Food Musings

A Winnipeg blog about the joy of preparing food for loved ones and the shared joy that travel & dining brings to life.

Thanksgiving 2011

October12

The “big” cottage in our family “compound” at Lester Beach is co-owned by my Mom and my oldest brother and his wife.  They graciously organized the space for us all to assemble for dinner.  This is no little feat, as this year there were 37 of us and that did not include three nieces and a nephew who could not attend (the latter travelling Europe).  We also welcomed back international student Priscilla from Beijing and a new attendee-Gabby from Quebec.

This year was so mild that one family entourage hiked the forest before dinner and another bunch headed to the beach for sunset.  The balmy weather also meant that the beverage table could be set up outside and there were a number of tables available on the huge back deck for people who opted to dine el fresco.

Everyone pitches in with a food responsibility.  Some are automatic and don’t have to be assigned like Sister #2’s peppercorn meatballs, Sister #3’s roasted root vegetables and my candied yams.  Someone always gets assigned a green bean casserole with crispy onions and  potatoes mashed with cream cheese. There were also two huge salads (I had mine after my entree),  turkey with two kinds of stuffing, gravy and cranberry sauce and roasted ham with mustard sauce.

A fresh fruit platter was served with pumpkin pie and the hit once again this year was the Pumpkin Crunch dessert that I posted after last Thanksgiving dinner.  You can use the search function on the top right of the blog or go to the dessert recipe category.

Fall is beautiful on the prairies but we are acutely reminded of the circle of life when the ferns and rushes die away and an entire tree can be bared by a single gust.  So too, we were reminded how precious life is as we gathered this year, because one of our brothers was not with us.  Tom lived his life bursting with gratitude.  He loved family traditions and so Thanksgiving was one of his favourites.  I thought of him feasting at another banquet table as we gave thanks.

Kath’s quote: “The king and high priest of all the festivals was the autumn Thanksgiving. When the apples were all gathered and the cider was all made, and the yellow pumpkins were rolled in from many a hill in billows of gold, and the corn was husked, and the labors of the season were done, and the warm, late days of Indian Summer came in, dreamy, and calm, and still, with just enough frost to crisp the ground of a morning, but with warm traces of benignant, sunny hours at noon, there came over the community a sort of genial repose of spirit – a sense of something accomplished.”-Harriet Beecher Stowe

Give Thanks in Manitoba

October7

I am thankful for the talented Chef’s who run our restaurants.  They could succeed anywhere but make Winnipeg their home: Bistro 7 1/4, Deseo, Segovia, Wasabi Sabi, The Grove, Hermano’s, Billabong and oh so many more. 

I am thankful for the wholesome and local ingredients available to preapre for my family: Morden corn, Altona sunflower seeds, Lake Winnipeg pickerel, Winkler farmer’s sausage and oh so many more.

I am thankful to shop in Winnipeg’s north end for Jeanne’s cake, bagels at Gunn’s Bakery, Tenderloin’s kubasa, and oh so much more.

I am thankful the exceptional and locally owned restaurants within walking distance of my home: Bernstein’s Deli, Mona Lisa, Pizzeria Gusto, Fusion, Saucer’s, The Frenchway Cafe and oh so many more.

I am thankful  for Winnipeg’s affordable cost of living so that D and I can (on modest incomes), support the kids while they attend university but still own a little beach house for the glorious summers and afford to get away in the winter.

I am thankful for the work that I do and the people that I interact with every day: Laura, Walter, Gord, Lori, Karen, Ric, Ben, Diane, Gwen, Cheryl, Kim (x2) and Clare.

I am thankful for my blended heritage and its food: the simple and honest starches of Eastern Europe and the Metis influences of wild rice and blueberries.

I am thankful for the new cooking influences in my life: Fredy and the other talented chefs from Isla Mujeres, the narrow restaurants of New York City and friends Connie and Roger from Sicily.  I am also thankful for the teaching of chefs I have never met like: Laura Calder &  Jamie Oliver.

I am thankful for my almost 85 year old Mom who encouraged me to cook when I was “knee high to a grasshopper” and taught me how to make cinnamon buns and good soups.  I am thankful for Sister’s #2 &#3 who complete what I am not in the kitchen, and are my very best friends.  I am thankful for my son and his wife who by example, show me how to use less prepared ingredients and love everything I cook.  I am thankful for my daughters who look to me to share my knowledge and recipes and to pass along our food heritage.  And I am thankful for D who said just last night “thank you for loving me with your food” when I whipped up a pasta with hot Italian sausage, red peppers, onions, garlic, feta and fresh spinach but whose favourite meal is still my meatloaf and mashed potatoes and niblet corn.

I am thankful for my readers who inspire me when I pound away at my keyboard in the dark of the morning, in my turquoise housecoat.  If you are reading this: I am thankful for you. 

This weekend, celebrate life with food made with love.

K

 

Stella’s at Plug In – Portage Ave.

October6

Earlier this summer, I taught a class for the University of Winnipeg in the Buhler Building on Portage Ave.  I only ventured out once to try and pick up some lunch and ended up coming back late for my own class.  So I was excited to see that a restaurant had leased the space and had started building and installing equipment.  Now I will admit that the noise of construction was sometimes difficult to lecture over top of.  So I was eager to reap the benefits of the distraction that my students and I suffered through.

