The day has arrived

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Canada, CIIIR, Coronation, Haviland Club, lunch, Parade, PEI

Despite the constant speculation by the media and their morbid fascination with the downfall of the Monarchy all that remains speculation. I see little value in asking a bunch of kids with piercings what they think when what they have to say is confused and half baked opinions with little to no aforethought.

Point is, in Canada, Charles is our King and this is our reality and it cannot be changed or not changed without a great deal of difficulty. In our Canadian Constitution the king is entrenched as the head of State.

Was at the club tonight and we had a charity auction, it went very well, we are also fully prepared for tomorrow’s Coronation Lunch/BBQ with music and broadcast of the ceremony in London. Looking forward to it, weather is said to be sunny around 10C. not warm but we will enjoy ourselves. In fact we had a fire going in the fireplace of the Lounge at the Club tonight. May can be chilly on PEI.

Saturday 6 May

So we had our big lunch for the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla. About 100 members showed up and we had a great deal of fun. The Mayor of Charlottetown who is also a Patron hosted the event and the Lieutenant Governor of PEI who is the personal representative of the King and is also a Club Patron came. We watched the Coronation and at the moment of the crowning, the Lieutenant Governor offered 3 cheers for the King and we all said God Save the King! The weather was quite nice, sunny and we had a good time all around.

What a memorable day for all. During our luncheon the Government of Canada announced a new postal stamp and a new Canadian Crown which is distinct from the Tudor Crown used in the UK. The currency will also bear the effigy of the King.

The New Canadian Crown, has a wave of blue line for water and oceans, Maple leafs and the cross is removed and replaced by a snow flake which is in fact taken from the Order Of Canada. The Chief Herald at Rideau Hall designed this new Crown.

We also had a military parade pass by the front of the Club and a 21 gun salute to the King. Great food, harp music, good attendance and good weather.

Another day

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Belle River PEI, Canada, January 06, lunch, Ottawa, Parliament, Summer, USA

I have been watching on You Tube the testimony of various people involved in the January 06 attack on the Capitol. This is like a terrible car crash with dead bodies and blood, you are attracted to it and you cannot get away. Absolutely awful and very worrying in the context of what is happening around the world at the moment. As one well known commentator put it the other night, “we cannot allow Russia to win this war, the consequence for the world would be too awful.” I agree with him, Russia wins, we all loose and in a major way, not just militarily but economically and we see it already with inflation, oil prices, etc. Russia will not stop at Ukraine, the long term plan is to reconquer other former satellites of the Soviet Union. China will be embolden to attack Taiwan and make chaos in Asia, it would also be a victory for North Korea. This is not a joke, we are in very deep trouble and then Climate Change and Covid which is endemic now. I remain despite it all an optimist, I truly believe that things will sort themselves out.

Today we travelled 40 minutes out of town to Belle River, its a settlement on the coast where the Belle Rivière as it was known before 1755 was called. A friend of ours has an old farm house, so we visited him and we brought lunch with us. Given the 25 C sunny weather today it was a Summer lunch of cold chicken and Will’s own Cesar salad which is the authentic version. Our friend’s house is full of wonderful books, music and architectural drawings of ancient classical temple in Rome, a very comfortable house. It was nice to get away from the noise of Charlottetown. We are a week away from Summer vacation time and 2 weeks from our National Day, the traffic in the city is getting worse and the number of tourists rises every day, not fun.

The drive out is quiet, few cars if any on the Hwy 1 once you pass the town of Stratford.

So yesterday I came upon this photo of the Centre Block of Parliament in Ottawa. The 3 Parliamentary buildings on the Hill are under renovations until at least 2027 maybe later and the cost is currently around $ 3 billion CDN dollars. Nothing has been done in terms of maintenance since 1917 when the Centre Block was built, the last time I was in the building about 4 years ago before it was closed down, the electrical system was failing and only part of the building had working lights. Both the House of Commons and the Senate have moved out while this massive work is underway. The Senate is across the street in the old railway station which was completely renovated at a cost of $600 million and the House of Commons is in the West block which can be seen in the far left corner of the photo. It too was completely renovated at a cost of $500 million. Democracy is not cheap!

The photo shows a deep trench in front of the Centre Block, the Parliament Hill is solid rock, part of the Canadian Shield, so to achieve this, all the rock had to be blown up and removed. What is going in there? I really do not know, I remember hearing it would be a visitor centre and possibly a television media room for the broadcast of Parliamentary daily debates and other legislative work. Looks impressive, I would say this trench is at least 50 feet deep.

Easter Sunday

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Brazil, Food, Holiday, lunch, Picaha Steak, Restaurants

The day started with a cold high wind and rain lashing at the house, afternoon it all cleared up and we had bright sunshine. A quiet day, we went to Slaymaker and Nichols for Brunch, the food was wonderful and the service great. The wait staff are older and know the business and very respectful none of that phoney friendliness just helpful. The bartender also solved a mystery for me, he made excellent Bloody Cesars and showed me how to use a small spray bottle full of vermouth to wet a martini glass before pouring the vodka. He also told me that all drinks are 2 ounces but not 3 ounces never, not allowed. So what I had been told at the Club was BS and I was not wrong about it when I was making martinis.

