At Home with Kim Vallee

COOKBOOKS, DINING | November 10, 2009

Discover Pasta History in the Encyclopedia of Pasta

What a pretty sight! These are pasta made by food historian and food teacher Oretta Zanini De Vita. As you can see, making pasta has so secret for her. She owns vintage pasta tools including a wooden stamp that mints pasta like coins. It is splendid. Encyclopedia of Pasta Oretta Zanini De Vita wrote a 300-page encyclopedia about [...]

HOME + GARDEN, ORGANIZING | October 13, 2009

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A Book, a Magazine Box and a Blanket | Fall Essentials

Once the cold has arrived, I like to read a good book, browse my favorite magazines or explore the Web on the couch with a blanket on my legs. My everyday dark charcoal blanket from Caban is getting old. Therefore, I started to look for a replacement. The black and off white Crux blanket by Pia [...]

COOKBOOKS, DINING | October 5, 2009

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Salty Sweets by Christie Matheson

Balancing salt and sweet is popular with chefs. Simply think of caramels with fleur de sel or molten chocolate cake served with olive oil. I am in the middle of organizing my husband’s birthday party. This year, I decided to try to make a dessert table à la Amy Atlas. Since there will be lot of sweets, [...]

COOKBOOKS, DINING | September 24, 2009

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Let’s make a great cookbook

Good news for home cooks. You can enter a recipe contest every week with a cool winning prize. Harper Studio will publish the winning recipes in the Food52 cookbook. + Food52 cookbook project

COOKBOOKS, DINING | September 6, 2009

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The Appeal of Home Canning and Preserving

Old cooking traditions are hot again. According to an article on the Globe and Mail, the younger generations enrolled in canning workshops. I feel that it is simply a continuation of the grow your own vegetable garden movement and the desire to eat better. My mother was running her own business when I was a kid [...]

COOKBOOKS, DINING | July 14, 2009

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Create More Delicious Meals with the Flavor Bible | Book review

Beside mastering cooking techniques, the best way to improve your cooking is by learning how to balance flavor. First, you need to know which ingredients complement each other. You also need to know how flavor develops. This book is filled with tips, guidelines and basic principles that you can use in your own kitchen. For [...]

DINING, LINENS | April 14, 2009

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Sewing Green by Betz White | Book Review

I was due for a book review. Instead of my usual cookbook or home decor book review, I went for a green living book. In fact, the book I selected completes today’s eco-friendly column. The bottle sling bag looks great. I am sure that many mothers who like to carry a similar bag for the [...]

ENTERTAINING, SPECIAL occasions | February 19, 2009

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My Praise for an Intimate Wedding

My friend Jaime of It’s a Jaime Thing is hosting her first giveaway. She has 4 signed copies of Intimate Weddings by author Christina Friedrichsen to give away. My wedding was an intimate wedding. We had 70 guests. The main appeal of a small wedding is that you really pass time with all my [...]