Good Eats in Edmonton

 It has been a few years since the family has descended en masse on Tom's Aunt Merrilyn and Uncle Neil in Edmonton. For the Canada Day long weekend, seven of us arrived on Friday evening, where we greeted enthusiastically by Pork Chop and Haddie. Haddie showed us her rope toy, while Pork Chop (also known as Choppy) whined from underneath the deck. Choppy, a 19 year old rescue dog, enjoys hanging out under the deck!

Haddie.

Pork Chop (aka Choppy).

Saturday was an interesting afternoon of catching up, and delicious food. Tom and I started our morning by driving into SW Edmonton to pick up some macarons from an old friend, Connie. Connie started a macaron business, Mirabelle Macarons, about a year ago. A few months ago, I was lucky enough to sample a few of her DELICIOUS flavours, and I knew that these little desserts would make a fantastic addition to our family gathering. My favorite flavours were milk chocolate passionfruit and matcha green tea, but for this event, we got the salted caramel and white chocolate raspberry. If you are in the Edmonton area, and have any kind of event (bridal showers, baby showers, family reunions, weddings), I highly recommend Mirabelle Macarons!

Tom and I visited Connie and her husband, Chris (who I have known even longer than Connie), for about an hour and a half, before we jumped back in the car and went to check out Andrew's new condo a few minutes away. Thanks to his aunt and uncle, Andrew's condo now contains a couch and two bookshelves, instead of just a blow-up bed and a chair. Between Ashley and Andrew, they have three residences, and four vehicles, so decorations and furniture are a little sparse. Living in different cities has been a logistical challenge for them!

When we arrived back at Merrilyn and Neil's, there was magic happening in the kitchen! First I spied a bowl full of ground almond and fragrant spices, all ready for dinner.

If only you could smell them!

Next came the chopping of onion, garlic and ginger.

Onion, garlic and ginger.

In the meantime, we started a game of lawn croquet with Dave's brand new birthday set. The weather in Edmonton was absolutely amazing. I heard on the news it got up to 26.9 degrees, and believe me, it felt like it. The sun was blazing!

Dave, Tom and Andrew strategize.

Ashley and Tom observing game play.

As we played, we took in the smells of Tandoori chicken roasting on the barbeque, and fried garlic and onion wafted out of the kitchen window.

Tandoori chicken.

After we finished a couple rounds of croquet, and Tom had hit me in the head with a soccer ball, we headed inside to consume dinner-- which can only be accurately described as a masterpiece!

As Neil said, "Just a little meal I whipped up in 6 or 7 hours!" Haha! It was amazing. In addition to the Tandoori chicken, there were spiced chick peas and black eyed peas, lamb in a spicy creamy almond sauce, naan, curried vegetables and basmati rice.

Dinner table spread. Unbelievable!

Delicious!

For dessert we ate macarons and Italian pastries. The meals this weekend (not to mention the company!) were absolutely amazing-- and I didn't even take pictures of breakfast, which included frittata, potato ramekins and sausage!

Merrilyn and Neil, thanks so much for your hospitality! We had a wonderful time.