COPPER BRANCH

A Remarkable Restaurant Opens in Westmount

Starting in Montreal, Copper Branch now has restaurants in several parts of Canada. Renown for its complete commitment to plant-based cuisine, the company creates delicious dishes that reflect its forward-looking food philosophy. Each bite is an edible treasure where tantalizing taste and nutrition are in balance. Copper Branch contributes to bettering the world through healthy eating and various well-being projects it is involved in.

The Power of Hope, Inspiration and Hard Work

Byron Ruiz had been working in operations in Copper Branch. He believed in the company so much, and was looking for yet another challenge in the company, so together, with his life partner Christine Harries, co-owners, Michelle and Lorenzo DellaForesta  and with the blessing of Rio Infantino, president of Copper Branch, they opened up their own restaurant in Westmount, Quebec. They're all proud to be a part of the Copper Branch banner. Setting up the restaurant in Westmount demanded an intense renovation of the former framing store. Christine put her architectural engineering skills into high gear, and after about six months of rigorous work and everyone pulling together, the banner on a new Copper Branch location was happily hoisted.

Giving with Immeasurable Rewards

But the couple was not motivated by money to do this; rather it was brotherly love. Byron’s brother, Carlos had been diagnosed with T cell lymphoma, but his life-long hope never wavered. It had always been a dream of his to own a Copper Branch Restaurant – ever since the company first started in 2014.

Carlos Ruiz

“It is a gift for me to now be on board in a vital way with my family and friends supporting me all the time in the restaurant. My life really stopped when I got lymphoma and now it’s restarted. It is a total blessing for me to work close up and personal with it all – overseeing many aspects to our restaurant; I really love what Copper Branch is doing to better people’s lives. I also speak about cancer as well holding the Copper Branch banner. It has given me energy and a purpose. When I started here, my eating changed; lost weight and felt far more energized. The food we serve is prepared fresh and with much care. In fact, we are a community here – all supporting one another and spreading that key ingredient: love.”

Carlos with Christine Harries

A Menu that creatively involves the Customer

It’s kind of fun, but you can actually build your own dish with the many appetizing surprises Copper Branch has behind its counter. Substitute quinoa if you like in place of brown rice. I of course was mesmerized the healthy variety of offerings, and relied on Carlos to serve my companion and myself some of his recommendations. I totally loved the spicy black bean burger. The patty was made of black beans, sunflower seeds, sweet potato, brown rice and more. Its home-made South West Sauce was so tasty.  Perfectly shaped carrot keftedes that we dipped into aїoli creamy garlic set off other flavours of turmeric, fresh mint and fennel – to mention a few goodies in this number

Colourful and Inventive: the Taste of Health in Every Dish

Copper Branch offers four fabulous burgers and so many exotically tasty dishes. Even its sandwiches hold the promise of excitement. Imagine digging into the smoked tofu and grilled vegetable sandwich or how about the shitake teriyaki sandwich. I fell in love with the shitake mushrooms on first bite of the General Copper Bowl dish.  Carlos explained that these mushrooms are first dehydrated and then rehydrated. They were scrumptious and filling. I could have ordered a whole dish of them. 

New Astoundingly scrumptious Sandwich that Sent me into Lunch Lift-off Heaven
I returned shortly after the launch of Copper Branch's latest awesome addition: The  terrifically tasty maple bacon tempeh sandwich. I gobbled it up joyfully. Over nine layered ingredients and items go into this edible masterpiece, including, smoked maple tempeh, caramelized onions, Swiss Vegan cheese, BBQ mango sauce and sweet potatoes. The sauce is extraordinarily delicious; its addictive flavour brilliantly enhances the other items in the sandwich. The tempeh itself is marinated with tofu marinate, cinnamon and turmeric. Supremely healthy, YOU MUST ORDER THIS GOD-LIKE creation. 
I capped it off with the remarkable raspberry chia pudding that pours like a sauce into every spoonful. 

