Friday, January 31, 2020

:-)


What an incredible month!

Tended bar at the Commodore's levy, hosted a BPYC Trivia nite, spent a morning on a jury panel, put the finishing touches to the basement reno, enjoyed an Epitourist feast, dinner with Liz and Darcy, lunch with my brother Dave, dinner with Alex and Penny, an evening at the Heliconian, enjoyed two fantastic plays with Kaarina and Mike, and three live concerts with Rob, a full day yoga workshop... oh, and started a new job.

There have been some valleys in the last couple of years, this month was a peak. Loving every minute.

Saturday, January 18, 2020

Get away

I just woke up at 1:15 in the afternoon.

A very long nap! Three hours. Truth be told, I was finishing my sleep from a 4:30 a.m. departure from Wolfe Island. Caroline had tapped me twenty minutes earlier with the news she wanted to leave early, due to the winter storm warning. I then nudged Kaarina. That's how we found ourselves waiting for the first ferry, and how we found ourselves headed west on the highway, driving into the dark as the skies brightened into morning. Beating the storm home.


We'd been visiting Laura for an Epitourist feast, this month's theme Vietnamese, and as soon as the theme was picked I chose Hotpot.



Years ago, when I first arrived  in Toronto, there had been such a glowing review of a Vietnamese restaurant's hot pot, I just had to make a visit. Delicious broth kept so hot, diners could essentially cook their own meal at the table by spearing meat and veg and poaching in the golden liquid. Once cooked to satisfaction, wrapping the tasty bits as contents inside a lettuce leaf and dressing with a light sauce. After the wraps are enjoyed, a delicious soup to finish the meal.

Over the last month and as part of the research, we all tried a few Vietnamese restaurants. I asked a server at Saigon Lotus what the difference was between Phở and hotpot, and he said they were actually the same meal, with the difference being the hotpot was something people made together at the table. So that's the approach I took with the hotpot.



One of my favourite Asian markets is closing the end of January so I had to find another. Sunny Supermarket  is just a short drive away and had the lemongrass, oyster mushrooms, quail eggs and raw beef. For the broth itself I picked up the best quality beef bones I could find at St. Lawrence market.

I bookmarked an authentic pho recipe, packed up the ingredients, and travelled with Kaarina to Wolfe Island.

Bone broth is so full of goodness - all that collagen is being touted as better than botox, a cellulite reducer, great for arthritis and healing for the digestive tract. Three hours in the Instant Pot brought all the little pearls to the surface.

As the soup was the last course of the night, we were able to make use of all the other veg that was prepped and still left over: carrots, cabbage, red and yellow peppers, enoki mushrooms, bean sprouts, fresh coriander, mint, thai basil.

Epitourists had each prepared a few dishes to share:



Laura - Fresh spring rolls, tofu with caramel sauce, Vietnamese flan for dessert and vietnamese coffee

Kaarina - Ca Chien Nucor Mam Gang (Fried Whole Snapper with Vietnamese Ginger Sauce) and fresh green papaya salad 

Caroline - Bánh Xèo (Vietnamese crepes) and Ca Tim Nuong Mo Hanh (grilled eggplant)





I loved the colours and the freshness of the ingredients. Such a contrast to the chilling cold outside.

Watching the others prep, I learned a few things about frying fish (not too long), and making crepes (use a wok). We also adapted a few of the recipes. Laura talked me into using the pressure cooker for the stock and reduced the sugar in the baked tofu in caramel sauce, both to good effect.

We experimented with a variety of wine pairings, including Gewurztraminer, Reisling, Rose, and Saki. All quite pleasant. Clean Slate, a Riesling Mosel readily available at the LCBO was one of the table favourites.

Laura had also compiled a musical playlist based on Kim Thuy's cookbook, Secrets from my Vietnamese Kitchen: Simple Recipes from my many mothers

A great getaway to get away from it all, and then a get away to get back before a breaking storm.

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Quiz Nite Jan 2020

Rob and I hosted the first Trivia Nite of 2020 down at the club. We had been collecting trivia over the past few months so all we really needed to do was edit the selections. 

A very rainy winter night, and when we first showed up there were just 8 of us there (including the quiz masters) for the potluck. Six more turned up for the start of the game, so we ended up with three teams. A night of make-your-own-fun.




1. What did Larry Page and Sergey Brin create that made them very, very rich?
Google
Together they own about 14% of the shares and control 56% of stockholder voting power through super voting stock.

