Julia and sardines—from My Life in France At least one loyal reader questioned my unabashed reverence towrds Julia Child (who would have turned 100 today) in last week’s Vancouver Courier column, suggesting that I had overlooked truly great culinary writers such as MFK Fisher and Elizabeth David. My response was that the column was as [...]
The Hired Belly’s better half is lovingly referred to as Partner in Calories, who, for many years, has been making cameo column appearances. It was 'P-i-C' who first turned us onto Harry Potter, dragged our initially cynical self to the very first movie; and has since shared her passion for J.K. Rowling's truly [...]
When we were judging the Lieutenant Governor’s Awards of Excellence in Victoria, B.C., we stayed at the Hotel Grand Pacific, which, it strikes me, is one of the capital’s better, if largely unsung hotels. In fact, we’ve rested our head on HGP’s pillows a number of times over the last few years but [...]
In anticipation of next week’s BC Lieutenant Governor’s Awards for Excellence announcement, we thought we’d revisit this column about wine judging that ran in the North Shore News a while back. Some folks have moved on to other things but ... well, you’ll get the gist. Sometime this summer, when you were [...]
One of our few regrets, we never seem to have enough time to get the photograph we really want. Images are becoming even more crucial these days, especially in the more visually driven on-line world. We like this shot of winemakers Howard Soon and Stephanie Leinemann for any number of reasons, none the [...]
My dear friend Elaine Savoie is a remarkable woman and very gifted artist (as well as a kick-ass organic gardener) who paints (among many things) wonderfully offbeat icons—ever so slight variations on the traditional Middle Ages style, inspired by her Catholic upbringing. Her work is extraordinarily detailed, vivid and full of life. ... [...]
The English wrote the book on gin - Tim Pawsey photo We’ve been taking stock of last week’s cocktail infused days, sifting through images and notes from Tales of the Cocktail—the New Orleans success story brought to Vancouver by TOTC founder Ann Tuenneman. Kudos to the contingent of savvy folks behind the Canadian [...]
Maybe it’s not surprising. but the Hired Belly has a thing about corkscrews. Even though these days we likely encounter almost as many screw caps (or even the occasional Zork) as we do corks, the choice of weapon—the venerable ‘church key’ or whatever you may call it—is crucial when it comes to pulling [...]
Our column in Friday's Vancouver Courier offers up some handy, bookish suggestions for fun stocking stuffers, as well as a few more serious offerings that explore the culture of culinary foraging, both here in the Pacific Northwest and elsewhere. One unexpected perk of research: seasonal treats that Vancouver's Books to Cooks lays on [...]
Over the last few years, we’ve been moved by the compelling story of the gradual revival of West Coast Pinto Abalone, driven by the efforts of the Bamfield Community Huu ay aht Abalone Project. Funded in part by Environment Canada and Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre—this was an outreach pilot project aimed at reintroducing [...]