Five Power Bowls are offered with a base of several choices including brown rice, quinoa and Konjka noodles. Protein choices are exotic and include Tempeh, Smoked tofu, and Shitake. Flavours seem to travel the world: Greece, Asia, Mexico and the Mediterranean mix. You’ve got to try the basil dressing. It’s creamy and incredibly addictive. In fact, everything I had here was light, yet the variety of ingredients packed into each dish created a remarkable discovery experience for me. Layered with robust portions and flavours, each number had its own colourful presentation with interesting tastes – some spicy, some subtle, but never predictable or boring.

Carlos insisted I try the incredible gluten-free brownie made with cocoa and Zucchini. I was too full, so he handed it to me in his package and told me to make sure to heat it up with coffee. It was sensational! I also tried the cashew lime cheesecake; it was interesting. By the way, Copper branch coffee is an exclusive, organic home-made blend. It is Fair Trade, Swiss filtered and of the highest quality. It’s served with coconut milk, soya or almond milk. No lactose milk here. Copper Branch is a way of life. I’m on board.  

Good news!

They cater for personal and business events.

Copper Branch is located at 5003 Sherbrooke West, at the corner of Claremont in Westmount. Call (514) 379-4616.

They’re on Face book. Look them up at Copper Branch Westmount.

JALOUSIE (Directed by David Foenkinos & Stéphane Foenkinos)*****

A great film that shows the comedic and dramatic talents of the incredibly beautiful Karin Viard who plays Nathalie, a literature professor who suffers from non-stop jealousy – over her daughter’s looks – over a suitor who happens to innocently watch the daughter pass by the dinner table one night at her mom’s home, over young women, over a new young teacher who poses a threat to her own class. Nathalie becomes vindictive and nasty. She occidentally causes an allergic reaction in her daughter who is auditioning for the ballet Opera. Nathalie is in denial about her bizarre and dangerous behaviour, yet somehow the film makes it funny. Nathalie is in need of help but it seems to come very late in her journey of jealousy. I loved this film; its message is clear: middle-aged women suffer from self-doubt and more. Let’s face it too. French women are rather gorgeous, so it must be a all the more tricky to "compete" with others who are young. (Screened at Montreal’s 2017 Cinemania Festival)

THE HIBERNATION OF TALENT

Are you one of the many who think that playing an instrument or singing (even in the shower) is not your forte – that ‘Chopsticks’ and humming the doorbell are as good as it gets for you?

As for dancing, you do it in front of the TV when Ellen DeGeneres invites you to join in -- as her sidekick.  No threat there; she can’t see you. Nor can anyone else -- once you’re inside a pitch black dance hall, crammed with crazies wired to show the world they can hip hop, samba, crunch, even belly flop right into the lap of an unsuspecting wall flower. 
You can still feel the pain when a humourless oaf known as ‘big foot’ decided you had an enticing big toe, and stepped on it. Ouch!  That pain still lingers -- even though it happened ten years ago!

Painting is far more peaceful, but you opt for the kind that comes from a gallon because painting a room is no sweat-- well maybe a little -- if the ventilation is poor. (More about your painting stint in school soon follows).

Acting is something you’ve considered. You’ll accept a role - as a rock. You’ve considered taking photography at Algonquin College, but that would mean buying a camera and umpteen lenses. 

Clearly, you’re suffering from IMOOTS (I missed out on talent syndrome). Growing up, you believed that talent was reserved for special people, given to them by God or passed on through the genes. You claim talent eluded you from the get-go - that you belong to the land of bureaucrats, business boys and bean counters,  occupations not exactly brimming with artistic zeal.

Sadly, people who perceive themselves as talentless take it as an irrevocable fact - confirmed since childhood. For example, your parents were told by your piano teacher after a year of lessons (possibly longer, depending on how greedy the teacher was) that they were wasting their hard earned money, that you had no musicality at all. Of course she left out the part about yelling at you every time you hit a wrong note. So your parents informed you in a rather blunt manner: “No more piano lessons; your teacher says you have no talent.” Being a trusting child, you believed them.

Dancing lessons were out for you since your older sister already had that one wrapped up in her pretty pink toe shoes tutu and leotard. 
 But wait! None of your siblings had tackled theatre; things were looking up, until the first time you walked out on stage and broke out in a nervous rash.

