Winnipeg by Winnipeg: Exploring Winnipeg and Beyond gets picked for printing.

I write because I enjoy it, I’m not paid to craft these pages it’s a labor of love.  A few months ago local bookseller McNally Robinson issued a call in local newspapers for photo submissions for a book that would be about Winnipeg by locals. Thus the Winnipeg by Winnipeg project was launched.

McNally Robinson Store in Grant Park Shopping Center

 Over the course of almost five years of blogging I’ve amassed hundreds of photographs of my adoptive city, any number of which would be great for such a publication.  I spent hours digging through my archives looking for just the right shots for submission.  Lighting, composition, and content I knew were going to be judged to be worthy of inclusion in the book.  Last night was the book release event and I had made the cut with one of my photos gloriously reproduced and put into print for the world to see.

Photographers and guests crowd the store to capacity.

 Over one thousand photographers submitted photography and less than 100 were chosen to be included in the book, I was in rare company indeed.  Last night we all gathered together eager with anticipation to see the finished product in a swanky affair hosted at McNally Robinson’s flagship store in Grant Park Shopping Center.  Photographers were professional and amateur, young and old, from every strata of society, giving a true cross-section of life in Winnipeg.

Winnipeg by Winnipeg Cake.

 Photographs from the book were shown on a large screen as each artist was called to the front to receive congratulations and copies of the book.  Some of the shots were simply amazing, creative and revealing.  Showing not only the highlights of Winnipeg but also its darker and arguably more interesting sides.  Darkness and light, beauty and despair all coming together to make this city we call home.

St. Boniface Cathedral from the Red River.

 My shot shows Winnipeg relaxing on Canada Day, a single kayak paddles down the Red River in sight of the St. Boniface Cathedral.  One of many photographs taken at the Forks Market.  I am proud of my accomplishment in making the final product.  But my personal pride is secondary to the feeling I got last night when I saw so many Winnipeggers come together to celebrate our city with warts and all.

Celebrating with my copy of Winnipeg by Winnipeg. Check out my image on page 17 of the book.

 Do yourself a favor explore Winnipeg; check out the back alleys and the boulevards.  Get to know its friendly citizens if not in person then in the pages of Winnipeg by Winnipeg.  You’ll be glad you did!

 

Winnipeg Meets Nunavut.

I’ve written these pages now for almost 5 years, since fate smiled upon Darlene and I and we were whisked away to New York City. Over the years I’ve covered many topics before finding my voice and becoming a cheerleader for my adoptive home town of Winnipeg. As any blogger will undoubtedly tell you writing is only half the job of running a blog, the other portion includes reading vast amounts of other people’s work and striking up constructive friendships that help hone the craft.

One such friendship that I cultivated is with the author of I’ll Have Nunavut, a blog by Suzanne Parm-Etheridge and her husband Ian.  Two people adapting to life in Canada’s far north.  Imagine my surprise when I found out that Suzanne was coming to Winnipeg as part of a conference and would be staying less than 10 minutes from our home.

Suzanne and I with Darlene enjoying a nice evening stroll on Corydon Ave.

We met at the Forks Market where Suzanne stayed and journeyed out to UnBurger in Osborne Village.  Suzanne frequently commenting on Winnipeg’s beautiful parks and neighborhoods.  In return Darlene and I asked questions about the far northern reaches of Canada.  It was like we had been old friends for years.

From Osborne Village to Corydon Avenue the three of us strolled, enjoyed Italian Gelato and shared stories of our lives.  As the sun dipped below the horizon a starlight tour of Downtown Winnipeg seemed in order.   Suzanne loved the stories of old Winnipeg and really seemed to get a kick out of visiting Portage and Main, Winnipeg’s most famous intersection.

Darlene and Suzanne ham it up for the camera at Portage and Main.

Thanks for visiting Suzanne, I hope I didn’t bore you with my long-winded explanations and rambling stories.  It’s one thing to have made a friend though our writing but it’s an absolute joy to have met you in person.  Come back to Winnipeg anytime!

To wrap it up here’s a great song about Winnipeg by two hometown boys Randy Bachman and Neil Young with Prairie Town.

 

A lovely anniversary dinner at Beaujena’s French Table.

This past weekend was a special one for Darlene and me.  We celebrated our 4th anniversary as a couple.  We exchanged kisses and gifts as I arose for work early Friday, but little did I know that Dar had more up her sleeve this year.

As I went out the door for work leaving her in bed she told me to be ready to dress special for dinner.  WHAT?  No clue to where we were going??  Just dress nice.  What a brat! My mind was spinning all day.  What were we going to dine on?  Should I dress casual or to the nines?

When I got home from work she finally relented and told me to get dressed for St. Boniface’s french quarter.  We were going to Beaujena’s.  Beaujena’s even for the residents of St. B is a mystery.  A husband and wife team run the 24 seat restaurant and the menu is known to change at a whim.   Once seated you are at the mercy of the chef.

