Blockhouse Volunteer Fire Department Hall
Blockhouse, Nova Scotia
April 22, 2007
It was the perfect finale to a glorious weekend. We deserved it after all the late April snowstorms, near hurricane winds and everything else that was making seemingly everyone sick of any reminder of this past winter.
We arrived to a sparsely filled parking lot, which was fine by me. I hoped this meant that we would have more choices of sandwiches and sweets. We entered the wrong door to the fire hall, and walked past a half dozen volunteer fire fighters, dressed in their dress uniforms. Crisp white shirts adorned with epaulets and various patches, black ties and dress pants. It seemed to be a very formal affair!
The hall was dimly lit, drapes were drawn over the windows and a dozen or so individual tables were set up with full place settings. After a brief wait, our first 'server' arrived, his plate festooned with all manner of delicious little sandwiches. We quickly chose and then devoured them, but not before I took a snapshot:
The tea was black and delicious, and the sandwiches left little to be desired. The crusts weren't removed, but with soft white bread, how can you really tell where the bread ends and the crust begins?Deviled ham, tuna and egg salad, cream cheese and cherry and ham and cheese sandwiches were on offer, and all slaked our hunger for 'little sammiches'. I couldn't help putting those bread and butter pickles in my ham and cheese sandwich, for that crunchy counterpoint to the soft goodness of the sandwich.
The hall slowly filled up. As usual, we were the only folks there under 50. It looked like most people attended the tea after church and were decked out in their Sunday best. Eventually we finished with the sandwiches after several visits from our server. I had the feeling we could have sat there all day and just kept eating sandwich after sandwich. They were definately not shy about offering second and third helpings!
Lastly, the sweets....All manner of chocolate goodness: chocolate dipped peanut butter balls, chocolate brownies, chocolate toffee squares, blueberry cake, lemon loaf, marshmallow peanut butter squares, and many more I neglected to try. I am kicking myself for not taking a picture of the plate to help me remember what was on offer. We savoured the home made goodness, had another cup of tea and then left to enjoy the rest of the sunny day.
A perfect end to a grand weekend, we look forward to the upcoming chili luncheon at the same hall in about a month.
