Biting my nails
Touching my face
Kissing my daughter
Hugging my friends
Eating out
Library
Museums
Art Galleries
Ballet
Opera
Rock climbing
Gym training
Guests
Chick flicks
Movie theatres
Plays
Binging
Book club
Car pooling
Dental cleaning
Massages
Physiotherapist
Haircuts
Renovations
Playgrounds
Sharing food
Doing things for others
Shopping on a whim or for a need
Walking with friends
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
FOOD AND WHERE IT COMES FROM
CIAT: International Center for Tropical Agriculture
There are beautiful graphics that show where crops are originally from, how we eat now, and what the production of food is now, and where we are getting it from.
These maps show were food comes from, from another site; the NPR (National Public Radio).
There are beautiful graphics that show where crops are originally from, how we eat now, and what the production of food is now, and where we are getting it from.
These maps show were food comes from, from another site; the NPR (National Public Radio).
Friday, March 20, 2020
AGAINST SOCIAL DISTANCING-FOR PHYSICAL DISTANCING
Social distancing is not the right term. Physical distance is imperative. This should not, however, come at the cost of social connectivity and physical activity. These are just as vital to our health.
So keep your distance: 6 feet, 2 meters. But interact with neighbours. Smile and say high to strangers. Go for a walk, a job, a hike. Protect others by chatting from a safe distance. But do stop and connect with others.
So keep your distance: 6 feet, 2 meters. But interact with neighbours. Smile and say high to strangers. Go for a walk, a job, a hike. Protect others by chatting from a safe distance. But do stop and connect with others.
SPINACH SALAD A LA CAPRESE
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| Fridge offerings: Baby spinach, feta, sesame dressing Cupboard offerings: currents, pecans, canned mandarin oranges |
BISTRO LE VALOIS - OUR LAST LUNCH
My friend and I made plans to go out, but we only had a little time, so I deferred to her, and she took us to a place her family has loved many times. In appearance, Bistro Le Valois is not a typical French restaurant , but my friend always defaults to French cuisine when she can, and this was no exception. The ceiling is a dated stained glass, but the restaurant is set on a plaza that clearly draws people out to gather in droves when the weather is fine. There is as much seating out as in, and the sun shines into the dining room, where we chose to sit.
We were both very happy, although I did not plan to be as carnivorous as I turned out to be. My youngest brother would have loved the soup and salad with a heavy side of bacon that it turned out to be!
My friend ordered two appetizers, and was very happy. There were breaded salmon croquettes with wafu mayo, lime and soya sauce dips. The croquette itself was very good. My friend loved every bit of the foie gras, and we ate the bread bowl empty.
I ordered the soup of the day. Because I make mine vegetarian, I forgot that split pea soup is not usually made that way. Still, with the greens on top, and the day chilly, the soup was delicious.
I had heard of this pizza called Flammekueche, and it was on the daily menu, so I ordered it. It was filling, and tasty. It was very akin, unfortunately, to a Matza bread, so I would take a step back next time. The caramelized onions and arugula balanced out the meaty "lardons", much elevated than the ones I have eaten in the past.
I have seen my friend eat very little in a day, and skip meals, but that day she had room for dessert, and was willing to share! The lemon meringue pie elicited exclamation from us both, as we ate first with our eyes in its wonderful presentation.
We were both very happy, although I did not plan to be as carnivorous as I turned out to be. My youngest brother would have loved the soup and salad with a heavy side of bacon that it turned out to be!
My friend ordered two appetizers, and was very happy. There were breaded salmon croquettes with wafu mayo, lime and soya sauce dips. The croquette itself was very good. My friend loved every bit of the foie gras, and we ate the bread bowl empty.
I ordered the soup of the day. Because I make mine vegetarian, I forgot that split pea soup is not usually made that way. Still, with the greens on top, and the day chilly, the soup was delicious.
I had heard of this pizza called Flammekueche, and it was on the daily menu, so I ordered it. It was filling, and tasty. It was very akin, unfortunately, to a Matza bread, so I would take a step back next time. The caramelized onions and arugula balanced out the meaty "lardons", much elevated than the ones I have eaten in the past.
