A group of wonderful women who do the same vocational training work that I do have also become my good friends. We didn’t want to leave our Christmas lunch until December when we are all so busy with festivities and have a tendency (or at least I do) to get “lunched” out. That is why a recent get together was just the thing. I was appointed to pick a spot and I have been wanting an excuse to visit the Little Goat on west Portage Ave.

Our server Milaine with her gorgeous green eyes and delightful demeanor made us feel right at home. When I couldn’t determine what I was going to order, she helped me out by suggesting her favourites-a small dish of Mac & Cheese with a Verger salad.

Tucking into the roasted pears, candied pecans and crumbled goat cheese (Milaine’s suggestion when she heard that I didn’t love Blue Cheese), I would trust her advice at any time.

My lunch mates all started with cups of the soup of the day- a yellow squash and wild rice concoction that was divine.

I had been tempted by the French Fried Chicken and was so relieved when someone at the table ordered it so that I could taste and photograph it. The dish was petite but rich and satisfying and the little drizzle of balsamic vinegar added just a dash of acid so that every subtle ingredient was enhanced.

Restaurant owner and Chef Alex puts out a new Tartine (open faced sandwich) each and every day. On this day it started with wild rice topped with a mixture of garlicky kale and quinoa, a beautifully poached egg and a lemon sauce on top of it all. The portion was enormous and not a surprise when more than half of it was boxed up for later.

Another friend loved her French salad and I was more than content with my French Onion Soup bowl full of Mac & Cheese. The luxurious sauce of gruyere and mozzarella, crowned with grated old cheddar and toasted bread crumbs was scrumptious and just my cuppa tea.

I had decided to order Melaine’s favourite dessert-bundt cake with apple slices, caramel, nuts and whipped cream.

I thought that I could share it with my lunch mates but they ordered their own desserts. An enormous bowl came with not one but two wedges of bundt cake and we truly could have shared it four ways. Even though my mates obliged me with bites I was left to devour the rest on my own. And I did, savouring each and every gooey bite.

Kath’s quote: “There will always be ladies who lunch. Always. And apparently they live a long time”.-Elaine Stritch

Love never fails.

We picked up Boo and the Frenchman right on schedule at 7 am. The early start time meant that if we got lost or ran into bad weather we could still be in the Twin Cities in plenty of time to make the concert we had secured tickets for way back in April. The sun wasn’t yet up but as we looked to the west and back from whence we came ie the north, we could see dark clouds and wondered if it were raining back home. Our second hint that there was bad weather up north was when a snow covered car pulled up along side of us. We didn’t know until later that day that the snow had fallen quite steadily back home in Winnipeg.

As I said though, the sun shone beautifully for us on our drive. We stopped for gas and D’s favourite Nut Goodies that aren’t terribly popular in Canada as well as a couple of rest stops for a pee break. I had packed sandwiches for the road so we didn’t need to stop for lunch. As a result we made amazing time and even had time to kill for our 3 pm check in time at our Air BnB. Boo had ordered some gifts for the Frenchman from the Duluth Trading Company for their recent anniversary. Her order was cancelled and so we decided to find the real deal and discovered one of their retail stores along our route in north Minneapolis.

We knew we would be quite comfortable in our Seward Air BnB. There were two bedrooms, fully equipped kitchen, bathroom with plenty of hot water, dining room, living room and a sun room.  The latter offered a great place to snuggle up to read or check out our social media accounts.

For supper, we decided to head in the vicinity of the Xcel Centre in St. Paul where the concert was to take place. As we wondered around, we found a unique place called the Seventh St. Truck Park where we ogled at the delicious fare coming from the windows of a variety of food trucks. We ended up taking a seat at New Bohemia where there were a bevy of taps on hand with local, national and European beer on hand. They also had a house red wine to my delight.

We all decided against the “Best Wurst on Earth”, the guys indicating that they would indulge later that evening. Truth be told, with the abundance of food we ordered and a couple of more filling beers, on top of that, the guys were done their consumption for the evening, even if the wurst were the best. D and I split an order of delicious chicken fingers with a butter milk ranch dressing along with a side of wedge fries (from frozen) and a fresh cut order of Belgian fries that I had to have once I saw them trailing out of the New Bohemia Kitchen. It was hard to choose from the 10 dipping sauces offered but I finally decided upon the Pepper Jack Cheese Sauce.  We also were smitten with the Truffled Grilled Cheese Sandwich, that is until we tasted it. I couldn’t detect the truffle oil amidst the sautéed onions, which would have been no biggy if the grilled cheese was good but alas it was made with processed cheese a technicality that you never would have gotten away with in Canada.

