Today I introduce a new feature and a new guest blogger to Food Musings. I have known Alice since high school. She was older than me and I would admire her and her friends in candid yearbook shots and on the sport team pictures. We were reunited when I discovered that she was married to a partner in the advertising firm that I worked at. Many years pass and her son’s family are friends with my nephew’s family. That son has a summer home at the same lake community as us. Belair Forest is well known for its blueberry and mushroom picking. Alice is a forager and has discovered many treasures in the woodlands. She will be sharing her tips for foraging as the weeks pass.

This is a great year for picking chanterelle mushrooms as there has been plenty of rainfall and very warm temperatures. I visited my favorite spots several times and found a few pounds every time I went.

Even my grandchildren  enjoy a few hours in the forest hunting for chanterelles. They have their own baskets and they carry plastic knives which are safe but make for good mushroom cutting. Taking the grandchildren mushroom picking is a very rewarding experience as I am so passionate about picking and teaching them about the gifts the forest offers us. It is also an opportunity to really embrace and enjoy our natural resources and see the beauty in nature. Someone has to teach the younger generation to be appreciative of what nature has to offer.

Now I just have to figure out how to teach them to enjoy the taste of mushrooms. Chanterelles grow in evergreen or mixed woods forest with a mossy floor.

There are lots of areas out by Belair. In July through August, just take a drive north on Hwy 59 and see where cars are parked on the side of the highway and you know they are picking mushrooms.  Friends have also told me that the Kenora forests have provided large harvests this summer. I never did find the incredible chanterelle garden I have watched others find on YouTube. Nevertheless, we had several good meals and enough to share or give to friends.  I think they are as happy receiving as I was giving.

I will stay hopeful that one day I will find the mother lode.

Find out more:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Picking+Chanterelles

https://www.google.ca/?gfe_rd=cr&ei=HCKzV9uwE-Sy8wewkoHwCA&gws_rd=ssl#q=Chanterelle+Recipes

Kath’s quote: “All of the people who work in the kitchen with me go out into the forests and on to the beach. It’s a part of their job. If you work with me you will often be starting your day in the forest or on the shore because I believe foraging will shape you as a chef”. –Rene Redzepi

Love never fails.

Our honourable hosts

Each year at approximately the same time, we join good friends from Toronto at the lake house that they retain at Willard lake. Designating a theme for each weekend we are together, happened quite by accident but has been one of the highlights of our time together. We were lucky this time as BIL David had gifted me with a real kimono when he traveled around the world a number of years back. D was able to find a judo uniform at Value Village so we were all set.

Saki Mojito Cocktails were served as we were perched on the floor.

This was after the entrance of another guest (check out the beard!)

We were assigned to the appetizer and dessert and D had done a dry run the weekend before so we would have a sense of timing and recipe difficulty. The recipe for Korean shrimp and green onion pancakes was suggested by Sister #3 who had a Korean student live with her for a year (recipe below).

Dinner stretched into the evening with prepping together and visiting our host as he barbequed double-boned pork chops that had been marinating all day.

Next up was a simple salad of cellophane noodles and slivers or cucumber.

Our entree was the hearty pork chops, caramelized onions and roasted sweet potato halves.

We let ourselves rest a bit before we were in the kitchen again on dessert duty, preparing a Vietnamese dessert of battered and fried bananas with a sweet coconut milk dipping sauce and a sprinkling of sesame seeds.

The evening and rest of the weekend was picture perfect. We recounted our joys and sorrows of the year since we had last been together. Then we toasted the time together, the time past and the time ahead.

Kath’s quote: “They talked in the shorthand of old friends and shared memories.”
― Dee Henderson, Before I Wake    

As we opened fortune cookies over the weekend, they were taped to these antlers to be a permanent record of our time together.

Love never fails.

Our first glance of the blue Tuscan sky through our bathroom “window”

and a view of our terrace in the daylight.

After breakfast in our hotel we took the same route that we had walked in the dark the previous evening

arriving at the town square.

This is the handsome man with whom I spent the time of my life in Tuscany.

One of our first stops was the wine store in case we needed a night cap in our room.

After depositing the wine safely in our room, we wandered down Viale G. Verde passed the various spas by which the community became famous.

