Peatt.net

I made this soup a few weeks ago and haven’t stopped thinking about it since… it was soo good!  It was healthy, cheap to make and hearty.  The chestnuts make the soup thick and give it the starch.  They also inject great flavour and a creamy texture without the cream (and fat).  I used my new cast iron pot to make it and really fell in love with this new addition to the kitchen.  Hope you have as much fun with it as I did! 

• 2 large butternut squash
• 2 tablespoons coriander seeds
• 2 dried chillies
• A few glugs olive oil
• 10 slices pancetta, cut into 1/2-inch (1 centimetre) pieces (I used bacon, it worked fine)
• A bunch fresh sage
• 11 ounces (300 grams) chestnuts (I bought these at the store, skored them and roasted them for 20 min before shelling them and putting them in the soup)
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• About 2 3/4 pints (1 1/2 litres) chicken stock
• 4 tablespoons sour cream
• Extra-virgin olive oil

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. (200 degrees C/Gas 6)

Cut the squash in half and remove the seeds, reserving these for later. Using your pestle and mortar, bash up the coriander and chili, nice and fine, and sprinkle over the squash. Drizzle with a little oil and roast in a hot oven until nice and soft.

Heat a little oil in a large pan and fry the pancetta with half the sage leaves. Add the chestnuts and the onion and fry gently for about 15 minutes. By this time the squash will be ready, so spoon it out into the pan, leaving the skin behind. Cover with the stock and bring to the boil. Remove half the mixture and blend until smooth, then pour back into the pan. 

Take the rest of the sage leaves and the reserved squash seeds and fry them in a little oil until crisp. To serve, spoon a little sour cream on top of the soup, sprinkle with a little of the crisp sage and seeds, and finish with a good drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.

 Today is my first day of my new job as a Policy Advisor in Minister Moore’s office at Canadian Heritage.  Lots to learn and there was an article in the Globe and Mail about him this weekend: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081109.wmoore1108/BNStory/Entertainment/home

Working my first election was, well, fun. I took a leave of absence from my job with Minister Fortier and flew to Victoria to live with my parents for a month. After having moved to Ontario I don’t seem to get home enough so this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

It took me less than a week to get plugged into the campaign. I was personal assistant, scheduler, policy advisor, and correspondence writer to Troy DeSouza. Running in Esquimalt Juan de Fuca was a difficult fight as the incumbent Liberal candidate Keith Martin had been there for 15 years. Nevertheless, after 15 years he had worked for both the Reform Party and the Liberal Party and except for a brief stint as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence, Keith has been an opposition MP. Also, Keith gave an interview to Julie Smith of the National Post in May that spoke of his frustration regarding the influence of MPs in the parliamentary system and he is quoted as saying that this election will be his last.

Troy offered the riding the opportunity to have a member of government as their representative. As a member of government Troy would be able to get a lot more done in the riding: not just write to MPs but actually talk to Ministers about issues people have, and lobby for a McKenzie Overpass. The Colwood Crawl is a huge problem for people leaving Victoria on the Trans Canada Highway, a short term fix would be to replace the traffic light at McKenzie/Admirals with an overpass. It was in the original plans and there is money in the Building Canada fund and the TransCanada pot, so it makes good sense.

Troy’s Campaign Team was small but well organized and hard working. They had a plan, they had a great candidate, and the momentum of the national campaign. I loved working with the team – burma shaves in the morning were fun, late night meetings were never a drag, and every day was offered new challenges and surprises.

The PM visited Victoria twice during the election. The first time he held a press conference in one of the hotels. They needed young people, especially women, for the backdrop so I ended up wearing a Conservative t-shirt behind Prime Minister Harper on the right hand side of the TV screen during the announcement. The guy behind me fainted half way through the announcement. We had been up there for a long time before the event got underway, the room was stuffy, and we had lights heating us. The guy just collapsed. The and then This Hour Has 22 Minutes used it for this sketch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEf8o-kQt7Y. Mom still can’t stop laughing!

On election day, 68 more people voted for Keith than Troy. There is a recount underway which may change that but regardless, I am proud of the work that I did over the campaign. Not very often can one point to something and say, “I made a difference” but I feel in this case I can. I was one of a handful of people that could work full time and the team said I brought a higher level of professionalism to the campaign. Troy said I made him feel like an MP which I think is the biggest success, as that is what we were aiming to make him.

While home I got to spend Thanksgiving with Mom, Dad, Ed and Gerry Turner. Ryan and I attended his grandmother’s 80th birthday. And I spent a girls weekend with Mom, Grandma Pighin, and Aunt Connie. Also, Amber and I made a pie and ate the best eggs benedict in the world. A great campaign, a great visit, and I know we will soon make Troy an MP.

Two months since my last post and once again my life is being thrown into chaos, this time for an election. The summer was good to me: I got to know a new department, travelled to Geneva with the Minister for the WTO talks (which seemed to go on forever), got back to BC for my Pighin family reunion and a little wine tasting in the Oakanagan, finishing the summer off with a little camping at Charleston Lake for the Labour Day long weekend. No complaints, it has been great.

But the heat of the summer is just over and I’m heading to Victoria today to work on an election campaign. I’ll be working in the riding of Esquimalt Jaun de Fuca for Troy de Souza who is the Conservative candidate trying to win the seat there. This will be my first campaign and from the conversation I had with the riding office last night, they need my help.

I would like to say that after the election routine will be brought back to my life but for now it doesn’t feel like it. I guess I will see where this goes!

Well, by looking at this web page it looks like we got married and predictably bought a house. While true, we have had a very busy winter and have not had time to update our posts very often.

