2020 Happy New Year!!

Looking ahead to 2020. Wow! Love the symmetry and metaphor of clear vision in those digits. The year has a futuristic buzz to it.

In 2019 Rob and I did quite a bit to prepare for the future, including the basement reno and financial planning. Well here we are, the future is now.

Looking forward to the year ahead.

A whole new level

We've made the investment and now we have a lot more space to enjoy ourselves. A warm and comfy place to watch tv and listen to music. A couch to curl up on with a good book. A space for guests to overnight in comfort. Improved storage. Better laundry layout. More energy efficient. A fireplace! A nice bathroom! A HUGE improvement that will likely add to the resale value of the home. Not that we're going anywhere, especially now that it is so comfortable!

There was a bathroom and kitchen we never used, roughed in from the time we purchased the property 30 years ago. Previous owners advertised it as a potential rental unit, and although we never rented the space out we never got around to fixing it up either, other that adding a bit of wallpaper. It desperately needed refurbishing and had turned into a tv room with mismatched furniture, with lots of items stacked and stored and tucked away that should have been tossed long ago.

It was time.

Yes, we could have done it all more cheaply. DIY instead of professionals. A coat of paint instead of drywall. A murphy bed instead of a sleeping alcove. Candles instead of an electric fireplace. Truthfully I didn't have the appetite to spend my weekends and holidays on DIY projects that may or may not produce desired results.

After consulting with our financial planner to make sure we weren't ransoming our retirement years, we decided to go ahead and refurbish.

We worked with Chris throughout the process. At times the reno felt like an ordeal, with all the upheaval and mess and expense. Her company is aptly called Functional Art as she helped us maximize available space and make informed choices - she's a professional with thousands of hours' experience. It was more than great to have her expertise at hand.

...

A year in the making:

January home improvement 'to-do list' includes reupholstering 2 chairs.

February, I was getting quotes from upholsterers .

March I was looking at fabrics.

In April there was serious scope creep when I asked Chris for some help finding fabrics.  She stopped by and, Rob and I couldn't resist asking her opinion about the basement. A few days later she showed us a sketch for the layout for a potential basement re-do.

By May we were scouting fireplaces. Gas or electric? We also began to declutter and sold a few items on Kijiji. We bought a lift bed that Chris had spotted on sale.

In June, Chris arranged for quotes from her suppliers for doors & windows; flooring; and bathroom fixtures. There was a preliminary scope of work we used to interview contractors and get quotes. It was hard to find contractors entering the busy season, and harder to get them to quote. We would get verbal estimates but then they didn't want to put pen to paper to commit to prices. One of them scrawled a total figure in pencil on the bottom of an invoice. Another bullied me over the telephone and then provided a verbal range based on a loose description. These guys - and they were all guys - may just have been loathe to do paperwork but I wanted assurances on the overall cost and timing of the project. In the end we found someone that a friend had vouched reliable... Paul turned out to be great and I have already recommended him to others.

July we decided to go with rads for the basement rather than electric heat. We also took delivery for the bed ordered back in May.

August we shortened our sailing holiday to spend more time emptying out the basement space to prepare. What we couldn't yet part with we jammed into the den, which became a storage locker for the next four months.

September the work actually began. Paul and Eric started by gutting the basement - thankfully the walls were nice and dry. Our cat Griskit started to look forward to the sound of their truck arriving every weekday morning at 7:30. Chris sent us on field trips: we checked out flooring and slate at Alexanian's; visited Gingers for the bathroom fixtures; went furniture shopping at Vogel and Windsor House.

October the struts and drywalling; prepping for rads; updating plumbing; moving the washer/dryer

November windows and doors; floors; tiling; bathroom; electrical.

December the painting and finishing touches; furniture delivered to site.

Those two chairs that started this whole project? One has been delivered, but the embroidered peacock fabric is still on back-order for the other!

Also still to be done: mirrors in bathroom and over mantle, mattress & bedding, touch-ups to the quarter round and baseboard.

Photo finish to follow!

December Evergreens

December had its highs and lows. 

We started the month with promises of a white Christmas, but most everything had melted long before Christmas day. I actually started checking to see if any crocuses were starting to sprout!  

Unseasonable highs and lows:

December 2nd actual temp was 0 to -4 degrees (historical average being 5 to -2 celcius)

December 27th actual temp is 9 degrees (historical average being 3 to -4 celcius)

Winter Solstice Celebration 2019

What a feast! Fine food, good spirits, profound musings and wonderful women. Soul-full blessings on the solstice.

Happy to carry on the annual tradition to celebrate the return of longer days with lovely ladies. The first was held in 2008. This year: Liz, Chris, Kaarina, Caroline, Wendy, Grace, Nicki, Virginia, and Nicolette. I do wish my table were bigger.

Everyone brought a wine, food pairing and a poem for a truly memorable evening.

