A Quick Day in Chester

Hooray, Sunday was a day that almost felt like real Spring. It has been sooooo slooow in coming. Everything is lagging. Even the trees have hardly got any budding leaves. I had some work that needed attending to in Chester so I picked up my mom and off we went! First stop in the village was to check out Chez Glass Lass aka Kiln Art

I can't believe I've never been in their shop! One of my good market pals is part of the family that belongs to this lovely place. So full of light and colour and beautiful glass. Check out these plates!!! The centers are clear so they look like rings..

They design and create the work here in Chester and sell it worldwide. Complete entertaining sets, decorative pieces and functional ones as well..... I'd have a really hard time choosing.

Next stop was Going Coastal Gallery to drop off a couple of paintings. Robyn, the owner has a new daughter, Grace-Sea who is three months old, she will help her mind the gallery this summer:) 

I will be switching out work as it sells or doesn't sell throughout the year:)

Mum and I explored the village a bit, drooling at the gorgeous homes, many of which are empty at the moment waiting for their summer occupants. Sigh.

 Kiwi Cafe next for lunch..... one of my favourite spots for a bite to eat in Nova Scotia. In a few short weeks, that planter will be bursting with flowers!

I had a grilled brie, pear & arugula sandwich on orange raisin bread. nom nom. Sooo good. Next time I will try their veggie burger. People supposedly drive miles to come and have it!

On the way home we stopped at another fun and fave place. Mother Hubbard's Cupboard. It is a quirky place chock-a-block with antiques, art and collectibles.

Always something different here.. Can't decide whether I prefer the orange chair or...

the green chair...

Big Day Downtown 2013

So say the folk at  Ristorante aMano, one of the places I chose to celebrate my 2013 Big Day Downtown! BIG thanks to the Downtown Halifax Business Comission for allowing me to once again enjoy this wonderful city I get to call home!! This is the fourth year I have participated and this year the theme was experience. Thirty-one bloggers were given cards with experiences from which they had to randomly choose three and the ones I got were: authentic, cheerful and relaxing. Great huh? Sooooo, I decided to combine all three in each of the two experiences I chose. First up was  dinner at aMano with a good friend.

 aMano is an authentic Italian Trattoria tucked away in Bishop's Landing on the Halifax Waterfront. It is a place I have always wanted to try but somehow never have managed until now.

Inside, the decor is red and rustic with terracotta floors, warm colours and a giant brick pizza oven set right next to the bar. Old Italian films play on moniters scattered around the room. It's a friendly welcoming place.

When it came time to order, selection was difficult. Everything sounded delicious! Great choices.

We decided to share, and started with schiacciata for our appetizer, which was warm flatbread, and a garlic,sweet pepper, eggplant pesto.Yum! It's the only food I got a picture of. I got carried away with eating and the mains were half gone before I remembered I was supposed to be documenting it haha.

The delectable mains we chose were...... 

Agnolotti di Zucca, Handmade pumpkin filled half moon shaped pasta with brown sage butter sauce , Parmigiano dusting and toasted almonds
and...  
Pizza Vegitariana, San Marzano tomato sauce, Artichokes,roasted eggplant,sweet peppers, caramelized onions,basil pesto and fresh ricotta

Both were delicious!! my fave was the pumpkin pasta. Nicely scarfed down with a bottle of red wine mmmm.

I would definitely recommend aMano to anyone who loves good food:) We left feeling cheerful, relaxed and authentically stuffed with great italian food!(Somehow in editing this post,the font has changed and I don't know how to fix it, sorry)

My next adventure was solo. Well, sort of.....there was a person named Anna who made me feel like a princess:)

I decided to pamper myself at one of Halifax's most luxurious spas. Spirit Urban Spa on Granville Street. After a long tiring day standing on my feet at the Halifax Seaport Market, I thought a pedicure would be the way to go.

I drifted through the bright open appointment area into an hour and a half of authentic relaxation and cheerful bliss.

They have  a lovely lounge with couches, soft lighting and pillows that leads out onto a deck ovelooking the harbour with more comfy chairs pillows and seating. I was offered a choice of beverages and settled on a cappucino which arrived with a delightful lemon square to munch on while I waited.

Let's face it, the way my life is at the moment, I probably could have just sat here with my book for the full ninety minutes and been completely and utterly satisfied. Sigh.... Next time I will arrive early just to enjoy the wait.

But wait! There's more. A lovely young woman named Anna came out to collect me and ushered me into a room with more comfy chairs and gave me a soft neck warmer to drape around myself and plunked my tired tootsies into a warm bubble bath to soak. Ahhhhh. She then wrapped them in a warm towel and scrubbed, polished, massaged and lotioned my legs and feet until I was a puddle of contentment.

Heaven. A bracelet of polish colours  was handed to me to choose from and I chose from the new "San Franscisco" collection.

