9 YEAR OLD GIRLS IN THE KITCHEN EXPERIMENTING

The girls were inspired on a recent playdate to make their own snacks. It was pretty interesting the combinations they came up with. Some even involved tofu! In the end they made oat balls, and then served it to us moms for snack. I liked the enthusiasm and daring for new tastes!

Kitchen whirlwind

The final results

IMPERIAL ROLLS WITH VERMICELLI AND SALAD WITH MANGO BUBBLE TEA

In the basement of the complex on Parc called La Cite, there are a few restaurants. One of them is a vietnamese place called Luo's. The great thing is that it was (mostly - I've never had an imperial vermicelli meal without fish sauce) vegetarian. The imperial rolls were great, with mostly carrots, a little corn and green onion. The noodles and salad were okay, with a grand total of 3 peanuts! The mango bubble tea was great, although I was hoping eating in would end up with a reusable glass, which makes everything taste a little less wasteful!

ADVENT DAY NUMBER ONE

Hanging Christmas stockings

MOVEMBER HURT BY HIPSTER BEARDS

I have been amazed at living long enough to see trends come around. My parents, in my baby pictures, were long haired (mom), bearded (dad) hippies. It is quite remarkable how many guys have been sporting beards again, and there is definitely an association with  hipsters and plaid!

So I was curious how the fundraising went this year, being as I saw very few isolated moustaches, and I heard, for the first time in years, about no events. Here is an article that confirms my theory.

So next year, if you find yourself bearded, why not think about shaving on December 1st?

TEN THINGS BY PAUL BARIBEAU

If you are feeling low, or even just a little slow, take a listen to this frenetic song. It's a great pick-me-up! Here are the lyrics. I heard it at the end of The Last Time You Had Fun.

Here are my ten things:

I wanna do - learn how to use twitter,  run ten km again, reno the bathrooms/kitchen, restyle, first tracks, swim outdoors when it's snowing, show someone special the best view of the city, finish novel, entertain at home, kayak, ride horse

places I wanna be - St. Petersburg, Cinque Terre, London, Ireland, Philadelphia, San Diego, Haida Gwai, Traversée de Charlesvoix, Dalmatia (Plitvice, Split), Melk Abbey

books - Is Everyone Hanging out without me and Why Not Me by Mindy Kaling, Unbroken by Hillebrand, The Art of Persuasion, Frankenstein, Huckleberry Finn, Alias Grace, East of Eden, The Adventures of Pinocchio,  The Time Machine

songs - Demons  and Radioactive by Imagine Dragons, Legendary Lovers, Firework, and Roar by Katy Perry, Shake It Off by Taylor Swift, Happy by Pharrell Williams, Hey Brother by Avicii, I Gotta Feeling by Black-eyed Peas, Just Dance by Lady Gaga, Party Rock by LMFAO

wrong with your life to fix - lack of self-acceptance, new friends, clothing/house style, fitness, teaching readiness, meals in advance, too much fat, laziness, confidence, judgement

things I love about my life - my daughter, friends, nature, art, beauty, a good story, travel, restaurants, walk to the water, laughter

things that hold me back - netflix, junk food, bad people, laziness, lack of schedule, idealism, not being ready, anger, disorganization, despondency

mistakes i made - blaming others, transference, confusing selfishness for self-acceptance, compromise, not staying fit, not doing what I love, losing confidence, conformity, lack of risk taking, accepting okay instead of choosing great

reasons why i don't want to die - my daughter friends, nature, art, beauty, restaurants, travel, love, hiking, writing, too much left to do

why its good to be alive - kindness, kids, nature, happiness, art, writing, beauty, a good story, animals, travel, food, love

"FIRST DAY" BY CRAIG SKINNER

 I loved this painting instantly, and, although its inspired by the 1950s,  It makes me think of the Art Deco 1920s in NYC, and I imagine she is commuting across the Hudson to Manhattan Island.

A PERFECT PERSIMMON

Sometimes I avoid fruits from tropical countries because they don't often travel well. This persimmon was, therefore, a risky purchase! The last time I had one was in south China, Yunnan province, ( a long time ago) and it was stellar! This one looked so pretty, and somehow I managed to open it on the day of optimal ripeness. It was a risk worth taking!

SHORT ORDER COOK - SPINACH CHEDDAR OMELETTE FOR TWO

Last night was a Sunday, and it felt like a simple supper was in order. My daughter loves these spinach squares that I make, but was gonna take the better part of an hour and we were pretty hungry already. Despite protestations that she was gonna hate it if it didn't come in a square, the logic of identical ingredients, and the promise of a boardgame allowed me to prove her wrong. With a couple of pieces of buttered toast, this bad boy disappeared with no complaining. Makes me wonder why I bother with the squares, when all you need are 2 eggs, 1/2 cup of thawed spinach, some grated Balderson's 2 year old aged cheese, and a hot saucepan!  

