On a cold but sunny Friday

Tags

Canada, covid, Food, Russia, Sicily, Spring, Ukraine, USA, Wine

We are in mid-January and typically the weather is very cold. I had my booster shot 3 days ago and all is well, no after effects. So now I am all boosted and frankly Covid is no longer my priority. I lived in too many countries where many awful diseases where endemic and my vaccinations protected me. So time to move along.

The weather has been cold, frigid, the Hillsborough river is now frozen. We are in a lockdown but the number of sick people has been dropping every day. Yes those who are sick are unvaccinated and maybe you will think me callous or unfeeling but I really do not care about them, it has been 2 years, plenty of time to do the right thing. Everyday we have 100 + spot for vaccination available on PEI so if you want a shot it is very easy to get and takes about 6 minutes. Someone I know yesterday was shopping and stopped at the Pharmacy enquired about a vaccine and got it on the spot. Could it be easier?

I have joined those who are fully vaccinated and feel they should be allowed to go about their lives and not have to worry about the Covidiots who sit there and complain.

So we are more or less confined to our homes, though you can shop for groceries and pick up at the restaurant, but that is not civilized living. On the other hand we have had some pretty marvellous meals at home thanks to Will.

I was thinking this week, that if one day I was to travel again I would love to return to Granada to see the Alhambra palace and the gardens again. What a stunning place it was, and to think it was built 1000 years ago, a marvel. Portugal would be another place I would like to visit again. We had a very nice visit to Lisbon a few years ago. Then Sicily, such an ancient place, beautiful Marsala, Trapani, Monreale, Ragusa, Catania on the slope of Mount Etna. The food in Sicily is a completely different cuisine from Italy, due to centuries of Spanish, Normand and Arab influences. The wines are also of great quality with all that volcanic soil.

I would like a month long trip, not a week or a few days, which is good if you are young and must get back. On the other hand I have cooled to cruises, the food is usually just ok despite what you are told, the rooms on board are nice but I never found them as comfortable as an hotel room. Frankly the crowds on ships despite being on smaller ships get to me. I think that I would like some really good food and service, something you do not come across much these days despite high prices. However if one travels now there are all these tests and complications mass confusion at the airport, not to mention the crazy travellers.

Catania and Mount Etna

Well on 1 February we will see if the sanctions come off and if life returns to a more normal pace, let’s hope so.

But then Blinken meets Lavrov to talk about the Ukraine, what they are really talking about is not so much a possible invasion as let’s not use any nuclear weapons, negotiating a complicated ballet. Would be inexcusable to blow up the planet over the Ukraine. If there is an invasion by Russia, the only likely response will be severe or more severe economic sanctions. Europe may not follow because their economy would suffer, China will help Russia in any way they can, Iran also will be part of the underhanded help. I love to listen to Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, so calm and worldly, he knows his stuff and will not be perturbed, Blinken looks unsure and nervous.

As for Canada in all this, well our Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, a nice person and well educated but way over her head. Canada can do nothing in this conflict we are irrelevant, even with our gift of $120 million to help Ukraine, chump change really. Our Armed forces leadership has been decapitated with a series of well timed alleged sexual peccadillos. Our army is short 12,000 men, ill equipped, no air force to speak of and no navy, all this due to decades of cut backs on military spending. So I so not think that Russia is too worried about us.

How many days til Spring? 58 Days! Seems like an eternity.

Winter and Lockdown

Tags

CBC PEI, Food, island, Mainstreet, Matt Rainnie, PANDEMIC, Radio, winter

For the last 2 years PEI had avoided Covid19 and the worst of the pandemic, we had some cases but overall it was as if the pandemic had forgotten about the Island. With the New Year 2022, suddenly cases are surging, from a handful to suddenly hundreds of cases, the 2 first death and some 8 hospitalizations. You might say only 8 people in hospital that is nothing, however we only have a total of 20 ICU beds.

What has caused this upsurge? During the Christmas Holiday everybody was travelling around the world or elsewhere in Canada. They had to travel, to see family they don’t really like or because of mental health, which has become a new separate pandemic. It use to be peanut allergy now it’s mental health.

Yesterday the Chief Medical Officer for PEI announced that all restaurants, bars and gyms would close for 2 weeks at midnight. Guess what, the announcement came in the afternoon and last night restaurants and bars were packed to the gills. It would appear that we are dealing with a society full of indulged, selfish, spoiled brats who are unable to think like adults. On the radio, Matt Rainnie who has the popular late afternoon show Mainstreet on CBC, was going on about how times were tough and could people call in to suggest happy songs to get us through these tough times. I sent a message to Matt asking if he was serious, I can think of much worse times in the last 100 years, World Wars, Great depression, Cuban missile crisis, Vietnam war, economic crisis. Now we may get a war in Europe between NATO, Ukraine against Russia, with the possible threat of nuclear war, which would be curtains for all of us.