I have seen my friend eat very little in a day, and skip meals, but that day she had room for dessert, and was willing to share! The lemon meringue pie elicited exclamation from us both, as we ate first with our eyes in its wonderful presentation.
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| Pea soup |
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| Flammekueche |
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| Lemon Meringue pie with lemon coulis and a candied lemon slice. Truly a "piece de resistance"! |
MANGIA COOKIES
Lower Left: Date cookie
Upper Right: Pistachio
Not cheap, but dense and delicious, and not easy to make yourself.
I think these are versions of Ma'amoul, made often in the winter, in preparation for Eid and Easter.
It it thought to have existed in Egypt in one form, and is also served during Purim, making it an ancient recipe beloved by many cultures and religions. Here is a recipe from Chef in Disguise to try, maybe in muffin tins. Without fancy ingredients, but also worth a try is Amanda's Plate version.
Maamoul Date Cookies
Author: Amanda
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 2 dozen
Ingredients
- 3 cups farina (milled wheat flour/ can be found at middle eastern stores)
- ½ cup All Purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup ghee, clarified butter (regular butter works too)
- ½ teaspoon active dry yeast
- ½ cup lukewarm water
- ⅓ cup whole milk
Filling
- 3 cups dates, pitted
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon orange blossom water
- 1-2 tablespoons coconut oil (other vegetable oils work)
Instructions
Filing
- Blend dates together in a food processor with spices and 1 tablespoon oil until smooth. Add orange blossom water. Roll 1 tablespoon dates into 24 small balls.
Dough
- In a small bowl, mix yeast in water and allow to stand for 3 minutes.
- In a stand mixer with paddle attachment, mix together farina, AP flour, salt, sugar and butter.
- Add the yeast and water and milk to the bowl and mix until dough forms.
- Allow dough to rest for 10 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Using mold, press dough into the center, place date ball in the center of the dough. Place a second smaller piece of dough over the top of the date, cover the filling.
- Tap the mold until the dough releases.
- Place on parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Enjoy
A RAINBOW OF POMEGRANATES
I have enjoyed pomegranates for a few years. It's a yuletide treat that seems to have a longer season than ever. But when my friend served me a golden pomegranate, it made me realize that there were more versions than the one called Ruby Red that arrives successfully to Canadian markets. In searching for the varietal, I found this article that suggests there are 13 types and has a nice story about a biologist with family history in breeding exotic fruit.
I have a strong memory of the only pomegranate tree I have ever seen, full of fruit. It was in the garden of the Forbidden City. It was explained that in Chinese culture, the pomegranate, with its many seeds, was a symbol of fertility. This was especially meaningful, since I was pregnant with my first child!
There are interesting attempts at opening this fruit in "the best" way. I have found the red fruit to be best dealt with by cutting carefully and peeling in a deep bowl. Here are few experts with their tried and true methods. I find the geometry of this fruit very beautiful, but not always predictable.
I have a strong memory of the only pomegranate tree I have ever seen, full of fruit. It was in the garden of the Forbidden City. It was explained that in Chinese culture, the pomegranate, with its many seeds, was a symbol of fertility. This was especially meaningful, since I was pregnant with my first child!
There are interesting attempts at opening this fruit in "the best" way. I have found the red fruit to be best dealt with by cutting carefully and peeling in a deep bowl. Here are few experts with their tried and true methods. I find the geometry of this fruit very beautiful, but not always predictable.
Monday, March 9, 2020
DONNA LEON
I was further into McGill’s library than I had ever been before. After admiring the Marion Scott painting titled Cement and perplexing at Holgate’s subject in Woman at a Window, I was admitted to the Rare Books and Special collections room on the 4th floor of the McLennan library. I had seen an event advertised to see the author I had followed through Venice, Donna Leon. I was early, so I perused a museum display full of paintings and facts on naturalists of the past. I occasionally looked around, wondering if I would recognize her if she stood beside me. When the hour to start neared, I found a seat in a good line of sight, and knew her immediately. She was petite, and attentive, and in companionable conversation.
