Poor Long-Form Written Word

This poor, poor blog!  So few posts compared to the halcyon days of yore.  And yet, I can't stop won't stop.  I won't give up on blogging.  Not now, not ever.  I will hold true.  There is room for the long-form reflective written word and this is my space.  You can't supplant it with all the Snapchats and Instas and FBs and Twitters...you just can't.

What have I been up to?  ONLY HAVING THE TIME OF MY LIFE.  The weekend before this past one was literally insane in the membrane.  That's the technical designation for what I did.

Friday was my day off and I spent the day running around like a maniac.  I helped out at the book fair, went back to the Big Yam's school to do sub lunch, did mad errands, and that night I met my friend M in Kensington and then had tortas from Torteria San Cosme which were DELICIOUS.  We split the chicken milanese and the cubano, and I also bought a cochinita pibil one for home.  The sandwiches are priced at around $9, which is kind of pricey, but they're substantial and so well made and they griddle the bread, which is key.  It's a nice touch.  I'm of the belief that hot sandwiches should be served on buns that have been kissed with some kind of fat and then burnished on a flat top - it provides a texture barrier and just ups the general ante.  Anyway, the space is super-cute - it looks like a little cafeteria lunch counter with excellent floor tile work.  I'm a little in love with it.

That Friday was one of the nicest spring days we've had yet, and I was running around in my very ancient, vintage Mexican embroidered shirt that I've had for over 10 years.  The moms at the Big Yam's school were going apes**t and one of them asked me if I got it from Anthropologie.  There's been a lot about cultural appropriation in the media of late (see: Justin Bieber's dreads) and I was like, damn, am I culturally appropriating?  Should I not be wearing this shirt?  Then at Torteria San Cosme, one of the Latin American women working the grill (and it was super-amazing that the whole crew behind the counter was women - assuming they also have a say in the means of production), pointed at my shirt and mouthed the words, "I love it."  That made me feel a little bit better, but also: am I just being lazy and relying on a "native insider"?!?  WHO EVEN KNOWS ANYMORE.  The point is, those sandwiches, that I might have zero business in the world eating, were freakin' delicious.

Then we saw a Frida Kahlo documentary that was meh.  It was very "classic documentary" which meant long, still shots of the light on a wall and the sound of birds chirping.  It was about this Japanese photographer who went to Kahlo's house and took photographs of Kahlo's stuff and then they framed it by also interviewing women in Oaxaca who produce the embroidered clothing (it was just a random coincidence that I wore my shirt that day, I swear) that Kahlo wore.  I get what the documentary was trying to accomplish, linking Kahlo's embrace of her Mexican heritage and work as a woman artist with the traditionally female craft work and domesticity, but it was a bit of a slog and the thesis could have been tightened up a bit.

Saturday we played in the Regent Park playground with the Wonder Twins and then followed that up with dinner at Bar Isabel with Dr. Rei and Hanbo.  Such a fun time.  I love those guys.  My mum watched the kids and was hilarious about it.

Sunday was Mother's Day.  Mother's Day has been AMPED UP in recent years.  My FB exploded with heartfelt and sentimental tributes to all mothers...it was a bit much for me, to be honest, but the Dotytron was lovely and took the kids away for a couple of hours so I could work on a quilt.  Then we went on a nature walk, and then Momma D came over and watched the kids so we could have dinner at A3 Napoli (one of my favorite restaurants) with JJ and S and then we went to see the Noma documentary at Hot Docs, Ants on a Shrimp.  

This documentary felt like a slog, to be honest.  It's ostensibly about the time the chef, Rene Redzepi, packed up the whole restaurant and transplanted Noma to Japan, for a 3 week engagement.  What emerges is this slavering fanboy flick that doesn't critique anything.  You don't get any sense of the thought processes that go into the dishes, what they're after, how the dishes taste, what the reception of this endeavour was...basically, as a viewer, you're supposed to take it on faith that the stuff tastes good.  It was very acritical and all I got out of it was flashbacks of my time on the line.  There was also all this hyper-masculine, macho stuff: the film opens with the chef de cuisine and the sous chef charged with conceptualizing the menu, both of whom are heavily tattooed dudes, and are shown in the opening scenes of the film doing weird cross-fit type stuff like pull-ups and working on rowing machine until they get blisters.  Just, ew.  Get over yourselves, stupid macho kitchen mentality.

