You can't go home again

For the past week we've been living at Momma D's house and loving life, because she has stuff (like a dishwasher and central air and a beautiful garden and patio), that we don't have, and she's been away for the past week at a cottage, so it's been like living at a really nice B&B.  She came home on Sunday night and we  IMMEDIATELY got into trouble.  She walked in and was like, "it smells like fish in here!" (I had made fish tacos for dinner), "you guys forgot to take out the garbage!" "why is there a light on in the basement?" - you know, living with your parents type stuff.  The Dotytron and I were immediately chastened.  It's funny but also kind of exasperating, in the way close, sustained contact with parents can be.

My sister sent up Miss Ramona and Little Ze to stay with my mum for two weeks so that she and Uncle Rico could get stuff done without the kids underfoot and so that she could save on summer camp.  So we had them on Thursday (my birthday) for the day.  WE SPENT LIKE, A HUNDRED AND TWENTY DOLLARS.  WTF?!?  I'm willing to bet that a week of camp for the both of them would be $75.  Bruce Wayne took them to LaserQuest and Canada's Wonderland, and so between the various groups of us, hanging out with them costs us minimum $100 a day.  We had a really good time though and the Big Yam was thrilled (thrilled!!!) to be hanging with his cousins.  We went to St. Lawrence and picked out picnic stuff and then took the ferry to the island and went to Centreville and sent the kids on the Scrambler.  It was a good day:

For the record, I had stuck my head in the cut-out for the big-chested lady on the left there, but the Dotytron didn't see me and cut me out of the photo!  We also saw a kid get her head "stuck" in the far right hole before us and we almost died laughing as she started freaking out.  We're horrible people.

LOL @ the Big Yam's expression!

Then we went to Libretto on the Danforth for dinner and shocker of shockers, the kids ate a D.O.P margherita pizza (first picking off the basil)!!!  Colour me impressed.  

The rest of the weekend was a blur.  We had a picnic on the beach with a bunch of high school peeps on Saturday night which was the funnest.  It was mostly remarkable because the Dotytron for once relaxed his anxieties about having the Big Yam fall asleep in someone else's house while we were out, so when a storm rolled in and we decamped to B & G's house, we swung by Momma D's, filled a bottle, and then got to continue our night instead of just going home and putting the Big Yam to bed close to his normal bedtime, which is what the Dotytron usually has us do.  We gave him a bath at B & G's and then he fell asleep in my arms while we were talking at their table and then we put him down on some quilts on the floor and we got to stay out super-late and drink more wine and eat grilled haloumi and sausages!  Huzzah!  Success!

My weird, erratic, and illogical approach to lower carb continues (kinda sorta).  This weekend was filled with good eating:

We grilled up the leftover leg of lamb and ate it with tzatiki and chimichurri, more cauliflower patties, and a quick-pickled cucumber salad with dill.

The offending article: haddock fish tacos with cabbage-carrot slaw, crema, guacamole, and this tomatillo salsa and ranchero salsa from La Tortilleria.  So yes, the house smelled like fish but these were DELICIOUS.  

The Dotytron and the Big Yam made me a birthday cake!

So we started watching The Newsroom and like, immediately didn't love it.  I find it preachy and didactic and like I'm getting a lecture in media awareness.  I feel like it's kind of unnuanced (I would argue that Season 5 of The Wire had a much more realistic-feeling depiction of the constraints on the news) and the soap opera elements bother me.  I don't love how close together Alison Pill's eyes are and it freaks me out. I also don't love how her love interest looks like the bad son from the movie Parenthood (i.e. "Wolfie" from Amadeus). We found the use of music kind of heavy-handed and maudlin.  It's just not our thing.  The clincher was when they played that Coldplay song "Fix You" at the end of an episode.  Coldplay makes my skin crawl.  I made two mistakes: 1) telling Lolly that I didn't like the Newsroom.  I think she's mad at me because of it!  Which is also kind of hilarious, in a mad-cap comedy of errors kind of way? 2) telling Momma D that I hate that song.  She likes the song.  A lot.  As the Dotytron said, in reference to me always expressing my opinion around his parents, "it's always safest to NOT give your opinion...the likelihood that there will be overlap is minimal," and yet, in the grand tradition of me assuming that everyone shares my taste, I continue to blunder into these types of situations with my outlaws.  Like when I said that I find blonde children disgusting.  It didn't go over well, to say the least.  Why is it that Aziz Ansari can say that he thinks white babies aren't as cute as other babies (he says it looks like they're not done baking) and it's funny, but when I say essentially the same thing (i.e. that blonde children are disgusting to me), it doesn't fly?  The type of blonde child is very specific.  If any of you have the board book by Mem Fox, Time for Bed, there's a blonde kid who pops up in the last two pages who is the epitome of what I find disgusting.  Hit up an Indigo and holler back at me.

