Culinary and Baking

Please review each article prior to use: grade-level applicability and curricular alignment might not be obvious from the headline alone.

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Canadians seeking ways to save on groceries as food costs remain top concern: survey

Sammy Hudes, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview
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Canadians seeking ways to save on groceries as food costs remain top concern: survey

Sammy Hudes, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Friday, Nov. 21, 2025

A survey of Canadians' perceptions around food affordability and purchasing behaviours suggests that consumers have changed how they shop, cook and eat in response to rising prices.

The latest edition of the Canadian Food Sentiment Index, released by Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab in partnership with online data platform Caddle, said food remains the dominant household financial concern for Canadians.

More than four-in-five survey respondents indicated it's their top expense pressure. While that was down from 84.1 per cent of respondents a year ago, it still far outpaces other day-to-day expense concerns, such as utilities, household items and supplies, housing, transportation and entertainment.

Half of the nearly 3,000 respondents to the survey conducted last month said food costs increased "significantly" over the past year, while just over one-third indicated their food expenses were up "slightly" and close to 12 per cent said they stayed the same.

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Friday, Nov. 21, 2025

A survey of Canadians' perceptions around food affordability and purchasing behaviours suggests that consumers have changed how they shop, cook and eat in response to rising prices. Produce in a Levis, Que., market, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot
A survey of Canadians' perceptions around food affordability and purchasing behaviours suggests that consumers have changed how they shop, cook and eat in response to rising prices. Produce in a Levis, Que., market, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot
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Hurrying hard for Jamaican flavours infusing West St. Paul Curling Club

David Sanderson 7 minute read Preview
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Hurrying hard for Jamaican flavours infusing West St. Paul Curling Club

David Sanderson 7 minute read Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025

WEST ST. PAUL — This month marks a full decade since Vincent Dennis opened a Caribbean-flavoured restaurant inside the West St. Paul Curling Club.

And although it could be assumed that a person who has spent that much time in the vicinity of rocks and rings would have picked up a thing or two about the roaring game by now, that doesn’t appear to be the case with the Jamaican-born owner of Tropical Thunder.

Not even close.

“I’ve been here since 2015 and I still don’t have a clue what I’m staring at,” Dennis, 52, says with a chuckle, seated at a table offering a perfect view of the 62-year-old club’s four curling sheets.

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Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025

photos by JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS

Donna Taylor, social marketing manager, and Vincent Dennis, owner of Tropical Thunder located at 431 Grassmere Rd.
photos by JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS Donna Taylor, social marketing manager, and Vincent Dennis, owner of Tropical Thunder located at 431 Grassmere Rd.
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En 2025, des Jardins St Léon encore plus tournés vers le local

Jonathan Semah 4 minute read Preview
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En 2025, des Jardins St Léon encore plus tournés vers le local

Jonathan Semah 4 minute read Saturday, May. 3, 2025

Les Jardins St-Léon, le marché extérieur situé sur St Mary’s, ouvre ses portes au public ce 30 avril. Colin Rémillard, copropriétaire, fait le point sur la saison qui s’en vient.

Même si la création des Jardins St-Léon remonte à 1979 par Lise Mulaire et Denis Rémillard, l’excitation est toujours la même quand la date de l’ouverture est connue. Cette année 2025 ne fait pas exception au regard de toutes les réactions enchantées sur les réseaux sociaux quand la compagnie a annoncé son retour pour ce 30 avril.

À l’image des internautes, Colin Rémillard, copropriétaire des Jardins St-Léon a hâte d’accueillir le public et travaille avec son équipe de 55 personnes sur les dernières préparations.

“Tout se passe bien, nos étagères sont déjà bien remplies et nous continuons de les remplir. On a quelques nouveaux employés, mais aussi beaucoup de retours d’anciens, ce qui est toujours un bon signe. La météo a l’air de bien s’annoncer. L’année dernière a été plus occupée que l’année précédente et l’on verra ce qui va passer cette année.”

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Saturday, May. 3, 2025

Archives La Liberté

Colin Rémillard, copropriétaire des Jardins St-Léon, a repris l’affaire en 2016.
Archives La Liberté Colin Rémillard, copropriétaire des Jardins St-Léon, a repris l’affaire en 2016.
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Sirop d’érable, le trésor de Saint-Pierre-Jolys

Lucille Dourlens 5 minute read Preview
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Sirop d’érable, le trésor de Saint-Pierre-Jolys

Lucille Dourlens 5 minute read Saturday, Apr. 5, 2025

L’incontournable Festival du Temps des sucres se prépare à revenir au village de Saint-Pierre-Jolys les 5 et 6 avril. Prenant place dans la Cabane à sucre, une extension du musée, les visiteurs pourront festoyer et célébrer ce fameux sirop local aux teintes ambrées.

Le temps se fait plus doux dans le village de Saint-Pierre-Jolys où les récoltes de sirop d’érable ont doucement commencé depuis la semaine du 17 mars.

En effet, des gelées la nuit combinées à des températures plus élevées le jour créent les conditions propices à la saison des récoltes. Ce type de météo permet d’exercer une pression à l’intérieur de l’arbre favorisant ensuite l’écoulement de “l’eau sucrée” comme aime l’appeler Roland Gagné, le gérant de la Cabane à sucre du village.

