This week is the first in a series of episodes about foods, ingredients, different things that I couldn’t do without a series I’m calling: Smy Fundamentals. I will look at things that I use everyday, things I swear by, things that I’m constantly suggesting to people or…things that I share with people when they ask me, “what’s your secret for x, y or z?” First up!…is something I am so particular about, it’s the first thing I think about when I open my eyes and I have been drinking it for years, decades even!…this episode is all about….green tea! From some of the health benefits, history, Yamamo ..read more

I'm back after quite the hiatus to share with you a bit about why I've been absent and the epiphany that led to my making a Galette des Rois and what makes this Twelfth Night/King Cake so special...and so tasty. I'll share my experience making one, a bit of the history behind it and the surprising treat buried within it. There's a look at my culinary bible Larousse Gastronomique and memories of the cousin to the Galette des Rois, the New Orleans Mardi Gras King Cake ..read more

I chat with one of my dearest friends, award-winning writer and artist Kurt Cole Eidsvig.  Kurt has been featured in The Boston Globe, The Improper Bostonian, NBC, CBS, and ABC and loads more prestigious places. We will talk about his new book OxyContin for Breakfast, his previous book Pop X Poetry, his visual art, inspirations and how food factors in to all of the above. We will chat about his connection to apple cider vinegar, mint jelly omelettes, analogue vampiric beef binkies, Sully's snapper dogs and more. The first minute of audio is a wee bit tinny as we get set up but it features ..read more

Vinegar depictions range from fanciful stories relating to it, appearances in still life paintings to the different stages of its production and enjoyment. Vinegar is a symbol of preservation, of hard work and longevity and being cleansed. It’s found in religious stories, fables, stories of love, war, money and death…basically all aspects of the human experience. Featuring artworks such as the Three Vinegar Tasters, Parody of the Vinegar Tasters, Elisabetta Sirani's painting Cleopatra and the story of Cleopatra's banquet, plague doctors' masks and Four Thief Vinegar, Tête Noire vinegar, Anne V ..read more

Vinegar is a vital addition to popular dishes, condiments and beverages from around the world. It has as many uses outside of the kitchen as it does in it and is a staple ingredient of many natural or home remedies. There are countless health benefits that are associated with it and the varieties are endless - from bayberry, bamboo, black, brown and balsamic and one that is famously described as with the mother. Today it's all about the food history of vinegar - its important beginnings, fermentation, etymology, some of its many culinary and creative uses from all over the world. The next epis ..read more

Some of my favourite artworks that depict mushrooms…by artists including Ming dynasty Chinese artist Qiu Yang, Chinese-Canadian artist Xiaojing Yan, Hine Mizushima, Beatrix Potter and Elsie Wakefield, Yayoi Kusama, Wangechi Mutu. The Game of Shrooms, the annual world-wide mushroom art N seek event created by Attaboy. Some mushroom magic in film and music at the end with a note on the 2019 documentary film Fantastic Fungi and mushroom music from the late Czech mushroom composer Vaclav Halek ..read more

Mushroom culinary customs from around the world, mushroom tips, health benefits, Michael Pollan's book How to Change Your Mind and how Psylocibin mushrooms are being used medicinally and at some of the past and present female pioneers behind psychedelics and psychiatrics, micro-dosing. Plus a chat with Karmen Perez-Pineda the founder of Cats with a Heart about mushrooms and her amazing socially responsible initiative which aims to raise awareness and funds to end child exploitation in the fashion industry ..read more

Pt 2 (Ep 36) covers etymology, symbolism, folklore + culinary traditions. Pt 1 (Ep35) of a 4-part series on mushrooms gives an overview, looks at shamans + ancient human mushroom cave art. Pt 3 (E37) w/Karmen Perez-Pineda of Cats with a Heart, mushroom tips, psychedelics + psychiatry. Pt 4 (Ep 38) will look at artworks featuring mushrooms by artists including Ming dynasty Chinese artist Qiu Yang, Chinese-Canadian artist Xiaojing Yan, Beatrix Potter + Elsie Wakefield, Yayoi Kusama, Wangechi Mutu and more ..read more

Pt 1 (Ep35) of a 4-part series on mushrooms gives an overview, looks at shamans + ancient human mushroom cave art. Pt 2 (Ep 36) covers etymology, symbolism, folklore + culinary traditions. Pt 3 (E37) w/Karmen Perez-Pineda of Cats with a Heart, mushroom tips, psychedelics + psychiatry. Pt 4 (Ep 38) will look at artworks featuring mushrooms by artists including Ming dynasty Chinese artist Qiu Yang, Chinese-Canadian artist Xiaojing Yan, Beatrix Potter + Elsie Wakefield, Yayoi Kusama, Wangechi Mutu and more ..read more

I am sharing and processing some of my thoughts and experiences of racism as a woman of colour. Covering examples of racist imagery in food history and amazing representation, examples of racist imagery in art and amazing representation in art. Covering racial stereotypes, Ava DuVernay and the documentary 13th, Mixed Girl Meetup, Birth of a Nation, , fried chicken, watermelon, stereotypes, micro-aggressions, Sohla El-Waylly and Bon Appetit, MOFAD, Mariya Russell, Kara Walker, Angela Davis and more ..read more