I wrote an article for Mother’s Day of 2021, and have tweaked it slightly for this Mother’s Day in case you didn’t read it last time.
I want to dedicate an entire post to my own very special mother- whom I call “mum” because my family is from London, UK, also known in her own right as Marion Kane. But before I get to that, I want to share an article I wrote on another Mother’s Day about three generations of women on my maternal side of the family.
My Mum is a Hard Act to Follow
To begin with, how cute was she as a toddler? When I first saw this, I was horrified that my grandparents gave a toddler a bottle of Coke…oh dear.
Add to that:
- beautiful
- ultra-fashionable
- amazingly hip- even in her seventies
- brilliant
- hilariously funny (she could have been a stand-up comedian)
- petite and also fierce as hell (I take after her being a modest 5 ft 1 1/2 inches tall)
- curious
- can talk to anybody
- speaks five languages
- lights up a room with her effervescent energy
- activist against injustice
- proud feminist
And I could keep going…
She also happens to be a Canadian foodie celeb! Make sure to check out her website to listen to her wonderful foodie podcasts and read her articles. She has had the most fascinating and exciting career.
Here’s her bio:
Marion Kane has been a leader in the world of food journalism for several decades. Her love of spam fritters from the subsidized lunch menu at her grammar school growing up in North London U.K. is well known.
She is an intrepid populist whose work combines social commentary with a consuming passion for things culinary. She has a curiosity and a penchant for storytelling that lead her behind the scenes – into restaurant kitchens and into home cooks’ hearts – on a path of discovery that educates and entertains.
For 18 years, she was food editor/columnist for The Toronto Star, Canada’s largest newspaper. On that beat, she chewed the fat with celebrities like Julia Child who cooked her breakfast; Sophia Loren with whom she shared an intimate two-hour lunch; Nigella Lawson who dubbed the bond between them “kitchen cousins” and Keith Richards who relished and signed her full-page tribute to his favourite dish: shepherd’s pie.
In 2007, Marion resigned from The Toronto Star to pursue the medium of audio podcasts with her lively series “Sittin’ in the Kitchen®.” This has become a popular, authoritative body of work.
These days, Marion likes to be known as “a seasoned food journalist” – a freelance Food Sleuth® who shares her wit, passion and love for the spoken and written word with a faithful, hungry audience.
Born in Montreal, she is back in Canada and based in Toronto. She still has not mastered the spam fritter but loves to cook – and especially baking cakes – in her Kensington Market kitchen.
Here is one of the first photos of me and my mum:
I want to also send a Happy Mother’s Day shout out to my sister, Ruthie who became a mother just over two years ago to little Simone who has given our family a shining light of hope during this pandemic.
Always the fashionista, our mum prides herself on her vintage coat collection- in particular, her obsession with leopard skin prints. The following photo is of my mum and Ruthie in 1990 on the front steps of the house we both grew up in Kensington Market in downtown Toronto.
Here is a recent pic of Simone wearing the same coat Ruthie wore in the previous photo.
And lastly, here is a photo of me and mum at the London Zoo when I was the same age as Simone in the photo above being spooked by an elephant with boundary issues:
Thanks mum for being an incredible role model and inspiration. You are one kick-ass woman and I’m proud to call you my mother.
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