Farwell to 2010

This was the year that...

• I turned 35 
• I quit the hospital and went back to Maxwell
• We brought home Lulu
• Our basement suffered from three separate floods
• We learned to lay a floor
•  I got my new DSLR camera
• I started blogging about food
• We discovered Three Dog Bakery
• I had the best pizza I have ever had in my whole life, Mushrooms, caramelized onions, walnuts and blue cheese
• I went to see Jann with Aimee and Jodi
• SZJ- VI
• We got a new car
• I got to paint the basement orange
• We had Easter dinner out of doors
• Oliver turned 4 and we had a party
• Grammy had a car accident
• Phil and Nat got married
• We got a new driveway and a new retaining wall
• Lulu turned 2
• I stopped colouring my hair. Go Grey!
• Gil grew a green thumb
• I discovered FIFA world cup soccer (and the hot Argentinian goalie)
• I lost 30 lbs but then found it again behind the sofa
• We spent an amazing afternoon sailing in Chester with dear friends who we never get to see
• I hired and fired two people
• Aimee and I discovered the awesomness of pool noodles.
• Gil got a new tattoo
• Hurricane Earl
• I wrote a novel
• I started a photo blog
• Gil sent me LOTS of flowers
• We celebrated 4 years of wedded bliss
• Gil ate a $100 steak
• I went to my first Con
• We had an amazing weekend at White Point
• Cha Baa Thai opened in Burnside
• I had the best shower of my life (in Seabright)
• Gil's sister Amy came to visit from Ottawa
• Gil and I formed the Breakfast Club

 There were other things for sure, lots of things some big some small, most not mine to tell but it has been a big year, a hard year and as scary as it is for me to be going head long into 36 I am happy to see the end of this year and even though it is really just another day I look forward to the blank slate.

The Baby Boom

It has been more then a year now since Gil and I made the decision to focus on our selves and our marriage rather than adding a child to our family. I don't need to tell you that was a hard choice for us but ultimately we did what we had to do to preserve our selves, our marriage and our sanity. That does not mean that I suddenly decided I don't like kids and does not mean I stopped wanting to be a mother. I don't think that is something that ever goes away. Most of the time I am fine. Honestly. I feel like we made the right decision and I am proud of is for making the unpopular choice  and sticking with it and yes even having to defend ourselves and that choice from time to time.
But I have to be honest with you there are times when it is really really hard. Christmas is hard because there is so much about Christmas that is all about children.
And baby booms are hard, especially when some of those impending miracles seem so ill timed or ill advised.
It is not hard for me to be happy for people, honest, but babies are not accessories or pets. I find myself editing in my head as I am typing this which kind of sucks because at some point I have become afraid of what other people will think of me. I am trying to NOT sound like I am saying people with no money should not have children and that is really not what I am trying to say. I am trying to say that children should be born to people who are able to take care of them. Anyway I can't seem to find the right words at the moment, I have PMS so that is not helping. There is a baby boom at the moment and I feel sad. I own it. I won't apologize for it. 

The Count Down to.... 2011

Things have been pretty busy with the holidays but today I have decided that I need to take some time to update. I have a butt load of other things to do to get ready for our first annual New Years Day Levée but sitting down to write is just as important and I need to start MAKING the time for it. 
So far this has not been a very restful vacation for me. Gil is sick and yesterday I was down for the count with a migraine but god bless Aimee who came and took me for groceries in the evening so I am not trying to cram it it all in tomorrow when the stores are going to be a mad house. Of course I feel at the moment like I don't have enough food but in the end, like always, it will turn out to be way too much. LOL I try and keep that in mind but it is not my strong point. I am definitely an over planner. I am glad not to be doing a birthday party this year I don't think I could cope with planning two events this close together. The sad thing I have been "planning" this Levée for a year but somehow it still comes down to the last minute. Maybe 2011 will be the year I get organized... maybe.

The one charm of the past is that it is the past. ~Oscar Wilde

I had a very interesting revelation this weekend. In the midst of a migraine headache and a Christmas party I had a profound awakening.
I had the chance to speak with an old friend of mine who used to be a very good friend of mine and my roommate and we had a falling out a very long time ago. Somehow our causal conversation about what was new turned into a dissection of what happened between us and in the process I heard some very weird rumors about things that I had supposedly said and done back then that contributed to the demise of our relationship. For a moment I found these ludicrous stories hurtful and it started to dredge up some very old and painful feelings. I wanted to hear more and I wanted to have the chance to defend myself. I wanted to tell my own stories about the person who had said these things about me but then it dawned on me clear as day in the middle of the noise and the craziness and the conversation. It doesn't matter. Really, it has no bearing on my life now. It was more then 10 years ago. I don't hang out with those people anymore, I am not in the same place I was. I am in my life with my husband and my house and my dogs and my job and my friends and I love my life. I have a great life and what happened in the past is there, in the past. I have lived and learned and I am not going to get stuck in it. And you know what? That feels great. Honest to god it makes me feel light and happy which this time a year is a gift, a Christmas miracle.

