Our immediate family has a cluster of six cottages together at Lester Beach with another not far away. We get together on a regular basis: sitting together at the beach or around a camp fire. We also take turns hosting Happy Hour. There was recently one where Bro #1 and his wife set up on their back deck and we were all so comfortable without mosquitoes, in the sun and enjoying the forest, that we lost all sense of time and ran over the dinner hour. We decided to go home, put together the items we had planned for our individual dinners, combine them together and call it supper.

The dinner topic over happy hour and this dinner was typical of our family-what we were going to eat next or in the near future! We started remembering old family recipes and the comfort food that we enjoyed and raised our families on: KD mixed with canned tomatoes, fried bologna, etc. The recollection was so much fun that we decided to have a 70’s Potluck Dinner. It took one of my SILs to get the ball rolling and the date was set for the Sunday of Labour Day Weekend after the Bomber/Rider game of course.

Our family gatherings are so large that we spread out in the screen porch, on the deck and around the bonfire pit. Thank heavens the rain held off so that we could do so. You can spot the littlest Wee One to the right of the picture. We had a hoot watching her when she was drunk on Tang and supper had not even been served yet.

This was the buffet table when it was in the process of being set up. There was: 7 layer dip, sloppy joes, tuna noodle casserole, fish sticks, calico beans, Swedish meatballs, jellied salad, pizza pops, tater gems, devilled eggs, beef stroganoff, etc.

Plates were heaped with tastes and nary a veggie in sight!

When we had had our fill of additives and preservatives, there was the dessert table. There were two kinds of cheesecake-one version with canned pie filling toppings, more jello, rice krispie cake, Twinkies, root beer floats and a candy bar!

Although we all had a great time together, I would not recommend that you eat in this manner on a regular basis. All seven of us felt bloated and gross after dinner. There were reports that other families felt the same. It was fun while it lasted though!

Kath’s quote: “I didn’t grow up vegan or vegetarian. I grew up with junk food! And because of the way I ate before changing my diet, I can truly understand the challenges of making changes and stepping away from foods that provided a form of comfort and happiness growing up, but finding out that most of what I loved was really bad for me!” -Kim Barnouin

Love never fails.

Every summer, D and I get together with old friends from Toronto at their summer home on Willard Lake. Although we have lived in different cities for almost 20 years, our friendship has stayed strong with these annual visits and finding other reasons and places to connect as well.

We met when M and I were both enrolled in the Dramatic Studies program at the University of Winnipeg. We shared our second pregnancies and lived on the same street. In between, we both worked at The Keg ‘n Cleaver now known as The Keg Steakhouse + Bar. In addition to our meet up, I met husband D at The Keg as well. A third couple join us every year and what is our connection to them? Well she worked at The Keg Garry St. too.

Each year, we establish a theme for the Saturday evening of our weekend together. This year we tossed around a Canada 150 theme and then our host suggested that since we all met at and still love The Keg, we should have a Keg themed dinner. To acknowledge how long we have known each other, we add the 70’s to the formula. So even though some of our menu items are still on the Keg menu today, they had to have appeared on Keg menus in the 70s.

Our Saturday afternoon began on the dock with decadent Silver Clouds, made with cream de cacao and amaretto blended with cream and then topped with whipping cream and Kahlua.

From there we moved the short distance to an outside dining area where a blush wine was served with three traditional Keg appetizers:

Escargot,

Bacon Wrapped Scallops

and Shrimp Cocktail. At this point we took a wee break, changed our clothes and moved inside. D (on the far left) had already gotten changed into his Keg attire.

D was a broiler assistant in the 70s and so here he is pictured in a chef’s jacket with his hair slicked down as it would appear after an evening in the steamy broiler area.

Here he is after a shower enjoying our next round of pre-dinner cocktails. This time Kamikazes!

This is me in my full length dress like the ones we had to wear when I was a Keg hostess.

This is former cocktail waitress M

and her husband R, the Torontonians.

L was a Keg bartender back in the 70s but you may recognize her as your more recent bartender at Winnipeg’s Palomino Club.

Her significant other fit right into the 70s theme.

