Dining Amid the Treetops : A Barbecue at Isabel’s

grilled-veggies

As mentioned in yesterday’s post (here) where I told you about meeting a friend I met online and her husband in real life when they came to Toronto recently. We met on a site called Second Life where our friend Isabel also met Anna. And so we all went over to her place for dinner on the Friday of their visit to the city.

Issy and her flatmate Barb hosted a lovely outdoor party on their deck, which is situated way up high on the top floor of the old home in which live. The setting was perfect and it was a beautiful night for an outdoor gathering.

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The meal began with some homemade dips, including some Baba Ganoush and Hummus (for which I requested the recipe, it was so delicious). The dippers were toasted triangles of pita bread, a bowl of pretty cherry tomatoes in a variety of colours, and sliced cucumbers.

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Then Issy got busy at the barbecue, cooking up some mixed veggies, marinated tofu, and chicken. I’d never had grilled tofu before and it was very nice.

Barb made a really good black bean salad with feta and corn in it and there was also a big tossed salad that contained slices of fennel root too, brought along by another friend.

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black-bean-salad

Dessert was berries and chocolate.

Oh and throughout, there were some very nice wines and a variety of beers.

This was one of those parties where time just slips away. The sun went down, candles were lit, wraps were brought out for those that wanted (I was lucky to try Barb’s cashmere Pashmina, which was so so soft and cosy.)

Our other friend Andrea came over after dinner. If she looks familiar that’s because we met Andrea through Isabel in the first place, and we’ve since become good friends with her, so you’ve met her on the blog before.

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We talked late into the night and then suddenly we had to pop up and rush away, careful not to miss the last subway train that would take us home.

We walked Anna and W. to their corner and said our goodbyes. Then on our walk home we both agreed that we really wished these two lived in Toronto instead of far far away as they do. Sure, virtual relationships are great, but being able to get together for real is better. Well, on second thought, some of you might be thinking right now that this statement does not always hold true and I’d have to agree. There are those times when people do not represent themselves honestly on-line and then a meeting would be quite a shock … I’ve heard some sad and some hilarious stories about such meetings in real life. So let’s just say that in this case the real was better than the virtual!

Thank you very much for dropping over and taking a look,
xo loulou

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