Nectar Social House - The Brunch Experince.

On Saturday morning Gil and I rolled out of bed very late, it was already after 11am which for me is just you sleeping the whole day away but we'd had a very late night and I had been up at 6am to take care of the kids. We cracked our eyes to find that is was a cold day and it was pouring rain so I was strongly just staying in bed but Gil bribed me out of bed with the promise of breakfast. We bundled up and headed out into the rain and I confess I wasn't feeling the love because I was over tired and it was really awful outside but Gilly was excited because it was after 11:30 which meant that the brunch world had really opened up for us and he had been dying to try Nectar Social House.

We arrived only moments afters they opened, we were greeted at the door and our wet clothes whisked away which was nice because no one likes sitting with wet wool. We were offered our choice of table or booth and the waitress came right away with hot coffee. While Gil was busy perusing the menu I was busy taking in the scenery. It is definitely as much a fest for the eyes as the mouth and the staff was more then willing to let me wander around be be snap happy.

Is it just me or do they look like gourds?

Our Waitress was very nice but not in our face which was good and our food came very quickly which was pleasant since it was early in the day and it could have taken a while to get the kitchen up and running.

I ordered the Asparagus crepes

                                

Scrambled eggs, bacon and asparagus rolled into crepes served with smoked apple wood cheese sauce and house made potato wedges

It was really delicious. The cheese sauce was nice and light. I love hollandaise sauce but sometimes it can be a bit heavy so the light sauce was lovely change. I think that the only thing I would change would be the amount of asparagus,I think it could have used more personally.

Gil ordered the Eggs Bombay

 

Poached eggs and sausage served on basmati rice, smothered in a mild curry sauce, and sour dough 

toast

Gil was kind enough to allow to to have some the sausage and I have to say it was just about one of the tastiest things I have ever eater. It was spicy but not hot, I wanted to order another one just for myself.

We took out time, ate slowly and had a great conversation and had our coffee topped up and it was a really lovely morning. We even more pleasantly surprised when the cheque came and the total was only $32 and change. We were really happy with every aspect of our Nectar experience and we can't wait to go back and try a few more things on the brunch menu. 

Friday night....

Watching TV is so weird. Every couple of minutes they interrupt the action to show me a very mini show that makes me hungry and want to buy a car or take a trip somewhere. I guess I have been watching too many downloaded shows.I am enjoying some chill time in front of a TV while I babysit for a friend of mine who lives up the road from me. Both little girls are sound asleep so we are chilling out, my man and I. Sadly rather then making out on the sofa as we may have done if we were 15 we are each sitting with our laptops each doing our own thing. LAME, Funny but lame.
I am trying to find something interesting to say but I find my brain being suck out by the pretty picture box. It is also not helping that it is after 11pm so I am totally falling asleep. I am such an old lady.
It is weird the news is showing snow storms all over the place, Europe is practically in a state of emergency and New York is insane but here it is just day after day of rain. Today was down right balmy. I want snow dammit. Just enough to make it pretty. Enough to make it feel like Christmas is only three weeks away!

I am so sorry

Wow. It has been WAY too long since I updated my blog.  November has been nothing short of insane. I took place in a project called NaNoWriMo which meant I spent all my time writing for the novel.  In addition I have been working on 2 photo projects and trying to have something that resembles a life. But after writing so much I want to keep going so I am going to attempt to write at least twice a week here. I know I have made such promises before but it can't hurt to try again... right?

So what is new other then the fact that I wrote a novel in 25 days? The house is still standing which is a good thing. Sadly neglected during NaNoWriMo so have lots of house work to catch up on and it is also time to start decorating for the holidays.  I am worried about Lulu vs the Christmas tree so it will be going up in stages. Yesterday I had Gil bring up the tree and we left it in its bag in the living room for about 24 hours so she could smell it. This afternoon I put the tree up and it will stay naked for a few days until I can see how she treats it. So far she has basically ignored it which is a good sign. On the other hand Mango won't leave it alone but that is pretty par for the course. Oliver will be terrified, I don't think he saw the tree last year because he never left his crate. Oliver who is at the moment basically laying on top of the baseboard heater in the living room, it is so cute.
I am going to try and get myself into some kind of routine so that I can get my shit together. I did okay with the depression in November because I had NaNo to focus on but as I am heading into December and that is a bad time to be doing battle with the depression monsters. I am going to make a game plan and I am going to stick with it. Depression sucks. so there.

Sick Day

Feeling down and out with this cold/flu/throat infection thing. I feel like I swallowed two golf balls covered in fire ants while simultaneously being beaten with a baseball bat. I want to sleep and then sleep some more. But oddly enough I still hate just laying in bed. I have been in bed since last night at 5pm. and I have slept for rather a lot of that. When I have not been asleep I have been staring at this computer waiting for something to entertain me and make me forget I feel like I have been hit by the dump truck of misery and quite frankly it is boring. Being sick is boring. I would actually much rather be at work where at least I would feel marginally useful. I am going back to sleep. Bah humbug.