But I digress, back to the food. M and L set up an abbreviated Keg salad bar complete with baby corn, which we decided not to take out of the can.

Here is our Keg entrée: mushrooms served in an authentic mini iron skillet, a perfectly cooked medium rare steak, baked potato with the works i.e. sour cream, butter, chives and bacon (that had been cooked on the barbeque the day previous). We added some fresh beans to increase the vitamin content of dinner. As you can see, we always imbibed in a selection of red wines.

Full disclosure here: I was full after our appetizer course and had to cease eating my entrée after a couple of bites. BUT, there was more!

Bartender L made us all Spanish Coffees

to slurp along with our Billy Miner Pie!

When I think back to the day I landed my part time job at The Keg: who knew I would meet my future husband and so many lifelong friends? We worked our young butts off and partied hard. We also learned about teamwork, putting the guest before our personal needs and the difference that quality makes. Whatever The Keg had going for it in those early days has not changed a whole lot and I for one am proud of it.

Kath’s quotes: “Treat the guests of The Keg like you were inviting them into your own home.” -George Tidball, founder of The Keg

Love never fails.

 

 

 

 

 

Many of us remember our first paying job. In truth I often forget mine because I only lasted 3 days at a egg grading station and my pay was 50 cents an hour! I think that I have successfully purged the image from my brain. After that first venture, I worked at the book department at Eaton’s which I quite enjoyed because we could loan a book off the shelves and if we were very careful while we read it, we could do so for free and return the book to the shelf. But the job that I think was most important in my late teens was the job that introduced me to my husband and many life long friends. Nobody knew a whole lot about The Keg ‘n Cleaver (as it was called in those days) when it started to renovate the former Hudson Bay Livery Stables at 115 Garry.  The way it was described to me was as a “copy” of the locally owned Butcher Block restaurant. I learned later that the copying was actually the other way around. No matter, I turned up at the Garry St. restaurant for an interview and a few days later, climbed into a full length skirt to be a hostess on their opening evening. I remember the line up being out the door and spilled onto the front sidewalk. Being a hostess was fun because you stood with the guests at the back of the line and took their name on a clipboard and then waited for the next group to join the back of the line. I thought I had it made in the shade as I just chatted to people all night long and was not only paid an hourly salary but also a share of the tips!

In those days the simple menu was printed on a wooden platter and when the “hunky” guys (don’t laugh- it was a compliment!) were done taking orders at a table, they would slide the menu boards down the back of their pants en route to the waiter station. I remember one waiter in particular, he would come up to the hostess stand and say to me: “Load me up and keep them coming. I will take tables for other servers if they don’t want them. Don’t take me off the clock, I will stay and pick up all the late night diners.” This guy was a serving machine. His name was Tommy Lau.

Fast forward 40 years-yep that is not a typo. We were reuniting with Tom and a couple of Keggers from that time, who had been there at the beginning and still lived in Winnipeg. Tom had brought his wife and two grown sons back to Winnipeg with him. He wanted them to see the city and meet the people that he remembered so fondly.

He left Winnipeg in 1977 and went to study at Confederation College in Thunder Bay. From there he went to New York to spend some time with his Mom on Long Island. Then he returned home to Hong Kong. His first job was working at a Hong Kong TV station as a producer. He moved to another station and married Clara in 1988. In the spring of 1990 he returned to Long Island hoping to spend more time with his mother and brother. TV careers were hard to come by and a year later he as recruited to set up a Cable TV station in Bangkok, Thailand. In 1993 he set up his own TV program distribution business in Hong Kong which he still runs. In 1995 he took up studying Fengshui with a local Master and in 1996 became the Master’s disciple. His sons were born in 1992 and 1995. The eldest has his masters degree in Forsenic Toxicology (hey, that might make a good TV show!) and his youngest is working on his degree in physiotherapy.

When we met Clara, I was struck by how petite and quiet she was-the exact opposite of her husband! Their sons had the most perfect manners and delighted in every little detail that we shared about the time we spent with his Dad.

The owner of the Kegs in Winnipeg who worked with us all those years ago was our host that evening. We sat in a “T” in the room with the most privacy. It is not that we wanted to be left alone, it was the noisy din we created with sharing our crazy stories and memories.

