Valerie says to add this, so I obey:

The Canadian Food Experience Project began June 7 2013. As we (participants) share our collective stories across the vastness of our Canadian landscape through our regional food experiences, we hope to bring global clarity to our Canadian culinary identity through the cadence of our concerted Canadian voice. Please join us.

Casting my mind back to my earliest food memories, let alone Canadian food memories was an interesting task. Especially since I can’t really remember what I ate yesterday for breakfast.

After a few glasses of wine hoping to invoke a sort of self-induced hypnotherapy session I cast my mind back hoping to get into the corners of my mind for a great memory. I hit a few snags in the 80’s when my diet was primarily coffee, booze, fries and gravy… but I continued on.

My earliest food memories are things I was fed at lunch time when in elementary school. I went to a public school named after a great Canadian teacher named Jenny Elliott. The school is located in Calgary and was affectionately renamed Smelly Elliott by my cohorts. I was lucky to be able to go home at lunchtime and ate things like Campbell’s tomato soup, Kraft Dinner, peanut butter sandwiches, tuna sandwiches (I first wrote that as peanut butter and tuna sandwiches and could hear the puzzled Whaaaaaaat’s?, so corrected it to be precisely two DIFFERENT sandwiches served on different days). I also remember hot dogs, grilled cheese sandwiches, as well as tins of Chef-Boyardee and Alphagetti. All of these invoke memories of comfort and I still turn to these when I need some reliable, unconditional love in food form.

Eventually I yellow-taped my earliest food memories from my elementary school days. Then I needed to further focus on my earliest Canadian food memory. And it was released.

Back in the day I was a Brownie. I loved being a Brownie. I love the too-wit-too-wit-too-woos. I proudly wore my badges. I was solemn around the old toadstool as we pledged pledges to whomever we pledged too. I wore my tam with pride and was super excited when we went to camp.

Yours truly as a proud Brownie

One year we were at a camp west of Calgary. The setting was perfect. Mountains, trees, hot days, our Brown and Tawny Owls were nice people. My fellow Brownies and I were all young enough that we wanted to impress our leaders and stuck to the rules. We weren’t into smoking behind the generator, smuggling vodka in our orange juice, flashing various bits of our bodies to each other, or snogging with the boys in mosquito infested bushes. That happened in other camps a few years later – and who the hell cared about food then? Those later camp years were all about fun. And fun I had. Oh ya.

Although you probably want to hear about my naughtiness, let go back to being a Brownie. All I wanted was to be the best I could be. And that meant my sash was going to be covered with badges. My tam properly placed. My shirt buttoned and scarf tied with a proper granny knot.

At this particular camp, we slept in cabins in bunk beds. I learned how to build a fire, make a splint from sticks, and how to cook on an open fire.

I remember we learned how to make bannock. I don’t think anything can be more originally Canadian than bannock. Except maybe bison. Unfortunately Brown and Tawny Owls frowned on us 7 and 8 year old Brownies hunting for bison. So bannock it was.

Bannock is a simple quick bread and was made by our native Canadians. Even at a tender age, I do remember wondering aloud how our native Canadians had access to Robin Hood flour sacks, salt, Crisco shortening, and baking soda. I remember getting dismissive answers. To this day I feel some people just don’t understand my questions. Once upon a time bannock was made and cooked over an open fire, but now you can get bannock deep-fried at any fair. It’s morphed into something it wasn’t. But that’s life.

The recipe back in the 1970’s was this: mix flour, water, shortening, salt and baking soda in a bowl until you had a paste-like mixture. Take an 8-year-old child’s handful of the stuff and form it on the end of a green stick until you have a doughy looking blob. Then, with exquisite patience, hold the dough over an open fire until it looks like it is cooked. I remember being proud that I didn’t lose my dough ball in the fire. I remember carefully pulling it off the stick onto a paper plate, admiring the charred exterior and gooey underdone interior.

Understand this: at age 8, my experience with cooking things over the fire by that point in my life was limited to marshmallows and hotdogs. Both of which I ate charred on the exterior, and underdone on the inside. Still do.