A weekday morning!

The last few mornings I have been trying an experiment. I have deliberately NOT set my alarm clock. Rather then tossing and turning and cracking my eyes open every 10 mins. I have decided just to wake up the first time I look at the clock. Okay not the FIRST time because today that was sometime in the 4am hour but the first time it is reasonable. What I have discovered is that my body gets up all on its own at about 6:20am with no ill side effects. I get up, take the dogs out for their business. These days it is still dark at 6:20 so I have to grope around in the dark a bit to find my robe or sweat pants but that's not so bad. I have a cup of tea, I hang out on Facebook, check out Flickr, read the paper online and watch the sun slowly creep into the sky. Some mornings if I am feeling ambitious I throw in a load of laundry or scoop the litter box but mostly I just give my self an opportunity to wake up at a more leisurely pace. As a result I have noticed I am less hostile in the morning when I rouse my sleeping husband at 7:30ish. I forget less and feel less frazzled as I am running out the door in the morning. I feel less guilty about being away all day because I have spent roughly an hour extra hanging out with the dogs. All and all I call my little experiment a success... and just in case I keep on sleeping? I have a back up alarm set on my cell phone to tell me when it is 7:30 :)

... signifying nothing.

Today was one of those Mondays that give all the other ones a bad name. Although it started off great with a very productive 6:30 start it quickly went to shit, literally Oliver had a poop accident while I was in the shower and Lulu peed on the dining room floor while I was getting my shoes on to take them out. I wasn't going to let this dampen my spirit. I made a cup of tea, folded some laundry, put a new load in and checked my facebook. I also got Gil up and dressed and we both out the door with plenty of time to spare. I knew I would have a little extra work on my desk when I got in today because I was off on Friday but I wasn't expecting the MOUNTAIN of work waiting for me. Nor could I have foreseen the 8 billion customers would call first thing in the morning each with an urgent rush order. Certainly I didn't predict the my co-worker would be out sick with the flu so I would have to juggle the madness on my own with no time to stop for breaks or lunch.
Anyway I got through the day just fine with the help of many cups of tea and a very understanding boss. But when I got home my tummy started bugging and now it has developed into a fully on tummy ache which totally sucks. I had plans to get some stuff done this evening but I really only did dishes and some laundry, which I suppose is better then nothing. The house is really starting to come back together which is making me very happy. I just need to put in a little effort everyday to keep  it that way. I don't want to slide into winter funk and have the house look like one of those crazy houses on Hoarders. It helps that I am hosting book club at the end of the month and really want people to not think I live in a sty. I can't wait until the Autumnal Equinox so I can bring out all my beautiful fall decorations. I think I might love them even more then Christmas decorations.
Anyway it is getting late and I have another full day tomorrow. 6:30 comes SO early.
Sweet dreams.

Another round of Sunday mornning muisings.

Sunday morning, dogs are sleeping, husband is sleeping, cats are wandering the house in pursuit of phantom bugs and the tea is steeping. The only noise is the low hum of the dish washer and the rustle of the trees outside. That will change in the next hour as it is Air Show weekend I live under the flight path so I plan on enjoying the quiet now. Speaking of things changing... We have truly gone from summer to autumn in the blink of an eye. This morning I have all the windows closed and I have pulled out socks and a sweatshirt. I don't mind at all, this 10-15 degree weather is my VERY favorite but it is just weird because last week it was 41 with the humidex. It really is like someone just flipped a switch.
I just walked into the kitchen and found Mango on the stove trying to eat the beautiful Gerbera daisies that Aimee brought me yesterday. I guess I know who spilled the vase all over the dining room table last night. The same dining room table where my laptop and camera were resting for the night. That is one lucky cat let me tell you. If either were permanently damaged she would be in the stew pot tonight.
So in totally not related news I have decided to submit a couple of my pictures into a photo competition. It is a "just  for fun" thing but I am pretty excited. I have working hard at improving my skills. It isn't easy with no training whatsoever but I plan on fixing that soon. In order to keep my self out of the depth of despair about our canceled Mexico trip I plan on focus all my energy on getting better at photography and planning a trip to NYC. I don't want to give into the winter blues this year so I am developing a game plan.
Gil just woke up and we are going to have some breakfast  

Lest We Forget.

