Party food in Canada

At C's aunt's house, we made our way to the backyard where the party was at...

C's cousins were super nice, greeting us and making us feel at home. One of them offered Bert a selection of Canadian beers....



In the house, there was quite a large spread of diverse dishes. This was only ONE of the tables. This was the salad table. One of the dishes also held pancit (the one with the egg slices).

The counter had several platters - fruit and cheese, hummus, and eggplant, along with torn pieces of pita bread and some sort of relish (in the ramekin).  Everything was amazing!

The other side of that salad table also had a big plate of ribs, plus fixings if you wanted to make a pita sandwich (lettuce, onion, tomatoes).

I really liked the scalloped dish this pasta was in. On that same table was a bowl of black mussels in the most delicious broth.

The marinated beef skewers were also a hit.

This was one of my favorites that eveing, the mussels.

My plate, which had a little bit of everything.

Everything was set up in the back yard, which had a raised deck and several layers of pretty gardens. The next day we would visit another aunt of C's. She too had a beautiful house with the most gorgeous gardens in her side and back yards.

A selection of desserts - banana lumpia (turon), a slice of bibingka royal, a tiny slice of sweet cassava and coconut cake, and some sort of sweet bread with chocolate chips.

We liked the turon so much that we got some more! These were rolled very thin, unlike the ones I see here in San Diego, which are thicker and fatter.

Filipino style fruit salad was also another dessert offering, but the difference was that the fruits were fresh, not canned. Those were melon balls with pineapple and coconut and sweet cream.

Everything we've had up to this point in the trip had been restaurant or fast food, so it was  nice to enjoy a home cooked meal.

C's relatives were a lively bunch. Bert had a nice time talking to one of the aunts who hails from the same region of the Philippines as his parents, but at a neighboring town. They were thinking that perhaps they could be distantly related.

One of C's cousins wanted to play tour guide that evening. Our next destination before calling it a night would be Montreal's Old Port.