It was a quiet, snowy evening and in our world, the only plan for later that night was to watch the Jets game, so we had time for an early supper with some good, good friends.  Skip to their world: they have three little ones and Mom home schools the oldest.  They have been sick with a cold.  The youngest has just learned to walk and is into everything.  To them, this is more than a quick, early supper.  This is a couple of precious hours where they are not preparing food, serving, feeding and cleaning up.  They are engaging in adult conversation focused on their plans and desires and not only their children.  In short, they really needed this time, however brief.  So if you can treat a young couple to some time like this or better yet, babysit for them, so that they can have some time alone together-do it!

I am currently reading a lovely work of non-fiction entitled “On Rue Tatin”.  The authour is the writer of the French Farmhouse Cookbook and so it was very appropriate that we find ourselves at Chez Sophie Bistro & Pizzeria.

The small dining room room is simply appointed with a bevy of chandeliers hanging from the ceiling but for extra coziness, little lamps perched on every window-sill.

The white sauced pizza looked very tempting and so we will have to go again very soon to sample it. So too, the fried Camembert as D and I recounted our honeymoon which began in Quebec City, eating fried cheese at a sidewalk cafe.

We were able to make our choices and the meal started with a split pea soup served with a “just-out-of-the-oven” mini baguette.  Soup did not start my meal so my anticipation of good things to come was that much heightened.

And oh, I was not disappointed.  I choose Moule & Frites every chance I get and Chef Sophie’s are up there with the city’s best (7 1/4 and Inferno’s).  The seafood meat was succulent and in no way had suffered by the poaching process which is sometimes the case.  Mussels must be closely supervised to serve them at their peak and these were beautifully done so.  The nectar that they floated in was so sublime that I boldly requested a spoon.

Sophie’s version comes with a beautiful tossed salad and absolutely delicious French fries: piping hot with a sprinkle of salt (and not a ketchup bottle in sight!).

The guys at the table choose an Alsatian stew of beef and pork with carrot, potato and leek. They too did not receive spoons, but were undeterred because each morsel in their bowl had been simmered for adequate time so as to soak up every droplet of the white wine broth.

Lastly, this gorgeous Arctic Char was presented and consumed with delight.

There was no time for dessert so that is another reason why we will have to return.  D and I finished our wine and remembered the days when we were busily raising our own three children. But we also remembered our last evening in Paris when we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary-the kids were grown, we were a happy couple enjoying life’s shared experiences and we  sat side by side, and dined on Moule & Frites.

Kath’s quote: “If I had magic powers, I should like to wave my golden fork over the confined cookery of Europe and enlarge it to infinity; I would like to . . . offer French nationality to the many hardly known but delicious foreign dishes; …I would like to put the whole of natural history on the spit, in stews, in fricassees, in court-bouillon, in grills,….. ” –Fulbert-Dumonteil (Jean Camille) 1831-1912

On many calendars Wednesday, February 22, 2012 is the beginning of the time before Easter known as Lent.  “Mardi Gras” when literally translated means Fat Tuesday or a time to indulge in sugars and fats before the Lenten fasts begin.  

I am often in Mexico for this day, when Carnivale is celebrated with the same intention.  The time is spirited and festive with colourful costumes, all night dances, parades and other such merry-making.

We love  New Orleans.  The city, especially the French Quarter is a fascinating place to stay and the eating adventures are unequalled.  So any time an opportunity arises to dine Louisiana style, we grab it.

Now if you can’t get away to celebrate Carnivale or Mardi Gras, fear not, for Mardi Gras is once again coming to Winnipeg!  We plan to attend and have an authentic Louisiana dinner at the Food, Oyster & Wine Bar that will seat 200 and be set up at the Winnipeg Convention Centre.

Chicken Creole

We will have the opportunity to choose between Chicken Creole or Gumbo, Crab Cakes or even alligator Fritters.  We’ve gotten a preview look at the menu and all features are very affordably priced from $5-$15. 

Chicken Gumbo

There is a nightly Parade and over 30 entertainers including many directly from New Orleans.  I have a collection of Mardi Gras beads from our time in New Orleans.  How I earned them is a story in itself and a secret that I am not quite ready to tell.

Crab Cakes

Warm up winter in Winnipeg!  See winnipegmardigras.com for more details.

Kath’s quote:  “New Orleans food is as delicious as the less criminal forms of sin.”-Mark Twain

This is what the top looks like when it comes out of the oven.

I thought nothing of the fact that I was making Lumpy Bread recently until I casually tweeted about it and Dig In Manitoba asked me to share my recipe.  Trouble is, it isn’t a recipe per se, just a “process” that I can restate here:

I use my breadmaker constantly, but perhaps surprizingly, not for making bread, but for making dough.  I have the portions for a basic dough etched in my brain and I use this as my basis for numerous concoctions. 