All my life I have been touched in some way by Remembrance Day. We always attended the ceremonies both because my Poppa served in WWII and because my brother was a drummer in a Scottish pipe and drum band and he was usually playing at these events. It was always cold and rainy and as a child I was bored after the first ten seconds. 1984 my sweet mother passed away the day before Remembrance Day and it has tainted every subsequent year.  Because of I was so young when that happened I never grew to appreciate the true meaning of the day. I was mired in my own loss for so long I did not see that we were coming together to give thanks and gather comfort for a much larger loss. And then September 11th 2001 happened.
It was the first time in my consciousness that the world lost together, suffered together, wept together. It was the first time I felt depth and breadth of humanities ability to unify, to love and be compassionate. It was also the first time I truly understood the hatred people can harbour in their hearts. This is my Remembrance Day. And though I will continue to honour the great men and women who serve in the Armed Forces on November 11th. I will continue to be sad and grateful for all they sacrifice; I can't help but feel my connection to 9/11 in a much more visceral, tangible way. I will be able to recite for the rest of my life when I was, what I was doing, how I felt and how my life was directly changed by that day. I am so fortunate that none of my loved ones were lost that day. I have no direct connections with anyone involved in the events that unfolded but I am a member of the human race and that is enough to have been wounded by that day.
The years that have followed, the wars, the loss of lives, the insane rampant racism, the civilization living in a constant state of hyper alertness, these have taken a toll on our humanity.
We can not honour the fallen with violence. We can not grieve with malfeasance. We can not heal with hate. As the great Doctor said "Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars... Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."
Don't burn a book today. Don't look with suspicion on a man getting on an airplane because he looks "Arab". Don't cast judgment on a woman who chooses to express her faithfulness and fidelity to god by covering her face. Don't left fear a suspicion take a foot hold in your heart. Remember what happened 9 years ago, feel it, talk about it, try and understand why it happened. Be angry and sad and mourn but then go out into the world and love because that is how the good guys really win.

Sorry I have been so absent lately. I have been focusing on the picture a day blog and it ate my brain a little.
Last week I was totally consumed by getting my neurotic dog healthy again. In the course a massive anxiety induced melt down he managed to shed 12 lbs. which is a lot when you are dog, specifically when you are a Greyhound with precious little mass to start with.  It took many days of hand feeding and gentle encouragement not to mention some very expensive anti-anxiety meds but he most certainly on the mend. In fact he seems to really doing well on these pills, he has become much more outgoing. The other day he was even PLAYFUL. In fact he got so excited that he bit me. Of course I freaked out and screamed (it was a reflex) and he ran back to his crate but not for very long, he recovered very quickly as did it. No worries about my hand, he didn't break the skin.
Lulu continues to be a crazy bag of fun. Her daddy isn't too impressed with her this morning because she had a MASSIVE pee in the kitchen. He was on pee duty because I have the day off and wanted to sleep in. Poor daddy, no one likes to wake up to a lake of urine in the kitchen, but that is why I get up at the ass crack of dawn, I don't want to spend my morning cleaning up the pee.
Anyway. I have been negligent but I promise I will try harder. I have some food stuff to tell you about so stay tuned! 

Summer Day

Why I am who I am ... another addition.

Okay so I have told you the cast story and you now have a pretty good picture of just how weird I am and yet you are still here so I have decided to trust you with yet another vignette.
A broken arm was not the only strange with I had as a small child. I also REALLY wanted to have my tonsils out. It seemed SO romantic. You got to stay home from school. You got to eat all the Jello and ice cream you can stand. You also got LOTS and LOTS of attention; this was probably the most important point. Anyway I was desperate to have them out. I begged, I plead, I begged and plead but my mother wouldn't relent. There was no way for me to help things along; I was NOT take my tonsils out crazy.
Anyway after a few months of this my mother and her infinite patience grew weary of my pestering her and she came up with a fool proof plan, she declared tonsillectomy day!  For one day and one day only I could stay home, I could watch day time TV(woo!), I could eat all the ice cream and Jello I could cram into my body. Best of all my mother would stay home with me all day and wait on me hand and foot. It was perfect. Of course there was a catch, my mother was no fool. In exchange for my day of total decadence I had to swear an oath of TOTAL silence. You see you can't talk when you have had your tonsils out, not a word, not a whisper not a peep. Not talking is SO hard for me, it is pretty much impossible.  So in getting to spend of day of quality time being spoiled by my mother I couldn't have so much as a conversation with her. The lesson was a good one. Getting what you want is NOT always a good thing. I think it is an important lesson, really I do. I just wish we had known what a valuable opportunity we had that day. Those opportunities to be alone together, to talk, we wouldn't have very many more of them.
Anyway for what it is worth when I was in the 10th grade I did end up having my tonsils out. I didn't eat Jello or ice cream, I could hardly swallow water. Day time TV sucked. And mom was right, you can't talk when you've had your tonsils out.

Poor kid, she looks so normal.

Funny story...if by funny you mean deeply disturbing.

I know you might find this a bit difficult to believe, but I was a really demented little kid. Really. I mean I am okay with it, I didn't have the most conventional upbringing as I am sure you have managed to piece together. Anyway I did lots of crazy things mostly in an effort to get some attention and this is one of those tales.