After admiring my handiwork (if they had iPhones back then I would have taken a picture), I smeared the still-hot dough with butter and raspberry jam. To this day, I remember this as being one of the best things in the world I’ve ever eaten. And I didn’t DIE from eating raw dough and made it to Girl Guides!! Hoorah!

That’s me as a cool Girl Guide. I’m wearing the striped socks.

Fellow gin aficionado Keith introduced me to a website this morning at The Huffington Post, Fall in Love with Gin Cocktails. You know its going to be a good day when you are looking at cocktail recipes before 9:30 am.

Now that the snow has melted into steady rain, and the earth around Edmonton has heated up to a balmy 10C, I was immediately intrigued by The Rickshaw as presented by Nick Evans at his blog, Macheesmo. On days like this, one needs something bright and refreshing.

I was in a mood to concoct things in the kitchen, and today was the perfect day to make a basil simple syrup for The Rickshaw. It required a trip to the Italian Centre Shop for a punnet of fresh basil and a produce bag full of fresh limes, followed by a spin with a half-twist through the Superstore Liquor Store for a bottle of gin.

To make a Rickshaw you will need: Gin, fresh lime, ice, fresh basil, cucumber, sugar, water, and a shaker thing. Please check out Nick’s blog for the easier-to-follow recipe.

I’ve never made a simple syrup before. The thing with me is, if a drink tastes good, I tend to take dainty sips…. but dainty sips that have no pause it between. I sip until that sucker is gone. *hic*  This is why I lean towards wine and beer – they taste good, yes, but they aren’t FRICKEN spectacular and certainly don’t make me moan in ecstasy. It takes me a bit longer than 30 seconds to finish a glass of wine or beer. So you see, to save my liver, I avoid things made with simple syrup. Until today.

Simple syrup is that. Simple. One measure of sugar. One measure of water. Put it on the stove over medium heat, bring to a simmer, and sim-sim-simmer until the sugar is dissolved. Now to get fancy, add a super-big handful of fresh basil to the mix, and stir. After a few minutes, when the sugar is dissolved, switch off the heat let the basil flavour steep until the syrup cools to room temperature. Your home will smell marvelous. You will be tempted to dab a few drops behind each ear. Instead, pour into a glass jar.

To make a Rickshaw, put a bunch of ice in your shaker. Add 2 ounces of gin, 1 ounce of fresh lime juice, and 1 ounce of your basil simple syrup. Shake the bejezzus out of it. Pour the works into a pretty glass, garnished with thin slices of cucumber. Drink. Curl toes in a happy sort of way. Relax.

Found this on our walk this morning in Old Strathcona. This was shortly after a man in a VW Beetle drove past us in an alley, Twistin’ the Night Away blaring, windows down, stopping beside us, and he driver-seat dancing, and Michael alley-dancing, right then, right there.

There is no price, no money in the world that can buy moments like that.

I love my neighbourhood.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
9th May 2013
Breakfast Cereals Are The Rising Star Of The Japanese Bakery & Cereal Sector
Breakfast cereals grow ahead of the sector trends as Japanese consumers begin to replace their traditional breakfast foods

There’s more information at this site if you are interested:  http://www.canadean.com/

I really don’t know what to say, except suggest that a study be started right this minute so we can watch the collective BMI of our friends in Japan go through the roof.

Froot Loops, despite their tastiness, are not conducive for good health.

Japan, you are warned.

PS:  If you mean Japan is increasing their consumption of steel cut oats, I withdraw my warning, and congratulate you instead on your continued good health.

A call was made to food bloggers and home chefs to get creative and submit a recipe, so I did – after I took inventory of my spice cupboard to see what I had in there. You probably have all these ingredients too. You probably bought them in 2003 when you tried making an Indian dish at home. And the dish you made was probably really good. But because we live in the world we do, you find it is just easier to order in from your favourite restaurant. There is nothing wrong with that.

But, if you are like me, periodically you want to draw on your inner Michael Smith and create something delicious. I don’t have an awesome pantry, or a Gabe, but I do have my own Michael Walsh that I try to please (placate) with food (so he doesn’t bat an eye when I buy another Coach bag).

