Hi, I'm Patricia 

I love to feed people

From as early as I can remember I could be found on a chair pulled up to my grandmother’s kitchen counter with my pudgy little hands in the soft warm bread dough helping form the little balls that would become cloverleaf rolls.   Walking behind her through the big garden on the farm with the earth between my toes nibbling on a carrot or a piece of rhubarb.  

I loved helping with the preparation and being part of the gathering together at meals.  

 By nine I was experimenting with all sorts of different recipes. I went through a particularly ambitious (and messy) phase of making soufflés for my family for Sunday brunch and by then I had my own recipe box with cards I typed out so carefully on an old typewriter

I loved cooking for friends and family, making up new recipes and putting together a beautiful table

but it never occurred to me to choose cooking as a career

It took me a really long time to decide what I wanted to be when I “grew up”

I spend my early 20s traveling and working at various jobs in the hospitality industry and generally having a lot of fun; but it was my experience working at a fly-in heli-ski lodge that changed everything.

Three weeks a month I lived and worked at a remote mountain lodge in the British Columbia wilderness. My co-workers were an eclectic international group of mountain guides, helicopter pilots and people from all walks of life who loved the mountains, including some amazing European chefs. 

I began to see cooking in a new light

Then one day a good friend mentioned she had seen an article about the famous Cordon Bleu Cooking School opening a branch in Ottawa and was wondering if I had ever thought about becoming a chef?   

One week later, I had filled a tiny car with my few belongings and was on my way across the country on a brand new adventure

After completing my studies

in Ottawa and London, England,  working in various restaurants and resorts, and teaching at a vacation cooking school in Italy, my travels took me back to the Keltic Lodge in Cape Breton where I met a fellow chef who captured my heart. 

In the years to follow we had the chance to work together and create wonderful food in beautiful places,  but when it came time to start a family we knew we no longer wanted to work those crazy restaurant hours. 

We needed to take a leap of faith

to transition our careers into something more sustainable for the long term. We sold our house, packed up our two cats and rented a tiny apartment on the other side of the country, ready to give a new career a shot. 

We arrived in Edmonton, AB in the spring of 2001 and got busy preparing ourselves for new opportunities. 

We took classes, worked temporary jobs and kept our eyes open for whatever our “next big thing” was going to be.

Then one sunny morning that summer we came across an ad in the paper (remember those?) A local company was starting a national cooking magazine and was looking for a food editor (cue fireworks and choruses of angels here).

The food publishing industry was a perfect next step, 

allowing us to use our culinary expertise while working reasonable hours - and finally realize our dream of becoming parents.

Which brings us to today

and a new opportunity to translate all we have learned into resources to help other people realize their goals

So, what’s your “next big thing”   

Where do you want your recipes to take you?

We’d love to help you get there.