The weather here is definitely cold -29C today, bone chilling at least it is sunny and the city has started to clean the streets from last Friday’s storm. I also got my booster shot yesterday at the pharmacy, took all of 4 minutes. No reaction so far and things are fine.

I did do a bit of grocery shopping also on Monday, I had a bit of a shock as I entered the store, the display on the right which is all fruits, salads, vegetables, the shelves were completely bare, nothing at all. On the left side the shelves were full of breads, biscuits, cakes, package cheese, deli counter offerings etc. In Winter if the bridge to the mainland is closed for a day or two, suddenly we have shortages in the grocery stores. The bridge was close on Friday/Saturday/Sunday the winds over the Strait were so high at 130Km per hour at one point, no one can cross the 12 Km over the sea far too dangerous. At some point the bridge is 300 feet above the water to allow for large ship to sail under it. Before 1997 when the bridge did not exist, shortages of food on the Island were frequent, but people had farms and gardens so amply supply for meat, eggs, cheese and potatoes not to mention other dry goods. But it was a more simple time.

The old Abegweit ferry of PEI bought by the Chicago Yacht Club and used since 1983 as their Club House at Monroe Harbor in Chicago.

On Monday night we also had a power outage for about 90 minutes, which is rare for us. Luckily this happened after 08:30pm. This is why we always have candles around the house just in case all Winter long. It was dark but only in the old downtown area by the river where we live. There was an aura in the distance in newer parts of the City, across the river in South Port lights were on. We simply went to bed early, the dogs did right away, it’s dark, we sleep. However this darkness was peaceful and relaxing the neighbourhood looked different, quiet.

I heard a good joke the other day, For 5000 years man ate bread, suddenly in just the last 10 years we are all Gluten intolerant. Yep that explains a lot about today’s world.

Is this 2015 all over again?

Tags

Charlottetown, cuisine, Food, PEI, snow, winter

Charlottetown in 2015 on the street.

In 2015 the Winter in PEI did not start before mid-January, there was no snow, nothing, very quiet weather wise and then all of a sudden every 4 to 7 days a major snowstorm and it lasted for 2 who months. There was so much snow that no one knew what to do with it and life became difficult for many. The City had no where to put it, people could not get out of their homes, some people lost their homes to house fires simply because the Fire Dept could not get to them, blocked by giant snow banks. Here is an archival picture of what it was like. People were in shock, yes we are Canadians but there is a limit to everything, the cold also was intense. We missed it all by arriving in May 2016.

Found his car, now how to get it out.

This is a 4 lane highway reduced to one lane in 2015, see how high is the snow compared to the huge plow.

Hopefully this year 2022 will not be a repeat but we have had 2 major snow storms in 7 days. The City has had little time to clean up after the first storm. We also have now Omicron and 2 people died last night in hospital, the first of this pandemic. People are scared and concerned.

Haviland Street at Euston today.

Needless to say, tonight the storm is over but the streets remain unplowed and the sidewalks well they disappeared under 4 feet of snow. It is very heavy snow, very compact and it is about -28C right now. So walking the dogs is short and sweet, they do not want to be outside.

This morning at 10am, the wind was still blowing at 70Km per hour. Our parking lot was cleaned but I still had to clean the car and get it moving, it was stuck with snow under the carriage and in the wheel base pushed there by the strong winds and it solidified. Can’t remember when this last happened to me, maybe before 1982?

Around 2pm the one plow had passed on Water street but that was it. No cars many still had not had their drive opened up. Next few days should see more efforts to clean up but it will take at least 4 days.

While this was happening Will was making meat pies aka Tourtière, small ones for 2 so we can have them for dinner. Tomorrow he is making his lasagna with béchamel sauce. He already made his meat sauce. For the pie crust he uses a little vodka, it makes it more flakey.

Tourtière.

