and sometimes, days are just good
We've all had those weeks where nothing goes right. I've been having them pretty constantly lately. But today was absolutely fantastic.
It started off meeting up with my parents for the Christmas Carol reading at Church of the Redeemer. Sean Cullen started off the show, and man, can he tell a story. Bob Rae took up next (before going off to get elected somewhere), and Loreena McKennitt closed out the first act, as well as providing two of my favourite Christmas songs of hers for musical accompaniment, with the help of Hugh Marsh and Brian Hughes. Marilyn Lightstone took up act 2, to be finished off by the emotional and moving Cedric Smith, who had tears in his eyes at the end. And let me tell you, you haven't lived until you've heard Professor X read Christmas stories.
Following the excellent reading, we headed out to dinner at Bier Markt on the Esplanade, where I actually got an amazing meal. That may not sound like much, but when you're living the SCD life, such things happen rarely. Usually, I present my list of foods I can and can't eat to the chef, and I'm lucky to get an eye-roll and a plate of wilted spinach. I often bring hard-boiled eggs with me when going out to dinner in anticipation of just such a thing. But the Bier Markt didn't let me down. In the words of the gentleman who brought me my meal, "we're all foodies here, and we want everyone to enjoy themselves."
So instead of plain vegetables with all the flavour steamed out, I got a veritable feast. For my dinner, they made me beef tenderloin with sauteed onions and mushrooms on a bed of buttered spinach, carrots, and asparagus, with a red wine reduction (yes, they actually checked my alcohol list to see what they could do) that catapulted it from good into "oh my god." The table was even graced with the Bacon Dance, normally only reserved for bacon. It was absolutely amazing. The rest of the family tried some of the leftover reduction on their fries, and Mum summed it up nicely. "Oh, wow. Flavour."
And they didn't stop there. For dessert, they made me a cheese plate with berries and blueberry honey. I left the restaurant incredibly happy and absolutely full -- another thing that almost never happens.
Bier Markt is now in the good books, and I'm immensely grateful to the chef and everyone there for a phenomenal experience.
It started off meeting up with my parents for the Christmas Carol reading at Church of the Redeemer. Sean Cullen started off the show, and man, can he tell a story. Bob Rae took up next (before going off to get elected somewhere), and Loreena McKennitt closed out the first act, as well as providing two of my favourite Christmas songs of hers for musical accompaniment, with the help of Hugh Marsh and Brian Hughes. Marilyn Lightstone took up act 2, to be finished off by the emotional and moving Cedric Smith, who had tears in his eyes at the end. And let me tell you, you haven't lived until you've heard Professor X read Christmas stories.
Following the excellent reading, we headed out to dinner at Bier Markt on the Esplanade, where I actually got an amazing meal. That may not sound like much, but when you're living the SCD life, such things happen rarely. Usually, I present my list of foods I can and can't eat to the chef, and I'm lucky to get an eye-roll and a plate of wilted spinach. I often bring hard-boiled eggs with me when going out to dinner in anticipation of just such a thing. But the Bier Markt didn't let me down. In the words of the gentleman who brought me my meal, "we're all foodies here, and we want everyone to enjoy themselves."
So instead of plain vegetables with all the flavour steamed out, I got a veritable feast. For my dinner, they made me beef tenderloin with sauteed onions and mushrooms on a bed of buttered spinach, carrots, and asparagus, with a red wine reduction (yes, they actually checked my alcohol list to see what they could do) that catapulted it from good into "oh my god." The table was even graced with the Bacon Dance, normally only reserved for bacon. It was absolutely amazing. The rest of the family tried some of the leftover reduction on their fries, and Mum summed it up nicely. "Oh, wow. Flavour."
And they didn't stop there. For dessert, they made me a cheese plate with berries and blueberry honey. I left the restaurant incredibly happy and absolutely full -- another thing that almost never happens.
Bier Markt is now in the good books, and I'm immensely grateful to the chef and everyone there for a phenomenal experience.