It is an honour this month to turn my editor's page over to Elizabeth Baird, who is wrapping up a 20-plus-year tenure at Canadian Living Magazine. But don't worry – you can still enjoy her contributions on our website. Elizabeth has garnered many accolades as a food editor and cookbook author, but she's done so much more. I will always admire Elizabeth for her efforts to shine the spotlight on Canadian food producers, and to urge readers to buy local.
We will miss her presence in the office – but her culinary influence will be with us always.
– Susan Antonacci, editor-in-chief
Dear loyal readers,
I've been proud to wear the mantle of food editor of Canadian Living Magazine. I've been enriched by so many incredible opportunities for more than two decades in a job that has opened countless doors across Canada. On behalf of Canadian Living readers, I was able to meet farmers, fishers, butchers, bakers, jam and cheese makers, market vendors, cooks, chefs and other people who put food on our plates. Vivid memories include the field-long strawberry shortcake in Deer Lake, Nfld.; breakfast in the Elijah Smith Elementary School in Whitehorse, Yukon; splayed salmon roasting on cedar stakes on Quadra Island, B.C.; the eye-popping yellow canola fields of Saskatchewan; the rolling, blueberry-covered fields outside Oxford, N.S.; thousands of pounds of Migneron cheese ripening in Maurice Dufour's cellars in Charlevois, Que.; Canadienne cows munching seaside meadow grass in Îles de la Madeleine, Que.; Christmas in November at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge in Alberta; bowls of succulent mussels in Prince Edward Island; and lobster-noshing in coastal New Brunswick. Have I left out the Northwest Territories? Just think whitefish and char. And let me not forget the heritage dishes from the Red River Valley in Manitoba, and the international dishes that abound in Ontario.
While I have often been credited with the high quality of the recipes in this magazine, let this letter be a testament to the people who have really done the prep, cooking and cleanup: The Canadian Living Test Kitchen, first led by Beth Moffatt, who was succeeded by Patsy Jamieson, who set the standard for our Tested-Till-Perfect recipes. The Test Kitchen staff has evolved over the years, into the strong team now under the guidance of food director Gabrielle Bright. I also want to acknowledge the often unnoticed editors, notably senior editor Beverley Renahan.
Underpinning the day-today work of coming up with story ideas, cooking, testing and editing recipes has been a basic belief in providing recipes that taste good, will please your family and guests, and call for easy-to-find ingredients along with easy-to-follow techniques. This guarantee of appropriateness, quality and reliability has nurtured legions of loyal readers and home cooks across the country, many of whom have written to me over the years.
It has been a privilege to be part of your lives, and satisfying to share with you not only inspiration for your weeknight suppers, but also helpful tips as you decorated cakes for your kids' birthdays and family weddings, as you organized showers for new moms, entertained your friends and neighbours, and kept old and new traditions alive and flourishing.
My thanks and, as always, keep cooking!
– Elizabeth Baird
These old familiar facesAs we bid adieu to Elizabeth (above), it's heartening to know that colleagues who do move on mean it when they say "I'll stay in touch." Here I am with former senior editor Miriam Osborne – who left Canadian Living in September to pursue a master's degree – and her dog, Charlie, about whom Miriam writes about in the March issue.