Not to worry though, for years the reviews of this establishment have been solid to say the least.  Myself, a seasoned eater and more that welcome to eat whatever is put in front of me, was cool.  More to the point I worried about Darlene,  although not a picky eater, she really does have preferences and I thought that a “Strange” dish could have thrown our dinner off the rails.

The first dish of our seven course meal was a baked lemon with anchovies, cheese and olives.  Served with bread, it was strange for sure but savory, sweet and tangy all at the same time.  This dish shouldn’t have worked but it did, it was light and really awoke my palate.

Baked lemon with bread. This should never have worked but yet it did.

The second dish a light garden tomato soup.  The soup was silky smooth and rich, none of the extra acid one would normally expect from a tomato soup was present.  Rich and velvety, all around excellent.

Smooth excellence garden tomato soup

The third was a trio of quinoa Arancini stuffed with a light white cheese,  fried to a golden texture.  I am not a huge fan of quinoa, but I did like the treatment of the ingredients, everything worked well together.  If you like the grain instead of rice you’ll love these, served in an acidic red sauce they almost taste like pizza bites.  Everything works in this dish except for my dislike of quinoa.

Trio of quinoa balls in red sauce.

Fourth came an evolved seafood dish,  calamari stuffed with shrimp served on a light mustard sauce.  To my taste the shrimp stuffed calamari was perfect, a nice interplay between the two sea creatures.  As I told Chef Randy after the meal however, Darlene and I both found the mustard a bit overpowering.   Seafood by essence is delicate, mustard should be left for more hearty meats.

Squid stuffed with Shrimps

Bacon Squared turned the corner on flavor, throwing subtle out the window and giving us full two barrel flavor.  Bacon and fatty pork belly really make you hit the wall.  Salty, fatty but balanced with a supremely acidic gastrique.  It all works, if you like fatty pork, if you like bacon, if you enjoy a good tangy pickle you will love this dish.  It’s over the top in richness but saved by the gastrique which cuts through it all and just delivers flavour.

Three levels of heaven, the Bacon Squared

Thankfully a cleansing salad was served before dessert, a joyfully light portion of Asian greens with beets and a blue cheese vinaigrette.  Thankfully light and acidic.  Fighting once again through the very heavy levels of the bacon and pork belly.

Asian green salad with beets and blue cheese vinaigrette.

I bet you thought I forgot about dessert , not by a long shot friends.  The Chef himself brought out our decadent rich chocolate torte.  He and I discussed how the dinner progressed, Darlene seemed content to just sit and listen.  Waiting for the first perfect bite of an obviously obscenely wicked treat.

Beaujena’s chocolate torte. So rich, so delicious.

One cannot explain a meal like this in a few sentences.  Was the meal perfect? How was the service?  Did we have a great time?

For Beaujena’s I can solidly say that the total of the experience was well above average, the food was an exploration of what food can be, the service was personal and friendly.  Darlene and I got to reconnect in many ways that went above food and flavor.

If you and your special someone have more than a few hours to kill.  Do check out Beaujena’s French Table.  For romance and good food you will not forget the experience.

Beaujena’s French Table

Steampunks, Pirates and Knights….Oh My!

Just by chance today I happened on a most enchanting little festival happening almost outside our door.  Coronation Park in the Norwood Grove area of St. Boniface was playing host to a gathering of creative thinkers and free spirits.

As you all should know by now that I am a proud card-carrying geek of some renown and am always ready to explore what ever festival or convention comes my way.   Today’s gathering had three main themes bringing many different classes of geeks, costume players and costumers together.  Steampunk, Pirates and good ol’ fashioned fantasy enthusiasts.

Everyone seemed to be having a great time mingling in the steamy afternoon heat in between the hourly thunder storms that have been passing though the area today.  Mosquitoes and rain can’t keep a good geek down for long and as soon as a shower had passed everyone seemed eager to mingle about again.

Normally as a blogger I try to stay a fly on the wall, just observing and not really becoming part of the action.  But today was one of those rare opportunities where I got to mingle and talk with people about their motivations and great costumes.

Here in pictures is a bit of what I saw this afternoon.

Entering Coronation Park in St. Boniface. Everyone seems to be coming back out after the clouds have passed.

Countdown to Festival du Voyageur 2012

Festival time is almost upon us again my friends and I know how much all of you like my photos of all the festivities that run and all the snow sculptures that are carved lovingly during it’s annual February run.

So once again here’s a sneak peek at some of the work going on around town to get St. Boniface in a Hé Ho frame of mind.  Some of these pictures are continuations of works that had begun last week in my  “A day in the life” photo journal and from “60 years on a hard throne“.

Enjoy.

The Royal Canadian Mint

Here at the mint work has been completed on the Winnipeg Jets Logo Coin.

Here’s the flip side of the coin. A bison standing in relief.  Sadly facing due south so a great deal of the definition has been removed by our unseasonable temperatures.

Some goofball standing in my shot.