POEMS

A Winter Solstice Blessing

Homer's toast to wine

A Summer's Day, Mary Oliver

The Invitation, by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

A Winter Nap, by Caroline

Life (Part 1 XXVIII), Emily Dickenson

My Shadow, by Robert Louis Stevenson

Odes to common Things, Ode to the Plate, Pablo Neruda

Snow, by Naomi Shihab Nye

Rabbi Ben Ezra by Robert Browning

MENU

Champagne paired with Chinese roast duck

Chablis paired with crab dip

Sancerre paired with scallop mousseline with lemon caper sauce

Gerwurztraimer paired with smoked duck, blood orange and bitter greens

Pinot Noir paired with pear with mushroom duxelles served with blue cheese and almonds

Spanish red paired with papas bravas and Spanish meats

Bordeaux and grilled lamb

Late Harvest Vidal and Stilton risotto

Niagara Icewine and berry crumble

Greek Muskat and dessert

WINES

whites

reds

not only for dessert

Lots of learning!

There is a great app called Vivino that enables you to snap a photo and it will provide tasting notes and a ballpark price, along with overall rating.


White wines are so food- friendly! I tend to be biased toward red but each of the whites was an outstanding pairing. Of course, champagne goes with absolutely everything! Wendy paired the Taitinger with beautifully plated and succulent roast duck. Gewurtz has always been a go-to for me with regard to spicy foods, but it worked wonders with the bitter greens. This was a pairing suggested by Fiona Beckett (K. took the dare).

Chablis and Sancerre with seafood, oh! Nicki found a great recipe for crab dip to highlight the Chablis; Caro brought her thermomix to prepare the mousselline on site. Absolutely visually stunning and the Sancerre a perfect match.

And the reds! Pinot Noir is one of my all-time favourites and the one Liz chose from Oregon "peared" so well with the duxelles and blue cheese. Rioja nicely complemented the spicy papas bravas made by Chris... I think I would be very confident serving this Spanish red with a spicy chili, too.

For my course, I checked on the bottles in my 'cellar' and pulled out a dusty 2005 Bordeaux: 2005 Chateau Haut-Vigneau / Pessac-Leognan which I had been saving for a special occasion. Robert Parker noted this wine's anticipated maturity would peak 2017-2040; Cellar Tracker at 2011-2016. I did start to worry if it may have turned. As a back up, I picked up a newer Grand Vin de Bordeaux, thinking that if things worked out for the best we could sample each and compare in the glass. Luckily the 2005 was still quite marvellous. To my taste the 2005, was still wonderfully round; the 2015 was a bit too young and brash. Some at the table preferred the 2005, others preferred the 2015. I plated the lamb with a dab of mint sauce and a dab of cherry calvados jelly - both tastes worked their alchemy with the wines.

Nicolette served what I tend to think of of as a dessert wine, a Spanish muskatel, with the big flavours of a blue cheese risotto... not something I would thought of, but it was a really great combo. Virginia paired ice wine and transformed the berry crumble into an elegant dessert. For the finish, Grace introduced me to the first taste I've had of a Greek Muskat.

Each course its own discovery, and the poetry elevated our discussions. The phrase, "dog into wolf," that Caro used in her poem to mark the twilight hours, still lingers. I will practice the French, "Entre chien et loup."

Big News

I got the call of a job offer for a position I wanted and called Rob with the Big News. He had some of his own - setting the date for his retirement!

2020 will definitely be a year of new horizons.

I really wanted a new gig and had my eyes open. This is a secondment with the same employer, as a lateral move. The new team's mission is compelling - to save $1B a year + add value to citizens + support business and cut red tape. I heard the Director speak and was inspired. A couple weeks later I saw the job ad for a Change Management specialist and applied. Within weeks I was called to prepare a presentation for the interview. Two days after submitting the presentation by the deadline, I was called to interview. Normally the recruitment process takes 3-4 months so this is lightning speed for government. Likely lots of storming and norming ahead, as this is a new branch, new unit and brand new team. I am looking forward to the momentum.

Rob's retirement has been on the horizon for awhile now but now seems more of a reality with a set date. Not too far away!

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

Joy, awe, wonder... conjured by music.

Such a powerful medium for time travel to Christmas' past, present and future.

This year the holiday season started for me at the end of November, with the Blind Boys of Alabama Christmas show and octogenarians rocking Koerner Hall with gospel classics like Go Tell it on the Mountain.

Choral music the following day filled a tiny church in Caledon with the glorious sounds of the season.  Rob's sister is in the choir and they performed classics such as the Gloria, Christmas Day by Gustav Holst, and Celebration of Light (a Hanukkah original). The Bells of Westminster, a community handbell choir, rang their Christmas bells and chimes. The audience was invited to sing along at parts, lifting spirits even higher.

Would it be Christmas without the carols? Sing-alongs truly put me in the holiday spirit, and it was fun playing ukulele and singing along at the BPYC Christmas party and the Scarborough Uke Jam.

