Lots to do today

Tags

Acadia, Canada, Capitol, France, life, Maritimes, Revolution, USA

I had to get up early today at 07:30am which is somewhat like the middle of the night for me. Usually I am a Crack of Noon riser which is the civilized time for retired folks like me.

So at 9:30am I had to be at the Club for the Thursday morning Coffee and Conversation program, today we had an Acadian historian Georges Arsenault, O.C., O.P.E.I whose family has been living on PEI since 1700. He is also an author and has written much about Acadian life and history on the Island. He also has a voluminous collection of old photos of Acadian Life on the Island dating back to 1860. He showed us many old photos of Acadian families and explained traditions in the period 1860 to 1950. It was fascinating, he had wedding photos dating from prior to 1946. How the common people lived if compared to high society, there was a stark difference. Brides has no wedding dress, they simply wore their Sunday best and so did the groom. Only people with money did the fashionable weddings the way we think of them today. The food prepared and served at weddings was also very different from today. Essentially the wedding would take place in Church at 7:30am and then the family would return home for breakfast at 9:00am. Back then Roman Catholics, Acadians are all R.C. , were not allowed to have food before Mass. Everyone was in their Sunday best and all of it took place in the Kitchen including the square dancing. What Acadians call in French souper (Supper) took place at Noon and both meals were offered by the Bride and her parents in their home. The Dinner at night around 6pm moved to the Groom’s parents home for more square dancing and food and of course Whiskey and Island Gin at 50 proof. That’s the Gin I buy for my Island friends, they do not want the English stuff at 40 Proof. The most important element of a successful wedding meal during the day was the desserts and sweets, some families could offer over 30 different types of sweets not including the Wedding Cake which was white and baked usually in the village by a woman who was known for her cakes and hired for that day. Which reminded me of my great Aunt Marie-Ange in Charlesbourg near Quebec City who was known at Christmas for her desserts and sweets.

The family photos are also interesting, most taken outdoors for the light in an age when no flash existed. Women in Acadian fashion have their heads covered by a bonnet or large scarf, custom being that only unmarried maidens could show their hair. Families were also large on average 12 kids and many upwards of 19 kids, all living under one roof in small farm houses. One wonders how they did it. It is only again after 1946 that people start having small families of 2 or 3 children.

After the talk, I went to my barber Jared who is a very nice person and great to chat with, we talked about what had happened the previous day in Washington D.C. at the Capitol building. He was working so could not watch television and was being told by his customers what was happening, he was in disbelief like I was and many other people. Though he remarked and I agree, we could see all this coming and were bracing for it. How come the Capitol Police did not prepare, were they over confident? I watch it all and was sickened by it, how can the symbol of a democracy be attacked like that by a mob which looked like Duck Dynasty. Ignorance on parade, truly sad. I was wondering if the Ceausescu solution could not be applied to Trump and his family, worked in Romania in 1989. What I fear like a lot of people is a possible return of another Trump type in 4 years, populist but more intelligent and cunning. Is the USA sliding into authoritarianism, it could happen after all 75 million Americans voted for him, hopefully not and the world will move on.

Afterwards I went to the Service Canada Office which provides info and registration for all Federal Government Programs, one stop shopping. This was instituted some 8 years ago by the Canadian Government. I was having some problem online with an application and could not get anyone at their 1-800 number unless you are willing to wait an hour or more on hold. So I simply went down to the Office and saw an Officer in 5 minutes. She answered my questions and all appears all right, I am much relieved.

After the ball

Tags

6 january, Canada, Epiphany, France, Gateau, Magi

So here we are the end of the Holiday Season with la Fête des Rois or Epiphany , now is the time to undo the Xmas decorations and fall into a kind of slumber which is January and February, the dull period of the year. The weather on the Island is uncertain, not cold not warm and a lot of overcast skies. Typical Northen European weather though we are in Atlantic Canada.

Tomorrow being la Fêtes des Rois the tradition in French culture is to have a special cake. The cake is to celebrate the visit of the 3 wise men to the manger to see baby Jesus, before his parents took him on a tax dodge to Egypt. I remember my mother making this cake or galette as it is called in French, an put a broad bean inside for one lucky kid to discover.

