Breakfast at home: Now that the weather is nicer, there is something satisfying about a nice weekend breakfast at home, puttering around in pjs, windows thrown open, sunlight streaming in. Saturday morning, pre-market, I noticed we had a half loaf of day old bread, a few eggs and not much else. So, French toast via the lovely Everybody Likes Sandwiches blog.



And then on Sunday it was warm bread, butter and grape jelly.



Warm, homemade bread, thanks to Jim Lahey's no knead bread, which I finally, finally, got around to making this weekend. At about 6 pm last night I was convinced the dough was dead and flat (I've been scarred - my last bread making attempt was at Christmas, when I accidentally misread the recipe and added 3 TABLESPOONS of sugar to the flour). I resigned myself to bread making failure and drank a glass of white wine. I had used active dry yeast since I didn't have instant, and assumed this was my mistake. So, I was surprised Sunday morning when I realized that the dough was actually yeasty and springy. I folded it for the second rise, and low and behold it rose again. When it emerged from the oven, I was triumphant. I took pictures of it like it was my first child and held my head close to the crust to listen to the crackle of the bread as it cooled. And then we ate it.

Reservoir (9, avenue Duluth Est): Reservoir is a thing of beauty: all gorgeous rustic wood and big, sunny windows looking onto Duluth. Most people come here for the microbrewed beer, but Reservoir also serves these amazingly gourmet brunches. For instance, their take on the classic bacon and eggs is sophisticated: perfectly fried eggs with lurid, bright yellow yolks paired with thick slices of smoked lard. Smoked lard has a pillowy fatness to it that can be a bit much for people, so be prepared. I’ve had a nice thick stack of pancakes topped in a banana caramel sauce here once, and freshly baked brioche another time. It’s spendier than most brunch places, so you probably won’t be coming every weekend, but it’s perfect for those mornings where you’re feeling a little indulgent.

A Reservoir meal:



Don’t be fooled by the photos – the portions make look small, but the food rich.

It’s sugaring off season in Quebec and after a scoop of tire à l'érable ice cream from Bilboquet earlier in the week, Andrew and I had maple syrup on the brain. We woke up late on Saturday morning and decided that the best way to kick off the weekend would be a traditional cabane à sucre lunch. We did a little bit of Internet research to avoid a place teeming with bus loads of people, that wasn’t too expensive (because face it, whether the meal is $15 or $25, we knew we were going to feel ill by the end), that wasn’t too close, but wasn’t too far. So, Erablière La Tradition in the Lanaudière region it was.

A traditional cabane à sucre meal is not for the faint of heart. Especially the vegetarian faint of heart. We settled into one of the long benches and started tucking into the food.



Soft rolls spread with cretons (let the pork begin!). Packaged rolls are kind of gross, but occasionally we get cravings for them.


The only flash of colour in the meal came from the pickled stuffs.


The lightest course: pea soup and coleslaw.


Pork rinds, fèves au lard and whole roasted potatoes. Despite my love of fried, horrible foods, pork rinds are just a little too much for me. Andrew happily chowed down, though.



More pork! Oddly mushy and unattractive sausages that I strangely enjoyed, especially drizzled in syrup, ham, and eggs.


Just in case you're still craving pork, a nice porcine stew.

And don't forget desert! Fried dough with maple syrup and maple tarts (the tarts not pictured).


When we left they were just preparing the tire sur la neige, which we ate despite full bellies.


With all that food in our systems we were ready for a day of chopping wood or heavy farm work, but instead we drove back to Montreal and napped until it got dark. Whoops!