There's No Place Like Ottawa for the Holidays

So I decided kind of last minute to make myself scarce and get out of town for a few days. Montreal is great, but I did a lot of growing up in Ottawa and I'll always love coming back here.

I zipped into the capital for a quick trip to see some old university friends here before heading west for a bit. Of course I'm right in the middle of finals now so some of my work came with me. Everything has to be done in the next ten days so I'm resting up to prepare for the final sprint to the finish line.

Then home to my parents in Edmonton for a while. I'll be back in Montreal by Christmas eve, though, so lots of travel on the horizon for me. I can't wait to try my parents new kitchen.

While I'm in Ottawa I have some bosom friends to connect with and of course one or two restaurants to stop in at. I might find my way to So Good tomorrow around lunchtime. Get myself some tofu pepper salt and wu se chicken. Care to join me?

Checked into the ever-resplendant Chateau Laurier - my hotel of choice in Ottawa, of course... I don't think I will ever get tired of getting to sleep in a big bed inside a castle.

After checking in I went right to the in-room dining menu and sized it up. Eventually I settled on the Senator's Nicoise Salad and a glass of Pinot Grigio.
Herb dusted pan-flashed Ahi tuna over salad nicoise of boiled baby potatoes, kalamata olives, grape tomatoes and hard boiled egg. And soooo many delightful crisp green beans! An excellent start to the weekend.

Later an early evening visit turned into one or two rounds of martinis with a darling old friend. Time catches up to everyone. We can't hide from it, though it may be tempting to try. Our friendship has gone from kool-aid and grape juice at work to cosmos on Sparks Street to now - dry vodka martinis with lots of olives in the hotel lounge. I love this man.

He insisted that I return to my room and order up some dinner. So now I am waiting. I am waiting for french onion soup and a slow roasted prime rib sandwich with au jus dip. I'm getting my first french onion soup of the season. I can't wait for it to warm me up. Have you got a favourite onion soup recipe? Care to share?

Stay tuned as food and ensuing shenanigans make their way onto the pages of the Digest. Hotel eats galore, lots of Canadian wine and beer, I hope, and old friends in the coming days.

I love this town.

recent food notes to mention

Have you ever tried cuttlefish tentacles? I didn't realize what I was missing until I was urged to try these at Kyoto recently. A much needed and long overdue night out with some girlfriends from work resulted in the four of us squeezing into one of their shoji-screened rooms, feet dangling on the floor, as we splashed our way through a bottle of hot sake.
The tentacles were served with a mango aioli as an appetizer along with deep fried Karaage Tofu - puffy and piping hot. We shared a Maki Boat covered in rolls of various fish and vegetable fillings and sprang for additional courses of salmon and tuna sashimi - melt in your mouth deliciousness...


Being substantially more settled in our new house, we decided it was high time to invite the parentals over for a brunch of approval. I spent the week tossing around recipe ideas and jotting them down on scraps of paper to see how they made out all together. J and Mel were given their dishes to be responsible for and then also given the task of ensuring that curtain rods were screwed into walls and floors were swept. The night before the brunch I had to work late, so I left them to their tasks and made sure my dad knew he was to bring the bubbly for the mimosas.

Everyone came through and it was an altogether lovely morning. Dad's cremant was delicious (on its own as well as mixed with orange juice). Mom was a champ and showed up with a very impressive fruit plate... I've never seen her use blackberries before, she really went all out. J used to make fun of the piles of bread on the counter every time he came over for dinner at my parents' place, but I wasn't all that surprised when she made a beeline for the kitchen, her arms weighed down with the fruit plate, a blueberry pie, roasted lentil dip, and (no joke) six loaves of bread and bread-like things from our favourite bakery.