Celebrating the Epiphany with a gâteau des rois is a custom that originates from a Roman pagan ritual, which came to French Canada via France. The Romans would bake a cake, inside of which they would place a bean or a clay fish. Whoever discovered the object — regardless of his or her social status — would play king or queen for a day.

Recipe for the Gateau des Rois.

Ingredients

	parchment paper, for the baking sheet
400 g	puff pastry dough		1 box
1/2 cup	butter, unsalted, soft		120 g
1 cup	icing/confectioners’ sugar		130 g
1 1/3 cup	almond meal		130 g
3	eggs size large
1 tbsp	rum		15 mL
	white flour (all purpose), to roll out the pastry

Before you start

Defrost the puff pastry dough at room temperature for 2 hours or overnight in the refrigerator. The dough should be flexible but still feel cold to the touch.

A hand-held or stand mixer will make things easier for this recipe.

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 205°C/400°F. Butter a large baking sheet (about 30 x 38 cm) and line with parchment paper.
2. In a bowl, cream the butter with the sugar using a mixer, until light and fluffy. Fold in the almond meal, 2 eggs and rum. Set aside. 
3. On a lightly floured board, roll out the puff pastry to 2 rounds of about 10 in (25 cm) diameter, using a rolling pin. Place one round on the baking sheet.
4. Transfer the almond mixture to the center of the round, leaving about 1 in (2,5 cm) on the edge. Drop one broad bean near the edge (to minimize the chances to find it when slicing the cake).Whisk the remaining egg with 1 tbsp water then brush the pastry edge. Cover with the second pastry round.
5. Seal all around the edge, gently pressing with a fork. Drill tiny holes in the upper crust, to allow steam to escape. Brush the crust with the beaten egg.
6. Bake in the middle of the oven 20-25 min, until golden.
7. Serve at room temperature.

A slice of galette des rois at Duc de Lorraine contains top-quality baker’s flour and butter. About 600 cakes were sold last year between Christmas and the end of January.

SNOW!!!

Tags

Canada, PEI, snow, storm, winter

Well we had a green and mild Christmas and New Year’s Day 2021 and today 2 January BANG snow storm! with 10 inches of snow in 5 hours. So now the snow ploughs are out in force and it’s back to the National Sport of Canada, brushing off the car and de-icing the windows, what fun.

For this snow storm I blame Michigan, the theory is that they manufacture bad weather there and send it our way. In the Summer we blame Florida for hurricane weather which is then sent our way. Well at least we know that by End March it will be over, so I suppose that we cannot complain too much, it will be 12 weeks instead of 26 weeks of snowy Winter as is standard in most of Canada.

The one good thing about a storm here, is that suddenly there is no traffic and no one about, it is very quiet and peaceful as if we lived in the countryside.

Today was a quiet day, this afternoon we visited an artist friend and his spouse just a couple of streets away from us. They live in a area called Big Spring in reference to the Spring that crosses the area and then comes down to the Hillsborough river. It is more than a Spring really, almost a small river given the constant rapid flow of water. Most of it now is underground, but you can hear it and in the area some land is empty because it sits on top of the spring and is marshy. At one time the Spring emptied into what was known as Government Pond, a rather large marshy pond on the edge of the Fanningbank Estate, the Official Residence of the Governor of PEI. Some 40 years ago the Provincial Government decided that it would be better to cover it up in an effort at urban renewal. The Area surrounding the Pond was a poor neighbourhood populated by a small black community and known as the Bog. Today brutalist style Government buildings cover the area with a large 1960 style parking lot, car culture still dominates mentalities on the Island.

Our friend is a well known artist and their house is full of art work, quite a beautiful place with a large work studio in the back garden. His spouse who is also an artist, prepared all manner of finger food, it was all very good and tasty. So much so that we had no appetite for dinner tonight. They also served Swedish Mulled Wine, Glogg, which is very nice in such weather and goes well with the Holiday Season.

So on with go with the Winter Season now officially opened.

A good time

Tags

Canada, Christmas, cuisine, Elizabeth II, Food, ice cream, life

We had a good Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Luncheon with friends.

