Friday, February 11, 2011

DIY Kisses

Dear Madonna,

May-be it’s the whole Valentine’s Day-chocolate association but today I had a sudden craving for chocolate meringue cookies.

Not just any chocolate meringue cookies – although from what I can see all the recipes are quite similar – but the ones my mother used to make. They were called “Eight Calorie Chocolate Kisses”. I searched in vain my recipe binder then Googled “chocolate meringue cookies” and found several recipes. One endorsed by the Heart and Stroke Association of Canada. Another endorsed (sort of) by... *you*! You’re quoted as saying:

"This is a meringue cookie with a double chocolate taste. Store these in an air tight container."

Anyway, as I said all the recipes sound pretty much the same, and resemble what I remember from my mother’s: egg whites, cocoa, sugar, cream of tartar…. What is cream of tartar anyway?  There are even some recipes that pop up when you search “chocolate meringue kisses”.

For Valentine’s day, in the absence of the real thing – kisses, I mean – I think I’ll enjoy some meringue.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

One Perfect Day

Dear Madonna,

Have you ever flown United Airlines?  Their inflight magazine, Hemispheres, must be available in First Class. I love the Three Perfect Days pieces, don't you?

Anyway - I recently spent One Perfect Day with my Sister-By-Choice, Penny in Ottawa. 


I woke up in Penny's third floor bedroom, surrounded by sunflowers and angels on the wall. It was a sunny, cloud-free winter morning so we bundled up and walked over to the Rideau Canal ("The World's Largest Skating Rink") for a brisk skate. In the afternoon we headed to Le Nordik spa in Quebec where we did "the baths": outdoor hot-tubs and cool water dipping pools - also wet and dry saunas and "quiet rooms".


We had dinner at a busy pub in the nearby village - I had a yummy bison burger, and Penny loved the micro-brewery beer they served.  Back in Ottawa we went straight to the National Arts Centre where we had tickets to see The Year of Magical Thinking - a one-woman play based on the Joan Didion novel of the same name. The tickets were my Christmas gift to Penny.

I'm reading the book, now. Penny thinks one of her real sisters gave it to me right after my brother, Mike died.  Penny was dating Mike at the time, and I ended up giving her the book - which is about the sudden death of Joan Didion's husband and her subsequent period of grieving.  It's a bit strange that I only met Penny once while he was still alive, and in fact now I've known her more than twice as long a he did. We've become so close ince he left us, and I understand so completely why he loved her - I love her, too.  As someone noted recently, Penny is a gift Mike left to me.

After the play we went to Penny's neighbourhood pub, Irene's (where she and Mike first met). They were having their weekly Blues Showcase - awesome! Loved the music, and it was so fun watchng various musicians being welcomed to the stage - most of them obviously regulars to the scene.

We went back to Penny's house, got into our jammies (thanks, Theresa), threw in a DVD, and ate a massive bowl of popcorn.  I retired to my sunflower/angel room on the third floor and Penny's new kitten, Baby Gaga, curled up beside me and purred.

Perfect.


Julie