May 10, 2016 Lunch – Musee Beaux Arts Cafeteria, Dinner – Raviolis with Nordic Shrimp, Rapini, onions, mushrooms, and grape tomatoes

May 10, 2016 Lunch – Musee Beaux Arts Cafeteria, Dinner – Raviolis with Nordic Shrimp, Rapini, onions, mushrooms, and grape tomatoes

We had a big breakfast of Maple Syrup flavored yogurt and fresh Blueberries, toast with orange Marmelade and Earl Grey tea.

We went by bus to the Musee Beaux Arts at around 10:45.  The Museum is a combination of four buildings linked by underground passageways.  The collection is actually quite small by American standards or space is limited and only a small percentage of the collections shown at one time. We enjoyed the Canadian art, which included the Group of Seven.  I was particularly fond of an artist named Fontin; and of course Emily Carr.  One interesting exhibit chronicled the relationship between Alfred Barr, the first director of MOMA, and Phillip Johnson, the great American architect.  The exhibit included items from Barr’s apartment that was decorated by Johnson.

By 12:30 we were tired and hungry, so we went to the Museum’s cafeteria which was open and spacious although smaller than the cattle barns in New York.   I ordered the lunch special, which was Moussaka, with a salad and a small cupcake for can. $10.50.  There were four wonderful salads, a Greek with feta and olives, a kale, a garden and a fascinating seaweed and Edamame and carrot salad.  I could not decide, so the service assistant helped by saying, “The Kale and seaweed salads are a good combination.”  Those were the two that most appealed to me, so I said, “Thank you, yes, those two.” The service lady was pleased and put large scoops of each on the plate with the Moussaka. I grabbed a 1642 soda made in Montreal that was a cola  sweetened with maple syrup.  This was the best food value of the trip; the lunch plate with cupcake was $10.50 and the cola was $3.00 and the portion was large enough to split.  

After lunch Suzette wanted to look for antique picture frames.  Since the antique area was near Atwater Market, we bussed back there.  We walked one direction without success and then walked back to the Market, but did not decide on any fish, so we walked across the street to the supermarket beside Atwater Market and bought Nordic shrimp in brine, which is a favorite of mine.  Nordic shrimp are small and are usually cooked in the ocean water as the ship brings in the catch.  The shrimp has a decidedly briny flavor.  

We also bought more bread, butter, a lemon, and grape tomatoes

We then went to the big liquor store and bought two bottles of Apple cider.  We drank one cider as we walked to regain our strength as Suzette shopped in Antique stores.  At 3:45 we returned to the condo by way of the Supermarket to buy a bottle of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc wine.

After we put the new ingredients into the fridge Suzette poured a glass of wine and I grabbed the other apple cider and we went to the roof area at the condo to sit and get some sun.  It was a warm and windless afternoon for a change.  The roof area contains an enclosed area with a gas fireplace and a open area with two decks, one with a swimming pool and hot tub and the other with gas grills, picnic tables and seats and tables for sitting.  We sat in the open seating area.

After about an hour off relaxing we went back to the condo to fix dinner.  We had cooked all the chippolini onions, raviolis, and fiddlehead ferns last night, so tonight Suzette boiled the Rapinini in salt water to relieve some of its noxious flavor and drained it.  In a separate skillet she sautéed ½ onion, two sliced cloves of garlic, four sliced mushrooms, and the PPI sautéed fiddlehead ferns and chippolini onions in butter and a little  white wine and cream to make a sauce.  She then heated the PPI ravioli and added some Raviolis and the Rapini to the sauce and finally added the shrimp to heat and mix everything.

This was another successful meal, sort of shrimp scampi with Nordic shrimp.  The wine was not crisp, which made it overly lemony, but it still worked with the salty shrimp in the buttery vegetables.

After dinner we poured the last of the cognac we bought in Niagara Falls and took the six chocolates we had bought yesterday at Atwater Market and went back up to the roof patio at around 8:00 and had our dessert while we watched the sunset and the city lights come on.  It was a pleasant end to a pleasant day.

Bon Appetit