New Brunswick Canada

Back in September we took an extended vacation to the Atlantic Provinces of Canada and ended up in Bar Harbor, Maine.

This post will focus on New Brunswick, Canada. A couple of revelations up front. New Brunswick is big and it is a long drive from Bangor where we flew in to Riverside Albert where we were staying for a couple of days. Also, the time is in the Atlantic Time Zone. It's an hour later than you think.

We stayed at The Maplegrove Inn. A cute, bright yellow building which includes an adequate cooked breakfast. 

This place was selected because it was close to Hopewell Rocks Park, situated on the Bay of Fundy. The park includes some incredible landscape. I highly recommend visiting. How the tides carve out the rocks is fascinating. The seaweed covering the boulders reminds me of giant mop-dogs sleeping in the sun.

This area of Canada is dotted with small towns and communities. Along the way, one discovers covered bridges. New Brunswick contains over 60 covered bridges.

Restaurants can be hard to come by, even with local recommendations. In the Bay of Fundy area we had lunch at the park - a lobster roll.

Before dinner we visited Waterside Farms Cottage Winery and tasted their famous blueberry wine - both sweet and dry versions. Surprisingly tasty. Unfortunately, they do no ship to the States.

For dinner we landed at the Tides in Alma, New Brunswick. It reminded me of the traditional seafood restaurants that I visited with my parents as a child, only this one featured lobster instead of shrimp and crab. 

We shared a Lobster Dip with crispy pita. Hubby decided on the scallops, a feature of the Tides. Decent, but not extraordinary. I went with an unconventional choice for me - Lobster-stuffed Chicken. Once again, decent.  Both were accompanied by a baked potato and veggies.

What was interesting about this place was the view. We could see the tide coming in and it came in fast. I was able to get a before and after photo.

On our drive back through New Brunswick we stopped at Fred's Restaurant in Cap Pele. Once again, a traditional place, but since Cap Pele is in the heart of Acadia country, all of the staff spoke French. Hubby enjoyed fried shrimp and I had an open-faced turkey sandwich. The turkey was real roasted turkey; none of the processed, sliced stuff here.

Before we left Canada, we spent the night in Saint John. This is the largest city in New Brunswick and cruise ships stop in for the day. A quaint place with some interesting church spires and architecture.

  A lot of the shops are only open when the cruise tourists roam, thus, we covered the heart of the town fairly quickly. We did visit Barbour's General Store and came upon a Canadian candy called Chicken Bones.

Saint John also features a market including a booth with fresh Dulse, a type of seaweed.

I think we did hit upon the best restaurant in town, Opera Bistro. When we crossed the threshold the place looked more like a take-out place with a counter displaying desserts and implements for coffee and espresso. However, when we perused the menu, we knew we had landed at a little gem.

The wine list was a bit challenging, but it seemed that the Province of New Brunswick had issues with supplying their Canadian residents with affordable and tasty wine. We ended up with a Cabernet Franc/Cabernet Sauvignon from Niagara's Jackson Triggs. Not bad.

To start, we had a warm lobster potato salad. Absolutely awesome! Hubby enjoyed baked salmon with a blueberry salsa. Right up his taste bud alley. I had the duck confit sandwich. Yummy! If you find yourself in Saint John, go here to eat.

New Brunswick is definitely the place to explore the Bay of Fundy and the varied and awe-inspiring geological formations. Great culinary places are few and far between, but little gems can be discovered.

My All-Time Favorite App from Lemaire

Tuna Martini a photo by pjpink on Flickr.

Tuna Martini - sushi-grade ahi tuna served raw with English cucumbers, avocado coulis, flying fish roe, and sesame seaweed salad. I request no cucumbers because cukes and me just don't get a long. The last time I enjoyed this app I was sitting on the new patio at Lemaire. Delicious!

Dinner Doesn't Dampen Delightful Duo

Back in early October, hubby and I attended a concert at the Modlin Center with Philip Glass and Tim Fain. Glass is my favorite composer and to have a chance to hear him play was amazing. Tim Fain plays the violin and was unknown to us. He is a fantastic musician. We thoroughly enjoyed both artists.

Before the concert we went to Azzuro for dinner. The last time we ate at Azzuro was before we moved to Richmond. While we liked it well enough then, we were not very impressed this time. Service was okay, but nothing to rave about. Everyone was preoccupied with a big party to the detriment of the few early diners. To eat we tried the calamari. Again, okay, but does not compare to Wild Ginger, Lemaire, or Bistro 27.

We also tried Mozzarella en Carrozza - Bufala mozzarella between egg battered bread sauteed in olive oil and topped with an anchovy porcini mushroom sauce. It sounded interesting, but was disappointing. I somehow thought the bread would be fried a bit more. It also seemed like there was ham or prosciutto added to the mix? If not, what was it? I just did not like it. If this is the way the dish is supposed to be, chalk it up to my lack of knowledge.

We also shared a Toasted Pepperoni Pizza. Azzuro has a brick oven for pizza. The pizza had goat cheese as well as mozzarella which added an interesting twist. But once again, the pizza was okay. Aziza's on Main and the newly opened Flames 231 are much better.

Since we were in the vicinity, it made sense for us to try Azzuro. We'll probably choose other options for future Modlin events.

Bacon-wrapped Shrimp at Lunch

Bacon-wrapped Shrimp a photo by pjpink on Flickr.

We went to Lunch in Scott's Addition for dinner one evening. The special appetizer was bacon-wrapped shrimp served over griddle cakes. So good! and a very quaint and cozy place to hang out.

