In honour of a big birthday for my dad, I spent this past weekend in Prince Edward County with my parents.     P.E.C. is a region about two hours east of Toronto, on a peninsula that sticks out into Lake Ontario. It’s traditionally been used for agricultural – in fact, one of my dad’s uncles had a farm there when my dad was little. Today, it’s home to Sandbanks Provincial Park (where we used to go camping when I was a kid), and...

…brinner is always a good idea!     Breakfast for dinner is one of my favourite indulgences, but it doesn’t happen very often. There is one day each year, though, when I feel totally justified in my decision to eat sweet carbs for dinner: Pancake Tuesday! Whether you call it Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras, or Pancake Day, this is the last day before Lent, when people have traditionally cleared out sugar and fat from their...

flexing creative muscles for 9-5ers… So what do you do when you’re a creative type with a 9-5 office job? Strangely enough, I’ve found that the past two years I’ve been cubicle-bound have been some of the more product years for my art practice. Something about creating balance, I guess. But that doesn’t mean it’s been easy to find the time for ‘making’. This is my favourite piece that I made in my metalsmithing class: it’s a ring designed...

Stephanie Applin Photo Credit: Gene Wu Two weekends ago I had the great fortune to snag an opera ticket to see the Canadian Opera Company’s latest production, Roberto Devereux, written by Gaetano Donizetti.  The titular role was played by Leonardo Capalbo, who admirably “brought it” (technical operatic term), as the Earl of Essex beloved by Queen Elizabeth the first, but himself in love with another woman, Sara, Duchess of Nottingham; the...

Hey guys, here’s a little service announcement for you to remind you that Mother’s Day is this Sunday, May 11th! We hope you already have something lined up for your mama, but if not, here are a couple last-minute ideas for things you can do in Toronto: Kitten & the Bear, a delightful Parkdale confiturier is offering brunch-in-a-box for pickup on both Saturday and Sunday mornings. It includes four of their big freshly-baked...

If someone was to ask me what my perfect day would include, I’m sure I’d end up describing something like this past Sunday. I went for brunch with my parents, visited the Art Gallery of Ontario with my mum, and walked home with her through Kensington Market, making a couple of choice stops along the way. 1. Mother Dumplings at 421 Spadina Ave 2. Mum contemplates the menu. “The usual?” Yep. The Usual. 3. Inside you can watch them form the...

If you plan to send a lot of cards out for the winter holidays you likely know that beautiful, handmade cards are expensive, and cheap cards tend to be, well, cheap-looking. This year I decided to overcome both hurdles by making my own cards, which is also a pretty fun way to spend an afternoon, getting into the holiday spirit. To make your holiday cards you will need: Cardstock printed with photos, or blank cards with your photos glued on; a...