The roads in Winnipeg are a nightmare-no other way to describe them.  Being close to the restaurant business we know that this made for cancelled reservations and a spike in no shows for businesses on New Year’s Eve.  There was a corresponding peak in people ordering in and picking up, so it is not that Winnipeggers did not want to celebrate with food.  D suggested that because we had spent so much time at home over the holidays, that we dine out but choose a location in our neighbourhood.  It would have been a long walk, but one that we sometimes do in fairer weather.  With reports of Winnipeg being colder than Mars, this was a non-decision, we took a car.  Both of our vehicles have remote starters, an absolute must if you live here and do not own a garage. D’s also has heated seats so we were quite comfortable as far as the temperature was concerned.  Tre Visi, our destination on that evening is on Grosvenor Ave. and is the street which runs perpendicular to ours, a half a block away.  But with both of our vehicles trying to fit into a parking pad edged with ever-growing snow banks, we had to head into the opposite direction to get out of our spot.  This meant that we had a single city block to travel in order to get back to Grosvenor Ave.   D had not even touched the brake when we started to slide and spin.  Thank heavens there were no parked cars and it must have looked as if we were simply pulling a “U” in the middle of the block to park on the opposite side of the street.

Vivid thoughts of amazing food was our focus and our motivation to make the trek that evening and Tre Visi did not disappoint.  We spotted that there were marinated vegetables on their antipasto platter and so we eagerly ordered the board remembering the ones that we loved while traveling in Italy.

This was our favourite from Cumpa Cosimo, high up on the mountainside in Ravello, Amalfi Coast.  A couple of these were marinated and all served cold.  In Italy, antipasto plates highlight the best of what the region has to offer, sometimes all seafood, others all cheeses, etc.

Tre Visi’s included paper-thin slices of cured meat, shards of cheese, pickled onions and peppers.  Every taste was a lovely surprize and  when coupled up on fork tines, produced other delectable taste combinations.  We would have appreciated some crostini or baguette to stretch the morsels further, but perhaps that is passé with so many diners avoiding gluten.

D’s choice was the gnocchi with the pesto cream sauce which he remembered from an earlier visit.  I could see that he was trying to exercise restraint as he speared each fluffy pillow.  Near the end of the time with our plates though, he might have decided that the portion was too generous and that perhaps we should have shared the plate and mixed tastes up with another item.  Next time….

D could tell that I was torn between my original choice and the special of a rib eye with parmesan French fries.  This is one of the many reasons why I love him: when it was time to order, he asked our delightful server if the chef would provide the fries to accompany our appetizer.  What a guy-he knew that it I was on the cusp of New Year’s resolution time and wanted me to savour one last indulgence.

In the end I selected the Frutti de Mare which is often my choice.  Tre Visi’s version was as delicious as I have eaten anywhere with plump scallops, fresh shrimp and mussels and easy on the pasta.  The secret was in the sauce which was light with tomatoes but luxurious with what I imagined to be butter.  I supped up the last spots of sauce with my spoon, not wanting to let a dribble go unconsumed.

We enjoyed the festive ambience of the open room and imagined that some diners would carry on to a New Year’s party while others lived close by and would carefully make their way home.  There was one table of six just over my shoulder who were all Italian and spoke the romantic language throughout our meal which of course really swept us away to meals of times gone by.

Kath’s quote: “Now there are more overweight people in America than average-weight people.
So overweight people are now average. Which means you’ve met your New Year’s resolution.”-Jay Leno

Love-that is all.

Do you know the difference between gelati and gelato? In Winnipeg most of the little shops that serve Italian ice cream have gelati in their names and then many years ago, Eva’s Gelato opened almost at the corner of our street.  The owners, as opposed to having of an Italian heritage were from Argentina and so I concluded that gelato was a Spanish version of gelati.  Perhaps I was even guilty of having perpetrated that Winnipeg rumour. In those days, Eva’s was a a narrow little store front with not much room for more than the freezer and a hard-working employee.  The frozen treat was scooped from a big white plastic pail into a weeny brightly coloured bowl with a “Barbie-doll” sized spoon.  My eyes were always pulled to those translucent bowls but I was a sugar-cone fan from a way back and so even though my eyes wanted one thing, my tummy desired another.

Now, of course I know that gelati is simply the plural version of gelato, or maybe it is the other way around.

I have had my fair share of gelato experiences in between our original taste of Eva’s and the “new” Eva’s sensation.  While D and I traveled along the west coast of Italy from Sicily to the Italian and French Riveria, gelato fixes were the primary motivation for an evening walk after long train rides or a day of hiking.

We have our favourite spots too on Isla Mujeres where coconut gelato is my fav and D’s is pistachio.