Painting percolated in your mind intermittently, but you were young and had no idea what to paint; your mind drew a blank. Thank God for grade one art class. At least they gave you some paints, and they told you what to draw, such as a dog, cat, house or the person sitting next to you.  But let’s be honest: the lesson was really about how to tidy up after you finished your finger painting.  During one nifty brush painting class in grade five, you recall the teacher coming around, complimenting you on the dog you had just painted. Without warning, her happy smile quickly turned into tight-lipped anger when you told her (without meaning any harm) that the ‘dog’ was actually her face, and that the ‘snout’ was her nose!

In my grade seven class at Broadview Avenue Public School, we were making clay ashtrays, putting them into the kiln after we had painted them. The teacher selected mine to show the class. I was beaming. She then announced with great drama in her voice:  “This is how not to make an ashtray.  I was crushed and swore off art forever.

But, life doesn't do ‘never’. Twenty years after the ashtray trauma, I discovered talent is a trickster, and that the past can be your invisible stalker - if you let it. You can be five years old or fifty when talent pops out. Surprise!

Since those infamous days, I have made a series of handmade wooden books, shaped as trees, snowflakes and the sun. I dared to illustrate them myself, even ink in my poetry.  All 200 of them were sold – the first one having been purchased by the curator of Queens University -- to my utter astonishment. The point is, no one told me to make such things or not to. Their creative entry into this world was born from an intense desire to express my love of nature in a tangible manner.  

My desire to create an educational board game all about colour and our universe resulted in my creation of a colour wheel forming the tail of ‘Professor Peacock’. Kids landed on colour squares, picked up a matching colour card and tried to answer the question on the card. This game, titled ‘The Colour Jungle” demanded months to create; it was a labour of love. I somehow had to get that idea realized, and thus the game (never marketed) was born.

Eric Hoffer, the great twentieth century philosopher, wrote: “We are told that talent creates its own opportunities, but it sometimes seems that intense desire creates not only its own opportunities, but its own talents.”  So, a passion to express is the prime provenance of talent.

All of us have talent; what you do about it is key – how do you respond to it? Are you a nay-sayer or a yeah-sayer? Luckily, as adults, we are free to explore the myriad of talents hibernating inside us.

I never predicted I would take up the banjo at the age of 49!  Making three banjo CDs certainly came as a shock to me and everyone who knew me as a piano gal.  Talent is an unpredictable visitor. It’s never too late to explore your ‘heart ideas’ through an art. Don’t give up when talent turns from exhilaration to exasperation.

Gustave Flaubert said: “Talent is a long patience; originality is an effort of will and intense observation.” Many of us give up. I did several times, but I always returned to the task at hand, and each time I did, I realized talent never leaves you. You leave it. Life gets in the way; you get tired.  Stanislavski, the pioneer of method acting used to tell his students: “inspiration is a minute part of talent; the rest is perspiration.”

I can recall practising a really difficult bar of a Bach fugue. I realized I would never get it right. I could rip up the page, bang endlessly on the ivories, or walk away and wait until the desire to express that piece in its entirety returned, and if it didn’t, so be it. I waited 5 months to revisit that bar; I deeply wanted to play that piece, and now I do. Desire gave me the will to overcome the technical challenges. You see, it was not miraculous god-given talent that enabled me to master (to some degree) that piece of music. It was motivation, a state of mind and the desire to express it. Goethe said it best: “Talent finds its happiness in execution.”

Ross Schorer, a former student of Arthur Lismer (Group of Seven), now a highly sought-after art teacher believes everyone is an artist, but self doubt gets in the way. “Many people are afraid of expressing their talent; they risk rejection. It starts as a kid: a family member dismisses the painting you just showed. I know everyone has talent; it can be coaxed out any time. My job is to bring it out of burial. Once this talent is freed, the individual can paint.”

Talent ‘talks’ to you. Release it from hibernation. 

MARIANNE FAITHFULL

A compelling reveal from the iconic singer herself talking about her days with Mick Jagger, her descent into drugs, living on the streets of new York, her stint as a theatre actor and her remarkable come-back. She confesses that her life has really been lived without much thought, taking opportunities when they were given to her. She obviously paid the price for entering a worked she could not cope with, for this beautiful woman is essentially shy and anti-social. Sandrine Bonnaire directed this and conducted the interviews. Marianne Faithfull really could not sing well, and today her voice is best suited for a Brechtian production. Her songs these days are very confessional, and despite her age, her charisma continues to captivate.

