woodland hues

about me

My home and heart are tucked away here in the Kootenay valley, surrounded by mountains,close to water and away from the noise and stress of the city. I love to hike, swim, and generally be out in the great outdoors.
Life's organized around one hubby, two dogs, & 3 cats. That's my dog Neige you see as my icon.
My culinary influences include Molly Katzen (Moosewood cookbooks), Taste of Home, flipping through magazines, Simmering Suppers (one-pot meals from Harrowsmith Kitchens)and Rose Reisman Brings Home Light Pasta, which was a fundraising project for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.
Hunting out recipes is my favourite part of food prep. whether it's being on the zaar or having nose in cookbook. I'm not the only recipe lover in the world but I know lots of people cook and bake without directions and create their own beautiful dishes. Some can look at a recipe and decide how to modify it to their own liking. Some never make the same thing twice, some make the same things over and over. I love when I finally have a recipe down pat, down by "heart", and I think I'm a pretty good cook; I have a style that infuses my cooking even though I can't back off far enough to get a real sense of that style, and I think love and wisdom and calmness and other good qualities permeate my dishes. Maybe a love for adventure, the unknown, flavours the food I prepare, since that's reflected in my choice to try new recipes all the time. A love for people may come through reflecting my interest in who the author is of the recipe I'm using. I like knowing something about them, even if it's just where they're from which is usually pretty accessible information either from the cookbook or the Zaar or magazines. My love for home, homelife, my devotion to the ones I love, the ones I cook and bake for, surely that's an essential ingredient in my dishes.

Favorite Foods:

I love ethnic food of all kinds, special loves are Asian, Moroccan, Greek, Italian, East Indian.
My favourite restaurant in Vancouver is Simba's Grill on Denman Street. They offer great curry dishes and an awesome mango lassi.
My favourite restaurant in Calgary is Open Sesame where my daughter took me.

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