I don't know exactly how old I was; we'll call it second grade-ish.  I desperately wanted to break my arm so I could have a cast. I tried everything I could think of; I tossed myself down the stairs, down a steep hill near my house, banged my arm in the kitchen counter repeatedly. Seriously, I needed a shrink. Anyway, I finally had a grand, fail proof plan. One night when my parents were out I went into the kitchen and appropriated the meat tenderizer. Oh yeah I just heard you groan, you figured out where this is going. So yeah, I took the meat tenderizer up to my room and started to wail on my arm. When my mom got home I went to show her that I "hurt my self". What I didn't count on of course is my mother having a brain or the fact that meat tenderizer leaves a very distinct mark. I suppose at this point my mom realized that I needed a little help. She didn't take me to a shrink but she did get me a cast. She brought home all the supplies needed from the hospital and made me a cast in our bathroom. I know it sounds like I just learned that if I take extreme measures I get my own way but the story has an epilogue. My momma was one smart cookie because about 5 hours after the cast went I was bored of it and I wanted it off. But no! She wouldn't take it off!! She made me keep that damned thing on for the whole weekend. Maybe it wasn't 6 weeks but it was so annoying. Lesson learned (maybe!)

Well adjusted cutie pie or prepubescent sociopath? You decide!

Kitchen creativity...

A couple of things to note... My husband and I own a house. You know this. You also know, especially if you also own a home, this means we are in deep deep debt... especially after the crummy year we have been having.
You also know we like food... a lot. SO ... in order to tighten our belts, save a little money and still eat great ... we are going to try cooking at home!! Isn't that novel? Most of the time we are just gonna cook regular old food certainly not worth blogging over but from time to time we are going to experiment, try something new and that I am going to share with YOU! Don't you feel lucky.
Gil wanted to jump right in trying something new with a recipe he found on line for Watermelon juice. It was super duper easy and very yummy.

 

 Start with a nice juicy watermelon. We picked a seedless one because it was easier to strain and you don't have to worry about swallowing bits a pureed seed. 

Scoop out all the pretty pink flesh but avoid the bitter white stuff it is yucky!

You can scoop it into a bowl and work it over with a potato masher first but we opted to just scoop right into the food processor.

 Then you gotta puree crap right out of it!

This becomes....

THIS!

Next up you have to strain it with a thin mesh stainer or a cheese cloth. You don't HAVE to stain it but I do recommend it or it is just too thick. We added half a cup of water but no sugar as we felt the watermelon was juicy enough all on its own. Then we put the pitcher in the fridge and chilled it for a few hours. The result?

Delicious!!!

Home.... still... bored!

So I have been home from work for 7 days now I am going stark raving mad. The first few days I was so drugged up and sleepy I didn't know how bored I was. Now I am on drugs that have me a little more lucid and I can see how awful resting really is.
I'm cranky and I can't seem to find anything else to say.

Despite my best efforts the universe seems to be conspiring to make me realize that I am an adult. It had been creeping up on me in a stealthy kind of way; first there was the wedding and then the home ownership. Those clues should have tipped me off. Then there was the financial advisers, the lawyer, the will and the debt. All very subtle hints that I was entering the world of grown-ups. I dug my heals in grasping on to the vestiges of my carefree adolescence (HA! Like I had one of those) by pawning all the adult stuff on Gil. Really he is three whole years older then me, all the grown up stuff is his and I am merely along for the ride.But today that illusion was shattered. Today my boss gave me a monumentally adult task to perform and I was terrified. But you know what? It was alright, in fact it was even kind of fun. It felt good to be trusted with a grown-up job. I even think that I handled myself with a certain amount of grace and self-assuredness. Maybe 35.5 is an okay time to start to feel like joining the adult community... at least from 9-5.

Down and Out on the Boondocks...

Yesterday was HOT and HUMID. It was so hot that I didn't want to eat at dinner time and I most certainly did not want to cook. Around 7:30 my body finally decided it was time for some food and I suggested to Gil that we head down to Fisherman's Cove for fish and chips by the water where it would be cooler. Fisherman's Cove is located in Eastern Passage and it is a picturesque still active fishing village. In recent year it has been converted to also be a popular tourist destination with lots of shops, restaurants and best of all a spectacular view. Because it is perched right on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean it also usually a few degrees cooler then the city.
After a little hunting we found parking, not that easy on a sunny Saturday evening, and made our way to Boondocks. It has everything a good Nova Scotia tourist trap could want...

....light houses, lobster traps, a giant sign eating shark.

We were seated quickly in the large dinning room, there were a good number of people but it was by no means full to capacity. There were some nice looking seats out on the patio facing the ocean but as I have mentioned I am not really one for eating outdoors. inside the decor was... okay it was tacky, over the top tacky but in a way that doesn't surprise you about a place that has a giant sign eating shark bursting out of its roof. I can look past tacky if it is done right. Give me a break here I am trying to find good things to say ....
As I said we were seated quickly by a young woman who clearly had too much on the go. She rushed by us at lightning speed, never made eye contact, never told us her name. I appreciate the place was busy and I understand that food service is a stressful job ( I am not being sarcastic, I could not do food service I would have a total mental breakdown) but please for the love of Pete look me in the eye when you are speaking to me.... maybe that way you will remember my drink order.

