First Snowstorm Of The Season

May the snowblower gods look kindly upon us when the time comes to mobilize!

In other words.... Please start when I press the ignition button!

Persistent Or Stubborn?

At the back of our shop, there is an apple tree.  It is actually on our neighbour's property but its branches stretch past the fence.  Every autumn, this tree litters our place with little apples...and I love it when that happens, rotting apples notwithstanding!  It reminds me of the passing of the seasons; it reminds me of beginnings and endings.

Now the temperature hovers close to freezing.  Winter is coming and the tree's leaves are almost bare.  But I notice one apple left clinging...hanging on even in the face of certain death.  Not even the strong rainstorm last night dislodged it!  Is this apple especially persistent or merely stubborn?

The answer is probably neither. It simply isn't its time to go yet.  

I have much to learn from this apple.

Autumn Sunshine

Somebody recently told me that she loved autumn.  There is a crisp, cool caress in the wind and the colours...orange, yellow, red...are simply stunning.

These are the trees near the corner of Coburg Road and Larch Street.

One other great thing that is less oft mentioned about autumn is the long shadows cast by more sharply angled sunlight.

Here is the couch at the Keshen Goodman library close to dusk.

Late afternoon window light.

Early morning shadows at University of King's College.

....and the front lawn.

Late afternoon on Quinpool Road.

This last one was taken mid-day on Hollis Street.  No long outlines, but still I like to see the shadows at play!

What's A Salary?

An ad poster on the back of a Metro Transit bus said "Hourly vs. Salary".  I didn't give it any thought until a little 8-year old voice piped in from the back of the car.

Voice: Daddy, what's a "salary"?
Me: It's money a person receives for doing a month's work.
Voice: But, that's an allowance!

I wonder how much work she got done last month... :-)

Flip And Relish

One thing I don't find lacking in Halifax is an abundance of great burger places that are a cut above the usual fast-food chains. Here's two of them...

Flipburger in Clayton Park (but they do have a new location downtown.)  Bright and cozy.

Relish Gourmet Burgers on Quinpool Road.  This chain started out of Fredericton, NB.  The Halifax location opened about a year and a half ago.  Industrial-modern chic.

At Flipburger, I tried the Maui Wowie.  From the menu: "Apple wood smoked cheddar, caramelized pineapple, Oulton’s double smoked bacon, fried onions, roasted red peppers and sweet chilli sauce."  You guessed it.  I am the designated contrarian in our family who insists on ordering Hawaiian every time we decide to have pizza...and who always gets out-voted too!

At Relish, I went for The Great One.  From the menu: "Cheddar cheese, bacon, roasted garlic mayonnaise" with a 100% certified Angus beef patty and cole slaw on the side.  Yes, it's hockey season! :-)

So which one is better?  You be the judge!

Eating at Flipburger:

Eating at Relish:

It's obviously a tie! :-) 

So which burger place should we try next?

Being In Canada

Do you ever have those unguarded moments when you do a double-take to ask yourself: "Am I really here?"  Then a split-second later you give your head an imperceptible shake and bounce back to reality. "Yes it's real. You're here now. Carry on." Or maybe it's just me... and you're wondering what the heck am I talking about. :-)

Well, last week I took my little girl to her skating lessons for the first time.  Looking at the ice arena with well over 50 children learning to skate, seeing the instructors go about patiently helping the tottering kids, feeling the chill as I sat in the stands....it was like a dream sequence.  

Then, it hit me. "I am in Canada."  The realization was quite visceral.  I had been born and raised in a tropical country and while growing up, never in my dreams had it occurred to me that I would be in a country where the winters were 6 months long! :-)  All these thoughts and feelings passed through the synapses in my brain in less than a second probably. The moment was a blip in the timeline of my life but at the same time it felt suspended in mid-flow...like someone hit the pause button. 

Then, I saw my little girl, doddering along in earnest.  Pretty soon she'll be skating on ice the way she eats popcorn...effortlessly and without a second thought.  This is her world now. She is in Canada.

On The Passenger Seat

I have been neglecting this blog recently... not intentionally, mind you... but, you know how things seem to somehow slide in one after another and before you know it, more than a month has passed. So sorry... 

Anyway... last weekend, I had the luxury of seating in the passenger seat and so I was able to snap off a couple of Halifax photographs.

This is Purdy's Wharf, taken at 40 kph as we crossed the Cogswell interchange.  It's not actually a "wharf"...no ships moor here anymore, at least I don't think so.  It's the name of those twin office towers.  It does sit at the edge of the Halifax Harbour.

This is the underbelly of the A. Murray MacKay Bridge, snapped at 60 kph at the end of Barrington Street.  This is one of two bridges that'd take you from Halifax to Dartmouth.

