Keep Calm and Carry On Eating Turkey

 Hope you are having a fantastic Christmas.

Woodland Christmas Tree

I saw this at VanDusen and thought it was a cute idea--a woodland themed Christmas tree by the Garden Club of Vancouver: mushrooms, spiders, hummingbirds, deer, owls, ladybugs, squirrels, snails, elves, and pinecones.  Each one is obviously handmade and has its own character.

Post Christmas Cravings

When I've had one glass of port and one Christmas cookie too many I find myself craving a cleansing soup. So today made a pared down version of my favorite Thai chicken soup, using lemon verbena instead of lemon grass, and cleaning the fridge out of leftover sweet potato, leeks, onions, and kale. I would also love some good miso soup, and that awesome soupy Vietnamese chicken curry. I have also found myself craving pizza, so went to get a slice of my mushroom pizza with its awesome chewy crust at Trilussa. I also love wild rice in soup. I've got to track some down.

We got a big hunk of chevre for Christmas, so tomorrow I'm gonna make a cheesecake!

As I prepare to head to Victoria next month for my annual trip, I am sad to hear The Superior and Daidoco have both closed. All is not lost: Daidoco has been reopened as Ochida with what looks like a similar menu, but the Superior will reopen in February for 2 nights a week as a live event club with rotating chefs.

Christmas is Over

No more relaxing.

No more wining.

No more grinning.

No more futzing.

No more crackering.

It's cracked.

Put away the fancy glasses.

No more carving. No more glutony! No more port, pudding and hard sauce. Well, maybe just one more weekend . . .

Yes, it is now Christmas past. We had a peaceful celebration and then I made a quick trip to Victoria to visit a sleep expert (my dear friend Donna, who was in disguise).

Cozy Christmas Fun

Good Finds

Isn't it great when you find that perfect present for someone you love? One of my favorite finds this year for our ten year old son was a collection of books from The Faber's Children's Treasury. Most of these books seem to be written some time ago, and at least one is a re-write of an older classic. I'd never heard of any of the books, but they seemed perfect for Ules. I hope he enjoys them. They were on sale too, which is a bonus. Originally valued at about $60 Canadian, I got the collection for $15.

For Pierre, I was delighted to find those hard-to-find tiny licorice candies from Italy he likes, just days after he ran out of his last candy. I was also lucky to find the Elephant Island Stella Port. In fact, a man was literally just stocking the shelf as I went to look for it at the Brewery Creek liquor store.

Et pour moi? I received a new camera!!!!!!! Woot! Details and pics to follow. I bought myself a little foot massage ball, which I covet, and a black currant chocolate bar from Zotter. Toodles!

Christmas at Our House

M came by and dropped of a giant box of cookies and candies. Thanks so much!!!!! She also gave me a Gocco. Woot! My Christmas already feels complete. I will put that baby to good use in the New Year.

We got this lovely card in the mail from our friends in Ontario. I love the owls and the colouring is one of my favorite Christmas combos. I love the contrast between the bright red and the baby blue.

M's impeccable packaging as per usual! We can always use tea towels, especially ones with cute penguin graphics.


That snail (from M) is chocolate gingerbread and it's all MINE!!!!!!! Moohoohawhawhaw.... My sister also gave us some Coco Nymph chocolates which arrived at the doorstep hand-delivered, thank you very much. Peter loves the one with passion fruit and since Bad Girl chocolates are having a hiatus, Coco Nymph will be one of our go-to places for filled chocolates. I also made a trip to Xoxolat for the Zotter, but don't tell anyone at our house!!!!

Merry Christmas to all of you, from our house to yours.

The Blue Owl

At this time of year I thought a fun thing to do would be to go to shops I've never been to and support little out of the way businesses. Today I went to Blue Owl on West Broadway.

It's got a shabby chic aesthetic which I love with artisanal objects mixed with collectibles. I found a little trinket for my friend and just soaked up the inspiration. Didn't there used to be more stores like this, with a lovely sense of whimsy and eclectic beauty? Why are they such a rare breed?

Do check out the hand-painted signs and plates if you drop in.

Of Porridge, Stollen, and Mead

I have been sleeping in this week. My son wakes me up and asks for a "proper breakfast". He's mimiccing my words. "Porridge?" I ask, and I am thrilled he says yes. I happen to have some coarsely ground organic wheat berries that the kids in his class milled with a pedal mill from Our Community Bikes. It cooked up in about ten minutes and he absolutely loved it with almond milk and brown sugar. Great. I have been eating low fat yogurt, pears or apples, and chia seeds for my breakfast.


