I'M A LUFAVORE

This weekend, my friend invited me and my family to a greenhouse tour of the Lufa farm. The tour was of a rooftop garden that was an impressive testament to hydroponic technology.  It was pretty cool to have a tomato picked that day and served on fresh baguette with olive oil, and see cucumber vines growing from flower to vegetable in a subzero February day. The idea is that the greenhouse uses half the energy it would need if it were on the ground, and even cut the energy needs/cost of the building below by one quarter. The baskets are filled the same day the veggies are picked. It's a cool system of barter and trade among a whole group of local vendors. We were convinced by the fresh veggies, but can change up the basket any day with goods that vary from pastries and bread to various mushrooms and herbs and even trail mix. My husband convinced me to sign up and we are expecting to pick up our basket on Friday just a short distance from my house on Friday. Glad to be back in the local food movement, and if it continues to move towards more sustainable means with this quality, I might be a lufavore for life!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Lately I have been on a comfort food baking spree, motivated by my homesickness intensified with my parents winter snowbird adventure for 3 months. I have baked bread and homemade egg noodles and I found myself at the end of it with 3 extra egg whites. Well, I have finally been gifted a replacement hand mixer, and have learn with multiple failed attempts that egg whites are finicky unless at room temperature so I left them out for a few hours until this was so, and with a simple pavlova recipe, I added a couple drops of red dye, and watched them like hawks because they needed way less time than a pavlova to cook completely.
My daughter and I have come to love Nerdy Nummies and Ro has made a couple of meringue recipes that inspired me to try to elevate my game. I got out my reusable icing bag and my biggest Wilton attachment, and made some valentines.
Here's the picture of some of them.

They remind me of some family size meringues we saw when we visited Venice.

We visited a mall we had heard about  in Brossard called Dix30. It had one of my favourite restaurants, Elixor, so we ate there for this year's valentine's celebration. Our first choice was the lovely restaurant at  Auberge Handfield, but their winter hours do not include lunch. So we were happy to find Elixor, although the lunch was almost too big to consider the amazing cheesecake for dessert, but I powered through! I had the parpardelle with mushrooms and my husband had a great burrito with house made salsa and guacamole. Yum!

BOOK REVIEW: PRETTY LITTLE SECRETS by Sara Shepard

There are not very many times that I read a book after the movie, but as tv shows go, Pretty Little Liars is fun, and the book is equally entertaining. This book is an afterthought in a well thought out time line. It's Sara Shepard's 11th book but it fits in time between the 4th and 5th stories. Actually, I found it a fun stand alone read, set in December, so involving Holiday frivolities.
The story is divided in quarters, each from the point of view of the main characters. If you haven't seen the tv show, read the books first! Unlike many shows, the characters do not match the books' descriptions, which is very confusing sometimes if you'll seen the show (I'm a visual person, so I remember the physical characteristics from the show better than the books' description). Some of the plot lines differ also, but this pretty little book is full of fun stories that do not confuse. They flesh out the characters a little better, because they are on their own for the most part, with their families and other friends, and you get to know them a little better with a little less stress than usual!

BEST BURGER IN MONTREAL OUEST:BURGER DE VILLE

BOOK REVIEW NUMBER ONE:NIGHT SHIFT BY BRIAN GOLDMAN

I have listened to the CBC podcast by Brian Goldman, called White Coat Black Art on and off for a while since I found subscribing a much more reliable way to listen than the radio. I have sometimes liked and sometimes disliked Dr. Goldman's take on a subject, but I always found them interesting.
This book is a collection of stories that happened in the ER. Although I suspect the times are fictionalized, it's written as though I was the observer following Dr. Goldman from his home to the subway in Toronto through the night in the Emergency Department and then back to the subway to make his way home again.
I felt like I really was working with Dr. Goldman. He is a human first and "ER doc" second, dealing with the person and the disease; managing crises and reflecting on the ironies, realities, and miracles of day to day human contact. It didn't seem to be frantic, or pointless, but he was well organized, flexible and knowledgeable.
If you want to take a walk through the emergency without losing a night of sleep, this is well worth the read.