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Winnipeg Free Press
15 hours ago
- General
- Winnipeg Free Press
Homemade
Welcome to Homemade, a Winnipeg Free Press project celebrating home cooking in Manitoba. We regularly publish recipe features that highlight the communities, traditions and flavours of this wonderfully diverse province. Submit your recipe to have your dish considered for a future story — recipes can be beloved family favourites or everyday staples. Submit a Recipe Eva Wasney 8 minute read 5:05 PM CDT Homemade is a series that celebrates home cooking in Manitoba. Find more stories, ideas and share your recipes at In today's Homemade Cooking School lesson, chef Mandy Wingert walks us through the basics of stocks and sauces — essential culinary components designed to enhance the flavour, moisture and texture of a dish. 'It's like the foundation of your house. If you don't have a good stock, you're going to be playing catch-up trying to make things taste better,' says Wingert, a culinary and baking instructor at Red River College Polytechnic. Originally from Saskatchewan, she grew up in a family of cooks and knew from an early age she wanted to pursue a career in food. We try reader-submitted Jell-O recipes Eva Wasney 8 minute read Preview Eva Wasney 8 minute read Wednesday, Jul. 9, 2025 Saturday is Eat Your Jell-O Day. In honour of this gelatinous holiday, we've done just that. Read Wednesday, Jul. 9, 2025 EVA WASNEY / FREE PRESS Clockwise from top left: Broken glass torte, spring parfait salad, orange jellied salad, tomato aspic. Salads add colour, texture, freshness and acidity to any dinner table Eva Wasney 4 minute read Preview Eva Wasney 4 minute read Wednesday, Jun. 25, 2025 Unlike most of The Simpsons clan, I'm of the opinion that you can, in fact, win friends with salad. And not because of their purported 'health benefits.' Read Wednesday, Jun. 25, 2025 MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Alison's Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Mango Chutney recipe in Winnipeg on Tuesday, July 19, 2022. For Eva Wasney cookbook. Winnipeg Free Press 2022. Cutting edge tips: Learn kitchen knife skills in our new monthly cooking feature Eva Wasney 7 minute read Preview Eva Wasney 7 minute read Wednesday, Jun. 11, 2025 Welcome to the first class of Homemade: Cooking School, a new Free Press series featuring in-depth cooking tutorials from professional local chefs. Read Wednesday, Jun. 11, 2025 MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Terry Gereta demonstrates knife skills at RRC Polytech on Monday. He says a sharp knife is a safe knife, as a dull knife may move while cutting. Turn on that barbecue and get grilling: Barbecue Lean Pork, Gale's Barbecue Trout and Auntie Shirley Potatoes Eva Wasney 4 minute read Preview Eva Wasney 4 minute read Tuesday, May. 27, 2025 Make the most of grilling season with reader recipes for Barbecue Lean Pork from Anita Lee, Gale's Barbecue Trout from Gale Petreny and Auntie Shirley Potatoes from Patti Mersereau-LeBlanc. Read Tuesday, May. 27, 2025 Freepik Adding lemon to barbecued trout is never a bad idea. Spring flings: Use seasonal produce in go-to faves asparagus soup, spinach salad, rhubarb pie Eva Wasney 4 minute read Preview Eva Wasney 4 minute read Tuesday, May. 13, 2025 This week, Homemade features cream of asparagus soup from Rae Carpenter, spinach salad from Vi Scherbak and rhubarb crunch pie from Velma Scott. Read Tuesday, May. 13, 2025 RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS files Rae Carpenter makes cream of asparagus soup every year when the snow is finally gone. Expand those Easter baskets Eva Wasney 7 minute read Preview Eva Wasney 7 minute read Wednesday, Apr. 16, 2025 Add some home-baked Easter treats to this weekend's cache of chocolate eggs and marshmallow chicks. This week, we have some sweet, sentimental reader recipes for Dolly's Easiest and Yummiest Sugar Cookies from Dolly Kuzyk, Babka from Shirley Kalyniuk and Daffodil Cake from Karen Stepaniuk. Want to share a recipe? Visit Homemade to fill out the submission form. Read Wednesday, Apr. 16, 2025 EVA WASNEY PHOTO Dolly Kuzyk's sugar cookie recipe can be decorated to suit the occasion. Stir things up with these creamy crowd-pleasers: Cowboy Caviar, Cucumber Chip Dip, Hot Hamburger/Bean Dip Eva Wasney 4 minute read Preview Eva Wasney 4 minute read Wednesday, Apr. 2, 2025 Due to the recent 'dip' in temperature, this week's Homemade is an homage to, you guessed it, dips. Read Wednesday, Apr. 2, 2025 RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS files Leslie Pitchford's Cowboy Caviar recipe is home on the range.
