Ottawa's 2012 Tulip Festival

Our annual tulip festival has begun, with tulips supplied by the people of Holland.

 












Despite our earlier-than-usual spring...














 ...there are still thousands of tulips to see!














I'd like to take a few close-ups...














But I prefer not to jostle with the week-end crowds.














I'll try to get back during the week. (If I do, I'll post another batch of pictures later on...)

Building Morale

I have never given much thought to morale building... But here it is, in Seeking God (a book I have been reading s-l-o-w-l-y, as I try to absorb its wisdom). Speaking about leadership and authority in a Benedictine community, Esther de Waal writes:

"Building a successful community has a lot to do with keeping up morale. This does not happen without effort." (p. 137)

She gives the example of how the person responsible for distributing food, clothing and tools in a Benedictine community is charged to give people what they need "without pride and delay." And if he or she can't give what is asked for, to "offer a kind word in reply," not to "reject him with disdain and cause him distress."

She then comments on how different this is from many bureaucratic settings where power is exercised by "making others feel small, even if by nothing more trivial than keeping them waiting."

A Biblical injunction comes to mind:

"Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act.
Do not say to your neighbor, “Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you”— when you already have it with you."

No power struggle here. No keeping people waiting. Whether my "community" is a family, a church or a workplace, a simple kindness like this can be a real morale booster!

Oeufs en Cocotte - Part 2

After making the "oeufs en cocotte" recipe - described in yesterday's blog post - I asked my daughter where she got the recipe.

On the Williams-Sonoma website, she said.

So I looked for it there... and on other online recipe websites as well.

I discovered that oeufs en cocotte is indeed a very flexible recipe! It can be made using only eggs, cream and butter, as in this recipe.

Another website provides a long list of other possible ingredients that can be added to the eggs (such as Greek yogurt, salmon and asparagus).  

There is flexibility in cooking the ramekins too. They can be put directly on the oven rack (as I did) or in a pan of water in the oven or in a covered pan filled with water on top of the stove.

The French have so many simple - but delicious - egg-based recipes. I couldn't help but think how similar this recipe was to the sour cherry "clafoutis" I often make for breakfast or dessert.

Oeufs en Cocotte (or Eggs in Ramekins) - Part 1

I had a delicious lunch today, my daughter informed me. And it was so easy to make.

What was it?

Well basically, it was eggs and veggies baked in a ramekin... So easy...

(So I tried it for myself. Here is her recipe...)

 












1. Put some veggies in a ramekin. I used 2 cherry tomatoes, 2 sliced mushrooms, uncooked baby spinach. If you wish, you can lightly grease the ramekin with cooking oil first. (I didn't - but it may make cleaning the ramekin easier later on.)














 2. Drop a raw egg on top.














 3. Add some cream or half and half (I used whole milk.) and a dollop of butter.

4. Sprinkle with spices to taste (eg. pepper, herbs)














5. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 15-20 minutes, until the eggs are done to your liking (runny or hard).


















She was right! It was easy AND delicious warm (with a salad and strawberry smoothie for supper)...














... and cold. I had another cold for breakfast the next morning.

(More about "oeufs en cocotte" tomorrow!)

Enjoying Montreal

For me, the joy of visiting Montreal is simply being there, absorbing its "old world" atmosphere.


















In the downtown area, it's best to walk...


















... as finding good (free) parking is always a challenge!


















Walking also allows you to admire the architecture of its grand old buildings...














And brings you face to face with surprises! (Like these early spring flowers.)

I have such good memories of living in Montreal way back when... and going back never disappoints!.

Driving to Montreal - on the Back Roads

Montreal is a short two-hour drive from Ottawa. (So I'm not sure why we don't go there more often!)














On a recent trip, we decided to take the back roads, through the countryside, rather than the main highway.














The road weaves back and forth near the river...














... through farmland...














 ... passing by marshland.














Eventually we join up with the highway...














... which leads into the city.














We switch to an expressway...














... drive through a tunnel... (Not sure if this one takes us under the river: Montreal is an island...)














Highways cris-cross above us.


















Passing the inevitable construction, we soon see tall buildings ahead...



















 ... and within a few minutes - there we are in downtown Montreal!  And our vacation fun begins!

(Though, in fact, the drive has also been a vacation! )

The Way It Was

Organizing the basement recently, I came across a bag full of plastic letters and numbers...














What were they? What had they been used for? Had they been part of some toy used by my children?  After puzzling over it for a few minutes, I think I discovered the answer...














My father had an 8 mm movie camera back in the 1950's. (At the time, home movie cameras used this smaller film format. I don't understand the technology, but movies at the time were filmed in 16 mm. Currently IMAX films are created on much larger film - 65 or 70 mm.) For a glimpse at what these old home movie cameras were like, here is a You Tube clip...

Here is another clip of a commercial for these new inventions!

It was amazing to see ourselves moving around in color on a screen for five minutes (the length of each home movie), not standing around in black and white photographs! (There was, however, no sound. That came later with video cameras.)

My father eventually shot a lot of these little home movies. Then he spliced them together together so that he wouldn't have to change the reel every 5 minutes. Wanting a more professional look, he decided to shoot some titles to splice into the home movies. There were no home computers with graphics programs at the time... I suppose one could have written a title on a page and photographed that... But my father wanted it to look really professional!... So he bought a set of plastic letters that could be rearranged to make movie titles! These thin plastic letters were what ...














The package of letters came with a few graphics, too...

 












It may be hard to imagine, but... that's the way it was!!