However our food did come quickly...
Two HUGE pieces of fish, a plate full of fries, coleslaw, tartar sauce and ketchup. It looked glorious, artery clogging but glorious. I was literally salivating.  Sadly however this is one of those times where the meal just didn't live up. (Like how KFC NEVER tastes as good as it smells)
First off the portion size was just too huge. I couldn't eat all that to save my life. I didn't even finish one of those colossal pieces of fish. It might have been a good dish to split if someone else had wanted fish and chips but in the end I think I just like being able to choose how many pieces come with my meal. The fish it's self was largely tasteless, it was white fish so most of the taste came from the batter and the grease both of which there was plenty of. Myself I am big fan of tartar sauce. It is a pretty easy recipe, even I can make a half decent tartar which is why I was so disappointed that my meal came with two tiny pre-packaged Kraft tartar cubes. I mean no disrespect to Kraft but come on.... You gave me half a tonne of fish here and two tiny little cubes of prefab sauce is not going to cut it.
Next up were the chips. A rare indulgence these days so I am little more picky then usual. What can I say, they were fries. They were bland and greasy because the fish leaked on to them. The didn't do it for me. Same with the coleslaw, a bit flavorless and boring. At the end of my meal I was full but in a icky greasy feeling way and not really satisfied.

Gil wasn't too hungry and he had a bit of a headache so he opted for a smaller meal in the form of seafood chowder. Because I love my life more then I love you I didn't try the big bowl of death although as always I forced my poor husband to point out to me which fish is which and try and describe the taste to me. Nothing on earth can convince me that scallops don't taste like marshmallow. Anyway I am no position to review this but I can tell you that when I asked my delightful, intelligent husband what he thought of it his replay was " It's Yiiicchhh" followed by the yucky face. When asked to please be more specific he explained, after he was finished rolling his eyes at me, that the soup/broth portion of the chowder was largely flavorless and seemed to consist mostly of white wine which he is not a fan of. His opinion was that the chef should learn to use some spices or herbs.
The bill came to about $35 which is by no means a wallet buster however neither of us loved our meal and the service was as lack luster as well. At the end of the day it filled an empty belly but I won't be running back to try again any time soon.
Also strike it off your list if you are looking for a meal later in the evening as they close at 8pm. No really I am not kidding, 8pm on a sunny July Saturday... that is just weird.

Are you Epicurious?

This morning for brunch Gil and I consulted "the list" and decided we would head back over the bridge to north end Halifax and see what's going on at Epicurious Morsels. 
We found this cute little bistro tucked into the very middle of the Hydrostone Market. The Hydrostone is a very popular mini shopping district sporting many eateries and cute boutiques, it touts its self as "Halifax's European Shopping Experience".  Parking was slightly difficult to find however it was a lovely morning so we parked a few streets away and walked through the Hydrostone neighborhood which is a part of Halifax I particularly enjoy. If you want to know more about Historic Hydrostone... click here! 

 I liked the cute little patio seating and was pleased to see the waitresses frequently went out to refill water glasses and make sure the outdoor customers were happy, but I have a thing against eating out on the side walk so we went inside which turned out to be a great idea because inside was a cool and calm oasis from the summer heat.


We were greeted right away by a waitress who was sweet but not TOO enthusiastic, too enthusiastic is almost as annoying as total apathy to your presence... anyway she was neither, she was great.

The decor was lovely, clean and very much what I imagine when I think about Parisian cafes. 
The menu was nice and simple. There were only six selections for brunch. I like that sometimes because I have a hard time choosing when there are 56 things to pick from. Four of the six items had no meat, one had ham and one had salmon. I thought it was refreshing that nowhere was there a breakfast fry up of eggs, bacon and home fries. Nice as those things are I was craving change.

While we waited for our breakfast we were served our coffee. I don't usually gush over coffee, especially since I don't drink as much these days but I must gush now. What you see here is the best cup of coffee I have had in months, nay... YEARS!
I can't tell you what was so perfect about it except that it was just the right strength, there wasn't a hint of bitter, if was very flavorful and the perfect temperature. Now I am not one of those "coffee people" I can't really tell you the difference between dark roast and mild. I can drink Tim's or Starbucks, I have even had instant once or twice in a pinch, but I am here now telling you...I had a relationship with this cup of coffee. Yes, it was good! 

We also got bread while we were waiting. BREAKFAST BREAD! How decadent. I have been trying to not eat bread when it is served before meals but Gil insisted I try it (okay okay, my arm was very easily twisted) and I was not disappointed. Warm, chewy, crusty baguette with a smidgen of butter. I have never been served bread with my brunch before, not unless it was toast, so found it a bit odd but it was so yummy and truth be told it made me feel a bit Continental ( she says with her pinky finger stuck out). 

Then came the main event!