The 24 Dec was a simple affair of a few friends came to say hello and exchange good wishes. We served home made sausage roll made from the meat of English Banger sausage and using a recipe of Nigel Slater we made puff pastry stuffed with British Stilton Cheese served pipping hot, with a glass of bubbles its a great little bite. He also made small pastry stars mixed with parmesan and served hot. They are very good and of course while we were not looking our Nicky managed to grab a couple. He loves cheese, so does Nora but she is not as bold as he is.

Today’s Luncheon, Will borrowed a great recipe for Tourtiere which came very close to my Mom’s, it was delicious. We also had a turkey breast, Brussel’s sprouts roasted, carrots and roasted small potatoes. We started the meal with Red Sockeyed Wild Pacific Salmon with capers and dill. Our dessert was Plum Pudding Flambé which had a good flame this year and instead of the usual hard sauce, Will made Nesselrode Chesnut Ice Cream, it was a big hit with our guests. It was the great French Chef Carême who invented this dessert in honour of the Russian/German Diplomat and Chancellor of the Russian Empire Count Karl Robert Nesselrode in 1814 after Napoleon’s final defeat.

The tradition of the Christmas day message goes back to 1928 when King George V, the grandfather of the Queen did the first broadcast. As Queen of Canada the message of H.M. Queen Elizabeth II is carried on the Nation’s airwaves of the CBC at 3pm. This year unlike any other year the Queen is in Windsor Castle due to the pandemic.

It was also very warm today in Charlottetown, 50F which is unheard of and shows how climate change is really changing the world around us, normally it should be near zero or below zero and snow should be covering the ground, not so this year.

FOOD for the Holidays

Tags

Canada, champagne, Chestnuts, cuisine, dachshunds, Food, PEI, wines, World, XMAS

Recently a good friend and blogger asked me about food for the Holidays, what type of food did you have as a child for Christmas etc… So I told him, he was a little taken aback, suffice to say that I and my siblings did not have your conventional upbringing especially when it comes to food and drinks. So no it was not turkey and mash potato with gravy and green peas or ham or whatever is usually served in most households. Wine was also served on a regular basis to adults until I was old enough to have a glass. Cocktails and bubbly made their appearance as a matter of fact at the table. My father always chose the wines, he liked Montrachet.

During my professional life in the many countries we lived in, the menu varied a great deal, various cultures have various fare. In many countries, lamb is a regular staple with chicken a close second, pork is not available and beef is usually served stewed not as a steak. Same with vegetables, in some places root vegetables or squash of all kinds or potatoes are abundant, rice is a side dish with all dishes. So you have to get use to different culinary traditions. Per example in Greece, they will served grilled tomatoes, rice and french fries all together with lamb or fish. In many countries butter is replaced by Ghee butter which is highly saturated in fat but gives the most wonderful taste to food. Also the concept of dieting, allergies or vegetarianism or not eating meat or certain foods is totally unknown and people will enquire about your health, because such condition is associated with the sick and the dying.

So through the years we have modified our Holiday menu to a point where the conventional is not the first thing that comes to mind. This also includes desserts and any sweet. In one country candied whole fruits was a delight to behold, in others it was honey and nut pastries in phylo dough, in others it was rich cakes and specialty chocolates of the finest ingredients made in small batches.

The country I enjoyed the most for wines was Italy, every Italian region has vineyards and all produce regional wines, the volcanic soil of Italy and Sicily produces great wines, red of course but for the last 150 years white wines. Going to the wine merchant was a delight, you could always pair wines with your meal and given the reasonable prices buying several cases for Xmas was a given. One year I found a champagne I truly loved, Jacquesson from France, an exceptional Champagne. If you come across that name, you should get a bottle.

This year will be a quiet Xmas at home, Charlottetown is very quiet and it is pleasant. Christmas Eve I think 3 people are coming over for drinks. Christmas Day we are 7 for Lunch at home. Everything for the meal has been bought including the wines so I do not have to do any more grocery shopping.