“Grâce à Mère Nature, l’eau remonte des racines jusqu’en haut de l’arbre. Ça permet de nettoyer les veines de l’érable et ensuite le liquide s’écoule.”

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Saturday, Apr. 5, 2025

Marta Guerrero

Roland Gagné s’occupe de l’érablière de Saint-Pierre-Jolys depuis près de 14 ans.
Marta Guerrero Roland Gagné s’occupe de l’érablière de Saint-Pierre-Jolys depuis près de 14 ans.
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Red River course focuses on Indigenous cooking techniques, ingredients

Eva Wasney 6 minute read Preview
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Red River course focuses on Indigenous cooking techniques, ingredients

Eva Wasney 6 minute read Wednesday, Mar. 26, 2025

With the lunch rush over, the kitchen takes a collective sigh of relief. Jokes are cracked while the flattop is scraped clean and smiles float around the room as prep stations are tidied for the next day’s service.

Gabriel Nanacowop, who had some nerves about overseeing Wiisinin Diner as chef-of-the-day, is feeling particularly satisfied.

“It was good, fast-paced,” says Nanacowop, one of 11 students enrolled in Red River College Polytechnic’s Indigenous Culinary Skills program.

Red River has been offering the yearlong certificate program for nearly a decade. In it, Indigenous students are given a crash course on food preparation, kitchen safety and business basics, with a focus on cultural ingredients and cooking techniques.

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Wednesday, Mar. 26, 2025

Ruth Bonneville / Free Pres

Gabriel Nanacowop (left) and Kendrah Sinclair finish preparing lunch with their classmates for guests at Wiisinin Diner.
Ruth Bonneville / Free Pres Gabriel Nanacowop (left) and Kendrah Sinclair finish preparing lunch with their classmates for guests at Wiisinin Diner.
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Husband-and-wife food bloggers show how two chefs can navigate the home kitchen and stay happy

Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview
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Husband-and-wife food bloggers show how two chefs can navigate the home kitchen and stay happy

Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press 5 minute read Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025

NEW YORK (AP) — Husband-and-wife food bloggers and podcasters Sonja and Alex Overhiser have a new cookbook that uses a simple step to keep the kitchen a less heated place for two chefs: clear, alternating roles.

“A Couple Cooks: 100 Recipes to Cook Together” lays out ingredients and directions for a wide array of dishes, like any other cookbook, but also divides the cooking tasks — one home chef is designated a square, the other a triangle — so neither is overwhelmed or resentful.

“Everything is more fun together, we think. And so we found that about cooking,” says Sonja Overhiser from their home in Indianapolis. “You’ll stay doing it if you’re doing it with someone else.”

So to make their Meatballs with Fire-Roasted Marinara, one chef preheats the oven and then starts to make the marinara sauce, while the other prepares the meatballs. They come together at the end to coat the cooked meatballs with the sauce and add Parmesan cheese and basil.

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Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025

The cover image for "A Couple Cooks: 100 Recipes to Cook Together" by Sonya and Alex Overhiser, left, appears with a portrait of the authors. (Chronicle Books via AP, left, and Shelly Westerhausen via AP)
The cover image for
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New Jenna Rae cookbook focuses on bakers’ favourite home recipes

Eva Wasney 6 minute read Preview
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New Jenna Rae cookbook focuses on bakers’ favourite home recipes

Eva Wasney 6 minute read Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024

There’s a sweet new edition on the way.

Sisters Jenna Hutchinson and Ashley Kosowan are expanding their successful local bakery business with a new cookbook venture. Jenna Rae Cakes at Home: Our Favourite Recipes to Enjoy with Family and Friends hits bookstores Oct. 8 and features more than 100 colourful, family-friendly recipes.

The cookbook is a followup to their first release, Jenna Rae Cakes and Sweet Treats, and is a labour of love that brings together the twins’ individual interests.

“Ash was meant to make cookbooks,” says Hutchinson, whose passion for cake design prompted the entrepreneurial siblings to open their first Jenna Rae Cakes shop in 2014.

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Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024
How sweet it is
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During World Vegan Month, vegans across generations share their reasons for embracing the lifestyle

Janine LeGal 7 minute read Preview
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During World Vegan Month, vegans across generations share their reasons for embracing the lifestyle

Janine LeGal 7 minute read Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025

November is World Vegan Month, an event celebrated worldwide to shine a light on what it means to be vegan.

The U.K.-based Vegan Society defines veganism as: “a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude — as far as is possible and practicable — all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of animals, humans and the environment.”

In other words, vegans are fully plant-powered.

While veganism was once considered an option from the fringes, it’s now much better recognized, discussed and practiced by old and young, famous and not.

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Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025

Ruth Bonneville / Free Press

Health, sustainability and kindness to animals are some of the reasons Debbie Wall (from left), Jahzara MacDougall and Randy Tonnellier practise veganism.
Ruth Bonneville / Free Press Health, sustainability and kindness to animals are some of the reasons Debbie Wall (from left), Jahzara MacDougall and Randy Tonnellier practise veganism.