Eva in the mean time had also been busy, moving east on Corydon into expansive new digs.  The quality of her product did not diminish with the move.  Nor did its popularity.  By then Eva’s was available at other retailers in carton form.  I even enjoyed it recently at the inaugural Bomber game at Investors Group Field.

We decided long ago that Eva’s made and served our favourite gelato but I needed a recent photo of their new locale.  So I sent J2 (aka Daughter #3).  Many of you know that she is days away from giving birth to our first grandbaby and when I asked for the favour, she was quick to oblige.  What is it about pregnant women and ice cream?

When I was expecting my first baby 28 years ago, it was the summer that Dairy Queen came out with Blizzards.  D and I would often walk in the evening with DQ as our destination.  J2 has gained just the right amount of weight and even though our grandbaby is sticking way out in front, from the back, you wouldn’t even know that she was pregnant.  I on the other hand, gained some 70 pounds when I was pregnant the first time around, and I can definitely equate that weight gain to the Blizzards.  During my third pregnancy when I craved ice chips and celery, my weight gain was 22 pounds.

Kath’s quote: “Ice cream is exquisite. What a pity it isn’t illegal.”-Voltaire

Love-that is all.

I am entranced by symbols: a heart shaped stone reminds me that I am loved, turquoise fabrics, vases and pottery remind me of the solace that I find while sitting by the sea, branches and sticks teach me that I am a small part of a greater whole and the flowers in my garden, that we are all part of a continuum of life.  In the culinary fiction that I devour, when symbols are set in meals lovingly prepared, I am particularly satiated: like a convergence of all that I feel and am.

Angelina’s Bachelors in the first novel by Brian O’Reilly but foodies may already know him as the writer of “Dinner-Impossible“.  His wife is his recipe collaborator and together, they have created a lovely summer read.  Here is my favourite excerpt:

“You have my baccala?” asked Angelina.

“Baccala, that’s the salt fish, cause God’s word gives a flavour to the world.”

Each of the fishes traditionally had a special religious reason for being served at the feat, and Angelina ran through the checklist with Angelo as if reciting a liturgical call and response at mass.

“Clams and oysters?” asked Angelina.

“‘Cause God is your armour from trouble,” said Angelo.

“Calamari?”

“‘Cause God can reach out his arms and find you everywhere you go.”

“Got my eels?”

“‘Cause God’s Word goes so quick like a flash to your ears.” Big, white paper packets of wrapped fish landed on the counter with each benediction.

“The smelts?”

“Even the smallest will be the biggest when Kingdom comes.”

“And the flounder?”

Angelo looked at her and playfully tapped one eye.  “God’s eyes are always open.”

She reached over and shook his hand and put all of the packages into her basket.  “Thanks Angelo, merry Christmas!”

The old man blew her a couple of kisses as he looked for his next customer.  “Ciao, baby.  Buon Natale.”…page 179-180

 

Soon, things were heating up in the kitchen.  The first course was a variation on a French recipe that hand been around since Escoffier, Baccala Brandade.  Angelina created a silky forcemeat with milk, codfish, olive oil, pepper and freshly grated nutmeg.  She squeezed in a couple of heads of slow roasted garlic a drizzle of lemon juice, and a shower of fresh parsley, then served it as a dip with sliced sour-dough and warmed pita-bread wedges, paired with glasses of bubbly Prosecco.

The second course had been a favourite of her mother’s-called Angels on Horseback-freshly shucked oysters, wrapped in thin slices of prosciutto, then broiled on slices of herb-buttered bread.  When the oysters cooked they curled up to resemble tiny angels’ wings.  Angelina accented the freshness of the oyster with a dab of anchovy paste and wasabi on each hors d’oeuvre.  She’d loved the Angels since she was a very little girl; they were a heavenly mouthful.

The third course was grilled Marinated Unagi, or fresh water eel, over Arborio Rice Patties.  Angelina marinated the eels all day and flash-grilled them just before serving them on rice-patties laced with Asiago cheese.

This was followed by a Caesar salad topped with hot. batter-dipped, deep-friend smelts.  Angelina’s father used to crunch his way through the small, silvery fish like French fries.  Tonight, Angelina arranged them artfully around mounds of Caesar salad on each plate and ushered them out the door.

For the fifth course, Angelina prepared a big pot of her Mediterranean Clam Soup the night before, a lighter version of Manhattan clam chowder.  The last two courses were Parmesan-Stuffed Poached Calamari over Linguine in Red Sauce, and the piece de résistance, Broiled Flounder with a Coriander Reduction.

The atmosphere was like backstage at the dinner rush at a good restaurant. p186-187

Their fest reminded me of the endless little plates of fish that we enjoyed at La Barcaccia in Monterosso, Italy for our last lunch in Cinque Terre.  The courses are pictured above.