In other news: I've hit a SERIOUS block with my New York Times crossword puzzling.  I have like, 7 unfinished puzzles on the go and it's infuriating!  I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT WILL SHORTZ, YOU SADIST!!!  

In other, other embarrassing news, at the BBQ on Saturday, the crew we were rolling with are pretty well versed with their global affairs.  They read The Economist (which I keep vowing to start, but the print is so small!!!) regularly and one of them is in Egypt right now and our friend B grew up in Lebanon.  Anyway, I didn't know that like, Aleppo was a city in Syria.  I just knew it as a pepper.  Whoops.  Live and learn, live and learn.  

Hopefully this ^^^ will help get me temporarily up to speed.  Guys, I DON'T WANNA READ THE ECONOMIST!!!  Is that so wrong?  But then...but then maybe it would help me with these crossword puzzles.  GAH.

Fin.

Three Legged Pig

Well, what can I say about this weekend?  It wasn't without its ups and downs.  My outlaw bro is currently running for a political position in the county where they live and I was (unfortunately) able to bear witness to the ugly side of American-style politics this weekend.  I was just glad to be able to be there for Uncle Rico and my sis, who have done SO MUCH for me and the Dotytron (like, allowing us to host our wedding at their place, and allowing us to use their house as a glorified P.O. Box for all our goods [see below]).  I just wish I could have done more.


This all goes towards my current pet thesis, which is why do decent, hard-working, good people get PUNISHED in today's society?  How does that make sense?  Between me and the Dotytron, we've got like, 5 post-secondary degrees, and every year for the next 6 years, the Dotytron is going to be struggling this time to get a job (most likely) and we have to keep postponing all our home improvements because we like, pay our taxes and don't sponge money from the government and stuff.  How does that make sense?  Meanwhile, I see (or like, I have seen, at least once) contests that reward people for trying to quit smoking with cars and whatnot.  I mean, I get it.  I get that the costs to society of having to foot the bill to treat your emphysema or lung cancer are more than the car, but WHERE'S THE REWARD FOR NOT SMOKING IN THE FIRST PLACE?  So some jacked up fatty carmichael is gonna win a car while I'm trolling sketchy sites of questionable origin for after-market parts for the Captain?!? What the hell?  It's enough to turn you into a Tea Partier...or at least, to see the attraction for people who feel like other people are sponging off of them (ie. like my neighbour, Mad Eye Moody).


I've been a bit of a foul owl lately.  I kind of dislike everyone and I only want to hang out with Dr. Rei, which is kind of the norm anyway, so no biggie.  So sue me for having the best bff, k?

 On the Friday before we left, I made us waffles, with a cinnamon sugar swirl, so they tasted like cinnamon bun waffles.  Yeah, that happened.

 Then on the way out of town, we stopped for rotis and doubles at our favorite place in the whole world.  It's in Etobicoke and it's the ill na-na.  My (boneless!) goat roti was exquisite and the doubles are the best I've ever had, anywhere, bar none.

We ate pretty decent BBQ from this place called the Three Legged Pig.  We had brisket, chicken, ribs, and pulled pork.  The sides weren't the best but the brisket was outstanding.  Nothing really had a deep smoke flavour but the texture on the brisket was that perfect balance between chewy and tender.  I like my brisket to have some texture to it, and this one did.  I think I'm over ordering pulled pork out.  I mean, a proper pulled pork sammy is good, but ultimately, you don't get that much smoke flavour and it tends to all taste pretty same-y.  It's the sauce that sets it apart and the sauces at this place weren't that great (the Kansas-style one was too sweet and unnuanced) except for their South Carolina style mustard-based dipping sauce, which I quite liked.


Here are some photos from the weekend.  My sis' nickname for the Big Yam is "city mouse" and Little Big Cuz is "country mouse."  Both mice were being pretty darned cute.  As were Miss Ramona and Little Ze. Once your kids get to be like, 5 or 7 or so, parenting becomes like, a 1/4 time job.  They just do their own thing, hanging out, maxing and relaxing and bugging each other, instead of you.

Cousins holding hands.

Country mouse kicking back.

Grand Electric, eat your heart out - this is some real street food business.  As you can see, the Big Yam is taking his mayonnaise application task, VERY seriously.