This is the California Croissant, it is served with a poached egg, avocado, tomato & Mornay sauce. Mornay sauce  is a Béchamel sauce with shredded or grated cheese added. Usually, it consists of half Gruyère and half Parmesan cheese. It was lighter then a hollandaise sauce and the flavour was very mild but extremely pleasing. I have to tell you right off the bat that any breakfast that includes avocado is a winner in my books but this was even more delightful then I imagined. It was the perfect size with the one poached egg. Kudos to the cook for making a soft poached egg that was actually soft. I find that hard to come by in many breakfast spots. I found my meal filling but not stuffing...

And speaking of stuffing....

Gil had the stuffed french toast. I am pretty sure he licked the plate but not before gifting me with a taste of this french toast filled with a mixture of strawberries, banana and cream cheese. Thank you for sharing Gilly, that is true love. It would have been too rich for me to eat the whole thing but as a nibble it was superb! 
The service was great, she didn't hover but dropped by to make sure we had enough of everything and offer refills on the coffee. Everything was quick but we felt no rush to leave, there were a few other patrons but it certainly wasn't packed. The bill came to $26 which is pretty much mid range. Over all I give Epicurious Morsels two satisfied thumbs up and can't wait to go back some evening to try some of the delights I glimpsed on the dinner menu.

Anatomy of a day all to my self...

As I mentioned once or ten times my boss bullied me in to taking a few days off; and by bully I mean highly suggested that if I didn't take some time off I was going to burn out. I was a little hesitant because I really wanted to save ALL my vacations days for Mexico but she was right I really need this time. I deliberately did not make any plans for today but I made sure I had my camera on hand so I could document how a day all to myself unfolds. And because I KNOW how much my life interests you I thought I would share.
Well my day started at 6am... 'cause let's face it my dogs don't know I am on vacation. But then I crawled back into bed and fell directly back to sleep where I stayed until 10am!! Honest to god I have no IDEA when the last time is that that I slept in that late. It left so amazing I just uncurled and stretched and laid there in the middle of the big ol' bed. I woke up feeling like I was actually rested! RESTED!! I mean how cool is that? I usually wake up panicked and cranky and worried about finding clean underwear. This morning I was thinking .... "ahhh!"

------ This is what pure satisfaction looks like. 

Whereupon I shambled down stairs to start my day. The dogs seemed very surprise at my appearance, I suppose they presumed they had the place to themselves  for what ever canine mischief they had planned for the day.

The first order of business was food. Sleeping in works up a mighty hunger. What I am about to show you might be shocking to you. I suggest you ask any small children to leave the room because it might cause nightmares for years to come.
There is a reason why I don't blog about cooking in our house...I am no kind of cook....

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Burnt toaster

waffles!

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Second time around. 

Yup this is why we eat out for breakfast just about every weekend. My other options we dry, cold cereal, moldy toast or oatmeal. Boiling oatmeal  in 26 ° heat didn't seem like a sane option.  The waffles, for what it is worth, are whole wheat and are only 2 points for two. The margarine on the other hand... excessive.
Anyway now you know my dirty little secret, I can't even toast waffles with out burning them and breakfast basically doesn't exist in our house. Don't judge me! :)

Of course no morning is truly a morning without a cup of tea. This morning I got to sit at the table, my table, start a new book, drink a cup of tea that was STILL hot out of my favorite mug. It was perfect. That is the only way to start a day. If I had my druthers this is how every day would start (minus the frozen waffles). In the summer I would like to sit out on the deck with a book, the paper, my laptop, whatever... and a cup of tea and just sit there. I actually like doing this really early when it is still a bit cool and damp. Summers gone by when I would go down to the cottage for part of the summer I would get up before everyone else, make a cup of tea and sit out on the dock while the sun came up. It was so calming and beautiful. A wonderful thing at a time when I really needed some calming influence in my life.

But I digress... 

The next step in my day was getting clean. Having no plans is no excuse for being skeezy.


         -------------------Look at that fresh face!

It is important to keep a beauty regime, here is a sneak peak of mine...

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This is me before! Can you believe I am putting this picture on the internet? Aren't I brave or crazy?
Look at that hair!!

                   ------------------

This is me after my beauty regiment. WOH! What an amazing difference. Okay, I know what you are thinking, all I did is put my hair in a pony tail, but you are wrong!! I also but on lip balm! So there!




Up next.... entertainment. This is easy to find in my house crank up the iTunes and play with the dogs.

Lulu and ColMcNutt who is her new best friend. They go every where together.

                   

                                                       My boy!

Shortly after I was done playing with the beasts my internet connection died which I took as some kind of sign that I should leave the house and seek adventure in the wider world. 

So I set out with all the essentials, a rain coat, after all it is July in Nova Scotia, at some point in the day I am likely going to require rain gear, a book,my wallet, a liter of water and my camera. 

 I love walking in my neighbourhood because there are so many beautiful gardens and no one, so far, seems to mind if I stop and take pictures of the flowers. I must have  stopped in front of a dozen homes today and I was seen by many people and for the most part people just looked amused. Here a smattering of pictures from my walk downtown today....                                                                                                    

                                                                                                                              

See Mr. Bee doing his thing? I watched him for some time. It was really cool!

