Wanderlust and Words

“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...