Most of these photos were taken at the Strong Museum of Play, which is basically kid nirvana.  They also have a garden and a butterfly conservatory.

This is a portion of my haul:

Under the Texan Sun dress.  I was fully planning on returning this because I thought it would be too short.  But then I decided: "f**k it"  This summer is going to be about tanned legs and too-short skirts and messy hair.  This number is 100% cotton and the muted-neon orange and grey color combo are impossibly fresh.  It's pretty super-flattering, even with the cap sleeves.

This dress came and it fits like a dream.  Super happy with this purchase.

I also snagged this one.  I thought this would be nice for work, with a navy blazer or a cardigan.  It's a bit crazy, but one of the things I like about my job is that it's okay to wear a "statement" dress like this.  I don't have to be super-conservative all the time.  

That effectively puts an end to my summer shopping.  I'm looking for a pair of cropped pants or a longer pair of shorts and then I'm donezo.  

Tonight was a quickie pierogi dinner on account of the fact that we got in late last night and didn't get a chance to do a proper grocery shop.

So that was me.  How was your weekend?

Fin.

Where have I been?

Photo of the Boobla Khan taking by Ehdmo at R & R Acres

Well, the big storm on Wednesday blew our modem so I've been without internet. During that time, we were also playing host to Miss Ramona until Friday. Our car died AGAIN on Thursday, in the EXACT SAME FASHION, this time it totally died on us closer to home, though. It turns out that our battery was faulty, which destroyed our brand-new alternator. Luckily, the alternator is under warranty so we got that replaced for free and just have to pay for the battery and the labour.

On Friday evening we met up with R & R and introduced them to both Burger's Priest and Settlers of Cattan and probably thereby raised our nerd/freak flag too early into the friendship, ruining it forever.

Saturday was a rare day without social obligations. We walked around our hood and I bought a new dress for work, courtesy of one of my favorite Canadian lines, the stupidly named Pink Martini. I bought the "Picnic Dress" in black, which comes with a pretty cute belt that I can use for other dresses. I think this will look nice with either a close-cut cardigan, or a shrunken black blazer with tights and t-strap chunky heels.

We had the roomie over for dinner yesterday. We're her go-to place when L'Armi goes out of town and she's on call. It's pretty cute. I made this crustless eggplant quiche of grilled eggplant layered with ricotta pureed with eggs and basil and shredded mozzarella. We also had caesar salad and blueberry sour cream pie squares with whipped cream.

On Thursday I had Miss Ramona help make chicken fingers (the food she requested as part of her "Special Day" birthday coupon festivities. I also made corn on the cob and a green bean, tomato, and potato salad with mustard vinaigrette. She like the chicken fingers but wasn't too keen on eating corn on the cob or potatoes and green beans.

Camp Leslieville was a bit of a tough sell. It's that classic parent line - there's the things you want your kids (or your sister's kids) to be into and then there's the stuff that they're into - in my niece's case, that's mostly watching TV and vegging out. She LOVES her vegging out hard. It's hard to get her excited about stuff. She did seem to have a fun time playing with the neighbour's kids and that was pretty cute. But our trip to the Science Centre was a bit of a fail. Ah well - she was also missing her parents which could have influenced things. At one point, she pulled out this ANCIENT photo of my outlaw bro and my sis (from like, 2000 or something) that she was carrying around in this mini backpack, took a look at it, and said, "I miss them." It was pretty hilarious.

Today was brunch with K & J and the girls from work at K & J's gorgeously reno'd house. Then SMckay is coming over for dinner and a viewing of The Help. Full review to follow!

Fin.

Mad max

Photos from the last few days...

Fried zucchini spaghetti, recipe inspiration courtesy of Gwyneth Paltrow's stupid cookbook that was probably (definitely) ghost written by Mario Batali

Grilled radicchio salad with toasted breadcrumbs, egg, and anchovy vinaigrette

My life's goal, realized

Outtakes from yesterday spent with Poh Poh and Miss Ramona at our house. We went out after dinner and all the kids were out riding their bikes - it looked simultaneously like Mad Max, a motorcross practice session, and as if the Dotytron had 5 kids because of the high proportion of Asian-Caucasian pairings and their kids on our street. So cute!!!

LOVE LOVE LOVE my hood!

At the Science Centre today with the family - exhausting but fun.

I'm lazing out and ordering pizza tonight because the Science Centre took so much out of us. It's been decreed that we're all going to bed at 8.