We walked across the street to the Xcel Centre for the concert as the fellas made their way to another watering hole. D actually switched to Sprite at some point as he was the Designated Driver for the evening.

The concert commenced right at the strike of 8 featuring Idina Menzel as the opening act. I had been exposed to Idina through Boo who loved her way back when she starred in Rent on Broadway. Even though Idina was no longer headlining when Boo and I saw Rent together in New York. She did get to see Wicked that same trip but I am not sure whether Idina was still with that show either. Regardless, Boo knew her music well and as a result I did too as it would be playing in my car as I drove Boo back and forth to school for a number of years. More recently Idina was made familiar to me again when Disney cast her as the voice of Elsa in the hit movie frozen. As a result, another generation, that of the Wee Ones knew every word to Idina’s ballad of “Let it Go”. Menzel’s voice is just as powerful and her long legged body just as lithe in spite of the years that have past. All in all, a fabulous concert and so worthwhile the wait, the drive and the cost of admission.

My favourite crooner Josh  Groban was the headliner that evening. This was my forth time seeing the singer live, having done so twice in Winnipeg (where I met him IRL) and once at an outdoor venue in Chicago. I hadn’t yet picked up his newest CD so was somewhat unfamiliar with his new renditions but the show was so beautifully assembled, adding old favourites like “You Raise Me Up” and “Per Te” as well as “Take Him Home” from his Stages album and the ballad that I want played at my Celebration of Life (hopefully not in the too near future)-“To Where You Are”. I get a kick out his quirky ways and humility; by the way he always gives credit to his teachers and folks who happened to be in the audience that evening.

I was smitten all over again and felt so blessed to experience both performers with my youngest daughter.

We enjoyed a night cap together when we arrived “home” but it was an early evening as we were pooped from the early start and the long drive.

Kath’s quote: “When I am down, and o my soul, so weary. When troubles come and my heart burdened be. Then I am still and wait here in the silence, until you come and sit a while with me“.-Josh Groban

Love never fails.

We invited a friend of ours to dine with us recently. We know that she loves Ethiopian food but I confess that I have not mastered those culinary skills. She has also been to Palestine recently so I pulled out my beautiful Jerusalem Cookbook. I have only prepared a couple of recipes from the book so I looked at the occasion as a great excuse. She was familiar with the book, not because she has cooked from it but because she read it like a regular non-fiction work instead of a cookbook. The narrative reads that beautifully.

Every single ingredient that I purchased for the dinner was from the produce department. I pulled a bag of shrimp from my freezer and a can of clams from the pantry.

I prepped everything that afternoon. The sweet potatoes and eggplants were ready for roasting, the red peppers and onions were ready for sauteing and finishing the sweet potato dish, the tomatoes and oregano were ready to submerge and then bake the shrimp.

The sweet potatoes called for fresh figs that are already out of season so I substituted them for little jewels of pomegranate.

The recipe indicates that you leave the potatoes unpeeled and although I was skeptical of this, they were perfect. The dish was completed with a drizzle of balsamic glaze. The spuds were even delicious cold.

The shrimp baked with clams, tomatoes and feta were also a hit. I mixed the leftovers with a pasta a couple of days later and it too was exceptional. Perhaps my new tomato sauce recipe will simply include oregano and sugar as this one did.

If you are a regular visitor to this space, you will know that I love eggplant. Pictured above are the scored eggplants ready for roasting with Chermoula. Confession time…I misread the directions of the recipe and baked these with the topping that I had prepped in advance, when in fact they were to be roasted “bare naked” and you were to spoon the topping on after they came out of the oven. Unfortunately some of the raisins got too well cooked in the process. I had tasted the topping before I had baked it and knew that it would be fabulous on its own.

I didn’t have Bulgar so I used a mixture of a variety of rices (brown, wild, long grain) which had been pre-cooked in my rice maker. To this I added pre-soaked raisins and slices of green olives for that sweet and salty combination that I love. Fresh tastes came from ribbons of fresh mint and cilantro. A silky olive oil and generous squeezes of lemon added the acidity and finished the dish beautifully. I made this up on a Sunday night to enjoy for lunches for a busy week.

I sent our friend home with leftovers as the recipes were of generous potions. She returned the container with a gift and this note:

In Kenya, I learned one does not return a plate (or container) to its giver, empty. I share with you my sister’s wonderful Masala Chai jelly-the bite comes after the fact! but so good. And a little memento of Jerusalem.

We enjoyed a taste of the jelly yesterday on our toast. And so the circle of giving and sharing was complete.

Kath’s quote: “You don’t have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces — just good food from fresh ingredients.” – Julia Child

Love never fails.

