SOURCES OF MY FAVOURITE THINGS

Strange how the greatest places on the planet need to love things from somewhere else. I fell in love with this shower gel in a glorious hotel in Venice called Hotel Flora. My dear brother found me a replacement at its source, in NYC. C. O. Bigelow lavender and peppermint shower gel. I need to return to NYC. I'm out of shower gel. Anyone going to 6th Ave?

Funny twist of fate. This gorgeous hand cream (that is just as great on the feet) is from Burkina Faso, the first country I ever visited outside of North America. Made with shea butter, this cream's source was developed by L'Occitane in a cooperative development program with Burkina women (Burkinabe) and grows as a nut on the African shea tree. This is fortunately a store in my hood, so the only thing I currently stock of my favourite things!

The perfect small drinking glass. From Chef et Sommelier, the 7.25 oz (220 ml) Sensation Vigne tumbler weighs 180g, is 11.1 cm tall and 6.1 cm wide that I enjoyed immensely drinking water on a Porter flight to and from Chicago last fall. I may have found an Ontario source, Zenan zenan, so I am one step closer to acquiring a set of them! My mason jars reused from pesto are a serviceable drinking vessel, but I hope to find the Holy Grail of glasses without going to France (although that is not entirely off the table yet, I hope!). Thank you, Porter, for disclosing your excellent choice. When will you fly to Paris?

SMART BURGER DOES VEGETARIAN AT CARREFOUR LAVAL

I do love the idea of fast-food without waste, and although it seemed like a really common concept in San Francisco, it is disappointedly uncommon in Montreal. Fortunately,  Laval does it well! Real cutlery, recycling and real dish ware. 

I lined up at Smart Burger, despite not seeing any veggie patty on the menu, and hoping that "vege" was not the only choice. I was not disappointed! The burger was a great combo of lentils, rice, and veggies. It was perfect! I should never drink a full strength pop all by myself. But a Stewart limeade is a nice tart companion to a burger. No waste. Good company! Let's do it again soon!

ANOTHER LUCKY 5 LEAF CLOVER

This one is the second 5-leaf clover I have ever seen, and my daughter found both of them! The first was on the shores of Lake Como. The second was on the shores of the St. Laurence. Coincidence, mutation or luck?!

A LA FOLIE MACARONS

I have to say that buying a macaron in a mall does not have much cache, but it sure is convenient. A la folio is conveniently located off Ste. Catherine, and these were delicious! From the top and clockwise, and increasing splenditude, Fig and Balsamic (sweet), Salted Caramel (dulce de leche filling), and Paille Feuillete (crunchy chocolate, my favourite of the trio). 

4CATS EMILY CARR TOTEM POLE

ANYTHING CAN BE A PICNIC!

I have trouble following rules. Picnics should be finger food or sandwiches. But if you are willing to risk spillage or find a table, anything can be a picnic!

I'm fortunate to have been given the best handiest fold-up picnic demonstrated on the picture below. I'm even luckier to have a perfect picnicbasket with mugs and plates found by a friend for $7 dollars at a garage sale (agreed to by text - love that!) when I realized that my thermos picnic bag, though practical, never got used because it thoroughly lacked romance!

Waffles for picnic breakfast in the back yard!

Spanakopita with salad.  My top favourite dressings are Kraft Asian Sesame and  Mandarin Orange with Sesame. Baby carrots are awesome with Fountain of Health with Carmelized Onions.

PANNIZZA ON SHERBROOKE

So the day we compromised with kids and weather to go to Mike's, where I really wanted to go was somewhere new, and pannizza sounded close, but the group decided it was a no go.  This week, on the way from the train, hungry, and on the way to teach for the afternoon, I followed my google app,  and just shy of McGill's Roddick Gates, I got the chance to find the perfect panino. They toasted it open face, which was different, but roasted the raw mushrooms and melted the bocconcini perfectly without squashing the sandwich a la panino norm. The signature veggie was great! Marinated eggplant, mushrooms, green olives, red onions, Italian tomatoes, bocconcini, arugula and mild Pannizza sauce. Perfetto!

PINTEREST COLOSSAL FAIL!

I had this great idea to make an old classic. Microwave peanut brittle! But when I couldn't find my sister-in-law's recipe, I goggled it and found one that seemed perfect; Plantar's Peanut Brittle. I have to warn you though, in retrospect, there are two ways to interpret the recipe. This may look chocolatey luscious, but what it is, which is a great shame, is burnt! So when the recipe says; 

• "Microwave sugar and corn syrup in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 5 min., stirring after 3 min. Stir in peanuts. Microwave an additional 3 to 5 min. or until golden brown."

