Today as neighbours prepare for Christmas eve there were some wonderful smells in our building. We live in a condo building where most owners have lived here for the last 30 to 40 years. So everyone knows everyone else and it is a nice crowd. Today our neighbour at the other end of the corridor was cooking up a storm. Wonderful smells of roasting turkey and meat pies and other goodies. Our neighbourhood is largely composed of Edwardian style homes built between 1900-1914. They are large and comfortable with big windows and many formal rooms, reflecting the fashion of that era. So as we walk the puppies in the evening along the Rideau Canal you can see the Christmas trees in those homes. Some are quite large and have many wonderful decorations to them. People also put lights and natural wreaths on their doors. It is not the gaudy decorations seen in the far suburbs, decorations here reflect more the historical context of the neighbourhood. Finally tonight we have a carpet of snow just in time for Christmas and temperature of -20 C. to go with the season.
I also got the flyer from the supermarket and I see some great prices on lobsters and oysters and other sea food, I am surprised at the low prices. Too bad we have already done our menu, maybe next year I can do a seafood, oyster Christmas. Today on the news, an item on Canadian Caviar, apparently as the stock of Russian Caviar is becoming rarer and stock of sturgeons are depleted, Canada has developed its own stocks. We have sturgeons in Canada and now it is becoming a new market, not only the Caviar but also the fillet. Currently one kilo of Canadian Caviar sells for $3000 dollars the demand is such.
Tomorrow morning the 24th we will have a nice breakfast, have a small gift exchange, yes Nicholas and Eleonora went shopping online, clever little hounds, and then off to Montreal to see the family. Hopefully Nicky will not cry all the way as he usually does in the car.
Tourtière a favourite in Canada at Christmas.
Now A Christmas menu for my taste would go something like this, to start we could have some nice little pancakes with sour cream and caviar or a nice clear consommé, then a first course of tourtière (meat pies) a favourite in Canada, with a nice home made ketchup using usually the surplus garden vegetables of last September, followed by a wonderful roasted turkey with a chestnut sausage stuffing. The finish the meal a wonderful plum pudding with hard sauce, but not any old kind of plum pudding, no that would not do, it has to be the recipe favoured by King George V. The plum pudding is brought into the dining room with dim lights so that your guests can see the flames as it is flambe. To finish the meal a nice baby Stilton. The make it more fun, you compliment the meal with a variety of wines to suit each dish. Not to forget a good French Champagne for the toast.
Of course if turkey is not your thing, roast beef done rare is also excellent.
Plum Pudding
I also got the flyer from the supermarket and I see some great prices on lobsters and oysters and other sea food, I am surprised at the low prices. Too bad we have already done our menu, maybe next year I can do a seafood, oyster Christmas. Today on the news, an item on Canadian Caviar, apparently as the stock of Russian Caviar is becoming rarer and stock of sturgeons are depleted, Canada has developed its own stocks. We have sturgeons in Canada and now it is becoming a new market, not only the Caviar but also the fillet. Currently one kilo of Canadian Caviar sells for $3000 dollars the demand is such.
Tomorrow morning the 24th we will have a nice breakfast, have a small gift exchange, yes Nicholas and Eleonora went shopping online, clever little hounds, and then off to Montreal to see the family. Hopefully Nicky will not cry all the way as he usually does in the car.
Now A Christmas menu for my taste would go something like this, to start we could have some nice little pancakes with sour cream and caviar or a nice clear consommé, then a first course of tourtière (meat pies) a favourite in Canada, with a nice home made ketchup using usually the surplus garden vegetables of last September, followed by a wonderful roasted turkey with a chestnut sausage stuffing. The finish the meal a wonderful plum pudding with hard sauce, but not any old kind of plum pudding, no that would not do, it has to be the recipe favoured by King George V. The plum pudding is brought into the dining room with dim lights so that your guests can see the flames as it is flambe. To finish the meal a nice baby Stilton. The make it more fun, you compliment the meal with a variety of wines to suit each dish. Not to forget a good French Champagne for the toast.
Of course if turkey is not your thing, roast beef done rare is also excellent.
Happy Christmas to you both!
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