Jerry's Thoughts, Musings, and Rants!

Easter Sunday

After fasting all day on Saturday we were ready for another day of entertaining.

Having had a savoury breakfast on friday Paul wanted something sweet on Sunday. I made blueberry, lemon pancakes with maple sausage patties. Of course paul wanted them in Easter shapes - the only molds we had were hearts and these barnyard shapes. The chickens were 'Eastery' so I went with those.

Some fresh fruit and a mimosa (made with a small bottle of sparkling wine this time!!!!!!) and we were set.

After we were cleaned up we set the table. There were 6 of us for dinner in total.

Each place setting had an Easter cookie and a Easter basket of treats.

When everyone had arrived we enjoyed appetizers in the family room. we were relatively simple this year . . . well, simple for us anyways! We served Pizza Rustica (a traditional Italian dish), an assortment of local cheeses, and a neat appetizer I found online - asparagus wrapped with prosciutto and puff pastry.

After nibbling, laughing, and chatting we moved into the dining room for dinner.

Paul made an amazing broccoli salad . . .

It really was the best broccoli salad I've ever had. I enjoyed the addition of roasted cashews and dried cranberries to the mix.

For vegetables we served my favourite peas with mint that my grandmother made for us years ago. I also had honey roasted baby carrots with roasted pistachios.

The scalloped potatoes recipe was a new one - this one had close to 1 1/2 pounds of cheese and lots of fresh herbs. I think it was my favourite scalloped potato recipe ever - lots of flavour (lots of fat as well so I won't be making these regularly)!

We had two types of roasted ham (don't ask, I thought the one ham was going to be too small so I cooked a second one . . . needless to say we had a TON of leftovers!) The ham had an apple cider/maple syrup/brown sugar/mustard glaze which was the perfect combination of sweet and savoury.

I had planned on making the amazing ricotta tart that we made last week in our cooking class but it turns out I only had half the ricotta cheese that was needed. ARGH

Happily I had plenty of lemons in the refrigerator so I whipped up a lemon meringue pie!

Good Friday

When I asked Paul what he wanted for Good Friday breakfast he was quick - eggs benedict.

They were served with fresh fruit, hashed browns, and hot cross buns. We wanted some champagne and OJ to drink but had a wee crisis - we were all out of the small bottles of sparkling wine! We had lots of large bottles but I wasn't sure I wanted a whole bottle of wine that early in the morning.

We carried on and ended up having a LONG nap after breakfast. :-)

Dinner had somewhat of a Greek theme. We started with appetizers eaten out on the terrace.

Marinated globe peppers stuffed with goat cheese, spanikopita coil, lamb spiedini with tzatziki, saganaki, marinated olives, and feta marinated in olive oil and sprinkled with greek oregano.

TONS of food! Everyone helped themselves  . . .carefully because there was more food to come.

We talked, laughed, and giggled out on the terrace for some time before we were ready for the next course.

Once the sun went down it got cool. We moved into the dining room for the main course.

Veal rolls stuffed with feta, mixed olives, and fresh herbs, roasted potatoes, green beans with dill.

When I asked Paul what hewated for dessert he said 'something lemony' . . .

I found an amazing recipe for lemon pudding cakes that went very well with a glass of limoncello!

Happily we had all day Saturday to recover from the food coma before doing it all again on Easter Sunday!

Buona Pasqua!

Auguro ogni bene a lei e alla sua famiglia . . .

It's now time to relax a bit before Paolo awakes.

The clues for the Easter hunt are hidden . . . and as always the most challenging aspect was attaching the obligatory clue to the cats.

When Paolo waks up we'll have blueberry, lemon pancakes in the requested Easter barnyard shapes. Round this out with some fresh fruit and turkey sausage patties and we'll be set until dinner.

We have 6 coming over for the annual Easter feast.

