Stay at home mom without the kids

Growing up, whenever I was home from school, whether feeling sick or on a legit day off, my mother and I had a ritual. She would bring me along to do the shopping, and we would make a stop at a bread shop in North Vancouver called Venice Bakery. These rare glimpses of my mother’s daily life without me were prized, like the treats we would eat on those special days, which always included a baguette from Venice, fresh salami, and cottage cheese. The boys in our family certainly did not eat cottage cheese, and probably felt indifference toward salami and baguettes. Not us. We would come home and eat mini salami sandwiches and spoonfuls of cottage cheese until we were stuffed.

My baguette, or stirato, I got at Sullivan Street Bakery (“rotating my vices” in an effort not to become an Amy’s addict) where I couldn’t resist also picking up a slice of pomodoro, a simple tomato-sauced pizza.

Next I shuffled through the rain to the Amish Market, where I picked up half a pound of thinly sliced Genoa salami. Having not eaten cottage cheese since I was eight, I wasn’t sure today that I even really liked it. But nonetheless I added to my basket. I was recreating a memory here.  At Amish I also grabbed French ham and brie, tying in a memory of France for another day. I also picked up black olives and parmesan to replace the ones at home I was about to polish off.

All these little treats put together made a platter to rival any of the delicious offerings at le Pain Quotidien. I’m going to wait until my husband has settled in a bit more before sending him to the office with one of these.  His lunches already generate quite a stir and we don’t need people asking too many questions…