So on this day, once the dough cycle had completed itself, I removed the dough and cut it with kitchen scissors into big hunks and placed these into a stainless steel mixing bowl.  Next, I stuck my head into the cheese keeper in the fridge and pulled out whatever had not been wrapped carefully and was hardening at the edges-in this case havarti and white cheddar.  I threw these into my Magic Bullet and pulsed for a few seconds.  This produced some grated cheese and other pieces still in quite large cubes-perfect for this recipe.  I tossed the cheese with the bread dough and a couple of glugs of canola oil to encourage the surfaces of each to meld together.

A side view where the cheese and dough have softened and married each other.

I greased a bundt pan with olive oil  because I like the brown and crunchy texture that it produces on bread crust.  I love the new silicone bundt pans for a task this.

Now I could have thrown different types of cheese and/or garlic and herbs or even softened onions into this, but this is what stared me in the face, when I opened fridge door, so I went with it.

The bottom of the bread when it was turned from the pan.

So as you can see, not much of a “recipe” but  I served it with soup and more cheese to our dinner guests that evening (9 babies & toddlers and their 4 sets of parents) and everyone seemed well-pleased. 

 Kath’s quote: “Bachelor’s fare: bread and cheese, and kisses.”-Jonathan Swift

By 9:30 am I had already seen the sunrise, walked and explored for 2 hours and had coffee with my sisters on the veranda.

My first impression is that this is an island of contrasts: the coral cliffs and the garbage dump, the resort homes and the Colonias, the vast ocean and the locked beaches.

We had a wonderful breakfast of oatmeal, mango, banana, pineapple, Brazil nut yogurt and slices of fresh pineapple. We had thought that we would go to Garrafon but the wind brought in clouds & drizzle so we headed into town instead.

Our plan that first day worked so well we repeated it every other day-walking downhill to Lancheros to catch the bus and cabbing it home when we were full of margaritas and had groceries and shopping to carry.

We met the most wonderful couple from France via New York. This was their sixth year to Isla and each year they stay a week longer. When I saw this beautiful woman again it was at the Fat Tuesday event-she greeted me like I was an old friend.

This picture is with Sister #3 from a subsequent trip to Isla.  The gorgeous Betty in this photo now lives in Isla Heaven.

We shopped and then went to the Sunset Grill for lunch. We shared all the board recommendations (Julie’s board in those days): Coconut Shrimp (even though it is not usually served at lunch) were huge, lovely and sweet, Nuke Nachos and Chicken Chimichangas. I’d never tasted them before but Sister #3 said that they were the best she had ever tried. We even loved their chips and salsa but actually we loved them every Isla restaurant that we went to. We had Strawberry Margaritas that knocked us on our butts. The waiter got us beach chairs and Sisters #2 & 3 had siestas, while I walked the beach.

Upon return it started to rain (pour in fact) but we had brellies and walked to the big Supermarket to buy more groceries. We were getting the hang of Centro by then but still had not found the Navy store or Hortencia’s. Because of the rain, we cabbed back to the villa for books and siestas.

That evening we found out that the rumour was true-there is nothing happening on the south end at night. We tried the lounge at the Spa-closed and then thought that they must have a bar at the Castile… Instead we walked home for another villa night.

But we learned that day-Sister #1: that Mexican cats don’t look like North American cats and Me: that no matter how much you wish and hope, you cannot control the weather.

Kath’s quote: “It isn’t so much what’s on the table that matters, as what’s on the chairs.”-W.S. Gilbert of Gilbert & Sullivan

There was a time when the only Moxie’s location that we were aware of in Winnipeg was at St. Vital Centre.  The restaurant was a perfect destination for us when the kids were younger because we could bribe them with the promise of going out for lunch if they were good while we got some shopping done. 

Well times have certainly changed.  Recently, Daughter #1 wanted to purchase a Macbook Air but was hoping to put it on my credit card (and then she would transfer the funds to me).  To inspire the transaction, she promised lunch out and we found ourselves at Moxie’s Polo Park.

I chose the special that day – a blackened chicken Club Sandwich.  I would have preferred less bread but the fixings inside were a lovely taste combination.

The sandwich came with a Caesar salad, tossed just the way that I like it-easy on the dressing.

Daughter #1 treated herself with the decadent grilled lobster and brie sandwich.

It too was served with a nutritious salad filled dried cranberries and a crumble of cheese.

The restaurant was filled up with a diverse crowd that afternoon.  There were lots of fellow shoppers, perhaps some of  whom were accepting or taking bribes as well…..

 Kath’s quote: “A woman should never be seen eating or drinking, unless it be lobster, salad and champagne. The only true feminine and becoming viands.”-Lord Byron