2025 11 02

November 2025 Newsletter

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Life in Mexico

I had a harbinger of the future when I checked in to the Casa Q, a cloud hotel in Guadalajara.

 There were no human staff. I pressed a button on the front door frame and a friendly computer-generated voice said “Zmmph!”

The door-unlocked and I was greeted by a Zen Garden that calmly declined to carry my bags up the stairs.

My room had no chairs, drinking glasses or bathroom sink plug. It did have a Raid room freshener, which I did not take to be a good sign.

I received a welcome PDF via WhatsApp explaining how to lock the room door, but it self-destructed 30 seconds after I opened it.

There was a discount coupon for a nearby restaurant but I was reluctant to use it in case they had no cutlery.

When I did return from dinner the smart knob on my room refused to disable the door lock. I spent the night sleeping in the hall, which wasn’t too bad because the other guests left pillow mints.

Expedia asked me if I would recommend the hotel. Absolutely – to my worst enemies!

Hotel employee of the month.

Audio Books now Available!

You can now listen to A Paris Moment, Magnus the Magnificent and Joan the Saint!

All three Audio books are available on Amazon (and should be on Kindle Unlimited).

Check them out and let me know what you think!

Recipe: Homemade Thin Crust Pizza

I get a lot of requests for this recipe from dinner guests, so I’m happy to repost the recipe!

Making your own pizza is quite easy and the result is both healthy and delicious. All it takes is a little preparation and you will be the toast of your family and friends!

DOUGH (makes 4 pizza crusts)

5 ¼ cups of OO (fine) flour.

1 tsp of salt.

1 tsp of dry yeast.

1 tsp of brown sugar

400 ml of warm water.

Mix the flour and salt together in a bowl.

Mix the yeast and brown sugar in the warm water and let stand for 15 minutes.

Pour the liquid into the flour and knead until the consistency of soft Play-Doh. (You may have to sprinkle some flour on if it’s too sticky).

SAUCE

1 jar of tomato sauce (I like to use an Italian brand with Pomodoro tomatoes)

3 Tsp of Italian seasoning mix.

1 tsp of salt.

1 Tsp of olive oil.

Mix the first three ingredients together in a bowl. Pour the olive oil into the jar of tomato sauce and swish around then add that to the mix. Let rest for at least half an hour.

TOPPINGS

Pepperoni, ham

Chopped onion, peppers, olives, etc.

Shredded cheese

PREPARATION

Heat the oven to 450F. Divide the dough into four balls (any you don’t need can be frozen for later use). Roll out the ball flat with a rolling pin (hint; I cut a piece of parchment paper into a 12” circle as a rolling surface). You will have to sprinkle some flour on the dough to keep the rolling pin from sticking.

Place the rolled dough into a pizza pan and bake it in the oven for 5 minutes. (You can do this in advance and keep the crusts in the freezer indefinitely).

Spread 5 Tsp of sauce on the pizza crust and add desired toppings. Sprinkle cheese on top and bake in the oven for up to 15 minutes (check after 10 minutes to make sure the crust isn’t burning). Serve hot!

Book Review

The World’s Greatest Detective and Her Just Okay Assistant

By Liza Tully

You gotta love that title!

Aubrey Merritt rose to the top of her profession by solving mysteries that had everyone else stumped. She now lives in a fantastic apartment in New York, picking and choosing only the most perplexing cases.

When Aubrey fires her old assistant, Olivia Blunt applies for the job. A young, impoverished writer who happens to be a wiz at research, Merritt reluctantly agrees to put her on probation.

The agency gets a call from Haley Summersworth, whose mother Victoria recently committed suicide by jumping off a seaside cliff; Hazel thinks it was murder!

Aubrey and Olivia promptly decamp for the exclusive family resort in Vermont where Victoria met her doom. Potential suspects abound, including the drug-addled son, the Vegas gigolo courting her and a daughter-in-law from hell.

The novel is fast-paced and light-hearted. Tully is a pen name for Elisabeth Brink, who is best known for dark thrillers; she decided to take a break from her more gruesome works and pen a comedy mystery.

And I’m glad she did. A sequel is already in the works, and I can hardly wait to read it. I highly recommend The World’s Greatest Detective and Her Just Okay Assistant.

Documentary Review

John Candy: I Like Me

Streaming on Amazon Prime

This doesn’t often happened to me, but I remember exactly where I was the day John Candy passed away at the age of 43, in 1994. I was shocked and saddened that a great comedic talent had died so young.

The documentary features interviews with his family and many of the stars who acted beside him in so many memorable films – Tom Hanks in Splash, Steve Martin in Trains, Planes and Automobiles – as well as colleagues from his years at SCTV, like Martin Short and Andrea Martin.