SLAYMAKER AND NICHOLS in Charlottetown

It is a great place for food and cocktails, opened 3 years ago by the same owner as the famous Blue Mussel in Rustico on the North Shore. Great food, good professional service and polite staff. We had their house made crab cakes topped with beautiful poached eggs done perfectly and a bearnaise sauce. Will had a specialty of the restaurant a cut of steak not found in North America usually, the Blue Picaha, Brazil’s favourite cut of steak, known as the rump cap or sirloin cap, with a poached egg. They get it from Mike the butcher on University street. Absolutely delicious, no one else in town offers it. This is what I like about the restaurant, they innovate and bring in dishes that are different. Also their dishes are gorgeous, all plates are different pattern but all very elegant, glassware of quality. The decor is also elegant and eclectic. In the Summer you can sit on the patio on the street, which is very quiet despite being just a block away from City Hall.

When we came home, I made the Holiday French Ham and Potato Casserole, it all went well except that I made one mistake, instead of adding 1/4 tea spoon of Cayenne pepper, I added 1 tea spoon, the result a dish with a bite, it is not unpleasant but it does have character. Other ingredients are 2 cups of heavy cream, sharp cheddar, thyme, nutmeg, black pepper and sprinkle of Worcestershire sauce. Well this dish is for Easter Monday’s Lunch at friends.

Getting ready

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Easter, lunch, PEI

This is the long Easter Weekend, 4 days. Mind you I have been on a long weekend for the last 8 years, it must be some kind of record. So to avoid rush though crowds here are strictly controlled with going to the grocery store or any store, so there is no crowds. At the Farmer’s Market this morning which is always popular, when I arrived there was about 30 people in line, social distancing, + masks waiting to be let in, so that the numbers inside do not exceed the allowed number.

So we got a big ham with the bone in, all our vegetables and other necessities earlier this week. I got 3 big bunches of freshly cut tulips at the market from VANCO who is the producer here on PEI, it’s Tulip time now. Some rosemary bread and farm eggs.

I set the table at home for lunch tomorrow, had to polish the silver and decide which place setting to use, decide if it will be table cloth or place mats, we went for Polish cotton tablecloths. Make a flower arrangement for the centre from the tulips of various colours. Iron the napkins, each place setting has Easter Chocolates. Then we had to decide the serving order would it be buffet style or French service. We decided to plate everything in the kitchen and serve directly at the table. Wine service, etc. We have been doing this routine for years, so we are use to it.

Since lunch is at 2pm tomorrow, we will have to get up early, to cook the ham, Will is going to prepare the individual Asparagus tartelettes for each guest as an appetizer.

Dessert is panna cotta with a coulis of blueberries, that Will prepared today. The blueberries are from last Season and they are small and tasty.

Here is a photo of the table. Hope you all have an enjoyable day.

Easter Sunday

Tags

Chocolate, Easter, lunch, PEI, Roast Lamb, tulips

Well I went out early today, well early for me, 10am to do all the shopping for tomorrow because everything will be closed for the Holiday.  The stores were full and so was the Farmer’s Market but it all went well. Will cleaned around the house and the weather was lovely and warm, really Spring now.

Got the table set for lunch tomorrow, we will have a few guests in for Easter Lunch on the menu roasted Leg of Lamb, two veg, roasted potatoes with rosemary to start we will have puff pastry with asparagus. The dessert is fresh orange slices with a syrup of honey and cinnamon.  The tulips are from Vanco just down the road out of Charlottetown. Yellow, red and purple bunches.

Tomorrow the weather calls for rain in the afternoon, will see. Got some good European chocolates, not a lot just enough to say we have some. I know some parents who have been feeding their kids chocolates all week with the result that the kids are now bouncing off the walls on a sugar high.

Here is the Easter photo of Will with Nora and Nicky.

Notice Nora sniffing at the Espresso, if left unattended she will put her nose in the coffee and drink it, must be the milk and sugar she likes. Nick just lounges.

A few mornings ago,  the weather was foggy at sunrise and the air had a lot of humidity in it, it created an icy fog on the trees which only lasted as long as it takes the Sun to rise and warm up the air.

I hope you all have a fine day and enjoy yourself.

 

Lunch and Dinner

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BBC, cooks, food cuisine, history, lunch, tradition, UK dinner

It use to be for centuries that we only ate two meals a day not three like today. Dinner at 10am after several hours of work, people got up at dawn and went to work. The second meal of the day was a light meal in the afternoon around 4pm. With time Dinner will slip to 2pm and finally to the time we now have it today in North America. In Europe breakfast is often a coffee and a pastry, where lunch is a substantive affair around 1:30pm and dinner is late and light after 8:30pm, think Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece or France. Germany, Britain, and other Northern countries have adopted a meal time we know.

Interesting to see in this video with Clarissa Dickson-Wright how our relationship to food, its preparation and our meal time changed completely with the Industrial Revolution around 1800 and beyond. What also changed was eating to nourish body humours to eating dishes that where fashionable and elegant.

Fast food or street food comes in with the Victorian age around 1837 to satisfy city workers and the teeming masses who left the countryside farms for the industrial cities, the mines and the industrial workshops who have no time to sit down for a proper meal. In other words people took the time to eat a meal in the past whereas today we have no time to eat or do anything.

I find this video so instructive on human habits and the societal influences on our daily lives. Imagine before 1800 people took on average a full hour for their 10am dinner, sat down and consumed large amounts of meats and a variety of dishes. How our work day has completely changed the way we live today. It also seems healthier to me to have a large meal early in the day when you continue to be active and can digest properly and not late in the day when you are less active and go to bed to sleep.