“And so this is Christmas, and what have you done?”  John Lennon’s words resonate with me at this time of year.  I try my darndest to complete the circle of tasks that I have started in the year before the holiday season comes around, so I can look back with contentment and look forward with excitement at the new journeys ahead.  So with just a couple of days left from our Isla tale, I am back at remembering (not always with clarity) our time on Isla in 2013.

Day 13-We got so attached to our golf cart that we once again decided to keep it for another day.  This meant that we could scoot around the island to start to say our good-byes and finish up some shopping.  First stop was Hortenzia’s where D had a play with her granddaughters.

Next stop was at the shop of our old friend Gladys’s.  I did some shopping as I love everything in her shop, in fact, I loved the shop itself from the floor to the shutters, both pictured above.

While in Centro we ran into my new friend Jackie who was on Isla because she had discovered my posts about the island on my blog.  She and her travel companion joined us for lunch at La Lomita’s.  The familiar little place (we often stay across the street) was getting a hand-painted spruce up.

It was our friend’s first visit and she was blown away!

I started with the chicken tortilla soup.

Jackie ordered this amazing soup but I cannot for the life of me remember the name of the dish but, isn’t it exquisite?

Her friend sampled the enchiladas.

D and I split the chiles relleno, our all time favourite La Lomita dish!

Except for their papas fritas of course.

This lovely face belonged to our helpful server.

We spent the afternoon shelling the beach right in front of our apartment and then it was time to get ready for our date night that evening!

We started off  with happy hour at Villa Bella with beer so cold, it makes your teeth hurt.  The place was quaint enough in what Doug described as a kind of Rotarian club get together from the past.

But, the beer did indeed make my teeth hurt… assisted by the insulated cozy that it was served in.

D had a lime margarita shaken, on the rocks and served in a coconut shell.

We noitced that the sun had almost set and since it was near the end of our time on the island,we wanted to take in the last rays,

so we stopped at Iguana’s before we headed back to Minioes to share a fish Veracruz style and a couple more very cold beer with our feet in the sand.

It was too dark to get a really good shot of my fish but you would get an idea of the ingredients from this photo: tomatoes, Serrano chilies, green olives, capers, cilantro and fresh lime wedges. Omgosh, it was delicious.

Next stop was Bastos where we shared garlic shrimp.  They split the abundant meal onto two piping hot plates.  The perfectly cooked shrimp was served alongside a buttery fettuccine and steamed broccoli, carrots and zucchini sticks.  With a glass of vinto blanco and tinto, I think that it came to $25.

On the way home in the golf cart, we stopped to visit our gang (minus one bro and sis-in-law who had gone to Rolandi’s on their own) at Mangoes.  They were dining with Isleno Ricardo and his new wife Patty.  Sister #2 and her husband first met Ricardo when they stayed at Chac Chi.  He was such a helpful staff member.  I even remember that he accompanied our gang including our daughter on her scooter through colonias to baseball tacos so that we wouldn’t encounter any of those surprising sidewalk gaps.  Both were born and raised on Isla and Patty worked hard to get her education by traveling back and forth on a daily basis to go to university in Cancun.

Last stop was at an authentic gelato shop in centro (authentic because we inquired with the owner and he shared that his family was from Bologna).  So I enjoyed a satisfying coconut gelato on a sugared cone and D a pistachio one.  We had also met another Italian couple on the island: Mariuccia and Carlo holiday every year on Isla, all the way from Rome.  We first became acquainted when she was speaking to another traveler about my beach skirt.  She had admired it, but put forth her opinion that it must have not been purchased in North America but somewhere in Europe, guessing Italy.  AND she was correct, as I had bought it in Positano when D and I had traveled there years earlier.  The funny thing is that the bathing suit that is an exact match was picked up at a little second hand store along Osborne in Winnipeg; about as far away as you can get from either Isla or the Amalfi coast.

Kath’s quote: “Sharing food with another human being is an intimate act that should not be indulged in lightly.”-M.F.K. Fisher

Love-that is all.

