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MaryIsobel

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Everything posted by MaryIsobel

  1. Love following you on your trips. I particularly love the photos of the Octopi. Now I feel bad for eating them!
  2. MaryIsobel

    Breakfast 2024

    So happy to see you posting again @Kim Shook!
  3. MaryIsobel

    Cabbage

    It truly is a keeper
  4. MaryIsobel

    Cabbage

    I agree on the cabbage. It is a winter staple here. I make a slaw with a vinagarette dressing that lasts for days, roasted cabbage wedges and like you mentioned, I use it in soup, stir fry or braised as a side. It is one of the few vegetable bargains left. We are having perogies and kielbassa tonight and I'll make sweet and sour red cabbagae to go with it.
  5. I can think of a couple of North American politicians who would be behooved to use this as their platform!
  6. I see a classic wedge salad in your future!
  7. I'm sure it is even more lovely and inviting when the patio is open. I really was a great meal.
  8. My husband and I did a two night trip to Victoria, the capital of British Columbia. Victoria is located on Vancouver Island, a 1.5 hour ferry ride from Vancouver (actually Tsawassen.) We booked a room at Huntingdon Manor, an old, but well kept up hotel, a block from the harbour in one direction and a block from the Parliament buildings in another. Our first afternoon, we strolled around the harbour, looking at menus and making a couple of stops for libations. The Santiago’s Cafe https://www.facebook.com/p/Santiagos-Cafe-100063685808391/ was literally attached to our hotel so that was our first stop. Just wanted a snack so had a margarita each and some chips and salsa. Chips were hot and fresh and quite tasty, as was the salsa. There was also a great housemade hot sauce that was really tasty and fruity. The margaritas unfortunately had that bottled lime taste that neither of us cares for so we only had the one and moved on. Next stop was Steamship Grill and Bar. https://steamshipgrill.com/ We had a cocktail there (margarita again for my husband and a cocktail with Absolute Mandarin, soda and a Bellini slush topping for me.) We perused the dinner menu but I detected an "old fryer oil odour" there so we moved on. Walked around and browsed in a few shops. My husband stopped at Goodfella's Cigar store https://www.goodfellascigarshop.com/pages/cigars-1 to buy a cigar so we enquired of the friendly proprietor where we could have a light seafood dinner. He recommended Nautical Nellie's, which was on my list so that was dinner the first night. https://nauticalnelliesrestaurant.com/ We weren’t overly hungry so a cocktail each; dirty martini for me and another margarita for Himself. His margarita was so bad he sent it back, I don’t think he has ever done that before. They took it off our tab and he ordered a dirty martini. We both had the mussels and garlic toast. Perfectly done and just enough food. The next day we wandered around Chinatown (supposedly the largest Chinatown in North America after San Fransisco but I do believe that the Vancouver one is bigger now.) Bought a few housewares and then decided to escape the snow and slush and seek refuge at the Irish Times Pub https://www.irishtimespub.ca/ for an Irish coffee to take the chill off. It is a lovely pub, situated in what was a building originally built in 1897 for the Bank of Montreal by architect Francis Rattenbury. Rattenbury was also the architect of the Parliament Building and the Empress Hotel. He had quite a chequered past and was murdered by his young wife’s lover! Our dinner that night was pre-planned and reserved at Il Terazzo. It was quite honestly one of the best restaurant meals that we have had in quite some time. The ambiance is lovely, we were seated near but not too close to a fireplace. Our server was a middle aged guy who was the epitome of a great server. A perfectly made Negroni for me and yet another margarita for my husband. This one met with his approval. The complimentary starter was focaccia and the best olive tapenade that I have ever had. I took what we had left in a to-go box and when we got back to our room, I put a tablespoon on a napkin and spread it our so that I could taste it bit by bit to try and re-create it. (By this point my husband said “most people would say you are weird, but I get what you’re doing.”) I had the Frutti di Mare della Casa: Prawns, mussels and scallops tossed in white wine, cherry tomato, leeks, crushed chili flakes, garlic red onion, lemon, parsley cream and linguine noodles My husband had the coppino; Traditional seafood stew with, halibut, prawns, mussels, peppers, onions, chipotle, and tomatoes. Topped with spaghetti aglio e olio Both were amazing - it was hard to stop eating once we were full. As to the parm on fish - ya like what ya like. Of course I always like to peruse the dessert menu, even when I have no stomach left to give! Brilliant marketing on their part, they have cookies to go. The menu description was Biscotto della Casa. They were a flourless chocolate cookie, almost meringue like. A fabulous dinner all in all, I would highly recommend a visit to this establishment should you ever find yourself in Victoria, B.C. I see that I have buggared doing each photo with a caption - sorry about that but they are in chronological order and self explanatory I think. I have to dash now to put on my face and change into seem decent clothes. Today is my birthday and my daughters and their fellas will be here shortly with dinner and drinks!
  9. It's an odd lighting choice for a restaurant in my opinion. When I was about 10, my mom was in the hospital so my 8-year-old sister and I made dinner for my Dad. Pork chops and rice. For some reason, we decided to add blue food colouring to the rice. My Dad pitched a fit which was highly out of character for him. Lesson learned - no blue food!
  10. Coincidentally to this conversation, I made a big batch of beirocks today. They freeze really well (if you have the freezer space) and are great for filling up the bottomless gullets of young men. I just wing them at this point but here is an idea of what they are. https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/23658/pams-bierocks/ I do add a layer of cheese. We are not fond of sweet dough for them, so I just make my regular dough for rolls or white bread. The picture is them proofing on the counter for 1/2 an hour. Once they're proofed I'll egg wash them and bake.
  11. "Bars" are good in these situations; taco bar, baked potato bar, mashed potato bar, sandwich bar, quesadilla bar... You get the idea. They allow each eater to customize the offerings to their liking. I also found that pulled pork and mac and cheese was a huge hit with teenagers. Serve with buns, cole slaw and whatever fixings you can come up with. The leftover pulled pork (if there is any - that age of kids can really eat!) make great nachos the next day. Mac and cheese would be a great cooking lesson. Also sweets; muffins, cookies, squares, etc.
  12. MaryIsobel