FIFA BRINGS GREAT ART FILMS TO US

L’HISTOIRES D’ ISRAEL

 A talking heads presentation by writers and other intellects who express their love fo the country and its many layers and faults.. Inevitably, the main topic is the conflict between Palestinians and Jews. (Screened at FIfA).

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FOCUS IRAN – L'AUDACE AU PREMIER PLAN

A brilliant presentation of several female photographers and what they have to go through to be one. There is so much censorship, but these brave women risk a lot to get their relisitc and often quirky photographs. Many show the repression of women and the depression that is concurrent to being a woman in Iran. (Screened at FIFA)

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JACQUES BREL

A black and white retrospective on this brilliant singer who sought solitude but attracted internatioanl fame with his songs and passionate performances. He left his first family and did a lot of roaming, A restless artist who suffered both in childhood and later. The clips were rare and illuminating. It is always a joy to watch and hear him. Sad, he is no longer with us. Clips were rare and illuminating. It is always a joy to watch and hear him. Sad, he is no longer with us. (Screened at FIFA).

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BECOMING CARY GRANT

Beloved by all, Bristol-born, Grant (Archie Leach) was actually and somewhat ironically, a private person. In the late 1950s, all his life he felt his public persona was not fulfilling to his authentic self. Hollywood sucked him in. His quest is peace of mind. He wanted to rid himself of all hypocrisies. He consults a shrink and nothing seemed to get him what he wanted until he took LSD. This is a highly revealing film about a great actor and man. He took to the fusion of outward and inward “trips”. Judy Babalan was his best friend and she narrates a lot. She says he invented himself and everyone wanted to be like him. But his crisis he faced head-on. He became a different man after each weekly 5-hour session. His subconscious enlightened him after each therapeutic trip where a mosaic of past and present created for him a montage of his life and direction for the future. The film is a type of LSD trip as well as it shows his dreams. He says love eluded him. Manners took over. his mother left him. This gave him trouble with women. Three marriages later, lack of turst overcame in them due to abandonment issues.  Clearly, he suffered from poverty of affect. This film is a must for those in search of the real person behind the actor who was groomed to become the perfect gentleman.

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THE MISSION OF KENT NAGANO

A wonderful film on the Montreal conductor’s prodigious journey to bring classical music to the young, starting right in Montreal at St-Remi School. In addition, “The Magic Flute” was performed in Hamburg with him conducting and directing the youth during rehearsals. Maestro Nagano’s greatest inspiration came from a teacher who settled in the village where he was raised on a farm. This maestro was multi-talented and his many artistic talents shaped the young Nagano. Intent to find out why classical music is not as connected as it ought to be to young people, he states so many reasons that this will change, thanks to his personal efforts. He reveals the power of music as it affects all humans. The documentary takes us to Montreal. Hamburg and Japan as the lens reveals the great  maestro’s contributions. (Screened at FIFA).
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MUSIC IS MUSIC

Soprano, Barbara Hannigan conducts the Ludwig Orchestra and sings Lulu and Crazy Girl. I think the filmmaker was more in love with her hair than anything else.. It made me think that Berg, composer of “Lulu” was usurped by Debussy, who composed “The Girl with the Flaxen Hair”.  Hannigan sings with the orchestra and the musicians play and sing too. The film lacked complete focus, and this subject needed a far more liner and logical approach rather then just showing her conducting and landscape scenes with a voice of a man remembering his childhood and excitement about his music teacher. Who this man behind the voice is supposed to be is unclear.

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MARIANNE FAITHFULL

A compelling reveal from the iconic singer herself talking about her days with Mick Jagger, her descent into drugs, living on the streets of new York, her stint as a theatre actor and her remarkable come-back. She confesses that her life has really been lived without much thought, taking opportunities when they were given to her. She obviously paid the price for entering a worked she could not cope with, for this beautiful woman is essentially shy and anti-social. Sandrine Bonnaire directed this and conducted the interviews. Marianne Faithfull really could not sing well, and today her voice is best suited for a Brechtian production. Her songs these days are very confessional, and despite her age, her charisma continues to captivate.