While touring the area of St. David’s bench and dining at Ravine Vineyards, it was also recommended to check out this amazing new build that is being lovingly recreated as a Tuscan villa.  Since we were taking this little sojourn as consolation for not being able to swing some time in Tuscany, this was a very pleasant surprise indeed.  As much as I love tasting the wines at the vineyards, it is the stories of the wine families that most intrigue me and this story was one of love and family.

“Owned and operated exclusively by the Colaneri family, Colaneri Estate Winery opened its doors to the public in 2010.  It is a testament to the Colaneri family legacy, both in Niagara-on-the-Lake and in their homeland of Frosolone, Italy, where the rather enchanting story of how this winery came to be begins.  When Joseph Colaneri set eyes on Maria it was love.  They soon wed and had two sons, Mike and Nick.  The possibilities of the new world beckoned and in 1967 the family moved to Canada, eventually acquiring a 40-acre vineyard, which ‘Ma and Pa’ Colaneri lovingly tended to.  The boys married sisters, Angie and Betty, they had children and they all settled in the vineyard, the place that would eventually house the winery that would be dedicated to the Colaneri family and ancestors.”

In a short drive, we felt like we had left the golden villas of Italy and had suddenly arrived in the French wine country.  I had met Michelle Bosc of Chateau des Charmes at the Canadian Food Bloggers conference last spring in Hockley Valley and just before we were departing for Toronto she sent me a note telling me about their wine store opening in the GTA.  Unfortunately, I was going to have to miss the urban store because we were on our way to Stratford and Niagara on Lake, when of course it dawned on me that we were traveling to the place where it all began for the Bosc family.

Peter was our knowledgeable guide of the Chateau des Charmes estate and told us fascinating stories of weather and grapes and even roses, particularly how the growing of them is intricately entwined with the growing of grapes.

“Château des Charmes was founded in 1978 by Paul Bosc, a fifth generation French winegrower. Paul and his young family arrived in Niagara in the 1960’s with the idea that growing our own grapes was the best way to make fine wine.”

We were so intrigued by Paul’s story that we bought a book later that day entitled “Niagrara’s Wine Visionaries” by Linda Bramble to read more about his fascinating wine journey.   Above all, we were impressed with the Bosc’s family love of the land and their efforts to use technology for the good of the grapes, the soil and the wine-growing region.

“We believe we are custodians of the land. From the beginning we have been committed to using sustainable practices and are charter members of Sustainable Winegrowing Ontario. Paul and his team are meticulous. They use modern science and a lot of TLC to coax the best out of every vine. And with more than 30 vintages in our vineyards we think we now know which varieties grow best in which spot. But there is always more to learn.”

Kath’s quote: “Wine is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”-Benjamin Franklin

Love-that is all.

Yesterday during the festivities of cheering Rider Nation onto their well deserved Grey Cup win and gnoshing on homemade pizza and wings, we opened our first Snackbox.  It is a monthly subscription of healthy, natural, and most of all, delicious snacks.  Each month they ship 10 – 12 items to their members across Canada through Canada Post.  All of their snacks are “curated” by their in-house holistic nutritionist, so busy professionals and parents don’t have to spend time reading the labels.

The Quinoa Skinny Cracker proved to be a tasty way to scoop up the mango salsa that I chopped up just before game time and the Veggie Straws were perfect when dipped into the baba ganoush that I had in the fridge.  The Fruit and Nut Medley was a big hit as were the Pear Slices.  The latter are dried without the use of any additives or preservatives and tasted as close to a fresh pear as you could get.  For dessert, J2 indulged in the Toffee Coconut Dark Chocolate Bar.  You can taste the quality of the dark chocolate with every bite and the bar is rich and satisfying.  D is on the road this morning (for a business visit to our victorious neighbours to the west) so he packed up Hemp Protein Bar, a Cashew Lara Bar and My Smoothie Green .  I have a Green Tea chilling in the fridge to accompany my lunch of left over pizza.  At first we mused that the Sponge Bob Square Pants Cheese Puffs were an odd inclusion but J2 thought that they tasted just like Cheetos without the concern of unnatural ingredients.  In fact, J2 decided that they would make a perfect first fun snack when the Wee One is old enough to begin her solid food journey.  The last ingredient of our Snackbox was a Gobi Spice package that is recommended to toss with cauliflower.  I intend to pick up some fresh veggies today capitalize on this organic certified exotic, spice mix.

