CAFÉ CHAT L'HEUREUX, ON DULUTH

Grilled cheese 

Cat puccino (overpriced and mediocre)

The reason for the visit (the girl, not the cat!)

Sweet!

La Ronron: A crazy generous pomegranate, green apple, roasted almond slices, chèvre, arugula salad

MMFA ARCHITECTURAL MOTIFS

Ceiling chandelier in the 1912 Beaux-Arts Hornstein Pavilion (NorthWest corner)

Detailed ventilation grate

Floral railing

Shadow of the floral railing

CAFE PIKOLO

How hard is this? But it's standard with a cappuccino at Pikolo Express on Park north of Sherbrooke. Third wave coffee. Nod to my hipster bro!

IMPROMPTU SNOWMAN ON THE WAY TO THE MAILBOX

FULL MOON ON MOUNT ROYAL

One night going to work I had the good sense to bring my snowshoes in the trunk of my car. I hit on the perfectly clear night, and with some trepidation, and letting a colleague know before I went where I was going, I set out after my shift in -18 degree celsius weather, and climbed the mountain through the woods on the snow pack. It was magic, and the tiny risk it felt like I was taking made it all the more romantic and thrilling. By the time I reached the paths on top, there wasn't enough snow, but it was pretty rough going uphill for most of the trek, and it was most fun I had had in ages!

I made it to the lookout carried my snowshoes, and met a group of 6 people on their way down. We were the luckiest people on the planet last night, with the twinkling Montreal lights in the crisp air creating a spectacular view. The real beauty was in the woods, though. The moon seemed impossibly high to give such light, but reflecting off the snow was a bright glittering light, better than an city could ever achieve.

View down to de la Montagne

OUR SNOWBALL MAKER SLED

It was one of those rare winter days with just enough humidity and just the right temperature to make snowballs. Pulling my daughter on the sled was a great way to generate a bunch of snowballs that led to my back being the sole target! This is no ordinary sled. It has a secret. You can't buy it like this. You have to pull it over many intersections without great snow coverage for a couple of years before you can have such an efficient machine. Here is the secret, revealed!

Snow ball maker sled with snowball thrower

Snow ball maker sled

The secret at the bottom of the sled. 

BIRTHDAY BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS

Nutella, banana, reese's pieces crèpes

FIRST DECADE BIRTHDAY PARTY

Add caption

WHO WORE IT BETTER?

CAT PASTA!

Cooked

Dry

UNICORN (RAINBOW) POOPS

Nerdy Nummies fan with six unique rainbow colours

Perfect creamy cheese turds!

Step three

Logs of colour

Last twist before the final cookie making

FIRST TRACKS, CROSS-COUNTRY STYLE

SCALLOPED POTATOES - YUM

Betty Crocker classic

A PERFECT HOT COCOA

INSPIRED BY AGATHA CHRISTIE

It has been a goal of mine for a few years now that I read all of Agatha Christie's work. I have her autobiography, and a list of her books. I have even marked off a dozen mysteries that I have already read, and divided the novels into Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple stories. I have watched both collections of Miss Marple mysteries and am watching the second season of Poirot on netflix. So here I find myself at the beginning again, starting with The Mysterious Affair at Styles, introducing Hercule Poirot and his recording companion Captain Hastings.

Hercule Poirot's Christmas (also Murder for Christmas/A Holiday for Murder) was an interesting story. Here, the story is divided into 7 parts, each spanning a different day, over the holiday period of December 22-28. There are no less than ten characters before the murder occurs, and the juggling of them is dizzying. I found the psychology interesting. Parent and child relationships. Marriage dynamics. The character of the murdered man.

Hilda said gravely:

"There is a certain kind of meekness-of submission-that brings out the worst in a man - whereas that same man, faced by spirit and determination, might be a different creature."

False identities. Motives, opportunities and alibis. Disguises and lies. Shakespearian quotes and myths.

Poirot said dreamily:

"The character of the victim has always something to do with his or her murder. The frank and unsuspicious mind of Desdemona [Othello] was the direct cause of her death. A more suspicious woman would have seen Iago's [Othello] machinations and circumvented them much earlier. The uncleanness of Marat [a physician with dermatitis herpetiformis] directly invited his end in a bath. From the temper of Mercurio's [Romeo and Juliette] mind came his death at the sword's point."

MY DAUGHTER'S IMAGINATION IN FRUIT SALAD

Orange wedges, apple slices, crackers, roasted sunflower seeds, oatmeal, corn nuts

WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU LET CINNAMON BUNS TO RISE OVERNIGHT

LESSON LEARNED: cook soon after making, THEN refrigerate. Refrigeration does not stop rising! 

ADVENT DAY NUMBER TWENTY-FOUR

Kite sailers in Pointe Claire

Grandma's sweetbuns

This one actually looked like a bum!