We were enthralled with the various cruise ships that appeared in Charlottetown harbor every day of our stay. It meant that when we were waiting for food or ice cream, or joined others on a food tour, we met people from all around the world. They were all loving Charlottetown and PEI and even with our short visit, we could certainly see why.

Vintage buildings housing restaurants and shops are everywhere in the downtown area, making it a delightful place to stroll and browse.

In the morning en route to the Sunday market, I hopped out of the car to get a photo of low tide. These canons remain from time gone by, aimed right at the narrow mouth of the harbour.

We did quite a bit of walking that morning so we restored our energy levels with Lobster Rolls and fabulous fries from the Chip Shack. The lobster mix was plentiful but short on mayo, celery and green onions as we prefer. We continued our quest for the perfect Lobster Roll.

For dessert we walked a short distance to Cow’s Ice Cream, reported to be the best ice cream in the world. I could happily attest to this with my choice of vanilla ice cream mixed with salted toffee and chocolate covered potato chips!

We sat here for a spell to savour every single lick.

The afternoon turned into a bright and sunny one so we walked the neighbourhood again, admiring the fine homes.

I could never tire of being so close to the ocean.

A quick drive to the country foretasted what we would enjoy the following day. The rolling hills dotted with trees (some of them cypresses) sure reminded me of Tuscany.

Kath’s quote: “I go running when I have to. When the ice cream truck is doing sixty”. -Wendy Liebman

Love never fails.

After leisurely coffees on the front porch, we piled into M’s gorgeous car to hit the local Farmer’s Market. I loved the car so much that a picture of me kissing it was captured!

I was fascinated by these PEI potatoes. I asked the growers if they had removed the potato eyes to make the product easier to prepare. “No” they said. “They grow that way!”

Peppers were plentiful in all shapes and sizes.

A beautiful sea of sprouts.

The colourful carrots also caught my eye.

We also went “home” with some delicious gluten free bread as well as a product we had never previously heard of -PEI Potato Garlic Jam. We haven’t found a use for it as of yet.

We intended to visit the PEI Shellfish Festival on the Saturday of their four day run. Tickets that we had purchased for a “Signature Experience” included admission to the Festival itself. Our intent was to visit the site until the time came to hook up with the tour leader . I will be frank, we were surprised when we arrived at the festival grounds that the entire event took place in one tent, it was a very large tent, mind you.

We visited the stalls and then found a spot to drink our Clamato Caesar and Moosehead Beer.

Of course we had to have food to go along with our libations so D scouted out some mussels and fries.

As we ate our late breakfast, Chef Lynn Crawford gave a seafood cooking demonstration. Actually she had members of the audience do the cooking as she supervised. There were some hilarious results to this.

So it was not long until we left the festival grounds and hooked up with our exceptional Experience PEI tour guide for a three restaurant shellfish tour of the waterfront.

The first stop was Lobster on the Warf where we could smell the saltiness of the bay.  Our tour guide first took us to the retail area where we learned more about PEI Lobster including how to determine a male lobster from a female one.  The attached restaurant was bustling with their late lunch crowd.

Our first taste was of Malpeque oysters. They are PEI’s most famous oyster and are grown wild in Malpeque Bay. Their taste was briny but not overly so and they easily slid down our open throats. The correct manner of this was demonstrated by one of the managers of the Lobster on the Wharf. The oysters came with a wedge of lemon and a couple of unique sauces.

The second seafood offering at Lobster on the Wharf was of both soft shell and quahog clams. These too were served with a wedge of lemon and salty melted butter for dipping. Both varieties are native to the eastern shores of North America from Prince Edward Island to the Yucatán Peninsula.

A short walk along the harbour took us to Peake’s Quay where scallops were the shellfish offering. If you wish to know what a scallop shell looks like, think of the logo of Shell gas stations. We are purists where scallops are concerned, loving when they are allowed to caramelize in a hot pan of butter. Peake’s Quay’s version were bacon wrapped and good too.

Our last stop on the tour was right next door at Brakish which you might think was an odd name for a restaurant. Blue mussels were the shellfish offering there. Next to scallops, mussels are our favourite as their subtle flavoured flesh take on whatever they are cooked in be it white wine, garlic and/or fresh herbs. Remember though, this was our second feed of mussels for the day!

PS What did we have for supper that evening? Pan fried scallops!

Kath’s quote: “I like seafood in general. I feel when you have really good quality Canadian seafood; you don’t really need to do much to it. It’s just some of the best in the world. It also has this kind of briny, salty quality to it, that you don’t have to season much. You can use the natural flavours of the ocean to your benefit”.- Chuck Hughes

Love never fails.