Organized by Roarr and Friends of the McGill Library
Organized by Roarr and Friends of the McGill Library
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| What a perfect cookie to celebrate these crime writers! |
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| Not only a great hostess, but also the designer of the geometric presentation of the square cookies on a circular platter! |
Sunday, March 8, 2020
SUN VALLEY IDAHO RESORT WHEN YOU CAN'T DOWNHILL SKI
This was to be the return trip from 2 years ago. A rare March break, #3 in my lifetime, and the second one at Sun Valley resort. It's not an easy trip from the east coast. Three flights, over 12 hours, starting at 3:30 with a taxi to the airport, and travelling through Atlanta and Salt Lake City, to arrive at Hailey, Idaho.
Then I fell on the last run, when we decided to ski down the runoff instead of downloading. In the end, something happened over exposed grass, and I fell to my left, hitting my temporal skull, denting my helmet, and straining something in my left shoulder. I was relieved it wasn't a broken neck, but my plans to ski the next 3 days were hard to give up.
The first day I had a headache walking, so I started to realize that I probably wasn't going back to the mountain. On the one hand that was a relief, as the resort helmets started at $300 US. But having my roommate go off every morning to ski in spring weather was tough. So I needed to find something else to do, and the first thing was to see what my options were for the lift tickets I wouldn't need.
I drew. Read. Watched HGTV. Wandered the hotel. Listened to cardinals, geese, nuthatches. Admired the sun, the trees, the mountains, the food. I learned a little history.
The mountain that began the first ski resort in North America was found by an Austrian. The Inn now was the original Lodge from 1936, when the Union Pacific Railroad built it. The chairlifts have been upgraded, but the first in the world started as a single chair in 1939. The resort had been founded by the Railroad's chairman, Averell Harriman, and he started a race at Sun Valley called the Harriman Cup. This was the site of the first downhill race in America that had a lift, and a skier from Vancouver, Washington, named Gretchen Fraser won the cup, and went on to win the first Gold for the US skiiing team in the Giant Slalom in 1948. Initially slated to go to the 1940 Olympics, the Games had to be moved from Japan to Finland, and then finally cancelled, as was the 1944 Olympics, due to WWII.
The movie called Sun Valley Serenade was filmed in 1941, and Gretchen was the stunt woman for the skating star Sonja Heine, herself a Gold medallist, volunteering for the job to keep amateur status, and once being replaced by a boy in a blond wig so that she could be away for a race. The film was one of tow that starred Glenn Miller's orchestra.
Now there is a run called Gretchen's Gold, and the Lodge and Inn are filled with famous visitors. Ernest Hemingway is reputed to have written the book For Whom the Bell Tolls on the second floor of the lodge. The Kennedys, Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, and Arnold Schwarzenegger are all past visitors.
The next day I had to keep slowing myself down, because my regular pace brought back the headache. I opted to get a pedicure with a $40 dollar credit towards it's $80 US price. It wasn't available until the next day, which gave me time to watch the 1941 Sun Valley Serenade on channel sixty-six in snippets, read menus, and wandering the resort to the Nordic Centre that doubles as the Golf Club in the summer.
The next morning I was debating about using another credit, when I discovered that the Sun Valley Pedicure included almost an hour of a massage chair, and that I could walk short distances at a reasonable pace, so I headed to Guest services, and exchanged the next day's pass for the rental of equipment and access to the Nordic Trails. There was a flat training field between the Club and the beautiful Mt. "Baldy", and I took it very easy, marvelling at the state-of-the-art Rossignol boots and skis. It was a beautiful afternoon, and Lief's Loop was a decent consolation to a day on the slopes.
The last day, I knew I had to pick up my skis that I had stored from the first day, but I was feeling well enough that I wanted to get out twice, and I took a route that was guaranteed to have hills, but had a gorgeous route along Trail River Valley. I walked down a few hills after a minor crash, but revelled in the views. The day was sunny and the snow was fast. After a rough start, it felt like I had made lemons into lemonade.
Three beautiful meals at Gretchen's, clear skies, and daily pastries at the Konditorei. Walking around this week, with views of the Sawtooth mountains, and reminders of Tyrollean architecture and food were all around. It was like being in Austria for a week, even if the slopes were off limits for most of it.
