Is there a specialty cheese shop in your area? Many such shops offer evening programs for those wishing to learn more about the fine art of cheese. It might be a tasting, a lesson about pairing cheeses with wines or beers, or a class on cooking with cheese. Check your local listings.

If you enjoy cooking and have friends who are similarly inclined, why not arrange a dinner swap?

This is, of course, a cliché, but let us remind you how to make it special. One of you can be the host and the other the guest. The host can issue a formal invitation, specifying the time the guest should show up. If you are the invitee, stay out of the way until the […]

Go out for afternoon tea — complete with cucumber sandwiches and cream scones — at a local tea shop or hoity-toity hotel. Pinkies out!

Here’s a culinary trend you can really sink your teeth into: enjoy a gourmet dinner in complete darkness. Why would you want to do such a thing you might ask? Well, when you eat without being able to see, your other senses are heightened!

Open a cookbook to a random page and – bam! – that’s what’s for dinner. Take turns blindly choosing a recipe until you’ve got an entree, side dishes and dessert. Make a grocery list, buy the ingredients and enjoy an evening of culinary experimenting with your sweetie. Hypothesis: Fun will occur!

You’ve no doubt noticed the trend toward better burgers over the past few years: locally-sourced organic beef ground by hand and grilled to order, gourmet toppings (like a cheese-stuffed and deep-fried portobello mushroom cap, for instance), fancy buns… such are the offerings at gourmet burger joints. Get dressed down and check out the one nearest […]

Learn which wines best complement your famous fig tagine and why it’s OK to serve Pilsner with a salad course. Guests at your next dinner party will be in for an unexpected treat!

This may be the most common and predictable of date nights, but it can still be a real treat. If you are gastronomically inclined and your budget allows, you may be happy to do this for your date night every week. Here are a few suggestions to keep it interesting…