Christmas Eve creations

 

Christmas cakes

 

Tortiere

Grasshopper

Mum's Christmas baking #AdventPhoto

Pinwheels, shortbread, coconut macaroons and a chocolate cake.

Served breakfast in bed

... Quelle surprise!
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

First night back in Toronto

 

Got home to Toronto at about 4ish in the pm yesterday. It was great to be home, but I was incredibly tired after not sleeping much the night before flying and because of a bad cold.

Still, it was great to see my family and be back in Canada, where people are so chilled out compared to people in London.

My Mum had made a little shrine on the dresser in my bedroom to my dear Aunt Lily who died in May . There's a picture of her on a giant rock at Net Lake in Temagami in northern Ontario, a place she loved. Also, her silver mirror and brushes are polished and laid out. 

My Dad had put two cards stuffed full of money for my sister and I on the dresser. He has given us C$50 for the first and last day I am here and C$25 for each of the other 30 days.

 

My Mum put my childhood Teddy on the bed and an Olympic teddy I'd bought for my sister at the airport last time I was home. I gave them gifts from Marks & Spencer, Fortnum & Mason, Istanbul and elsewhere.

 

My Mum served my favourite home made tomato soup for supper.

 

She also served shrimp, garlic bread, cheese, cold cuts and salad.

 She also made a chocolate-orange cake for dessert.

Moldy tomato

Left for Istanbul in a hurry and left this tomato on my counter...
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Monday lunchtime

Today was the first time I'd had the "mature cheddar" baguette at EAT. for about two years, possibly longer.

It seemed improved by the fact that it was on some type of granary/whole grain bread and was not slathered with branston pickle, but has a chili pepper jam on it instead.

What I served for dinner tonight.

I served boiled potatoes, asparagus, tinned corn and shrimp with garlic and chili pepper for the main course tonight.

Beforehand, I served three kinds of cheese, radishes, celery, hummus and crackers.

I served chocolate truffles, ginger cookies and strawberries for dessert.

We drank red wine and had stove-top espresso.

I had intended to make soup but couldn't get organised early enough to do it.

I thought it was time to update my blog with a few pictures of my flat. I hadn't posted any since 2009 shortly after I moved here.

Blogging about food on #BAD11

This year, Blog Action Day -- when all participating bloggers write on the same topic -- coincides with World Food Day.

I volunteered at the Daily Bread Food Bank in Toronto for a couple of years in the 1990s. My job was to track the weight of food contributions and to write letters of thanks to people who donated food.

I also helped ensure that people who wanted to organize a food drive in their office had the bins and pin-up posters they needed. Most people who used the food bank were employed -- they just didn't earn enough money to be able to cover the cost of the quantity of food they needed each month.

The first stage play I ever saw was a production of Oliver! in London's West End when I was a child.  The musical adaptation of Oliver Twist, the novel by Charles Dickens, was a transformational experience for me.  In my household we always had enough to eat and I had never considered that some people might not until I saw the play.