Hot Chocolate and Ice Cider: Heaven in a cup.

When we were here earlier in the month we had the yummiest hot chocolate at the Telus Winter Bar at the Old Port Saturday night fete. The bartender mixed Pinnacle Ice Cider (made from apples) with the hot chocolate...it was divine. Tonight, at home. We mixed an apple liquor (a little stronger than the Ice Cider)...about one shot, with a large cup of hot chocolate....heaven in a cup. The fire is on...the cup is empty...it is time for a nap.

A Winter Saturday Evening in Old Montreal

Peg and Jeff flew in from Ohio late this afternoon. We had dinner at 3 Brasseurs on Rue St. Paul in Old Montreal. Good hamburgers, a quebequois Flamm (like a REALLY thin crust pizza), and a chevre chaud salad. Enjoyed their beer...I had a beer "cocktail"...called the Brit...a dark beer with a shot of Irish Whiskey in it...yummy! (Why it's called the Brit and not The Irish is, I suspect, best left uninvestigated).

After dinner we decided to stroll down to see the Ice Rink in the Old Port. It sits right on the edge of the quays on the St. Lawrence. One part is an artificial ice rink that is open all winter and the other part is a huge "circle trail" which becomes a rink once its cold enough to freeze the water thick enough. Not cold enough yet...

We heard music and saw bright colored lights. Little did we know that there was a party going on...sponsored by Telus. There was an Ice Bar (but not made of real ice...just everything white within a white senu-transparent white tent with windows) which served all sorts of things including hot chocolate with a delicious apple liquer in it...double yum. We went outside to listen to a Quebequois band for a bit. Then the lights dimmed and everyone huddled over by the ice rink. It was FIREWORKS....a spectacular display of fireworks synchronized to music...the theme Moon Dust. It was incredibly beautiful. There we were standing amidst winter trees, hats and gloves, spiked hot chocolate, faces lifted to the sky....mesmerized. What a dreamy evening. Jeff thought they were the best fireworks he had ever seen. Courtesy of the City of Fireworks!

Then to top it off as we left we saw these small bonfires (inside grill boxes for lack of better description). They were handing out sticks and marshmellows...and yes, we roasted a marshmellow to go. Fantastic.

Les Bouchees Gourmand

Once upon a time a nice Quebecquois couple owned a chocolate/pastry shop on Rue St. Paul in Old Montreal in a 200 year old building. This couple made beautiful yummy chocolates, the best apple turnovers, tarte taitin, and hot chocolate for miles (and that is saying something in Montreal). On top of that, they couldn't be nicer people...gracious, sweet, and giving (a lot like their chocolates). Then the roof froze, ice jammed the gutters, untimely and unwanted waterfalls sprouted within their store. For reasons not understood the owner wouldn't or couldn't fix the problem and leaks and hi humidity continued into the spring making it impossible to get the chocolate to set properly (it's one thing to be cold and have wet feet, its another thing altogether to be unable to make your chocolates properly). So they sadly hung the closed sign on the door for the last time and left the adorable (but leaky) 200 year building. After 6 long months (seemed long for those of us deprived of their simple yet elegant creations) they have reopened (sound of bugles and crowds cheering) on Rue St. Bernard in the Outremont area of Montreal. Hallelujah! We visited yesterday and feasted on their potage Parisien (leek and potato soup), thick creamy hot chocolate, and the best, flakiest and perhaps biggest sweet apple turnover ever!!! All is right with the world again.

Hot Tuesday

Okay...it does get hot in Montreal. But just not as often. But today it was hot and yes...dare I say it? Humid!. I suppose its because we're planning on going home tomorrow and it was just getting us used to Philly weather...yes that's it.

Had "lunch" at Juliette et Chocolate today. Lunch (for me) consisted of a dark chocolate/raspberry brownie with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar cream and raspberry coulee....heaven on a dish...accompanied by rich, rich, rich hot chocolate au lait. OMG. (jerry sensibly had a chicken citrus salad). But all sense leaves me when I walk into that place...let Jerry eat sensibly for both of us. Sadly by ailing gallbladder did not take kindly to my diet of chocolate and cream. so no more gorging on chocolate until I get the durn thing out...scheduled for July 18th...not one day too soon if you ask me!

Went for a walk (once I recovered from the chocolate induced gbladder attack) this evening around the port. The "Belem" a three master barque from France was in port. The Belem is the last 19th century French trading ship still under sail.The Belem was put to sea in 1896. As a merchant vessel she crossed the Atlantic 33 times from 1896 to 1913. In those days, her single deck covered 153 square metres of hold containing up to 650 tons of goods and merchandise, mainly cocoa from Brazil, rum and sugar from the French West Indies. In 1914 the Belem was sold to the Duke of Westminster, turned into a private yacht, refurbished and fitted with engines. The newly refurbished Belem was put back to sea in 1985, the Belem Foundation having decided she would sail as a training ship.

She sailed to Quebec to join in the celebration of Quebec City's 400th Anniversary...she has sailed to Montreal for a visit before sailing to Gaspe and the maritimes and then back to Europe.
(info from the ship's website: http://www.foundationbelem.com/)