While shopping for Chestnuts, I discovered that you cannot find it here anywhere because it is simply something Islanders do not know. A strange thing, but its like veal, you cannot find it, no one carries it. Why? It does not appear that there is any reason. I finally did find chestnuts and beautiful ones at GLOBAL MARKET on St-Peter’s road at Mount Edward. It is an Asian/African grocery store and they carry the most incredible array of goods, most Islanders have never heard of most of it. I was very happy, it’s the second time Global Market has saved my bacon, Mr Will has a knack for asking for the most obscure ingredients at the last minute. In the case of the chestnuts, he is making Chestnut Ice Cream.

Best Wishes to all of you for a Happy Christmas!

A picture of Nora and Nick, the Official Xmas Dachshunds.

End of the year coming soon

Tags

barber, Canada, covid, Health, life, PEI, postal service, XMAS

Today I got a hair cut from Jared who is probably one of the best barbers in Charlottetown. I use to go to a traditional barber, old school type who is very popular with politicians and regular guys. His shop is very well known and he is a very pleasant fellow. However it was not exactly what I was looking for and noticed his staff were indifferent in general unless you were a local celebrity or somebody’s cousin. I got to know my current barber Jared through the gang of Receiver Coffee Co. a local coffee shop which caters to a more cosmopolitan crowd and has a progressive outlook on life. In fact when we first arrived in PEI almost 5 years ago, we went to have coffee at Receiver which had just opened as a new business. From that point we met other people and Jared was part of that group. Though at the time he was a photographer and his work caught my eye. He has a real talent for composition and light and his work is dramatic and beautiful. He then branched out into cutting hair but decided that he should go study in London UK for it at one of the more famous schools. His girlfriend is also a photographer and does art photography, she has a lot of talent.

We also have as of January a new family doctor. Our current doctor who is on maternity leave called to ask if we would consider going to his new practice which is half of her old practice in the same office. We know the new doctor and he is very nice and has a professional and easy manner with people, so we agreed to switch. You have to know that in PEI not everyone has a family doctor, in fact some 5600 have no family doctor and have to go either to a community clinic or the hospital for care, so we are privileged. This is a new factor in Canada with one generation of medical doctors retiring and insufficient numbers coming on stream.

I noticed today that we have been receiving Xmas cards in the mail but the stamps are not cancelled. I know that the volumes of mail in Canada are very high, delivery right now is 7 days a week. Maybe they are just pushing it through and making sure it gets delivered. That is ok because some people re-used uncancelled stamps and sent cards to people.

Well we are almost finished with the Xmas decorations, just a few small details to attend to now, can do this tomorrow. Now we are waiting for the Friday conference by our Chief Medical Officer for PEI, Dr Morrison and the Premier Dennis King to tell us if some of the lockdown will be lifted. Looks like it might, no new cases and everything looks pretty calm now and also vaccination has started on PEI so it’s all good news. Heather Arsenault a front line worker at a seniors home was the first to get the Pfizer shot. Fingers crossed it all works out. At any rate we have plans to either be quiet for Xmas at home or maybe invite a few close personal friends over. It’s all up in the air…

Every year I get to put the Star on our tree, an old tradition, it is the original star of 1979, always the same which has been carefully preserved through all the years.

French Canada at Christmas

Tags

Canada, Christmas, culture, Fir tree, French, French Canada, Latin, Music, Noel, tradition

A few days ago, a dear friend and blogger asked me to send him example of Christmas music from French Canada. The roots of French Canada goes back to 1534 and 1608 with the founding of Quebec City and then Montreal in 1642. There are also at this time the French settlements in the Maritime then known as Acadia from 1600 who have very similar tradition, in food, feasting, music and celebration.

As a child and growing up in Montreal and Quebec City and having uncles and aunts, cousins etc all close relatives numbering about 300, Christmas celebration were steeped in tradition from Old France and New France. Winter of course with lots of snow and cold weather, strong drink, lots of rich food and music surround the Christmas time. Our mother, aunts and grand parents made sure we knew well those traditions. Our schools also reinforced the cultural bond not to mention the Roman Catholic Church who saw itself in French Canada as the protector of French culture and heritage.

The Christmas tree was one tradition and when it would appear in the house. Usually in those days it was in the week after 15 December and would stay up until at least 7 January. There was always lots of stories around selecting a tree and putting it up and then the only acceptable tree was a traditional sapin (evergreen fir tree) symbol of immortality.