We're serving:

Cheese and Crackers
Pizza Rustica
Asparagus Prosciutto Puffs

Ham with Brown Sugar Glaze
Cheesey Scalloped Potatoes
Honey-roasted Carrots with Pistachios
Peas with Mint
Broccoli Salad

Neopolitian Ricotta Tart

Then we'll collapse! LOL

Thank goodness I have tomorrow off so that I can recover.

I hope that you all have a great day!

A St. Patrick's Day Feast

Last night Paul and I hosted our annual St. Patrick's Day dinner. We generally plan a menu that is based upon colour/theme rather than traditional Irish fare. I remember a friend from Ireland being scandalized at the thought of serving corned beef for guests. In her mind it was the sort of thing equated with a poor meal at home rather than a celebration. I imagine that there isn't a darn thing traditional about green beer either! Funny how we take traditional holidays and make them all our own in North America!

We had the house cleaned, the table set, and all of the prep work done by 1:30. There was plenty of time for a nap and relaxation until people arrived at 6:00.

The table was set and decorated with a green and white theme.

Each place setting had a 'Pot o'Gold' and some St. Patrick's Day treats.

Mom's spot had this wonderful 'Irish Princess' tiara which she promptly put on as soon as she saw it and wore it all night!

like a princess, she arrived unfashionably late. She was supposed to be here at 6:00 and at 6:10 when I called her she was still at home. By the time she arrived things were a wee bit more cooked than one might normally desire. You'll see in the pictures that things are a wee bit more golden than usual. SIGH

It had been a cool and foggy day so we had been debating our plan to have drinks and appetizers out on the terrace. Fortunately the sun came out and things warmed up so out we went!

The cheese board was a mixed thing - some Irish cheddar, Spanish almonds, carrot jam we had bought in Italy, and other assorted cheeses that we had in the refrigerator.

The real hit was the drink - a Green Lantern. This may seem a titch strange - it's made with 1 cup of parsley - but it really was soooo good. I can see myself sipping this on a hot summer day . . . or trying it with other combinations of herbs.

In addition to the cheese platter I had made the Reuben Dip that we learned how to make in a cooking class a few years ago. This is one of those simple things that causes everyone to ohh and ahh and no one knows how little work you actually did! Hot, goeey, and with all of the flavour so the traditional Reuben sandwich, this is always a hit.

See what I mean about it being a tad more 'golden' than you might normally desire. SIGH

Anyway. I shall move on.

We served pieces of marble rye bread, pretzel crisps, and trarelli with the dip.

The other dish we enjoyed on the terrace was an amazing cheddar and stout fondue. Stout is a dark beer so the fondue takes on an odd colour that some might find unappetizing. I guarantee that as soon as they dip their first bit of veggie into the mixture they'll be past the colour and looking for a spoon to really dig away!

The fondue was served with par-cooked baby potatoes, brussels sprouts, cauliflower florets, and wedges of apples.

As soon as the sun went down it quickly got quite cool. We gathered everything up and raced inside. Paul promptly put on the fire.

We moved into the dining room for the rest of our meal.

Next up was a cheddar soup served with cheddar coins. This course was inspired by our visit to Prince Edward County last December. The inn we stayed at (the Waring House) is famous for their cheddar soup. I found the recipe online and made it with some 8 year old cheddar from the Black River Cheese Company. The cider we used was from the County Cider company. The cheddar coins were bought in the Waring House store - essentially they are cheddar shortbread cookies with a wonderful hit of Cayenne pepper. YUM

For the main course we switched things up a bit. I think we have made everything the same for the past 8 years! The only thing that was the same on the menu this year was the corned beef with a cider/mustard/horseradish glaze and mom's famous Irish soda bread. On the side we served colcannon (a wonderful mixture of mashed potatoes, cabbage, and onions), honey roasted carrots with pistachios, and maple roasted brussels sprouts with chopped hazelnuts.

When I asked Paul what he wanted for dessert he promptly said a key lime cheesecake . . . I'm not sure where that request came from since we're not big cheesecake eaters OR makers and I doubt he'd ever had a key lime version at a restaurant. Anyway, thanks to my good friend google I found this recipe on the epicurious site.

