Another Extravagant Purchase

Good Sunday morning. Each snowflake falling outside my window this morning gently swirls around on its own path, before joining the big fluffy flakes that fell before it. Lorraine (my sister, best friend, and publisher) and I refer to this kind of snow as Charlie Brown snow. It usually falls when the temperatures are milder, adding to the enjoyment of the experience.

I spent almost an hour looking through images and photos of Charlie Brown in the snow. I saw this little video. It was fun to watch.

When I am home for extended periods of time, I like to stay in a routine (a loose routine). Part of this routine is taking one day a week off. I know this sounds unusual since I am off for the entire winter, but my days are filled working on projects and I make sure to take one day a week where my latest project is set aside. I like to take this "day off" on Tuesdays (my day off for 24 years when we had the restaurant). In the winter, my Tuesday off sometimes lands on a Wednesday if the weather is not good for driving; however, this past Tuesday was perfect. Full of sunshine! It was very cold so we decided it would be fun to drive down to Laval (a little over an hour south of Tremblant) and walk around the mall. A great way to get our steps in for the day. I asked Lorraine if we could stop at the smaller mall first. I wanted to visit the store where I bought the beautiful colored paring knives. I didn't have anything in particular that I wished to purchase but I enjoy walking through a kitchen store. Lorraine pointed out a rectangular organizer and suggested it might be nice in my new all-fridge. Lorraine has heard me repeatedly say how much I like my new fridge. I shared with her that I open the door to look in even if I don't need anything. I just liked to look in and see all the space available to me. We were surprised how many comments from last week's post referred to my new fridge and the surprise that there was such a thing as an all-fridge. In the first few days of my new fridge, I moved the items around onto different shelves trying to find the perfect spot for everything. Sometimes having too much space is as challenging as having too little space. The two new rectangular organizers would be perfect for my herbs and the other I thought I could put little items, like the 1/2 can of artichokes that I had leftover when I made my frittatas.

I like to have fresh herbs in my fridge. I usually keep them in little jars with a bit of water. The jars fit perfectly in one of my new rectangular fridge organizers.

We carried the items to the car, which included a bag with my old winter boots. In the car on our way that morning I had mentioned to Lorraine that I would like to look for new boots. Shopping for boots in January offers great discounts and sales. I found the perfect pair and after paying for them and removing the stickers, wore them out of the store. I apologized to Lorraine for repeating myself every 100 yards about my comfortable new boots. Before driving across the main highway to the larger mall we stopped at the Avril grocery store which was attached to the mall. It is always fun to walk through grocery stores, and we walked through each aisle, remarking on items that we had not seen before. We were so excited to see Theobroma Chocolate displayed on a top shelf. Lorraine saw it first and when she directed my eyes to it, we both noticed flavors that we had not seen before. We had previously tried the raspberry and Himalayan salt flavors. In this store, they had more options: orange, espresso, and coconut. We each got one of each flavor and when we got in the car we shared the espresso flavor first.

We were excited to see all the flavors.

We don't get to the mall very often and when we were walking through the large mall making sure to walk down each hall to make sure we didn't miss anything, we were trying to remember the last time we were there. I opened up my photos and typed Laval in the search bar. There it was, a photo of Lorraine and me at the mall, and we both laughed when we saw the date, almost exactly one year before. We are not big shoppers and had no intention of buying anything (else in my case as I looked down at my new boots). We could not believe how many stores had been replaced and were disappointed to see that the Spicebros Kiosk which was there last year was gone. We hadn't planned on eating there but talked about the delicious butter chicken wrap we had there last year. The wrap was freshly made before your eyes and then filled with the ingredients of your choice.

