Wanderlust and Words

“Mounting an art exhibition is like putting on a play. Both have a director, producer, script, major actors and bit players. Gather six curators around a table with the bare outline of a theme, let everyone throw around ideas fantastical and practical, then write down the names of specific artists (specific paintings, even better), and the race is on. Add three to four years of searching out exhibits, requesting, loans, redefining themes, editing out works, making last-minute additions, preparing a 400-page catalogue and planning the installation, and the stage is set for opening night. Raise the curtain!”   Talking to a Portrait: Tales of an Art Curator by Rosalind M. Pepall is a fascinating look behind the scenes at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts . I’ve never really understood what a curator does when they organize an exhibit. I’ve assumed it was primarily online research and logistics, but it is so much more than that. Pepall spends years tracing down artworks and diligently ...

Wishing you a happy Christmas and many blessings in 2021.  “Dear Santa, All I want for Christmas is blue water, soft sand, and warm weather.” (unknown)  “May we rest safely this night, sleep in perfect peace, and rise with the morning light.” (Celtic prayer) A European Advent Calendar, Part IV

The children were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.” (A Visit from St. Nicholas, Clement Clarke-Moore)  Local News  The Jamaica Food Basket , across the street from the Scotia Centre, has a retail section, a bar, and a restaurant. They try to offer seasonal products like Jamaican mango.  In the Kitchen   An avocado a day keeps the doctor away – or so the researchers say. “ Avocado is an energy-dense food, but it is also nutrient dense, and it contains important micronutrients that Americans don't eat enough of, like potassium and fiber. . . . It's just a really nicely packaged fruit that contains nutrients that are important for health. Our work shows we can add benefits to gut health to that list.”   UNESCO has added the Berber dish of couscous to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list. “Despite major differences, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Mauritania got together to highlight their shared love for the dish...

Ups and downs. Ferris wheels and merry go rounds! Happy Solstice!  “If there’s one thing I could wish for right now, it would be to have one of those horses from the merry go round – they were the most exciting thing to go on as a kid.” (Deborah Madison)  “And the seasons they go round and round and painted ponies go up and down. We're captive on the carousel of time. We can't return we can only look behind from where we came. And go round and round and round in the circle game.” (Joni Mitchell)  “What did I tell ya? There’s the whole world at your feet. And who gets to see it but the birds, the stars, and the chimney sweeps.” (Mary Poppins) See Also A European Advent Calendar, Part I A European Advent Calendar, Part II A European Advent Calendar, Part III

“Now winter nights enlarge the number of their hours . . . Let now the chimneys blaze, and cups o'erflow with wine.” (Now Winter Nights Enlarge, Thomas Campion) Local News  I made a donation to Food Not Bombs Saskatoon recently. Just a quick look at the polite requests for food on their Facebook group are a reminder that so many people don’t have enough to eat, and the situation has only become worse during Covid. "Food Not Bombs shares free vegan and vegetarian meals with the hungry in over 1,000 cities around the world every week to protest war, poverty and the destruction of the environment." You can make an online donation to Food Not Bombs Saskatoon at fnbsaskatoon@gmail.com You may be interested in the Covid-19 Resource Guide the Saskatoon group has prepared.   In the Kitchen  I’m delighted to learn from David Lebovitz that vegetarianism is becoming more popular in France. And his recipe for Faux Gras  with its mix of lentils, mushrooms, and nuts look...

We’re on the brink of an adventure, children. Don’t spoil it with questions.” (Mary Poppins Returns)  “Relishing this health, this singleness, I reach myself out along the surface of a crystal . . . how simple this motion, how free of life and death, how like a god’s in his changing!" (The Night Skater, Frederick Morgan)  “Isn’t it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive–it’s such an interesting world. It wouldn’t be half so interesting if we know all about everything would it?” (Anne of Green Gables)  “Hello, Rabbit,” he said, “Is that you?” “Let’s pretend it isn’t,” said Rabbit, “And see what happens.” (Winnie the Pooh) See Also A European Advent Calendar, Part I A European Advent Calendar, Part II

“But when the bare and wintry woods we see, what then so cheerful as the holly-tree?” Robert Southey, The Holly-Tree  Local News  An 18-minute videotaped slideshow offers a glimpse of Saskatoon’s restaurants over the years – from the first airport café to a student restaurant on College Drive, the Dog ‘n Suds drive-in on 8th Street, chefs at work in the Bessborough kitchen, and the 1924 Chocolate Shop where everything was cooked by electricity – what a novelty!  On a similar theme, Peggy Sarjeant shares stories of Saskatoon’s early Chinese community and businesses .  Restaurants in a Time of Covid  14 service workers talk about work during a pandemi c. Some employers were great; others weren’t. I hadn’t considered how annoying it must be to listen to "Covid small talk” for 40 hours a week. There is also well-reasoned criticism of the philosophy that the customer is always right: “Dining out is a luxury and should be treated as such. . . . The demand from our s...

