Random Reflections VII: The Butchart Gardens

Today I was browsing my digital albums and came across the photos I had taken at the Butchart Garden, Victoria, BC, in late August (when I first arrived in Canada). I love visiting gardens all around the world. And I have to say this is probably one of the most amazing gardens I have ever had the good fortune of visiting. It was so impressive that I went there twice in two days, never mind the entry fee of CAD$26 each time. It was well worth it. The first day was sunny, the second rainy, but it did not deter me. Here are some photos to show you why I was so impressed, and even then, my photos don't do the gardens justice. (You can click on a photo to see a larger version of the photo.)


The sign you see when you first enter the garden.


The magnificent Sunken Garden that Jenny Butchart created.


A brief history of the gardens. You can find more information if you type "Butchart Gardens" into your search engines.


This shot shows you why this part of the garden is called the Sunken Garden.


Look at the wonderful autumn leaves in the gardens!


The Ross Fountain on Day 1 (sunny).


The Ross Fountain on Day 2 (rainy).


One of hundreds (if not thousands) of rose plants in the garden.


A two-toned dahlia. One of my favourite shots of the Butchart Gardens.


One of many tuberous begonias I saw in the gardens.


I simply loved the vibrant colours in the gardens.


See the contrast in colours? It cannot but capture your attention.

I hope the photos have brightened your day. I wish everyone a Happy New Year!

Where I go to do my shopping

With the bus strike still on, people like me have simply been forced to walk to the shops. I don't mind it, because it is good exercise... To work off all the extra kilos from all the good food during Christmas! :)

Below are some photos of the places I go to do my shopping. All are on Rideau Street, a major thoroughfare here in the Sandy Hill area of Ottawa.


This is Loblaws, where I buy most of my groceries. It is the Canadian version of Woolies, I guess. (Aussies would know what I am referring to.)


And here's LCBO, where my housemates and I buy our alcohol... for cooking and baking, of course ;-)


This is Loeb, which is open 24 hours a day, but I seldom go there. It is further away from Wilbrod House than Loblaws, and it has somewhat more limited choices for the grocery items I normally buy. Some of my housemates like shopping here, because (they tell me) groceries are slightly cheaper here.


This is what you see as you walk along Rideau Street, heading towards Rideau Centre (the local shopping mall).


This is Rideau Centre. Lots of shops and boutique stores here. There's even a small cinema here. The feel of this place really reminds me of Westfield Bondi Junction, Sydney.


Sears is one of the major retailers in the Rideau Centre. It reminds me of Myer or David Jones in Australia.


And this is where my housemates and I go for DVD rentals -- Blockbuster Video on Rideau Street, a couple of blocks before we get to Rideau Centre.

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Update on 27 May 2009: Loeb is now renamed Metro. I noticed for the first time yesterday.

Icy Conditions

Well, we have had a couple of days of freezing rain since Boxing Day, and it has turned the snow into ice. I had a really hard time shovelling the snow yesterday; in the end, all I could do was simply salt the icy footpath outside Wilbrod House, so that we can at least walk on it (rather than slide on it).

The driveway by the side of Wilbrod House (that is shared by about 5 houses here) has turned into a slippery "skating rink", and I had an interesting time sliding around on it in my boots yesterday, just to feel what it is like to go skating. :)


Icy footpath


My attempts to clear the footpath outside the side door were not very successful


Footpath leading up to the driveway


In this photo (and the next), you can see the shiny, smooth, slippery ice that has formed on the shared driveway.


The Wilbrod House garage is just behind the two trees on the right of the photo, and there is a gentle incline between the garage and the driveway. I practised sliding down the gentle incline quite a few times, much to the amusement or alarm (I'm not sure which) of the lone squirrel that was foraging for food on a tree behind the garage.

Speaking of sliding around on ice, I cannot wait to go skating on nearby Rideau Canal in February, when the canal freezes over and Ottawa hosts the Winterlude festival. I have never gone skating before, so this will be a whole new experience.