These are split red lentils. They were grown in Saskatchewan.

So dig out those spices, buy yourself a bag of red lentils, and make yourself the easiest, tastiest spicy coconut lentil soup on the planet… North America…. Edmonton for sure!

What makes this easy? I use whole things. You will not buy a big can of diced tomatoes and use only 3/4 of it. You’ll dump in the whole thing.

Spicy Coconut Lentil Soup

What you need:

Big Pot
Sieve
Wooden spoon
1- 450 g bag of red lentils
2 tbsp canola oil
1 large red onion, chopped
1 head garlic, peeled, chopped
1 serrano pepper, seeded and chopped (use more if you like to sweat while you eat)
1 generous squeeze of grated ginger-in-a-tube (or if you have the patience, buy a knob of ginger and grate 1 tbsp – good luck – if you can do this with out cussing, I commend you)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp turmeric (TIP: do not EVER put turmeric in your coffee grinder. It will turn it yellow for life)
1 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1- 796 mL can of diced tomatoes
8-cups chicken broth (I use chicken bouillon and mix with boiling water)
1- 400 mL can of unsweetened coconut milk
1-lime, rind grated, juice squeezed. TIP: Squeeze AWAY from the eyes or wear safety glasses. Trust me. I speak from experience. Blink, tear, blink, tear, blink).

Here’s what you do:

Empty the bag of lentils in a sieve. Rinse under cold running water until you think the lentils are rinsed properly. I don’t know how long that really takes, but I know I enjoy sticking my fingers in the lentils while this happens. It’s my thing. Some things you can’t explain. So don’t ask.

In  your large pot, put in the oil, add the chopped onion and cook over a medium heat until they are translucent.

Add your chopped garlic, the chopped serrano pepper(s), and all your spices.

TIP: If you want to pretend you have your own cooking show, it’s best to put all your spices in little glass dishes, and add one at a time. You can talk to the wall and describe what you are doing. OR, if you are bit short of time, put all the spices in one bowl, and dump in the pot.

Stir.

TIP: If you live in an airless apartment, you may want to shut the doors to your bedrooms and closets about now so the lovely cooking smells don’t permeate your clothes for the next 2 months.

Add the can of dice tomatoes, and 8 cups of chicken broth.

Stir.

Let this simmer for 25 minutes, and when the red lentils are soft, add (after vigorous shaking) the can of coconut milk.

TIP: Check and make sure it’s unsweetened. If it is sweetened, make yourself some chi-chi’s. Phone me. We can make this soup later.

Simmer a bit more. Then, if you have an immersion blender, blend the soup until smooth. This step isn’t necessary, but I’m trying to get value for my immersion blender, so I use it at every opportunity.

For a bit of artsy-flourish and tastiness, add the juice of one lime, stir, then add a sprinkle of grated lime rind on top of the soup as it is served. You will impress people.

Serve in big bowls.

Afterwards, as you bask in the glow of hot serrano peppers, you can be satisfied knowing that the lentils you just ate are a very good source of potassium, protein, and fibre.

Enjoy. L’chaim!

Nothing says spring (especially for those of us without barbecues at home) quite like a 16 oz bone-in Certified Angus rib eye steak, rubbed with olive oil, gluten free soya sauce, minced garlic cloves, fresh lemon juice, fresh basil, fresh rosemary, fresh parsley, dried ground porcini, and cayenne).

That’s Earl’s picture. I don’t take pictures that nice.

Michael and I were invited (and jumped up and down with excitement when we did) to a Wine Maker’s Dinner at the downtown Edmonton Earl’s. We were introduced to CedarCreek Estates Winery, the people that make Earl’s house red and white wines.

Hang on, I was given photo of that too, let me find it…

Professional photo (and exactly how I figure I look when tasting wine – with a sophisticated air, carefully swirling, sniffing, swishing….):

My reality (filler ‘er up! right to the brim please!):As always, Earl’s knows how to show a person a good time. But it’s not all about the show, it about the food, and the people, and Earl’s gets it right. Every time.