The Don is so magical

Comic book nerds are also magical

Some of the awesome stuff I picked up.  Love that Prince and Bitch Planet poster!

This weekend we had my friend C64 and his partner over for dinner on Friday, then on Saturday we went for a rainy walk in the Don Valley with the Wonder Twins, and hung with SMckay that night.  The Dotytron went to see Lee "Scratch" Perry and on Sunday, SMckay and I hit up the Toronto Comic Arts Festival.  I dragged the Big Yam which was, in retrospect, a bit of a mistake.  Although I was gazing longingly at some of the other parents who had children, seemingly younger than the Big Yam following them throughout the crowded halls, with their noses buried in comics.  Really want to share my nerd interests with my kids, yo.

That being said, the Big Yam has been hilarious.  A few week's ago we went to see Peppa Pig at Boston Pizza.  They were blasting Peppa Pig on the screens and Peppa came around to all the tables.  At a certain point, as she was making her way, the Big Yam craned his neck to see, and announced: "Peppa Pig is coming!  ... Jesus."  LOL!!!  He's so funny.  The other night, we had our neighbours over for dinner and were having a big conversation about wants versus needs.  I asked him, "So, can you think of something that you really need, versus just want?" and he said, "Ummm...wifi?"  Touché.  Can't really argue with that, can we?

Some snaps from around here, lately:

Sleepiest bubbies

B-b-b-b-bath time!

These two.  Finally starting to get along and be friends.  They're doing more collaborating and colluding and are frequently in cahoots.  During their increasingly fraught nap times, I'll hear Quincess test the door knob of their room (we have one of those door-knob protectors which means they can't turn the knob), and report back to Twin B, "It's locked."  So cute.

Eats around here, lately:

Company dinner: tagliatelle with radicchio and bagna cauda, with a poached egg and crispy croutons

Made a pretty kickin' chicken biryani with green beans thoren.  There are some refinements to be made, but it's definitely a good foundation.  Next time I might add some plumped raisins and will make some extra rice.

Saw some stunning artichokes so we roasted them, I made chorizo potatoes, and seared some ling cod and served everything with romesco.  GAH!  Love romesco so damn much.

Fin.

This Is How We Do It

Best weekend, ever!  My heart is full to bursting with love for what I ate, who I ate it with (with whom I ate?), and living in this glorious city that provides us with a bounty of experiences.  The Dotytron has been talking about wanting to move to a town like Peterborough or something (but with the caveat that we somehow convince all our friends to pack up and go with us) but after weekends like this, I don't think there's any way that I possibly could.  It just wouldn't do.

Friday night we had dinner with our friends S & P at the White Brick Kitchen.  I had been hepped to this place by my friend K, who bought me takeout from there one night.  I had been dreaming about the burger I had and wanting to eat it again for a while.  This place is opened by people who spent some time at the Stockyards and the menu is what you'd expect with people with that pedigree - American style comfort food, well prepared, well priced, and with a southern accent.  Everything was insanely, insanely delicious.  The decor isn't the greatest - it's pretty bare-bones in there with little in the way of decor or a theme, but the food is so good!  

We started with their kettle chips served with pimento cheese dip.  Their pimento cheese was a little more loose than what I'm used to, but it was perfect for dipping their deliciously crispy chips.

Half fried chicken dinner.  Juicy, with a delicious breading, served with some coleslaw, honey mustard, and a split biscuit that had been buttered and griddled.  This was some darned good fried chicken.  Juicy, moist, and with a well-seasoned crust.  

The burger!!!  Look at that cheese skirt!  They serve it with their house sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, and pickles.  I got cheese and bacon as well.  It tastes a little bit like a Big Mac (I adore homemade versions of Big Macs) and the cheese skirt is a thing of beauty.  Textbook fries.

Saturday we went to Chinese school and then I scored a cheap ($30, after haggling!) two seater wagon off Kijiji.  I LOVE BUYING SECOND HAND.  I CAN TASTE THE SAVINGS!  I also bought a second hand scooter for the Big Yam this weekend because he's been hankering after our neighbour's.  

