Click here to view this photo book larger

Ray was the first to leave home. He moved to Ottawa in September 1939, and enlisted in the armed forces. A Pilot Officer in the R.C.A F., Ray was a casualty of World War II. His plane failed to return from a mission in Europe in January 1943.

Mary was next to leave New Brunswick, in May 1941. As a teacher in New Brunswick at the time, she was making $60/month. She wrote the Civil Service exam and got a job in the Auditor General’s office in Ottawa that paid $90/month. In Ottawa she met Bert Nesbitt, a young man from Richmond with a similar background. Mary and Bert were married at Green Road in September 1942. They moved to Smiths Falls in February 1943. Bert worked as an auditor with the Unemployment Insurance Commission. Mary worked in a bank for a few years, then started a family.

Clint left New Brunswick and moved to Smiths Falls in 1947. He spent most of his working life with Cockshutt, locally and in Brampton and Brantford.

In 1948, Mary’s parents and her youngest brother Robert also relocated to Smiths Falls. Gordon worked at Frost & Wood, then as a carpenter. Robert worked for the C.P.R. before relocating with the railroad to Toronto. Gordon died in January 1979, Susie in February 1984 and Clint in March 2011.

Mary and Bert had two daughters – Susan and Elizabeth, who both eventually graduated from Queen's University. Bert died of a heart attack in April 1964 at the young age of 48. Mary returned to teaching to support her young family. She taught at the Rideau Regional Centre, working with deaf, blind and delayed children until her retirement in 1984. She maintained an independent and active lifestyle for many years, only slightly slowed by two knee and two hip replacements. She was very active in the Westminster Presbyterian Church and was one of its first female elders. In 1999, she built a two-bedroom apartment, a “granny suite”, on her daughter Elizabeth’s home, two miles outside Smiths Falls. At an early stage of the discussions, she checked with her son-in-law to make sure it was OK with him.

She was much-loved by Susan and Elizabeth and by all her family, including grandchildren Mark (Karan) and Scott Naples and Kelly, Stephen (Kate), Meredith (Adam) and Bradley Phillips, great-grandchildren Benon and Aran Naples, and Emma, Aoife and Liam Condron and Claudia Phillips, sons-in-law Ron Naples and Doug Phillips, and by her young friend, Olivia Martin.

On Wednesday March 20, Mary baked some lemon-drop cookies and mentioned that she was feeling tired. During the night she suffered a profound stroke. She died on April 1, nine days after her birthday. In addition to Susan and Elizabeth and those already mentioned, Mary is survived by her brother Robert, sisters-in-law Norma Hoyt and Hilda Hoyt, nieces Martha Jane Hoyt and Lorna Stevenson, and grand-nieces Laura and Joanna Stevenson.

She lived an exemplary life.

She was 94 years old.

She was my mother-in-law.

Ruby died first, about 15 years ago. I made sure that Eva & Doris were at our older daughter Kelly's wedding in 2006. Eva was quite frail and Doris wasn't sure where she was - but I'm glad they made it. Eva died three years ago; Doris on December 30, 2012. A bit of my family now survives only in memories and photographs - soon it will only be photos.

Below is a photo from 1991 of exactly how I remember my cousins - Eva Fowler, Doris McCaw/Parkin and Ruby Fisher.

And one of the "musts" in Corte is a walk up to the Belvedere and take a photo of the Citadel. Kinda worth the effort, though. An image I won't forget.

I commented in an earlier post about some frustrations with Granite Island by Dorothy Carrington. I would apologize to Dorothy, except she died in 2002. Her book has enriched my time on Corsica immensely. I much prefer reading her account, published in 1966, to modern guide books - actually, at least some of them quote Dorothy a lot.

Today we backtracked a bit from Cargese toward Ajaccio and followed the N193 through the middle of Corsica, returning to Bastia. That's the reverse of the 2nd stage of the 2013 Tour de France which starts in Bastia and ends in Ajaccio.

Tomorrow morning we're on the ferry back to Nice.

This morning we walked from our hotel on the marina up into the Haute Ville, the oldest part of Bonifiacio with many buildings precariously perched on the edge of the cliff. After a brief tour we descended L'Escalier du Roy d'Aragon, the Staircase of the King of Aragon, a series of 187 steps (about the same as the Arc de Triomphe in Paris) cut into the side of the cliff. We had noticed the staircase from our boat yesterday (see photo). Like much of Corsica's history, the staircase has a fair amount of myth, i.e. lies, about it. Suffice to say it has absolutely nothing to do with the King of Aragon. The walk down was more of a challenge than expected - the steps are quite deep - but at the bottom there is a walking area about a quarter of a mile along the cliff face. The walk back up was done in stages.