Even when Michael and I are aren’t at an “event”, the food at Earl’s is consistent, and delicious. The Earl’s girls always seem to be enjoying themselves and enjoy the work they do. Chef and his crew provide delicious food and a consistent menu for those of you stuck on Dynamite rolls as well as new things like a scrumptious Rocket Salad.  This salad was toe curling delicious – citrus dressed arugula, beets, pears, goat cheese coulis, and candied pecans.

This definitely is my own picture. It’s the quality of picture you’ve come to endure:It was a terrific night, and cheek kissy-kissy to Earl’s Cate Simpson, Gareth Smith and Chef Rui Carvalho for hosting such a fun, tasty event.

A shout out to table-mates:  Brian Allen of Vintage West and his vast knowledge of wine and his engaging personality.  To beautiful, spirited Nisa of Focus Communications. To the colourful, one of a kind Edmonton foodie extraordinaire Gail Hall.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that I finally had the opportunity to meet Edmonton’s delightful uber foodie, Liane Faulder!

Let’s do this again sometime. All of you! Invite to watch the Canada Day fireworks is still open.

I am in turmoil because we normally get a Spring trip out to the island, and this year we are unable to. My whole being is aching for the smell of boxwood, the spring flowers, the sea air, the green, roads without potholes, sidewalks not covered in gravel and salt, lawns without snow mold….. You get the idea.

Although I can’t go to Victoria right now, I do have a myriad of pictures and memories to help me get survive a never-ending Edmonton winter, until summer time finally arrives and we have exactly 2.3 weeks to sit at an outdoor patio (shortened not only for the weather, but also the caterpillar, mosquito and wasp infestations).

In case you are one of my readers from the UK or beyond, who are contemplating a trip to Edmonton and / or Victoria, let me show you the difference at this time of year:

Victoria in the Spring time. A bit drizzly. But look at Belleville Street! No potholes!

Edmonton in the Spring. 91 Avenue. That is no longer called a pothole. As a friend says, that’s a crater! If you are having difficulty identifying it, one of the workers is standing in it.

Now if you are from Edmonton, I do like it here. In summer. I’m not totally trashing our city, but I am Very Tired of looking at this:

More snow.

And want to see more of this….

Sunny summertime view of Edmonton

You get the idea.

So, you are lucky enough to be planning a trip to Victoria. Or, you are even luckier, and LIVE in Victoria. And right this minute you are wondering, “Hm, where should we eat …?”. Let me tell you.

This is cut and paste from an e-mail I sent to my foodie friend Keith recently. I thought it was a pretty good list, so will share with you:

In Victoria proper, I have been to, and highly recommend the following:

Ferris’ Oyster Bar (of course it helps if you like oysters, I don’t, but there are other delicious oyster free things on the menu).

Azuma Sushi – we’ve been happy here. It’s clean, the fish is fresh and delicious. Usually go at lunchtime because it is more of an in/out place. Lunchtime is busy.

The sushi bar in Japanese Village on Broughton St. If you can’t find street parking, park in the library parkade across the street.

Japanese Village – Shush. I know what you are thinking. DO NOT go to the floor show area where they will sing you happy birthday and put you in a Samurai outfit and flip an onion into the ventilation system over the grill. They have a lovely, quiet, sushi bar tucked in a corner. You don’t need a reservation, and it is often full of regulars, including Michael and I. Sammy and his cohorts embody what a true sushi bar should be like. They engage you, the fish is fresh, generous, and delicious. Sammy is the Susan (of Cask & Barrel) of the raw fish world. But you have to time it right when Sammy is in. Plan to spend an entire evening.

Red Fish Blue Fish I never recommend a place unless I’ve been there. This place I’ve been to, but never eaten at. It opens at 11:30 and the line up forms earlier than that. The line up goes forever. I’ve been frustrated, because I’m not patient to stand in line, yes, even when on vacation, and always say “f*ck it” and stomp away feeling empty and unsatisfied. It is VERY popular with the locals. It’s the west coast equivalent of a food truck. It’s a transport container converted to food vending thing.