TEHRAN TABOO (Directed by Ali Soozandeh) ****

This exquisitely animated feature uses rotoscope to create a remarkably realistic rendering of characters caught in the jaws of Islamic hypocrisy. They include a musician in need of finding money to give to a girl he thinks he got pregnant; a woman who induces abortions to escape her husband’s hold; another woman who whores herself out to a judge to get papers to divorce her husband. Her child is mute but he, like us, watches the drama unfold. Restrictive Iran forces people to live well below the radar to survive. But some get caught or others take their own lives to avoid shame. Freedom and happiness are not within their reach. A wonderful film that daringly shows how bad things are, and how like everyone else, people can do awful things to fulfil their own agenda. Women are the ones who suffer under the male yoke there. This is a German-Austrian co-production.

ATTACK OF THE SOUTHERN FRIED ZOMBIES (Directed by Mark Newton) ***

 Meat pies and the killer corp kudzu seem to be a big part of the Zombie transformation.  This vicious crop is killing all and turning them into zombies. But Lonnie - who flies a dust crop plane -- leads his marginalized group of Zombie-fighters. They're stuck having to take them all out.  Fun horror but so gory, you'll never want to eat a meat pie again. What an entertaining kudzu-kitsch movie to watch! Great for Montreal’s Fantasia Festival if it’s selected. It should be. 

FESTIVAL ACCES ASIA: SIX FABULOUS CONCERTS

Oracle Bones , Friday May 4 at 8pm at  Sala Rossa 4848 St-Laurent  

Indivisible , From Thursday May 10^th to Sunday May 13^th, 8pm at MAI (Montréal, arts interculturels) 3680, Jeanne-Mance

Eau douce, Eau trouble, Friday May 11^th 8pm, at Gesù – Centre de créativité 1200, de Bleury

Strings of Romance, INDIAN MUSIC CONCERT, Saturday May 12^th 7:30pm,  at  Bourgie Hall  Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal 1339, Sherbrooke W.

Golestan, Friday May 18^th 8pm, at Sala Rossa 4848, St-Laurent

Wind of Asia – 7^th edition, OUTDOORS EVENTS, Saturday May 26^th 2pm to 5pm, at Jardins Gamelin Place Émilie-Gamelin

PEEK PREVIEW OF MY NEW CREATION

TAPPING TANGO  is my new animation film about two payphones in a Montreal metro who tap and tango their way into love. 

Have a look

 

         Attention: Distributors and festival programmers! 

View TAPPING TANGO  in its entirety. 

Contact me at: hovecreekproductions@gmail.com   

 Looking forward to its public premier!

WINTER CALLING ME AGAIN AT CAP SAINT- JACQUES:

                                  BACK AGAIN EXACTLY A YEAR LATER
It was sunny - just as it was February 18^th one year ago - almost to the day. Once again, I was greeted with smiles and assistance. Christine, who is in charge of rentals right inside the welcome centre fit me out with Rossignol cross-country skis and boots. I tossed the ones I had brought from home into their inner room. I felt great knowing I was using the park’s top-of-the-line skis and was not fearful of going alone on the trails (last winter Diego, one of the park guides) accompanied me. This is one park whose signs of where you are with different trails (rabbit, beavers and squirrel) are well indicated and in colour.

In this office, I also met Eric, who grooms the trails. What an interesting guy! He’s a tree man, an arborist who also reads a lot about them. In fact, he’s right at home in this park, since the Cap is laden with them.  many are being tapped for maple syrup season.

The trails aren’t hilly but still form fun gentle mounds for a gliding that give a hint of an adrenaline rush. 

 The snow was melting; it was kind of crispy-sugary. I fell at one point on a small icy spot and couldn’t get up. Celine, whom I met on the trial five minutes earlier tried to pick me up. She too fell at the exact same spot. Fortunately, a young woman appeared and hoisted me back up; I was amazed at her strength. She blurted out laughing, “I’m a fire fighter. You have to be strong.” When I got back to the welcome centre, another woman who had seen it all, told me the fire fighter fell about a minute later. 