2. What salary did Mark Zuckerburg earn in 2019?
a. $1
Bonus Question: How much bonus did he receive in 2019
b. $0  However he did receive $22.5M in other compensation

3. What city Warren Buffett, the 4th wealthiest person in the world, call home?
Omaha Nebraska - Warren Buffet has a net worth of US $88.9 billion as of December 2019, making him the fourth-wealthiest person in the world turning 90 this coming August (Warren Edward Buffett was born on August 30, 1930, in Omaha, Nebraska)

4. What is the Latin phrase for, ‘something for something’?
Quid pro quo

5. What is the Latin word for the legal defence term, “elsewhere”?
Alibi

6. How many feet does a snail have?
a. One

7. What mammal has the highest blood pressure?
a. Giraffe

8. A group of clams is known as what?
a. Bed

9. Group of rhinos is called a
a. Crash

10.What is the only insect that can turn its head sideways?
a. Praying mantis

11.What is the little space between your eyebrows called?
a. glabella The glabella, in humans, is the skin between the eyebrows and above the nose. It also refers to the underlying bone which is slightly depressed, and joins the two brow ridges. It is a cephalometric landmark that is just superior to the nasion.

12.What is the number of playing squares on a standard chess board?
a. 64
BONUS: How many squares patterns are on the chessboard?
actual squares: 204 (64 + 49 + 36 + 25 + 16 + 9 + 4 + 1)

13.How many snakes on a Snakes and Ladders board.
a. 10
b. BONUS: How many ladders? 9

14.Multiple Choice question. In the London England edition of Monopoly, what property is equivalent to Boardwalk? : Park Lane, Regent Street, Mayfair or Fleet Street?
a. Mayfair

15.Barbara Millicent Roberts is otherwise known as…?
a. Barbie

16.What is the US currency value of a ‘sawbuck’?
a. $10 (believed to have been derived from the Latin X for ten, sawbuck or sawhorse legs)

17.Robert Plant and Jimmy Page were members of what band?
a. Led Zeppelin

18. What newspaper did Clark Kent, aka Superman, work for?
a. Daily Planet

19.What 2 colours make up the Cat in the Hat’s hat?
a. Red and White

20.Which character in ‘WKRP in Cincinnati’ uttered, “As god is my witness I thought turkeys could fly”
a. General Manager, Arthur Carlson

21.What is the highest pitched instrument in an symphony orchestra?
a. Piccolo

22.Is TURANDOT a pasta or an opera?
a. Opera

23.Is CAVATELLI a pasta or a composer
a. Pasta

24.Is ANTICO a pasta or composer?
a. Composer.

25.Is GEMELLI a pasta or an opera
a. Pasta

- BREAK – Over the break can you identify the botanicals (hint: all are used in gin). Smelling and tasting is okay!

26. cinnamon
27. Juniper berries
28. Cardamom
29. Coriander
30. Hibiscus flower

31.What was the purpose of this antique medical device?
a. Tooth extractor circa 1850’s

32.What US State names start with the letter N
Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota

33.Name an inventor of the rabies vaccine?
a. Louis Pasteur and Emile Roux

34.What is the middle colour in a rainbow?
a. Green

35.Which of our solar system planets is closet in size and mass to earth?
a. Venus

36.What events make up an Olympic winter biathlon
a. Cross-country skiing and rifle shooting

37.Where is the Masters golf tournament played?
a. in Augusta Georgia


38.Who wrote One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest?
a. Ken Kesey

39.Author Ian Fleming, of James Bond fame, also wrote a popular children’s story that also turned to film. What was it?
a. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

40.What Alcohol is the main ingredient in a mint Julip?
a. Bourbon

41.Which Prime Minister introduced the new Canadian flag in 1965
a. Lester B Pearson

Music - play a sample so people can identify

42.Name of song or artist – Zorba the Greek or Zorba’s dance – Mikis Theodorakis
43.Name of song or artist – Peter Gunn – Duane Eddy
44.Name of song or artist – Draggin’ the Line – Tommy James and the Shondells
45.Name of song or artist – Baby Elephant Walk – Henry Mancini
46.Name of song or artist – Common People – Pulp

47.Who won best actress in a drama at 2020 Golden Globes
a. Renee Zellweger

48.Which Beatle follows John Lennon crossing the road last on the Abbey Road album cover?
a. Ringo Starr followed by Paul then George

49.The Toronto Hunt Club formed in 1843 by British Soldiers garrisoned at Fort York. It acquired its first permanent home in 1895 on Kingston Road. What were the grounds primarily used for at that time?
a. Equestrian events (gymkhana events)

50.2019 was the year of the pig in the Chinese Zodiac cycle. What animal commemorates 2020?
a. RAT

Friday, January 10, 2020

First Full Moon of 2020

Earthlings in the south eastern hemisphere gathered to watch the lunar eclipse. Here, it was mostly wet and raining, obscuring the view of the  full Wolf Moon.

the moon's a balloon





















who knows if the moon's a balloon,coming out of a keen city

in the sky--filled with pretty people?
( and if you and I should

get into it,if they
should take me and take you into their balloon,
why then
we'd go up higher with all the pretty people

than houses and steeples and clouds:
go sailing
away and away sailing into a keen
city which nobody's ever visited,where

always
it's
Spring)and everyone's
in love and flowers pick themselves”

― e.e. cummings, Collected Poems