Preserving the family culinary memory Shaaron and Patricia were chatting at Auntie Ione’s party tonight at Lisa and Shamir’s. They felt we should have a family cookbook. Little did they realize that we already have exactly that. And it is on this website! Click here to see for yourself. Now the challenge is on! Who will submit the next recipe? Click the menu above and try one or two of our recipes. Then submit one of…
It was a very hectic spring at our home. On May 1, the Ontario government tabled its 2014-15 Budget, and on May 2, one of the opposition parties said they would not support it. The Opposition Party, the Conservatives, didn’t support any government bill, so that meant that a vote on the Budget would result in the fall of the government. This was not unexpected. On Friday May 2nd, the Premier called an election for June 12th, and we were off and running!
Want to trade humidity for cold? Winter in Canada began with an ice storm in December, and has just not let up at all! While we did not lose our electricity in the ice storm, this unremitting cold is ensuring that we suffer in a uniquely Canadian winter fashion. Aside from Bob fighting off a head cold, on Friday, the blower motor in the furnace had a bearing fail. Following a grinding sound, the furnace…
The 2013-14 Christmas Holiday Season is now officially in the history books. Over the January 11-12 weekend, we carefully dismantled the decorations and adornments in the house, labelled everything in its box, stored it back downstairs, and then cleaned and vacuumed. All traces of Christmas 2013 are now in storage. As always, the Christmas tree was last to go, its lights signaling the festive season until the very last minute as the Christmas music CDs get one last play while the takedown tasks are done.
We were all looking forward to a relaxing Christmas this year. Bob had a very long autumn sitting at Queen’s Park, with more than the usual amount of travel and committee work. Bob’s big personal thrill of the year came when he was not only the starting goaltender in a hockey game against the Toronto Maple Leaf Old-Timers, but also delivered the Province’s greetings at the same time. Then came the big ice storm of December 2013. A major weather system carried a huge mass of wet air up from the Gulf of Mexico through the heart of North America before colliding with a mass of cold air coming down from the arctic, and Toronto was frozen solid.
There is a distinct chill in the air as daylight settles into darkness a few minutes earlier each day. The pussycats come in at dusk earlier and earlier. And in September, Bebe came eyeball to eyeball with one of the young raccoons that lives in the neighbourhood.
This summer, as with most years in our home, our dinner guests will dine on ingredients grown steps from the dinner table, and often harvested and prepared just for that one meal. Today, I harvested my first lot of garlic, shown in the picture opposite. I will have to let them dry out a bit, and then we are ready to cook with our very own garlic. This is a species of locally-grown and harvested garlic. It will take a few weeks for the garlic to cure, however.
Sometimes, time pauses and for an evening, something perfect happens. The annual RibFest at Celebration Square in Mississauga was just such a mid-July event. The oppressive heat and humidity had lifted with a Friday thunderstorm that washed the air clear. The weekend weather was sunny, warm and dry. And what better event to take in with Bob and my then-EduNational colleague, Gabriella Herrero, than the annual RibFest that the different Rotary Clubs in Mississauga host at Celebration Square, the recently-built gathering place for special events in Mississauga.
Andrea and Mom have been cooking up a storm at the house all day Saturday. The place smells divine. Zach…
However, seeing as how Andrea was stuck inside, we did have a great lunch of freshly-made hamburgers. Andrea did a…
Andrea forgot the last part of snow shoveling. We finished up at about 3:00 p.m., and then at 10:00 p.m.,…
Andrea made a fantastic turkey dinner. She didn't believe me that a 7 kg turkey would be big enough, but…
I had to mind the cats and go to the Legislature during that cruise. I am looking forward to enjoying…