First South Variety Supper: Squares

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

First South, NS

April 21. 2013

I've written at length about this supper in the past.  Thankfully, nothing has changed since the last time I attended.  

While we were waiting to be seated I overheard a report from a nearby diner:

"No beef tongue."
"No beef tongue?"

"Nope, there ain't no beef tongue this yea-ah"

She's ruin't, I thought.  Somehow we soldiered on without the choice of beef tongue from the meat platter.

Luckily, we got served before the scalloped potatoes ran out.  They were excellent.

I sat across from an elderly gentlemen who polished off a solid 3 - 4 pieces of table cake and as many squares as he could manage.  His daughter kept looking over at him incredulously, he was a sweets eating machine!  

I managed to down a lemon'y square and a piece of carrot cake before my teeth started hurting from the sugar.  As you can see from the image above, there was a wide selection of squares!

More pics to follow from Sunday's event, stay tuned!

The First Five Years: Book Launch

 Middle Lahave, NS

April 22, 2013

The sky was full of gorgeous clouds and the air was warm this past Sunday as we made our way to Nancy Tracey's book launch at the gorgeous St. Mark's Place.  Anyone who's driven down Route 332 in Lunenburg County will instantly recognize this iconic structure.

Once we made our way inside to the packed space, we were treated to songs by Nancy's husband Gregg Tracey, an accomplished local print maker and luthier.  As you can see, the renovation effort on St. Mark's both inside and out spared no expense.  It is truly an amazing space:

 Middle Lahave, NS

April 22, 2013

Nancy gave a very interesting talk about the topics covered in her book, The First Five Years.  If you are interested in early childhood development, I highly recommend picking up a copy.

After numerous cups of delicious coffee and as many great chats, we made our way to the equally excellent variety supper in First South.  Stay tuned for pics from that event!

Full English Breakfast: Glasgow Style

Glasgow, Scotland

June 28, 2013

A classic full English breakfast, served up in a neighbourhood greasy spoon.  

Here's what's on the plate (clockwise), starting with a lorne sausage at the bottom.  Yes, that square thing.  Tastes just like any other processed breakfast link/sausage you've ever tried but the meat was a bit coarser than links .  Next up is some breakfast ham, a greasy egg, baked beans in the middle, delicious blood pudding and a tattie scone.  The tattie scone and lorne sausage are apparently what makes this a Scottish version of a full English.  

The blood pudding tasted similar to our local Lunenburg pudding...basically lots of blood and spices to cover up the flavour of the blood.  The toast was thin and drenched in margarine.  No nutritional value in those soggy slabs, that's for sure.  Jamie Oliver would not be best pleased.

All in all, a great way to start a day of travel.  I think I read somewhere that you should eat a lot of protein before a flight...at least, that's what I kept telling myself as I scarfed it all down.

Why blackhouses are called blackhouses

Arnol blackhouse

Arnol, Isle of Lewis, Scotland

June 27, 2012 

These shots are from the Arnol blackhouse museum on the Isle of Lewis.  As you may have noticed, there is no chimney in the structure, simply an open peat fire burning in the middle of the room.  The smoke seeps out through the cracks in the walls and the thatched roof, leaving plenty of soot behind.  Hence, the name: blackhouse.  This structure was occupied in this manner until the 1960's and remains a great example of an original blackhouse.

Arnol blackhouse

Arnol, Isle of Lewis, Scotland

June 27, 2012

The acrid smell of the peat smoke was overpowering, I had to leave the building several times to get a gasp of fresh air.  As you can see in the image above, there was plenty of smoke in the air....inside!  I can't imagine what it would have felt like to live around an open peat fire for your entire life.

If you find yourself in the Outer Hebrides, be sure to visit the Arnol Blackhouse and the nearby Gearrannan Blackhouse village.  If you want to step back in time, consider spending a night in one of the blackhouses at Gearrannan!  Don't worry, they have chimneys.

That's no moon...oh wait, it IS the moon

Upper Kingsburg, NS

Feb. 25, 2013

I tried messing around with night photography back on a cold and clear February night.  As you can see, the illumination from the moon was more than enough to take a photo.  I didn't feel like messing around with my tripod so I sat the camera on the deck to steady it.  I love how the clouds look bathed in the moonlight.

Isle of Lewis: Drive-by Peat Harvesting

Isle of Lewis, Scotland

June 27, 2012

This shot was taken from the car on our way to the Callanish standing stones.  It was very common to see dark strips of exposed peat being harvested on Harris and Lewis.  

We lucked out with the weather during our stay, this was one of the few rainy days we experienced during our trip.  That darn sun just kept following us wherever we travelled!

What's on this weekend? Breakfast, Tea AND Dinner!

A bit of everything this weekend.  I must try the St. Martin's breakfast at some point, looks like a great spread of food!  The Spring brunch and sale in Petite is always great, well worth checking out.  The Sunday supper in Riverport looks great as well.

Breakfasts

April 13

Hebbs Cross Fire Department, 

7- 11 a.m.

Homemade baked beans, eggs, hash browns, bacon, sausage, toast, tea, coffee, juice.

Price $7, children $3.

Saturday, April 13, 

St. Martin's Anglican Church hall, Martin's River.

7:00 - 11:30 a.m.,  

Scrambled eggs, bacon or sausage, toast, pancakes, hash browns, baked beans, tea, coffee, juice. 

Adults $7, children 5 and up $3, children under 5 free. 

Proceeds for St. Martin's Restoration Fund.

Teas/Luncheons

Saturday, April 13

Spring Brunch and Sale,

Wesley United Church hall, Petite Riviere

11 a.m. - 2 p.m., 

Menu of quiche, salad, desserts. 

$8.

Bake table, crafts, silent auction. 

Sponsored by St. Andrew's Church, Crousetown.

Suppers

April 14

Riverport community centre

4:30 6:30 p.m.

Ham, Scalloped Potato and Baked Bean Supper 

Adults $12; children 6-12 $6; under 5 free. 

Sponsored by Riverport Lions Club