However, I must confess I have been indulging in winter treats. Arggh. It gets me every time--all that butter in the Christmas cookies and stollen that I love so much. As my Hungarian friend says, it adds rings around the middle like a tree expanding with its yearly growth. It's dark. It's cold. I want to crawl under my electric blanket and dream, perchance to catch a glimpse of the next big step I'll take in my life. I can go for walks here in Vancouver almost any time of the year, but this is the time of year where I miss the cross-country skiing and skating of living in a cold climate. (Well, I miss apres ski hot cocoa even more.) I've been yearning for a family Christmas in a big old country lodge in Alberta or the Eastern Townships where you can ski and eat and then take a plunge in the outdoor hot tub under the stars. Expand and contract those blood vessels! I'm getting invigorated just thinking about it.

Yesterday I set off like a mad squirrel on a secret mission in search for stolen on for half price after Christmas. I love the mouth-feel of the sweet crunch of the icing sugar and granulated sugar covering the rich, nutty bread with its rum-soaked raisins and soft marzipan heart. After dinner, Peter and I slice piece after piece of it, with ceremonious and tender reverence. It's so good. We also opened a bottle of Tugwell Creek Melomel, which is one of my favorite festive treats. It's not sweet enough to have with the stollen, so maybe we'll have to open a bottle of port too . . . .

Wrapping it Up

I spent the day after New Year's packing up Christmas. The sun streamed through my windows warming the house as I listened to my favorite Hilliard Ensemble recording. I took the time to carefully wrap the fragile ornaments in tissue and paper straw, sipped green tea and ate biscotti.

I've been thinking about the theme of my New Year's resolutions. I think the word would be "lightness", to have a softer, more subtle touch, to add more levity to my life, to let go of the attachments that drag me down into the dreck. The trick of living in a big city is to have a compassionate outlook and attitude, but not let the suffering and frustration you see around you overwhelm your soul. Many troubles weigh on our minds--especially when we listen to the news on the radio, but at the end of the day you can only hold so much sorrow in your body. You have to let it go. My new trick is to compose haikus in my head before I go to sleep. It's a good habit to get into.


We are waiting for the snow to melt. It's been three weeks. Apparently there's a warm rain gonna fall. I'll believe it when I see it. Lots of trees with broken branches on the walk to school today. Lots of small cars spinnin' their wheels in the snow. Even a big truck full of ale was stuck on Ontario street today. Beer dude, like stay on the main roads! Too bad it wasn't a chocolate delivery truck.

I'm entering the New Year reluctantly, which is odd for me. I just see big piles of work on my desks, tables, chairs, even on the floors. Maybe the rain will melt those piles away too.

Truly you know Christmas is over when you eat the last scrap of Oyama paté, which I did this evening. Well...I still have some discounted Christmas goodies from Choices and Sweet Obsession, so you see I'm stretching it out even further this year. I don't want to risk a lack of chocolate between now and Valentine's Day. Especially with all this snow on the ground and delivery trucks getting waylaid. But if you are driving past our house and get mired in the white stuff, just be sure that we will shovel for chocolate. Good luck with your New Year's Resolutions.

Burning Pudding

We've been gifted with a seemingly endless supply of snowflakes this Christmas. We walked to grandma and grandpa's house through snow that was sometimes two feet deep. Yes, dear reader I fell on my butt twice. The first time I had turned to look at a cedar waxwing, took a step backwards and poof, down she goes. The second time I just simply tripped and went ass over teakettle.

The sun was setting over a white city when we arrived. Their back yard is filling up with snow just as ours has, but as you can see gran and gramps actually own a snow shovel.

A spectacular seed head graces the entrance to the garage.

Once we got settled inside we had bubbly in front of the fire while we opened our gifts. I ate one of my cadeaux--a rose-flavored chocolate from Chocolataas. Very good.

Meanwhile, the turkey suntans on the barbecue.

Et voila! The bird, she is ready to be eaten.


Brussel sprouts, mashed potatoes, squash, and cranberry sauce fill us up to the top of our silver hats. This is the first year I have ever received a nail clipper in my Christmas cracker.


Doused with rum (or what is brandy?) the sacrificial pudding goes up in flames. We eat it with the strangely inappropriately named hard sauce.

ETA: Ules assures me it was brandy.