On the cusp of 2010, let me just say

Live each season as it passes;

breathe the air,

drink the drink,

taste the fruit,

and resign yourself to the influences of each.
Henry David Thoreau

Live daringly, boldly, fearlessly.
Taste the relish to be found in competition -
in having put forth the best within you.
Henry J. Kaiser

Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise.
Seek what they sought.
Matsuo Basho

May your year be filled with happiness and good health.

And may all your wishes and dreams come true.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Carrot Parsnip Soup

This is for you, Jules.

Carrot and Parsnip Soup
(adapted from Good Friends Cookbook)

3 TBSP. butter
3 carrots, peeled and chopped (I use organic for this soup)
3 parsnips, peeled and chopped
1 Vidalia onion, peeled and chopped
2 potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 inch piece fresh ginger, chopped (or grated, if you keep it in the freezer)
1/2 tsp curry powder (or leave it out if you hate curry)
4 cups chicken stock
1/2 heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
Garnish with fresh cilantro leaves, chopped (or parsley if you hate cilantro)

Melt butter in large saucepan, and add carrots, parsnips, onion, and potatoes. Cook over low heat for 15 minutes. Stir in ginger, curry and chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Use a blender or hand blender (worth its weight in gold) to blend the soup until smooth. I usually reserve a small amount to keep a bit of chunkiness to it but you don't have to. Add cream and s/p, and keep it hot without boiling. Garnish with cilantro. Serve with Lottery Girl's featherlight potato rolls. If you have any left over, it's even better the next day.

Christmas Dinner and All That Jazz

Well the time is nigh and our Christmas dinner is coming together. What are we having, I hear you asking?

Haven't figured out an appetizer yet. Shrimp rings are sold out everywhere. I haven't figured out how to crack open my fresh coconut for my samosas sauce, so that's out. Maybe rare roast beef on thin baguette rounds with a dash of pesto and a sundried tomato on top?

To start dinner, there's a carrot parsnip soup with fresh ginger. I learned a little trick from a friend way back. When you are serving soup as a starter to a large number of people, try serving it in a tea cup. I have a large collection of bone china cups that I inherited from my mother and grandmothers. I hardly ever use them for tea, but they're perfect for soup. People can still wander around talking, sipping their soup and talking, and the cups hold just the right amount so as not to ruin appetites.

Soup is followed by a roasted free-range turkey stuffed with an apple walnut mushroom stuffing. This is a recipe that came from my client at VIA rail back in my advertising days. He took pity on me when my husband-to-be both introduced then volunteered me to make Christmas dinner for his family. Before that, I rarely cooked anything let alone something of this magnitude. My client came through with a stuffing recipe that proved to be a smash hit and I've made it every year since. (We'll forget that I tied the turkey with dental floss, the oven broke mid-roast and the flaming pudding set off the smoke alarm above the dining room table.)

The turkey is served with mashed turnip and sweet potato with maple syrup from our local woods and a dash of cinnamon, mashed potatoes with a bit of sour cream, broccoli with olive oil, garlic and sea salt and of course, cranberry sauce and gravy.

For dessert there's a plate of baked goods (shortbread, mini buttertarts, chocolate balls, etc.) and most importantly, my mother-in-law's amazing steamed carrot pudding with hard sauce (at least I think it's called hard sauce. It's sweet and white and thick and sweet.) Ooh, baby, pudding is spicy and thick and served piping hot with a dollop of this rich, sweet sauce that melts down the sides.

After that, we basically undo our belts and try to breathe.

You? What do you serve at Christmas?

RIP Gourmet Magazine

Gourmet Magazine has ceased publication as of its November 2009 issue. C'est dommage, but if you go HERE, you can get all the favourite cookie recipes going back to 1941.

Random Kindness Article Link

For those of you who kindly asked me to post the link to the Montreal Gazette article about Sarah's postcard adventure, you can find it HERE. (Although it's almost exactly as I posted it on this blog, with the exception that asked to use my daughter's real name. Then they got it wrong.)

I'm about to launch a massive clean-up effort in the house, do some last minute shopping, finish (okay, start and finish) the Christmas baking, whip up a lasagna for my boy who is bringing his girlfriend over for dinner tomorrow (before she flies back to Russia to spend Christmas with her family) so time's a wastin'.

Blog posts in the next couple of weeks will most likely be sporadic depending on number of guests in residence both at home and at our country cottage, alcoholic beverages consumed and late night board games played.

Stay tuned....

(Oh, wait, I just found this. Harry Potter fans, this is awesome.)


thanks, Fugly girls

Meet Fred the Dog

Ah, this story really gets me.

Cyril Roy was a former forestry service worker, but ended up unemployed and living alone in a trailer in a remote area of Nanaimo, B.C. He was depressed and ill from complications of diabetes, but he had his dog Fred to keep him company. And for close to seven years, Fred did exactly that, as Cyril's devoted and loyal companion.

Just how devoted? On November 30th, police found Fred sitting by his late master's side. Cyril died three days before of a heart attack, but Fred kept his lonely vigil until he was rescued and brought to a shelter.

According to the people working there, it's unusual for family members to want to take a deceased relative's pet, especially when they live halfway across the country. But Cyril's family stepped forward to claim Fred.

There were many problems to overcome. Besides the expense involved and the difficulty of finding a crate big enough to accommodate him, they missed the deadline for transporting a dog on an airplane because at this time of year here in the Great White North, it is simply too cold.

Cyril's family in Quebec came together to work on ways to bring Fred home. They got calls and emails from people offering to help, including one from Fred Caron, the man after whom Cyril named his dog. He and Cyril had served together in the Grenadier Guards.

Enter Frank Palumbo, who runs a freight forwarding company and is a resident of my own teensy tiny town outside of Montreal. He has offered to both organize and pay for Fred's trip back to Quebec.

Last I heard, Fred has been bathed and groomed and will soon be leaving B.C. for Montreal by train, and not in a carrier stuck in the baggage car, which they felt would be too traumatic, but sitting with two handlers. This is meant to keep him calm and allow him to take frequent breaks along the journey, which is expected to take several days.

And when they arrive, Fred will join Cyril's sister who will make sure he is loved and cared for, just as her brother would have wanted.

And if that don't just warm the old cockles of your jaded heart, I don't know what will.

Welcome to your new home, Fred.

Après la pluie le beau temps.

Karl's Act of Kindness Makes the News!

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus and his helper's name is Karl.

Remember the random act of kindness I wrote about last week? A fellow named Karl found the lost postcard I wrote to my daughter and he took the time to add a note and pop the card in the mail? Well, the story and the photo of the Postcard Wall is going in this Saturday's edition of the Montreal Gazette.

Three cheers for Karl, and for good people everywhere!

Our girl is on the train and heading home as I type this. Tomorrow morning I will pick her up at the station after her 17 hour journey, and we'll go out for a big breakfast at Chez Cora's and talk for a bit and get caught up in each other's lives. Then she'll probably curl up with Buddy and nap on the couch while I light a fire, play some carols, and bake some ginger cookies and pecan shortbread and buttertarts.

Ah, life is good when the kids all come home at Christmas.

Happy Holidays Karl, wherever you are. I hope you read the Gazette so you will know how much that seemingly tiny gesture was actually pretty grand.