The Weekend that Was

Phew! Finally getting a chance to sit down and get caught up... As I mentioned in a previous post, I've just been kind of tired and run down. And Brad's been on the computer a lot as well, so I havent been able to blog much.

Last Friday started off for me with drinks after work with good friends Don and Marlene. They're another couple we are going to Italy with next month. (Yay! I can say next month now!) Brad goes to his parents' place for dinner every other Friday. Sometimes I go with him, but usually he goes on his own with Kaiser or Jasper. We meet up with Don and Mar almost every Friday for drinks and sometimes dinner. Later in the evening, Brad and I listened to a broadcast of Tristan und Isolde from the Met opera. The house was so glad that Ben Heppner and Deborah Voigt were finally healthy and on stage at the same time they decided to stream the opera live. I listened for a while, but then went to bed. Brad stayed up past 1:00 a.m. and listened to it all. It was, by all accounts, a pairing of historic preportions. They received an 8-minute standing ovation at the end.

On Saturday, we went over to our neighbours for Earth Hour, which turned into several hours, of course. It was very nice. Lots of wine and food (including a delicious baked Brie topped with sun-dried tomatoes and a homemade hummus made with a bit of orange juice instead of the usual olive oil). Some people in the media (including Globe and Mail colmunist Rex Murphy, who never has much good to say about anything, actually) have been very cynical and derisive about Earth Hour, saying it was nothing more than a gimmick sponsored by the PC vegan, granola crowd. Screw the naysayers, I say. It was symbolic. A gesture designed to raise awareness and get people thinking. And it is always better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness (Who said that? Confucius?) In any case, it was a fun evening and gave us all a chance to connect without any background noise.

On Sunday, we had our very good friend Paul over for dinner along with his attendant (who is also our good friend) Ron. Paul is quadriplegic, but he's more active than most of us. Paul and Ron and I went to San Francisco together way back in 1996 and the three of us also went to the Mayan Riviera in the winter of 2004. We always have a blast together. They are always full of good stories and good cheer. For dinner, we started with my homemade tomato chutney and a store-bought hummus along with pita and sliced baguette. Then I served a Sichuan carrot soup, which everyone seemed to enjoy, followed by salmon fillets with a dijon/maple syrup and rosemary glaze, potatoes and carrots, and beets with miso vinaigrette dressing. We finished the meal with blueberry pie and then it was back by the fireplace for more wine and conversation. That will probably be our last fire in the fireplace for the season. Here are a few pics from the evening. I'll post the soup and the vinagrette recipes some time very soon.

Ciao amici!