The food also was specific to the Holiday. There was never enough dishes it seems, and many came to celebrate en famille. There would be Ragout beef meat balls with pigs feet, a turkey with all the trimmings, tourtières (meat pies) everyone has a recipe on this pie, it was important to compliment the Chef on her tourtière and the crust. Mash potatoes and lots of gravy, peas and carrots. Then came the desserts, an incredible array, from the Bûche de Noël, to fruit cake, pastries stuffed with whipped cream, cookies, and of course chocolates. Everything was made from scratch, these were the days before supermarkets and processed foods. An enormous amount of work for the 25 December. The Eve was spent mostly at home and by 10:30pm it would be time to go to Church for the triple Xmas Mass and you got out around 1am. Usually followed by a Réveillon of rich foods and drink. When we were very young we did not go to Christmas Eve mass, but went to bed early because le Père Noël would be coming and we could not be awake. However when my mother was a child in the 1930’s, in those days the tradition was to give gifts around Epiphany 6 January and not on Christmas morning. A gift in her childhood was a book and an orange which was exotic and expensive and some clothing. How things have changed.

So when it comes to music, none of what you hear today in shopping malls or stores was known or played. Christmas music was at Church, in school concerts or at home in family dinners and gatherings. It was all traditional and we, as kids learned it by heart, you had to be able to sing with everyone else.

All this French Christmas music or most of it was composed based on text from the New Testament, Luke, 2, The birth of Jesus. The music was compose in the 17 and 18th Century to accompany the Roman Catholic Mass. It remains a staple today in a more secular world. It is part of the fundamental culture of French Canada.

You Tube has them all. Marc Hervieux, Tenor from Montreal who also has a music radio show on weekend on Radio-Canada devoted to opera and classical music is probably today one of the best singer in this category.

Here are some titles of the classics: Venez Divin Messie, Il est né le Divin Enfant, Minuit Chrétien, Ca berger assemblons-nous which was originally written in old French but modernized after 1789 with modern French and pronunciation and Les Anges dans nos campagnes which is in Latin and French since Mass was in Latin until 1964. All classics!

In the mood

Tags

Canada, Government, life, Pfizer, XMAS

Today we got some wet snow, well more rain than snow which melted away in the still balmy weather we are having. I went shopping for gifts for our Xmas Luncheon guests. We always have a little bag with nice things for them to take home. Now I suppose we will be allowed to have this Luncheon but I am waiting like everyone else in PEI to see what the Government of PEI will tell us on 21 December but we keep our fingers crossed. Of course today the absolutely wonderful news was that the Pfizer Vaccine had been approved by Health Canada and now the first shipment will arrive on Friday from Puurs, Belgium where Pfizer is located. The Canadian Army is in charge of distribution to the 14 centres in the country. Canada being a huge country geographically and this type of logistics is something the armed forces can handle well. It will be the oldest people first and front line workers and then in sequence of decreasing age, I should be in the third cohort by April 2021.

I have faith that all will go well and I am thankful our Canadian Government did what had to be done. There are more than enough doses to go around all Canadians several times, Canada is very well prepared. Meaning that 2021 should be the year of renewal and a return to normal. I am grateful for that.

So today I went shopping for a calendar for 2021 and for small gifts for our guests and bought all manner of nice things for them. I also got the new book of Barack H. Obama, I had heard a lot of good about it and it does look like an interesting read.

Today is Will’s Birthday and we are celebrating quietly at home. Next year is a big year and a big party so this is why putting Covid out of your lives is so important. We shall overcome!

As of tomorrow we will start with decorations it takes usually about 4 to 5 days to do it all. I do hope that we will be allowed to have a few people over on 24 and 25 Dec. Right now it is völling verboten!!! We are hopeful that the Health Dept of PEI who evaluates these things will see enough changes and no new cases appear, it has been 2 days now with nothing new. I was angry like many others when it was revealed that the 15 yr old student who started the current alert, finally confessed that he had forgotten to mention to the nurses that he had travelled and partied off Island, now we know where he got it from. On the other hand the 20 to 29 yr old are getting tested in record numbers, they have taken the call of the Premier to heart.