  
  
• What it does NOT mean, is microwave for 3 mins, stir, another 2 mins. Stir in peanuts, then microwave for another 3 minutes!
•  I smelled smoke and stopped it before the end, but even I couldn't eat it, and I have the lowest standards in the house for sweets! Didn't have enough corn syrup for another go. Sad day for peanut brittle lovers everywhere! Karla, please send me your recipe again!

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THIS IS HOW MY GARDEN GROWS

My homemade cedar plank plantar box.

Cauliflower, cukes, chives, peas, beans, corn and kohlrabi. 

ZEN QUOTE

"When analytical thought, the knife, is applied to experience, something is always killed in the process."

Robert Pirsig

AQUIL.CA AND CANADA'S SELF PORTRAIT

I love when things come full circle. In my job, I have to leave many things unfinished. So today was a very satisfying full circle.

It started with an email from what's new@mcgill with the heading Our Home And Creative Land. I don't always read all the details, and since I commute from the suburbs for work, I can't often participate in the events downtown. 

I was meant to be teaching a course, but due to communication breakdown, the event was eventually cancelled, leaving me several hours on the east side of the mountain on a gorgeous day, and an idea to visit a Mile End Gallery to see a show.

This was the result. A spectacular mosaic of pen drawings based on a cross-country train tour gathering thousands of ideas from thousands of Canadians in one wall mural drawn on birch. Presented by two impressive Canadians with a lot of social awareness and an ambitious future. What a privilege to walk into their sphere on the last day of their show in the beautiful Mile End on Parc. 

Canada's Self Portrait

The artist's social commentary - Canada as an imperfect sheltering umbrella from the negative realities of bigotry, arrogance, ignorance, hate, close-mindedness, know-it-all, elitism, insensitivity and "shitstorm"

My favourite compilation tile

Rebecca's contribution - silenced by racism, sexism, homophobia, policies, government,  "ableism" (ok; I had to look this up! It means discrimination people with disabilities)

I love the three sisters (Canmore AB) and the three pines (loyalist symbolism that reminds me of Louise Penny's fiction)

I think my daughter would love this one the most. It's beautiful and happy and celebratory with a lot of nature. 

Dynamic Duo Aquil (artist/marketer/idea man) and Rebecca (project manager/workshop facilitator for Ensemble/future law students). Check out the vimeo video: Canada's Self Portrait

GARAGE SALE FIND

This little find was something my daughter has asked for about 2 years ago, but other gifts have taken precedence . When I saw this at a local church sale this spring, I jumped at it, knowing it couldn't be the $35 purchase brand new. This tent, complete with backpack and lantern and a kitten calico critter cost me 25 cents. I love garage sale season! Now if only I could find her a 22 inch bike! 

THE GREAT GATSBY

This was a second read for me. The first time I don't remember liking it. I suspect it was because the characters were all quite shallow and flighty, and I did not find any redeeming characters or understand what the big deal was about Gatsby, although I do like the name Jay. I had it on my bookshelf, however, and after watching the movie with Leonardo DiCaprio and Toby Maguire, I thought I would give it another try. The movie suited my mood. I've been looking at a lot of buildings recently, and my favourite architectural style remains Art Deco. This movie was an art deco masterpiece, from the movie cover graphic to the billboard eye glasses that feature in the book strongly, and was brought out nicely as a character in the movie also.

This time, I enjoyed the narrator the most. He was an observer, like me. He was not a remarkable character, but had some sense of morality and outrage that a crowd of superficial partiers had something more owed to this man of mystery that called himself Gatsby.  Not that the narrator felt he was any less flawed, but Gatsby was an idealist that worked incredibly hard to become who he wanted to be, and expected others to be the same. Unfortunately for Gatsby, as F.S. Fitzgerald writes, "Tom and Daisy were not careful people", and for me, that is when I started to like the narrator more and how it ends with a tragic but not surprising result. Throughout, Gatsby was unchanging, and aloof, and that is maybe where the appeal lies for most readers.

I find that I am more and more intolerant of the Tomsand Daisies of the world, but I am very aware that the Gatsby in their inflexible unchanging ways are definitely part of the equation. On the rereading, I can identify many Daisies in my life, and I try to avoid them, as they uniformly a cause of  toxic relationships.