For dinner that night we went to JJ & S's house for one of our signature themed dinners.  The theme this time was "classic steakhouse."  The Discerning Coyote was there too along with his girlfriend, N.  Did we ever feast!  

We brought oysters (choppers choice from MA and Acadian Gold from NB), along with shrimp cocktail with homemade cocktail sauce.

I also made creamed spinach.  JJ & S made rib eye with compound butter, garlic bread, ceasar salad, and baked potatoes with sour cream, chives, and bacon bits. 

For dessert, we had this textbook-perfect (no cracks!  So smooth!!!) New York style cheesecake served with a raspberry puree.  OMG.  This was DIVINE.  

JJ & S have a hilarious 9 year old son, B and an equally hilarious raspy-voiced 4 year old daughter, L.  Their basement is finished so I left the Big Yam down there with B and L.  B comes up and says, "Uhhh, Big Yam is calling for you," and JJ says to him, "B, can't you just go down there and look after him and make sure he's okay?" and B says, "HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO DO THAT.  I HAVE NO EXPERIENCE."  LOL!!!  So funny!!!  

Another funny moment was when S offered the Big Yam a piece of cheesecake.

Big Yam to S: "Yes, please."

*pause* *turns to me*: "Who's that guy?"

By the way, we'd already been at their house for like, FIVE HOURS at this point.  "Who's that guy?" is never not funny to me.  

Sunday we went to this place in Bloor West Village, called Creme de la Creme Café which turned out to be surprisingly delicious.  If you ordered eggs benny, it came with three eggs on 2 English muffins, and they did this weird thing where your meat for the benny (bacon, peameal, etc.) was served on the side.  The hash browns were the shredded kind, which I'm rather fond of.  The big thing in their favor though, was their pancake.  It's the middle picture on their homepage.  This pancake was unique - very lacy, but thick - kind of like a cross between a crumpet, a regular pancake, and a crepe.  I love love love lacy pancakes because I love crispy edges.  This was huge!  They folded it over in thirds.  It was really, really good.  Worth going back for, even if this place is at the ends of the earth.  

We grabbed our oysters and shrimp cocktail fixins' from Diana's in Scarborough and I couldn't resist buying razo clams when I saw they were in.  We had a seafood feast last night for dinner:

Steamed razor clams with chilies, garlic, and beer

Roasted cod and potatoes with a quick, chorizo-enhanced puttanesca sauce with fresh tomatoes

Tonight's dinner was that homemade hamburger helper thing I discovered last summer. Alongside some peas tossed in butter.  A very, very kid friendly meal.  I was too busy chowing down to take a photo.

In other news - "pay me the dollars" has been turned into a song, with a rousing finish:

Loving all the made-up songs that have been happening lately.  Lots of free-styling.

Fin.

I Ain't Mad

Usually December rolls around and I'm crying and screaming about how G-D busy I am and how it's non-stop stressball city, but strangely, these past few weekends in December have been surprisingly low-key.  Yeah, we've had stuff to do, but it's never been like, two days of 3 solid outings each day, which makes for a pretty relaxed December, I must say.  

Making the decision to scale back on the gift buying has also been a godsend.  If you have the means, I highly recommend it.

I've had SO MUCH TO SAY lately, and such a backlog of book/movie reviews, but the past three days straight I've been in training to be certified for the Joint Health and Safety Committee at work.  I'd rate this training a solid 8/10.  Extra marks for lots of gratuitous stories about manufacturing accidents.  Extra marks for the emergency preparedness/Boy Scouts dimension of being on the Joint Health and Safety Committee.  The training culminates in a 40 question multiple choice, open book test.  They expect you to get 26/40 correct in order to pass.  If you DON'T pass, they mail back the test with the incorrect questions circled and you get another go.  I'm vaguely worried that I might not pass and then I'll be mighty embarrassed.  I have a history of not doing well at easy tests (see: my G1 driving test experience).  