Then I fell on the last run, when we decided to ski down the runoff instead of downloading. In the end, something happened over exposed grass, and I fell to my left, hitting my temporal skull, denting my helmet, and straining something in my left shoulder. I was relieved it wasn't a broken neck, but my plans to ski the next 3 days were hard to give up.
The first day I had a headache walking, so I started to realize that I probably wasn't going back to the mountain. On the one hand that was a relief, as the resort helmets started at $300 US. But having my roommate go off every morning to ski in spring weather was tough. So I needed to find something else to do, and the first thing was to see what my options were for the lift tickets I wouldn't need.
I drew. Read. Watched HGTV. Wandered the hotel. Listened to cardinals, geese, nuthatches. Admired the sun, the trees, the mountains, the food. I learned a little history.
The mountain that began the first ski resort in North America was found by an Austrian. The Inn now was the original Lodge from 1936, when the Union Pacific Railroad built it. The chairlifts have been upgraded, but the first in the world started as a single chair in 1939. The resort had been founded by the Railroad's chairman, Averell Harriman, and he started a race at Sun Valley called the Harriman Cup. This was the site of the first downhill race in America that had a lift, and a skier from Vancouver, Washington, named Gretchen Fraser won the cup, and went on to win the first Gold for the US skiiing team in the Giant Slalom in 1948. Initially slated to go to the 1940 Olympics, the Games had to be moved from Japan to Finland, and then finally cancelled, as was the 1944 Olympics, due to WWII.
The movie called Sun Valley Serenade was filmed in 1941, and Gretchen was the stunt woman for the skating star Sonja Heine, herself a Gold medallist, volunteering for the job to keep amateur status, and once being replaced by a boy in a blond wig so that she could be away for a race. The film was one of tow that starred Glenn Miller's orchestra.
Now there is a run called Gretchen's Gold, and the Lodge and Inn are filled with famous visitors. Ernest Hemingway is reputed to have written the book For Whom the Bell Tolls on the second floor of the lodge. The Kennedys, Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, and Arnold Schwarzenegger are all past visitors.
The next day I had to keep slowing myself down, because my regular pace brought back the headache. I opted to get a pedicure with a $40 dollar credit towards it's $80 US price. It wasn't available until the next day, which gave me time to watch the 1941 Sun Valley Serenade on channel sixty-six in snippets, read menus, and wandering the resort to the Nordic Centre that doubles as the Golf Club in the summer.
The next morning I was debating about using another credit, when I discovered that the Sun Valley Pedicure included almost an hour of a massage chair, and that I could walk short distances at a reasonable pace, so I headed to Guest services, and exchanged the next day's pass for the rental of equipment and access to the Nordic Trails. There was a flat training field between the Club and the beautiful Mt. "Baldy", and I took it very easy, marvelling at the state-of-the-art Rossignol boots and skis. It was a beautiful afternoon, and Lief's Loop was a decent consolation to a day on the slopes.
The last day, I knew I had to pick up my skis that I had stored from the first day, but I was feeling well enough that I wanted to get out twice, and I took a route that was guaranteed to have hills, but had a gorgeous route along Trail River Valley. I walked down a few hills after a minor crash, but revelled in the views. The day was sunny and the snow was fast. After a rough start, it felt like I had made lemons into lemonade.
Three beautiful meals at Gretchen's, clear skies, and daily pastries at the Konditorei. Walking around this week, with views of the Sawtooth mountains, and reminders of Tyrollean architecture and food were all around. It was like being in Austria for a week, even if the slopes were off limits for most of it.
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| Konditorei Swan cream puff and hot chocolate Tastes even better than it looks! |
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| Ram Bar Poke (without the bowl) |
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| Konditorei Linzer torte Raspberry on a spiced pie crust |
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| Gretchen's Coconut Red Curry Bowl Roasted butternut squash, sunflower seeds and sprouts, sautéed kale Bed of black rice Thai coconut curry sauce |
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| Konditorei Sacher Torte Apricot jam, chocolate ganache Art in a hot chocolate by polyglot Volodymyr originally from the Ukraine |
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| Gretchen's Lavender panna cotta Steve Smith No. 55 Lord Bergamot tea |
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| The Village Station Caesar Salad Garlic croissant Pappardelle in brown butter sauce with hazelnuts and sage |
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