Home Again

Editor's Note: This column was submitted to The Glasgow Courier Jan. 29.

We are back home from our hockey-watching trip to Quebec City, which is north of Maine, on the St Lawrence River. The grandsons got to compete on the ice rinks at LaVal University. The university hockey program, Rouge et Or (Red & Gold) folded in 1982-83. Quebec City hosted the original 1967 Canada Winter Games Hockey Tournament. Currently the Canadian Hockey Enterprises hosts the Quebec International PeeWee Hockey Tourney, founded in 1960. It coincides with the Quebec Winter Carnival.

A bit of bragging here: boy boys' teams did quite well. The 10U team took gold, while the 12U team earned silver. We heard some parents of the Canadian competitors be quite impressed with the hockey prowess of those Florida boys. Even some of the bantam boys were impressed, saying they weren't that good at that age.

On our first full day up there, we got to go snow tubing at the Village Vacances Valcartier. In the summer this is a big water park. They have 17 mechanical lifts, by which they mean there are inner tubes continually going up (and coming back down in a loop) that you need to line up on, and plop yourself atop one to be hauled up to the top of each run. You tow along another inner tube you'll use for the ride back down. Rinse, repeat.

I failed on my first attempt, missing the tube completely, leaving myself in a position to get whacked by the next tube. The operator, who must see this occur often, stopped the whole shebang so I could get on that third tube. And I fell on the dismount at the top. That didn't require a stoppage of the whole ride. As my cross-fit daughter, who witnessed my debacle, said, it was a "no-rep." Very embarrassing.

On my second attempt, the mother I was with (keep in mind, I was one of the only two grandmothers there), my daughter having gone on to double-diamond runs, asked the operator to stop the lift so we could get on. Again I failed the dismount. I had limited success with my third attempt. I managed to catch and sit on the tube, but then promptly ran over my own left foot. But the dismount was okay. They bank the runs you go down so you can't go off course, so those were uneventful for me. I only did those three "easy" runs, while our daredevil daughter and grandsons did all the runs. Dennis contented himself with photo-taking. There are runs with huge tubes that seat three to eight and a "raft run" that seats 12.

That afternoon/evening, the boys participated in outdoor, under the lights, hockey games against Canadian teams in their age categories. These didn't count towards the actual tournament that started the next day. For many of the Florida boys, this was their first experience with snow and outdoor ice hockey. It was also their first and only practice with their all star picked teams. I didn't hear any of them complain about the cold. In fact, after the tourney was over, a lot of them found an outdoor rink a couple blocks from the hotel, and were out there playing from 4 until 10 that night.

My entire experience of French Canadian cuisine consisted of Poutine Italianne (spaghetti sauce atop fries with cheese chunks - I didn't notice any gravy). There were a couple trips to Tim Hortons (Canada's Starbucks/Krispy Kreme combo?), where I had a puff pastry thing filled with egg, cheese, and herbs, a BLT on a bagel that included a fried egg, a chocolate dessert thing I can't pronounce but was good, and a chocolate iced donut. Remember, this was spread over two visits. And I had French onion soup at Murphy's Pub in Old Town Quebec. Murphy's Pub doesn't understand how an Arnold Palmer is made. Their's was about one-fourth iced tea atop 7-Up in a tall glass. The first sip was very strange. (The French restaurants required reservations. We didn't plan ahead, and just ducked into the pub when we got tired of trekking through the old city while souvenir shopping on our last day.)

That soup was amazing, by the way, and it has prompted me to brush off the recipe I use to attempt this dish. Mine isn't restaurant quality, but still very passable, especially in this cold weather. I use dried thyme in an equal amount even though I know dried herbs have a stronger flavor than fresh.

Brendan's Onion Soup

2 Tbl unsalted butter

3 C thinly sliced sweet onions

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 1/2 Tbl flour

6 C low sodium chicken broth

1 C white wine

1/4 tsp fresh thyme

1/2 tsp salt

Cracked black peppercorns

6 baguette slices

1/2 C shredded Swiss OR Gruyère cheese

Melt butter in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions and garlic. Cook until very soft and golden, about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with the flour, stirring to coat. Add broth, wine, and thyme. Cover and simmer 30 minutes. Add salt & pepper. Top baguettes with cheese. Broil until cheese melts. Ladle soup into 6 bowls and top each with a baguette.

All in all, the trip to Quebec City was a lot of fun, and I'd go again in an instant. And when/if I get there again, I'll insist on real French-Canadian cuisine. If you get a chance, go.