Host a virtual BC wine party

Photo: Okanagan Wine Festivals April is BC Wine month and the Okanagan Wine Festivals Society wants to keep the tradition of celebrating alive by sharing the love of BC wines - virtually.  Starting tonight, host a Virtual Okanagan Wine Dinner wit

Play time with Rose de Syrah

Photo: Contributed Wine: Rosé de Syrah, 2019 Winery: Play Estate, Penticton Why drink it? Spring is surely coming, and that means rosé season approaches. With a new winemaker, whimsically delightful new labels, and a quiet rebirth, Play has introduced some new wines, i

Pizza for health-care staff

Photo: Brendan Kergin Pizza Pi at 314 Victoria St. With one pay-it-forward campaign already launched for the city's homeless and less fortunate, Pizza Pi and the Big Edition, along with the Kamloops Food Policy Council, are sending slices to health-care workers. "

A new way to share

Photo: Contributed Life has changed. So much of what we used to call normal has disappeared, and our routines have been turned upside down. Like everyone else, my hubby and I have had to adjust our home life and our work life. For us, this means there is no work right now. We have b

Kamloops beer on podcast

Photo: Brendan Kergin Beer. The beers of Kamloops have drawn the attention of the Pacific Beer Chat podcast team. The group, which has several thousand followers on social media, discusses B.C. beer on a weekly basis. This week, a trio of hosts highlight beers from Ir

Earls delivering groceries

Photo: Earls Kelowna While the restaurant industry has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, Earls has found a new way to keep their employees working and support the community.  In addition to providing takeout and delivery services, the restaurant chain is now offering groceri

vinAmité offers Compass red

Photo: Contributed Wine: Compass, 2017 (red blend) Winery: vinAmité, Oliver Why drink it? A blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, and Cabernet Franc, this wine is a good antidote to the lost feeling you may be experiencing. After all, it is called Compass. Inviting aro

Cooking with what you have

Photo: Contributed Now that we are all home and cooking up a storm, there is a surge of people trying new recipes. There is also a plethora of live cooking videos. I follow a bakery in London that is doing some lovely live demos  and I noticed the comments are either praise for th

'Late Harvest' for early spring

Photo: Contributed Wine: Late Harvest Pinot Blanc, 2018 Winery: Hester Creek, Oliver Why drink it? It may officially be spring but there is still a chill in the air, as we bridge between winter and summer. A late harvest like this one from Pinot Blanc, an under-rated grape, is a goo

Life goes on

Photo: Contributed It’s been a tough week. Every morning we got up wondering what bad news awaited us, and sure enough there was more. But this afternoon, Ella and I went for our walk in the orchard and the bright sun shining made me feel a bit lighter. I took a deep breath and n

Farmer comes to you

With his E-bike and trailer, Vernon farmer Greg Hewitt hit the road Friday morning. Hewitt, of Lake View Farms, was making deliveries of his greenhouse-grown micro greens. In business only one month, Hewitt and partner Dawna Bates, had been counting on trading at the Vernon Farmers Market,

Lost Poet: bold, earthy

Photo: Contributed Wine: Lost Poet (red blend), 2017 Winery: Winc / Atticus Why drink it? The story behind this bottle: Atticus is a masked Instagram poet (Instagram @atticuspoetry), with a love of wine and a New York Times best seller, The Truth About Magic (read about the book her

Let's get cooking

Photo: Contributed What to do at home? Let’s cook! I had another column written for this week, but given the current situation in the world that puts more of us at home a lot with our families, it seemed appropriate to bring back an old post with some advice from my hubby, Chef M

Spring 'The Nest' on guests

Photo: Contributed Wine: The Nest (sparkling), 2018 Winery: Crowsnest Vineyards, Similkameen Why drink it? A bubbly that is quite bubbly right out of the bottle and then relaxes in the glass, under a bottle cap for those intimidated by popping a cork, with a golden-straw colour. A u

Mom's home cooking

Photo: Contributed My mom was young when she and my dad started our family. She knew about cooking and my grandma cooked a lot, so she wasn’t entirely out of her element. But there was no such thing as the internet or the Cooking Network back then. And she couldn’t have afford

A decadent cup of cocoa

Photo: Contributed It’s hot chocolate season. Or as my mom and Mrs. Doubtfire called it, “cocoa.” When it comes to hot drinks, nothing says “heartwarming” in the winter like this delicious beverage. It appeals to kids and adults and it’s easier to

Last hurrahs for winter

Photo: Contributed Next week will be the start of Lent, and around the world various Carnevale celebrations will take place. The culmination of the festivities is Mardi Gras – translated into English as “Fat Tuesday.” It’s not hard to tell why; to survive pre-Lente

Sparkling Zinfandel, 2018

Photo: Contributed Wine: Ancestral Sparkling Zinfandel, 2018 Winery: Covert Farms, Oliver Why drink it? A first for the winery, this is a minimal intervention wine (yes, that’s becoming a thing), letting the grapes do what they are simply meant to do, gently ferment in stainle

Guide to aphrodisiac foods

Photo: Contributed What better month than February to focus on aphrodisiac foods? Being the month of love, I thought I'd get you started with a bit of history and some ideas, just in case you need a kick-start for your Valentine's Day celebrations... Apple – Of cours

Township 7 Polaris

Photo: Contributed Township 7, Penticton and Langley is this week's wine review. Wine: Polaris (Sparkling), 2016 Winery: Township 7, Penticton and Langley Why drink it? While this vintage is sold out, partially owing to it being named the best Canadian bubbly at the Champagne