Today my cardiac surgeon came up to my bed and said the greatest eleven word sentence I have heard: “You are going to watch the hockey game from home today!” So I did.

It has been a long day for me and I am not going to start deciphering my notes – that is for future blogs, but I do want to tell you about the best most romantic dinner ever with the best partner imaginable. I have been on University of Ottawa Heart Institute food for the last while. I will say, for the record, that it is decent food that is as good as most institutionalized food, healthy, maybe a touch bland but the vegetables are crisp and everything is brought to you hot by caring and courteous staff. But, well you know the but …. We are a spoiled tribe and today I wanted to feast.

So my wife arranged take-out from the best restaurant in the Ottawa Valley – Castlegarth. http://www.castlegarth.ca/Castlegarth/Home.html

So after the Game, we phoned Jennifer and my wife ordered cod with risotto and I ordered a nice lean local loin of pork with White Lake beans and roasted radicchio. I drove with Anda to Castlegarth with me sitting in the back seat ( two reasons – I need to be with someone 24/7 for the first week and for 45 days I cannot sit behind an airbag). The Beagle was in the front seat. We arrived, were greeted by Jennifer. (I showed her a few scars – I have no idea why) and she packed up the food with a free half loaf of their dynamite bread and a container of my favorite Virgin Caesar.

We drove home and ate – it was with the love of my life under truly romantic circumstances. No café in Paris, no bistro in Rome, no sunset dinner in Tofino could beat this. We were celebrating love …. What else is there?

(and for the record: I only ate half my meal and for dessert we each had a chocolate that we have been saving for the purpose since Christmas, ..... the Beagle got nothing, Hey! he got the front seat!!)