Sometimes connecting with long-standing friends feels as if there were never any gaps in your time together.  Such is the case when friends Laura and Sue indicated that they wanted to take me out for a birthday lunch.  We have celebrated many of my birthdays together but not so many as of late.  I miss our times together but we made up for lost time with this rendezvous.  We enjoyed bonding chats and a beautiful bottle of wine (2 in fact) and the food-ah the food!

Tapas is my favourite menu style but is not conducive to all lunch gatherings.  I have shared so many forkfuls off of plates not my own, with this trio though, that it is not an issue.  There was a time when we enjoyed dim sum together almost once a week.

There was harmony in our selections and the end result was a delectable sampling of tastes.

My first bite was of Potato and Egg and I could have happily, eaten an entire plate (potato lover that I am).  The tiny multi-coloured potatoes where lightly squashed and then topped with shredded egg and fish eggs.  The saltiness of the roe was a perfect compliment to the silky oil and perfectly cooked potatoes which tasted almost sweet.

The spicy cilantro chicken came next and although it was undercooked, the meat was succulent with a little bit of heat at the end of a bite.  The cilantro garnish did not seem to be an essential flavour in the dish.  Too bad-I love the fresh taste of cilantro with chicken.

One of their specials was grilled fava beans with feta which were unique and delicious.

I have no idea what the ingredients of this last selection were but the details do not really matter when something tastes this good.  The grilled cheese was creamy and silky and the bread perfectly grilled with what tasted to me like an extra generous glob of butter.  Whatever else was stuffed inside, perfectly blended with the identified tastes.

The locale at 85 Princess Street is nicely appointed but very noisy as there are no floor or wall coverings on concrete to buffer the boisterous lunch chatter.  We solved this by staying half the afternoon, when it became much quieter.

I find the decor of my favourite Winnipeg restaurant-Segovia, cozier and their staff more acquainted with the passion of tapas but I was definitely intrigued by what Deer + Almond has going on and will likely check them out again.

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.

The table was set to reciprocate for the meals that we had shared over the winter.  The young families that we host at our home monthly, wanted to thank us for our cozy times with a spring dinner celebration in our honour.

And were these folks organized!  This was the task list posted in the kitchen.  And here were our handsome chefs.

It was a spring time citrus theme and while the guys were busy in the kitchen, amazingly delicious cocktails were served in the yard as the little ones picnicked on quesadillas (which looked pretty darned good too)!

Soon we were called to dinner and assembled around the dining room table which was set up in the sun-filled living room.

The timing of the event was consistent with our mandatory Sunday dinner and so our gang was invited as well as Sister #3 who assists us when we host the group at our home every month.

On to the food:

The ribs were succulent.

As was the cauliflower in a rich and creamy bechamel.

Throughout dinner we were entertained with instrumental renditions of our eclectic music choices as well as a special treat of music from one of the beloved Moms who is a concert pianist and was performing later that evening.

The menu and recipe (but not the inspired setting) came from this cookbook:

The collection provides all the information necessary for busy families to shop and prepare nutritious and balanced meals for their families.

All the ingredients and timing of the preparations are clearly outlined.

As well as step by step photos of the process.

The piece de resistance of the evening was when the kids changed into their waiter attire and each served us our dessert.

Look at the joy that asking the kids to participate can bring!

And how seriously and with determined concentration, the tasks were taken on.

The bananas in lime juice were divine but in truth, I could have been fed anything and I could not have been more surrounded with love.

Kath’s quote: “Cooking is at once child’s play and adult joy. And cooking done with care is an act of love.”-Craig Claiborne

Love-that is all.

There are times when D and I head out to the cottage for a short time without packing up any groceries.  This is a far cry from the days when the kids were growing up and we looked like the Beverley Hillbillies even when we were just packed up for a short time.  This weekend, was a case in point.  We arrived in time for Saturday evening dinner at the “big” cottage as it is affectionately known (meaning that it is “bigger” than our tiny one).  On Sunday morning we had coffee fixings and then we headed 2/3 of the way into town and ventured into beautiful Bird’s Hill Park.

When we arrived at Pine Ridge Hollow (without a reservation) we were told that there would be a 15 minute wait, which we gladly used to snoop around their splendid gift shop.  The decor items are gorgeous and perfect for the cottage, so we made a couple of little purchases.

When we were sat in the second floor dining room, we noticed many multi-generational families in large groups finishing up their lunches.  We’ll have to remember this special gathering place in the future.

I was an absolute thug after we perused the menu because it was so beautiful, I had a difficult time making a choice.  The physical layout of the menu has a number of photos and sections and little anecdotal words.  I guess I was so drawn to it because it is very much like my blog template.

In the end I chose the apple, walnut and goat cheese salad, which after I ordered it, realized that is was almost exactly what I ordered my last time to a restaurant (that being Dessert Sinsations the previous Thursday).  I told you I was distracted….