“Always on Christmas night there was music. An uncle played the fiddle, a cousin sang.”  (A Child’s Christmas in Wales, Dylan Thomas) Is your home ready for Christmas? Bring in a tree, a young Norwegian spruce, bring hyacinths that rooted in the cold. Bring winter jasmine as its buds unfold – bring the Christmas life into this house.” (The Christmas Life, Wendy Cope)  “Bring red and green and gold, bring things that shine, Bring candlesticks and music, food and wine. Bring in your memories of Christmas past. . . . Bring the Christmas life into this house.” (The Christmas Life, Wendy Cope)  See Also A European Advent Calendar, Part I

“ December, in my memory, is white as Lapland, though there were no reindeers. ” (A Child’s Christmas in Wales, Dylan Thomas)  This is a strange, often difficult Christmas season for many of us. Over the next month I’ll share some of my European Christmas memories accompanied by quotes that I hope will brighten your day.  First up are the bears!  “There’s a polar bear in our frigidaire – he likes it ‘cause it’s cold in there. He’s slurping the soda, he’s licking the ice. And he lets out a roar if you open the door. And it gives me a scare to know he’s in there – that polary bear in our fridgitydaire.” (Shel Silverstein)  “When you see someone putting on his big boots, you can be pretty sure that an adventure is going to happen.” (Winnie the Pooh)  “I don’t feel very much like Pooh today,” said Pooh. “There, there,” said Piglet. “I’ll bring you tea and honey until you do.” (Winnie the Pooh)

“The imagination is not an escape, but a return to the richness of our true selves; a return to reality.” – George Mackay Brown  Local News  Blue Plate Special: 100 Years of Saskatoon Restaurants , an online slideshow sponsored by the Saskatoon Public Library’s Local History Room, will be on Facebook and YouTube at 4 pm , Dec. 3 . I’ll try and include the link in a future issue of Flavourful .  The University of Regina Centre for Lifelong Learning is offering a 4-session virtual course exploring the major wine-producing regions of the world from Jan. 21-Feb. 11. What a fun idea! Chef de Partie is selling Christmas cookie decorating kits – as well as ready-to-eat Christmas dinners for one or many that include vegetarian options and lots of extras.  Sparrow Coffee is now offering a weekly menu plan and delivery, while City Perks is working on a winter patio and kitchen staples – plus fresh-baked pretzels on Saturdays.  A new website, onesmallstepsk.ca , “con...

A virtual trip to Italy has brought immense pleasure in a snowbound (and it’s still only November!) Canadian winter.  The Enchanted April  I had watched the screen adaptation of The Enchanted April more than once but had never read the book. I can now highly recommend it.  The Enchanted April by Elizabeth Von Arnim is a delight and brimming over with hope and joy. Four women, fearful and dissatisfied with their lives, are renewed in Italy’s spring sunshine. Lotty is the first to feel the transformation. “And how astonishing to feel this sheer bliss, for here she was, not doing and not going to do a single unselfish thing, not going to do a thing she didn’t want to do. According to everybody she had ever come across she ought to at least have twinges. She had not one twinge. . . . Wonderful that at home she had been so good, so terribly good, and merely felt tormented. . . . Now she had taken off her goodness and left it behind her like a heap of rain-soaked clothes, an...

“When the world turns upside down, the best thing to do is turn right along with it.” (Mary Poppins)  Local News  I enjoyed vegan spring rolls, tomato pad thai, and chocolate tart from the Odd Couple restaurant on Saturday. I’m so grateful that they offer a delivery service. They’ll be offering a vegan set dinner for two inspired by Hong Kong street food in December (omnivore version is already available).  In the Kitchen  “The ancient Greek author Herodotus told his readers that cinnamon was brought to Arabia by large birds who used it to build nests high in the mountains. To harvest it, he explained, people tricked the birds into flying large joints of oxen into their nests, which broke under the weight of the meat.” A silly story, but Europeans had no idea where cinnamon came from and put enormous effort into searching for it in South America.  In the Garden  Four Indigenous women explain why they think it’s important to save seeds: “We need to take t...

Who hasn’t dreamed at least once of glamour, wealth, and high society? And as for owning a palazzo overlooking the Grand Canal in Venice, well, that’s right up my street of dreams! The Unfinished Palazzo: Life, Love and Art in Venice by Judith Mackrell is the true story of three women who owned the Palazzo Venier at different times during the twentieth century.  The Palazzo Venier was an unfinished building (only the basement and the first floor were completed) that threatened to tumble into ruins more than once over the centuries. But it had a spectacular setting with a large terrace overlooking the Grand Canal.  Luisa Casati, a wealthy Italian woman, purchased the palazzo around 1910 to use as a base for her summer parties. The author speculates that Luisa may have had Asperger’s. All we know for sure is that she was a woman who liked to strike a pose, wearing elaborate costumes and trailing around Venice with her black panther, male servant, and a snake coiled around her n...