Halloween pumpkin waste is a methane problem, but chefs and farmers have solutions

Kiki Sideris, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Halloween pumpkin waste is a methane problem, but chefs and farmers have solutions

Kiki Sideris, The Associated Press 5 minute read Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025

Don’t let your Halloween pumpkin haunt the landfill this November.

More than 1 billion pounds (454 million kilograms) of pumpkins rot in U.S. landfills each year after Halloween, according to the Department of Energy.

Yours doesn’t have to go to waste. Experts told us your pumpkins can be eaten, composted or even fed to animals. Here’s how.

Cooking with pumpkin waste

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Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025

FILE - A kid carves a pumpkin on the front porch of her home Oct 20, 2023, in Auburn, Maine. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal via AP, File)
FILE - A kid carves a pumpkin on the front porch of her home Oct 20, 2023, in Auburn, Maine. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal via AP, File)

Forgotten Flavours Artisan Bakery fills Pennyloaf void on Corydon

Gabrielle Piché 5 minute read Preview

Forgotten Flavours Artisan Bakery fills Pennyloaf void on Corydon

Gabrielle Piché 5 minute read Monday, Nov. 18, 2024

After nearly a year, the smell of fresh bread will once again fill a Corydon Avenue bakery.

The sign out front no longer reads “Pennyloaf Bakery,” and the staff inside are no longer employed by former clothing mogul and entrepreneur Pepper Foster.

Instead, an emblem for Forgotten Flavours Artisan Bakery faces passersby. Owners Chris and Maria Holbrow busy themselves inside 858 Corydon Ave., preparing for the Winnipeg shop’s first day open Tuesday.

“We’re trying to complement the space and ensure that we can fill a void that was very sad to see go,” Chris Holbrow said. “We have a great product to offer.”

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Monday, Nov. 18, 2024

The Niverville-based bakery, owned by Chris Holbrow (pictured) and his wife, Maria, is opening in Winnipeg, taking over the location where Pennyloaf Bakery used to operate out of. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press)
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Chris Holbrow at his new Forgotten Flavours location on Corydon on Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. The Niverville-based bakery is opening in Winnipeg (where the Pennyloaf Bakery used to be) on Tuesday. For biz story. Winnipeg Free Press 2024

Flour & Flower plants roots with Waterloo Street location as demand for unique cakes, cookies decorated with edible flowers grows

Gabrielle Piché 4 minute read Preview

Flour & Flower plants roots with Waterloo Street location as demand for unique cakes, cookies decorated with edible flowers grows

Gabrielle Piché 4 minute read Saturday, Sep. 30, 2023

Rachel Nedelec’s baking has reached the Grammys and Australia, an international fashion house and at least one yoga studio.

Next week, Flour & Flower will have a permanent home — its first brick-and-mortar bakery.

“I said, ‘I want it, I need it, this is my space,’” Nedelec recounted, laughing.

She and her real estate agent had heard the spot at 530 Waterloo St. was coming available. It was déjà vu: Nedelec first toured the site in early 2020, when her business was not yet half a year old.

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Saturday, Sep. 30, 2023

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Rachel Nedelec, owner of Flour & Flower bakery, is opening her first storefront location on Waterloo Street next week. The company’s creations were included in Grammy Awards gift bags this year.
JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Rachel Nedelec, owner of Flour & Flower bakery, is opening her first storefront location on Waterloo Street next week. The company’s creations were included in Grammy Awards gift bags this year.
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La passion de bien manger

Camille Séguy de La Liberté pour le Winnipeg Free Press 4 minute read Preview
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La passion de bien manger

Camille Séguy de La Liberté pour le Winnipeg Free Press 4 minute read Saturday, Mar. 17, 2012

QUAND elle était jeune, la Franco-Manitobaine aujourd’hui âgée de 38 ans et mère de trois enfants, Joanne Gobeil, ne cuisinait pas. Mais quand à 21 ans, son père a clamé qu’elle ne saurait pas même faire bouillir de l’eau, elle a relevé le défi.

“J’ai fait à souper à mon père la semaine suivante pour la première fois,” se souvientelle, “et il a aimé donc il est revenu manger chez nous de plus en plus souvent. Ça s’est avéré naturel pour moi de savoir cuisiner. J’ai alors reçu de plus en plus de monde à manger, jusqu’à créer ma propre entreprise de traiteur en 2010, Fried Green Tomatoes.”

Joanne Gobeil se dit artiste de la cuisine.

“Comme l’artiste qui voit une image en regardant un canevas blanc, moi je vois une recette en regardant dans mon frigo,” confiet- elle. “Juste en voyant des aliments ou en lisant une recette, je suis capable de la goûter dans ma tête et d’y ajouter une sauce ou des ingrédients qui iraient bien avec. J’aime essayer de nouvelles choses.”

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Saturday, Mar. 17, 2012

CAMILLE SÉGUY / LA LIBERTE
Joanne Gobeil dans sa cuisine de Fried Green Tomatoes.
CAMILLE SÉGUY / LA LIBERTE Joanne Gobeil dans sa cuisine de Fried Green Tomatoes.