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PS. Update on 30 December 2008: I finally found out how to clear the ice on the footpath of Wilbrod House. My landlady showed me this ice-breaking tool she uses. It is like a chisel (a wedge at the tip), and is used to break the ice (see the pole-like tool next to the snow shovel in the photo below).


Tools we use for clearing snow and ice.


Sharp, chisel-like tool for breaking ice.


The footpath is cleared of ice now.

Panettone and Stollen

On Christmas Day (yesterday), in addition to a rich (and very alcoholic) fruitcake a housemate had made, I had the following Christmas cakes/bread. I have tasted these cakes many times before (back in Australia), and I've always liked them. I was glad to be able to enjoy these on Christmas Day here in Ottawa. Yummy!


Panettone - Italian Christmas Cake/Bread
(I bought this from Loblaws)


Stollen - German Christmas Cake
(Given to me by a housemate, who bought it from the Stubbe chocolate shop)
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Today is Boxing Day... A few of my housemates have gone to Rideau Centre for bargains. I heard that lots of things are on sale, or even 50% off, but I decided not to go because I wasn't keen on the bargain-hunting crowds (or aggressive shoppers). I will leave it for a few days, and go when I need to do some grocery shopping.

Christmas Eve

Yesterday was Christmas Eve. I made some pear danish in the morning (see photo below). I took some canned pears and sliced them into fans, and place them on the croissant dough that I had prepared and frozen last week. Personally, I think this canned-pear version was better than the peach version I made last week, simply because I liked the flavour of the pears better. (Aside: In production kitchen, they use canned pears and apricots, but not canned peaches.)



After breakfast, a housemate and I mopped and cleaned the dining room and kitchen from wall to wall. We just wanted to have a nice and clean place to enjoy the festivities.

Then, around lunchtime, I prepared my mushroom strudel for dinner. I basically sauteed some mixed mushrooms (button, cremini, shiitake, chanterelles, porcini) in butter and rolled that inside some filo/phyllo pastry. I left the strudel in the fridge until closer to dinner time before baking it till golden brown.

(Aside: I prepared my mushroom strudel around lunchtime because there is only one kitchen in Wilbrod House and it was too crowded for all of us to do our cooking around dinnertime, so we worked out a system to get around this problem.)

Here you see all the dishes prepared by us:

Starting from the foreground: Seafood paella, Greek lamb stew, Goulash, Mushroom strudel, Sushi, Pizza. It was quite a feast. We still have some leftovers for today. :)


Yakisoba


Sushi


Mushroom Strudel


Goulash


Greek Lamb Stew


Seafood Paella

After dinner, we walked to the Notre-Dame Cathedral (not far from Rideau Centre) and enjoyed a lovely concert and midnight service. Not all of us are catholic, but we went along anyway, because the service was open to all and sundry. I really liked the Christmas carols presented in the concert. Beautiful voices in a magnificent setting...

This is the nativity scene inside the cathedral:


Here are some of the ornate structures inside the cathedral:




All in all, it was an interesting day for me.

Random Reflections VI: What I Took For Granted in Australia

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I went to the local supermarket Loblaws (10 to 12 minutes' walk from Wilbrod House) today to do some last-minute grocery shopping.

Here are two photos of the winter landscape, as I trudge through the snow on my way to the supermarket:

I am on Wilbrod Street, looking east towards Charlotte Street (not visible in this photo)


Looking west towards the University of Ottawa, as I stand outside Australia House

As you can see, it is simply easier to walk in the middle of the road, where the snow has been cleared. Just as well Wilbrod Street is a one-way street.

I realised how much we take for granted in Australia. The footpaths are generally well-maintained, and we don't have to worry about snow (except if you live in a very cold place in Australia). Not that I'm complaining about the snow here in Ottawa (it's still a novelty to me).

