Western Living Magazine
2026 Bathroom Design Tip #4: Illuminate Small Spaces With Big Lighting
6 Creative Ways to Decorate Your Ceiling
2026 Bathroom Design Tip #3: Bring a Little Patina into a Traditional Design
Wild B.C. Salmon, Fresh Dill and Heirloom Tomato Soup (Canh Chua Cá Thì Là)
Recipe: Quick Miso Noodle Soup
Recipe: Hopcott Farms Beef Short Ribs with Black Pepper and Sweet Soy (Sườn Bò Nướng)
Tofino’s Floating Sauna Turned Me Into a Sauna Person
A Wellness Getaway in Squamish Valley: Off-Grid Yurts, Sauna Cycles and River Calm
Local Getaway Guide: A Peaceful Two-Day Itinerary for Harrison Hot Springs
“Why Don’t Towels Stretch?” Herschel Co-Founder’s New Home Goods Brand Rethinks the Towel
Audi Elevates the Compact Luxury SUV
New and Noteworthy: 10 Fresh Home Design Finds for Winter 2026
Entries Are Now Open for the 2026 Designers of the Year Awards!
Designers of the Year Frequently Asked Questions
Photos: The Western Living Design 25 Finalists Party
How to slice, dice, fry, preserve, peel and prep like the pros.
Repeat after us: it's not that hard. Sure, there's no easy way to make Beef Wellington, but the best chefs in the West know that there are plenty of shortcuts to help you channel your inner culinary star without breaking the bank or breaking a sweat. We've assembled them here to tell all.
Preserve fresh-picked olives (without lye) by hanging them from the rafters or roof of your garage in a pillowcase with equal parts rock salt. Toss every few days for a couple of months until most of the liquid has dripped out (into a pan). Rinse and refrigerate. Felix Zhou, Heritage Asian Eatery
I'm a big fan of dehydrated quinoa flakes to bulk out alternative proteins like ground turkey, chickpeas or beans when I'm making meatballs and meatloaves. They help to absorb moisture and they also act as a clean binding agent. Darren Brown, Chef D Brown
Cut an inch off the base and place it in a jar of water. It will extend its life for a few more days and keep it fresh. Christine Beard, Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts
Add sodium citrate (Amazon sells it) to the milk before adding the cheese to get a super-smooth emulsified cheese sauce. Tobias MacDonald, Vancouver Community College Culinary Arts
Dry them and then grind them in a coffee grinder! Thomas Haas, Thomas Haas Chocolates
Keep them dry; moisture will make them go bad quickly. You can keep them wrapped in a paper towel (but change the towel daily). Most importantly, they should be in an airtight container, on the top shelf of your fridge. That way you can keep them for over a week. Jean-Claude Douget, Gotham
Immerse it in water. Mariana Gabilondo, La Mezcaleria
Press it to release excess moisture. Christine Beard
What's one ingredient the home chef should be using more of and why? Champagne vinegar. It just makes everything sparkle. Jeff Koop, Mamie Taylor's
Add butter, sautéed onions, garlic and mushrooms to leftover beef, chicken or pork and encase in puff pastry. Brush with egg wash and bake. Julian Bond
Cookbook authors Lindsay Anderson and Dana VanVeller spent the summer of 2013 traversing the country to suss out all that's great in our home and native land. The result is the recently published Feast, and one of the key things they learned in developing the book was how to substitute common ingredients for ones that are tougher to source.
Toss the equivalent amount of roasted garlic with a balsamic reduction (1 tsp per head)
Swap for spelt or stone-ground whole wheat flour
Use a 1:1 mix of maple syrup and molasses
Use sour cream
In the many years since we've asked the West's best chefs for their tips, there has been an overwhelming selection for the worst tool in the kitchen: the garlic press. The one-time staple of the kitchen drawer is a head-scratcher for most chefs. It squeezes out all the useful flavours, complains Karl Gregg of the Blueprint Groupa view shared by Au Comptoir's Dan McGee: I don't understand the appeal. On top of that, theyre brutal to clean. Why not use your chef's knife to crush and then mince from there? says Gregg.
The best way to preserve your summer cherries is to poach them in simple syrup, then store in brandy for Old-Fashioned cocktails. Garett Blundell, Tableau Bar Bistro
What's the trick to cleaning baked-on grease and food? Returning the pot to the stove or oven and leaving it to soak over gentle heat with a few tablespoons of Sapadilla (made in Vancouver!) all-purpose or counter cleaner. don't let it boil and bubble. It even cleans hood-fan grease filters. Felix Zhou
The best way to butcher meat or fish is to put down a layer of cling film on your work surface and peel it off when done for a much quicker cleanup. Lee Cooper
A dryer sheet! Add hot water and dish soap to your pan or pot. Pop in a dryer sheet and let soak before easily scrubbing away stuck-on grease or food. Julian Bond
Magic Erasers! Christine Beard, Tobias MacDonald
To clean a dirty oven, make a paste with baking soda and water and spread it in. Let it sit overnight. The next day, wipe off the paste as much as you can with a wet rag. Spray with white vinegar and finish wiping it out. Easy and natural. Simon Bouchard
The editorial team at Western Living loves nothing more than a perfectly designed space, place or thing: and we’re here to tell you about it. Email us your pitches at [email protected].
Are you over 18 years of age?
