Falling for Autumn Fruits
There’s something very special about autumn, the season that officially began on September 22 in the northern hemisphere. Also referred to as the “...
October 03, 2024
by Margaret M. Johnson
Cape Breton: Reveling in the Celtic Spirit, Part 2
As I reported in last week’s Echo, I was a tag-along to my family of golfers whose sole purpose for visiting Nova Scotia was to play the spectacula...
September 20, 2024
by Margaret M. Johnson
Cape Breton: Canada with a Celtic Heart, Part 1
When you arrive at Stanfield Airport in Halifax, Nova Scotia, you’re greeted in three languages: Pjila’si, the language of the Mi’Kmaq, the largest...
September 11, 2024
by Margaret M. Johnson
For Yummy Desserts, Bake Some Fruit
I grew up eating wonderful desserts my mother baked nearly every day — crisp sugar cookies, fudgy brownies, rich banana bread. Nothing fancy or too...
August 27, 2024
by Margaret M. Johnson
Breakfast Bliss, Part 2
Forty years ago last week, I had my passport stamped at Shannon Airport with the official greeting: “Permitted to land in Ireland for three months....
August 16, 2024
by Margaret M. Johnson
Irish Breakfast Bliss, Part One
Forty years ago this week, I had my passport stamped at Shannon Airport with the official greeting: “Permitted to land in Ireland for three months....
August 06, 2024
by Margaret M. Johnson
Christmas in July: Start Shopping Now!
Depending on when you read this, let me be the first to remind you that there are only 153 days until Christmas! Shocking, I know, but the good new...
July 24, 2024
by Margaret M. Johnson
Hotels Score Big in Best Awards
The results are in: Travel + Leisure revealed the winners of its 2024 “World's Best Awards” last week, highlighting the best travel destinations an...
July 17, 2024
by Margaret M. Johnson
Chef Ritzen's Tea 'Experience' reflects 'Totally Irish Ethos'
Dublin -- There’s a new tea in town at Anantara The Marker Hotel, a novel cultural and culinary experience that combines the literary charms of Ire...
July 12, 2024
by Margaret M. Johnson
Summer Salads Get an Upgrade
Once upon a time in Ireland — at least at the time I made my first trip in 1984, and even a decade later — a salad was not a salad as we know it to...
June 27, 2024
by Margaret M. Johnson
The Day Belongs to Dad
I’ve heard from a number of men that “the best gift you can give Dad on Father's Day [this Sunday, June 16, in 2024] is a full stomach” — preferabl...
June 13, 2024
by Margaret M. Johnson
Best of the Best: Irish Smoked Salmon
Legend has it that more than two thousand years ago Druids left oak-smoked salmon as an offering to the great Dagda, God of the pagan Irish. In the...
May 23, 2024
by Margaret M. Johnson