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At Wilbrod House, we are doing a cooking challenge for Christmas Eve: Everyone has to make a dish that is not from their country/region of origin and that they have not ever made before. I decided to make a mushroom strudel (with filo/phyllo pastry) for the cooking challenge. That's why I went shopping for groceries today.

When I was walking home, it suddenly occurred to me that the herbs and vegetables that I had bought might be frostbitten by the time I get back to Wilbrod House... It is so different from Australia, where I used to take an esky to the supermarket, to make sure meat and dairy products I buy are kept cold.

Anyway, the herbs and vegetables were fine, because they were outside in the icy (-17 degrees Celsius) conditions for only a short time.

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Speaking of dairy products, I am still shocked by how expensive dairy products are here in Ottawa, compared to what I can get in major cities in Australia. The two blocks of unsalted butter (454g each, or 1 lb. each) you see in the photo below cost me about CAD$10. It's the same with milk and cream. I reckon they are about twice as expensive as in Australia. It's another thing I took granted when I was in Australia -- cheap dairy products. /sigh/



As a pastry student here at Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa, I use a lot of butter, milk and cream in baking, and that means I have to spend quite a bit of money on ingredients when I am practising my baking at home (in Wilbrod House)... That's something to think about if you are coming to Ottawa to study at Le Cordon Bleu.

And one other thing: It could be because I am used to the dairy products in Australia, but I think the butter, milk and cream in Australia taste better (or rather, they have a stronger flavour) too.

Oh, I miss Australia!!!

Australia House in Ottawa

On my way to the local supermarket Loblaws this morning, I took the opportunity to take a couple of photos of Australia House in Ottawa (407 Wilbrod Street), which is about a block from Wilbrod House.

Australia House is the residence of the Australian High Commissioner to Canada.





I walk by Australia House almost every time I go to Loblaws for my groceries, but today was the first time I could get a good view of the house AND I had my camera with me.

It was approximately -17 degrees Celsius when I took the photos. It was like walking around in a huge freezer. :D

Just seeing the Australian flag outside Australia House made me a little homesick. I'm imagining how warm it is in Australia right now...

Chef N's Lovely Chocolate Showpiece

I had the pleasure of assisting Chef N with his chocolate bonbons demo (for a private group dining at the Signatures restaurant) yesterday, and I watched him construct this lovely chocolate showpiece prior to the demo. The entire piece is made of chocolate (white and dark) and colored cocoa butter (red, yellow and green). It took Chef N a few hours to put it all together. Such a magnificent piece of food art! (Click on the photo if you want to see the finer details.)

Unfortunately, the showpiece simply broke and fell apart right after the demo due to the heat in the demo kitchen. What a pity! :-(

Fortunately, I had taken a couple of photos of it while it was still intact, and that's how I will remember this chocolate showpiece.

Anyway, as the French say, "C'est la vie!"

Chef A's Amazing Ice Sculptures

As I have mentioned before, Chef A is a master carver at Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa. I've seen him carve fruit and vegetables, and all I can do is gasp in amazement at how skilfully and quickly he does them. The carvings are so beautiful, and they certainly inspire us students to have a go.

Not only does Chef A carve fruits, vegetables, cheese and chocolates, he does ice carvings too. Just a couple of days ago, Chef A completed a series of Christmas ice carvings (santa, elf and reindeers) at the front entrance of Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa. Below are some photos. I have included one set of photos that was taken during the day, and another set in the evening. Enjoy!













Just imagine how much work and skills are required to turn a few large blocks of ice into the sculptures you see in the photos above... Amazing, isn't it?

I heard that Chef A has won a number of ice carving competitions, so I went online to see if I could find more information about that. Check out these websites, if you would like to know more:

"Master chef puts his art on ice" (Capital Arts Online)
http://www.carleton.ca/sjc/capitalarts/2005/a14.html

"Armando V. Baisas" (Commission on Filipinos Overseas)
http://www.cfo.gov.ph/presidential/Armando%20V.%20Baisas.htm