Richmond Folk Festival 2012

Greetings all. You may or may not have missed me. Hubby and I have been gallivanting up and down the east coast on vacation with a few local festivals in between. Since I take a ton of photos, I've been busy editing and uploading all manner of visual stimulation.

My favorite RVA festival, hands-down, is the Richmond Folk Festival. We managed to attend all three days. The weather was wonderful. We like to mix it up a bit by listening to some wonderful performances and then enjoying dinner at one of the restaurants nearby.

On Friday before the festival began, we enjoyed a cocktail at Bistro 27 along with Fried Calamari at the bar.

While we there, Phil Wiggins arrived at the bar for a beer and the Beef Carpaccio.

At the festival we began on a Celtic note with the Liz Carroll Trio and some mighty fine Cape Breton and Irish fiddling.

We ended up at Chez Foushee for dinner. The Steak with Bordelaise Sauce and Truffle Salt Fries and Duck Confit with Candied Orange Peel Gastrique ended up being very satisfying choices. The orange sauce in the duck dish was subtle and gave the rice a slightly sweet and slightly tannic edge. A Milbrandt Vineyards Cab complemented both dishes.

On Saturday, we arrived around noon and enjoyed a wonderful Jambalaya from Gail's Gumbo House. Gail is local and the "better half" of Big Daddy's BBQ. You can also find Gail dishing up BBQ and Gumbo at the South of the James Market most Saturdays.

We experienced wonderful musical performances including Forro Pe De Serra All Stars and Nathan and the Zydeco Cha-chas.

Everyone rocked the Dominion Dance Pavilion. As usual, what a fun time.

We drifted over to the Community Stage to catch the American Indian Music and Dance Show as well as James "Super Chikan" Johnson and the Fighting Cocks. Super Chikan turned out to be my favorite act. These guys were so good and I appreciated the fact that all of the "Fighting Cocks" were women. If you get a chance make sure you catch a performance somewhere. I loved Lala on the keyboards and Heather on the bass was always cool and in the groove sporting bared feet.

After we revived from our blues-kicking experience we wandered over to Bistro Bobette to see if they had any tables available. We had not dined here in a very long time. Not because we didn't want to; it just did not happen. The sign of an incredible place is when they still recognize you and treat you as an old friend. Olivier, the bartender, greeted us enthusiastically and set us up with a nice table despite our t-shirts and somewhat dusty jeans. One of the owners also welcomed us warmly. We really felt like we had returned home. Hubby ordered the Arctic Char with a white wine pesto. He thoroughly enjoyed it. I could not resist ordering the Veal Tenderloin with a garlic, rosemary, and red pepper sauce. Most excellent. The touch of red pepper was a special treat along with a few sprigs of fresh oregano. We enjoyed a lovely and silky Burgundy with the meal.

Our aim on Sunday was to attend the Blues House Party with Nathan Williams, James Johnson, Phil Wiggins, and John Dee Holeman among others. What a great jam session. This was the best performance of the festival (at least for us).

John Dee Holeman

Phil Wiggins

One last bit and it was an unexpected delight. The folkways exhibits featured Fried Apple Pies. My Grandma used to make these half-moon shaped desserts for every family gathering and I loved them. She used dried apples and lots of spices and rolled out her own dough. I never got her recipe (she passed away before I became interested in cooking). I have run across fried apple pies in different places, but none of them had dried apples. Well, Frances Davis gave me a sweet taste of nostalgia on the final day of the Folk Festival. The dough was slightly different, but after one taste I knew it would be the closest I would get to my favorite childhood dessert.

The booth handed out recipes and I am including it here.

For the Pie Crust

4 cups plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 cups shortening
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk

Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Take out 2/3's of this mixture and mix with 1/2 cup milk to form a paste. Add the shortening to remaining flour and blend until pieces are the size of small peas. Add flour paste to shortening flour mixture. Mix well until dough comes together and can be shaped into a ball. Roll out crust 1/8 inch thick. Make five pie crusts. Use more liquid if you desire softer dough.

For the Pie Filling

6 cups dried apples
3 teaspoons allspice
3 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon salt

Mix all ingredients together in a large sauce pan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until thick. Cool overnight before making pies.

This is the end of the recipe. I assume the next steps are to place the apples onto the pie crust, fold over, crimp, and fry in hot oil. In any case, a delicious taste of the past.

If you have never attended the Richmond Folk Festival, you are missing out on one of the best things that RVA has to offer. First of all, it's FREE!!! and they provide shuttle buses if you are not interested in finding parking downtown (also free). The wide variety of music is phenomenal and all of the performers are incredible. A great way to enjoy a weekend and discover new music and cultures.

The Carytown Farmers Market

A new Sunday market just sprouted up: The Carytown Farmers Market. The market is open 10 AM until 2 PM every Sunday. Opening day brought rain so my pics are few, but, while small, the market offers a nice variety of veggies, fruit, flowers, meat (including duck!), doggie treats, pickles, and fresh pasta.

Keep supporting your local farmers!

Aziza's on Main - Now Serving...

Vodka Limeades! And only $5 during Happy Hour!

I toasted my nephew with one of these to congratulate him as he makes his way in the world. The smart guy with the incredible hair is off on a full ride to Hampden-Sydney. (Please note: Nephew celebrated with water. He can get his own adult limeades when he gets a degree and a well-paying job!)

We also had pizza. The best pizza my nephew ever had. Thank you, Aziza, for making the night a special one!