Dinner that evening was stellar. I sampled an item new to the menu-a grilled cauliflower steak which I loved.

I  noticed that Tom order steak and lobster just like the old days (except for the price of course).

A wonderful evening with wonderful friends. Time stood still and we were bag in the 70’s.

Kath’s quote: “I love everything that’s old, – old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wine.”  –Oliver Goldsmith

Love never fails.

 

 

 

 

We were invited to a special party recently at Nicolino’s. The occasion was their “impossible to believe” 30th Anniversary. We spotted a number of on air media types, some suppliers and persons who I imagined were regular customers. I was never really certain why we received an invitation, but I don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

We do know that we are of the same mind set as Nic of Nicolino’s. This is what he states on his website:

We are in love with high quality food and drink. We care about the people who produce the food, and the places it comes from. We have dedicated our lives to promoting a real understanding of high-quality food and drink. We know that by ensuring we create and offer the best quality products, we improve the lives of our family and yours.

We’ve enjoyed over 25 years of business in Winnipeg, MB taking the traditions and recipes from our home town in Muro Lucano, Italy and bringing the “family style Italian dinner setting” to Winnipeg, MB. We know that Food tastes better when you eat with your family, and we consider all of our staff and customers famiglia.

We were certainly impressed with his family of staff. They tripped over each other trying to serve and make you feel appreciated and welcomed.

You can taste the love that he refers to in the food. Last evening there were hot out of the oven, crunchy crust pizza that were in circulation. We ate our fair share and remarked about the spritely sauce and exacting use of cheese.

We LOVED the selection of meats and cheeses

but especially the truffle salami and truffle cheese. I went so far as to snatch one last wedge of that cheese and we headed out the door. So too the ravioli that we sampled in little bowls.

We watched with fascination as the chef poured ample amounts of brandy into an enormous hollowed wheel of what we expected was Grana Padano.

He then ignited the liquor and poured the ravioli into the cheese made gooey by the flame. The results were sensational and if we were not polite Canadians, I may have gone up to the Chef’s table over and over again.

We washed it al down with a lovely rose poured by old friend Andre Lambert.

In the end, it should not be a surprize that Nic has been in business some thirty years. With his passion for food and his guests, he has a winning philosophy.

Kath’s quote: “If your mother cooks Italian food, why should you go to a restaurant?”- Martin Scorsese

 

Love never fails.

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While writing this post, I have really been thinking a lot about my own premise i.e. food=love. I think that a really integral aspect of this statement is “time”.  Time is so precious that when someone very intentionally sets aside time to plan, shop and prepare a meal for someone, it is a substantial investment of themselves towards another .

Recently we were invited to a friend’s home for a curry dinner. These folks have been cooking curry for a long time and knew that D and I were unschooled in the essence of curry cuisine.

When we arrived there were the most amazing aromas wafting from the kitchen. With little pre-amble we sat down to a veritable feast.

This Tandoori Chicken was deliciously spicy. I removed the skin where the intensity originated and experienced a more subtle flesh. Typically Tandoori chicken is marinated in yoghurt (which increases the tenderness) and spices and then baked in a tandoor oven. I am quite sure that the latter was skipped but the resulting dish was equally fine.

The Spicy Shrimp in Coconut Milk was my favourite dish. I could have helped myself to a bowl of rice, ladled this sauce over top and been quite content. Somehow the shrimp remained firm and meaty in spite of swimming in the sauce.

Being a lover of potatoes, any potatoes, I was over the moon with the Bombay Aloo enhanced by two of my other fav foods: garlic and cilantro!

The delicate and ribbony Basmati rice was spiced with tumeric and pumpkin seeds.

A lovely way to offset the spice was with a cool and cleansing Raita dip made with yoghurt and cucumber.

Of course we had Naan bread and various pickles to scoop up and enhance the tastes.

Kath’s quote: “Since you cannot do good to all, you are to pay special attention to those who, by the accidents of time, or place, or circumstances, are brought into closer connection with you“.-St. Augustine of Hippo

Love never fails.