Just in case you want the long version, here is the recipe:

Serves 24 squares

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup flour

1 cup milk

1 tsp baking powder

4 cups raw baby spinach, cooked or 300g frozen, thawed

2 cups cheddar cheese or equivalent, shredded (about 200-300g)

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

Preheat oven to 375. Grease 9x13 baking pan (pyrex with top is perfect).

In a large bowl, whisk eggs well. Add flour, milk and baking powder, and continue whisking until smooth. Add spinach, cheese, salt and pepper, and stir until combined. Pour mixture (OK to be lumpy) into prepared pan, smooth the top and bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes, until top is golden and the dish is slightly puffed. Let cool slightly before cutting into squares. Serve warm or at room temperature.

HAKATA RAMEN

My dear friend is a brilliant planner and, so when we found a common day off, we took the commuter train downtown with plans to see the newest exhibit at the Montreal Fine Arts Museum, and my friend suggested a little Japanese place on Stanley called Hakata Ramen. I don't know how this compares to an official Japanese Ramen house, or even if they make their own noodles, but the service was incredibly fast, and with no hassle at all, they were kind enough to change their lunch menu to make mine vegetarian. The tempura zucchini  and the fried noodles were delicious, and the fixed menu with salad is a great value! Next time, I hope they have the Mochi ice cream in house, and that I have room! I might even pace myself and get a "smoothie" (bubble tea)! Let's go again faithful friend!

WILTON EASY LAYERS!

Wilton makes the coolest kit with five small cake pans that allows you to use one cake mix and stack it in five easy layers. My daughter and I had a lot of fun making this cake!

Into the oven they go. Robin's egg blue is becoming a theme!

One cake mix, and a rainbow of colour choices. Stacks beautifully.

Definitely a homemade cake!

Not bad open! Popular because it looks so pretty!

A perfect slice

IF YOU ARE HAVING A BAD DAY...

watch this! These girls, Riki Lindhom and Kate Micucci, have some pretty funny stuff and a show called Garfunkel and Oates. Here are the lyrics I like: "You are such a loser. Good for you!"
Have a great day failing! Good for you for trying!

INSPIRATION FOR PAST PASSIONS

Tonight I was talking to a colleague who got back from "kite"-ing in Brasil on his time off and I realized I was way out of that league, but I wish I could be in it. So I remember earlier times: I ran a marathon, spent weeks hiking and weekends mountain climbing. These are things I can do again. It is not yet too late, but one day it may be. Therefore I must, soon. I want to learn to kayak, and dance, and sail. I want to hike more, rock climb more, travel more, ride a horse again. I want to be in bathing suit shape and able to run in game of anything - pickup soccer, tag football, Ultimate. I want to be strong enough to kayak and waterski. I want to walk a cold beach and fly a tiny kite again. I want to rollarblade the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. I want to watch more asteroid showers in the open, be wowed by more Northern Lights, watch more whales, climb more mountains, and ski first tracks in the Rockies.

BOSTON CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION CENTRE

Octopus art

Stir-fry from the Market. Happy to have more than one veggie choice. The bean burrito was better, and reminiscent  of Chipotle. Both were easy and time-saving to allow for keeping up with the busy conference schedule. 

Connects to the Silver Line at World Trade centre, and a free ride in to town.

Boston skyline

A view of the ventilation system (another mystery solved!) with the smokestacks to the left of the picture.

Walking in towards the BCEC

TWITTERPATED

I was talking to a friend recently about falling in love, and the expression that came immediately to mind was in french, "coup de foudre". I tried to translate its meaning, but I wasn't sure that love at first sight was capturing what I meant. Lovestruck was closer, but I decided that the best translation was smitten. Then my friend offered me a word I thought I had never heard before: "twitterpated". This was explained as a spring phenomenon to Bambi in Disney's famous film. I think its a pretty cute underused verb and I thought I'd share with you!

HOW TO BUILD A MIND PALACE

Many of my favourite free access videos are from the California based TED (Technology Entertainment and Design). I always found the combination a little strange, but maybe it is brilliant to join the "two brains" together. The motto: Ideas worth spreading. So here I am sharing with you what has been shared with me.

Joshua Foer, a science journalist, gives a talk called "Feats of memory anyone can do". It's an amusing story of a logic guy getting obsessed. He witnesses a contest of memory, and one year later, after much research and practice, he wins! He, and if his testimony is true, and other contestants are humble about their talents.

The story I didn't remember hearing before (yes, I need to hear this lecture) explains the origin of the mind palace. It started with a Greek poet named Simonides escaping a massive tragedy by leaving a banquet hall just before it collapsed and killed most guests. He was asked to identify their bodies by where they sat, and there began the idea of the "method of loci", LOCI meaning places in latin, which was a memory system whereby things are remembered by moving room to room, also known as the Journey Method, or the Roman Room method.

This is the basis of a mnemonic Joshua elaborates in the talk, taking us from the front porch into the house, maximizing the "hooks" needed to retrieve the memory, with each room filled with the strangest, most visual image that links the memory to the thing being remembered.

