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.

Recipe requested

Tags

Canada., cuisine, ice cream, Irish whiskey

Well dear readers you requested the recipe of the Irish Whiskey Browned Bread Ice Cream and here it is from Glen, who is a Canadian cooking all manner of nice dishes for our pleasure. Please enjoy!  We tried it and it is really good, sorry Ben and Jerry, here is your pink slip.

For Dr. Spo,  Glen also has an Absinthe Ice Cream recipe, I know you will enjoy it.

 

Food videos

Tags

1930, amaretti, cuisine, ice cream, Ireland, life, whiskey

So I started with the Japanese Egg Salad sandwich, well from that first recipe I was prompted by YouTube to see other types of sandwiches you can make which in Asia is considered street food you can buy in small kiosk or in the large kiosk in all train stations for a snack on board a train. What is interesting about train stations in Japan is the variety of the food offer and the quality, something you simply do not see in Canada. There are lots of very interesting recipes on YouTube and none are difficult to make.

Sometimes they will use some ingredients like sprinkling sugar and then using ketchup and mayo as part of dressing up your sandwich. Some combinations may appear strange to Western taste but it is worth a try, I know Foodies will understand that.

The three ingredients for this ice cream recipe, the custard, the whiskey and the roasted bread. All this will go into our ice cream machine and then into the deep freeze. 

Today Chef Will, who has always been good in the kitchen and has an aversion to boiled potatoes, decided to make Irish brown Bread Ice Cream, for this recipe you need a good 12 year old Irish Whiskey, we have a bottle of Yellow Spot, single pot still, aged in three casks, Bourbon, Sherry and Malaga. I know Dr Spo of the No Rubbish school would approve. What got Will to make this type of ice cream is his recent purchase of a previously admired Ice cream machine by Cuisinart. Three days ago he made fresh pistacchio ice cream. Yes pistacchio has 2 C. in the word, pronounced Pis Tak Kio. I know you may wonder, Brown bread ice cream?!? really? Yes really, will let you know how it all turns out.

He also made with left over egg whites some Amaretti cookies to have with our Espresso. For those who might be interested, we use Lavazza ground coffee.

So has promised, here it is very good ice cream, it does have that taste of Irish Whiskey and a crunch to it due to the roasted bread. This is a recipe Will found on a YouTube site which specialize in recipes of the 1930’s in Canada.  If anyone is interested, let me know and I will post the link to this YouTube Channel. The host and his wife are charming and will be honest, if after making a recipe it is not good or they do not like it, they will tell you. Not every recipe can be a winner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Summerside

Tags

coffee, ice cream, PEI, Summerside

Once upon a time the Town of Summerside PEI there was a military airport and training facility from 1940 to 1991. Then Government program cuts came and it all disappeared. It destroyed the economy of Summerside and created serious unemployment and business failures. The town of 15K went into a slumber and decay. The town had also suffered great fires in its core which did damage the fabric of the city in 1879 and 1880. Summerside is often described as a city of little interest.

During our staycation we discovered something quite different. Summerside has beautiful neighbourhoods and great homes far more impressive than what you see in Charlottetown. Leafy avenues and imposing brick buildings. We went to Summerside to buy ice cream at Holman’s, a family run business located in the old Holman Family Mansion across the street from City Hall. All the ice cream is freshly made on the premises, all natural ingredients and made in small batches. This is high quality ice cream and in my opinion beats in terms of taste and quality, the more commercial COWs which dominates the market in Charlottetown.

Holman Family Mansion 1855 in Summerside, PEI and its beautiful garden.

We did buy 2 litres of ice cream, chocolate and strawberry, creamy and very good.

There is also some very good coffee shops in Summerside, which also serve breakfast and lunch. One is Samuel’s where we had a coffee and a sweet, top quality, all made on premises fresh daily. There is a trend in PEI now for this type of coffee shop which offers someting different from the Corporate brand coffee shops. In Charlottetown we have Receiver Coffee and in Montague The Lucky Bean, all offer their own roasted coffee beans on premises and all food and breads are baked by them, it is a more European approach. Menu is also ever changing and has Vegan options.

Samuel’s Coffee House at 4 Queen street corner with Water street.

Summerside is on the sea and here is the famous Indian Head Lighthouse at the entrance to its harbour. I was surprised to see how far out it was in the harbour.

Summerside City Hall across from Holman’s

Also while we were visiting we stumbled upon the Wyatt House who organized an Art Exhibit of large canvas paintings on one of its residential streets.

All in all Summerside is well worth a visit, it’s a nice city.

 

 

 

 

This afternoon in Charlottetown

Tags

boat, Charlottetown, COWS, cruise ships, ice cream, Marina, PEI, sun, water

We have had a glorious sunny week in Charlottetown, late Summer weather with cool nights.

There are 2 cruise ships in port every day and next week we will have 3 in one day. Though the ships can carry upwards of 2000 passengers, they usually have only about 1000 on board at the most.

It is so pleasant to walk around town and go the to dock to look at the river and all the green and some colour now on the trees all around, really idyllic. Here are some pictures.

 

 

 

With this Thanksgiving weekend a lot of activities at the Marinas, the owners are taking their boats out of the water for winter. There was one this afternoon being taken out a great big thing, valued at $750.000 cdn. I can just imagine the cost of gas for that boat. It is so big that as it goes down Water Street to its parking place for the Winter it needs an escort truck to make sure incoming traffic is not in the way. The other pictures are of the various Cruise ships. This is my backyard literally, the once close up with the Holland American ship is taken from my kitchen window.

It is so relaxing to just sit on the docks, enjoy the quiet and the sun and eat an ice cream looking at the scenery.