Tuesday Baking

What is it about Tuesdays? Last week it was banana bread and today I was inspired to try my hand at rye bread… as dessert for dinner with my sister.

Today Mel and I had a lovely lunch with a variety of discussions; weddings, accessibility, work, food and more! Topped off with a walk along University and I had a swing in my step and maybe a twinkle in my eye.

Dee was coming over for a quiet evening of catching up… not that we ever really talk all that much but it’s nice to just feel like we’ve connected a little. Mostly we shared a lovely dinner of; watercress and tomato salad, ocean perch, polenta and asparagus and fresh rye bread (with butter of course) for dessert.

The Rye Bread recipe was from Bob’s Red Mill online.

Fashion Spotting - Beached Whales

Perhaps this is more accurately titled Anti-Fashion Spotting… When the weather heats up the men in my neighbourhood take their collective shirts off and it’s not a pretty sight!

Before I step out the door I do the basic check to make sure I look decent (this being slightly contrary to my university years), the goal is to make sure there are no random stains that have appeared out of nowhere, things are in place and I look like a decent and respectable woman.

Where I live there are plenty of grannies/nonnes/etc… who are more than ready to sniff and look away in disgust at a shorter skirt or tight jeans, and even the occasional evil glare at a tank top that shows off a girls figure – so what I can’t understand is how it’s so acceptable for men to take off their shirts in public! The men around here who do this are neither fit, nor young… they are old, wrinkled, overweight to obese (with most weight being centred around the middle) and have man boobs hanging out for the world to see – it’s not a pretty picture.

I must admit I have a personal pet peeve about men going shirtless, in general I want men to stay covered up – I don’t even like tank tops on men (as much as I’ve been teased for that dislike) and I’m also not about to get a fireman’s calendar to ogle half naked men. Whenever some friend sends me an e-mail of half naked attractive/fit men I roll my eyes, let’s be honest I’m just not interested.

I wish the world would just cover up when they’re sitting on their front porch, in the park or on the street… there are times and places to let it all hang out (eg. the beach, the PRIDE parade) but I don’t want to encounter a beached whale on the way home from the Subway stop!

Singles Night

Last night I went to an event for singles, a small restaurant/bar packed full of men and women on the prowl. Pretty much everyone was reasonably good looking (that’s downtown Toronto for you) and ready to talk to strangers, which I guess was the point. However the entire evening led me back to a phrase I heard a while ago… I met the girl of my dreams… so I got the hell out of there!

I wonder why anyone is even willing to go out there and make themselves uncomfortable when in the end all they want is to never talk to any of these people again… and yes - that’s a comment about myself! I just wish I could meet new people easily (and not at the bar, because that’s just not me) whatever happened to the good old friend-of-a-friend?

Substandard Fare

It’s no surprise that I like good food (see examples here and here) but I’m no food snob - I just want to eat stuff that’s yummy!

Last night I decided on Casey’s for dinner, I was giving it a second chance as the last time I’d eaten there (about 5 years ago or more) I was very unimpressed. I guess I was hoping that either my memory was faulty or their food had improved, I was sorely disappointed. I am not ever going back for that cardboard tasting, fat filled, overcooked, overpriced crap… there’s no way that stuff can be called food!

I guess what I want to really rant about though is the Prime Restaurants chain, they "own and operate casual dining restaurant chains and premium pubs in Canada". I don’t have a problem with “casual dining” but I resent being served pre-packaged, pre-prepared crap that any monkey could throw onto a plate that doesn’t even have the basics of flavour. Side note: an alfredo sauce should not be that hard, it’s parmesean, butter & cream – not that hard at all!

No one should settle for substandard fare, especially when you’re paying for it!

Summer Programming

The summer is always fun filled we look forward to patios, warm weather, days at the beach, barbeques, shorts, tans and getting out with friends.

I look forward to the summer for all those reasons and also for the music, there are wonderful festivals that happen around Toronto, Ontario and Canada. This morning we managed to get our hands on tickets for Hillside and I’m confirmed to volunteer again this year at the Winnipeg Folk Festival which is more of a family reunion on a very grand scale in my world. I’m also looking forward to the offerings at the Harbourfront Centre as their outdoor stage can be magical with the boardwalk and Lake Ontario creating a wonderful open air venue.

Let’s hope I get to a cottage or two this summer, which is likely but I’m not going to count any chickens before they hatch.