In the end it was a rather impressive spread, and the fact that it was such a true collaboration of love made it even more scrumptious:
vegan chocolate turtles (recipe to follow)
smoked salmon, bagels, and cream cheese (the latter two brough by Mel's mom and dad)
chicken sausages from the farmer's market -grilled by J
buttermilk pancakes - Mel's addition (recipe from the Joy of Cooking)
banana white chocolate chip muffins - a family tradition in miniature
Mom's amazing fruit platter

Vegan Chocolate Turtles:
start with fresh Medjool dates
score lengthwise and remove the pit
replace with a toasted walnut or almond
seal shut with your fingers
place in a double boil of melted dark chocolate, rolling around with a spoon
remove and let cool on parchment paper


The most incredible meal I've had in ages was a few weeks ago when J and I decided to mark the anniversary of our first date by going all out on a spectacular dinner. I sent him a list of places I know to be top notch, but in the end he let me decide.

The Red Ox Inn is one of Edmonton's oldest and most highly regarded restos. Serving up fine bistro food with quality local ingredients for over 30 years, my expectations were actually exceeded by this place. It is a small restaurant - probably seats no more than 30 people. The decor is simple and elegant with rugged wood topped tables and substantial steak knives at eat setting.

Their wine list is a sight to behold and we decided to really treat ourselves with a different glass of white for each of us as our appetizers paired so much better with the crisp bright notes of unoaked Chardonnay and sweet, spicy Riesling (spinach salad with chevre and pan seared scallops respectively).

For our main courses - pork chop for J and duck breast for me - I chose a beautiful bottle of Barbera d'Asti - sweet spice of cherries and oak and a wonderful brick red colour. The duck breast was paired with a roasted fennel wrapped in prosciutto, cooked until crispy. Ugh, I was in paradise. J and I did our best to share and give tastes of everything on our plates, but I will admit at times I was hoping he wouldn't look over and see that there was something else to try.

Our better judgment to share dessert was silenced by the allure of blueberry white chocolate bread pudding and lemon tart. This photo of the empty plate was the only shot I got. We basically licked it clean.

Though I can't say that I'll be returning to the Red Ox Inn soon, it certainly was one of the most memorable meals I've ever had, and a beautiful place to celebrate being in love with J.

That's all for now - eggplant parmesan for dinner - must get a move on or the eggplant wont have enough time to drain...

post-holiday recovery

The holiday season lasts really long. Especially in the hospitality and service industry. From the end of November until now, I basically have not had two days off in a row. Except for the little bit of time when my family all together. I mean the full family - sisters, partners, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

And do you know what I learned? My family is really big and really hungry pretty much all the time. I mean even when we're in a smaller arrangement of the family, say parents, partners, and grandparents, we're still pretty boistrous and at once slightly peckish.

So for the past couple of months I've done little but cook, eat, serve, and discuss food, but because I've been so busy doing that... I haven't had time to write. Not cool.
Now that things are finally settling down on all fronts, I can settle in, catch up, ad take stock of what a trip it all was.

Let's see, there was the obscene amount of food that I served at work the weeks leading up to Christmas. And the fact that I was hired at a fine wine and spirits shop in the neighbourhood I grew up in. That exciting news in itself is worthy of a post. More to come about Crestwood Fine Wines and Spirits...

I cooked dinner for Joey, my sister Sarah and her partner Ed on the first night of Channukah. My parents were away so my mom's traditional role of racing home after work to make dozens of latkahs fell to me. I made crispy cornflake crumb chicken baked in the oven and we ate latkahs was apple sauce and sour cream until we each had to unbutton the top buttons of our pants.

Then there was the big fat family vacation on a Caribbean cruise over Christmas. My grandmother decided to take us all on vacation to celebrate her 80th birthday. There was a cocktail of trepidation and curiosity about what the experience would be like. In a way it met every expectation. But then again, in other ways it was a total surprise. Sometime soon I will spend some time telling the tales of the MS Noordam. But I think those will have to wait. Let me tease you by saying we ate a lot of lobster, beef tenderloin on board but my favourite meal was the snack bar lunch on the beach in Cozumel, which was comprised of cheese and chicken quesadillas, salsa, guacamole, tostadas, fish tacos, and Sol beer with fresh limes.

