Roses and Dinner

Roses and Dinner

This week, we celebrated my brother-in-law’s birthday.  We invited them for dinner, and gave him a Montreux Rose bush from John’s Garden Centre, in Riverview.

He is a gourmet cook himself, so hosting him for supper is always slightly worrisome, though he is content to have someone else cook a meal and is generally accepting of any menu.  We tend to cook  simple, plain food, well prepared and lovingly served; he seems to appreciate those efforts.

We ate baked-brie with spiced cranberries and toasted almonds, along with crisply browned crostini, sliced apple and pear.

Gary barbecued butterfly pork chops.  I made a spinach salad with homemade dressing, mashed potatoes and green beans.  The recipe for “Carmel’s Superb Salad Dressing” --a marvellous maple vinaigrette is at the end of this blog.  Try it!

They brought desserts from Nanna’s Bakery on Mountain Road, Moncton—a golden butterscotch pie and still warm, a tart lemon pie.  The butterscotch pie was a bit too sweet but the lemon pie was excellent.  We’ll buy that one again, as Gary’s favourite desserts always involve lemon!

Since our birthday guest is also an avid gardener, we hope he will enjoy the rose bush, a hardy rose that should overwinter well in this climate.  

I think that everyone should have a bright yellow rose bush blooming cheerfully in their garden.

Roses are one of the world’s most beloved flowers.  Hardy roses are as easy to grow as any other shrubs, but they bloom for longer periods, so are well worth the effort.

We enjoyed the visit and the simple supper and anticipate enjoying the Montreux roses blooming yellow-gold in his garden.

Carmel’s Superb Salad Dressing:

Maple Vinaigrette

¼ cup maple syrup

¼ cup orange juice

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

1 clove crushed garlic

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Pepper

Blend all of these together in a blender

and slowly add ½ cup olive oil. 

This goes well with almost any salad.

The photo is mine.