don’t know where she got it, but she used to make Country Fried Chicken occasionally when we were kids. Mom recently made this for a going-away picnic, and it reminded me of how good home-made fried chicken is. It’s also pretty easy, and straightforward, so even the least experienced cook should be able to pull it off. Ingredients 4 1/2 – 5 lbs. raw chicken, cut in pieces 1 egg, beaten 2 cloves garlic, crushed 3/4 cup vegetable oil 1.5 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon paprika 1/2 teaspoon basil 1/2 teaspoon oregano…
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2010: Ch-ch-changes
The first decade of this century has been filled with challenges – some of my own creation, others external – and the last couple of years have been really focused on figuring out what I’m doing wrong and how to correct it. But that’s not to say that the decade that saw myself and my friends complete and debut a feature-length film, complete my B.A. at Trent, start and run the MoHo Music Revue, explore my arts admin side via the Peterborough Arts Umbrella, and also working up through the ranks at the Peterborough Folk Festival to become Artistic/Executive Director hasn’t seen any triumphs; I’ve worked hard, had loads of…
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Merry Ecksmas: A Ukulele Ecksmas
I’ve been learning ukulele for a few months now; when my good friend David gave a uke workshop at the festival this summer, and I was lucky enough to have the time to sit in. Since then, both he and Lesley have lent us a pair of ukuleles, and when I finally picked it up again later this Fall, I found that, as promised, the uke is completely addictive. After years of failed attempts at learning guitar and a slightly more successful go at the banjo (until my teacher, Lotus, moved away to become an old-timey superstar with his partner-in-crime, Sheesham), it was like a revelation to pick up the…
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Fairy Cakes
This recipe comes from the lovely Nigella Lawson’s How to be a Domestic Goddess. I find her sweet recipes wonderful, and her savoury recipes a complete disappointment, so y’know. These whip up in a snap, especially if you have a food processor. I don’t normally advocate the use of anything but a good wooden spoon to mix baked goods, but it really is so super-fast to do these in a food processor it kind-of blows my mind. These don’t keep, so you have to eat them the day you make them. Nigella tops them with a royal icing; hers is kinda gloopy, but it does the trick. I’ll hunt around…