Winnipeg Free Press
2 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Two restaurant fires could be linked to protection racket hit list targeting immigrants, family member fears
What first looked like random vandalism now appears to be part of a troubling pattern, the family behind two Winnipeg Thai restaurants says. Earlier this month, a break-in at Thida's Thai Restaurant on Donald Street seemed like just another case of neighbourhood mischief. Last Friday, the family's second business, Mae Sunee Thai Cuisine on Erin Street, was gutted by a suspected arson attack. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES Mae Sunee owner Praphatsorn (Pae) Inthon at the Thai restaurant in 2023. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES Mae Sunee owner Praphatsorn (Pae) Inthon at the Thai restaurant in 2023. 'The reason we say that… when we watched (the security video on Donald), it was odd, like why would you just do that, break-in, don't go anywhere and just try and light the first booth on fire?' said Jay Delaney, who is married to Praphatsorn (Pae) Inthon, owner of Mae Sunee, and is the son-in-law of Thida's owner, Sunee Inthon. 'Then after that, someone came to us and said this is happening a lot. Most retail stores, convenience stores and the odd restaurant.' Speaking on behalf of the family Monday, Delaney said both attacks closely resemble a string of recent incidents targeting immigrant-owned businesses in Winnipeg's inner city, West End and North End. He believes they're connected — carried out by the same people or group, often around the same time. Security footage from both restaurants shows the attackers breaking into both properties between 4 and 5 a.m., then trying to set off Molotov cocktails to start fires. In one video posted to Facebook, two men are seen at the Donald Street restaurant on July 4. One, wearing a mask, smashes the glass with a hammer, then attempts to light an object on fire. When that fails, another object is ignited and thrown into a booth. A quick response from attending police prevented the fire from spreading. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Mae Sunee, a Thai restaurant which is now closed due to a fire, on Monday. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Mae Sunee, a Thai restaurant which is now closed due to a fire, on Monday. The story at Mae Sunee Thai Cuisine, where the back patio was set on fire Friday, is one of devastation, however. 'The one on Erin will be a complete loss,' Delaney said, adding that the place was badly water-damaged as a result of firefighting efforts. Delaney says some of the stories he's heard from local owners are like scenes from films about organized crime, where someone visits a business and demands protection money… or else. 'We started receiving video and audio of these people coming into stores… they say 'you have 24 hours,'' he said, adding that many of the businesses have created a group chat. That scenario played out at Ur's Convenience Store on Selkirk Avenue over the weekend. The owner, who identified himself as 'Ajay,' said two people walked into the store on Friday, demanding payment for 'protection.' He declined to pay them. 'They tried to scare us, tell us to do this stuff and that stuff,' he said. 'We denied them and called 911.' Several hours later — at about 5 a.m. Saturday — there were flames. There was some damage to the store, but a neighbour was able to put out the fire before it spread out of control, he said. 'It's pretty scary,' he said. SUPPLIED Security video showing a suspect in the break-in and arson at Thida's Thai Restaurant in downtown Winnipeg in July. SUPPLIED Security video showing a suspect in the break-in and arson at Thida's Thai Restaurant in downtown Winnipeg in July. Businesses on a 'hit list' obtained by Delaney and viewed by the Free Press Monday, included Ur's, Magnus Foods Grocery & Convenience Store on Main Street and Selkirk Quickie Mart on Selkirk Avenue. Calls to the latter two convenience stores were not returned Monday. An unnamed warehouse was 'already hit,' according to the list, which also includes a message that all of the targeted businesses needed to be 'hit' by the end of the month. Delaney said he has passed the names of alleged suspects from Montreal and the list of targeted businesses, to police. The two Thai restaurants were not on the list. 'On Saturday morning, the first business on the list was targeted,' he said, referring to Ur's. 'The (police) seem to know these individuals, but we don't know if it's a matter of identifying them still. The police seem to be serious about it. They say it has to stop.' Tuesdays A weekly look at politics close to home and around the world. The Winnipeg Police Service confirmed Monday it is investigating reports of break-ins and arson, but declined to comment on how many incidents are under investigation or whether they appear linked. 'Investigations are ongoing,' a spokesperson said. Police advised that any threats — directed at individuals or businesses — should be immediately reported. Delaney said the lack of immediate action has been frustrating for the family. Sunee and Pae have both left Winnipeg for Vancouver to get away from the chaos. He believes police have enough information — including the pattern of targeted times — to act. 'You can kind of pin it down… have some patrols out,' he said. Scott BilleckReporter Scott Billeck is a general assignment reporter for the Free Press. A Creative Communications graduate from Red River College, Scott has more than a decade's worth of experience covering hockey, football and global pandemics. He joined the Free Press in 2024. Read more about Scott. Every piece of reporting Scott produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Winnipeg Free Press
