@Gabi Amaral - sorry to hear that you are stuck in the hotel with the effects of covid. I know that it is NOT fun. A friend of mine just came back from Sicily on Sunday and he was thankful to miss most of the heat you are now facing. Please get healthy and back on the nomadic path!

virtual cocktails @James favourite virtual patio soon.. i think .. 

cheers

saw this on LinkedIn.. it’s on the Black Sea… i want… 

@Gabi Amaral Although I have no intention to get Covid, I'm must admit I'm very attracted to this daily nurses visits and free food idea!

9 pm / 32°C?? I'll never complain about the Summer in Japan ever again!

You can find vines for 8 dollars a bottle (the kind that gives you that nasty headache the next day), but prices can be up to 300 dollars. However, you can buy a refined wine for 20 dollars in most of the liquor stores.

@Liz This is finally happening!

@Paulo - excellent!!

@Paulo I had the same thoughts about the food ha! Nothing like Italians to make sure your fed well, even in a pandemic. 

@Liz This is finally happening!

 

 

and finally!! Let us know how it is!! I appreciate the bottle it’s being poured into ha!

I’m over in an area called Breezy Point, Minnesota this weekend, which looks like below. This is a really big fish area, which normally I’m a fan of, but some fish did not agree with my stomach today so I’ll be holding back on the fish for a while ha!

I’ll be heading out on holiday for the next two or so weeks, but I’ll have plenty of fun photos when I return! @john.desborough I’ll be attempting to practice my terrible French while I’m out, so maybe I’ll actually be able to talk to you in it when I return!

@Liz - that will be a good thing! enjoy the holiday and we can set up a chat for when you get back so that you can practice what you learned! I am going to be off next week as well enjoying a little R&R and not too much access to the community. 

Have scotch, will travel!

Be safe on your travels @Liz 

@Liz and @john.desborough enjoy your vacations and be safe!

Some go and some come back :D

I’ve just returned after a 2 week break in Galicia, my birthplace. 

On the surface this pic doesn’t show anything interesting, but what if I told you those two people are my dad and my 2 year old son throwing stones to the sea?

I took it last night from my bedroom, it warmed my heart 

@john.desborough Yes, the heat is the worse! And there's no AC in the rooms!  At least it's almost over. Hopefully, I'll be free tomorrow! Can't wait to go back to the nomadic life and keep sharing some nice photos over here!   Ah… Enjoy your vacay! Don't forget to post some pics here of the places you visit!

@Paulo Oh yes, never complain on the Japanese summer! At least I'm in Palermo and not Syracuse (take a look at this news!). Well, 20 dollars for a bottle of good wine is not bad. Brazil is way worse! 

@Gabriel Oh my god! This photo is adorable! It warmed my heart as well.   Did you eat a lot of octopus? Maybe some photos to share?  #foodporn 

@Gabriel - that is a great photo… next time, get your partner to take the pic of the three generations of men in the family skipping stones… 

overnight the temperature here dropped from 30C to 8C and this is the sunrise (with coffee) view from the balcony.. when i first came out, you could not see the trees across the road in front of the small lake. 

this area is “THE ski hill” in the eastern part of Canada during the winter and during the summer they have hiking trails, ziplining and other things on the mountain - including a crazy-a** downhill mountain bike race that happens every so often. 

now back to the coffee maker to fill up the travelling mug so that i can go to the pool with my wee beast and mom can go shopping for winter clothes at the ski hill (big sales!). 

I will report on the first trip to a restaurant in over 18 months tomorrow morning lol.. assuming we survive!

@john.desborough Do you enjoy cloudy days like this one? and I'm very curious to know what's the name of this place?? 

Oh, man...I wish I had stayed more than one year and a half in Canada! There's so much to explore! If I could choose one place to go back over there, I'd probably say "Rocky Mountains in the summer"! 

I do hope you survive! What would we do without you in our community? Hahaha   Jokes apart, take care, and enjoy your time over there!  