Oh yes, and of course we could not have gotten on that ship if we did not first travel halfway across North America to board from the port of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Do you know what else is in Florida? Orlando. Do you know what marvelously terrifying park is built in Orlando? Universal Studios. My sisters and I spent an entire day roadtripping to and from Universal to spend an afternoon at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. That's right, the Dolgirls went to Hogwarts. It was amazing. Surely a day I will never forget. I have never done anything like that and I don't know if I would do anything like it ever again. I had so much butterbeer that eventually I couldn't drink anymore. And there were whole turkey legs. People were walking around with them in their hands. Peering and surveying the length of lineups with greasy skin and bits of turkey meat smeared all over their faces. That was super gross. But we did try them in the Three Broomsticks tavern, and they were actually quite tasty.

I want to tell you all about all of this. But let me take my time, now that I finally have some to myself again. More soon...

giving thanks for this time of year

I have so much to be thankful for.

I have people to love who love me. We share interests, exchange ideas, help to make each other better, and hold the memories to a lifetime together. These people also happen to give and enjoy good wine. I am certainly thankful to friends who bring over nice wine when they come for dinner (or anytime for that matter).

I am supported in my choices by this same network of love and trust and it seems to continue to grow and strengthen as I get older and have more interesting impulses, ideas, and things to say. I hope they know that I thank them every day for this ongoing support.

I am extremely thankful that I live in a place that has clean water and air and my food is relatively safe to eat. I am not, for example spending my Thanksgiving exposed or in limited shelter, escaping from a deluge of red poison. I send my prayers to anyone who is not warm and being made welcome at someone's table this weekend.

And, of course, I am thankful for the food that I get to cook and eat - let me not forget to acknowledge my thanks to the people who have grown and cared for the food that I try to prepare as artfully as I may. I am also thankful to have friends and family to cook for and eat with, which is a joy to me always.

On Saturday I hosted my very first Thanksgiving meal since returning to the prairies. It was actually the first real sit-down dinner party (and I think probably the largest of it's kind) that I've ever hosted here. I will not take full credit for the success of the evening. My sister, Sarah, and the every constant and culinarily inclined Joey were the secrets in the sauce. Thanks to all of my friends and readers who came over. You're the best. Seriously. Someone compared the first few moments of the meal to that scene in Chocolat with Juliette Binoche - you know, the one where everyone suddenly starts eating silently and in slow motion and then they all break out into laughter. It was, admittedly, reminiscent of that scene.

Thanks to Marius and Four Whistle Farms for cutting me a beautiful leg of lamb. Weighing at almost 6 pounds it was enough to feed the fourteen of us and then some. I made slits in the meat just under the fat and inserted fresh organic garlic from Peas on Earth farm and big rosemary leaves from our own garden plants. Then I applied a rub made from grainy mustard, extra virgin olive oil, copped garlic, garden rosemary and oregano, kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, and a splash of maple syrup. I was actually quite rushed to prepare all of this in the 45 minutes between leaving the market and having to get back in the car to run to work for my 3-hour Saturday afternoon shift. So I know that this can be done quite quickly. I placed the meat in a roasting pan under 4 red onion halves, wrapped the dish tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerated it for about 4 hours.

My other major cooking triumph that night was the vegetarian shepherd's pie. I got the idea when I was on the bike at the gym (watching food tv, of course). Hrm, side note, must get back to the gym after this weekend....
Chuck Hughes hosts the show Chuck's Day Off. I've never seen him before but I certainly approve of the butter, cream, and chevre that are used in the mashed potato part of the recipe. Switching lentil for ground beef is easy and super cheap and healthy. Lots of fresh wild mushrooms from the downtown market really gave the dish its character and texture. I roasted the spaghetti squash and garlic the night before to save time. It was possibly my favourite part of dinner and I still had tons to send home with friends and for my own leftover supply.

