How Do You Like Them Apples? : Ideas For When They are Aplenty

No doubt you've been seeing apples to the left of you and apples to the right lately. It has been apples, apples everywhere these days. Unlike last year when a late frost harmed all the blossoms and we had very few local apples, this fall they appear to runneth over.We got a bunch of Ontario Gala Apples recently and this is what we did with them, aside from just eating them as a snack.

A Visit to the Enchanting Allan Gardens Toronto

The other day after an appointment took me to a part of town that I haven't been to for quite a while, I decided to enjoy the sunny day and take a walk down to a park (which is south of Carlton Street and West of Sherbourne), called Allan Gardens.

This is an area that I know very well from the past, as I once lived down the street from the park for a summer between years at university and again for a year and a half after graduation. I also had a summer job for 6 summers, for part of high-school and throughout university, at a Home for The Aged in the area.

So even though I haven't really been in the vicinity much since moving further west, it was all very familiar, as though I was remembering it from a slightly fuzzy dream.

Allen Gardens is one of the city's oldest parks, the land having been donated to the city by a local politician named George Allan, back in 1858. It was given with the stipulation that it would be made into a garden that anyone could enjoy, and that going there would always be free of charge.

Thanksgiving Dinner For Two

So yesterday you heard Eddie the Cat's description of Thanksgiving at our place last weekend (in this post). Here is a look at what happened with the rest of us ...Both of us moved with our families when we were very young, meaning our extended families live far away. So neither of us has ever experienced a large family holiday gathering, which included aunts, uncles, cousins, or grandparents.I'm not complaining here because it is what it is, and of course our own parents took care to offer us and our siblings lovely holiday celebrations when we were growing up. All I'm saying is that neither of us is accustomed to large family gatherings.Since we've been married there have been a few Thanksgiving dinners hosted at our place, with my parents, brothers and sister and niece and nephew, but more often than not, we have been on our own for Thanksgiving.And to be honest, most years we didn't do anything special to celebrate it.But this year, we decided our little family of two (plus feline) felt like making our own celebration. For the first time ever we cooked ourselves a turkey! Well, I should say Nick cooked the turkey but you know what I mean. We set our own festive table so to speak.Part of what encouraged us to do it is that we bought a small freezer this summer so finally have space to keep extra food. Also the new grocery store in our neighbourhood, which is making a special effort to offer what is needed for this particular, mostly child-free, community, brought in some nice small fresh turkeys for Thanksgiving.Although Thanksgiving Day is actually on the Monday of the three day weekend, we decided to cook our big meal on Sunday. It turned out to be a good day to be warm and cozy inside because it rained all day long, while it was quite gorgeous on the Saturday and Monday.After a small breakfast Nick got busy in the kitchen. Lest it seem unfair that he does all the work in there, he really does enjoy his time cooking. He spent time working and learning in restaurant kitchens when he was younger so has a keen interest in food preparation, although he never wanted to be a chef as a career.The first thing he did was get those pumpkins we bought on our drive to the country (here) roasted, pulped and into the freezer. This wasn't actually part of the Thanksgiving dinner, but it was something that he wanted to do while the oven was going to be hot. (I plan to do a separate post about the pumpkins.)

Eddie’s Thoughts : Thanksgiving at Our Place

Hi friends. Eddie the Boycat here to give you the lowdown of how Canadian Thanksgiving went over at our place last weekend.

I spent the holiday with my roommates Nick and Lou, and we had a jolly good time.

It was a fun and relaxed day, resplendent with a house filled with the smells of a mighty fine meal being prepared. I was quite excited about it, but I have to say that for a day that is traditionally meant for feasting, the pickings that were passed my way were pretty slim. I might even go so far as to say they were downright stingy.

Lou kept saying that they shouldn't give me too much because of my health. Well, sometimes a man likes to be the arbiter of his own darn health. And on that particular day, I felt that something tastier would do me well. Sometimes she should just mind her own business.

But all that was on offer was my regular special kibble ... the kind they have to buy at at a certain store, because I once had a problem with my privates. One little problem and I'm destined to a life of kibble. It says it's for my Uretic Health right on the bag, for goodness sake. How embarrassing! Oh well, it could be worse, because I actually like it well enough most days.

But this was no ordinary day, so after sniffing at my bowl of that same old kibble I spent a goodly amount of time hanging around Nick's feet while he was cooking, trying to send him telepathic messages that I really wanted a dollop of the good stuff. That would be the delectable can of wet food that they keep hidden in the fridge and only dole out in the smallest of portions.

Just a Little Thing

c="http://www.loulou.to/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/mini-little-bear-watermelon.jpg" alt="mini-little-bear-watermelon" width="640" height="427" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-20093 blk-brdr">You might remember this post last month when I talked about my excitement in finding a small watermelon that was just the right size for our small family of two. It lasted us a few days with none of it going to waste.So you can imagine my glee in finding a bin filled with extra tiny watermelons, less than half the size of those others, in Chinatown the other day. They were adorable and I just had to buy one to try it out.Verdict? This small melon cut in half made a very nice breakfast for two. It was perfectly ripe and very good. Really is tasted exactly like any other watermelon, but there were no leftovers to put away and just a couple of rinds to throw into the compost.