METAPHOR FOR A FAILED MARRIAGE

This is a photo of a man very pleased with himself. Sadly, this Norwegian maple tree that grew for about ten years from a small problem to a large one that destroyed a glorious honeysuckle. 

Even with the apparent felling of this tree, which always reminds me of the pose struck by big game hunters, the damage was done, and the root of the problem still hasn't been removed.

What a waste.

 

PIEROGIES (MEMORIES OF MAZURKA)

This weekend we had friends for lunch, and I remembered many a trip to a great Polish place on Prince Arthur that my girlfriend and I had loved. Unfortunately it closed, but I attempted to relive the memory with a picnic lunch (albeit non-traditional) of potato pancakes,

 and cheese blintzes

 ( sweet vanilla crepes filled with dry pressed cottage cheese moistened with a little cream cheese and a splash of vanilla did the trick) served with apple sauce and sour cream  were a very close resemblance. Unfortunately I was behind sked and they arrived early, so the pierogies I had planned had fillings made but the dough was just started and lunch time was calling. So I put the dough in the fridge (never ever to repeat, as it became tough as leather and took me two hours to warm up and roll out when I finally did have time to make them) and we headed out for a lovely picnic. Of course, I completely forgot to take pictures, but I can show you what the pierogies looked like!

Classic mashed potatoes and grated cheddar. Leftovers make a decadent shepherdess pie (yesterday my lunch was layered quinoa, chickpeas, leftover mushroom onion mix below and a generous topping of cheddar potato. Frozen corn would have been a great layer to add, but I was in a rush on my way to work). This is my daughter's favourite.

A la champignons duxelles - stemless shiitake and button mushrooms fried with onion and sprinkled with powdered thyme

Finished (precious) product!

The perfect plate. Frying costs 75 cents extra, and worth every penny!

LUNCH INSPIRATION BY MY DAUGHTER

I had gone a little crazy with salads and picnics this week, celebrating some great sunshiny days of summer. That left great leftovers for lunch for me, but my daughter was less thrilled. She wanted a sandwich, and I vetoed the nutella idea, being that once a day for breakfast is more than enough, so we compromised on peanut butter. I gave her strawberries to clean and a dull knife, and this was her creative result! Such a great kid!

MIKE'S RESTAURANT

Meal number two with friends was made more out of necessity than planning. It was raining and our friends had paid the price gauging parking lot fee of $15 to be near the Jazzfest. We had just watched a great show at La Petite Ecole de Jazz, and we were yet again hungry. Mike's used to be an italian subway sandwich place and now serves all things italian. They had a kids menu that came with entertainment in the form of crayons and an activity book. My friend had a hankering for lobster rolls which were on the menu, and I had this great tomato pizza with mozzarella and, my favourite green, a rugula. Not the Bangkok express, but we were happy! The desserts look amazing!

BANGKOK EXPRESS

I was recommended this Monkland restaurant a while ago, so when my friends came to town who love Thai food, I took them to Bangkok Express. I had googled reviews, and there were some mixed reviews about service since expansion, so, as all good hosts, I worried a little, but all fears of disappointment were waylaid with the first sip of Thai Tea. With four of us sharing dishes, it was a feast with leftovers. The girls had a combo of dumplings in peanut sauce and fried rice, and were perfectly happy keeping us company for the meal. Yay!

Isn't it pretty! I'm gonna have to try it at home next time I get to an Asian market. It consists of a black tea, sweet syrup and cream. It's delicious!

Vegetarian Tom Kha - coconut heat with bok choi, bamboo shoots, carrots, mushrooms, napa cabbage and tomato

Crispy noodles with broccoli, bok choi, red peppers, mushrooms, carrots,  and napa with a side of sticky rice served in a woven basket. YUM!

The crowd favourite (Kent's choice) - Chicken in Peanut Sauce with Crispy Spinach

ANOTHER PERFECT SUNDAY BREAKFAST

Waffles, Quebec strawberries picked by our hands, maple syrup, white chocolate chips,  real whipped cream (shaken, not stirred) and a foamy cappuccino with cinnamon and a cold glass of water.

MONTREAL MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS (MMFA) - Canadian Pavillion

This captured our daughter's attention. Like the Norwegian Kristoff in Frozen, these men were cutting ice, but along Montreal shores 

Emily Carr landscape and shimmering skies

Lauren Harris' somewhere in the Ontario Lakes , which I hiked once upon a time. The first time I ever saw a Laurent Harris painting was in a small gallery in Saskatoon. It seemed like it took up the whole wall, and it was magnificent. I fell in love, and his paintings still thrill me. 