I embrace "out-sourcing" my memory to notes, and the Great Google, but Joshua reminds us that training our memory in this era of technology is essential, anyways. So memorize a poem, challenge yourself to a memory game, find a mnemonic and walk through your mind palace today!

ANGKOR EXPRESS

I have an update on this Pointe-Claire Village restaurant, after a recent visit with a friend; this time for lunch. I had a stirfry with tofu, and I have to say that I need to serve my next rice dish in a bowl mould (it's just so much nicer presentation). It was good after a brisk walk, but not spectacular. The kind of meal you could make at home. That being said, I realized from the elaborate and colourful paintings of the famous temple, that Angkor had nothing to do with Thailand, but sat squarely in the middle of Cambodia. Indeed, my mistake began with a friend mentioning the place as a Thai one. But on review of the menu, it was clear that it was Cambodian first. 

It was a lovely lunch with a dear friend by a warm fall window (I got to wear my new progressive sunglasses) with good solid food at a decent price. I will be back, but I will in future properly refer to it as a Cambodian restaurant.

FENWAY COURT (PALAZZO) AKA ISABELLA GARDNER MUSEUM, BOSTON

Fenway Court is one woman's vision to house an unparalleled collection of art with an inner courtyard that imitates Venice's grand Palazzo Barbaro successfully. From every corner of the world she collected sculptures, paintings, fabrics and autographs. Juliette balconies abound, and the ground floor gallery, where a guard ushers you in if the room occupancy allows, is filled with art made by artists that took her and others as their muse. The light is low to protect many rooms, and some paper collections are a discovery only to be made by uncovering the cloth on the display tables, stating that covering cloths can be removed. I uncovered a letter from Marie-Antoinette to the Treasury Officer, asking for payment of her bills, and some poison tipped arrows gifted to Ms. Gardner. That is a story I would love to hear, but I am sure such an unusual gift would have thrilled this enthusiastic patron. 

This is the museum with the sad history of a theft of 13 pieces, made sadder when you hear that the collection is to remain unaltered and never replaced. The theft left a mark is such circumstances, and they honour her will with empty frames where they presumably stood. 

Her collection includes Giotto, Botticelli, Michelangelo, Fra Angelico, Singer Sargent, Manet, Degas, Rubens, Whistler, Zorn and many more.. There are at three portraits, all memorable, of Mrs. Gardner herself. My favourite is one by Zorn where she is making a dramatic entrance into their room in Venice to announce how wonderful the fireworks are, and invite the room (her husband and the Zorns) to come watch. 

A not-to-be-missed collection well worth the price of admission!

THE BARKING CRAB: THEY THINK EVERY SHOULD HAVE CRABS!

Just steps away from the Mayflower is a little wharf restobar that serves amazing crab cakes. It's slogan made me laugh! Not usually what you would wish, but after eating here, I dare say that I want crabs too! We were lucky enough to have a booth at the window with a view of  the canal. A nice ambiance and solid seafood. Just skip the salad!

Barking Crab

Perfect crab cakes for an appetizer.

Very mediocre strawberry salad. Probably my fault to order a salad in a seafood bar, but I really wanted the fibre. Greens were great, pralines perfect. The strawberries were soft but the dressing was the major problem, with not enough salt or spice. Correctable, but underwhelming. 

View from the window (Fort Point Channel)

Water by water

TOOTHPASTE TO BUY AND WHY I LOVE HOTELS

Revere Hotel depannage. When I realized that I had arrived without my cosmetic bag, I asked the front desk if they had a toothbrush, and this is what they brought up. How grateful am I!

I love the flavour vibrant mint! 

DURGIN PARK, ESTABLISHED BEFORE YOU WERE BORN

Menu of Durgin Park in Quincy Market, Boston

Warm sweet cornbread with butter at Roadfood's recommendation, Durgin Park

Fish chowder. Very nice on a cold evening. Next time I would pick clam chowder, with a little richer broth. 

Boston beans with spices reminiscent of pumpkin spices and sweeter than I thought. 

Coffee jello with whipped cream!

The perfect bite.

Life-changing indian pudding. 

BOSTON IN THE FALL

The Public Gardens 

Original wall art

Arepas - a sweet corn patty with mozzerella cheese (S. American) from the Copley Square food cart. Delicious!

Street pretzel

Painted cobblestone near NU (Northeastern University)

Appeal to the Great Spirit in front of Boston's Fine Art Museum

First Church of Christ, Scientist

Boston's Marathon through the boroughs (Boston, Brookline, Newton, Wellesley, Natick, Framingham, Ashland, Hopkinton) 

Reflecting pool at The Christian Science Plaza

200 Berkeley St., Back Bay, Berkeley Building

Berkeley Building, home to John Hancock Hall and Dorothy Quincy Suite. An art deco skyscraper built in 1947.