Cooking

Tags

Booster, covid, cuisine, Fish, fishing, Food, Halibut, life

With the Winter weather and all the Omicron talk, we like many people are staying home. We also are doing a lot of home cooked meals. Will follows this channel on YouTube called

Glen and Friends, he is a fellow who lives in Ontario and from his converted garage brings up all manner of recipes. But Will also has a lot of recipes which are his standards and we use them for dinner parties. One was Chicken Marbella, which was always well received and it is easy to make. Another is a pasta dish with a dill cream smoke salmon sauce served with Papardelle noodles. He has also made blueberry and lemon bread and various sweets during Christmas. His Salisburry steaks with mushroom sauce was very good. He also made wonderful meatballs from a recipe a friend used and it was another great success.

Tonight we are doing Halibut which is one of my favourite fish and is only fished are very define periods of the year, it is also a low fat fish of the family of the flounder. I do prefer Halibut to Haddock or Cod. Eaten fresh, the meat has a clean taste and requires little seasoning. Halibut is noted for its dense and firm texture. We have another recipe for fish tonight.

This is a 1000 Lbs Halibut, they are not always this big but it is a big fish nonetheless.

So today Will is getting is booster shot and I am getting mine next week. After that we should be good to go, as they say. I was discussing with a fellow member of the Club this pandemic and he said to me, why do I need to know that we have in PEI or Canada so many new cases each day or how many end up in hospital ,how does that affect me. This person is fully vaccinated and boosted. I also feel the same way about it, it’s needless information, I am fully aware that this is serious and I do what is necessary, beyond that, it is out of my hands.

I have here with me my Vaccination booklet, which shows all the vaccinations I received for various endemic diseases to places on Earth I travelled to for my work. The Medical staff always told us what precautions to take and also that the vaccines usually protected you up to 80% the rest well is up to luck. Never had any problems with getting vaccinated, I did not want to get any of those diseases, which were often long term and fatal. However my understanding was and still is, life goes on. You have a job to do or you need to be somewhere and you are careful, so that is life. No one told me my life would be disease free or that I would live to be 100 + which I do not want to do anyway. So after the booster, we will look at things very differently and take the attitude I took when in an Endemic region of the World that Life Goes On.

Boxing Day + plus

Tags

Boxing Day, covid, Food, Italy, Meatballs

Well today was a quiet day, many years ago Boxing Day was the day you rushed the department stores to return gifts you did not want, receipt in hand. I think that tradition has died with online shopping. I cannot imagine going to a store with hundred of other shoppers frantic to exchange gifts, it was chaos.

Will surprised me this morning by making Croissants filled with mincemeat, they were very good. I must have been very tired from yesterday got up at 10:30am and the puppies slept until 09:30am unheard for them.

The rest of the day was spent tidying up the house, nothing too strenuous. We are having two friends tonight for dinner, so a different menu, no turkey this time. A simpler menu from yesterday but the starter with Crémant is Lobster paté. Will is at the kitchen and I set the table with a different table setting from last night, the placemat are the PEI Tartan.

Listened on the BBC on YouTube to the Christmas message of HM the Queen from Windsor Castle. So well done and to the point, very nicely expressed, as they say not one word too many.

This post now extend into Tuesday since I did not finish it, on 28 December 2012, I retired from the Foreign Service after 34 years. It all seems so long ago now. I really do not have any contact with former colleagues, yesterday I heard from one, out of the blue, we were together in Beijing many years ago. She is now in Wash DC and it would appear that work has changed quite a bit from what it was then.

Will has been cooking up a storm, made some fantastic Italian meat balls with parmesan and parsley, I tasted a few they are soooo good. Turkey was made into a very good soup, Plum Pudding is gone. Tonight we finish the left over Tourtière.

Italian Meat Balls, absolutely delicious.

There is no New Year’s Eve celebration at the Club, cancelled for safety reasons. I do not disagree with that approach, it will be just as nice at home with the puppies.

Our Christmas table with place mats in the PEI Tartan colours.

It seems that a lot of people have taken the entire week off between Christmas and New Year’s, it is again very quiet everywhere, few people about. Despite the fact that people have been told that now is not the time to travel, I have heard that many are travelling either in Canada or in the Maritime region, in one case to Paris, in all cases tests and isolation is required upon return, it can get a bit complicated. Myself like many people are very tired of this pandemic, it has been 2 years and looks like it may be with us for some time to come. We are getting our Booster in 3 weeks, earliest we could get them, that is fine. Life has changed in many little subtle ways, not just with masks everywhere, but how you go about daily chores or general activities. I do miss not seeing our friends in person and sharing a laugh or a good conversation. At the same time I am reminded that in the last 100 years we had two World Wars an epidemic of Spanish Flu, the great depression, etc. so if in this case all I have to do is wash my hands, wear a mask and observe other sanitary rules it’s not that bad really.

