CHRISTMAS COOKIES TRADITIONS

Unfailing Martha cornmeal cranberry pistachio biscotti.

Window pane cookies - don't use cinnamon candy or flax next time!

I finally got around to making meringue mushrooms. They turned out pretty cute!

LOLA ROSA IN MCGILL GHETTO

It's a tradition that the drawers at the tables are filled with quotes and doodles. I like to leave a thought for a stranger, just like someone left these for me!

Great vegetarian food and excellent desserts. Check out the Ginger Basil Creme Brûlée! Complex and creamy - yummmm!

REUBEN'S DELI ON STE. CATHERINE AND MOUNTAIN

Bring a friend to share this rich creamy treat! I tried to eat it for supper, but didn't make it past half!

ROOM SERVICE AT THE QUEEN ELIZABETH

MUSHROOM RISOTTO AND CREME CARAMEL

Fairmont Fit Package - Love it!

MARY QUEEN OF THE WORLD

This is Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral. It's dome is based on  St. Peter's Dome in Vatican City, just over half its dimensions.  

Bishop Ignace Bourget statue.  The construction of the cathedral was ordered by Mgr. Bourget to replace  the former Saint-Jacques Cathedral which had burned in 1852. His tomb is in a burial chapel, to the left of the nave. 

These statues are a mix of 2 disciples (John and James the greater, this cathedral's patron saint),  1 apostle (Paul),  and  10 patron saints. Jesus is not up there with a baby!

Ornate handle at the entrance.

The nave of the church. 

One of a pair of fonts made of giant clams

Baldachin replica of Vatican's St. Peter's by Gian Lorenzo Bernini of Roman statue Elephant and Obelisk fame

Micromosaic niche

Marble on the wall

SECRET MONTREAL FOR FEMALES ONLY

Check out the ladies bathroom on this conference floor (to your left) for the best view in the city with armchair and table!

GARE WINDSOR

Canadian Pacific Railway

Original ceiling

One of the most moving war statues I have ever seen. It gets me every visit.

SUNLIFE BUILDING

This building, located on Dorchester (Dominion square) in Montreal was built in 3 stages, and completed in 1931. At that time it was the largest building in square footage anywhere in the British Empire. I am always impressed when I walk by. Recently I recalled a view from a hotel woman's bathroom in the 35th conference floor. Any view, whether on foot or from a vista, is grand. Take a look!

TINCTURE OF TIME

Back in my childhood days, if we scraped our knees,  my chemistry teacher father would stain our wounds maraschino cherry red with a "tincture of mercurochrome". Needless to say, staining our knees with mercury is no longer considered appropriate treatment, but the idea of a "tincture" takes me back! That's why, when my colleague signed over that a patient needed the "tincture of time". What a great expression! So under utilized! So the next time you are tempted to give credit to the pejorative procrastination, why not use the tincture of time!

BOOK REVIEW: THE TALE FOR THE TIME BEING

This is probably the longest I have spent reading a book in ages. Most reads are frenetic. I get the book and do nothing else for a couple days. This was not my experience with Ruth Ozeki's A Tale For the Time Being. It felt to me like I needed to go slow in order to grasp the content. Like a nice glass of wine, it was to be savoured, not downed. I think it started differently because I could only find a copy for my book club on the library's electronic reader resource, and I attempted to do this on my desktop, and only achieved a knowledge of what to do with the reader on my phone. It caused me to jump back and forth to the index, following the many references to Japan and Japanese in a slow inefficient way, but it set the tone for a slow methodical read. Then the book expired and I was forced to wait until the hardcopy came in before I restarted. By then I was, like the protagonist, yearning to know more about her great-grandmother, an unlikely physical form of an anarchist nun, and like the fictionalized Ruth, yearning to know more about Nao, the protagonist.

I often enjoy movies that take me somewhere else because I do not have enough time or resources to travel as much as I would like. I enjoyed this book for the same reason; it took me to Vancouver Island to a couple who lived in a small community, that enjoyed the ocean and its bounty, as well as the folk who lived there. It took me to Japan, where a teenage girl was discovering herself, despite being bullied and physically and verbally abused by peers and teacher. Her father and mother were absent much of the time, but the whole family was attempting to reintegrate into Japanese society after living in California for a time, and now feeling much poorer and disassociated. She turned to her ancestors and was inspired by her great-grandmother and her great uncle, who had served as a "sky soldier" in the the Japanese air force, but it was far from a romantic role that the translation alludes to.

This is a book to be enjoyed over sipping. It helps if it's windy and cold and you have a nice hot latte or tea. You need to read it slowly, in increments, taking the time to imagine yourself in a Japanese shop inspired by the French and Manga heroines and villains. You need to imagine how the abused become the abuser, and how a marriage is in the mundane day-to-day. You need to imagine living on the edge of the ocean, vulnerable to power outages and sunamis. You will climb to a mountain temple on the island of Japan and meet a tiny ancient bald woman, and you will be glad you did.

