aug 15/21 - How to cook with love, a Michael Smith experience!

This blog is a BIG one! I am in Prince Edward Island, Canada and this is a bucket list item for me and any Canadian foodie out there! I traveled to PEI to specifically meet Micheal Smith at his "Inn at Bay Fortune" for his Fireside Feast and it was literally a dream come true. This is a 6hr festival of food that was incredible!

​In the early 1990’s I had Michael Smith's cooking show on my TV in the mornings while I would wake up early to make fresh muffins for my girls breakfast before school and while I was packing their lunches. I absolutely love Michael's style of cooking. It was family friendly, he often showed his family eating the meals he cooked on his show and he always had a down to earth style, loved using fresh, local ingredients and you could just tell his food was made with love. 

That is how I wanted to cook for my family. 

I urge anyone who loves food to look into booking a stay (you need to book months in advance) and experience an incredible night that starts with checking into his beautiful boutique Inn at Bay Fortune. At 4pm the evening starts with a glass of wine and a tour of the gardens where Michael is a big believer in sustainable agriculture, growing his own food and eating local. At 5pm Oyster Hour starts where the oysters are fresh from the area mixed in with 3-4 other stations of amazing small bites prepared by his culinary team of young up and coming chefs. 

At 6pm-10pm is the Fireside Feast where Michael Smith himself delivered the first course to my table, I was in heaven. What I loved about the entire experience is that Michael was mentoring a crew of young chefs and you could tell they all loved being there, cooking for us under the guidance of such an icon in the food industry.   ​

I took 240 pictures that night and to narrow it down to a select few for this blog was incredibly hard. When I get my YouTube Channel up I will have to make an entire video dedicated to this experience as it was that amazing. As you can see in the one picture with Michael and 3 of his chefs, each and every single plate went out with his touch. He was teaching them attention to detail, putting love into each plate. The beef was stacked on top of the vegetables and garnished with a simple herb. The salad had edible flowers, the halibut also had herbs on top and plated beautifully. There was a seafood chowder and an amazing dessert not pictured and the evening ended with homemade marshmallows roasted by the fire while socializing with the other guests staying at the Inn. It was the best evening!!

So this was the inspiration for this blog, seeing Michael Smith and his love for food was contagious. I have always loved plating dishes as I do believe if food is prepared lovingly that energy is felt in the meal. I encourage you to involve your family in meal preparation and I guarantee you if you take just a little extra time to plate your meals, teach your kids to plate their meals beautifully you will have everyone eating with a little more love and dinner will become a place of happiness that you will look forward to each day. ​

Overall this experience has been one of the highlights of my life and I hope it brings you some excitement about preparing your next meal and if you are stuck with what to cook, look for Michael Smith's newest cookbook (he autographed my copy, I feel so lucky!!) and the dishes from the Fireside Feast are in this book and I can't wait to try and make them one day when I am back in the kitchen!

Thank you for following my journey to writing a book series!
Stay balanced,
​LeeAnna