Even though there were a number of steps involvrf they were easy to follow and resulted in a delicious cheesecake that wasn't as heavy as some baked cheesecakes can be. The final result looks impressive with the four layers (graham cracker crust, lime curd, lime cheesecake, and sour cream topping). Happily it tasted great too!

Luigi

One of the best parts of our trip to California was meeting Palma and Brad's 'new' dog, Luigi. I wrote 'new' because he is almost 2 but it was the first time that we have been in CA since they got him.

Like all pups, Luigi is a bundle of energy enjoying playing with toys . . .

 . . . and making new friends.

Sometimes he got a tad too excited and misbehaved. This resulted in a 'time out'  . . .

A kid after my own heart!

It was easy to see why Palma and Brad are so fond of this happy new addition to the family!

Traveling to Palm Desert

Yesterday was another travel day for us. Happily it was without the hideousness that characterized our trip west!

We left Buellton at 9:30. While I was at the light waiting the signal change so I could enter the freeway I spotted the windmill that marked the hotel the guys in Sideways stayed at.

We were meeting Palma and Brad in Santa Barbara for brunch at 11:00. It was only about a 50 minute drive so we had lots of time to stop. The drive south from Buellton starts off by going through some rugged terrain as you cross through the mountains. Once the mountains have been left behind the road hugs the ocean, offering up some brilliant sights.

Because we had plenty of time we pulled off and wandered about.

Even with all of this stopping we were early when we got to Santa Barbara. We have briefly stayed in the city a few years ago and didn't really care for it. This tim we were further away from the beach - we were amazed at what we had missed during our last visit. Santa Barbara is now high on the list of places we want to return to!

The restaurant was well-known for it's local seafood. Paul and I ordered the fish tacos and a glass of prosecco  . . . the perfect way to start a sunny day in CA!

After brunch we hopped back into the car and headed southwest over the mountains to Palm Desert. We stopped for a spell at the outlet mall where I was the picture of restraint and arrived at Palma and Brad's house by 5:30.

It was great to meet Luigi, the new addition to the family. He loved 'Mr. Lobster' every bit as muchas Max did when we delivered one to him in Piemonte last fall.

After we were settled we nibbled Palma's treats, chatted, laughed, drank wine, and played with Luigi until we could no longer keep our eyes open.

Another wonderful day in California.

A Day of Wine, Food, and Fun in the Santa Ynez Valley

Do you remember the movie Sideways? The 2004 Oscar winning movie featured two middle-aged men living LA and traveling to the Santa Barbara wine country for a weekend of fun which turned into discovery and adventure.

Our experiences in the Santa Ynez Valley were far less dramatic to be sure - there were no car crashes, affairs, fights, no drinking of buckets of spat out wine from tasting rooms. Instead we had gorgeous weather, great food, wonderful wine, and lots of laughter.

Yesterday started cool but ended up just over 70 degrees - a perfect day for winery visits.

We went to a local favourite restaurant for breakfast - Ellen's Danish Pancake house. What a difference from breakfast on Friday where we were surrounded by socialites who clearly had been nip and tucked. The crowd at Ellen's was decidedly more real and rustic.

I think this describes the entire valley - particularly when one compares it to other wine regions.

The first winery was at 11AM so we had some time to explore Buellton. We managed to find Ostrich Land where the Sideways characters came face-to-face with an angry bird in a hilarious scene.

Our encounter didn't involve angry ostriches. :-)

Foxen was the first winery - a smaller group met up here for a tasting of 3 whites and two reds. There are two tasting rooms here - the famous 'shack' that appeared in the movie and a more recent addition that was recently opened to accommodate the increased crowds coming to the area. Apparently a number of local wineries are in the process of opening 'showcase' tasting rooms a sign the the wine tourists have found the area. I guess this was what Napa and Sonoma were like in the  60s and 70s respectively.