Kath’s quote: “Oh, better no doubt is a dinner of herbs,
When season’d with love, which no rancour disturbs
And sweeten’d by all that is sweetest in life
Than turbot, bisque, ortolans, eaten in strife!-Edward Bulwer-Lytton

Love-that is all.

Hello readers!  Ready to root me on in a cooking contest?  Part of the fun for the upcoming “Eat, Write, Retreat” conference that I will be attending in Philadelphia later this month, is a Culinary Challenge.

When my contest package was delivered, I was thrilled with all of the OXO gadgets that it contained and quite frankly stumped, when I saw that my secret ingredient was …RAISINS! For an original appetizer challenge, good grief, what was I going to come up with?

I had already imagined that I would be preparing an olive tapenade or figs wrapped in a smoky bacon or something with potatoes.  Why didn’t I get potatoes?  I’ve not been dubbed the “Queen of Carbs” for nothing!

Don’t get me wrong, I love raisins.  In my cereal, cookies, rice pudding and even salads they are an integral addition, but an appetizer?  Up until that moment, the only appetizer dish with raisins as an ingredient that I have had the pleasure to enjoy, married them with baked brie, pecans and brown sugar.  I still make this dish each Christmas, much to my family’s delight.  The sole experience I have had with raisins at dinner time, though, was in a regional dish served to us when visiting friends in Sicily.  While Concetta (Connie) was in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on our supper, her cousin called to inquire what was being made for the Canadian visitors.  When Connie explained, her cousin responded with “What, you are making them eat peasant food?”  Connie defended herself by saying:  “They requested Sicilian recipes, what was I to do?”

When you hear a recounting of Sicilian history and make note of exactly where the island dwells in the Mediterranean, it is not surprising that there are many Arab influences on the cuisine.  I think that both Connie’s recipe and my adaption of it hold true to this notion.

I didn’t actually know the difference between natural and golden raisins (natural are brown and golden are well, just that) until I was putting together the ingredients for this appetizer.  This recipe, along with a healthy dose of your day’s veggies, contains 3 portions of fruit because it takes just 1/4 of a cup to provide a fruit serving.  This was new to me too!

My readers know how important family is to me.  Many of the farms that produce most of the world’s supply of raisins are century old family farms where raisin knowledge is passed from generation to generation.  I would love to wander the rows and rows of grapevines and meet the growers of the San Joaquin Valley in California.  San Francisco has long been on our bucket list and is only a three hour drive away.  Now, I’m California dreaming……

Kath’s quote:  “Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread and two jugs of wine and five sheep already prepared and five measures of roasted grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys.” 1 Samuel 25:18

Love-that is all.

The truth is, I truly can’t decide which is my favourite destination between Italy and Mexico and the food is the reason why.  How do you choose between the fresh sparkling taste of cilantro when paired with chilies, tomatoes and freshly squeezed lime and the earthy tones of rosemary, garlic and red wine which transforms a tomato into something else, indeed?  Thankfully, now a days, the world is truly our oyster, so why do I just have to have one favourite?

The first time I set foot on Isla Mujeres, I knew that the little island would always be a part of my life.  We have already booked a villa on the sea for the 2014 season, when we take the entire family including “Baby”, who will be born this summer.  Getting to Mexico can be fairly affordable, if you plan carefully and start researching airfares in advance.  On the opposite end of the spectrum, if you choose to travel at the last minute, there are often some tremendous deals.  But, we don’t roll that way.  My readers know that the anticipation of a trip for me, is often as satisfying as the trip itself.

Italy and the rest of Europe is a special treat.  We reserve overseas travel for significant birthdays and anniversaries.  With the exception of this fall, when we are taking time in October so that I can lead a blogging workshop in Tuscany.  The vacation package includes tutelage in the kitchen by Chef Enrico, whose ancient restored estate is where the participants will reside.  That is, when we are not touring the cities and towns of Tuscany or foraging for truffles in its forests.

But in the mean time, here is a more immediate reward.  If you are interested in one of four $100. Sobey’s gift cards, create and then share your own Sobeys West Pinboard.  Copy and paste your board  URL(s) in the comments section below. How the contest works: Anyone who creates a pinboard and repins 4 pins from http://pinterest.com/sobeys, using the keyword SobeysWest, is entered to win!  You have to reside in Manitoba and west to do so.

Here’s a link to my own pinboard: http://pinterest.com/foodmusings/dream-destinations-mexico-or-italy/

So, make a cuppa tea.  Sit back and let’s dream of where we want to travel next….happy pinning!

Kath’s quote: “We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There  is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes  open.” – Jawaharial  Nehru

Love-that is all.