Today the Health Dept of PEI announced 118 new cases, which is terrible for our little Island, statistically with a population of 150,000 this is a huge number, never seen before in the last 2 years.

A good day and no photos

Tags

Food, life, Plum Pudding, Turkey, XMAS

Got up this morning early around 8:30am which is early for me. Got the table organized for our Christmas Lunch, silverware and fine china. Will got the turkey in the oven and the Plum Pudding steaming for 2 hours. His Brandy Butter for the pudding was very good.

It was a pleasant lunch with the usual Xmas Crackers and funny hats, little bags of gifts and other nice items. I always shop for luxury items to give out at lunch, nothing extravagant but simply nice. The French service of Radio-Canada did an outstanding job with their music programme this year, very well structured featuring all manners of old 17th and 18th century French Christmas music, many sung in Church for centuries and I know the words by heart they are so familiar, they also had modern Quebec music for the season which is always nice to hear. They also do not have any news bulletin, so no news of fresh disaster.

It is a lot of work to prepare such a meal and Will went all out as he usually does, he frets a lot about the quality of what he serves and no one is ever disappointed.

We now have turkey left over enough to make some sandwiches and a pie. Half a Plum pudding which no doubt will be eaten tomorrow Boxing Day. But that is about it, so no great bother.

Again a sunny day today and not as cold, the wind died down, which is a relief. The City is very quiet due to restrictions and I am happy about it, it’s nice to have peace and quiet for once.

Some good news

Tags

Christmas, Dachshund, Food, life, refrigeration

Well today we had some good news despite it all. I had an appointment for Nicky at the Vet to check on his eyes and the ulcers that had developed about 2 months ago due to the dryness of his eyes. With treatment and care and eye drops daily, the Vet confirmed that the ulcers are gone and he is not in pain over them. So that is a relief though his cataracts will get worse because of his age, at the moment he is fine. With this treatment Nicky has managed to grow very lazy and expects now cookies for almost anything and needs to be lifted and petted and talked sweetly non stop. He like most Dachshund is very good at manipulating silly humans like us. The vet is constantly telling us to be on the look out for this type of behaviour, because they learn very quickly and then it is difficult to break, much pouting and sad looks not to mention sighs. Yes he is a little monster but he is our monster.

The other good news today, the fridge appears to have been fixed and working properly, so we can move the contents back from upstairs into it. This little contre temps allowed us to clean out the fridge properly. Tomorrow we will start de-freezing the turkey which is hard as a rock right now. Only 2 guests coming for Xmas day Lunch and 2 more for Boxing Day Dinner.

I also had my haircut today for Xmas and went over to Government House to see the Lieutenant Governor to wish her happy Christmas, she was listening to the Premier and the Chief Medical Officer announcing the new health measures and restrictions, people feel very badly about this right now and with reason. We have no choice, it is a matter of public health.

She had in the Salon d’Honneur this 15 foot Christmas tree, she told me that she ordered it back in October, it is quite beautiful and I am probably one of the very few people to have seen it this year, since the Official Residence is closed unless you have official business.

It was a very bright sunny day today and despite being the first day of Winter it really was not that cold at all. In other words it did not feel like Winter at all.

Government House, Charlottetown, PEI

Images from foreign festivities

Tags

cuisine, Family, Food, life, US Thanksgiving.

On American thanksgiving both my sister and my brother who are American Citz sent pictures of what they were doing. My sister and her husband got dinner at a Jewish Deli they have been frequenting for decades. My brother and his wife who live in Florida had roast beef. My brother loves to BBQ and he is very good at it, he also like to use his smoker and that is how he cooked the prime rib. I wish I had been there because I know how good it must have been.

Cooked just the way I like it. What a nice piece of beef. He served it with asparagus.

I do not know where he got his Continental Airline Apron. Years ago he use to be an airline mechanic.

Hopefully in 2022 we can visit and see each other. I also hope that my sister will come up to visit PEI.

A week away from Thanksgiving

Tags

Cavendish, curries, Food, life, mussels, PEI, thanksgiving

We are a week away from the Thanksgiving weekend. This year we have not made plans, we are thinking of going to the restaurant with 2 friends, keeping it simple because preparing a meal for a group is a lot of work and we are not in the mood for that. We have also been invited by friends in Montague on a different day and that will be fun. The weather is now much cooler and the trees are slowly changing colours.