Joey made mashed yams with a maple candied walnut top. There was none left at the end of the night. And he made as much of it as I made of the shepherd's pie. Sarah and her boyfriend brought wine and made an arugula salad with dried currants. So many friends brought cheese - proof, if ever I needed some, that they love me.

Oh yes, and there were incredible devil's food cupcakes that Joey's friend made. Apparently she got the recipe from Joy of Cooking. They were so good and I got so many compliments about them I am planning on making sure she starts working at a bakery very soon. Has anyone seen help wanted signs at any nice little bakeries in town?

Other dessert items included a late night apple upside-down cake that I cranked out with roasting, cleaning, setting, and generally stressing the night before. There was also the requisite pumpkin pie, and other super sweet cakes and goodies.

If you were there, tell me what your favourite dish was. Or tell me what you’re thankful for. If you weren’t there, tell me what you had at your Thanksgiving this weekend. Or what of this harvest you may be thankful to receive this year.

lonely lake cooking

I went out to the lake last week, all by my lonesome. My boyfriend came in and out in the evenings as he was still working. I have strange hours with my two jobs and often find my weekends come in the form of a Tuesday-Wednesday combo. Since I have those days free, and for once had not committed myself to about twelve other activities, I thought it would be nice to get away from everything.

The noise and the distractions of the city were a faint memory as soon as we made the turnoff from Highway 16 onto Culmac Road. Our family cottage is on Wabamun Lake at a secluded end in a little summer village called Seba Beach. On the weekend, I wake at 8 a.m. to the sound of jet skis and shrieking children. But on this very fine Wednesday morning, the only sound we heard as we rolled out of bed around 10 a.m. was the lapping water and the distant rumbling of thunder.

As it turned out it was a rather rainy couple of days. We made a spectacular brunchy feast of grilled turkey sausages, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, green onion, and crumbled feta cheese, blackberry yogurt, cottage cheese, berry smoothie, and coffee. After getting the kitchen straightened up again, my boyfriend had to go back into the city for work. Before leaving, though, he made sure I had plenty of wood stacked next to the fireplace (what a dear) and more coffee brewing.

That afternoon I wrote by the fire and hoped the rain would pass so I could get outside to catch some sun. My mother and sisters are much more successful tanners, but it's not for lack of trying that I don't ever get much colour. My Eastern-European skin seems somewhat impervious to the deliciously carcinogenic rays and I remain more peaches and cream than olive toned all year round.

In any case, the rain did subside late in the afternoon and I sat out on the deck for a while, continuing my writing and shutting my eyes for a spell. In my dreams, I catalogued the contents of the fridge and pantry and devised a delicious dinner for two that would feed my dear and me that night. You will be proud to know, dear readers, that in firing up the grill I avoided any singing or hair loss of any kind, contrary to what you might imagine. I have a touch of clumsy in me, and small fires are just par for the course in my kitchen.

No, there were no accidents to speak of during the preparation of this meal. The only accident was my camera's batteries dying just as I was putting the food on the grill. So unfortunately, you'll have to just imagine what the finished products looked like. Suffice it to say that they were delicious. I ate mine all by my lonesome, working hard on the bottle of Quail's Gate Chenin Blanc, 2009, that I had picked to pair with the grilled vegetables. The wine was an excellent match - mineral, slightly citrus, and enough acidity to withstand the blossom aroma that carried through to the finish. A nice alternative to the sweeter Riesling I had intended on picking up.

Early summer grilled vegetables and green salad

Portabella mushrooms:
Scrape out the black fins that run along the underside of the cap. Discard these.
Combine in a bowl:
Chopped – sun dried tomatoes in oil
Cremini or white button mushrooms, peeled
Roma tomatoes

Add about 2 Tbsp of olive oil. Stir to combine.

