Summer ends, smashed windows,food, wine and friends.

Summer draws to an end. Officially its done and dusted this week. Schools and universities re-open and the city starts to crank up towards Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. These yearly rites of passage are fun to look forward to and each bring changes in store and street decorations, food and outdoor temps marked in a more definite way then we experience downunder. Mac and I will enjoy our brekkie on our sundrenched balcony for a month or two, its a morning ritual we both love.

 

Late summer blooms in at little park at Yonge and Lawrence in Toronto. 

This will be our last northern winter so each festival takes on a nostalgic tone. I’m excited and sad to be thinking about leaving North America but the vision of bountiful beautiful New Zealand lies at the end of our rainbow so how can one not be thankful to have such a place to return to.

Life has been gentle of late…. Well fairly so. Apart from a spate of break-ins on Isabella St which included our beloved LIZ (our GPS) being nabbed through the smashed window of our car while it lay tucked up in our supposedly secure underground parking garage. The loss of LIZ was immediately felt. Trying to navigate by map and compass is no mean feat through the traffic choked streets of TO. Gotta take your hat off to old Chris Columbus, Magellan and J Cook and Co…imagine what they’d think of us with our GPS’s making us feel safe and located at all times!

Our trusty Malibu sans Liz our fav tour guide.

As a mini heat-wave started up one Sunday avo, Pip and I headed north, minus LIZ, to a garden party hosted by Phil and Martha Russel who heads the International Wine and Food Society of Toronto. Invited by friends David and Diana, we spent a lovely afternoon meeting like minded people and drinking some lovely German and Canadian wines. A fab bbq at David and Diana’s finished off the evening in fine style. It was a very international table with Diana, her father and sister and friend Nadine all hailing from Jamaica, Adrienne from the Cape in South Africa, Cam from Asia and the Kiwi duo. Robert, the only born and bread Canuk amongst us. Trying to be circumspect and as designated driver I was highly embarrassed to back out of their driveway clunking heavily off the kerb then taking off on the wrong side of the road. OOPs. Luckily I sorted that out PDQ (pretty damn quick for the uninitiated!).

Keeping cool on a Hot August Sunday avo with IW&FS

Back home in NZ my son Matt turned 28, he and brother Nick celebrated with a bang up dinner with my parents Moira and Paul. Another milestone that we’ve missed and I’m determined not to miss any more. Mum and Dad had just returned from their annual winter jaunt to Broadbeach in Queensland a week or so earlier. I’ve included a couple of pictures from their trip below. Moira and Paul continue to inspire their children and grandchildren daily, they give us a fine example of how to enjoy life to the full.

 Moira taking in ocean views in Queensland, Australia. 

I’m also including some pic’s of my dear friends Mac and Jen in the states of Hartshorn Portraiture fame. Jen celebrated Macs birthday in August with a surprise vow renewal ceremony on the beach at Bay Head on the Jersey Shore.  I loved her simple decorations and menu of lobster sandwiches, rocket salad and bubbly on the sand. ( I've been writing their blog in Jen's voice for a few years now.)

Cameron, Mac, Jennifer and Madeline at Bay Head on the Jersey Shore in August.

We had our own little party on the sand one beautiful evening this week, taking the ferry and shanks’s pony to the beaches on the eastern side of Centre Island for a sundown picnic and swim. Not sure why we hadn’t been doing this all summer, well actually I do know, the debilitating heat, humidity and crowds make so many normal summer activities downright unpleasant!

Sundown Picnic on Centre Island and views from Island back to the city of Toronto. 

We have been cooking non-stop for little DP’s (dinner parties) at home, eking out the last al fresco moments maximising the suddenly fresh balmy nights before we head indoors for the next six months!

Happy flew in from Saskatoon for a barbie and Pip performed a Haka!

Robert joined us to celebrate Pip's birthday for flaming Bombe Alaska and a Greek Muscat. 

I put on a surprise Rosh Hoshana dinner for Lori and Drew to celebrate Jewish New Year.

Rosh Hashana foods symbolise new beginnings and are often round and sweet. The traditional recipes I used included apples, raisins, pine nuts, middle eastern spices and honey. We loved the sweet potato, apple, onion and nutmeg dish and the spinach with onion and pine nuts. See the previous post for this yummy fragrant recipe. 

Kiwi expat Michelle, with newborn Charlotte, joined us on Saturday night wearing new union jack flats. 

I've had a couple of jaunts to the shops, a whirl round Ikea to check out their fall arrivals and a blast along Bloor street checking out my fav stores and windows but those pics will have to be in my next epistle. 

Fave finds at Ikea.

 Provencal Quiche and cappuccino at Sebastian's on Yonge Street.

My new fav patisserie is thankfully a long way from home at Yonge and Lawrence (almost to the 401). Sebastian Patisserie must have THE most authentic french pastries outside France. Too die for quiche and croissants. I stopped in for lunch one day and was blown away but the buttery light pastry and charm of Sebastian from Grenoble who worked front of house. I went home with a killer quiche Lorraine for dinner and black forest ham and Gruyere stuffed croissants for Saturday brunch. Yikes!

On the same trip I noticed this huge billboard of pearls. Anyone who remembers a series of Pearl paintings I did back in the 90's will see why I was attracted to this image.