When he started culinary school his instructor asked the students why they were there. Robert’s answer? “To learn better ways to cook potatoes and mackerel.” He was being cheeky—but only a little bit.

He also likes to tell the story of a famous baker in France (a baker whose bread has been favorably compared to Robert’s). It’s a long story—but the

May 2013
This Cup

One Great Thing
by Ann Thurlow

My lip finds the small chip in the rim; I trace it with my tongue. A familiar ritual, the same every morning. I cannot face the day without coffee and I cannot have it any other way but in this cup. Someone made it—someone thought about how the thin, elegant neck would fit so easily into a hand, how the sturdy base would keep the coffee warm. Someone’s thumb must have mad

May 2013
Just Passing Through

Jeremy Larter web series premieres in May

In Her Own Write
by Ann Thurlow

If this was a movie, it would it would go like this: Start with a flashback. Jeremy Later and Geoff Read become friends in junior high school. Years pass. We see Larter pursue his dream of making web series with the acclaimed Profile PEI and the lesser known (but equally funny) Ponderings, Leafs Beefs and Kitty Kat Time. We see

April 2013
The Real Deal

The Zeng sisters serve authentic Chinese food

In Her Own Write
by Ann Thurlow

If you’ve ever been to The Noodle House in Charlottetown, you’ve met Fiona Zeng. She’s the busy, friendly woman who greets you at the door—the one who always seems to remember what you like to eat.

But maybe you haven’t had a chance yet to meet Anna Zeng, Fiona’s sister. She’s the equally cheerful woman who’ll greet you at King’s

April 2013
Locally Produced

One Great Thing
by Ann Thurlow

They call it fruit of the vine. So why not be able to buy a good bottle of locally produced wine at the Farmers’ Market? And at the liquor store, a beautiful display of Island made products. Three wineries! One brewery (and soon to be another)! Distilleries! (and not just the backwoods kind).

I love going to the Market and tucking a bottle of Newman’s Red into my basket w

March 2013
His Students

One Great Thing
by Ann Thurlow

His humility was eloquent, all you really needed to know. When Jonathan MacInnis of Montague Intermediate School received Music PEI’s Educator of the Year award, he just wanted to talk about his students. Here is a man who has advocated without pause, who has stolen hours from his own life—all because he believes in what music could mean to children. Certainly, the awards gal

March 2013
Sympathy for the Street

Meeting the challenge of building new in Olde Charlottetown

In Her Own Write
by Ann Thurlow

I once got to see downtown Charlottetown from high up above. It was instructive, and highly recommended for anyone who cares about preserving the City’s heritage. Whether by accident or design, Charlottetown has been able to hold onto a substantial number of its older buildings and its unique streetscapes, giving i

March 2013
Community Cookery

by Ann Thurlow

The Jubilee Cookbook
Ladies Aid Society of the First Methodist Church

A good cookbook can take you right into the heart of a cuisine. It can make you a star to your dinner party guests; it can teach you about flavours and technique. But if you want to understand the heart and soul of a society, there is nothing better than a community cookbook. They’re the projects of the Home and School, t

February 2013
He Was Many

One Great Thing
by Ann Thurlow

A pastry chef should be a person with a delicate touch and graceful movements. Also cold hands—I hear pastry is best made by the cool-handed. Tom Hayward was none of those things. Yet, when I was feeling skinny or rich, I would buy some of Tom’s wonderful pastries at the Market. The butter tarts were best—savoury and toothsome and sweet. And the pastry? Unique—a little flaky,

February 2013
Home Cooking

Claudia Perez and Claudia Rosas cook for La Sazon de Mexico

by Ann Thurlow

Claudia Perez plops a bag of corn flour down on her kitchen table. “Oh,” I say. “I’ve seen that. I used it to make arepas.” “No,”: she says, pulling out a different kind of flour. “You used this. The other one is special for tamales.”

And there, in a nutshell, are a couple of the problems with trying to sell authentic Mexican

February 2013
A Woman of Many Hats

In Her Own Write
by Ann Thurlow

Unless we’re talking toques or balaclavas, a hat is kind of a magic thing. No one, it could be argued, needs to wear a fascinator. And yet, pinning a lovely, feathery concoction to your hair does something wonderful for your soul.

For the past five years hat maker Alisha Stephen has been making that kind of magic. Under her own label, Love Charlie, she has created hundreds

January 2013
No Strings

Eastern School District wants to cancel string program

In Her Own Write
by Ann Thurlow

When Natalie Williams Calhoun arrived on PEI four years ago, she brought with her a family, a cello and a passion for music education. She had taught cello in Ontario, and grew up with a strong musical background. She took on some private students and began teaching in the Eastern School District’s strings program.