Have a good weekend!

Herring Cove Sunday

Again, thanks to our friend, Patti's recommendation, we made our way to Pavia in Herring Cove.

It's a cozy cafe cum gallery.  Bright and airy.  A very pristine and minimalist white interior.  Give me a good book and I could sit here all day!

Artwork on the walls and in a small room in the back.

The food is Italian-inspired...panini, dolce and espresso!  There was ice cream too from Dee Dee's & Scotsburn.  The children liked what they had well enough but I had been secretly hoping for gelato! :-)

Food was delicious. The breakfast panino...ham, egg, and cheese all sourced in Atlantic Canada....plus a side of seasonal fruit.

Belgian waffles.  On the side were whipped cream, maple syrup and apple compote (that was the one to die for!)  Waffles served weekends only.

I ate the All' Amantea. Described as "a true taste of Italy."  Well, I've never been to Italy so I might as well take a food trip! Prosciutto ham, mozzarella and olives. The bread was toasted crispy. The prosciutto, nice and smelly...in an appetizing way!

And of course, the espresso.  I do love my espresso neat.  No sugar, no nothing!  The owner told me the beans for their espresso came directly from Florence.  It was very good indeed.

Oh yes, our little friend joined us.  Have you met Yan-Pea, the yarn peanut? :-)  Yan-Pea is a family "pet project" of ours.  Click here to follow his adventures.  (Like the page on facebook too... Please?)

After that wonderful meal, we visited the York Redoubt--a centuries old military fortification that defended the entrance to the Halifax Harbour.

The children had fun with the cannons! BOOM! :-D

Then, we finished off the afternoon by sitting on the rocks and listening to the Atlantic Ocean.

Eastern Shore Sunday

We visited the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia this Sunday.  The primary objective was to visit Harbour Breezes and admire their beautiful fully-bloomed lilies and irises.  Read about it here in our shop blog.

The secondary objective (but no less important to me!) was to discover something good to eat! :-)  We visited two places...both good hits!  Both had home-made goodness written all over them.

For lunch, we ate at the Salmon River House Country Inn.  We were surprised to find German cuisine! 

First the view... sit on the patio if you like.

Breath in the spectacular view of what I presumed was Salmon River.

Next, the food!  I don't speak German so I just copied from the menu the names of some of the food we had ordered.  I am also not very familiar with German food...so all these were quite new to me.

This is schnitzel...breaded pork cutlet, cousin of tonkatsu! :-)

...and the jaegerschnitzel--literally "hunter's schnitzel"...not breaded, and covered in mushroom sauce.  The white stuff on the side is spaetzle--described as "Bavarian noodles".  Reminded me of gnocchi. 

Sauerbraten--"sour roast".  Like a beef pot roast with what I think is cranberry sauce on the side.  Served with potato dumplings.

Are you hungry now? :-)  All the meats were very tender and succulent!  We had a very pleasurable dining experience.  Even waiting for the food was pleasant...sitting in an old house with quiet Baroque music.

But let's not forget dessert...apple strudel topped with vanilla ice cream!

For snack time, it was Dobbit Bakehouse in Musquodoboit Harbour. We thank our friend, Patti V., for recommending this place.  

Great, simple treats from the oven.  Very down-to-earth and friendly.

Care for some cinnamon rolls? :-)

Next time you are on the Eastern Shore, make sure you drop by these places!

Interesting Things From Japan

The kids came back from Japan a few days ago and they brought home with them many, many things.  Here are some of the more interesting stuff.

From my 8-year old daughter, a Doraemon curry set...

...that's actually miniature!

It came with a piece of gum in this box.  You don't know what's in it until you open it.  There are 8 food sets to collect!

From my 12-year old son, Ultramen.  It's instant noodle "endorsed" by Ultraman.  In Japanese, "noodle" is called "men"...so the name of this cup noodle is a pun-ny play between the "Ultraman" character and "men" noodles!

One of Ultraman's powers is the "specium kosen"...a super deadly light ray that could melt its target.  The silhouette is the specium kosen pose.

The toy didn't come with the noodle.  We put it together just so you know what the "real" Ultraman looked like. :-)

So was the Ultramen noodle any better than regular Cup Noodle?  The answer was a resounding "Yes!" from our 12-year old Ultraman fan.

Last but not least, I got this packet of instant tea.  It's no ordinary tea.  It says "Shiitake Mushroom Tea...with black pepper...and mixed with collagen."  

I tried it...a little spicy.  Enjoying it was a matter of managing expectations.  If you drink it expecting "tea", it tastes weird...but if you think of it as "soup", it tastes really good!