                                                                We laughed.

I took the yellow beaver trail that’s just a bit more than 6 kilometres. I was glad to see how much snow there was, to see the lakes again that give expansive views to other towns, including Oka.

Here I was, only 30 minutes from Montreal, but the relaxed treed landscape , cut through by winding trails edged in stream and lakes,  transported me into a realm of peace, prettiness and awfully friendly folk inside the park.

Read about last winter and summer at the park

ARION BAROQUE ORCHESTRA INVIGORATES WITH ITALIAN PROGRAM

Bourgie Hall. February 11^th concert 

From the very first concerto highlighting the Teatro Alla Moda theme in Arion’s third concert of the season, the composer Evaristo Felice Dall’Abaco  proved to be the perfect choice to contrast  February’s dreary weather.  Sweet subtle inflections of delicately executed pairings of strings with harpsichord- harmonizing  created a stylish French lightness . Rhythmically uplifting, this concerto in D major put us all in a spirited mood exemplified by the guest violinist Amandine Beyer. 

 Indeed, her casual manner of dress  and winning, warm smile made us feel we had been invited to an informal  cheerful gathering of gorgeous  baroque music.

The second offering was by Francesco Maria Veracini . Moving into a minor key, it was really interesting as the two flutes - beautifully played by Claire Guimond and Alexa Raine-Wright -  profoundly delved into plaintive emotions that lushly contrasted with sparse yet impeccable plucking on the strings.  

We were introduced to composers whose works swelled both with joy quelled by passages of melancholy. These gifted Italian-born geniuses included Albinoni, Marcello, Locatelli and Gallo. In each work the orchestra expressed a cohesive instinctive understanding in the music. This affinity stunningly conveyed varying emotional intensity.

The final piece highlighted Ms. Beyer’s virtuoso playing as she tackled Vivaldi’s Concerto in E minor for violin, strings and double bass. Tempestuous in parts, ghostly, moody, and furiously feverish, this,  exciting work  surely embodies the prolific composer’s dramatic side. We must remember that though styles of music have changed throughout the centuries, human beings’ emotions have not. What a thrilling combination to hear 400-year-old music performed by brilliant musicians – artists whose emotional depth captures this span of centuries the moment their bows touch their instruments!

Arion Baroque Orchestra’s next concert takes place April 11 -15. Bach, Handel, Quantz and Telemann are featured along with guest soloist Boris Begelman. 
The website is www.arionbaroque.com.

Call (514) 355-1825.

2018 OSCAR NOMINATED 2018 ANIMATION FILMS

Lots of fun pickings here, but my favourite is from the UK. In Revolting Rhymes by Jakob Schuh  and Jan Lachauer, these two directors took Roald Dahl's  kids' book and merged Snow White's daughter. Sleeping Beauty Little Red Riding Hood and Three Little pigs into a one-story-line connection where all these characters conspire to have what they want, and they will go to any ends to get it. Narrated in verse, the narratives are utterly compelling and rawer than any child would want to witness, especially at bedtime.

 

Kobe Bryant’s Dear Basketball was a tribute to his basketball which he loved and cuddled since he was  six years old. Primitive line drawing with some outlines in colour give a nostalgic eternal look to the film. Bryant directed it with Glen Keane. It is the basketball star’s swan song executed with restraint yet emotion too. 

  

Another touching piece titled Negative Space shows a boy talking about how to pack his suitcase in the way his father taught him. This is how they bonded, but hid dad was so often away. Before he would go, his son would pack his suitcase for him, and when his father called him he would say, “perfect”. That was how love was expressed each to the other – in a suitcase. 

There are more delightful creative ones to enjoy, but these were the ones I liked the most.

 Cinema du Parc in Montreal announces these Oscar contenders.