We paused for a pleasant lunch in a tourist restaurant in the Haute Ville, before walking back down the hill, arriving at our hotel mid-afternoon. What to do? A bit late for heading out in our car on an even-abbreviated day trip, but too early to hang around our hotel room. So we headed out, each with a book, looking for a park or public spot to read and take in the beautiful weather. We ended up sitting outside at one of the many bar/restaurants that ring the marina, ordered a beer (Pietra, a Corsican brew) and read for more than an hour.

I took along Dorothy Carrington's Granite Island, an acknowledged classic work on Corsica. The first edition of the book appeared in 1966 and is an account of her time on Corsica since shortly after World War II, along with a lot of Corsican history. I tried to read it in the months leading up to our trip, but found it a tough slog. I was especially turned off by accounts of mythical Corsican figures like the mazzeri, the signadori and the evil eye. Maybe part of Corsican folklore and of some significance in understanding Corsican culture, but pure bunkum. However, I do enjoy her book as a traveling companion, now that I'm here.

A final comment on Bonifacio. It has a stunning setting, but there not much to do here. A full day would do justice to most of it highlights.

Tomorrow, we head up the west coast to Cargese - likely no blogging for about a week.

We toured Bonifacio's marina area and, after climbing several steps through a commercial street, we also toured part of the Bosco, a wooded elevated area, which provided some great views of the Bonifacio's dramatic landscape (see photo). Later we took a boat tour of the nearby area - again very impressive & stunning views.

A mix-up in hotel reservations on my part means that we are only staying here for two days, instead of three - will work in the 3rd day's activities on the way to our studio apartment rental in Cargese on Sunday. Tomorrow will likely be my last posting until next Friday.

Our unforgettable lunch setting at a small restaurant in Sant'Antonino, one of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France, is shown in the photo below.

We walked back down to the port area after breakfast at the hotel, picked up our car at Europcar - a brown Peugot 308 - then headed over to St. Florent and the start of a west-to-east journey around Cap Corse. The trip is reputed to be hair-raisingly stressful in places, but its not so bad - I've had scarier drives in the Vercors, for instance. However, there is evidence of recent and on-going road improvements, so perhaps the driving experience is somewhat tamer than in years past.

The main road around Cap Corse is the D80. At one point, and for reasons left unmentioned, we drove several kms on the D33, much narrower and less busy then the D80. The main traffic impediment we encountered on the D33 was a herd of mountain goats on either side of and in the middle of the road.

We stopped several times for photos, twice for a break and three times for wine purchases. Our first stop was at Nonza, partway up the west side, where we had a drink in the small village inundated with German tourists. Our second stop, for a late lunch, was at the very pleasant seaside town of Macinaggio, with its impressive marina.

There are many wine producers in the area around Patrimonio and St. Florent. We stopped at one - Domaine Gentile, recommended in one of our guide books. Our other two wine stops were at Clos Nicrosi (see photo), which produces some unique and popular white wines and Domaine Pieretti for a sample of their excellent red wines. Both of the latter two producers are within a few kilometers of Macinaggio.

Many people recommend a west-to-west transit of Cap Corse because you will always be driving on the inside, away for the steep drop-offs, but I would recommend it for another reason.The scenery on the western side is much more dramatic and spectacular than on the east. Also, the west is much less-developed and more interesting.

Our trip around Cap Corse took six hours - a reasonable time to allot, if a visit to Corsica is in your future. We saw some people putting on hiking shoes at one stop-off for a short climb to the top of a hill, and we saw a very few people on some of the black beaches below, but there really aren't a lot of places to stop for an extended period of time on a day trip like ours in early October.

In the evening, we walked down from our hotel over to the Vieux Port area and the marina ringed by restaurants. We stopped at Trattoria al dente, a restaurant with a good rating on Trip Advisor - had an enjoyable time.

One thing about Corsica that we have both noticed - it's more difficult for non-French speakers to communicate than on the mainland - and I am sure that Corsicans would not be pleased with my commenting on how French they are.

I planned on hiring a cab at the port in Bastia to take us to our hotel - but no cabs around - many passengers drove off the ferry & most of the rest were met by friends or family - so no line of cabs looking for an easy fare. We walked about 1km to our hotel, and in case your wondering, nobody walks downhill from a seaport.

We're here on Corsica - the adventure begins tomorrow.

But now the sun is out; the temperature is rising; I'm in a hotel on rue Maréchal Joffre in Nice; there's an Intermarché around the corner; I'm getting ready to visit a recommended restaurant this evening; and we're off to Corsica tomorrow. If you want to trade places ... uh ... no thanks.

In a perfect world our stay would be longer, but there are family responsibilities back here in Canada. The same comment applies to the choice of our time of year to visit Corsica.

Other flight options include flying to London or Paris, then taking a short flight directly to Corsica. We have only been to Nice once, on a day trip back in 2005 from the Luberon to visit a friend of one of our children. My wife liked it a lot - “I’ll stay here. You can go home. Just send money” was her comment. We are looking forward to a couple of days on the Cote d'Azur.