Enjoy!

AVANT-GARDE SWEETS

I was scrolling through items on sale at an upcoming sale organized by the Grand Ballet Canadien, and fell upon a company called A La Folie, who makes my new favourite treat: Le macaron (Mah - Kah - Rown). They have also invented four concepts that I had not yet seen: the "chou", which is an elaborated macaron, the "macalong" which is a macaroon shaped like a ladyfinger and sandwiching a filling, the macaron glace, a frozen macaron on a popsicle stick,  and individually decorated slices of decadent pie! Their products look amazing, their photos extraordinary, and the packaging is brilliant! I love the quote on their wall: "Les folies sont les seules choses qu'on ne regret jamais." meaning "Passions/madnesses/extremes (Follies) are the only things that one never regrets!"

Check out their website A La Folie and look on Facebook for more photos! There are not only gorgeous images of macarons, but slices of pies that are almost too pretty to consume. I'll let you know! It's on my to do list for this week, to see if they are really too pretty to consume!

MCGILL REFRESHER COURSE 65th ANNIVERSARY

Every couple of years I try and make it to the Family Medicine Refresher Course put on by McGill. It's a high quality course taught by experts in the field, and is always a good value. This year was a very special anniversary, and for the first time I attended the Monday evening welcome supper (and stayed in a hotel for a hometown conference - see Queen E entry). Not only was the food and service good, the company was excellent (nice to see you Derek and Yae:l, and the evening was a memorable one. Two highlights were a world-record holder for fastest violinist named Eric Speed, who despite admitting to recovering from recent illness, went on to capture our attention and wow us, and, second, the dessert! I appreciate that dessert rounds out any meal, and the sample size of intense flavours and textures was both pretty and delicious!

Dessert at Hilton Bonaventure

BIODOME ANIMALS

Goeldi's Marmoset

Caymans at rest

First time we see the beavers in full view. FYI, if you can't see them, check out the hidden camera feed in the beaver dam.

MONTREAL'S HERO: JOHN MCCRAE

In Flanders' Fields McGill stained glass window

Sixth floor hallway Montreal General Hospital

READING, enlightened by Marcel Proust

In reality, every reader, while he is reading, is the reader of his own self. The writer's work is merely a kind of optical instrument, which he offers to the reader to permit him to discern what, without the book, he would perhaps never have seen in himself. The reader's recognition in his own self of what the book says is the proof of its truth.

excerpted from Le Temps Retrouve

BILLY BISHOP AIRPORT : most comfortable lounge, best landing view, but long return via customs: make your layover more than one hour!

VIEWS OF CHICAGO

From the Signature Room in John Hancock Centre designed by  Bruce Graham

World's coolest parking garage, at least it used to be. People kept reversing off the edge - now it's valet only. Affectionately nicknamed The Corncob Buildings.

Chicago River to Lake Michigan from Trump Tower, the highest public view available if you sweet-talk the bartender to let you take a look!

From Left to Right: Medinah Athletic Club with Assyrian gold dome, complete with blimp landing dock (never used though, thanks to the Hindenburg disaster), prize winning Gothic topped Tribune Tower, Wrigley Building (clock tower), 

From the Chicago Architecture Foundation River Cruise on Chicago's First Lady with Bob, our volunteer, awesome guide!

but my favourite buildings are the art deco style, and the Burnham brothers Carbon and Carbide building is a fabulous example. 

Other highlights are the John Hancock building and the AMA Plaza at 330 North Wabash, which was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and echoed in the Westmount Square quartet of buildings in Westmount, Qc. I love his aphorisms. Mr Mies van der Rohe is famous for saying, "Less is more", and, "Don't try and be original. Just try and be good." The Signature Room on the 95th floor of the building offers great views, and is worth having a drink to hang out and watch the lights of the city come to life as the sunsets.

The cherry pick in the least expensive bubbly on the rooftop at the Signature Room on 95th

MUST DO CHICAGO

DEEP DISH PIZZA: GIORDANO'S CHICAGO

STAR OF SIAM: CHICAGO THAI

Vegetarian Pad Thai

PALMER HOUSE HOTEL, CHICAGO - IGNITING PASSIONS SINCE 1871

PEACOCK DOOR

ART DECO LANTERNS

ART DECO DETAIL ON SECOND FLOOR RAILING

LOBBY FLOOR

THE LOBBY CEILING WORTH A LOOK

BOOK REVIEW: GONE GIRL

It's been a while since I read this book on the recommendation of an acquaintance. It's probably the best thriller I've ready since Da Vinci Code, and although it competes with The Hypnotist in this year's most addicting read, it is by far the craziest most believable descent into madness.

I loved watching the warping of her mind, and watch the crazy unfold. I wish I had written this book!

Now a film staring Ben Affleck as the confused husband, read this book before you see the movie (actually, skip the movie)!