Mince two cloves of garlic, adding 1 tsp of salt as you chop. Add to tomato mushroom mixture.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Spoon mixture into waiting mushroom caps. Refrigerate for up to 1 hour. Grill on medium to high heat for 5-10 minutes. Turn for grill marks on the cap top and to ensure even cooking.
Grilled asparagus from Edgar’s Farm, Lacombe Alberta
After washing the asparagus, snap off the bottoms of each stalk. Don’t worry about losing too much of the asparagus. The stalks naturally break where they start to get woody. You’ll be left with the best part of the asparagus and no guesswork as to whether or not you’re cooking tough stuff or not.

Marinade – Quail’s Gate Chenin Blanc, olive oil, fresh lemon juice, dried oregano, maple syrup, dash of salt.

After you put the mushroom caps on the grill directly against the heat, place your asparagus down and just keep your eye on it. Rotate and flip it so that it cooks evenly, and watch so the tops don’t flare up and burn. The marinade will drip down onto the mushrooms as well, adding to the flavour of the other dish. If they finish early, just put them aside on the unlit half of the grill. They’ll stay hot but won’t keep cooking.

Serve on a bed of saffron infused couscous or basmati rice. Pair with a simple green salad – whatever is fresh or you have on hand. If you stay seasonal or go with a few solid faves for your go to salad, it's pretty much going to work. I used butter lettuce, cucumber, tomato, avocado, and crumbled feta cheese drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Red grapes for dessert.

what do you mean it's summer? it's started already? cool, let's have a picnic!

I swear, no one told me. I've spent so many back-to-back summers away, either in Ontario, Quebec, or Italy that I've forgotten what it feels like to experience an Edmonton spring followed immediately what I'm beginning to remember as Edmonton summer. I am guilty of falling victim to the intoxicating wafts of fresh blossoms and then greedily planting a garden before the Victoria Day long weekend. I also took a holiday in New York and didn't tend to my garden, as I should have in the days leading up to my trip. I was working extra hours at two jobs, training at one of them, and preoccupied with other writing I've been working on. So of course, bad things happened to the garden while I was away and shortly after my return. But I'm getting sidetracked. I'll tell you those stories in the next instalment of "planting a garden". The point is, I haven't written in a while nor have I been cooking, and so I must retrain myself to get back to those things, and to you, dear, loyal readers.
All right, yes, New York. It certainly felt like summer as soon as I got off the plane. The mercury did not dip below 30 degrees any day that we were there. At nights it cooled down slightly to around 25. That being said, it was rather difficult to maintain a high energy level to go go go the whole time. The vacation was a great deal about leisure, so we took our time. We loved choosing restaurants as it meant pouring over their online menus and dreaming of what kind of night might follow a meal at each place. Rarely did I find myself eating the entire meal (which was always at least twice as much as I could eat), but I didn't sweat it. One night we actually gave our leftover curry and rice to a homeless man on the way back to the hotel. Also, the heat made me realize that making sure we saw the 5 or 6 galleries, 2 museums, not to mention all the shopping,
Crab cakes and cucumber salad on the patio grill at the Boathouse in
Central Park
theatring, and fine dining as we could - not so realistic. There were a number of delightful food moments and memories, too many to share them all with you.

Some of the brightest food highlights (indeed in the darkest
places) I've captured with my Nikon D40. I've got a good old lens, but she's a bit broken and needs to be fixed. She kept conking out on me, so I was very happy to have had my friend's macro lens on loan for the trip. I've been playing around with that a lot since coming home and starting to cook again (!) I welcome your input and suggestions on updating my lens for my DSLR. I am thinking right now that I'll just send the warranteed lens away and pick up a well-made low price range macro lens too.

Wild blackberries that I noticed were growing on an island on the lake
in Central Park. I don't think the birds, ducks, and turtles will miss
these few we nabbed.

