Five years ago, we stood at the Storskog Border Station, just outside Kirkenes, Norway, on the border with Russia, little imagining that this isolated crossing would one day be the last open gateway between Putin’s empire and Europe.
Continue reading “VENTURING WITHIN SIGHT OF RUSSIA”
My late father-in-law and mentor used to keep a filing drawer labelled ‘The Graveyard of Good Ideas,’ which he thought were brilliant but had been unable to sell to clients.
Continue reading “THE GRAVEYARD OF GOOD IDEAS”
Now that “dry” January is over, it seems like time to search out new wineries and distilleries in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Continue reading “GETTING IN THE SPIRIT OF NIAGARA”
The big question before moving last Fall, was whether to drink all the booze in the Scotch Bucket or pack it and ship it.
Continue reading “THE SCOTCH BUCKET IS BACK”
The always welcoming island of Saint-Martin, in the French West Indies, is one of my favourite winter destinations, where the recent Culinary Festival invited chefs around the island to show off their stuff and create some new and unique offerings featuring plantain.
Continue reading “PLANTAIN WRAPS UP THE COMPETITION”
Christmas cards keep arriving, whether delayed by post office inertia, actual mail strikes or our move to a historic lake-side town, it’s hard to say, but they do belatedly remind us of friends in distant places.
Continue reading “CARDS FROM THE EDGE”
Simplifood: Amazing food, simply prepared offers exactly what the title promises, with about 250 recipes diligently researched and tested over many years of cooking by the author and presented in his easy-to-follow style that both beginners and experienced cooks will find very straight forward. Most recipes are illustrated with photos by the author.
Continue reading “SIMPLIFOOD”
Do writers ever shed tears? Of course: when they’re writing, when they’re not writing and when they’re stuck. Which makes this Irish whiskey a dreamer’s dram.
Continue reading “WRITER’S TEARS”
Having spent probably half my working life travelling, I have eaten in enough hotel dining rooms to last another lifetime. But now that I have settled in the bucolic country town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, I may have to change my habits.
Continue reading “HOTELS NOT FOR DINING”
“It’s a wrap!” As I wrote in my third cookbook and will repeat here, that’s what we say when we finish a film or television shoot.
Continue reading “IT’S A WRAP!”
Gentlemans Portion 