Sunday, July 01, 2007

brunch & a typical sunday

photo: rosa

several weeks back i was asked if i would like to add my" two cents" to a little food event created by lovely rosa whose food blog, rosa's yummy yums, is written and published from the beautiful and scenic country of switzerland. rosa wanted to know about how some of us go about our weekend brunches.

breakfast, for me, has never been a big event — either on weekdays or weekends. i am usually satisfied with my seriously strong shots of espresso or double latte, until i've worked up enough of an appetite. food first thing in the morning is the last thing on my mind.

brunch, on the other hand — that mixture of breakfast and lunch — is more my style on the weekends. it is something i very much enjoy but only really indulge in once a month as i prefer to do it lavishly with a few friends.

depending upon where i am eating, the menu can range drastically. a few times a year we will meet at the ritz carlton hotel or a similar place like the queen elizabeth where the choices are more upscale and tend towards a lunch menu. the ritz is great as it has a garden setting centered around a duck pond.

most times though, i love to go to somewhere like the famous montreal eatery called beauty's {usually involving a loooonng wait to get in} or a typical chain restaurant such as eggspectations where one can get breakfast 24 hours a day. of course, the local neighbourhood "clog your arteries" hole-in-the-wall" is always an option.

in the end, my typical brunch consists of coffee, a fruit salad [hopefully made up of strawberries , grapes & melon], either french toast or omelet or bagel, cream cheese & lox, a pastry of some sort and maybe some kind of juice. that definitely fills me until late afternoon! some would say, a montreal brunch wouldn't be right without a bagel, cream cheese and lox ..... especially since our bagels, very different from others, are considered to be one of the best around.

my choices are fairly typical but always satisfying — just the way, i believe, a brunch should be :)

and as it's july 1st ....

our flag, only established in 1965!

just as the usa celebrates july 4th, we, in canada, celebrate july 1st as a national holiday called canada day. established in 1879 and originally called dominion day, it is day where people gather for parades, take off for a long weekend to the cottage, and celebrate with lots of food, and watch fireworks at night.


happy canada day!

11 comments:

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Thanks for participating! You are not late... With the quantity of participations I received, I still have a lot of work to do ;-P!

You typical brunch sounds very yummy, especially that bagel with the cream cheese and lox!!!

Have a nice Sunday and a great brunch! Today, I'm having homemade pumpkin challah, herbed cream cheese, cheese, homemade dulce leche and chocolate spread, grape tomatoes, etc...

Anonymous said...

u on facebook bb? :)

Pink Granite said...

Hi -
Happy Canada Day!
Your brunch menus and locations sound great!
I had no idea Montreal bagels were so unique. They look delicious!
;o)
- Lee

Emily DeVoto, Ph.D., said...

Oh, Canada...

Anonymous said...

Happy Canada Day, burekaboy!

I was surprised to read this post - you do sound like a breakfast-liking kind of guy!

burekaboy — said...

rosa - thanks. glad you had a good response with many people participating :) sounds like you ate well.

sarina - facebook, lol — i'm probably one of the only people who isn't.... :o

hi lee - our bagels are very dense and are much sweeter than the ones in the states. there are a few places here that run 24/7, too :) you can get them any time, any day ... and people usually do. nothing better than walking away with that brown paper bag, still warm, filled with freshly baked ones :D

emily - lol. thanks ;P you know just how patriotic we are compared to {cough, cough} americans (especially where i live).

maninas - you'd think i was into breakfast but i'm not. i can't deal with food til at least 10:30 or 11:00 am. i've always been amazed at people who NEED food first thing. brunch is more my speed. thanks a lot for the canada day wish :)

Jihan said...

I never knew about Brunches till I came to Canada. They thought of skipping Breakfast, well the thought never really came to me.
First thing I wake up in the morning is head to the kitchen.
Its how you know someone is up in our house, all the rumbling noises in the kitchen...
But our breakfast is normally light, probably egg and toast, or a bit of sardine and pankcakes...
The thought of having cereal is new to me too.. I cant get over not having a bit of meat in the morning..

nice video by the way, we went to Niagara to see fireworks. Its new to me too to see how many people go all this way just to see fireworks.
And the term Long weekend is strange to me too. In Guyana we have lots of Holidays, and lots of celebrations all year long.. And its like you take holidays whenever you want so its really strange seeing people be so happy about just four days...
lol sorry for the long comment...
But do u happen to know why it was Called Dominion Day?

burekaboy — said...

PJ - my best friend always ate meat stuff in the morning ... that just grossed me out and i used to think my friend was weird. but then again, people eat stuff like sausages so i guess it's not strange. all depends on the country you grow up in and your family's traditions. lol, yes, we eat TONS of cereal here but it's not all good kinds since many of them are high carb and sugar. i don't eat that really except for special k or rice krispies or wheat puffs.

breakfast for me is coffee :)

regarding the name dominion day:

Dominion Day was the original anglophone name of the holiday that commemorated the formation of the Dominion of Canada on July 1, 1867 out of the existing British North American colonies (The francophone name was Le Jour de la Confédération). That holiday was renamed Canada Day on October 27, 1982.

A popular legend is that the term Dominion was originated for Canada's formation in 1867. It is suggested that Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley suggested the term to the Fathers of Confederation at their meeting after his morning devotionals, during which he read Psalm 72:8: "He shall have dominion from sea to sea." The term "Dominion" was used to describe former British Colonies before Canada's Confederation.

(source:wiki)

we only have a few holidays here compared to what you say. i wish there were more!! :)) hope you enjoyed niagra. the falls are quite spectacular.

Jihan said...

Canada has so much history. In my country I use to love studying History. I have to study some more on Canada for when am going to go do my Citizen test.
It bothers me sometimes when I go places and people talk a language that I dont know, or can't recognise. My bro is doing French in school and would you believe he is getting Bs in French and getting Cs and C-s in English...

We use the same cereals that you use too, cause my mom is diabetic..

burekaboy — said...

PJ - history can be a very interesting subject. my favourite was always (ancient) world history but the stories and accounts change depending on who is telling the story, so to speak. for example, how native indians here see our history is very different from how it is told by the english or french. i think you have to look at history with an open mind. there is a lot to learn for your test but i'm sure it'll be easy for you since you like the history part :)

wow, that's interesting that your brother is doing better in french but somehow it makes sense, i think. perhaps the fact that you speak creole english may be making it a little more difficult for him. then again, i could be totally wrong, LOL. in french, it's all totally new (i'm assuming he didn't know french before).

i never liked very sugary cereals. the only one i liked when i was a kid was called "froot loops" -- those were good! :))

TopChamp said...

the bagels sound fab. I've only just finished stuffing my face full of roast chicken with red cabbage & potatoes........ and now I'm drooling over bagels. Think I must have worms or something!