Director Colin Hanks, the son of Tom Hanks, had met Candy as a child on the set of Splash, and was reluctant at first to direct the documentary, but friend Ryan Reynolds convinced him to take on the project in order to honor the memory of the great Canadian comedian.

A compilation of TV, film, personal home movies and interviews, the documentary catalogs Candy’s rise to stardom, as well as the dichotomy between his quiet family life and the bombastic characters he portrayed in public.

Warning; this one’s a tear-jerker, but I highly recommend John Candy: I Like Me.

2025 02 06

February 2025 Newsletter

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Life in Mexico

I blame Taco Bell.

Even though the food chain didn’t come to Canada until 1979, their insipid, bland interpretation of Mexican food permeated North American culture like a chili-flavored tsunami.

We would buy a packet containing a half dozen tortilla shells, spice mix and a handy-little cardboard holder to stuff cheese and ground meat into your taco (although the holder tasted better than the shells).

Contrast that insipid experience with the amazing spectrum of food celebrated every day in Mexico. From mole in Oaxaca to birria (lamb stew) in Jalisco, Mexicans eat delicious, inexpensive and wholesome meals using recipes that date back hundreds of years.

Pictured, Joanne and Rick are enjoying a real taco lunch at Don Julio’s, located just across the street from Soriana’s in Manzanillo. The popular restaurant specializes in a wide range of meat and fish tacos, along with ‘volcanoes’, food served in a sizzling-hot rock bowl carved from lava.

Along with the tacos, you get an array of fillings, including onions, cucumber and a sauce made of mayo, chipotle powder and lime juice. We’re drinking micheladas, a mix of beer and clamato juice rimmed with chili powder (although the little cocktail umbrellas are not strictly kosher).

Here’s to the celebration of Mexican cuisine!

Kindle Unlimited Subscribers Can Read my Books for Free!

Recipe; Chicken Quesadillas

This is ridiculously easy to make, tastes delicious and is an excellent way to use up left-over roast chicken!

Ingredients

2 cups of diced roast chicken

1 cup of shredded cheese

½ cup of diced red pepper

½ cup of diced white onion

1 tsp of salt

1 tsp of chili

1 tsp of cumin

Tortillas

Butter

Sour cream

Directions

Mix chicken, onion, peppers and spices together.

Fill ½ the tortilla and fold over.

Lightly butter the outside of the tortillas. Back on a cookie sheet at 350 F for 8-10 minutes.

Serve with sour cream.

Enjoy!

Book Review

The Women

By Kristin Hannah

Ive been reading Hannah’s novels for several years now; her work is always authentic, insightful and captivating.

The Women is the story of Frances ‘Frankie’ McGrath, a naïve, sheltered girl growing up in the 1960s in an affluent Southern California home. When her older brother enlists in the US Navy and is sent to Vietnam, she impulsively joins the Army as a nurse and is posted to Asia as well.

Her naivety is quickly smothered as she experiences the hell of war as an emergency room nurse at an evacuation hospital near the front lines. She is daily confronted by mangled young men, torn apart by landmines and mortars. Amidst the carnage, she forms lasting friendships with her fellow nurses.

When Frankie finally returns to the US, she discovers a vastly changed culture. Soldiers are vilified for their war sacrifices. She finds herself ashamed to admit she served in Vietnam and plunges into depression.

Fortunately, Frankie’s friends are there to support her, and she eventually achieves peace while supporting other women who fought and were forgotten. This is a book that explores the horrific reality of war, and the lasting bonds that it creates. I highly recommend The Women!

Movie Review

Back in Action

Streaming on Netflix

This spy thriller marks Cameron Diaz’s return to the big screen after a decade-long hiatus. She stars as Emily, wife of Mark (played by Jamie Foxx), a pair of middle-class parents raising their teenage kids in American suburbia.

All that goes out the window when their cover is blown and they have to return to the field as CIA agents.

The movie has been criticized as being too formulaic for such talented leads, but it was never meant to be Oscar bait. Diaz and Foxx bring a spark and chemistry as husband and wife, using their skills to dodge the evil intent of the bad guys and save the world.

A special treat is Glenn Close playing Ginny, Emily’s English mother. When she meets her two grandchildren for the first time, she threatens dismemberment if they mar the parquet floors of her mansion.

All in all, it’s an entertaining film with more than its fair share of excitement and laughs. I heartily recommend Back in Action!

Bonus Book Review

Eight Perfect Murders

By Peter Swanson

This is a great mystery novel by murder-master Peter Swanson.

