Bacon the Beautiful

I am now — officially — a fan of Bonnie Stern. Every Saturday, in the Weekend edition of the National Post, she has a column (“Eating In”) where she showcases certain recipes. She always has interesting ones that never seem impossible to try out. This past Saturday’s column featured an all-time favourite [...]

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Half a World Away

A couple of days ago, I got a long and newsy email — the kind I like, actually — from Laureen, a good friend whom I’ve known since we were eleven years old. We were classmates in Grade 6, wherein we discovered a shared love of reading romance novels and potatoes (long story….) and [...]

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Smiling Away

My eldest son had been whistling the tune of a song from the film, “Pirates of the Carribean 3” for the past several days. He usually happened to be around me when he did this, and so I got this darned tune stuck in my head. Several times, I found myself humming the [...]

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Dough Therapy

This afternoon, I engaged in some dough therapy. There is something very comforting and relaxing about handling dough. Yes! The very act of cutting in the cold bits of butter into the flour and salt is an exercise in stress release. Then you slowly sprinkle in the cold water and bring [...]

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The Up-side of Down Time

I went to bed last night with a plan. I was going to get up on time and not hit the snooze button. I was going to get an early start to my day and do all sorts of things. Wonderful, important things. I was going to have the energy of [...]

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To Blog and Be Counted

Twenty-eight days ago, I started this blog. I sat before the computer, staring at the screen, willing my fingers to start typing away the words that had been crowding around in my brain. The minute my fingertips made contact with the keyboard, the words seemed to scurry away into the corners of my [...]

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Thirty-Eight Years and Counting

Today, I am moved by the thought that thirty-eight years ago, a young man and a young woman exchanged vows before God, family and friends — to love each other for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do they part. I’d like you to meet Ruben and Evelyn Umali, and [...]

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The Hidden Life

Perhaps you have heard about that miracle that happened a long time ago — the one of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes? Jesus had been teaching a very large crowd of about 5,000 men, not counting the women and children. Amazingly, no one had thought of bringing any food with them. [...]

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10 Ordinary Things That Can Make Your Life Better

The new year is only five days old, yet the thought of a new year’s resolution might have crossed your mind. The tricky thing about coming up with a resolution is sometimes it can be self-defeating. We aim for such lofty goals that are more overwhelming than inspiring, that it is easier to [...]

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