Fin.

junior republicans

my niece is proving to be a testament to small-town conservative values. when she heard the story of "the little red hen" she agreed with the moral that those animals who didn't contribute to the baking of the bread shouldn't get to eat it. this past weekend, at a work picnic, there were games for all the little tots and all the kids got to pick a small prize afterwards. apparently she kept bugging my sis about why it is that EVERYONE should get a prize when they didn't complete the task at hand. as my sister said, she should sign her up for the tea party right now.

as an addendum to that story though, you should know that my niece is one of the BIGGEST sore losers of all time. like, non-stop moochie face and whining. which actually makes her a perfect candidate for the tea party. lol!

don't you love the cover of that little golden book up there? i have very fond memories of some of my first reading experiences being from the "little golden book" series. i love them. i want a vintage set for the little fatburger. i prefer the ones that aren't branded and re-telling of disney movie plots, preferably.

in spumante bambino news, saw the midwife today and peed on the stick. and my glucose was OFF THE CHARTS!!! basically the highest it could be according to the colour change on the stick. ruh-roh. so she's fast-tracking me to do the gestational diabetes test, given my genetic background (asians are prone to the GD) and my family history (my mum had the GD with c-hova). yikes. i'm a little baffled, to be honest. i mean, granted we do eat white pasta but in sensible portions, and the odd dalliance with challah aside, i mostly do whole grains. i drink nothing but water except for a 1/2 c. of juice in the mornings...so the only thing i can think of is that all the snacking on fruit i'm doing? how can fruit be bad for you?!??

my midwife did say that the pee test isn't the most precise and that i just have to change my conceptualization of what i think of as a "treat" - ie. not just your standard-issue desserts, but stuff like pastas and white breads. and when i do eat these things, to combine them with protein and fat to slow the intake into my blood. so it looks like the lagerfeld and dotytron will be protein-loading for the next little while. i was actually looking over this week's menu and it's pretty good for not that many carbs. we have a grilled squid a la plancha panzanella salad (my panzanellas tend to be heavy on the veggies and low on the bread cubes) and the antipasto salad, and a slow grilled kolbassa with sauerkraut and onions on a bun, but i'll eat half the bun. the dotytron is super-cute and has pledged solidarity and is also willing to forgo the bun. he's actually trying to get in shape lately so that means he's been skipping the after-work beers in favour of after work cocktails. i'm not sure if that's better for him or not, but he certainly seems to think so.

i think breakfast is my big achilles' heel (well, that and plain old dessert). i like mini wheats! and i like french toast! but i guess it'll be more eggs and bacon from now on and i'll skip the juice. my midwife also told me that milk is pretty sugary but i should be getting more calcium so that i should go for the highest fat milk i can stomach (so...whipping cream?) yay an excuse to drink homogenized milk! i think i'll sub out the morning o.j. for milk and snack on more nuts and yoghurt than fruit. realistically, i know i eat really healthy and moderately and way better than 90% of north americans so my feathers got a little ruffled and i was taking it a bit personally to be honest. the dotytron thinks that this will just be a new challenge for me to undertake during my menu planning and it does seem like fun. i will say that it's REALLY, REALLY HARD to get your recommended daily intake of everything. between the fiber, calcium, vitamins and whatnot...it's a minefield of eating out there - and look at the sheer VARIETY of food that **i** eat. if i'm stressed out and i barely repeat a meal in a year, what are other people supposed to do?!?

my colleague G seems to think that i should just go bucksauce until i actually do the diagnostic test. lol! but i really don't want the fatburger to start packing on the L-Bs and turn into a sugar bambino. the sugar in your blood is also mitigated by exercise immediately thereafter. so i'm baffled again. how does a 27km bike ride not count?

last night after dinner we met up with the roomie and then walked 25 minutes to a basketball court (good!), saw that it was full and went for ice cream (bad!) and then played 21 for a good 35-40 minutes (good!) and then walked home (good!)

ah well, you can't win 'em all. the roomie, as it turns out, is really good at getting baskets. it's hilarious. she'll flinch and put up her arms reflexively in a defensive position if you pass her the ball, but she NAILS basket after basket. in crocs.



last night we had tuna mac salad (bad! but so, so soooo good!) and that blanched yellow bean and grape tomato salad in the mustard dill vinaigrette (good!) it's rainy and pooey tonight so i think i'm going to succumb to a night of excess and treat myself to fried chicken from chick'n'joy for dinner. carb-cutting will begin in earnest starting tomorrow.

until then, there's fried chicken, fries, and gravy. nom nom nom.

fin.