I really liked the rustic countryside that we drove through - stopping as often as safety would allow to take pictures on the narrow and winding road through Foxen Canyon.

The entire group showed up at the next winery - Zaca Mesa. We tasted eight wines in their large outdoor garden and courtyard. We also enjoyed a wonderful alfresco lunch supplied by Sharon and June. It was a perfect spot to hang out in the sun . . .nibbling on delicious food . . . tasting interesting wines . . . and chatting with great people!

 I climbed a huge hill that overlooked the winery to take a group shot. Sadly my telephoto lens was sitting in the car - had it not been for the fact that I almost had a heart attack getting up in the first place I would have gone back down and gotten it!

The last winery of the day was located close to Santa Maria. Cambria is a huge producer 0 famous for their Chardonay and Pinot Noir. There we sat on the patio and enjoyed the wine, the company, and the warm 'Californian' sun.

Leaving Cambria, we reversed our route, heading back to the hotel in Buellton for a rest before the pizza party.

When we arrived at the Skyview the guys from Full of Life Flatbread had their oven set up and were getting it up to 650 degrees so they could make dinner.

This being California, the portable oven was decorated with beautiful ceramic tiles designed by the local school children . . .

and a fascinating collection of bumper stickers!

Everything was fresh, local, and amazingly delicious!  The guys served up salad, cauliflower gratin, and three types of flatbread pizzas.

Of course, a visit to wine country wouldn't be complete without WINE!

 . . . or delicious dessert. Shannon had arranged for a company from Santa Barbara to travel north with some of their gelato. Bob and Ellie from 'Here's the Scoop' like to give back to their community, and besides the various events put on for the youngsters of Santa Barbara in their store, they also buy much of the produce for their gelato and sorbet from local farmers. Everything is fresh, local, and, you guessed it, delicious!

I had a scoop of pina colada and a scoop of lemon lavendar.

For a brief moment it was like being transported back to Italy. Sigh

A Typical Travel Day

What is a typical travel day anyway?

In my mind a typical travel day is a pretty hideous beast where shit happens. One needs to expects this as typical and it makes it all seem reasonable when it happens.

Yesterday we were up at 3 am EST to be at the airport for our 6 am flight out of Toronto. While I am an admitted morning person this was too early, even for me. We checked in quickly, went through customs quickly and encountered our first disappointment - the first class lounge wasn't open yet.

We don't normally travel first class. I had lots of points that were getting ready to expire so we decided to blow them and travel first. We were looking forward to a civilized start to the day once we got through customs. This was not to be.

Instead we met the travelling public, who by and large can be a nasty group of folks. In the course of 30 minutes I listened to a man rant at the duty free cashierafter she warned him that he had a connecting flight from the US to Puerto Rico and the customs there would confiscate his vodka. She was helping him out and saving him $ 50 + - he decided to yell at her in return. Next was a rather loud group of young women wearing matching pinks shirts declaring to the world that it was Sharm's Bachelorette trip. They were channeling the women from Bridesmaids in a loud way. Then there was loud coffee line guy who pontificated about how Starbucks was gross coffee and why couldn't he have a Tim Horton's. When it got to be too much a young lady in line turned to him and said - 'there is a Tim Horton's 100feet away, perhaps you could do us all a favour and go there'. Our fellow line members clapped.

At the gate it was a short wait until we boarded. It was smaller plane to Charlotte so there was no meal but we were given drinks and snacks. This was all good.

The bachelorette girls were on the plane. That wasn't good. Happily the magic curtain between first and the rest magically drowned them out.

The Charlotte airport is a charming airport with its civilized white rocking chairs for all to enjoy. The travellers in Charlotte were a sorry lot though. It was explained to me that the dregs of the SE US were all connecting through Charlotte so it brought out the worst in folks. We made a note to connect through Phillie in the future.