The plot revolves around Malcolm Kershaw, owner of the Old Devil’s bookstore in Boston. Years ago, Malcolm wrote an entry in the bookstore blog, Eight Perfect Murders, where he listed classic murder mysteries, including Agatha Christie’s The A.B.C. Murders. Now, FBI Agent Gwen Mulvey shows up at his shop with the theory that a serial killer is using the plots to get away with murder.

Malcolm, a life-long lover of murder mysteries, is both intrigued and appalled. Malcolm had picked the books because they allowed the killer to go Scot-free; hence, the ‘perfect’ murder. But how do you trace a real serial killer who is using the same modus operandi from each book?

As their investigation progresses, we learn that neither Malcolm or Agent Mulvey are as innocent as they seem. The reader has to discern when Malcolm, as narrator, is telling the truth, or lying. This book will keep you riveted to the very last page. I highly recommend Eight Perfect Murders!

2022 08 12 small

August 2022 Newsletter

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Life in France

Every bistro in France has a dog named Hoover. The moment I walk in, they rush right over, eagerly awaiting the next errant meatball.

It’s stinking hot in Paris, which means it’s movie time! We go half an hour before the actual movie starts to watch the commercials. My favorite is the one where a man is walking home and steps in dog poop. He walks up to his apartment floor and angrily wipes his shoe on a doormat. He then turns around and enters his own apartment.

BHV, located across the street from Paris City Hall, is the best department store in the world. Where else can you buy a plastic pond to grow frogs and Coco Chanel?

A Paris Moment available on Amazon!

 “A book that bubbles like a fine champagne and satisfies like a perfect crème brûlée.”

John Gilchrist, CBC Radio

In North America, the day is spliced into predictable, pre-packaged doses, with everyone isolated in their car, their mall, or their suburban box. In Paris, when you walk out the door, you don’t know what you’re going to encounter – cherry blossoms, riot patrols, or Chinese lanterns hanging on the lampposts. The day springs to life as a full-blown performance, and if you are not part of the audience, you are part of the cast.

Even if you’ve never been to the City of Light, you’ll enjoy reading about the wonderful year we spent in the Marais. Order A Paris Moment today!

They have the weirdest poster ads here in Paris. I think this one is for golf balls.

Book Review

Vermeer’s Hat

By Timothy Brook

This is a charming book about the 17th century, written by Canadian historian Tim Brook. It tells the story of how the Dutch, English, French and Spanish opened up the world to trade in the 1600s.

While the topic might sound a trifle dry, the author employs an innovative technique that both informs and entertains the reader. Using Officer and Laughing Girl, a painting by artist Johannes Vermeer, he uses details within the composition to illustrate how trading conglomerates like the Dutch East India Company moved silver from Peru, porcelain from China and beaver pelts from Upper Canada in the pursuit of commerce.

The latter commodity is the inspiration for the book’s title. Beaver fur proved far superior to lamb’s wool when it came to making felt. Not only was it water proof, but it held its shape.

Soldiers were soon demanding headgear with huge floppy brims, and adventurers like Samuel Champlain set up extensive trade routes with First Nation tribes throughout what is now Quebec, Ontario and New York State (where the Dutch, famously, purchased the island of Manhattan for beads).

The author goes on to detail how even something as mundane as tobacco moved goods from North America to Europe and as far away as Asia. The Chinese, we learn, were mad for pipe tobacco and would trade its weight in ceramics. When scavengers discovered the wreck of the San José in the Caribbean Sea, in addition to gold bullion, the site was littered with fine Ming dynasty porcelain, a cherished possession in Europe.

Well illustrated with maps and color plates, Brook’s historical treatise is a delightful and informative read. I highly recommend Vermeer’s Hat!

Picasso Museum

The Picasso Museum, located in a 17th century mansion in the Marais, has always been one of our favorite destinations in Paris. The multitude of paintings, sculptures and drawings of the Spanish artist are the legacy of a tax deal between his heirs and the French government that preserved his immense personal collection for public viewing.

This summer, the museum mounted an exhibition dedicated to Maya Ruiz Picasso, the love child born in 1935 between Pablo and his teenage muse, Marie-Thérèse Walter. Because Pablo was already married, her existence was kept secret for many years, but her presence was evident in the many portraits and works in which she appears. Pablo doted on Maya his entire life, and she in turn influenced much of his work until his death in 1973.

In addition, the museum has mounted a virtual tour of Picasso’s home and studio in Cannes, where he lived and worked in the 1960s. It’s an intimate stroll through his life and family that places his late work in perspective.

Picasso’s Mother-in-Law. Must have been happy with this one!

Throughout his life, Picasso was a lightning rod for criticism from the art world establishment, and it is easy to lose sight of the immense impact his opus had on world culture. I have immense respect and admiration for his creations, (although I am relieved he never painted my portrait). I highly recommend the Picasso Museum!