Frederick-an introduction-after the cat

I took a few steps back and was mortified to see divets.  I offered up the spoon.  Apologies didn't seem quite enough.

Come with me. He turned and walked to the house.  Considering his height and girth, he moved fast.

Was that Wagner?  He took three glasses from the cupboard and poured a snifter of armagnac.  A woman appeared in the archway. Frederick's wife-tall, flaming hair, clad in a striped leotard and platform shoes. Wagner was abruptly silenced.

What are we drinking to this time? 

We drank to the end of cats and the pre-dawn departure of our neighbours.  How long will it be before that canoe finds a home?

Common ground, at last?

Cheat of the Week

All was quiet across the alley this weekend so it was cheat mode Sunday morning. 
Christian Potier’s Sauce Hollandaise.  Available at fine foods stores.

Sauce in a pouch, but microwavable too. There are three 50ml pouches and each serves two very nicely or if you’re like me, keep the lot for yourself.

This is nice light texture and colour.  None of the dreadful egg yolk look you get in a road side diner.  Ten seconds in the microwave or simmer pouch for five minutes.  Gone are the days of whisking and sieving.  Well, not quite;  I’ll still go scratch for a main dish like Benedict or whenever time permits.  But this is a rather nice treat for a quick Brunch when the house is cold you really don’t want to stand at the stove endlessly whisking. This is about efficiency in the AM.

Two slices of lightly toasted rye.  Two eggs, scrambled.  Contents of one pouch. Add a pot of Darjeeling and you are all set. 

Side Plates-not just for bread

"Could we get some bread over here?"

Over and over, people cry out for bread.  Then more bread.
Little thought is given to the fact that at least one course is soon to follow.

The Hamilton Spectator's food critic, Kislenko, was disappointed to find that on his latest review, the restaurant presented side plates but no bread.

Most on line reviews take restaurants to task for not providing baskets of bread.  No fault can be found with the restaurant so they pick up on the bread thing.

There is no obligation to provide bread before the meal. 
Consider the style of the restaurant.  Is it likely they would serve bread?  If risen dough doesn't fit with the menu, why would it suddenly show up with the cocktails?  Perhaps bread makes up part of the entree?

A side plate is merely part of a proper place setting and its presence should in no way be taken as proof that bread is on its way.  The side plate is there as a part of a whole.  The plate may house the napkin. It is somewhere to put your accompaniment. It is there to serve as a repository for anything cast off the plate-frilly bits of parsley, skin, a bone; perhaps an olive pit.  It's like a bib for the table.

Knife rests are not commonplace. While the plate is normally on the left (assuming a right handed diner), feel free to use the plate as a knife (or fork) rest.  Better the knife on that plate than gumming up the tablecloth.

The side plate is essential to a table whereas bread is not.