A short wait later and we were on the plane to LA. Lunch was actually tasty. The drinks flowed. The guy in front of me knocked back 8 JDs and water. The woman across the aisle from me had her poodle with her - she had a sucker for the wee beast. She'd lick the sucker, give it to the dog to lick, lick it again, and so on. I wanted to hurl my tasty lunch. Once the sucked fell out of the dog carrier, rolled across the carpet . . . after retrieving it the licking continued.

I closed my eyes.

When I opened them I noticed our flight attendant with a flashlight trying to read some controls on the ceiling. We sound were told why - the plane has suffered a toilet malfunction and they were ready to overload. We were diverting to Phoenix. The pilot asked us to try and hold 'it' and informed us that drink service was stopping. For some reason no one else found that amusing.

It was a quick repair in Phoenix and we could have left much sooner except for the fact that it took forever to round up the passengers who got off and allegedly made a desperate run for the bathroom but came back with sacks of fast food and souvenirs.

A short hop later and we were in LA.

As is usual for LA the wait for the luggage took forever. It arrived on a different carousel than it was supposed to.

Whatever.

We took the shuttle to the car rental area where I had to fend off the aggressive efforts of the agent who tried to sell me everything but chains for the tires. In the end I was given an upgraded SUV and we were off to Van Nuys where we were staying for the night.

By the time we were settled it was 3:30 PM PST and we were hungry. We had 4 hours until we were meeting our friends for dinner so we used our GPS to find the closest In-N-Out burger where I threw all diet caution to the wind and scarfed back a vanilla shake, double-double, and animal style fries. My arteries are still constricted.

We still had time for a short nap before we met up with everyone for dinner.

Dinner was at Osterieria Firenze, the restaurant by celebrity chef Fabio Viviani. It is always great to hook up with the slowtravel gang - lots of hugs, laughter, and good stories.

It was a great meal. Of course I started off with the famous strawberry balsamico martini . . .

Followed by a salad and the delicious orecchiette with sausage, what was supposed to be rapini (I know rapini, this was not rapini it was black kale) and chili peppers.

Paul had the same panna cotta he had enjoyed when we were here 2 years ago (time flies, it does indeed). I passed on dessert, still feeling a titch guilty about that In-N-Out visit. :-)

By the time we got back to the hotel we were exhausted. It was 22 hours from the time the alarm clock had rung at home. Needless to say we slept like like a rock!

Today we have a short drive to the Los Alamos area for a weekend of food, laughter, and wine with the slowtravel gang!

The Christmas Wrap Up

As opposed to the Christmas un-wrap - of which we did a good deal of yesterday.

First let me say that I developed the dreaded Christmas cold on the 24th so I didn't have much energy or even desire to do anything yesterday. If it hadn't been Christmas I likely would have spend the day curled up on the couch with a book, blanket, and a fire. However, since it was Christmas and there are certain expectations re Christmas I pulled it together. Today I feel like crapola.

I should warn from the get go that in my feaverish state I took far fewer pictures than I might normally take.

There. Whining done!

Before Paul crawled out of bed I made cranberry gingerbread muffins and a soft gingerbread cake for dessert.  I was worried about the gingerbread cake as it rose more than anticipated in the oven - in fact it escaped the pan and went all over the tray I had placed it on. I posted a pic on facebook and my friend Sandi suggested that it looked like reindeer poop - not the stuff 0f Christmas desserts.

Normally I'd have made somehting else but being sick I thought . . . 'what the heck, maybe I can make it look pretty'. More on that later.

We started the day in the family room with stockings. The cats were in the middle of it all, enjoying the bits of ribbon, paper, and bows. Paul scarfed back two gingerbread cranberry muffins and asked why I hadn't made them before (I've made them every Christmas day for the past 5 years!!!!!!). It must have been the coffee/Baileys Irish Cream talking.

After opening and admiring the loot in the stockings we took a deep breath, piled up the garbage in the first garbage bag of the day, and moved into the living room to open the presents.

It was a good year. . . lots of sweaters, art, and cookbooks (which means next year it will be a vey good year for eating but NOT a good year for fitting into the Christmas clothing - sigh).

