Cream of Broccoli Soup

I hope my Canadian friends enjoyed Canada Day. I had a nice relaxing day and stayed in since I will be very busy soon.  My regular readers will know that it has been raining a lot where I live.  But suddenly the weather turned very warm a few days ago.  I think most people are happy about that.

Even though the temperature were very warm, I was craving some cream of broccoli soup. I very seldom eat cream soup and I never eat Cream of Broccoli soup so am not sure where that craving came from. So I googled a recipe and came up with this. First time I've made it and it was quite good.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 chopped onion 
• 1 stalk of celery, chopped 
• 3 cups of chicken stock 
• 8 cups of broccoli florets (I didn't have 8 cups. I used about 3-4 cups but if you want your soup to be greener or have a full broccoli flavour, I suggest you use the recommended amount). 
• 3 tablespoons butter 
• 3 tablespoons all purpose flour 
• 2 cups milk
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in medium sized stock pot, and saute onion and celery until tender. Add broccoli and broth, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
2. Pour the soup into a blender, filling the pitcher no more than halfway full. Hold down the lid of the blender with a folded kitchen towel, and carefully start the blender, using a few quick pulses to get the soup moving before leaving it on to puree. Puree in batches until smooth and pour into a clean pot. Alternately, you can use a stick blender and puree the soup right in the cooking pot.
3. In small saucepan, over medium-heat melt 3 tablespoons butter, stir in flour and add milk. Stir until thick and bubbly, and add to soup. Season with pepper and serve.

Happy Birthday Canada!

It's Canada's birthday on July 1st. She will be 146 years old.

I send my very best wishes for a safe and happy celebrations to all my Canadian blogger friends.

Sky Over Vancouver

I snapped this photo in Vancouver last weekend.  We've had dry periods here and there  but the sky is still very gray.

Vancouver continues to get a lot of rain but probably not as much as Alberta where the Bow and Elbow rivers have overflowed and flooded cities and towns across southern Alberta.  Calgary's downtown core was under water, while other towns like Canmore, High River and Medicine Hat have also been hard hit.  and under water.  Altogether about 100,000 people have been evacuated due to the floods.  Economists are saying that the flooding in Calgary will cost the economy billions of dollars and that Canada's economy as a whole will also suffer a reduction in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by several billion dollars.

On Monday the premier of the province said she thought it would take 10 years to fully rebuild the flood damaged areas of the province because a lot of the infrastructure (highways, etc.) has been damaged.

Regardless of  the huge issues created by the floods, the City of Calgary is attempting to regroup and forge ahead with their annual rodeo, the Calgary Stampede. The president of the stampede said it will go ahead "come hell or high water"on July 5th. It will be a huge challenge but in it's 101 year history, the stampede has never been cancelled despite two wars and the Great Depression.

Please keep the entire province in good thoughts and prayers.
There is so much damage and it is stressful to human and animals alike who have all been affected.

I'm linking up with Sky Watch Friday today.
Have a good weekend everyone.

One Day Last Summer

I came across these beautiful scenes one day last summer driving through the beautiful Rocky Mountain range. Our trip takes us south on Highway 93 (see map below for a general idea of location).

We were on our way from visiting my uncle in northern Alberta and stopping in to see my mother in Kamloops.  Much of northern Alberta is very flat, farming land. When your journey takes 15 hours or more, it is nice to have visual feast to look at on the drive back to British Columbia.

Click to enlarge the map.  The black like from Edmonton to Kamloops shows part of our route.

Hope you enjoyed the sky and scenery pics today. Join in at Sky Watch here to enjoy more wonderful skies. Have a wonderful weekend.

Images from Montreal, Province of Quebec

Crossing into Canada at St. Bernard-de-La-colle (sometimes called Blackpool Border Crossing)

The line ups were not that long but as always we seemed to be in the slow lane. When we got to the customs officer he was very nice and very chatty. That might explain why the line was so slow to move. At least it was a pleasant change to have a friendly customs agent.

City skyline as we approached Montreal from the south.

I am not sure what the name of the bridge is but as we drove around, I discovered it is closer to Old Montreal.

Finding one's way in a new place is always challenging but Montreal seems to have good signage compared to some of the places I travelled just prior (like Albany, NY where I couldn't find the sign to enter the city from the freeway).

 

I always like to see horse drawn carriages in a large city though I wouldn't like to be riding behind a smoking tour guide.

We easily found our way to Old Montreal (Vieux Montréal)

I love these French/European style buildings and rounded corners.

Notre Dame Basilica completed in 1829.

It is located on Rue Notre Dame (Notre Dame Street).

I enjoy street scenes.

The Canadian Grand Prix Races had concluded the day before we arrived hence the flags in every shop.

I didn't catch the name of this restaurant but I recognize it as one that Anthony Bourdain featured on one of his layover television shows.

Tourist Information Center in Old Montreal

Street Scene

CBC Montreal is the tower on the left as seen through the trees. You can see all the satellite dishes around and a lovely old church too.

A full on view of the CBC Towers

Quebec Court of Appeal

Three flags: Quebec (blue & w hite) & Canada's flag (red & white) and the City of Montreal (red, white, blue, pink & green).

The city skyline shows a lot of construction going on. It seems to be the case everywhere we visited and is the case here at home too.

Making our way to the Pierre Elliot Trudeau International Airport, renamed after one of Canada's Prime Ministers.


 
 Check out OWT submissions here.