Dear Basketball – Glen Keane and Kobe Bryant, USA, 5 minutes

Negative Space – Max Porter and Ru Kuwahata, France, 5 minutes

Lou – Dave Mullins and Dana Murray, USA, 7 minutes

Revolting Rhymes – Jakob Schuh and Jan Lachauer, UK, 29 minutes

Garden Party – Victor Caire and Gabriel Grapperon, France 7 minutes

Lost Property Office (additional film) – Daniel Agdag, Australia, 10 minutes

Coin Operated (additional film) – Nicholas Arioli, USA, 5 minutes

Achoo (additional film) – details TBD

Lake and Land Fun with Vistas in New Hampshire

It may be a small state, but New Hampshire has 373 lakes - more than one for every day of the year! Head for Squam Lake or hike up Rattlesnake Mountain for some breathtaking views of the lake. Hikers need not worry, there are no rattlesnakes here - just deep slithery lines embedded in the summit’s bedrock. The 35-minute ascent is so easy, young kids have no problem hopping along in sandals.

This lake has loons, so if you want to see them, take the 90-minute Squam Lakes Cruise from Holderness. The cruise boat is a cozy pontoon whose open sides allow for close viewing from all angles; plus binoculars are handed out. We spotted a mother loon gliding along with a chick on her back while hooting as dad dove for food. A naturalist from the Natural Science Centre is always on board to lead the way. Ours was Margaret, who actually comes from Saint-Jérôme. While steering the boat, she explained in lay-man’s lingo a lot about loons, and always invited us to spot them. It was exciting. Everyone felt they had just won the jackpot when they saw one. On board, we held replicas of eggs and examined facsimiles of loon bones as our guide gave us a short lesson on loons. In this very area The Loon Preservation Committee - open to the public - monitors their health and protects them. Harry Vogel, also a Canadian, is the chief biologist for this organization. “We were able to change the law. The use of led fishing tackle, and big jigs that kill these birds is now prohibited. So many end up swallowing them and die within hours.”

Squam Lake is small compared to Lake Winnipesaukee 34- kilometre length. Cruising in style on this famous lake – the third largest in New England – is the way to go.  I headed for the Ekal Activity Center in the touristy town of Meredith to hop on board a very special 7-seater boat.  Fittingly called Miss Meredith, this speed boat’s claim to fame resides in another name. It was once owned by Madame Chiang Kai Shek who summered here.  The Americans instantly took ownership of her precious vessel when the Chinese refused to side with them after the bombing of Pearl Harbour. They also booted her out of Meredith where she homed every summer. Miss Meredith smoothly made her way towards Governors Island where splendid mansions had us gushing with envy. They collectively seem to embody various lifestyles of the rich and famous. Sumptuous yachts docked beside throne-like deck chairs, and ornate facades with12-feet-tall cathedral windows looking out from on high made us feel very small. So much for Miss. Meredith!

Cottages goers and residents who live on some of the lake’s 258 islands need never worry about missing the mail - thanks to the (M/V) Sophie C. that leaves Weirs Beach weekdays and Saturdays. Since 1892, she’s been delivering mail to families who home here year-round.  Purchase your ticket at Weirs Beach; then hop on board the oldest floating post office on the continent.  You’ll see how it all happens as Sophie approaches several islands where residents wait to get the mail dropped to them on their docks.  Sophie also hands out ice cream and all kinds of snacks to everyone, including all hands on deck tourists.

The Squam Lakes Natural Science Center gives you incredible views into our world via its magical immersive exhibits. It’s just across from the loon cruise pontoon. If your feet long for land grounded in history, then tread back in time by visiting the abandoned 19^th-century Canterbury  Shaker Village nearby. Guided tours every day.

                                        For information on this region, visit: www.lakesregion.org

EATZ ENCORE

 A Scrumptious Ready-to-Eat Feast  

Eatz Encore stunningly satisfies all your food cravings with its imitable variety of made-on-the-spot connoisseur dishes.  The minute you walk into this cozy casual place in Westmount, Quebec, the Eatz Encore effect takes over. Soon you’ll be swooning in the nicest of ways. Your mouth will be watering; you’ll start smiling, then choosing from the vast selections of food on display. Soon you’re forgetting every problem you’ve ever had, not just because of the astoundingly delicious food, but also because there’s a huge human ingredient behind Eatz Encore’s doors. Genuinely warm family folk who run the place provide a welcome dose of divine dishes that perk up an emotional blahs.

