This week’s small pleasures #237

Thistles and Kiwis

Whenever I start writing a small pleasures post, I start with looking at what photos I have taken during the week. Sometimes they inspire, sometimes there isn’t a lot to report. This week there were lots of small pleasures, including three days of holiday.

It is a miserable, grey and rainy Monday here, so it is nice to look back on Tuesday of last week, and a walk home through the Botanic Gardens from the cable car at the top. It was a gorgeous day, just perfect for a a lovely stroll. Below you can get some feel for what I saw and enjoyed.

Before my walk through the gardens, I had gone into town for a few errands, and stopped at Squirrel for some tea and some smoked salmon toast. It was so nice to have the time and opportunity to return to one of my favourite places in the city – a small pleasure indeed.

Sticking with food, we enjoyed bagels from Best Ugly Bagels (for those interested, these are Montreal style bagels) with cream cheese and smoked salmon (again!) for Sunday breakfast. I made this wonderful carrot, orange, pecan and manchego salad again from Peter Gordon’s Savour (I found this version of it in The Washington Post). On Thursday, we enjoyed pizza (mine topped with prawns and calamari) at Santeria, and on Sunday we enjoyed a curry lunch with my nephew, wife and wee boy at Great India, an Indian restaurant in town (and a small pleasure in itself to see them).

Food shopping wise this week, there was this beautiful cavolo nero and a big bag of red onions, Jerusalem artichokes to make soup, apples, pears and some very pretty looking purple Brussels sprouts.

The French Film Festival is on at the moment, and on Saturday afternoon we went to see Les Bonheurs des un… or A Friendly Tale – a lovely, very French film that we really enjoyed. Still in the things to watch corner, I can recommend the Swedish TV drama SnƶƤnglar (Snow Angels). It is a bit harrowing at times, but we were gripped by the story. A podcast I binged listened to this weekend, Finding Natasha, is the interesting tale of a young British woman who went to try to study dance in the Soviet Union.

So those were my small pleasures this week ā€“ what were yours? As usual, I like to feature other bloggers who have made me smile, made me think or generally shared some interesting aspects of their lives.

You can find Thistles and Kiwis on Facebook, and also on Instagram@thistleandkiwis.  As for Twitterā€¦.am totally inactive these days.  If you want to get in touch, email me on thistlesandkiwis@gmail.com

Published by Thistles and Kiwis

23 Comments

  1. Lovely week you have had and I love all the yummy food you shared! I think it’s such a great idea to appreciate the small pleasures in life and I am a big fan of bagels with cream cheese. The Squirrel sounds like such a wonderful place to dine and relax. Enjoy this week ahead! ā¤ļø ~Diana

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  4. Your photos of food are lovely, everything looks delicious. I’m glad someone else enjoys Brussel sprouts, a much maligned vegetable! I’m looking for some new soup recipes for winter.

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    1. Thank you! Have you tried roasting Brussel sprouts? They are quite a good way to get non-sprout lovers to at least try them. I saw an easy looking tomato soup in Sophie Hansen’s new book that might be good.

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  7. I’ve never had a Montreal-style bagel. After doing a quick Google search, I’m surprised to find one in Los Angeles. I need to make a morning trip on a weekend even if it’s a little out of the way. That carrot, orange, pecan and manchego salad looks good. My typical home salad is spinach plus some cheese and other random veggies (it’s usually bell peppers, tomatoes, and avocados). I’m always looking to find other salads to make.

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  9. I’ve never seen brussels sprouts other than green and these are a family favorite so I’d be anxious to give these a try. A bit of olive oil, salt and pepper likely turn these into a similar delicacy.

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  10. Did you take the cable car up to the Botanic Gardens? It must be quite high up then …
    The bagel looks delicious – I didn’t realise there were regional styles of bagels. I only know I like mine a certain way: chewy and not too bready.

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    1. There is a small cable car that runs from the city centre up to Kelburn and the ‘top’ entrance to the gardens. It is just a 5 minute ride. Apparently, it goes up 120 metres.

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