Winner, Taste Canada Gold Medal for Culinary NarrativeCommemorating the two-hundredth anniversary of Sir John A. Macdonald's birth, Sir John's Table is a refreshing look at Canada's first prime minister.Sir John's Table traverses the colourful life of Macdonald, from his passage as a young Scottish boy in the steerage compartment aboard the Earl of Buckinghamshire to his new home in Kingston, Upper Canada. It traces his boyhood years of stealing fish and scarfing down fairy cakes into his adult life as a lawyer, husband, father, and eventual leader of the newly founded dominion of Canada. It was a journey that began with hardtack and suspicious-looking, watered-down stew amidst appallingly unsanitary conditions and culminated in grand dinners held in Macdonald's honour.In a breezy and engaging style, author Lindy Mechefske traces Macdonald's life through some of the common foods of the day, from mutton, quince, and gooseberries to hare, cow heel, and ox cheek. Along the way, she reveals how to concoct the fried oysters served at the Charlottetown Conference and how a roast duck dinner saved the dominion.

Finalist, Taste Canada Awards (Culinary Narratives)A fresh take on the Camino packed with the flavours of northern Spain. In this deeply personal culinary travelogue, food culture writer Lindy Mechefske invites readers to join her in savouring the richness of the Camino. Returning to the most basic human needs — walking, eating, and sleeping — she rediscovers purpose at a time of change and transition. Walk, Eat, Repeat recounts Mechefske’s arduous, yet fulfilling, pilgrimage on the Camino from the Pyrenees mountains to the ancient pilgrim city of Santiago de Compostela. Inspired by her late father’s words, “soldier on,” she chronicles the highs and lows of the trail, the kindness of her fellow pilgrims, and the tortas, tartas, and tortillas, and other culinary highlights that she savoured along the way. With each chapter accompanied by a recipe from the region, Mechefske has not simply written a story of walking the Camino, but a tale of relishing the emotional intimacies and the epicurean delights of this ancient pilgrim path.

Winner, Taste Canada Gold Medal for Culinary NarrativeCommemorating the two-hundredth anniversary of Sir John A. Macdonald's birth, Sir John's Table is a refreshing look at Canada's first prime minister.Sir John's Table traverses the colourful life of Macdonald, from his passage as a young Scottish boy in the steerage compartment aboard the Earl of Buckinghamshire to his new home in Kingston, Upper Canada. It traces his boyhood years of stealing fish and scarfing down fairy cakes into his adult life as a lawyer, husband, father, and eventual leader of the newly founded dominion of Canada. It was a journey that began with hardtack and suspicious-looking, watered-down stew amidst appallingly unsanitary conditions and culminated in grand dinners held in Macdonald's honour.In a breezy and engaging style, author Lindy Mechefske traces Macdonald's life through some of the common foods of the day, from mutton, quince, and gooseberries to hare, cow heel, and ox cheek. Along the way, she reveals how to concoct the fried oysters served at the Charlottetown Conference and how a roast duck dinner saved the dominion.

Finalist, Taste Canada Awards (Culinary Narratives)A fresh take on the Camino packed with the flavours of northern Spain. In this deeply personal culinary travelogue, food culture writer Lindy Mechefske invites readers to join her in savouring the richness of the Camino. Returning to the most basic human needs — walking, eating, and sleeping — she rediscovers purpose at a time of change and transition. Walk, Eat, Repeat recounts Mechefske’s arduous, yet fulfilling, pilgrimage on the Camino from the Pyrenees mountains to the ancient pilgrim city of Santiago de Compostela. Inspired by her late father’s words, “soldier on,” she chronicles the highs and lows of the trail, the kindness of her fellow pilgrims, and the tortas, tartas, and tortillas, and other culinary highlights that she savoured along the way. With each chapter accompanied by a recipe from the region, Mechefske has not simply written a story of walking the Camino, but a tale of relishing the emotional intimacies and the epicurean delights of this ancient pilgrim path.