The cost of a subscription goes from $24-$33. +tax per month depending upon the length or your subscription.  The lovely folks at Snackbox have created a special code for Food Musings readers if you would care to sample your own box of healthy goodies: “FOODMUSINGS”. It entitles you to $15 off your first Snackbox, and it expires on Dec. 31, 2013. It is valid for new customers only. The coupon code is not valid for gifts.

Snackbox is also launching gift subscriptions this week. It is the same as their regular subscriptions, except the subscription does not auto-renew, and shipping is free.

The Wee One was decked out in Vikings gear for her Grandpa but failed to go home and change into her Giants jersey for the second pre-Grey Cup game.  The results?  Vikings won, Giants lost and the Riders didn’t need any help at all.

Kath’s quote: “I am out of words”.  John Chick, Defensive End, Saskatchewan Roughriders, on yesterday’s win

Love-that is all.

On this visit to the Niagara on the Lake, we loved the culinary and wine scenes but did not have any opportunity to take part in the other significant reason for visiting the area- the Shaw Festival.

As enthralling as wine country is, the town of Niagara on the Lake is just as breathtaking.  From the exquisitely preserved Victorian architecture…

to the gardens and main street plantings.

We were absolutely enthralled by everything that the community had to offer.  In all honesty, we were also pleasantly surprised that there is such a beautiful vacation spot in the province just next door to our own.  We are constantly scouring on line sites for affordable prices to Europe when a mini vacation is right here combining the vineyards of France, Italian and Germany with the quaint villages of Great Britain.  The theatre scene is like the bonus cherry on top of a delicious sundae.

Kath’s quote: “There is no sincerer love than the love of food.”-George Bernard Shaw

Love-that is all.

Our son and his wife spent extended time in the Philippines, in Manila and the beautiful island of Puerto Galera.  They came home describing their culinary adventures including the eating of fertilized eggs that had baby chicks inside, feathers and all.  Perhaps this is why I had never been too anxious to seek out the cuisine of the Philippines.  But given the cultural diversity of our fair city, it seemed somehow preposterous that I had never been to a Philippine restaurant, until I visited Casa Mesa (617 Selkirk Ave.).

We started with Philippine spring rolls which I often enjoy when I visit Confusion Corner Bar and Grill.  There were stuffed with a savoury pork mixture and were excellent with the provided sauce for dipping.  In fact, the sauce was so good that we dipped just about all of our forkfuls into it.

At the recommendation of our son, I sampled Tosilog otherwise known as Philippine breakfast.  He says that he ate a version like this most mornings while he lived on the islands.  My plate did not have the spicy sauces that he mentioned, but it was still a hearty breakfast and so affordable at $4.99.  There were two perfectly cooked easy over eggs, garlic fried rice and this amazing pork concoction.  Our server (who is also the cook and owner) indicated that she marinates the pork overnight to give it the distinctive candy-like quality.  The sauce was like a sweet chili sauce but without the fieriness from the chilies.

My youngest daughter, who was my lunch date, chose a two dish special of Pancit Bihon (that is to say Philippine chow mein) and breaded shrimp.  The latter had been lightly tossed, just before cooking, into panko flakes.  Panko are Asian “bread crumbs”, which are coarsely ground utilizing rice and tend to be light and crispy.  Rice accompanied her dish as well.  Her plate was also exceptional value.

Casa Mesa has occupied this Selkirk location for just a year.  As you open the door, you are taken by surprise at how bright, sparkling clean and cheerful looking the restaurant is.  Beverly Mesa is equally cheerful as she welcomes you to her casa (home).

Casa Mesa is cash only, so get organized in advance to avoid disappointment.

Kath’s quote: “All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast.”-John Gunther

Love-that is all.