Ryan and I have both been traveling with work. In January Ryan spent a week in Florida while I was in London and Paris. In March our volunteer jobs with Model UN took us once again to NYC for a week around Easter. Then in April I had the opportunity to go to Victoria for one of my files and I took the opportunity to spend the weekend with Mom and Dad.

In addition to increased travel in our jobs we both have increased responsibilities. Ryan was recently promoted to Business Development Manager at e-Academy. This has resulted in less client transaction and more opportunities to develop and promote new business ideas. In January I became a Policy Advisor in Minister Fortier’s office and moved from real property files to acquisition files. I think for both of us these moves have made our jobs more demanding but also more rewarding!

We are still living in our extraordinarily small apartment on Bayswater with no room for a couch or a kitchen table. However, we have made it more tolerable by purchasing a car. We bought a 2004 Nissan Altima in excellent condition from a family friend. I wasn’t super excited about it when we bought it but now I’m really glad we have it. We have managed to go camping, go to the US and simply get out more! Having a car also helped us find our new house.

We have decided to buy a new house in Riverside South, just past the airport. It will be built by Urbandale over the next year and we are scheduled to move in May 2009. In the mean time we get to pick the design features we want, research everything from window coverings to gas ranges, and (of course) save to afford it all! For all of you who generously gave monetary wedding gifts – know that we are looking forward to putting that money to good use! This weekend we bought the key piece for our new home – a gas range! Costco had a $2000 Blue Star professional-residential range we couldn’t pass up.

Our family has also grown: we got kittens. About a month ago we adopted kittens from the Humane Society that had been born and spent the first few weeks of their lives at the Prime Minister’s house. We got to pick them out at 24 Sussex and talked to the Harpers all about their cats on a Friday evening. As it turned out, the kittens are famous, having been in MacLean’s the month before!

Other things I’ve enjoyed doing over the winter: learning how to make Ukrainian Easter Eggs at Lorraine’s house, discovering the joy of making fresh pasta, planting and nurturing my window herb garden, and making baby Isabella her first doll!

Tanya and I have taken the plunge into home ownership – we are building a new house in Riverside South (Ottawa). The closing date isn’t for a year, though! Plans are attached. More to come.

Site Plan

Floor Plan

We left Canada before Christmas and returned as Mr. and Mrs. Peatt last weekend.  We were really looking forward to spending Christmas with our families from BC, having the wedding and touring the Mayan Rivera.  We are happy to report that everything went perfectly; we had a fabalous time, fun adventrues, and some relaxation. 

The first week at the Barcelo resort was great because there was nothing that we had to do.  We spent a lot of time on the beach with our familes, enjoyed the sun, and managed to eat and drink enough to count for two Chrismas holidays.  The Barcelo is a beautiful resort with great food and a perfect location.  For Christmas dinner we had a seafood feast. 

The wedding was held at a beautifully decorated part of the beach.  We have a few of the wedding photos up for you to enjoy and have a wedding video in post-production – Ryan’s brother Kyle was our photographer and he did a great job.  We were ecstatic but relaxed and with such an intimate setting it was joy to share with our friends and family.  My sister Amy (now) Allan was my Matron of Honour and Ryan had David and Devin, his longtime friends as his Best Men.  In addition to our immediate family we were pleased that Kirsten could join us at the last minute, Brian and Bev Davidson came down after Christmas, and everyone was shocked when my Aunte Connie and cousin Dalton “crashed” the reception.  They had flown in that day as a suprise to join us on our wedding day – and what a delightful suprise for everyone.   At the end of the night there were 23 people celebrating with us but we knew there were many more in Ottawa, Victoria, Cranbrook and all across Canada who were there in spirit.  Thanks to everyone who has encouraged and edified us over the years of our courtship and engagement, we are so grateful for all your support and well-wishes.

The second week was our chance to see a little of Mexico.  Ryan and I had rented a car and had booked hotels in Cancun, Chichen Itza, and Playa del Carmen.  We used these hotels as bases to go out on daytrips.  You will see in our Mexico photo gallery some of the places we visited such as Isla Mujueres and Tulum.  Our honeymoon was happily shared with friends and family visiting the area with us.  Ryan’s groomsmen , David and Devin, were with us in Cancun as was his dad and brothers.  We enjoyed supper at my grandparent’s trailer before they packed up and continued their tour of Mexico with the Fishers.  Patti and Bud joined us at Playa del Carmen and shared all their traveling wisdom with us – in addition to a few nights with ever-flowing margaritas.  One Friday afternoon we even met up with Claude from my office and his girlfriend Lucie and took a trip to the beautiful beaches of Tulum.

We were only gone two weeks but it felt like a month – probably because we did so much!  But also because we got away from work, everyday chores, and the cold cold winter of Ottawa.  Everything was perfect, I wouldn’t have changed a thing.  In the coming months however, I will be changing my name to Tanya Peatt but I have to wait until the certified documents arrive from Mexico.  Until then, we will continue to add to the photo gallery and catch up with friends here in town. Drop us a line!

We are looking forward to seeing you all in one week! Tanya and I have been busy preparing; we also have a new phone number: 613-627-5179.

 My mom passed along a great site about the resort; I encourage everyone to check it out before they go:

http://www.unofficial-barcelo-maya.com

 Merry Christmas,

Ryan and Tanya

Ryan and I were treated this week by Skip and Lorraine Elworthy.  In anticipation of our wedding they wanted to do something special with us so they booked October 4th off in our calendars and told us nothing abou what we were going to be doing.  We didn’t know until we were in the hotel they took us to!  They brought us to a wine tasting put on by CA Paradis, a store here in Ottawa.  The wine was delicious and was made more so by the Reidel glasses that we were drinking from!  There was a key note speech from Maximilian Reidel and we got a real education in the art of tasting!  It was a lot of fun and we got to keep the glasses we drank from!  A great way to start of any future collection!