Here is the shy Anna hard at work. Look at her lashes!! She has been in the business for 13 years and loves what she does:)

Tadah! Done! Can you see the tiny splotches of blue paint on my flip flops? I wonder which painting was responsible. Haha. Spirit Spa has a full complement of services, hairstyling, waxing, facials, massage, makeup, the works! I would LOVE to spend a day here getting pampered. My feet haven't looked this good in too long to mention.

And that is how I spent my Big Day Downtown! Now it's YOUR turn. The Downtown Halifax  Business Comission is holding a contest starting September 4th  where you can win your own pre-paid Visa card to have some fun downtown! You can find more info on their Facebook and Twitter

Wild Leek, Vegan Restaurant

A friend of mine, Kirsten Taggart, has just started living a dream of hers! She has opened a cozy Vegan restaurant and Juice Bar in Halifax called Wild Leek. A trained chef, Kirsten has had a love affair with wholesome food for years. Her blog, Kirsten's Kitchen is full of yummy recipes that showcase her special connection with good food.

Located at 2156 Windsor St. on the corner of Lawrence, Wild Leek  is sandwiched between a small variety store and a used book shop. You can't miss it. Painted bright green with two flower baskets and a lovely mural on the side of the building.

It is a tiny spot with just six tables I think, I can't exactly remember the number but it is bright and cheerful and has free wifi!

Dominating the high ceilings is an amazing light fixture, I love it!

The menu is simple with only a few basics available on a consistant basis and the rest is dependant on Kirsten's mood and what fresh produce is available and eventually, special requests:)

The day I was there I had the special which was a Shepherd's Pie,  (lentil base and mashed potato topping) slathered with gravy,and a yummy salad.

My mum who was my dining companion had the broccoli and caramalized onion quiche which I have to say was DELICIOUS! Hard to make it look pretty but you get the gist:)

Wild Leek also makes their own seitan and there are a few things on the menu that utilise it including their own version of Bahn Mi which is a Vietnamese sandwich.

I have to say everything I ate was yummy.Lots of dessert to choose from also. These were to die for, chocolate, pecan, peanut butter thingies...

Mum had a coconut cupcke:)

I know there are a lot of food pics here but hey....it's a restaurant. This was moist and dense and aawesome!

I haven't even touched on the juice bar side of things. Lots of choices there. One which caught my eye was "strawberry fields" Strawberry,banana,coconut and vanilla,mmm
They are open Tuesday to Saturday opening at 8am and closing at 4pm except  Friday 7pm. Friday at suppertime  Kirsten will be doing a dinner service with a lovely plated special meal. Saturday they serve Brunch!

 Pop by and say hi to Kirsten and her sidekick Andie:) Tell em I sent you!

Valley Adventure

The long weekend brought beautiful weather and after working Saturday and Sunday  I was desperate to escape the city and head into the countryside!
A friend of mine told me I must go to Luckett Vinyards and I am SO GLAD we did.  It was our first stop. What an amazing view over the fields and off towards the headland Blomidon. Blomidon according to First Nation folklore, was  the home of Glooscap, a Mi'kmaq God/giant/magician/benevolent leader who one day vanished into the sunset.

Inside, there is a tasting bar where you can sample various wines and all around are the large silver containers full of ripening vino. Pete also has a brand of olive oil available for tasting too as wells as other tasty bits and pieces. Buy a bottle, get a picnic and head off into the vines! Something I'd like to do later this summer:)
You eat outside, al fresco, under large umbrellas overlooking that magnificent view. Did I mention it already? Worth mentioning again:)  That's Pete himself making sure everyone is happy.

 We ordered veggie paninis which were absolutely delicious, artichokes and asparagus were part of the inner bounty. Mmmm. I ordered a Muscat to drink, a wonderful fragrant white wine.

The famous red phone box out in the vineyard is a wonderful touch of whimsy and a nod to Pete Luckett's heritage. His signature wine is called Phone Box Red. 
Oh, I forgot to mention that there were three Eagles soaring ovehead as we dined!!!

Our next stop was The Big Red Barn in Port Williams.

I always stop in here on any trip to Wolfville. Hidden behind giant lilac bushes and trees you might miss it if you did not know it was here.

You never know what you will find.

Chock-a-block with goodies. Remember this daguerrotype? I found it here.

Four floors!

OK, enough poking about, onward ho to.. ...oh yes, and they had one of these! Hard to get out of this place, always something else to see.

I better wrap this up, too many pictures I want to share. We ended our day at Domaine de Grand Pre. A small place somewhere in Europe. Ha ha, not really but it could have been. That's my mum.

I mean really, could this not be the South of France or Italy? More alfresco dining. A light supper here before heading home. Of course in between the two meals there were bookstores visited, apple blossom hunting, gelato sampling (I had some ginger beer instead), Wolfville exploring and of course treasure hunting at the "barn". Did not want to make a long post even longer!

Waiting for salads.

Mum had one of the best caesar salads she's ever tasted, I think it was the Dragon's Breath blue cheese that found it's way into the dressing:) This was my parsnip and apple salad with hazlenuts. An exotic coleslaw but oh so delicious!

 I hope you enjoyed our little holiday Monday adventure!