I want to tell you about this one meal I had though... I was given loads of advice and suggestions for where to eat and what to do while in New York. Thank everyone who offered me his or her precious info. One suggestion that I am particularly thankful for was from my sister who used to live in New York. Based on her recommendation I took my companion and another friend who now lives in New York down to Chelsea and we ate at August on Bleecker. It would be easy to walk right by it. In fact, our cab driver wouldn't pull over right away. Peering through the big front window, the restaurant appeared to be empty. I trusted my sister, though, so in we went. A shiny, hot wood-burning oven with endless piles of orange glowing coals was obviously the first thing I was drawn to. Soon after I looked around I heard laughter and tickling glasses coming from somewhere further into the restaurant. The sommelier (and I assume also an owner or manager) greeted us and took us through the narrow restaurant into the glass-roofed patio in the back. Large plants hung down and lights were suspended across the courtyard-like space.
The dinner menu was small, but the food was divine and wine list was sensational. Our sommelier friend came over when we asked our server a rather odd question. My friend likes Pino Grigio and I made the assumption that something called Fie Gris would be rather similar. Our server hadn't tried this bottle, so she called in backup. The sommelier began to describe the wine without seeming to be able to put his finger on just what it was like or could be compared to. He called it "rich", and kept repeating that characteristic over and over. "It's a bit citrusy, yeah, but it's just so... rich." It's indescribable, but he was exactly right. Not quite like anything I have tried before, but deliciously rich without being buttery and still with lots of nice fruit and blossoms. I must write to them and find out the exact name of the bottle. In all the deliciousness I plum forgot to write it down...
We also enjoyed some wonderful oysters from Saddle Rock, Long Island. Don't believe that old hoohah about only eating oysters in months that have an R in them. This dates back to a time when we had poor refrigeration. Besides, these were harvested not too far from where I was dining, even better!
I thought when I ordered the salad with arugula and lamb's quarters that I would be getting something with pieces of lamb meat... yeah, lamb's quarters are actually wild spinach, I have learned. It was still delicious, but because I had imagined some incredibly rich, heavy salad course, I was actually a little disappointed. The chefs at August made up to me, though with the stunning main course that was created as the nightly special. It was a sea bream grilled and served with fresh microgreens and tarragon in a light cream sauce strongly flavour with lemon. The brine from happy little green olives commingled with the sauce and the natural smoky flavour and oils from the grilled fish. It was rustic, inventive, and incredibly satisfying. I ate a whole fish. Minus the head and the eyes, which I secretly kind of want to try.

My dining companions each got one of the pizzas that were on special that night. Every sunday they have a pizza and beer deal. Something involving a bucket of beer, it actually looked pretty cool. My friends gave mixed reviews to their main courses. The one who eats meat said his was fantastic. I tasted some and it was pretty damn good. Lots of good quality Italian cured meats crumbled over a wood fired pizza crust with lots of fresh mozzarella. The one who is a vegetarian said her pizza had too much going on and it certainly looked that way to me - peppers, greens, and fava beans all sort of thrown "rustically" onto the crust without all concern for the mixture of textures and flavours.

We finished the meal with a couple of desserts which we all sort of shared. My veggie friend and I shared the hot rhubarb crumble with black pepper ice cream on top and the carnivore had a trio of gelato. We all had a contentedly (almost uncomfortably) full walk down to Union Square and after one more cold drink in the hot heat, headed back into a cab, uptown, and into the night.

happy as a clam

Welcome to Halifax, where the people are friendly, the beer is flowing, and the seafood is so fresh it jumps into your mouth.

I arrived yesterday afternoon after a long day of flying. A rush-hour meander through Dartmouth and I was at my friend's door. She lives above a delicious smelling Chinese restaurant on Quinpool. After a happy dance in the kitchen and a hot cup of tea we were out on the street, catching up and meandering towards the Common to sit out in the sunshine.

The evening was rounded out with dinner and drinks in a pub downtown - The Old Triangle. The food was not exactly legendary, but it was most definitely a good start to the seafood bonanza that I hope this town has in store for me. We started with mussels in a white wine and lemon juice broth - Mussels Molly Malone. Then there were the bacon wrapped scallops. They pronounce them scawlups here, and I was corrected early on, certain not to make this mistake again while I am here.
I could definitely have had another 4 orders of those scallops though...

