Flabbergastronomy (ˈflæ bə gæ ,strɒn ə mi): the shock of realizing just how many calories are in that slice of gourmet cheesecake you just ate.... Read more →

At the end of January, Pat and I enjoyed an Eastern Caribbean cruise leaving from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. After our travel fiasco of last April, we decided to play it safe and give ourselves an extra day for unplanned interruptions. That ended up giving us an extra day in Ft. Lauderdale before the cruise, which we used to wander around... Read more →

Generally, I am not a fan of unitaskers, those kitchen tools that have only one purpose. An asparagus steamer or a fish poacher may be just the tool for the job, and if storage space is never a problem, you may want one of each, but for a practical home kitchen, we just don't have enough room for every device that comes along. That said... Read more →

One of my major good fortunes, food-wise, was that my father was a nuclear physicist working at a university which had a fairly good international reputation. What does nuclear physics have to do with food? It turns out lots, but my particular good fortune was that Dad had a habit of offering his post-grad students the deal that he (Dad)... Read more →

Perhaps it was my years of cooking in studio and bachelor apartments using a two-burner hotplate or little more, that attracted me to the book Gourmet Meals in Crappy Little Kitchens, by Jennifer Schaertl. For years I lived in small spaces and served good meals to friends. Sometimes I had the luxury of a real stove top and oven, and our... Read more →

For years, I have been trying to make a good thin crust pizza. When my wife and I were in Italy several years ago, we really enjoyed a pizza we had in Rome, near the Trevi Fountain. The crust was so thin and crisp that it was almost cracker like. I tried everything I could think of to make a crust like that -- varying the water/flour... Read more →

Last week in the grocery store, I noticed a new breakfast cereal from a popular brand. The new kid on the block, let's call it "Plus", claims to satisfy your hunger. Presumably, this means you will eat less. Good idea. Some of the newest research, particularly on artificial sweeteners suggest that because your appetite isn't satisfied... Read more →

Have you ever had a time when the cooking muse left you? For the past several weeks, I have been in a slump, lacking inspiration to make interesting meals. Food has been more what can I put on the table than what can I create. Well, this past week, Pat and I had a short vacation to Montreal, Quebec City, and Vermont. In each place, we... Read more →

Spring has come to Saskatoon*! The past winter has been harsh. It started earlier than usual, lasted longer than usual and saw the worst winter storm in thirty years. Finally spring has arrived, and with it the fresh bounty of a new year. Three weeks ago, I was able to gather fresh chives from my garden. It may not seem like much, but... Read more →

If you are like me, you probably enjoyed the recent Food TV program Top Chef. In the final episode of Season 1, Lorraine Bracco of The Sopranos fame and owner of Bracco Wines, said that she didn't care about the drama behind the scenes, and that the back story really doesn't mean anything, that it is what she was served that counts. OK... Read more →