Darcy’s Pub – I’m in Victoria for business as well as pleasure. This is popular with my cohorts at lunch. Cheap wings on Wednesday’s if I remember correctly. They are always delicious. It’s sports-bar ish. But sometimes, that is all you need.

Bard & Banker – A lovely pub. It’s gigantic, bright, and has cozy corners to tuck into with your sweetie, or a long bar to sit at with strangers who will become your friend. There are televisions subtly placed throughout, but are not dominating. They have a great assortment of on-tap brews and have some nice flight combinations to sample some of them. Food is pub food. It’s done well and is consistent.

Irish Times – Another lovely pub. This one is dark, and popular with the after work crowd. Lots of on tap choices, and great GREAT sweet potato (probably yam) fries. I wouldn’t be surprised if Bard & Banker and Irish Times were owned by the same guy.

Spinnaker’s Pub – Now. I have mixed feelings about this place. The attraction is, is it is right on the inner harbour, has a beautiful view of downtown Victoria, it’s an easy but appetite inducing walk from the Johnston Street bridge – say if you are staying at the Delta Ocean Pointe hotel. If you are feeling lazy, it is drivable, but you can also take the little harbour ferry to the door step. Michael and I started going here when it was just a little titch of a thing – a place where a guy started brewing his own beer, and served a bit of food on the side. Now it is a monstrous pub, has become extremely popular with all and sundry. They offer great food, foodie food, and an extensive list of brews. Michael and I roll our eyes and think it has become “highfalutin”, but we still go because of memories. The place is noisy.

Fisherman’s Wharf

Barb’s Place – fish and chips on Fisherman’s Wharf. Plan on standing to eat. Plan on a seal staring at you with his big eyes. Plan on wondering if you could live in one of the floating homes that are on the wharf. Best fish and chips in Victoria – you need time, but they give you a beeper so  you don’t have to huddle under the canopy and can wander.

Moka House on the patio.

Artist at Moka House

Moka House – If you give up on the wait times for Barb’s Place, have a coffee at Moka House while you plan where you will have lunch/supper. Coffee is decent. Washrooms are clean. Sometimes they have some guy with a guitar by the fire to sing you songs. It’s not the BEST coffee in the world, but it works, and they have good snack type food (quiche, muffins, cookies, squares). We always end up here because we walk through the St. James neighbourhood and they have nice views.

The pointy bit at Ogden Point.

The walk to the pointy bit at Ogden Point.

Ogden Point – This isn’t about food. It’s about walking out on Ogden Point. But there is a little cafe at the start of this, and they have some good food choices in there. This place is functional, but the idea here is to walk out to the point, then come back and reward yourself with a treat at the cafe. It’s a plastic patio chairs kind of place, but the view is spectacular, and its a great place to chill. Washrooms are clean, and you can use these WITHOUT making a purchase and not feeling like you are stealing something from them (despite the sign on the door that says, restrooms for patrons only – pfffffft).

View out window from the Bengal Lounge.

Bengal Lounge – Our favourite place in downtown Victoria. It’s in the Empress. It’s populated mostly by tourists. But if you make friends with your waiter, you are in for a treat. They are personable in an oldie worldie way. The cocktail types are limitless. AND, they have an amazing Indian buffet at lunchtime. It’ll cost you a fortune, but it’s worth it. It’s comfortable. Quiet. Attentive. The quality of food and bev unparalleled. Michael and I both have  ceramic elephants from when we ordered a cocktail – something called the “Ivory Hunter” back in the 90′s, and it was served in this ceramic thing. Sadly, the waiters today have no fricken clue what we are referring to, but like two dithering senile seniors, we mention it every time we are there. We threaten to bring back the ceramic elephants and ask for a free refill.

Harbour House – Speaking of oldie worldie. If you want waiters in (slightly worn looking) tuxes, and a Caesar salad tossed table side, and the BEST piece of beef in Victoria, go here. It’s right on the harbour as you would expect, the service is superb, the price fair. We go here when my family meets out there – I have an Aunt who has to have steak and lobster, because to her this is the epitome of “fine dining”. She dresses up fancy, and we take her here. Of course, don’t feel you have to dress up fancy. She’s from another era.