There was also an oven baked Haddock Au Gratin which was an interesting dish - flaky white fish and mashed potatoes in a cream sauce, dredged in melted cheese - methinks I found a new maritimey comfort food which might reappear in my own kitchen sometime soon.
The seafood chowder left much to be desired, though, with mostly fish and potatoes as the leading characters and nary a scallop or shrimp in sight.
Not exactly a spectacular meal, but hey, I only just arrived.

Tonight, on the other hand, was a meal that will go down in history as The Night We Ate Five Pounds of Mussels.

I learned how to clean the mussels properly, wedging them open from the back joint and loosening the mussel away from the shell to ensure it cooks evenly. My hand was a little tender after preparing so many mussels, but as they say, many hands make light work and before long all five pounds were boiling away on the stove in a pot of salted water. In the meantime we chopped about 2 cups of curly parsley and minced six cloves of garlic and added them to a cup of melted butter and let it simmer together as the mussels cooked. After about five minutes at a rapid boil the mussels had turned yellow with an orange-ish tinge and we knew they were done.

My friend Sam and I sat ourselves down at the table with the mussel mountain in front of us and got right down to business. We actually ate them all, with sourdough baguette to soak up all the leftover sauce. When the butter mixture commingles with the salty briny juice of the shellfish some sort of magic occurs. Everything was washed down with a lovely Italian white that was cool, crisp and mineral with a lingering acidity that balanced the buttery mussels quite perfectly.

I’ve only been here two days and I have yet to meet a meal I did not like. Pancakes for breakfast every morning too… I really could just stay… more soon.

food for thought

It's three o'clock in the afternoon on a holiday Monday, and I'm on my second glass of wine. It's for research, you see. My family is coming together this week to celebrate a major accomplishment in my sister's life. Close and distant relatives, friends, neighbours, and colleagues will join us in celebrating my sister's success. So, naturally, we plan on eating and drinking delicious things. This is what we do when we are happy. Come to think of it, it's what we do when we're sad too. Eating and drinking in good company is, in my mind, one of the greatest things in life. As the resident gourmande, my parents and sister invited me to the final tasting with the caterer. We sat down over the specs for the event and trays of canapes and talked about whether things would be served hot or cold, how many more of one or less of another would be passed around, and if we could bring in our own pop. When my mom saw the cost of a fruit tray she offered the suggestion that she could make one just as nice on her own, but was promptly shut down by my dad and sister who were utterly embarrassed at the suggestion. We discussed options for wine and beer and music and table skirts. The one time I offered input on the preparation of one of the food items I was completely shut down. The bruschetta was too sweet - too much sugar and balsamic, not enough garlic and salt. I suggested that the dish might be enhanced by serving it hot, allowing the Parmesean shard on top to melt, but was rebuffed. There were raised eyebrows at my suggestion, but I countered with "Oh yeah! Well who here was most recently in Italy?" My dad replied, "Who has the Italian secretary?" Touche.
This brings me to the wine in the afternoon. My younger sister and I were appointed the task of selecting the red and white wine selection for the event. My sister, having been employed at a local fine wine store on and off for a year now was an obvious choice for the job. Myself, I have recently completed an Introduction to Wine Appreciation course and I fancy myself something of a wine expert, though in reality I know that it's not really true. We both chose some fine bottles of Chilean Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot to try. My dad was less than thrilled with what we brought home, opting for something similar, but made by another vineyard. Which leaves me with almost a whole bottle of delightful Sauvingion Blanc chilling in the refrigerator. I sip leisurely as I search online for a restaurant suitable to take my family and extended relatives to after the song and dance of the official reception is over. Whatever restaurant we chose must seat all of us in my immediate family (sometimes easier said than done), offer enough vegetarian and kosher options to satisfy everyone, and provide an impressive enough wine list to keep my dad content while we toast the night away and drink to my wonderful and bright sister. It will be a happy day, to be sure. I just hope that when selecting their appetizers and mains, my family will be a little more open to my suggestions this time.