Monthly Archives: March 2011

Photo Credit: Laura Waldie

I was emailed today with what I thought was a neat question. Derek from St. John’s asked me “What building is in your gravatar? It looks quite old.” It is an old building actually. Well, old by Canadian standards I suppose. It is the Black Swan Guesthouse on Peasholme Green in York, England. It was built in 1417 for William Bowes who became Lord Mayor of York that same year. The Bowes went on to make quite a name for themselves as a family of goldsmiths to the Tudor Kings and Queens and William’s son Martin became Lord Mayor of London. Martin was also an advid heritage conservationist! He intervened in the proposed demolition of several medieval churches in York, including St. Cuthbert’s and the York Rectory, by arguing that these buildings were still in great shape and were links to the City’s historic past and should be saved. He then went on to restore the Church so it could be passed down to us in good condition today. But the real reason I use this building pictured above as my gravatar is its Canadian connections…. (more…)

I know many of you have sent comments and emails about the Historic Family Recipes series I started and how you have liked the recipes that have been posted so far. Don’t worry, I do plan to bring the series back and start posting some more recipes for your shortly. In the meantime, to get your fix of recipes and the history of food in Canada, please check out this lovely little site: The Culinary Historians of Canada.

 This group of Historians is based in Toronto and though the focus is mainly Ontario, they give a lot of great information about historic kitchens in Canadian museums, recipes, festivals and some resources for you to check out. If you have any links to culinary historians or groups in your province, do drop the CHC a line and I’m sure they will be happy post it on their website.

Anybody who points me in the direction of food gets a huge gold star beside their name in my book! So a special thanks to Deborah for sending me the information so I could pass it along to all of you.

Happy cooking!