On Mothers Day this year I went on the Denman Island House and Garden Tour with a good friend. It was an incredibly inspiring day, as these tours often are! The gardens were so lush with all of the spring rain that had fallen and the homes were just delightful.

With the title of this post being “For the Love of Food” you must be wondering why I’m telling you about the house & garden tour. Well, when we stopped for lunch at the Denman Island community hall for lunch, there was a lady all dressed in her chef’s coat selling her beautiful cookbook – “For the Love of Food”. Being a lover of books and food I couldn’t resist stopping to check it out. After meeting Sally Rae and chatting to her for awhile, I also couldn’t resist purchasing a copy. Sally Rae is a Certified Professional Cook, an avid organic vegetable gardener and has been writing a food column for Denman Island’s newspaper for 11 years. As a milestone birthday gift to herself she has compiled many of the stories from her column and many of her favourite recipes into this delightful “by season” format cookbook and would like to share it with us!

I loved that she wrote, ” I firmly believe cooking should not be approached as an exact science, but a rich culinary art to be savored with all of the senses”.  I find that to be so true, and know that for me, culinary art begins with the inspiration found in a great cookbook!

One of the glowing testimonials at the beginning of the book so appropriately describes what I would like to impart – “For the Love of Food simmers and settles the mind and palate…monthly recipes that warm the soul or cool the platter…all fresh ingredients, all fresh recipes with colorful background stories, it is delightfully written and spiritedly organized…this West Coast gem is a must in the kitchen!” – Del Phillips, Denman Island

To find out more about Sally Rae and “For Love of Food” you can find her at www.gourmetbysallyrae.com.