New Year's Eve Tourtière

Gord made his tourtière for supper tonight.

He makes them a couple times a year and had learned how to make them in a cooking course he took a couple years ago.

As usual, it was delicious!

Mildred's Temple Kitchen, Toronto, ON

Mildred Pierce was a restaurant that was in our neighbourhood. It moved last year and we've been waiting for it to reopen.

It's now Mildred's Temple Kitchen in Liberty Village. We walked by it on our way home this evening and peered in the window to see what it looked like.

Rory, the Maître d', rushed out and coaxed us in for a drink. Sure, why not?

We both ordered a glass of bubbly and Rory said it was on him. That was very nice! We ended up staying for a couple drinks.

Here's Gord at the bar:

It's a swanky restaurant and I was happy to see that chicken biryani, my fav Mildred Pierce meal, is still on the menu.

The washroom is co-ed. There are four stalls in the washroom, each with its own toilet and sink. When you lock the door of your stall, a light comes on by the door to the washroom so you know before you enter if there are any free.

Brazen Head Pub, Toronto, ON

After our massages this afternoon, Gord and I walked a couple blocks to the Brazen Head Pub for some beer and nachos.

Even more relaxing!

It was fairly busy for a Tuesday afternoon ... lots of people had the day off too, I guess.

Here's Gord when we were leaving:

The Performance Health Centre

Gord and I had massages this afternoon. We love love love massages!

We went to The Performance Health Centre. It's in our neighbourhood so we walked over.

I used the washroom when I got there. I thought this sign on the toilet was a funny. Thank goodness it was there! Ha!

Andy was my therapist ... and he gave me an amazing massage! Very deep! I'll definitely go back.

The centre is in Liberty Village, which is full of renovated factory buildings with lots of character.

Book ~ "Earthly Pleasures" (2008) Karen Neches

From www.karenneches.com ~ Welcome to Heaven. Use your Wishberry to hustle up whatever you want. Have an online chat with God. Visit the attractions such as Retail Rapture, Wrath of God miniature golf and Nocturnal Theater, where your nightly dreams are translated to film.

"Your greeter might just be Skye Sebring who will advise her newly dead clients on what to expect now "that they’re expired. “Heaven is like a Corona Beer commercial” she assures her clients. “It’s all about contentment.”

So different than Earth where chaos reigns. Unfortunately for Skye, she’s been chosen to live her first life. She’s required to attend Earth 101 classes, which teach all of the world’s greatest philosophies through five Beatle songs.

Skye has no interest in Earthly pursuits until lawyer Ryan Blaine briefly becomes her client after a motorcycle accident. Just as they are getting to know each other, he is revived and sent back to Earth.

She follows his life via the TV channel “Earthly Pleasures” but discovers he has a wife as well as a big secret. Why then does he call a show for the lovelorn to talk about the lost love of his life?

In Earthly Pleasures, great love can transcend the dimensions, narrowing the vast difference between Heaven and Earth.

It's not the kind of book I usually read but Isabel had posted about it in April and I was intrigued. I requested it from the library at that time and just got it last week.

I found it confusing at first ... there's a lot of freaky stuff going on with lots of characters. But once I started putting the pieces together, it started making sense and my interest picked up.

If you like fantasy and are willing to open your mind, you'll enjoy it.

It's a quick easy read.

Stand-up Showdown

Saving $$$ on Steam Whistle

From guest blogger, Gord:

My errands today included taking back some empties and picking up a 12 pack of one of my favorite Pilsners, Steam Whistle. I stopped at the LCBO on Brock Street to see what they might have that I haven't tried.

In the cold section, they carried Steam Whistle in both 6 pack bottles and in individual 500ml cans. I was going to buy a 12 pack at the beer store but there was something in the math which caught my eye.

The price was $12.15 without deposit for a 6 pack of 341ml bottles. A 500ml can came to $2.60 without deposit. I did some rough calculations and determined that it was likely cheaper to buy 8 tall cans at the LCBO than it would be to buy a 12 pack of bottles at the Beer Store.

When I got home I did the math. At $2.60 for a 500ML bottle the price came to $.0052 per ml. This would make a 341ml bottle at this price cost $1.773 each. A 6 pack averages $2.025 per bottle. A 12 pack averages 1.854 per bottle.

So buy buying the equivalent amount in cans you would save $1.51 on a 6 pack the same and $.98 on a 12. 4 tins is about the same volume as 6 bottles and 8 tins roughly the same as a 12 pack.

Of course, not everyone likes to drink from a tall can. Some find the beer gets warm before it's done or it is a little too much when when a person just wants a beer or two. Neither are a problem for me.

Especially with this delicious brand!

Jamie Oliver's Roast Chicken

I made Jamie's Roast Chicken for supper tonight:


We saw it in yesterday's Toronto Star.

