A great place for a burger in Ottawa. Chez Lucien on a snowy wintery Sunday night.

Empathy has gone extinct. I have my theories.

I’m baking off my Cheddar Jalapeño Sourdough this morning. It smells so good in here. Enough good smells to wake the others? We’ll see.

After reading Stanley Tucci’s book last year called Taste: My Life Through Food I was introduced to Pasta e Fagioli. It you check the internet, there are many recipes. It seems you’re authentic if it includes beans and pasta. Families have their favourite ‘other’ ingredients. Sometimes there is a nod to tomatoes. Sometimes there is meat. Sometimes there is greenery, like kale. Sometimes it’s more stewy than soupy. It seems to be what’s on hand at the end of a grand week or weekend of cooking.

We haven't had roast beef since April 16 last year. Meat is shockingly expensive. But a friend told me about a super sale back in December so I bought a roast and tucked it into the freezer. $15.17/kg. The Mister made dinner and I made the gravy. Grateful for him. And this roast.

When I was growing up, we had our big dinner on Christmas Eve. It was the Danish way. It worked for us to do it again this year.

We decided to do the big feast tonight. The kitchen smells marvelous.

A good friend's mom passed away on Thursday. It's always tough to hear such sad news. I know the hurt that comes with losing a mom. It's tough to find the words to acknowledge the pain. I hope the wee note helped.