5 days ago
- Health
- Winnipeg Free Press
Lack of nutritional oversight in care homes hard to swallow
Opinion Nobody would ever say that ensuring residents of personal care homes are properly fed is a simple matter. Caring for the elderly and infirm is, given the broad range of health issues, a complex challenge. Once the elderly arrive in a care home, it often gets even more complex. Still, one has to wonder why the nutritional programs in the majority of the care homes in Winnipeg operate without direct oversight from the province. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Manitoba needs more precise regulations on how care home residents should be fed, and more resources and staff to ensure the facilities adhere to the regulations, writes Lett. In a compelling and in-depth examination of the state of care home food, Free Press reporter Janine LeGal provides numerous examples in which residents are given unappetizing meals with limited choice and, in some cases, an absence of fresh fruit and vegetables. Trying to verify the allegation here is a tricky matter: there are thousands of Winnipeggers who live in care homes, many with profoundly different needs when it comes to basic care. Some can care for and feed themselves; others require full assistance to perform the most simple personal tasks. Still, that doesn't explain or excuse the state of the food being served in some care homes. LeGal's article, which relied heavily on her own experience caring for her mother and father, says the quality of food in some care homes is beyond disgusting, even though the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority has an entire team of professionals charged with ensuring meals are appetizing and nutritious. Well, at least some of the facilities. The WRHA directly oversees nutrition in seven of the 37 care homes in Winnipeg: Riverview Health Centre, Deer Lodge Centre, Misericordia Place, Concordia Place, Calvary Place, River Park Gardens and Middlechurch Home. For all seven facilities, meals are prepared in the regional distribution centre, a centralized commissary. Meals are frozen and then distributed. The distribution centre was, from the moment it was proposed in the 1990s, more than a little controversial. Introduced by the former Progressive Conservative government of premier Gary Filmon, it was supposed to be a cost-effective way to provide meals to hospitals and personal care facilities. Over the years, the reviews of the distribution fare have been varied, to say the least. Still, the WRHA and its nutritionists are making deliberate efforts to make sure the food is as appetizing and nutritious as possible. What about the other facilities? Julie Gislason, the WRHA's chief nutrition and food services officer, says those remaining care homes are providing, with guidance and tools to help them, menus that fulfil the demands of government regulation for nutrition. However, the challenges faced by care homes are not insignificant on this issue, Gislason said. Manitoba has one of the more evolved home care systems, which means the residents arriving at them are generally older and sicker than those in other provinces, she said. It also means the challenges of providing nutritious meals are more pronounced. Gislason said up to two-thirds of residents arrive at a facility in some state of malnutrition through neglect or declining health and mobility that makes feeding themselves an impossible task. Is there a double standard in care homes, one for those directly overseen by the WRHA and another for the far greater number of ones that are still governed by provincial laws and regulations but which do not receive direct oversight? Gislason said she could not say for sure given that the 30 care homes do not currently report to her directly. It would be easy to assign this failure to the WRHA. However, health authorities can only operate within the laws and regulations created by the provincial government. If a government wanted to have the health authorities provide more direct oversight, as is done in other provinces such as Ontario, it would pass regulations and provide the resources to make it so. But that is not happening in Manitoba. That is extremely disappointing given there is a fairly deep body of legislation and regulations designed to provide standards for care homes when it comes to food and nutrition. These guidelines include the requirement to provide at least three meals a day and in-between-meal snacks, and lots of hydration. There's a lot packed into those regulations but when one considers the complexity of the issue, they seem to be profoundly inadequate. The individual stories of food horrors may not be prima facie evidence of a systemic failure. However, there are enough of them to suggest a bigger problem lurks beneath the surface. Tuesdays A weekly look at politics close to home and around the world. In fact, it doesn't take a lot of work to connect food and nutrition with other issues related to long term care. For