Polish-born Krystyna Konefal who owns the restaurant has a warm, generous spirit. Despite the speed at which you get the food, there’s no stress here. Sons, Chris and Patrick join their mom, adding to this remarkably relaxed atmosphere – another beautiful ingredient at Eatz Encore.

Behind the Counter Kindness, Food Prepared with Love for Heavenly Taste Enjoyment

Greeting you is a mix of aromas from the endless eye-popping display of freshly made gourmet dishes with aromas  from Italy, Mexico, the Orient, India and Poland - to name  only a few of  Krystyna’s cuisine capabilities. She’s been cooking for over 30 years, and in 2003 she opened her multi-pleasing meal haven filled with different distinct dishes. It never gets boring here. You need at least one hour to visually take in all the goodies here; plus you can sample some.

Food for Health and Happiness

Mentored by Krystyna who was born to cook.  Chefs, Shipon and Milano create Eatz Encore’s palette-pleasing plates, 35 delightful dishes for your table here. And let’s not forget about the 65 or so different ready-go take home yummies already wrapped in the lower display case. It’s a royal feast, and best of all, the food you’ll be enjoying is chemical free, and get this…gluten-free  too in many dishes and desserts - all devoid of saturated fats, grease, sugar and all the other “false food” ingredients that you find in  many traiteurs and fast food outlets. 

This is not fast food; this is fabulous superbly healthy food ready to go right to your table in the restaurant or for take-out eating. Or when at home, call in and have it delivered. Their delivery menu has over 100 classic and exotic dishes! Is it any wonder Krystyna sometimes starts cooking at 3 am to make sure all her hungry customers can get their food fast!

I’ve returned several times to eat here. I can’t gloat enough over the General Tao chicken. Spicy and sweet, the tender chicken is perfectly seasoned.  But before you dig in, why not ask Krystyna to make you up a plate of her most incredible salads or veggie creations. 

You see them all at the counter. The quinoa is amazing. Hearts of palm, Kalamata olives baby tomatoes, feta and peppers of all kinds find their home in these healthy generous servings. And don’t’ forget prices go by the pound. You’re not stuck having to order different sizes.

You must try the cabbage rolls. I love both the veggie and meat ones. I’ve also taken home her quesadillas that are packaged and ever so low in price but big on taste. How about her burritos?

I preferred the jumbo tempura shrimp to her grilled ones for taste. Speaking of which, I also love her perfectly prepared tandoori chicken and the New Zealand orange roughy (fish) covered in almond slices. The salmon is sautéed in ginger with white lemon grass for simple yet optimum flavour.  It was so tender... absolutely wonderful!  None of Eatz’s dishes is soggy, drenched in a hodgepodge of everything with complex flavours. Krystyna keeps it simple. Wine vinaigrette made my salads superb, and the dumplings I took home were as delicate in texture as was the huge 2-inch thick hamburger steak I snagged for eating later at home. It was covered in sautéed onions. Wow!

Food You Never Have to Prepare; Just Answer your Door or Sit inside

Eatz Encore is a place of international gourmet surprises and that’s what makes it so much fun to keep coming back for more. The freshly-made meal repertoire is so vast, I call it Quebec’s Disneyland of delectable dishes. Eatz Encore is a perfect name for all the things it does; you can call in and pre-order what you want (once you get to know your favourites) and you can also count on at your door delivery. You can order lots of food or go for some small specialities too.  

Eatz Encore’s delivery menu has over 100 different gourmet dishes – too exciting to mention this time, but have you ever had stuffed Portobello mushrooms, lamb riblets, Hickory meatballs or knishes that could quell a hungry grouch? How’s that for tending to all the logistics of getting food to you fast. Of course, I just love going in there to gaze at all the goodies, sitting down, getting my favourites and trying new meals too. 

By the way, don’t miss out on the brownies; they almost melt in your mouth. The sugarless apricot cranberry cookies are incredible! 

One thing for sure, you can eat your way to heaven, but you’ll never feel heavy in the belly. Thank you Krystyna for making cold winter days as warm and wonderful as the soups she makes!!!

          The website is www.eatzencore.ca

 Eatz Encore is located at 4824 Sherbrooke West

              Call (514) 482-1778