Christmas morning cinnamon buns

Could have been perfection

Not a traditional feast, but it was inspired by my love of baking and my daughters likes. It was perfect. Buns, ham, devilled eggs, honeyed carrots, mandarin oranges, and fresh pineapple with red wine.

STROBE LIGHTS ON A PARTY

Our staff Christmas party was this week. It was almost an overwhelming experience. There were 160 people there, and it was loud and dark. In Montreal, at a party, even the anglophones for the most part were kissing cheeks. So many kisses, so many cheeks. It was a blur! Even so, there are moments I remember so vividly. And if I think back, there is one face I see in a sequence, like a strobe light.

"Hello Darling!" was the first thing he said, and he came up beside me and I saw the first flash of his bearded face, a little long.  I didn't have a response to that. "Hello, sir?" (If I had a second chance, I would say "Hello, dear!") Without touching, we do cheek kisses before he disappears.

The next was at the bar. I only remember his eyes. This was the last moment I saw him sober, and as he was holding up a double shot of tequila,  I thought there was an offer in his eyes, which I declined with a shake of my head, but now I wonder if he was just expecting me to hold up my water glass and say cheers (if I was even holding a glass; if he was even looking at me.) I think, no good has ever come from a double shot of tequila.

Another flash, and he is walking up to a table full of people who greet him, welcoming him to sit at the one empty seat.

Again, later from the left, in my peripheral vision, he is wearing a red glow-in-the-dark Rudolf nose from the girls from Nez Rouge, getting laughs.

Next, he's crouching by a girl in heels. He stands, has his hand grabbed, and is pulled out of view again.

On my way back from the bathroom I stop, when he is at the entrance, slurring his speech and wobbling. I ask him what his lapel pin is, and he loves the ambiguity of it. In my heels, I am a little taller than he is. I don't remember what he is wearing. Jeans? But he leans very close, and lurches closer, then stands upright again, and I am sad. Why would this man, so smart, agile, clever and charming let himself be this dumb, disabled version of himself after all the alcohol abuse we see at work? Why is this not enough for me to turn off the strobe light?

The last flash is him coming in from the parking lot. He nods, someone following, as I exit. Then the night is dark again, and I drive home. My retinas have the picture of him etched in shadow, even now. I know he might not even remember me at the party, but flashes of his face keep coming back, no matter how hard I try and forget them.

ADVENT DAY NUMBER TWENTY-TWO

COPPER BRANCH :OK a neighbourhood vegetarian place with a signature beet burger. It's a bit bland, but what a joy to have an omnivore friend recommend a place to eat at that is vegetarian!

LATEST INSTALMENT OF THE STAR WARS SAGA: Ok, SPOILER ALERTS!
THE FORCE AWAKENS had high HIGH expectations! Not as high as THE PHANTOM MENACE, but still... And it did not disappoint me! How fun to meet the new droid BB-8! How great to see Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamon again! How spine tingling to meet Kylo Ren! I wasn't sure they created Rey and Finn to their best advantage, but the casting of Adam Driver was genius, and I look forward to his future acting (and Ren's angst). It was great fun with great seats with a fellow fan, and a perfect afternoon!

ADVENT DAY NUMBER TWENTY-ONE

Starbucks advent calendar puzzle, nearing completion.

ADVENT CALENDAR DAY TWENTY

Ingredients for supper

Homemade poutine

Poutine deconstructed

ADVENT DAY NUMBER NINETEEN

Every year our friends have a Christmas party. It's one event I look forward to every year. It is traditionally a time where we give away our worst possessions and try and disguise it as something good. Once in a while there is something good, and this year there was a lot of swapping for a jacket! Our hostess was the mostest as always. One of the highlights was a competitive game of Pictionary.  This was how we were told that the party was over: 

Last Pictionary drawing (LOL)

ADVENT DAY NUMBER EIGHTEEN

Helena Scheffer's color explosion called "Clarity". Robin's egg meets peacock feather meets sunshineAn early Christmas present for myself.

ADVENT DAY NUMBER SEVENTEEN

Botox crystals on a peppermint pipe cleaner 

ADVENT DAY NUMBER FOURTEEN

CABANA UPDATED COLOUR (TO BE CONTINUED IN THE SPRING)

MONTREAL ARTWORK

Love the crookedness, but searching for the source.

Genuis! Where I can get one?!

This room is filled with genuine West Island art. Flowers echoing a Pottery Barn for Kids quilt. Trees echoing Emily Carr.  Girl with a Pearl Earring, kid style thanks to 4Cats. A portrait of a precious sleeping child. A family portrait photograph.

Another original work of art by Susanne Strater. My daughter's Opa and Nan's house, in pastel gorgeousness.