LIBRARY PICKINGS: URBAN PICNIC COOKBOOK

Sweet lentil soup

Waldorf salad

Carrot raisin sesame salad

Peanut cabbage slaw and pineapple tofu stirfy on rice

Delicious sesame new potatoes - amazing cold app!

SMOKED MEAT PETE'S

A perfect place for a west island blues bar with smoked meat and poutine and a Cott's black cherry pop!

INSPIRATION FROM MY MOM

To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich…to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasions, hurry never. In a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common. This is to be my symphony.

William Henry Channing

MY BLOG IS AN OUTLET

My blog is an outlet; a conversation with strangers, friends and family. Do not worry too much about my melancholy. Like dad, I embrace it. It often does not make me sad in the way it may you. Thank you though for your concern! Alas, despite changing the setting, I do not seem to have a way for you to comment unless maybe you have a google sign-in.

My blogs, believe it or not, do not reflect where I am at accurately. The important events, like my sunshiny daughter or late night with friends, or any meal with ordinary venues, that are the most meaningful,only get recorded in my memories. I record my movies and meals as remarkable, as opposed to your life, where they are much more regular occurrences! I also travel more and wish to travel more! The world is so beautiful and complex and interesting and growing up surrounded by the interest in other cultures and languages fed that wanderlust! True, I am living a far from ideal life, but I am more comfortable living as an in betweener than pretending I am the standard. 

CALLING ALL ANTEVASTINS

I am homesick. But, if I am honest, I am homeless. I neither belong in the culture of my new home or the culture of my old one. Each place I have travelled to, I bring with me, but at a cost of leaving a little of myself there, to miss it, and feel its loss.

My life is not as edgy or extreme as Elizabeth Gilbert's with her husband, but I liked the idea of two travellers seeing in each other that lost soul she labels from the sanskrit "antevastin"- an in-betweener.
I feel like I am looking for something in others that remind me of the people I left behind. But I sadly have not yet been successful in this.

 I get frustrated that the people around me only seem to chasing the next great restaurant, or movie, or event. There is barely a hello, how are you, let alone a feeling like anyone wants to hear or tell a story. I went there. We did this. Did you?

Don't get me wrong. I live for the next trip, the next meal, the next great event too. But when I have found something, I want to share it with someone that wants to see something that means something to me. I want to blog about the food. I want to go for coffee and talk about the movie.

But if I invite someone to something Ithink is interesting, it doesn't seem enough to do it to share an experience. It has to be something they want, when they want, and even then sometimes Iwonder why they even bothered to do it with me, when they rush off or never mention it again. It's a rare person who says yes to an invitation, and a rarer one who does something in return. I miss that. I was lucky to have a friend close enough here to visit 3 times in the last year. They drove hours and I so appreciated it! There are so many others I know that can't make it a few kms planned in advance.

I am an observer. I like my alone time. I feel eating alone allows me to taste my food better. Travelling alone allows me to interact with strangers and follow my curiosity. I have to pay more attention so I remember and appreciate things more. But I would love a friend. Someone who would sometimes do things so that I chose. Of course I would do the same for them. But I want more than just a companion. I want conversation. Interest in me. Something I never had to look so hard for where I grew up. It is someone's recognition of my humanity and value that I want more than anything!

So to all those antevastins out there! You are not alone! Look for us on the edges, fringes, borders. Maybe one day you will be my friend!

ETIQUETTE

I am finding it hard to portray to my daughter how important it is to be polite. When I was growing up, it was generally expected of kids not to interrupt their parents, to say hello and yes and no to adults and other kids, but now it seems that what I want for her is in constant conflict with her peer norms. They spend their time on our phones, they talk to the back of our heads from the back seat so we can't make eye contact, people start talking without saying hello, chew with their mouth full and take what they want, not considering others or saying please or thank you!

Admittedly, over time, my job has eroded my politeness skills also. I sometimes talk while a do a task without looking up. Sometimes I interrupt. Sometimes I forget to say please. But at the end of the day, its the people that are kind and polite that make my day. That take the time to ask how I am before asking me a favour. That consider the human being in front of them, and not the cog in the wheel. So I try to impress these things on my daughter, but I wonder if I just sound critical.

So, say hello to your neighbour. Give your colleague 4 minutes of your time before you launch into what task you want to ask them to do. Say please and thank you to your kid. Say sorry to your spouse when you wreck their brand new purchase.  Choose to see another person's point of view before choosing what you want. Stop for a pedestrian at a cross walk.  Make someone's day!