Totally cool hedge made of raspberry bushes. Talk about creative!

I was tempted to nibble but did not.

Eventually I ended up in downtown Dartmouth and realized I was really hungry so I called my hubby to see if he want to meet me for lunch, which of course he did and went to one our favorite pubs to find us a table. 

  This is why it is always good to travel with a book. But I didn't get very far before handsome showed up.

Okay so he won't smile pretty for my camera anymore but you can see how cute he is anyway.

After lunch (which I shall review at another time) he went back to work and I continued to adventure. I made my way to the library and wandered for a while. There are always interesting characters but I felt it would be rude to snap pictures of them. I sometimes forget how much I love the public library. I mean it is like one HUGE book store and they will let you take just about any book for free! How cool is that?! Nice idea folks.

After the library I started the long wander home. Lots more gardens and an aborted attempt to hit the Dartmouth Heritage Museum. (I lacked the $2 for admission and they don't take debit if you are wondering.

Here are a few more pictures of my wander home...

Post walk, I am red, sweaty and gross. 

At this point I decided that it was time for a cold shower and nap. It was the perfect way to spend the rest of my alone time! I had an awesome day. When Gil got home Friday went back to normal, dinner and then off to J&A's to geek out for the evening. All told it was a perfect day and I am glad I spent it wandering on my own, I was great company! And now I bid you good night. I need to get my beauty rest so I can start the madness all over again tomorrow.

I am sitting here on my deck, laptop, camera, Starbucks, pre-dusk and all I can think is, this is true contentment. Oh sure I am sweaty and probably a little smelly; true I am being eaten alive by mosquitoes (I swear I even have a bite on the bottom of my foot!) But the air, it smells just like summer should. There are kids running maniacally up and down the road. I can hear the sound of a pipe and drum band drifting up the hill from somewhere. The sun is a low orange ball in the sky. There are birds singing, Really it is as picturesque as you can imagine. Evenings like this when all is right with the world it is so easy to count my blessings. I really do have it all... and what I don't have I can live without no matter how hard it seems sometimes. It is so easy to over look the little wonderful things each day holds, especially when I am tired or stressed or melting from the humidity. I sometimes feel like I come across as negative and I don't like that aspect of myself.... but tonight I am happy. I am just going to roll with it. Peace out homies!

My first restaurant review!

Gil and I are card carrying members of the Breakfast Club. Ok so there are no cards and we are the only two members but we LOVE breakfast and on the weekends we really enjoying going out `doing brunch`. The thing is we have found ourselves going to the same spots over and over and having the same things over and over and we got bored. So we started a list. The Breakfast Club List! It has been growing and changing and things are broken down into categories. It is a great list and today we decided to put it to use. We were *going* to hit the Coastal Cafe but the plan changed due to rain and laziness (sorry again Sara!) and we ended up down the road at Mary's Place Cafe. 

I had been to Mary's a couple of times in my youth but let me tell you it was a completely different animal. According to my husband, who knows a lot of stuff about stuff, the universe is governed by some pretty basic and fundamental rules, like gravity, the second law of thermodynamics and the rule of three. The rule of three states that in the food service industry you get good, fast and cheap but you can ONLY have two of them. Good and cheap, fast and cheap, good and fast.... you see where I am going? Well Mary's, according to my very smart husband, breaks the universe. Because they honestly had all three!! We sat right away. The placed was busy but not packed, a nice diverse crowd which I always find a good sign. The menus were already on the table which I love because it meant when the lovely waitress came over we already knew what we wanted. The owner of Mary's is Syrian so there is a lot of Middle Eastern flare to the menu, which again I just love. But there were LOADS of healthy options for example turkey bacon and whole wheat flat bread. As well there were tonnes of vegetarian/vegan choices, not that I am but I  still inclined to go veg more often for health reasons. My eye was immediately drawn to the Middle Eastern  breakfast and WOO was I pleased with my choice! 



What you see is baked eggplant and tomato on a whole wheat flat bread with an egg topper. OH MY GOD! The eggplant and tomato was pretty spicy and I definitely had some heart burn afterward but it was worth it. Every mouthful was pure bliss. The eggs were done perfectly; runny yolks but no runny whites. The home fries were hot and crispy. 

Just another shot to show you the perfection of the eggs. I am a little funny about my eggs. Some might even say I am fussy but I likes what I likes.










Gil opted for the "Healthy Choice" breakfast which featured the turkey bacon, whole wheat toast and rather then home fries a kind of potato pancake. It looked a little boring but once I tried a bite I was sold. It was likely they best thing we had, and that is saying something.

It seemed to be made from mashed potato and hosted a variety of other veg but what was truly great about it was the light curry flavor. I am telling you breakfast might never be the same again!


The service was super friendly and REALLY fast, we were in and out in half an hour. Even better was the price. Two full breakfasts and two cups of coffee for $15. We left full and happy and will most certainly be making the trek over the bridge to go back again. I recommend you do too!