    Dinner 2024

    We are a good 5 months away from fresh corn but that and the halibut are mouth-watering!
  13. MaryIsobel

    Dinner 2024

    Your meals are always a feast for the eyes! Curious, were or are you a professional?
  14. I tried something I saw "online, somewhere." Put regular lasagna noodles in the smaller side of my stainless steel double sinks and pour boiling water over them and let them sit while I grate cheese, finish up the sauce etc. Then use them as usual. I make the sauce a bit more liquid and then proceed as with boiled noodles. It works well. I have tried the no boil, but didn't care for the finished texture.
  15. When I was 9, my parents rented a Westphalia and we camped throughout Europe for 3 months. My Dad knew very minimal Spanish and my Mom spoke only English. We discovered that people were much more patient with a child who didn't speak the language of the country so I was sent into stores with a shopping list on which my Dad had drawn a picture beside every item. Most shopekeepers found that charming and went out of their way to help me.
  16. MaryIsobel

    Lunch 2024

    That all looks fabulous! The curry, the lobster and the lobsterman😉
  17. MaryIsobel

    Dinner 2024

    Looks fabulous! When you say "pureed lemongrass, shallots, garlic, red chile, cilantro stems, and ginger" is that a homemade concoction? I can buy lemongrass stalks, but they are about 8 to a package - way too much for one recipe. Looking for a way to not waste the lemongrass
  18. I do quesdillas the same way - with shredded (by me, not preshredded) - no oil.
  19. MaryIsobel

    Lunch 2024

    How I wish that I had tomatoes like that to "use up!"
  20. I have the same one and can attest to the metal cover getting hot. Mine still has traces of a bread bag left to close...
  21. Me too - also for grilled zucchini and peppers in the winter.
  22. My Dad would only eat toast that other people would either be scraping or scrapping - literally black. He claimed it made your teeth whiter!🙄
  23. I have seen that recipe so often but have a hard time imagining the end result.
  24. From a fellow titanium hip owner - I was amazed at how quickly I was quite mobile. Nor far or fast at first but I was walking without mechanical aid of any kind after about my 5th day at home. I wish the same for you.
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