Remember what I said about the feaverish state? No pics of presents being opened.

Paul selected the breakfast menu - pannetone french toast, fruit, and some of the amazing chicken sausage with blueberry from the famous Beach Road butcher in Hamilton. We sipped a mimosa while eating breakfast. The booze likely didn't help my cold but it made me forget about it for awhile so that was a joyous thing.

After the breakfast stuff was all cleaned up and put away we started on dinner. I like to have everything made well in advance of the meal so that when the guests are there I don't have to race about cooking instead of enjoying their company. We had six for dinner - I hear about those folks who entertain 25 and think 'how the hell does one do that?' Six is just fine.

Now remember what I said about those pictures? I don't have a single photo from 3:00 PM on.

I can show that table set for dinner:

Everyone had one of these cute felt gift bags filled with treats from our recent travels at their spot. They were a big hit.

Mom was almost on time. That alone was a Christmas miracle. There was another stocking to open (mom, Paul, and I each exchange names and make a stocking for one another). Well, there was a stocking for mom and Paul - none for me. Mom hadn't gotten around to getting it ready yet.

I consoled myself with my new festive drink:

Pine infused vodka from 66 Gilead distillery  in Prince Edward County, Pama pomegranate liqueur, and cranberry juice. MMMMM Cold, what cold?

Mom had wrapped her gifts for us - another sweater, a signed copy of David Rocco's new cookbook, and a lovely piece of stained glass - so even though my stocking will likely arrive in June at least  had something to open.

Mom went around the corner to visit my cousin and Paul and I finished the last dinner prep. Well, I had a nap too.

I have no pictures of any food but I'll share the menu:

Cheese Tray
Cured Meats
Shrimp
Sausage Rolls

Roast Free-range Turkey
Sausage Stuffing with Leeks and Cranberries
Gravy
Rosemary, Orange Cranberry Sauce
Marinated Broccoli Salad
Maple Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Hazelnuts
Norfolk County Silver Corn
Sage, 10 year-old White Cheddar Mashed Potatoes

Cookie 'Assortment'
Mincemeat Tarts
Gingerbread Cake with Cream

It's a shame I have no photos because it all turned out better than normal. Mom made the make ahead gravy (a first for her) and the cranberries. Both were brilliant. The sausage rolls were better than normal - it took us 40 years but mom and I finally realized that the secret to a good sausage roll is a high quality sausage. DUH

Most of the dinner recipes were things I had done before. The marinated salad was new - and delicious. The roasted brussels sprouts were AMAZING! I used some roasted hazelnuts from Piemonte and some local maple syrup. For me this dish was the hit of the evening!

Now about that cake. It looked a mess when I took it out of the pan. Actually, it looked like a BIG mess.  I stuck it on a glass pedestal serving dish and had one of our guests cut a snow flake pattern out of paper which I placed on top of the cake. I sprinkled icing sugar over the snowflake to make a snowflake design when I removed the paper (thereby covering up the mess on the top so it looked pretty). Paired with some whipped cream and a sliver of candied lemon peel from the Amalfi coast and you'd never know it was the same cake that was described as reindeer poop on facebook earlier that morning.  Truth be told, it was freaking delicious.

Everyone was gone and we were cleaned up by 9:00. I was in a coma by 9:05.

Today promises to be a wonderful day of leftovers (not much though since most of the food went home in care packages yesterday), and relaxing on the couch by the fireplace. SIGH

One last shot of the wine rack decorated for Christmas . . .

See that cute carved Santa of to the right? That was one of my gifts from Paul - two new Santas were added to the collection this year.

I hope that you had a great day yesterday and that today is a relaxing day by the fireplace for you as well! :-)

Photo Hunt - Joy

This week's Photo Hunt theme is 'joy'.

My picture is an unusual one for the theme. for me one of the great joys in life is having my first gelato wehn I return to Italy. Simple things, I know. -)

This was from 201o when I joined my friend Palma in Bologna.

Yum! That is a big scoop of joy for me!