As we enter October you realize if you live in PEI that we do live on a kind of resort Island, many restaurants and bars, hotels and motels are specifically geared to the tourist and seasonal travellers from May to early October, they are shut down at Thanksgiving time. Only to reopen in Mid-May or early June, which I have always found disappointing because of the lack of effort to cater to this province residents. Yes it is true that it is still a small population at 150K and that the majority are pinching pennies, so restaurant owners can say they do not have the volume, though the restaurants are full every night. The other excuse given by owners is no staff, but again for many years the salaries in the service industry are so poor, people cannot live on $13. per hour, even $15 will not do it anymore and some employers in the industry are offering $20. A lack of affordable housing for service industry staff, lack of parking, no benefits, compound the problem. This pandemic wave has demonstrated it is not worth working in that sector at all and in the long run this endangers the tourism industry as a whole on the Island. What will May 2022 bring? no one knows, many are hoping we will be out of the pandemic but I do not see that happening. We will simply have to learn to live with it. Unfortunately many have not and behave like spoiled children.

On Tuesday, we will have to carry proof of FULL vaccinations with us and it is required for you to show it on demand to enter businesses. Masks are mandatory inside everywhere. The good side is most people are now fully vaccinated and people do wear masks with no fuss. But it tells you that this is far from over, despite the very low numbers in PEI of 22 persons at home with Covid infections. Though in Alberta out in Western Canada, the hospital system has collapsed and at triage doctors now decides who they will treat and who they will not. Everyone else sick or not are told to stay home because the system is full, no room. Alberta has such a low rate of vaccination they are paying now for their right wing agenda. They still do not get it. Saskatchewan next door is not much better again a right wing government told them its just the flu don’t worry. How sad is that.

This fourth wave as been that of the unvaccinated, the young under 30 who did not get vaccinated thinking this was only for the old. They are now more sick and require more treatment and it is becoming alarming. Many young people are also anti-vaxxers. So baffling.

Yesterday we were invited to dinner at a friends Summer home, let’s call it a mansion on the sea. Located in the Cavendish National Park, a spectacular house in a wild natural setting. This is on the opposite side of the bay from French River where we go in the Summer to the cottage.i The kitchen alone was the height of a professional kitchen with its great U shape 10 place sitting area in marble. We had a wonderful meal of the best PEI Mussels in a yellow curry sauce, just wonderful and followed by a chicken madras and a vegetable curry. Good food and good company, lots of conversation and laughs.

This friend also has another mansion on the South shore of the Island in Keppoch with 9 fireplaces. Truly another spectacular house on 3 levels. Located on a vast expanse of land giving unto the water and spectacular views in a very natural setting. Love going there for a movie night and dinner. Always fun.

Tomorrow I am to get a delivery of my new Apple Computer, that will be nice. The weather for the week is cool 13C and sunny.

Flied Lice

Tags

Asia, cuisine, Food, Fried rice

On Instagram and on YouTube you will find many cooking tips and shows. Some of it is fine and works well, others not so much and you need some common sense and cooking knowledge to avoid mistakes or tips that are clearly wrong. A few years ago I remember seeing one demonstration on how to use the Bialetti Espresso maker, the demonstration and advice was clearly wrong and would never work. I only knew this because I have been using this Bialetti machine for years. But for anyone not familiar you could easily fall for it.

The other night we had a large bowl of leftover rice in the fridge from a previous night. I wanted to make Fried Rice but usually in the past the results was a mushy over seasoned rice with too much soya sauce, very disappointing.

I found an Asian woman who has several recipes on YouTube and hers on Fried Rice looked easy (it should be easy) and it had ingredients I had never considered to add before like Oyster Sauce and Sesame Oil. She also advised to make sure the pan was very hot when you add the rice to avoid, because rice is glutenous, that mushy clumpy result. She used bacon fat instead of oil, she did say that it was unusual for Chinese cooking but the fat of the bacon was a good thing. Butter lots of it can also be used.

The cold rice in the bowl already had chopped onion, red pepper, green pepper, celery and chopped carrots, I added mushrooms and broccoli florets. I first started with sautéing the mushrooms and broccoli for a few minutes, then set aside, I added more butter and scrambled 2 eggs quickly and set it aside.

I put the pan on high heat and added more butter and then the rice and the mushrooms, broccoli and scrambled eggs all together, mixed it up well. I then added the oyster sauce I Tsp, I Tsp of soya sauce and a sprinkle of Sesame Oil. Mixed it all well and continued to cook for a few more minutes and served. The garnish on top is simply the green tips of green onions.

I think that the Oyster sauce and the Sesame Oil made all the difference. It was perfect and I was very happy with the results.