example, Canada is suffering through an acute shortage of health care aides to work in care homes. Without adequate staffing, there aren't enough people to assist residents who cannot feed themselves. There are also not enough people to make critical observations about when a resident may be suffering from malnutrition. Like many other provinces, Manitoba needs more precise regulations on how care home residents should be fed, and more resources and staff to ensure the facilities adhere to the regulations. Right now, it seems as if many are not getting the food they want or need — which provides a very unappetizing image of the current government. Dan LettColumnist Dan Lett is a columnist for the Free Press, providing opinion and commentary on politics in Winnipeg and beyond. Born and raised in Toronto, Dan joined the Free Press in 1986. Read more about Dan. Dan's columns are built on facts and reactions, but offer his personal views through arguments and analysis. The Free Press' editing team reviews Dan's columns before they are posted online or published in print — part of the our tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Winnipeg Free Press
7 days ago
- Automotive
- Winnipeg Free Press
Virtual production possibilities ‘almost endless'
The man cruising down city streets in a Chevrolet Camaro was, in fact, not moving at all. Behind him, towers passed by; in front, throngs of people from Manitoba's film sector surveyed the scene. They observed the LED screens showing the cityscape, encircling film cameras and soundproofing wall hiding the door the Camaro drove through. Wednesday marked Avro XR Studio's grand opening. Companies behind the virtual production studio are touting it as Manitoba's first of its kind at ground level. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS A demonstration of the Avro XR virtual production studio on Wednesday. 'A lot of people we've spoken to, they all say 'Oh, you do virtual production? That's cool, but when can I bring a car into the space?'' said Austin MacKay, co-founder of CoPilot Co. CoPilot Co., which assists in film production and extended reality, partnered with AVentPro on the new studio. The latter company specializes in event production and audio visual services. The two Manitoba businesses crossed paths via a mutual connection, said Garry Hale, AVentPro president. During the COVID-19 pandemic, AVentPro launched a live broadcast studio with a virtual backdrop for events. 'We realized just how many of our corporate, non-profit and association clients could benefit from this technology,' Hale told a crowd Wednesday. The company supplies and assists with LED equipment. CoPilot Co. has a background in designing virtual production stages and using the technology for filming. Now, after a roughly $1 million investment, the St. Boniface-area site is open for booking. 'Our goal … is to inspire and educate local industry, improving productions,' said Reid Valmestad, co-founder of CoPilot Co. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Garry Hale, owner of AVentPro, speaks at the AVRO XR virtual production studio launch on Wednesday. Perhaps the studio, at 635 Camiel Sys St., will help attract international productions to Manitoba, he added. Avro XR joins StudioLab xR in Winnipeg's virtual production studio offerings. Matthew Dyck, associate creative director with UpHouse, has booked StudioLab xR for his advertising clients. The downtown training hub has allowed UpHouse to pitch 'more ambitious work' knowing it can be done, Dyck relayed. He recently did two campaigns for a customer: one involving high mountain skiing, another involving a tropical beach. 'We shot them both back-to-back in the same location,' Dyck said. 'The possibilities are almost endless.' He attended Avro XR's opening to scout the studio. The virtual production space is roughly 1,500 square feet; there's also a multi-purpose studio with a green screen, production office and kitchen. Concerns around weather, traffic and disrupting communities by filming are eliminated by using virtual production studios, said Kenny Boyce, City of Winnipeg manager of film and special events. 'They can be there all day and all night,' Boyce said. 'The more that we can throw at visiting productions — having direct flights, aggressive tax credits, really talented crews … they shop where they want to go make their film. 'Winnipeg has so much going for it right now.' MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Reid Valmestad (left) and Austin MacKay, co-founders of CoPilot Co, explain the demonstration of the AVRO XR virtual production studio on Wednesday. Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. Some four productions were filming in Winnipeg on Wednesday, including November 1963, a thriller about John F. Kennedy's assassination starring John Travolta. Manitoba logged $224.9 million worth of film production budgets in 2023-24, Manitoba Film & Music's most recent report shows. Valmestad sees Avro XR as a 'very important stepping stone' to a full-scale virtual production studio. The Mandalorian, a Star Wars television series, is among the shows shot through virtual production. Jette Studios, in Niverville, aims to create its own virtual production space, too. Avro XR has launched booking on its website ( Gabrielle PichéReporter Gabrielle Piché reports on business for the Free Press. She interned at the Free Press and worked for its sister outlet, Canstar Community News, before entering the business beat in 2021. Read more about Gabrielle. Every piece of reporting Gabrielle produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Winnipeg Free Press