Sweet Jesus, I haven’t even begun….

Let’s move from Victoria to the lovely town of Sidney (next to the airport):

Here’s Sidney from the air.

Maria’s Souvlaki – Greek snack food at its best. Very best. Nothing fancy. Just good food. A great place to stop in for lunch before catching a flight home.

Beacon & Eggs – Michael and I usually take an early flight to Victoria, get off the plane, and head here for breakfast.

Rumrunner Pub - The place is sticky and verging on gross, but we’ve been going here since it opened in the early 90′s. The food is good. The views of the straight are gorgeous. We wander down to the docks and check out the private boats/yachts afterwards.

Taste of Tokyo - Japanese Restaurant – For our sushi fix, if we don’t want to go into Victoria. Delicious. Quiet. They have saki.

In Brentwood Bay:

Hot sauces! Ha cha cha cha!

Blue’s is tucked to the right of that tree.

Blue’s Bayou Cafe – Not so easy to find. If you are visiting the Butchart Gardens, you are fairly close to this place. It’s right on the water in Brentwood Bay. It’s comfortable, tacky, the service slow, but the food, beer and view is unparalleled. If you enjoy hot sauce, they have shelves of hot sauces from around the world. It’s a great place to relax.

In Saanichton:

Prairie Inn Pub – If you can’t get enough pub fare, then here’s another place for you. It’s noisy, but the food is good. Michael and I stay in Saanich, and pronounce it, Say-An-Itch, as we overheard some American woman say it to a friend whilst talking on her phone. As in, “I’m here in Say-An-Itch BC”. It stuck.

I write that we had 14 samples, but I count 8. Whatever. It’s not about precision.

Sea Cider - I can say nothing more than we went here randomly one day to check it out, never had cider before, was introduced to a flight of ciders, and fell in love. What this really means is, I got drunk and enjoyed myself immensely. The food is good too, I think. I really don’t remember. Again, the idea here is I left with fond memories. Of what I really remember. There were 14 (generous) samples if we remember correctly.

And the very best for last. I will hesitate putting this in my blog because I selfishly DO NOT want people to know of this place…

Point No Point – This place requires a car and some time. You drive out of Victoria, past Sooke, and head up the west side of the island towards French and China beaches. This place has a tiny little restaurant perched on a hill overlooking the mighty Pacific. The waves crash in, the sun shines silver on the water, they offer binoculars at each table. The food is homey, hearty and delicious. The wine list exciting. After lunch/dinner, ask for the code to the gate, and go for a short but exciting walk down to water front. I’ve never stayed overnight, but have had friends who have and weren’t disappointed. It’s remote. Quiet. Very pleasant. Exceedingly pleasant. Michael and I are particularly drawn to China beach, a bit further along the road. Big crashing waves. Big logs to sit on while patiently waiting for your spouse to over turn every FRICKEN single rock on the beach to see what is underneath.

I think this sand patch is in Jasper somewhere. Whatever. Again, it’s not about precision.

Our home has never had so much fresh fruit! I feel good about this. Especially because we’ve been EATING all this fresh fruit. However, try as we might, we always seem to over buy bananas. So, despite Michael’s daily banana and my morning banana-in-a-smoothie ritual, we still have a few bananas that turn black. Sure bananas are cheap enough I can throw them out without guilt, yep, right in the garbage bag and right down the chute! With a satisfying thunk when it hits the bin 14 floors down. But today, the frugal Baba within me decided we needed banana muffins. Good old fashioned banana muffins made with white flour and white sugar with nary a flake of oat bran in sight. Banana muffins that we smother with butter as soon as they are cool enough to handle. These are bad-boy banana muffins, that if they were human, would be wearing leather and riding Harley’s looking cool, stopping at Tim’s on Whyte Ave. for a double-double and honey cruller fix, allowing flakes of icing to settle in scraggly salt and pepper beard that flaps around on windy days.

