Q. Restaurants and online shops spend a great deal of time word-smithing their food offerings. Are the waves of artisanal chocolate running down a ‘slope’ or a ‘bank’ of ice-cream? But can the way our food is described affect our taste experience? A. Yes. Yes it can. Imagine you’re at

Q. What do co-workers see as the most annoying office habits? A. At least for now, more people are starting to trickle into the workplace. Perhaps we’ve all missed each other enough that nothing our co-workers do will annoy us. Ah. Listen to the dulcet tones of your slurping your

Q. What are sugarplums? Wee fruits in hot, dry lands? Ordinary purple plums coated in sugar? Fairy tale fancies? A. Tchaikovsky gave the fairy in charge of these mysterious edibles a signature Nutcracker Dance and a sparkling celesta accompaniment. . Nina Kaptsova. Bolshoi Ballet. 2010 . Poet Clement Moore celebrated

Q. More and more people are recognizing how important it is to have a diverse range of voices in power positions on organizational boards. But how to get on? . A. One thing I have seen over years of consulting with organizations: meaningful change does not happen without active support

Q. What would it take to throw a wrench into the rigid world of Edwardian dinner parties? . A. Revenge is a dish best served backwards. In the fastidiously ritualistic world of Edwardian Britain, it was easy to exact revenge on one’s nemeses at dinner. Want to mortify the hosts?

Q. Happy Canada Day! 🇨🇦 What are Canada’s national sports? . A. ‘Are?’ ‘Sports – plural?’ Even those who have never stepped a foot inside Canada will not have much trouble guessing Canada’s winter sport. Why, it’s hockey, of course. Put it this way: I’ve met multiple Canadians who, when

Q. If you were lucky (?) enough to be invited to feast with the ravenous King Louis XIV, what would you be expected to eat? . A. Well, here’s a peek at a Sun King party menu that was recreated by chefs at the Palace of Versailles in 2010. A

Q. Hotels. Remember those? Other than soggy towel mountains, what do hotel staff find after guests leave their rooms for good? . A. First, the abandoned bric-a-brac. A Choices Hotel Canada survey found the items most commonly left in hotel rooms are… Abandoned or Forgotten items i. Toothbrushes ii. Phone

Q. What is in Jamaican Jerk Spice? . A. When people learn that I’m half Jamaican, conversations quickly turn to the beautiful Blue Mountains, the turquoise sea, reggae, fresh mangoes, hard dough bread, and jerk spice. Jerk chicken, jerk pork, jerk breadfruit. The origins of jerk spice are up for

Q. Yet another strange slice of pandemic life: watching late night comedy and Zoom sets without any audience laughter. It makes one think of laugh tracks – how did they come to be and what’s their future in a socially distanced world? . A. It’s been jarring watching late night