Even though the ingredients were very similar, they tasted very different and I enjoyed Pine Ridge’s version just as much.  Just one tiny suggestion-the server knew that I was avoiding deep-fried items because I had already passed on the pickerel for that reason and yet the two disks of goat cheese were panko coated and deep-fried.  I set them aside and had them packaged up for a treat for D.

D on the other-hand, knew exactly what he wanted and ordered it immediately.  He loved their Reuben as he indicated that it was not over-powered by dressing and cheese and the quality of the corn beef and the pungent sauerkraut shown through.  He was also tickled with the hand-cut fries and added that it was one of the best Reubens that he had ever tasted!

I also enjoyed my individual pot of tea so much that I asked for the pot to be refilled with hot water.  I can’t specifically say whether it was the tea itself or the quaint little tea pot that the soothing liquid was served in.

The attention to detail on this property is unsurpassed in the decor, plate presentation and the facility as a whole.  As we walked through the garden on our way back to the car, we could not help but notice that they are perfectly set up for weddings.  If they go to such trouble for a simple lunch, imagine the effort that would go into a wedding!

Kath’s quote:  “The table was set up inside the cartshed. On it there were four sirloins of beef, six fricassees of chicken, casseroled veal, three legs of mutton and, in the centre, a beautiful roasted sucking pig, flanked by four chitterlings with sorrel.”-Gustave Flaubert

Love-that is all.

To say that I am frugal is a gross understatement.  I can often stretch a dish over four meals.  In this case, once as freshly garlic mashed potatoes and then with D for a left overs lunch. Next, I refurbished the dish into another recipe of these “Left Over Mashed Potato Patties”.  But I declare, they are so delicious that I would mash up a pot of potatoes just to make them again.  Today I do not have a lunch meeting which does not happen very often, so I will enjoy them a fourth (and final time).

The recipe is an easy one made with items that you will already have in your cupboard.

The Frenchman and I enjoyed these for dinner on Friday night.  He with homemade applesauce that D’s Mom makes and I with an additional dollop of  no fat sour cream (that I prefer to the 14% version).

Kath’s quote: “The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for 30 years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found.” –Calvin Trillin

Love-that is all.

The rain has started to fall on a Sunday morning at the lake.  D will soon be home from the tennis courts as the guys who assemble each week, will be forced to delay their weekly matches.  I would love to be on the overhang of the deck but a Momma Robin has perched upon her nest of blue eggs and every time I have to venture past, she vacates the nest.  So I am in our cozy cottage instead, with the window flung open to hear the birds singing in spite of the rain.  My Mom once told me, that this is the sign of a long rain.  If the birds cease to chirp, it is because they know that they will soon be back at it.  But if they continue to sing, it is because the rain will continue for hours.

This is one of my favourite weekends of the year as we are a family of dancers and this is recital weekend.  There was a time when this meant hours of preparation, but now we just show up and take it all in with enormous smiles on our faces.

We left directly from the auditorium for Lester Beach in order to have dinner with D2 and P.  It was our post-Ireland dinner, when we could relive our favourite moments of our trip.  We certainly get our monies worth out of our vacations, would you not say?

As we walked in the door, the Celtic music was blaring and we were swept up in a quadrille (well not exactly because we only had half of the required four couples) and handed Smithwicks and glasses of Guinness.  I told you we were a family of dancers.  Perhaps we could be described as a family of imbibers too-not as complimentary….

But to the food!  When we were in Ireland, D had a craving for seared scallops which D2 and P remembered.  They wanted to treat D to a little delight to thank him for being our chauffeur on this trip.  D2 sizzled up the butter until the colour was a gorgeous bronze and then quickly turned the nuggets over the heat for just moments-exactly the way that we love them.  They served this with Molly’s Irish bannock that they managed to search out in St. Boniface.

Next up was a hearty potato and clam soup, reminiscent of one we had for our pub lunch whilst circling the Ring of Kerry.  D2 added white pepper to finish the silky spoonfuls with a little bit of heat.

A spring time salad of strawberries and pecans came next.

By this time, we were recreating a Limerick exchange that we had so much fun performing with a related Murphy while we were in Ireland.  That one took place, with an ocean between us and this one with Lake Winnipeg separating us.  At least there was no time difference as the last go round had our sparring partner up until 3 in the morning!

The entree was an amazing meat pie with the flakiest of pastries and a savoury filling.  The honeyed parsnips that I prepared in the city were P’s request from our pre-Ireland get together.

For dessert we indulged in ice cream, topped with Baileys Irish Cream and a plummy glass of port.

By this time it is midnight, at it is time to go.  We do not have far because our cottages are almost across the street from each other.  The journey took longer than one might expect though, as we had neglected to turn on any lights at our little place and did not have the fore-sight to bring along a flashlight.  We managed to find our way without incident back to our summer house, appropriately named: Life is Good.

Kath’s quote:

“For ….we can make liquor to sweeten our lips

Of pumpkins and parsnips and walnut-tree chips.”

-Henry David Thoreau, ‘Walden’

Love-that is all.