The Grape Escape - Victoria Style

In what must be a ringing endorsement of LFA's Grape Escape, the Sisters of St. Ann hosted their very own version in Victoria this summer. Our Vice Principal, Roland St. Cyr went to Victoria to take part.
On Saturday, July 25 my lovely wife, Sandy, and I set out on our bicycles to make the trek from Ladner to downtown Victoria. The object of the exercise was to attend Sister Frieda’s Grape Escape – Victoria Style, that was being held at her Burdett Street home. Sister Frieda, who had been planning this event for some time, consulted local wine artisans to determine complementary food pairings for some special wines that were stored in her basement. The sommelier, Sister Marie Zorowny, provided an informative synopsis of each of the 4 wines to be sampled. A useful tip that she shared from a recent trip to France was how to properly hold a wine glass when clinking for a toast. The fingers are placed on the wine stem and not the glass itself. When 2 glasses are brought together they create a rich lingering tone that reminded us of church bells. Additional guests included Sister Sarah Comeau, Sister Sheila Moss, Sister Joyce Harris, and our head photographer, Sister Pat Donovan, who used her Apple iPad to create memories of the evening, some of which are included with this article.

The evening started with a glass of white wine paired with an antipasti platter that included marinated artichokes, pickled onions, black olives, and various meats and cheeses that could be placed on toasted focaccia batons. The palates were cleansed with our first glass of red that matched well with thinly sliced grilled sirloin steak served in dressed gourmet greens with blue cheese and walnuts, roasted herb mini potatoes and corn on the cob. The third wine was a crowd favourite, 2011 Chianti Classico bottle of Gabbiano, a case of which was given to the Sisters by a generous parent of Little Flower Academy. The pasta primavera with alder smoked Pacific salmon, red and yellow peppers, carrots and snow peas blended in a parmesan cheese cream sauce was the perfect pairing for the full bodied red. Our stomachs were given a brief reprieve over some excellent conversation before the finale, a chocolate, flourless torte topped with fresh local blueberries, raspberries and vanilla ice cream that was served with a glass of port. Are you hungry yet?

Sister Frieda’s culinary creations would give Chef Paul a run for his money. She and her friends are looking forward to the next Grape Escape Alumnae event that will be held on Friday, November 13, 2015, in the Little Flower Academy dining hall. They
hope to see you there.  **Note: as of publishing this article online, we've only 20 tickets left!**

The next day, there was a special Mass celebrating the feast of St. Ann at the beautiful chapel at Mount St. Mary’s Hospital where many of the Sisters of St. Ann currently reside. I was delighted to sit beside and catch up with Sister Josephine Carney ‘38, the inaugural Distinguished Alumnae recipient. Ironically enough she was seated next to 1940 grad, Margaret (Young) Rushton '40. The two were able to reminisce about the good old days that they shared at LFA and chatted about all the extensive changes since Margaret last graced its halls, over 75 years ago.

After Mass, Sandy and I bid a fond farewell to Sister Frieda, who kindly allowed us to stay in their comfortable visitor’s suite. We mounted our bikes and pedalled back to the Mainland. The weather was not cooperative this time around as the heavens opened and we were subjected to over 2 hours of torrential rains. Fortunately, we brought extra clothes and were able to make a complete change on the ferry before warming up with soup, hot chocolate and coffee. A well timed call to our elder daughter, Naomi, grad of 2012, allowed for us to be picked up at the Tsawwassen Ferry terminal and brought safely home. Despite the rain the trip was well worth the effort to break bread and sip some tasty wines with the Sisters of St. Ann.
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