“The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the sea.” -- Isak Dinesen
For the first two decades of my adult life every New Year's Day was spent in exactly the same way. There was never a decision to be made. It was carved in stone. And it was wonderful.
As I generally stayed up quite late on New Year's Eve, it was natural to want to sleep in a bit. Then, I spent the rest of the morning taking down the Christmas tree and putting away all of the festive decorations. Then it was time to get dressed nicely and head over to the cozy home of my ex-husband's Trinidadian godmother, Ramah. As the years went by, four children were added to our family and four as well to my brother- and sister-in-law's family. My brother-in-law, when he was young, had coined a phrase for these special New Year's Day visits - “Tasty Times” - and that was indeed an understatement.
The whole family and some of Ramah's close friends would arrive in the early afternoon and would greet each other and chat very animatedly over drinks for the adults and a sparkling tropical fruit punch for the kids. And as we talked, our taste buds were tantalized by the incredibly rich aromas of the Indian feast which awaited us.
There would always be two types of curried meat, delicious vegetables, flaky paratha bread (roti), salads and raitas (cucumbers and yogurt), and my personal favourite, chana masala, along with fragrant rice pulao. There was always so much food on the table and it was always incredibly delicious. And Ramah, generous woman that she is, always plied us with the gift of leftovers to take home at the end of the day.
It has been many years since I've had the joy of a New Year's Day feast at Ramah's, but the memories I have are good and warm and rich. And because she so kindly taught me how to cook some of her Indian dishes, they have remained a big part of my family's cooking traditions.
Now, over the past decade and a half, our New Year's Days have been spent in a wide variety of ways, but never more delightfully exciting than this year's experience. My 20-year old daughter, Eliza, had to work on the weekend, so she stayed at home, and my 16-year old son, Daniel, was out of town at his friend's. And so, on New Year's Eve afternoon, my sister, Kathie, and my partner, Mark, and I travelled up north to the city of Collingwood on Georgian Bay to celebrate.
We were fortunate to be able to stay at my nephew's condo on the Bay as he and his girlfriend are currently vacationing in her native Australia. It is a beautiful home and it was very cozy – especially with a nice fire crackling away in the fireplace. We enjoyed a very subdued evening; we ordered pizza and had some drinks and conversation by the fire. Very relaxing indeed. Or so we thought. But the next day would take the concept of relaxation to all new heights.
We spent the better part of the day at “Scandinave Spa” (www.scandinaveblue.com) – an amazing “four season relaxation experience”, as their brochure explains. We found this to be entirely true because as the afternoon wore on, the weather worsened considerably with the temperature plummeting, the wind picking up wildly, and the snow falling incessantly. And yet we spent our time there mostly outside in the elements, and yet feeling very, very comfortable indeed.
The Spa consists of the following experiences: Finnish sauna, eucalyptus steam bath, thermal and Nordic waterfalls, three different and very large hot baths(about 40ºC.), and icy cold plunge pools (about 12ºC.) The idea is basically that you enjoy each possibility in a prescribed sequence. First, you warm up in a hot pool (apparently salt water) or the sauna or steam bath, then you plunge into an icy pool or under an icy waterfall, then get warm again, then relax quietly in a solarium, or by the outdoor fire pit, or in a hammock – though that would be best in the warmer weather.
It is astonishing how rejuvenated this makes you feel! By the end of our time there I felt at least ten years younger. And it was so much fun. Honestly. It is incredible how enchanting it feels to be relaxing in a very hot pool in the midst of a growing winter storm. It is an amazing feeling – the mists swirling around you, the snowflakes settling onto your face, the lights from the ski runs twinkling softly on the mountain. It was a slice of heaven. And the perfect way to begin a new year.
After dark, we very reluctantly packed up and left the spa – still feeling a delicious core warmth despite having to drive through the storm.
We were feeling ravenous by then and far too relaxed and mellow to want to cook, so there was a unanimous decision to stop at the local “Tandoori House” and pick up some Indian food. Mark chose chicken Madras with basmati rice and chapati bread, and Kathie and I shared a mushroom biryani (a lovely rice dish with mushrooms, toasted cashews, and raisins), saag paneer (Indian cheese cooked with spinach in a tomato gravy), and – my favourite – chana masala (curried chick peas and potatoes).
We gathered up the takeaway curries and scurried back to the condo. We put on the fire and set the table for our Indian dining experience. It was all absolutely delicious. After our meal, we relaxed in the living room by the fire, sipped on some drinks and relaxed even more. It was the perfect ending to an excellent beginning of the new year.
And as I wallowed in all of this mellowness, I was also revelling at the day behind us – a brand new, totally different experience which turned out to be incredible. But I also felt a nice warmth because the day had included a delicious Indian meal which so wonderfully recalled all of the New Year's Day meals I had enjoyed so consistently for so many years. So I raised my glass of wine and deep in my heart there were these words: “Thank you, Ramah. For all the great meals, for all your hospitality, for all your love. And Happy New Year!”
Cheers,
Diane
I hope you will try to make Chana Masala. I have chosen this recipe because it is very easy to make. It even has a non-threatening English name, Chickpea Potato Curry. It is a delicious, nutritious, and inexpensive dish that smells amazing as it is cooking. It is the perfect dish for starting a new year or, well, any time at all. Enjoy!
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/chickpea_potato_curry/
Photo above and recipe courtesy of “simplyrecipes.com”. Thank you!
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