Fruit Cake, a tradition

Tags

Canada, Covid 19, Friendship, fruit cake, tradition, Vaccine

For the last 40 years our friend John H. sends us one of his famous home made fruit cake. He makes usually a dark and a light version in both cases they are soaking in Brandy keeping the cakes very moist. It is by far the best fruit cake I have ever had. No one else I know makes such a delicious cake. He does make quite a few because he gives them as gifts. We always had a fruit cake at home from John even in my far away postings.

Tonight for dessert I opened the cake he gave me, I believe it was made about 18 months ago. The cake as aged and it is the richer tasting fot it. It had a heavy smell of Brandy and all the fruits in it where sweet and juicy.

Absolutely delicious fruit cake, it won’t last long.

I mentioned previously that in years past we sent electronic Xmas cards but this year we decided to send paper ones. Now the work is to get all the addresses, I may have to go get more cards. Trying to complete the job in the next few days only 23 days before Christmas now.

The big news today in Canada from the Prime Minister and the Minister of Health is that the Government has bought about 9 doses of the anti-Covid19 vaccine from 4 companies for each Canadian. There are 38 million Canadians this means we have 342 million doses total. The problem in Canada is logistics given are huge geographic area and 6 time zones, a lot of logistics will be required. But it looks like we are in the home stretch now.

Getting colder

Tags

Alberta, bubble, burst, Canada, covid, life, Maritimes, PEI

The Winter wind has started and is blowing on average at about 70K on a good day, plenty of fresh air, the humidity is also fairly high at 70% or more which makes for bone chilling.

Well the Atlantic bubble which had been working for us for 5 months has burst, with surging cases of Covid 19 in Nova Scotia in the region of Halifax and in New Brunswick in the region of Moncton and St-John our bridge to the mainland has been closed since early this morning. The wind also played its part gusting upwards of 90Km. Long lines of trucks bringing essential goods are stopped at the foot of the bridge on the New Brunswick side until the wind dies down tonight. It would be far too dangerous to try to cross the 12Km over the Strait to the Island. So it looks like life is going to be a lot quieter now here on Charlottetown. Many people work from home so less people in town.

We still have only 2 mild cases of Covid 19 on the Island and both are at home. To keep our situation under control we need to shut off the Island and now must also wear face masks in all buildings, shops, malls etc inside. So far everyone obeys the rule which is remarkable.

Our worst case is the Province of Alberta who has more per capita cases of Covid every single day than any other provinces including Quebec and Ontario despite having only fraction of their population. The Premier of Alberta is Jason Kenney, a Trump wanna-be, his reasoning businesses and oil companies come well before peoples lives.

Despite the announcement of 3 possible vaccines in the works against Covid 19, the reality is that in Canada we are not likely to see any of it before March 2021. The reason being that in the last 40 years all our research and medical producing facilities have moved abroad. This was allowed in a series of mergers with foreign companies and a Federal Government and politicians asleep at the switch, an unfortunate situation but it is what it is.

Some Canadians are leaving for southern climes and the Foreign Minister warned them that because of the Pandemic it would far better to stay home. There will be no special flights to bring people back if they leave the country and find themselves stranded abroad. Still enough fools think it does not apply to them.

One terrible lesson from this pandemic and one I have come to understand; Governments have clearly made a decision to put efforts in saving businesses instead of people. The other lesson is that if you are over 55 your government sees you as an expensive burden, this explains why so little has been done to help save elderly in assisted care homes, why so many have been left to die. We see it all over Canada with the notable exception of PEI where no one got sick or died. Since such centres are private and run by companies for profit, it has been know for the last 40 years that they are often understaffed and provide only the most basic of services. Staff is on minimum wage and poorly trained, despite this situation and major scandals politicians look the other way.

On the other hand the news of the transition to the President Elect Joe Biden having now officially started and his presentation of his new Cabinet is very encouraging. A return to professionalism and a clean broom of the nonsense of the last 4 years. The news also of a possible vaccine to solve this crisis is encouraging, we can only hope that 2021 which will dawn in just 5 weeks will bring a new beginning.

Oh well as I write this I am having a glass of Champagne, can’t be all that bad.