@Gabi Amaral - sorry for the delay, trying to catch up after the vacation … We were in Mont Tremblant, sort of half way between Ottawa and Montreal. It’s a ski hill in the winter and during the summer they use the trails on the mountain for hiking, ‘luge’ - think of a toboggan on wheels - course across the face and down one of the big runs, etc. The facilities had opened up just 3 weeks before after a long lock down so not fully staffed or stocked but swamped with hundreds of people … ok thousands it seemed sometimes lol

our little haven was about 3km from the ski resort village on a little lake and when the temperature dropped from 30C to 8C overnight, the warm water and cold air caused fog on the lake in the mornings.. it was all gone by about 730 in the morning as the day heated up but was magical to sit in the mist with my coffee as the world slept around me. 

This week the ladies of the house are still away but I am home catching up on work and it’s the annual ‘make tomato sauce’ event for me.. so this is the view of my kitchen Monday night and then as the sauce went on to simmer yesterday (and is still going today) - 120 pounds of tomatoes will turn into pure (in my opinion) heaven!

prepared 

all those tomatoes .. wonderful sauce.. these 4 pots and then enough to do another two 20-litre pots when these are done simmering down. 

this is where i am working from .. write an email/post, stir the sauce.. 

and drink coffee … of course lol

What are you making with all that tomato pure? Just drinking the pure on the rocks?

@Gabriel - nah… my year’s supply of fresh homemade delicious tomato sauce… will freeze 2/3rds of the batch for use over the winter and spring and enjoy the rest here at home and through donations to friends and neighbours.. 

beats wasting the tomatoes in a village square food fight.. thought that is a very fun time La Tomatina is something to look forward to doing next year, after they cancelled for a second year… 

next year!

Wow, @john.desborough that looks so good!! I love fresh tomato sauce! How do you store all that ha? 

Speaking of food, I finally got to try the infamous Cervejaria Ramiro on a day layover each way to Paris, and I think I might need to move to Lisbon now. 

Welcome back @Liz - that looks amazing.. life is tough when you have to stop for that as a snack lol

I freeze most of the sauce so that i have it available year round. And a number of friends are recipients of several pints of sauce. 

i was originally going to answer like Maui from Moana - “In my belly!” but that was suppressed by having had only 4 coffees so far lol

HAHAHAHHA you definitely should have provided that answer, @john.desborough !

Can you ship the sauce to the states?!

no.. you want it, come to Ottawa for a visit lol.. we can do a ‘live support’ session from the igloo if you come in the winter .. office hours lol.. 

@john.desborough I can picture you with your coffee contemplating the lake while everyone else was asleep! I read your message and it already brought me a peaceful feeling! 

Wow...That's a lot of tomatoes! You know I also make my tomato sauce? I usually get some tomatoes, an onion, some garlic, and olive oil. Put everything in the oven for almost one hour, take them out and mix them using a blender. Then, I put it in the refrigerator! Very easy! 

@Liz I'm very happy you went to Ramiro! It's very famous in Lisbon! I've been there several times! 

Now that I'm in Barcelona, I'll start eating a lot of Tapas. Stay tuned for some photos! 

@john.desborough Haha ok, ok, I’ll come to Canada! Though, most of my friends (and my best friend!) live near Toronto, so we may have to meet halfway!

@Gabi Amaral Ooo!! How long do you bake them for before blending? Need the recipe! 

This weekend I had a wedding on a boat, and while I don’t have a photo of the food, it was catered by Harry Caray’s, which is a really good steakhouse in Chicago. I don’t usually like Italian food here (nothing beats Italy!), but they come pretty close! 

And yes, @Gabi Amaral pics or it didn’t happen!! I miss tapas there! 

@Liz It depends! It's usually for one hour or so. Next time I make them, I'll take some photos and post them here. It's so easy! Then I'd just put them in an ice cube tray and whenever I want to use it, I'd just get some "tomato sauce cubes" and cook whatever I want  

Yesterday I went to this place in Barcelona called "El Nacional". It's a beautiful space with lots of restaurants! Very nice atmosphere and tapas! Totally recommended it! 

@Gabi Amaral ooo! Love the idea of tomato sauce cubes! Thank you!! You’re also really making me miss spanish food. 

@Liz  @Gabi Amaral - i do the ice cube thing with pesto here.. I am the only one who likes it in this house so when i make a batch, i freeze it in cubes so that i can then grab one or two for my dishes … 

cooking is fun.. eating is more fun

How….how does one not like pesto?!?! @john.desborough It’s nearly criminal that no one else in your family appreciates the joy of pesto.