We knew from our research that Montecatini was divided into two communities-Montecatini Ferme where we were staying and Montecatini Alto that we could see high above us. We guessed that there was a route by road but we were tourists and opted to do tackle the journey by the vintage Funicular which was kind of like a slanted trolley car.

This as the gorgeous view of Montecatini Ferme from Montecatini Alto.

Almost upon disembarking we spotted this tribute to a loved one. Did someone have a funicular accident?

We had to climb straight up to the town square.

This lovely spot awaited us.

Before we decided which restaurant to have lunch in, we had a little snoop around.

There were flowers everywhere.

As well as historic buildings.

We were most fascinated with the every day life of the residents.

I would have dearly loved to have purchased something here but we waited until near the end of our stay to decide what to buy once we had a chance to window shop.

The restaurants put out baskets of their ingredients to lure you in.

This lady sat all by herself at one restaurant, never ate or drank anything and her expression never changed. I think that she might have been ordered to sit there and to not make any (more?) trouble.

My first taste of house wine-I was in heaven. We drank the house wine at each and every place we stopped-it was about being economical but also to compare and contrast tastes and flavour profiles.

I choose this unappetizing looking lunch as my selection-Tuscan Crostini sounds innocent enough but had a pungent, heavy taste. I had struck out at my first time at to bat.

D on the other hand loved his grilled cheese sandwich.

All the patrons sat outside that day but I peaked in to see what the interior was like.

I would have loved to have visited again on a rainy or chilly day but we still had so many restaurant meals ahead of us.

Kath’s quote: “A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.” – John Steinbeck

Love never fails.

I found this little bus shelter the square.

Whenever I am asked which Winnipeg restaurant is my favourite-the answer is always Segovia Tapas Bar (484 Stradbrook Avenue just west of Osborne St. in the River & Osborne neighbourhood of Fort Rouge). We first visited the year that Adam Donnelly and Carolina Konrad opened the tapas restaurant and return as often as we can. The trouble is, there are so many great restaurants in this city, we don’t get to visit as often as we would like. Our kids, on the other hand, visit often, especially our eldest daughter. She loves their patio and that it is completely wheelchair accessible. Before you go, you need to decide whether or not you are comfortable sharing a number of small plates with your dinner mates. We love tapas as you get to sample a variety of dishes without filling up on only a couple of tastes.

On this occasion I was dining with girlfriends and celebrating my birthday.

We started with one of my old favourites-Patatas Bravas ($7)*. This typical Spanish dish of fried potatoes is usually topped with a spicy tomato sauce or aioli, Segovia offers both in a circular design on the delectable fries.

Next up were Fried Beets adorned with Cashew Dukkha (Egyptian sauce) and Berbere (Ethiopian spice) Aioli ($10).

I love Beef Tartare ($15) but one of our group was hesitant to try the dish of minced raw beef. Our delightful server, knowing that it was my birthday, brought the dish as a gift to the table. We made a believer out of our hesitant friend and were delighted with the cold, sleek taste.

Another friend is a fried chicken lover so we chose Segovia’s version. Not your typical fried chicken; these were chicken morsels with some lovely heat that were offset by a Spicy Lime Dressing and Parsley Salad ($15).

I love salty/sweet combinations, so the next dish was my favourite of the evening- Whipped Feta drizzled with pistachios and honey was absolutely divine.

The piece de resistance were the mascarpone stuffed Medjool dates ($2 each) indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa. They were drizzled with Canadian maple syrup and topped with California pistachios to produce an international taste sensation.

Segovia is open daily (except Tuesdays) at 5 pm and close at 12 midnight on Friday and Saturday and 11 pm other days. They offer evening dinner menu only but a second restaurant by the same owners is Clementine (not yet visited) at 123 Princess St. It is open during the day for breakfast and lunch. Segovia is accessible to persons with mobility issues. There is a metered surface lot across the street, evening street parking available and a small lot to the rear of the building.

* A couple of Canstar readers asked me to include prices in my bi-weekly column but the editors declined. This was the version I submitted before that decision was made.

Kath’s quote: Sharing food with another human being is an intimate act that should not be indulged in lightly.” –MFK Fisher

Love never fails.