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
With the school year over, remembering teachers
Opinion I hate marking. Evaluation, grading, assessment or whatever. And it doesn't matter in the slightest whether I am putting a number, a letter, or just comments on whatever my students have been required to 'submit.' Even that word reflects the imbalance of power — assignment submission means the students' submission to me, knowing that my opinion about their work might shape their future. I always hope they realize I am not grading them — just their work. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Plenty of students remember that one special teacher whose teaching formula made all the difference. Columnist Peter Denton is no exception. Over the past few years, there has been considerable debate in these pages about how we should grade students in our public school system. Yet there has been little debate on what those students are (or should be) learning, or whether it is going to be of any value in their lives ahead as Canadian citizens. As a post-secondary teacher who deals daily with the results of that school system, I have had zero input into its evaluation. No one asks me whether the students are prepared, or what could be done better. One conversation I had many years ago has stuck with me, however. A tenured professor, who had consumed more beer than usual, fumed about the prestigious engineering faculty where we both worked. He said 'if you select for the best and brightest, you can tell them to learn the multiplication table backwards by tomorrow morning, and most of them will do it successfully. But that doesn't mean that they should, or that it is useful, or that it makes any sense.' He was right. I can still hear his voice and see the frustration on his face every time I start to mark yet another assignment. Does it really matter to them? To anyone? What have they learned by doing it? Anything at all? While I would like to think things were better back when I was a student, I am not convinced. My teachers must have taught me something. I'm just not sure what it was, or whether what I learned was because of what they tried to teach me, or despite their best efforts. So, I don't remember curriculum. Or lesson plans. Or important information. My math skills today would barely let me escape middle school. Geographical facts are obsolete or fragmentary trivia answers. Reading and writing require constant practice, still. I kept some grade school assignments both to jog my memory and to undermine any smugness about what I do now. I especially appreciated the teachers who marked me, not only for what I submitted, but for what I could have done, had I worked harder. However much that critical assessment stung at the time, they were usually right. The best teachers, however, were those who tried, who cared, who were honest with what they thought and felt, who made mistakes and owned them. Vulnerable, not power-tripping. For those teachers, their respect mattered more than any grade they were compelled to give me. I was a science nerd in high school. I took French because it was fun and English because it was required. Mostly, I found the Grade 11 English curriculum boring and unimaginative — despite what my teacher did to jazz it up. In Grade 12, however, she cut me loose for independent study — perhaps tired of dealing with my disruptions in class! So, I chose to read the plays of George Bernard Shaw — all of them — and then wrote what was no doubt a terrible essay, weaving them together. Inspired by my freedom, I then segued to reading P.G. Wodehouse and all about Bertie Wooster and Jeeves. My final assignment — a poetry collection — was typed through the night, the day before it was due. Her brief, thoughtful, affirmations of that assignment have stayed with me. I still occasionally write poetry and lyrics (perhaps someday they might be worth publishing!). From this experience, I learned not only that words mattered and could change the world, but that my words mattered, and could do the same. That realization shaped the trajectory of my subsequent academic (and literary) life. Weekday Mornings A quick glance at the news for the upcoming day. So, at the University of Winnipeg, putting science aside, I was inspired by Don Jewison's ironic comments on e.e. cummings, as pigeons fornicated by the open classroom window; by Fahmy Farag's delighted and whimsical insights into W.B. Yeats; and by Clem Wyke's profound understanding of John Milton. The rest, you could say, was history. As a teacher, I know that sometimes it takes a while for students to appreciate what they have learned. So, 49 years after I graduated from the high school in Selkirk, I want to say a long overdue, heartfelt thank you to my English teacher, Mrs. Patricia Fenske, for her wise teaching. It made a difference for me, and I'm sure for many others as well. While I will always hate marking, I have tried to pay forward in my own teaching the best of what I learned or was taught. Someday (in a few decades, perhaps?) someone might tell me that it mattered, too. Peter Denton writes from his home in rural Manitoba.