Blind Boys of Alabama Christmas Show, November 29

Achill Choral Society, Glorious Sounds, November 30

Carols and Lost at C, BPYC Christmas Party, December 14

Holiday Sing-along, Scarborough Uke Jam, December 15

Full Moon Before Yule -- December 2019

Long Night's Moon,  Cold Moon.... so full and bright last night it woke me up when it passed overhead the skylight.

The moon is officially full December 12 at 12:12 am but I was awestruck by the moonrise, at 5 pm today, when I stepped off the bus on the way home. So huge and rosy it warmed the freezing air (well, almost).

Here is A Song to the Moon by Dvořák, from his opera Rusalka (water sprite) sung by Renee Fleming at Royal Albert Hall

photo from Canadian Opera Company production of Rusalka with soprano Sondra Radvonovsky. Too bad I missed it when it was playing here in October... the opera is based on the original folktale of the Little Mermaid; the sets and costumes looked to be amazing.

English Translation of "Song to the Moon"

Moon, high and deep in the sky
Your light sees far,
You travel around the wide world,
and see into people's homes.
Moon, stand still a while
and tell me where is my dear.
Tell him, silvery moon,
that I am embracing him.
For at least momentarily
let him recall of dreaming of me.
Illuminate him far away,
and tell him, tell him who is waiting for him!
If his human soul is, in fact, dreaming of me,
may the memory awaken him!
Moonlight, don't disappear, disappear!

Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat

Michael Pollan, one of my favourite food writers, wrote the introduction to the book Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, and revealed Samin gave him some cooking lessons, and he taught Samin how to write about food.... What a great pairing!

Pollan also writes,

"Taste, taste, and then taste again," she would tell me, even as I did something as simple and seemingly boring as sauteing an onion. Yet there was an intricate evolution unfolding in that pan as the rectangles of onion went from crisply acidic to clean and sweet to faintly smokey as they caramelized and then bittered slightly as they browned. She showed me how half a dozen distinct flavours could be teased from that humble ingredient, all depending on how you managed principle number four, heat - and deployed your senses, for each stage in the onion's evolution carried it's own distinct and learnable aroma.

While I do tend to flip back and forth in recipe books, this one is meant to be read as an approachable guide to deepen appreciation for how the elements are featured in cuisines around the world. Especially helpful are the fold out flavour wheels for each element. What a fantastic reference book.

Taste. Trust and educate your senses. Have fun. Explore. Tour the world.

The sentiments very much align with the Epitourists. Every time I get together with these women I am sure to learn something about food, cooking, or wine.

Caroline chose the book as a basis for a feast, with each Epitourist challenged to bring a dish to illustrate one of the elements.

I jumped at the chance to play with Heat. 

At the end of every one of her Heat classes, Samin shares a finished braise with her students. The book dedicates more than a few pages on classic braises and stews from around the world, however the dish I ended up preparing was a braise of pork in milk: Maiale al Latte, as it seemed we were trending to Italian flavours. Slow cooked over two and a half hours, the aromas wafting from the oven created a wonderful background to festivities.

Caroline's kitchen was able to accommodate us all as we prepared our dishes, with its generous island, multiple ovens and lots of counter space.

We took a break in late afternoon for a craft cocktail: Caesars with a choice of rimmers, including the less traditional option of bacon to round out the elements.

After dessert and before the cheese course, Caroline put together a wine tasting to demonstrate the effects of terroir at Australia's Dandelion Vineyards, featuring Shiraz grown under different conditions: Lionheart from the Barossa Valley and Lioness of McLaren Vale. Although one was not clearly superior to the other, there were definite differences.

The evening ended with us gathered by the warmth of the fire as Hero the German Shepherd kept us company. After a good sound sleep, we reconvened in the same chairs, sipping coffee and enjoying a snowy, sunny morning.

Breakfast of fresh eggs from Caroline's hens, homemade yoghurt, sourdough bread, fresh coffee, cheeses from the night before, more Amalfi tart...... and some champagne to toast another memorable gathering of friends.

..........................

Menu

Champagne

Salt (Kaarina)

Pasta Puttanesca 

wine: Zinfandel (Seven Deadly Zins, Lodi)

Acid (Caroline)

Roasted beets, yogurt and preserved lemon salad with smoked mackerel 

wines: Champagne + Sancerre (Les Baronnes, Henri Bourgeois)

Fat (Laura)

Roasted Squash, Sage, and Hazelnut Saladwine: 

wine: Pinot Noir (Maison Roche de Bellene Bourgogne Cuvee Reserve)

Heat (Diane)

Maiale al Latte

wine: Anselmi (San Vincenzo)

Acid (Caroline)

Amalfi lemon tart pour déssert

wine: Greco di Tufo (Benito Ferrara)

A cheese plate:

Blue (salt) 

Melted Camembert and Moca D'Or Gouda (Heat) 

Citrus Feta and aged Cheddars (Acid) 

Brebirousse d'Argental (Fat)