I had dropped in once previously to pick up a coffee and had a glance at the menu.  I knew that I would return because the dinner prices were so reasonable and they had my favourite Chilean Merlot as their house wine.

I chose the pesto shrimp linguine with slivers of red pepper.

My companion selected this gorgeous curried chicken.   

Stella’s service was very caring.  Both of our dinners were exceptional tasting and really well priced for a downtown dinner date.  Many fellow diners were on their way to the Jets Game that night but stopped first for a bowl of chili and toast.  I also saw a number of  “all day” breakfasts leaving the kitchen and heading to the tables of hockey fans.  I’ll have to keep Stella’s in mind for a pre-game supper on a cold winter night. 

Stella's Cafe at Plug In on Urbanspoon
 

Kath’s quote:  “Wish I had time for just one more bowl of chili.”-Last words of Kit Carson

Wasabi-Sabi

October4

I have known Chef Osten since he was a toddler.  The family were good friends of good friends of ours and we would gather for kids’ birthday parties and the like.  More recently, his Mom and I have become close friends and I have gotten to follow his culinary pursuits from a very unique perspective-through the recounting of his proud parents.  Born into a family of creative persons, it is no surprize that Osten is a creator of art too.  Food art….my favourite kind.

I have tasted the fare from the Broadway Wasabi location as it is available at many retail outlets but I have never had the pleasure of dining there.  I always admired the courage and foresight that they opened on West Broadway way before the area began its regentrification.  I’ve also never had the experience of visiting Wasabi’s Osborne location.

So even though I can’t compare locales, Wasabi-Sabi is stunning with its soothing decor and comfortable seating.

Laura (one of my lunch dates) is my Asian food mentor-together we have created an “A” list of dim sum items, Vietnamese bowls and what little I know about Thai cuisines, she has taught me.  So I was content to sit back and let her do the selecting.

We started with a house blend of green teas which were thirst quenching and retained a nutty quality. 

Next up were the mandatory edaname beans. 

Then came Spicy Mango Prawns. Tempura shrimp and mango tossed with an unusual take on chili sauce-it was creamy.  I even ate the bed of greens and the crunchy wrapper that they were place upon.

We couldn’t get enough of the tempura shrimp and selected it again in the White Dynamite.  This time the shrimp was enhanced by avocado, spicy mayo, tobiko (fish roe), sesame seeds and sprouts.  All this was wrapped in a thin radish crepe-hence the white take on a dynamite roll.  A sushi newbie dining with us, loved the surprize of the fish eggs popping in her mouth.

Prairie Fire arrived on the same platter.  A spicy tuna, wrapped with grilled vegetables and tempura for crunch.

We could have been done at this point but my sushi mentor didn’t want me to go without the piece de resistance-East meets West.  Laura knows how much I love both lobster and salmon.  This roll is the exquisite  marriage of both spicy, succulent east coast lobster and west coast salmon.  To add sweetness and creaminess, mango and avocado are wrapped inside a soy sheet and yuzu (a citrus flavour) infused tobiko sits on top. 

To describe all the choices as delicious would be such a gross understatement.  We feasted on them with our eyes and tasted them slowly and with reverence.  Art-no other way to describe it!

 Wasabi Sabi on Urbanspoon

Kath’s quote:  “All art is autobiographical; the pearl is the oyster’s autobiography.”-Federico Fellini

Texas Roadhouse-Grand Forks

October3

Sister #3 and D know the best way to prepare back ribs.  They must be slowed cooked with just a little bit of moisture so that the fat melts away and they fall off of the bone.  So when Sister #3 says she knows a really good place for ribs-she knows what she’s talking abut. 

When we arrived at The Texas Roadhouse for a late dinner and there was still a wait for the dining room.  A gang of handsome (somewhat tipsy) guys encouraged us to stay with their declarations of great food and so we did.  The wait was not long at all and as soon as we sat down, we dug into the peanut pails and cold beer. 

Not long after the just made buns arrived to tide us over.  I was not so inclined to these as I have a salty/savoury tooth and these were sweet and then accompanied by a cinnamon/sugar butter.

A wonderful salad arrived next with chopped egg and grated cheddar-almost a meal in itself.

 

 When the platters of ribs and loaded baked potatoes arrived, we were glad that we still had appetites. The ribs were bursting with flavour and oh-so tender.  I was happy that we had only ordered half racks ( and I still took half home for a “heading-home” snack the next day).

Me and my carbs…the baked potato was extraordinary.  How could this be-it was just a potato, you’re thinking?  The skin had been rubbed with olive oil before baking so instead of just enjoying the chees/ bacony inside, I loved the crunchy skin as well.  And we all know that the skin is where the vitamins are, right? 

Our server was a university student transplanted from the Twin Cities.  He was enthusiastic about his work and taking care of us.  When we saw staff walking around with the declaration: “I love my job” on the back of their t-shirts, we believed them.

Would love to try the rotisserie chicken next time but the hand cut steaks look pretty tempting too.

Texas Roadhouse on Urbanspoon

Kath’s quote: “Was I catching the contagious enthusiasm of this Canadian? Was I truly euphoric at the sight of fresh-grilled pork?”-Professor M. Aronnax in Jules Verne’s ‘Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea’

« Older EntriesNewer Entries »