ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½

TORONTO - When it comes to food, everyone is always looking for the next hot thing to try.

When it comes to entertaining, I often find that the casual gatherings and impromptu parties outshine more elaborate affairs. I think it's the combination of a relaxed atmosphere and last minute inspiration.

Most Americans never will sip the watermelon margarita at Guy Fieri's behemoth Times Square restaurant, nor savour the chicken Alfredo at the Olive Garden in Grand Forks, N.D.

Whenever I have too little time and too few ingredients on hand — or when I've been eating too much meat — I cook up some broccoli pasta.

TORONTO - When veteran foodies Rose Murray and Elizabeth Baird invited Canadians who are passionate about food to send in their best-loved recipe, they were amazed at the variety and touched by the stories that flooded in.

FRIANT, Calif. - Two cowboys on horses pushed cattle across an expanse of golden hills overgrown with tall grasses and oak trees, up an unpaved road toward another pasture.

MONTREAL - The National Hockey League lockout isn't just frustrating fans of ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½'s national sport — it's also putting a pinch on some food banks.

This summer I had the misfortune to encounter the internet culinary sensation known as cookie dough dip. It was at a potluck party and folks were raving about this creation, which until then I'd been ignorant of.

When Cowgirl Creamery breaks out the raclette on weekends in San Francisco's Ferry Building Marketplace, people float into the store almost trancelike.

TORONTO - While ebooks have been exploding in popularity in recent years, scholars, chefs and those who just love to tool around in the kitchen say it's not time to stick a fork in the physical cookbook just yet.