Q. To many of us, preparing intricate dishes for even one round of a 2020 cooking competition looks plenty stressful. But what was it like to create and stage food for ravenous, judgy royals at Late Medieval feasts? . A. Master Chef Chiquart Amizco offers us a peek in. Poor

Q. Which scents make people feel happiest in their homes?   A. It’s something people are thinking about more, now that they are spending so much time in said homes. This month, House Beautiful Magazine reports that essential oil diffuser sales are up by 22%. Even before the pandemic, 70%

Q. Well, what are the Top Twenty Albums of All Time? . A. As if the world didn’t already have enough to argue about. Nevertheless, Rolling Stone Magazine has come out with its 2020 list of the Best Albums of All Time. What would be on your best of the

Q. Who is this Robert and why do so many people follow his meeting rules? . A. Official meetings across the world still sample generously from the rules of Robert: General H.M. Robert, that is. The General’s Rules are particularly handy when we are trying to run virtual meetings where

Q. What are some lesser used idioms? . A. They are awfully stubborn. The elephants refuse to leave the room, the thoughts cower inside the box, and the tattered idioms worm their way back into innocent conversations. The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms houses thousands of these ‘phrases that behave like words.’

Q. Who are some renowned artists who were in romantic relationships with each other? . A. Ever so often, it is nice to shut down the phone, go to the library, and browse the books, aisle by aisle. It’s a slow-burn rabbit hole, where you find yourself sitting on a

Q. How is it that some people in their late 80s and 90s – some of whom have had tumultuous lives – still act and feel so young? . A. I know what my Mum, a nurse, would say: “Feeling young has nothing to do with age, Elizabeth.” When she

Q. With September but days away and the crisp of fall in the air, we best get our outdoor ice-cream kicks in while we can. We won’t yet know how the pandemic affected our overall August ice-cream consumption, but in August of 2019, Statista reported that 1.87% of Canadian respondents

Q. We’ve seen how one Norwegian word – kraken – has been assertively adopted into English conversation. But what other words have we eagerly co-opted from Norway? . A. The answer lies in The Oxford Dictionary of Foreign Words + Phrases. With definitions in our own words … Aquavit A

Q. “I now pronounce you…” The formal ceremony is over, the couple have kissed, family and friends are standing, clapping, dabbing at tears. Now, it’s time for the newlyweds to turn and walk back down the aisle. What music will lead them out? . A. For some, Mendelssohn’s Wedding March