About 4-pound/2-kilogram chicken
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 lemon, washed
1 garlic bulb, broken into unpeeled cloves
Handful of fresh thyme
Olive oil
3/4 cup dry white wine or chicken stock

Rub chicken with salt and pepper inside and out. (Do this in the morning, if possible, then cover and refrigerate until ready to roast.)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Bring medium saucepan of salted water to boil. Add lemon and garlic. Reduce heat to low; simmer 12 minutes. While lemon is still hot, poke holes in it with skewer.

Pat chicken dry with paper towels; rub with olive oil. Stuff lemon, garlic and thyme into cavity. Place on wire rack in roasting pan. Roast in oven about 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until meat is cooked through. Near end of roasting time, pour wine or chicken stock into roasting pan around chicken; continue to roast.

Remove lemon, garlic and thyme from chicken. Squeeze garlic all over it; discard skins. Serve with pan juices.

Makes about 4 to 6 servings.

It was very moist and not overpowering with the lemon or thyme.

To accompany it, we had the wine Sister Sarah gave me for Christmas ...

... a chardonnay from Jost Vineyards in Nova Scotia (Sister Sarah lives in Halifax, NS).

Since it's a chardonnay, we were expecting it to be oaky but it wasn't. It was a bit tart but tasty.

Spring cleaning

When we woke up this morning, it was 12C!

So I did some spring cleaning.

I had sprayed the oven last night and cleaned it first thing this morning. And I gave the stove a good cleaning while I was at it.

Gord pulled the stove out ... it was nasty back there! Kitty toys and dog biscuits along with furballs and a black floor. I haven't cleaned back there as long as I've been here (7.5 years). It's clean now!

Then I vacuumed and cleaned the bathroom.

My reward? A long soak in a bubble gum scented bubble bath and a book. Yes!

$110 in groceries for just $30

I have a President's Choice Mastercard.

The only reason I have it is to get free groceries.

Huh?

I get groceries at No Frills. And I use my Mastercard every time (No Frills offers President's Choice products). I pay the balance every month.

For every dollar I spend, I get points. For every 20,000 points, I get a $20 credit at No Frills.

We don't cash our points in 'til the end of the year.

Today, Gord and I bought $110 in groceries but it only cost us $30 because we had 80,000 ... so an $80 credit.

Whoohoo!

Heading home

After we left Judy's, we got caught in a bit of a snow storm.

But Chia kitty was a big help to Gord with the navigating.


We stopped at Ivanhoe Cheese Factory Outlet, just north of Belleville, so Gord and Ken could get some cheese curds.

Once we got on the 401, it wasn't snowing.

Boxing Day

Judy and Doug made a delicious breakfast! They took such good care of us!

Here's Kerri, Judy and Doug's daughter-in-law, Madison, her daughter, and Chia kitty.


Minnie, Gord's mom, and Keith, his stepdad, came over before we left.

Here's Judy and Minnie, another mom-daughter team.

Here's Ken, Gord's son, giving his grandmother a big hug!

Here's Judy and Gord, sister and brother!


And Ken and Gord, son and father!

Christmas Day

Gord and I spent today (Christmas Day) with his sister, Judy, and her family in Madoc (about 2.5 hours NE of Toronto).

Gord's son, Ken (he lives in Hamilton), came with us.

Here's Chia kitty helping Gord navigate on the DVP.


Judy and Doug's tree was very nice. There's Chia kitty in front of it (on the green present in the middle).

This is Kyle, Judy's son, and his daughter, Madison.
Gord's mom, Minnie, and his stepdad, Keith, came over supper (they live nearby).

Here's Minnie with one of Judy and Kerri's six cats.

Here's Minnie with Madison, her great granddaughter.

Kerri, Kyle's wife, is playing with Opie.


Supper was amazing ... turkey, stuffing (one with onions and one without), mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, beets, pickles, olives and rolls. Very delish! And raspberry pie and trifle for dessert.

Here's Gord, Madison and Kyle:


Here's Ken and Keith.


Here's me and Judy.


Here's Doug, Jake and Judy on the couch. Sheba is in front of Doug and Opie and Andy are there too.


Here's Opie ... he loved this chair!


I wish I was this flexible!

Happy holidays!

The kids on Christmas Eve

Sister Sarah sent KC a Santa jacket for Christmas ... but, alas, it was too small for her.

But it fit the boys great! Hee hee hee!

And they weren't pleased at all!

Here's Byron :


Here's Morgan:


KC was in bed avoiding all the excitement:


And Ken, Gord's son, is nestled in snoozing:

Dish cloth

I made a dish cloth tonight while watching It's a Wonderful Life (one of my fav Christmas movies!).


Cast on 4 stitches.

Knit 2, YO, Knit to end.

Turn work.

Knit 2, YO, Knit to end.

Turn work.

Keep doing this over and over and over and over and over until there are 56 stitches.

Knit 1, K2tog, YO, K1, K2tog, knit to end.

Turn work.

Knit 1, K2tog, YO, K1, K2tog, knit to end.

Turn work.

Keep doing this over and over and over and over and over.

Cast off the final 4 stitches.

Definitely a white Christmas

We got more snow overnight .... it's our fourth major snowfall since last week.


It looks like we won't be BBQing for a while.