“Many people say they enjoy the winter, but what they really enjoy is feeling proof against it. ”   (Richard Adams)  Shop Local  We all know that independent businesses are suffering during Covid. So shop local this Christmas – please! And for those people on your gift list who have everything, consider edibles – we have so many great local producers.  A couple of weeks ago I posted an article about a coffee delivery company in Alberta and wondered if that would be a useful service in Saskatoon. Well, thanks to Daryl Grunau , barista at Sparrow Coffee , I now know that that is a lousy idea as it will take business away from coffee shops such as Sparrow, City Perks, Venn, Collective Coffee, and Underground that sell excellent coffee, either roasted themselves or carefully selected and imported. If we want our local coffee shops  to still be around after the pandemic, they need our support now. If you don’t know what to choose, the local baristas will be happy to ...

Local News  I love getting freebies! It was so much fun to find a free sample included in my online Saskatoon Farmers’ Market delivery . Thank you Mossbank Farms for the sprouts. They were excellent and I ordered more this week. I’m delighted to see more and more vendors signing up to deliver their products online. Both Grandora Gardens and Simpkins Market Garden , two of my favorite vendors, are now online as well as in-person at the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market location on Koyl Avenue. Saskatoon is so fortunate to have a year-round farmers’ market!  Tasty Habits is getting ready for Christmas with boxes of chocolates as well as bars. Sign up for their email newsletter to get a free chocolate bar and a one-time only 10% discount. It’s really good to know that the cocoa beans they are using come “directly from farmers participating in the Cocoa Horizons program.” By purchasing Tasty Habit products, “you are participating in training, financial incentives and community empower...

“I don’t feel very much like Pooh today,” said Pooh. “There, there,” said Piglet. “I’ll bring you tea and honey until you do.” (Winnie the Pooh)  Local News  A huge vote of thanks to all the local businesses that are acting proactively to support the health and safety of each and every one of us by requiring staff and customers to wear a mask: City Perks , Saskatoon Farmers’ Market Co-operative , Sparrow , Steep Hill Food Co-op , The Griffin Takeaway , The Night Oven Bakery ,  Venn Coffee Roasters , and Wanuskewin's visitor centre and restaurant . Let me know of others you’re aware of. I want to support businesses that care about health as well as dollars. It’s a caring gesture and we mustn’t be intimidated by the anti-mask bullies. Assaf Al Hamade opened Al Rabih Brothers Market in July. To ensure that he can serve fresh produce and fresh bread, he travels to Calgary, Edmonton, and Medicine Hat every week. He wants to show other immigrants that they too can start a busin...

It’s November in my Year of Staying in Place . Addio, mushrooms and fungi! Ciao, Italia! I have only visited Italy once – in 1977 with my Mum and friend Helen, but I have many memories, particularly of snow in Venice on the Easter long weekend. I hope the photos amuse you; there will be more tomorrow in Flavourful Saskatoon .  But first, October and fungi. I had a lot of fun with this theme. I read a couple of mysteries where mushrooms were the deadly weapon. I’m reading The Entangled Life and fascinated by the scope of fungi – inside our bodies, under the ocean, sharing intimately with plants and animals. I even managed to work the theme into the writing I do for EcoFriendly Sask and interviewed Jacey, who recently established the Saskatchewan Mycological Working Group. I didn’t do everything I’d set out to do, but that’s okay.  I chose Italy as a theme almost at random. There are some shows I want to watch on Britbox: Zen based on mysteries set in Rome by Michael Dibdin a...

Local News The Night Oven Bakery  now has apple cinnamon flax bread on Sundays. I highly recommend it fresh from their oven with a good smear of  Kitako Lake Honey , seriously the best honey I’ve ever eaten. Other Night Oven options include cinnamon raisin sourdough on Mondays and granola sourdough on Wednesdays. Not forgetting the olive bread on Fridays - one of my favorites. Fruit & Biscuits  Over the past 4 years, Pablo Salvatierra has visited 15 countries and tasted nearly 300 different kinds of fruit . Salvatierra, who used to buy all his produce from the supermarket, has gained a new appreciation for the superior taste of homegrown fruit and fair commerce.  Britons love biscuits (aka cookies) – and so do I! But their history surprised me . Did you know that medieval Muslims invented the fig roll as a health food? Digestive biscuits were invented to relieve an “epidemic” of flatulence among Victorian gentlemen. In the 1920s, there was a biscuit for every occ...

Local News  The Saskatchewan Food Industry Development Centre is offering a skill development program for women entrepreneurs in the food processing sector .  I would be interested in reading Beyond the Food Court: An Anthology of Literary Cuisines , “a collection of 14 creative non-fiction essays that delve in the subtleties, diversity, and individuality of ethnic cuisines beyond the uniform, kitschy offering at a typical mall food court ” written by 14 Edmonton authors.  In the Kitchen  Sandor Katz says fermentation is a fact, not a fad. His new book, Fermentation as Metaphor , explores how fermentation applies to politics, religion, and cultural movements . Fermentation pros may want to try their hand at nukazuke, making bran-fermented vegetables : “It’s kind of like a compost recipe.”  I have purchased a lot of spices – 3 separate orders! – during the pandemic. I was relieved to know I was not alone. Jay Rayner, British restaurant critic, shares my  di...