Sunday Brunch

I must say, when I stepped into my apartment after Tremblant, I felt like I had arrived home. It was good to be back - especially back in my own kitchen :-) So I made up for lost time and tackled 2 recipes this weekend. Meatballs, and a roasted pepper & tomato soup. Fun!

A coincidence, but I received a call from Terry the minute I stepped into my apartment on Friday, and got a lovely invitation to brunch this morning. Terry said she wanted me to experience a truly Canadian breakfast/brunch, so we agreed that I would go up to her place @ 173 Montclair after church. She and David decided they would therefore go to the earlier service at their church too, so that they could have time to prepare the food.

I was late!! :-p Because I went to pick a small gift for them in appreciation of their kindness. 173 Montclair is what Canadians call a "residence". In Canada, it is common for seniors to decide not to stay in their own landed homes, but move into a high rise apartment block to live with other seniors as neighbours. Residences usually have added security features and other facilities catered for seniors' needs. If I hadn't known that Montclair was a residence, I would have just taken it for a normal condominium - it's very pretty!

The Martins' home is filled with little knick-knacks from their travels. These ornaments and curios line the walls, adorn the cupboards and shelves in every inch of the house - including the kitchen, which is filled from floor to ceiling with cookbooks. It's a beautiful home, and has European flavours, because David was Scottish. In fact, when Terry called me on Friday, they had just returned from their annual trip to Bath, where they rent a home.

I was like an excited puppy in the kitchen, watching Terry prepare the waffles from scratch, and David patiently frying sausages. We had the lovely buttermilk waffles with fresh maple syrup and butter, sausages, toast with homemade grape jelly, fruit salad and strong tea to wash it all down. Yum...

After brunch, I sat around and listened with much amusement as they recounted tales from their travels, life in the residence, and their love story. Sweet :-)

David William S. and Terry I.J. Martin - my first friends in Ottawa