So yeah, the weekend.  On Friday night we had Indian food.  On Saturday, we had Chinese School (winter term, yo!  Seasonally appropriate vocabulary - "snowman"!) then we went for lunch with Momma D at Great Nany's condo.  Ummmm...they don't build condos like they used to.  This condo is granted, in Etobicoke, but it's FREAKIN' HUGE!  Two bedrooms, giant living area, dining room, eat-in kitchen, two bedrooms, balcony.  Look at how cute Nany is - this is how she did the table:

By the way, this woman is 90.  And she made us caesar salad (Nany DOES NOT skimp on the dressing, it's mad saucy, as Dr. Rei would say) and chili and is working on her 9 millionth crocheted afghan.  We also got mad gossip about her life!  Like the fact that Poppa's mom (who was Catholic) refused to go to Nany and Poppa's wedding on account of the whole Catholic marrying a Protestant thing.  Plus you get to hear lines like this: "Nany (Nany's mother in law) was always saying how beautiful Honey is.  Now, I mean, Honey is pretty, but I would never say she was beautiful."  She's just a firecracker of a woman.  Love her to bits. 

On Sunday, I went a little buck and cranked out mad stuff.  First, I did all the cookie boxes for the neighbours and their cards and delivered them.  Then I made chocolate babka, the Smitten Kitchen by way of Martha Stewart's mom's recipe.  It's supposed to make 3 babkas, but I followed what Deb did and made two biggies and three mini loaves.  I'm liking this recipe more than my usual, Gourmet Magazine one, because it's chocolatier and the yield is more.  Plus, the loaves puffed out a tonne more than the Gourmet version.  However, I'm on the fence about the streusel topping from Deb's recipe.  First of all, it made TOO MUCH streusel topping.  Secondly, the streusel topping was really dry (I've never heard of confectioner's sugar in a streusel).  I like the idea of streusel, but I might do my own and do less (I ended up chucking a lot of streusel).  Do you think I've hit my mentions-of-streusel-in-a-single-paragraph quota yet?  If not, I'm definitely almost there.  I haven't cut into a babka yet (they were lovingly wrapped and frozen), but I'll report back when I do.

Then, I went on a Chicago deep-dish pizza mission, inspired by my Discerning Coyote friend's contribution to Pie Party a few weeks back.  This was very successful.  I made some tweaks to his version (using corn oil instead of olive oil and then substituting a 1/3 of the amount of oil with melted butter) which resulted in something pretty close to what I had in Chicago.  NOW WE CAN EAT DEEP DISH AT HOME WHENEVER THE F**K WE WANT!  Like, for instance, on Friday I'm having some of the gyals dem from my Canoe cooking days over and I'm going to make it again.  It's pretty easy!  The whole recipe (reproduced below) is predicated on a no-knead (you don't want to develop the gluten) dough and like, a raw tomato sauce topping.  Cinchy!

Last night I met up with Dr. Rei and we went to the mall and split an Orange Julius and basically had the best time ever.  I love that girl so much.  Then we met up with Bwong at Santouka Ramen but the line-up was super long and we got kinda spooked by the size of the bowls of plastic restaurant food they had in the front window.  You know that thing Japanese restaurants do where they show you what they got with the plastic food?  Anyway, the bowls looked MAD SMALL!  So we basically left in a huff (after inching forward a bit in the line) and left guns blazing about how everyone else in line was a chump because of the small bowls, and about how they didn't have gyoza OR karaage.   We ended up at Raijin Ramen, which doesn't get as good reviews as Santouka, but is huge and had no line and was a quite, calm experience.  Also: they have gyoza AND karaage.  Look:

See?

The karaage was boss.  Super-juicy, crispy chunks of boneless chicken thigh.  So good.  They also do this Japanese poutine thing, which is fries, teriyaki, mayo, scallions and cheese curds.  This was tasty, although I would have liked the fries to be more crispy.  The flavours were great - with an interplay between chewy, gooey, salty, sweet, and creamy:

Finally, the ramen.  I got the tonkotsu shio (they do tonkotsu shio or shoyo, but no straight up tonkotsu?) which comes with pork shoulder, half an egg, some fungus, and chunks of cabbage (?).  The broth was nice and milky, though a touch bland.  Not oversalted, which was good.  The noodles weren't al dente and the pork shoulder wasn't fatty!!!  It was kind of dry and chewy and I was pissed about the cheapness on the egg.  HALF AN EGG?!  The cabbage was a weird touch and I wasn't completely on board.  But I wasn't OFF-board either.  At any rate, I'd come back for a quick, affordable, meal with good appetizers and a quite, calm atmosphere with no lineup.  Either way, it's a better bowl of ramen than at Kenzo or Ajisen, but not as good as Kinton (lineup) or Sansotei (my favorite):

So the Big Yam is the best and keeps getting better!  He's so funny.  As he learns to string more and more words together, it's amazing what comes out of his mouth.  So on the heart-melty side you have him saying, "I lofves you, Mama."  On the conceptually-funny side you have him saying, "Maybe" as in, "Maybe...Auntie Rei coming..." last night to the Dotytron when the Dotytron told him where I was and why I wasn't at home.  Then on the hard-to-maintain-a-straight-face side, you have him in time out on the stairs, reciting his version of this book:

We had him in time out, and then from the stairs, he was talking to himself going: "It's my hot dog!  MINE!  That's it! Tastes like chicken.  Needs mustard." all disjointed and doing this funny little hoarse voice (when the Dotytron reads the book he does a broad, New Yawk, Brooklyn-type accent for the pigeon).  The Dotytron and I were almost crying trying to hold in the laughs on the couch.  It was awesome.  Those moments when you're supposed to be stern but he's making you laugh are so good.  I'm going to try to get it on video.

Then the other night we watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas for the first time.  I fell asleep, but the Dotytron said that the Big Yam started spontaneously slow-clapping when the Grinch has the change of heart and zooms down the hill to return the presents...AND THE DOTYTRON STARTED CRYING.  LOL!!! So good.

Also, he does this fake Chinese which would be completely racist if a white person was doing it.  I'll try to get video of that, too.  

Anyway, I love him and last night I almost snatched him out of bed for an impromptu Sleep Away Camp because I didn't get to see him all day.  But I left him alone in the end.

Fin.

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Chicago Deep Dish Pizza

makes enough to fill a 12" 2" deep cast-iron skillet, which is enough for about 6 hungry people, with salad

2 1/4 t. yeast

1 1/2 t. sugar

1 c. (approx) tepid water

3 c. all purpose flour

1 1/2 t. salt

6 T. corn oil

3 T. melted unsalted butter

4-5 links Italian sausage, casings removed

1 small onion, thinly sliced

garlic

1.5 balls of mozzarella cheese, sliced into 1/4" slices (not the fresh mozzarrella, which is too wet)

1 28oz can San Marzano tomatoes, whole

a few sprigs of fresh thyme

1 t. dried oregano

- proof the yeast with the sugar in the tepid water for 10 minutes or until the yeast starts to activate.

- in the bowl of your stand mixer with the dough hook attachment, add the flour and the yeast mixture.  Mix for 1 minute.  Add the salt and the oil and butter, mix for another 2 minutes maximum.  The resulting dough will look kind of shaggy...almost like a firm biscuit dough.

- what gives the dough the texture you're looking for is the LACK of gluten development, kneading.

- scrape the dough into an oiled bowl and let rest, covered in a warm, dry place for about an hour.

- when it's proofed and doubled in bulk, gently punch it down and then press it along the bottom and up sides of your cast-iron skillet.  The dough should be pretty relaxed and easy to work with.

- while the dough is proofing, take the sausage out of the casings and cook, breaking up the large chunks with a spoon with the onion and garlic until the onion is really soft and sausage is cooked through.  Use a slotted spoon to remove sausage and onions and leave the liquid in the pan (the extra liquid would make the pizza too wet).

To assemble:

- preheat the oven to 400F

- spread the cooked sausage/onion mixture along the bottom of the prepared pie crust

- add the slices of mozzarella evenly on top

- take the San Marzano tomatoes out of the juice in the can (discard the juice) and crush with your fingers over top of the cheese, spreading the tomatoes all over the top.

- sprinkle with the thyme (off the stalk) and the dried oregano and some cracked black pepper.

- bake until crust is golden brown (approximately 30-40 minutes in my oven).