All this drama for a banana muffin! Here’s the recipe. This recipe is thanks to my Auntie Ev:

3 large bananas
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup oil
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Mash the bananas. Add sugar and slightly beaten egg. Add oil. Mix dry ingredients together, then add to banana mixture. Fill tins and bake at 350F for 25 minutes.

This morning I made six enormous muffins. This recipe makes about 8 – 10 more normal sized muffins. They should look something like this:

And for those of you tired and fed up with winter, I have some good news. The river is indeed thawing.

Compare against last weeks post, here’s the view this afternoon:

Filed under: Breakfast, coffee, Lifestyle, Snack, Tea Thing Tagged: banana muffin, Edmonton, H & W Produce ]]> http://walshcooks.com/2013/04/14/banana-muffins/feed/ 0 walshcooks P1020283 P1020291 P1020293 http://walshcooks.com/2013/04/07/come-on-edmonton-its-april/ http://walshcooks.com/2013/04/07/come-on-edmonton-its-april/#comments Sun, 07 Apr 2013 22:35:32 +0000 Walsh Cooks http://walshcooks.com/?p=2760 Continue reading →]]>

If you click and make this big, you can see “snow mountain” out there on the horizon.

I was just fine with the weather we’ve been having. But when I woke up this morning and looked at yet another layer of snow blanketing the city, I sighed deeply. And deeply again.

Let’s go back a few days. Thursday night. Most fantastic night out. Cab ride home sort of fantastic. Then Friday. Feeling a bit past my sell-buy date from the previous nights fun. No power in the apartment from 9 to 1. This was planned. I had the idea to be out of the apartment running errands, but I had no car and no motivation to get the car. We had no water pressure to take a shower. I can count about three times I went to turn on the kettle for coffee, and three times remember, “Oh ya. No power”. So I burrowed myself in bed and slept like the dead.

Power eventually comes back on with the chirping of the smoke alarm. But then I hear ping ping ping. I notice rivulets of water coming down our inside wall.

A pipe burst in our upstairs neighbour’s apartment, flooding our carpeted hallway. Hungover. No water. No power. No coffee. No tea! Then too much water. Sploshy sploshy Singin’ in the Rain sort of water.

I was momentarily Very Excited, because I remembered we had a Sham Wow in our cupboard. But our Sham Wow didn’t work. Vince is a F’ing liar. Capital F.

Our building management responded fairly quickly, although I had to spend some time trying to remind our maintenance guy that there was in fact another floor above us. We did get the water flow turned off, water sucking machines brought in, and now an industrial blower that has quite literally ripped up our carpet in the hallway and ballooning up in dramatic uprising.

My interest in everything waned. Michael tried to encourage me to watch a bit of curling followed by the Davis Cup this afternoon (bless him), but all I could do is watch cat videos on You Tube.

What’s a girl to do? Tea doesn’t quite cut it. But wine does.

I have had a glass of wine (surprising, because I swore off drinking alcohol ever again after Thursday night). I’ve got the Animals belting out House of the Rising Sun, a batch of meaty pasta sauce on simmer on the stove, Michael holed up in his “man cave” watching the Davis Cup with his tea eating Jaffa Cakes. And between writing paragraphs, I check out the window to see if the ice has melted a bit more on the North Saskatchewan river. It hasn’t. Not today.

But as you can see in the pictures at the top, the sky is blue, and getting bluer. Things can only get better. My optimism fully restored thanks to a simple glass of wine and some decent music.

Spring is ready to step out of the closet and belt out an aria at any moment. Of this I am certain.

Met bartender Brandon from Vancouver, then Victoria, now Edmonton (wtf??), who treated us to menu samplings of Sunday’s “tea party”. A tea party with a special kick if you know what I mean.  If you go, ask specifically for the Peaty Chai (if you are into earthy smokey tea and whiskey). Michael is still mumbling… “it was a good foam” (you have to experience this to understand).

For dessert it was a quick dash to Holy Trinity just in the nick of time to join Jesus Christ Superstar at halftime. Bawled my way through second half, yet feeling the joy and happiness of an amazing production put together by an amazing group of people.

This was a Good Day. So good, I want to hug everyone. So you…. I hug. And you. And you too.