Christmas Break

Ok.  Now that things have settled back into a semi-normal routine here in Ottawa, it is finally time for me to write about the lovely Christmas Break!  I’ll pick up where I left off in the “Graduation” post: My family had safely arrived via airplane to Ottawa.  Chad and I made Christmas cookies in anticipation!

Christmas snails, hedgehogs, trees, and one
special moose (for my brother!)

While planning for their visit, I asked my family what they would like to do.  Ottawa is, after all, a large and historic city with plenty to see.  The consensus: just chill out.  My family (myself included) wanted to keep the visit pretty low-key, with a few nice dinners and the graduation to keep us entertained, and each other’s company to keep us happy.

They arrived one day before graduation and we all headed to the Château Laurier, the historic castle-turned-Fairmont-hotel.  It was beautiful, decorated for Christmas with fresh greens and bows and themed Christmas trees.  There was a woman at a lovely table in the lobby (dubbed the “Holiday Concierge”) that immediately caught the eyes of Mom and I.  After the family was settled (and fed – they were pretty hungry after a day of travel), Mom and I spoke with the lovely lady at the Christmas table about one of her flyers in particular:  Tea with Santa.

I had seen the “Tea with Santa” event on the Château Laurier webpage during my research but, though it sounded SO fun and right up Mom and my alleys, I feared it was a little girly for the men in our party.  Mom had evidently also seen it online and thought the same thing.  So, with the picture of a great high-tea atmosphere in mind, Mom, Dad, and I decided that it would be fun for everybody and we booked a table for 6 for the next morning.  Hooray!

The next morning (graduation day), we got dressed in the Christmas spirit, with Mom and I each in a red sweater and Christmas pin and the boys in sweaters and khakis.  We were in the lobby early, to be sure to be there when the doors opened for our tea party.  And what a tea party it was!  I had never been to high-tea, though Mom has told me all about them, and this was better than I imagined.  We sat at a table by a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows, and it snowed gently throughout the entire tea.  There was a live piano player in the corner.  We each ordered tea and received a personal little teapot and a fancy little strainer to rest on top of our cup to catch the leaves every time we poured.  Servers brought a three-tiered tray for each two people that contained finger sandwiches, scones, and desserts (which were all great except the fruitcake, which Mom loved and everyone else could barely eat politely). 

Pouring his personal tea through his personal
tea strainer

What treats!  Mincemeat pie, Christmas log, fruitcake, wildberry scones,
normal scones, and cucumber, turkey salad, egg salad, and
smoked salmon sandwiches.  It doesn't look like much,
but we were all stuffed!

Pinky up!

My favorite - the cucumber sandwich!  Chad even gave me his!

Eventually, Santa did come.  He made his way around the room, greeting and taking photos with every table.  He was probably the most convincing Santa Claus I have ever seen; even his voice was perfect for the role!  We took photos and offered him some of our desserts, and went back to our tea.  After a little while, the piano player encouraged us to come down and sing Christmas carols with Santa, so we did, and we were followed, reluctantly, by all of the children in the room.  It was such a great experience, and I discovered a true love for cucumber sandwiches!

Santa! The snow was so lovely the entire time, too.

Mom loved the fruitcake...and no one else did

My youngest brother won for "most chunks in the strainer"

Graduation was that night, and afterwards we went to dinner at Milestones, a fun little place across the street from the Château.

The rest of the break was all about rest and relaxation and food.  We fit everyone in our tiny apartment to hang out a few times, which was really nice.  My brothers played Battleship on the floor and Othello on the table, and we made a few trips to the local grocery store to show the family.  We made brunch here one morning, and my youngest brother wanted to make cookies one evening, so we did that, too.

Trying poutine for the first time -- something truly Canadian!

Live lobsters are only $6.99?

Making cookies...SUPER delicious cookies
in our tiny kitchen

Playing Battleship on the floor

My family couldn’t leave Ottawa without first visiting Le Cordon Bleu itself!  When we were scoping out the city in March, Mom, Dad, Chad, and I had dinner at the school one night, and it was wonderful.  So, in anticipation of another visit, I made us a reservation at Le Cordon Bleu once again. 

We dressed up, and I was beyond excited for another meal at the Bistro (at the school)!  After some snow-related car troubles we finally arrived and were seated.  The menu was lovely, as usual, and it was so difficult to decide what to have.  The waiter informed us that, as usual, there was the weekly menu, which was handled in a usual, à-la-carte way, and there was “The Chef’s Tasting Menu,” which was a tour of the best dishes on the menu, and consisted of five courses rather than three.  The catch:  the tasting menu was either for the entire table or no one at the table, as the imbalance in courses between the weekly and the tasting menus would be awkward.

After some quiet browsing, we admitted, one-by-one, that we did, in fact, all want the tasting menu.  Excellent!  We told the waiter, and we began what is one of the best meals I have ever had.  The dinner was exquisite, opening with a lobster bisque (a favorite of Chad and my youngest brothers’), moving to three main courses (which were all divine, with each course more interesting than the last), and finishing with dessert that included fresh vanilla bean ice cream.  Each course came out with its own expertly-paired wine, and we got an extensive explanation of each before our food arrived.

When the meal was finished (and we were all in awe), the waiter offered to take us on a tour of the facility, knowing that I was a student.  We agreed, and he proceeded to take us all over the building, from my classrooms to the lab kitchens, to the cedar-walled wine cellar in the basement.  I added certain things to his tour, and it was nice for my brothers to see my classrooms.

Having my family in Ottawa was so special.  It was great to have them, not only at graduation, but also in our tiny apartment so they could really see first-hand how fun our life is here.  It was funny to trudge around in the two feet of snow with them back and forth between our places, and after four days, it was exciting to return to Iowa.

First Class!

We (minus Dad, who had to fly home early for work) flew home on the morning of Christmas Eve.  Because the plane was packed, Chad and I got to sit in first class on our second flight (from Detroit to Minneapolis).  How fun!  Neither of us had ever flown first class, and it was superb.  There was enough space in front of me that I could fully extend my arm.  The flight attendants offered to take our coats and hang them.  We were served drinks before most of the rest of the plane had boarded, and when they came, there were no plastic cups.  I ordered a Blue Moon (which was free), and it came in a lovely glass with a fresh orange wedge on the rim.  What a way to fly.  It was a shame the flight was only an hour and a half!

At home, Chad and I were ready for a true tour of Iowa.  We began with Christmas Eve at my family’s house, then four days with his family, a day with my grandparents and extended family, a day with his brother and soon-to-be-sister-in-law, and three more days with my family.  It was a lot of driving, but it was definitely worth it to see everybody.

While we were in the United States, we also:

Had lovely Christmas steaks made by my brother

Made s'mores over my family's "fire table"

Finished Chad's family's annual Christmas puzzle

Ate crab rangoons!!!  (Which we have not been able to find
in Ottawa)

Caught an Iowa State game

Played the piano

Celebrated the new year

Made some really great beef jerky 

Made Pain au Chocolat

Made a Black Forest cake

Packing was like a super-sized puzzle with our Christmas gifts (including an ice cream machine), but we finally fit everything in a large suitcase and were set to fly back to Canada.  Mom drove us to the airport in the morning, and we arrived safely in Ottawa that afternoon.  There was a lot more snow here than when we left (our cab driver nearly got stuck on our way home), so, when we were situated in the apartment, we went out and cleared off the car before everything had a chance to melt and re-freeze.

She's under almost a foot of snow!

Break was busy, but restful, and after two weeks, it was time for school to start again.