I was delighted to see this photo from 2015 when I put Laval in the search tab of my photos. We had taken our parents to see the Christmas lights. Nice memories

There are a few stores that I like to walk through with no intention of buying. I usually go in to look, and without even looking at the price tag, I know that it is out of my budget. One of these stores is the Creuset Store. I love to see all the colorful pieces displayed like jewels under the bright lights. A sales lady approached us and before we could say we are just looking she said the red braising pan I was admiring was 40% off. I am good at basic math and quickly calculated the original price of $445.00 x 40%...a little over $160 off. It brought the price of the beautiful red braising pan with lid to under $300.00. Lorraine's voice broke through my silent calculations. She said I should get the beautiful red pan. She said I will enjoy it and it's a good investment. It was hard to argue. To be honest, I never thought I would own a Creuset pan. I tried to think of a reason not to make the extravagant purchase but could not think of anything. I smiled at the saleslady and said I'll take it. We were parked at the opposite end of the mall and we asked if we could continue our walk and come back later to pick up the unusually heavy pan, one of the Creuset signature characteristics. I knew it was a good decision when the rest of our walk through the mall was not about regret for making the big purchase but excitement of all the things I would cook in the beautiful red pan. My mom would have loved it, and my dad would have looked at it from a design point of view and knew he would benefit from all the delicious food that would be cooked in it. Our parents showed us by example that sometimes an extravagant purchase was more than an extravagant purchase but something that can be enjoyed for years to come. It can be the center of many stories. Their mid-1970's purchase of a Porsche 914 when they were out shopping for a birdcage comes to mind.

The saleslady was so nice and I asked if she would join me in a photo to share with you.

To pronounce the “T” or not?

Tuesday was fun, and before heading north on the windy highway through the Laurentian mountains, we stopped at our favorite grocery store, Adonis. We thought it best to stop at their hot food counter first and order something to eat before shopping. The suggestion to never shop on an empty stomach is true. Everything looks so delicious when shopping hungry. We sat in the little area with the white tables and red chairs and unpacked our chicken and salads. Lorraine unpacked the two stainless steel forks that she carries with her. I appreciate this because eating with plastic or bamboo disposable utensils takes away from the experience of eating the delicious meals we purchase from a kiosk. She wraps the forks up when we finish, takes them home, washes them and packs them up for the next occasion. We walked through the store and I reminded myself that although I had more space in my beautiful new fridge, I should not get carried away, buying too much.

We always order the same. The salads are so delicious.

We drove home and appreciated that the sunny morning that we set out on was now a beautiful clear evening with sparkling stars. It was a great day off. The following morning I thought about what I would cook in my new red Creuset. I opened the door to my new fridge and when my eyes landed on the Japanese eggplant that I had purchased a few days before, I knew. I had purchased them to make my Asian Eggplant recipe with vegetable riced cauliflower. I wanted to use them while they were still fresh and decided that would be the first meal. Before starting to make the first meal I read the How to use your Creuset instructions booklet. The saleslady said it was important before the first use. When I told Lorraine, she was shocked because I never read the instructions. I guess it proved how pleased I was with my purchase and that I wanted to care for the expensive pan.

I found the perfect spot to store my new Creuset. It makes me smile when I walk by and see I actually have this in my home.

The Asian eggplant and vegetable riced cauliflower was the first recipe I made in my new Creuset. Both the Asian eggplant and the vegetable riced cauliflower are in my second cookbook “More Recipes and Stories as we Navigate Healthier Eating”

I bought marinated pork souvlaki from the Adonis store. It went really well with a white radish salad, lemon pepper cauliflower and roasted carrots. I also made a beet horseradish salad that I am trying to replicate. Lorraine and I had it at the German Deli and it was so delicious. I made a mint sauce with fresh mint to go with the souvlaki.

The rest of my days this week have been spent finishing the book accounting. I am always excited when the monthly bank statement I am working on is balanced and there is a $0 in the "left to reconcile" amount space. My goal is to have the accounting completed by Tuesday. Lorraine and I talked about driving to Plattsburg, NY as a treat to celebrate the completion of the taxes. We will be going to the US post office to mail books. We will happily mail your book order too. Lorraine has prepared a blog for you. I enjoyed reading it and I think you will too. Just click on the following link.

“What Can I Eat?” — Ship To Shore | Chef Catherine Schmuck | Author, Entrepreneur & Cook | Canada

Have a great day.

As soon as I finish working on the book accounting I will continue working on our next project. I can’t wait. We will be making a trip to the US post office on Tuesday and will be happy to mail your book to you.