P.S.I bought the map below on a visit to Drôme Provence in 2008. Corsica has been on my list for a few years

However, on a hot July evening in 2007, I was working in my garden, when I heard a couple of plaintive bleats in the field on the other side of the fence. I climbed over and discovered two newly-born lambs lying in the grass beside the ewe. My friend, the owner of the sheep was very surprised when I appeared at his door and told him about my discovery.

One of the two lambs is now an excellent ewe, one of the best in the flock. She gave birth to two lambs this evening. Below is a photo taken a very few minutes after the birthing process.

But I must confess that I was a bit intimidated. I had only prepared one of my assigned recipes previously and several of them called for unfamiliar ingredients or implements. I would never consider myself more than an enthusiastic cook and I knew that at least some of my cohorts are very accomplished and expert in the kitchen. Plus, I wasn't really a great fan of Italian cooking. Most of my travels in Europe have been based in France, that most civilized country - and my culinary interests, such as they were, centred around French cooking.

Early on, I decided to conclude my account of preparing each recipe by addressing three issues:

1. What I liked about the recipe.
2. What I didn't like about the recipe.
3. Would I make it again?

I thought such an approach would keep me honest about the recipe and might be of some assistance to followers of the blog. It was the best decision I could have made.

How is my life different from having participated in this project?

• I don't skip over a recipe because it might seem a bit complicated or call for a novel ingredient.
• I am a familiar face in some specialty food stores in the Ottawa area.
• I do more shopping at butcher shops.
• I assemble all the ingredients for a recipe in front of me before starting.
• I plan my garden with specific recipes in mind.
• I prepare many more meals than before.
• I seldom use the "Defrost" setting on the microwave.
• I am much more confident in the kitchen.

Those are a few of the more obvious changes, but I know it goes deeper than that.

Recipe prepared most often:

Stuffed Spaghetti Frittata with Tomato, Mozzarella and Ham. This is a great recipe, a favourite with friends and family - quick and easy and delicious. Everybody asks for the recipe.

Biggest surprise:

Sunchoke and Spinach Salad. I had difficulty obtaining the sunchokes - Jerry came to my rescue. I have planted sunchokes on my property. This simple recipe was my favourite salad.

Forever favourites:

Shrimp with Tomatoes and Chili Pepper. Easy to prepare with my favourite shellfish as the main ingredient.

Fricasseed Chicken with Rosemary and Lemon Juice. Now I much prefer starting with a whole chicken, fresh from a butcher shop, rather than parts wrapped in plastic and laying on a styrofoam tray.

Veal Scaloppine in Parchment with Fontina Cheese. Sure to impress, this is the first recipe I prepared that I thought approached a professional standard.

Tuscan Meat Roll with White Wine and Porcini Muchrooms. A big leap up from the humble meat loaf - economical, easy to prepare and a great result.

Crisp Fried Zucchini Blossoms. A seasonal treat not to be missed. The main reason to plant zucchinis in my garden.

Eggplant Patties with Parsley, Garlic and Parmesan. Another summer treat using fresh produce from my garden.

Diplomatico - A Chocolate Dessert with Rum and Coffee. A great dessert, as good or better than the best you can recall. Guaranteed.

Frozen Tangerine Shells Filled with Tangerine Sorbet. This takes a while and requires an ice cream maker, but the final result is well worth the time and effort.

When I joined this group I owned Marcella's book, but I had never really heard of her. I had no idea of the place that Marcella Hazan occupies in the pantheon of cooking icons. A couple of weeks ago I read her memoir, Amarcord and got a better understanding of the person behind the inspiration for this project and her generally positive comments on this blog.

Thank you, Marcella, for your faithful attention to our efforts.

And thank you to all those who have contributed comments.

And thank you to Beth, Irene, Cindy, Sandi, Jan, Jerry, Palma, Kim - my fellow travelers on this journey.

And thank you, especially, to Deborah who invited me along for the ride.

Just over a year ago, I never would have read this book. A memoir/autobiography by a person, Marcella Hazan, totally unfamiliar to me - a person who wrote some Italian cookbooks. I don't think so.

But, I was invited to take part in an interesting online blog - Pomodori e Vino.
- in which a group of geographically disparate people cook their way through Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by the self-same Marcella Hazan.

So having prepared over fifty recipes from her book and having been on the receiving end of many comments from Marcella over the past year plus, I decided to read what she had to say about her life.

I think Marcella has been very candid in this memoir - about her sensitivity to a physical issue; her relationship with her husband, publishers, and many other people in her life; her business success and failures; the important decisions she made at several times in her life.

The book is full of surprises. I had no idea that she spent a large part of her life in the United States (she now resides in Florida), how widely known she was in some circles or that operating cooking classes could be a career. The biggest surprise for me was her main reason for moving back to the United States after being based in Italy for several years. She was attracted by the U.S. health care system, which suggests that she had many more business successes than failures.

I can recommend this book if you already are familiar with the name Marcella Hazan. It is a very well-written and informative account of her life.