Something to Chew On: Risk vs. Reward for NL’s Restauranters

By Dillon Collins The late great legendary chef and author Anthony Bourdain once said “Food is everything we are.” A realist, Anthony also was quoted as saying, “If anything is good for pounding humility into you permanently, it’s the restaurant business.” If ever two things could be simultaneously true. Just ask celebrated local chef and…

Saint-Pierre: Scenes of the Crime

By Dillon Collins You could call Allan Hawco the Swiss Army Man of Newfoundland television. Actor, writer, producer and show-runner, the b’y behind Jake Doyle (Republic of Doyle, 2010-14), Douglas Brown (Frontier, 2016-18), David Slaney (Caught, 2018) and Gale Favreau (Moonshine, 2021-23) is back in his wheelhouse with the all-new police procedural television drama Saint-Pierre,…

Strawberry Shortcakes

By Andrea Maunder The first mention of “shortcakes” is in an English cookbook from 1588, but we can thank our neighbours in the northeast US, for that glorious combination of sweet strawberries, fluffy whipped cream and tender biscuits we now know as Strawberry Shortcakes. The dessert became popular in the early 1900s as a way…

Crisis at Sea: Sealing & Survival

By Kim Ploughman My father was there for my seventh birthday, but the next day he was gone. Gone as in, “Gone to the ice.” I don’t remember him leaving that early spring morning on April 8th, 1967. What ensued in the weeks ahead, however, forever snagged itself in my childhood memory net. That day,…

Son of a Critch: A Blast From the Past

by Nicola Ryan Talk about strolling down memory lane! I’ve traipsed down this leafy path in St. John’s many times. It runs behind Merrymeeting Road past Yetman’s Arena towards Holy Heart High School on Bonaventure Avenue. Today, I’m here to watch the cast and crew of Son of a Critch film a fresh episode of…

Small Town, Big Dreams

by Heidi Atter Every Thursday evening in North West River, the Lake Melville School gym begins to fill with children and teenagers. Some head straight to the basketballs on metal racks, and instantly start shooting hoops, while others stop by the canteen for a sweet treat. The gym’s large performing stage’s curtains are open for…

Who was the Baby in the Mailbag?

By Dorothy Bowering Robinson In 2003, my husband Francis and I flew from Boston to St John’s to see where both my grandparents had been born and lived until they emigrated to the U.S. in the 1920s. My grandmother and her family lived at French’s Cove, Bay Roberts while my grandfather was across the causeway…

Sheep Sack Shenanigans

A few years ago I visited two friends who were shearing their sheep. They had the sheep up on the table and asked me if I could come and help them. I said yes, what do you need me to do? They asked if I could hold the sheep sack, so I said yes. They…

Christmas 1941

By: H. Joseph Seward Wolfville, Nova Scotia It’s Christmas Eve 2023, and I am thinking about Christmas’s past. This is an account of how I spent Christmas in 1941 in Southport, a small outport in Trinity Bay North, Newfoundland. I was six years old. My two siblings, Marie and Garfield, are four and two, respectively….

Comfort and Joy: Sending Christmas Cheer Overseas

By Nicola Ryan Christmas is a time of warmth, togetherness, and celebration with loved ones. However, for many soldiers serving overseas, far from family and the comforts of home, the festive season can be tough. Kelly Luffman, a retired military veteran with 25 years of service, understands this better than most. After experiencing the challenges…