Stratford Festival, Stratford, ON

I just ordered tickets for Gord and I for the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.

Whoohoo!

We are seeing Cyrano de Bergerac with Colm Feore in June and West Side Story in August.

Gord and I have been going to Stratford twice a summer to see plays for about four years.

We take the train down in the morning and come back at night (it's a two hour ride each way) and that's part of the fun of the day. We love the train! No stress of traffic of the highway and we have a glass of wine (granted it's raunchy train wine).

Stratford is a lovely place and we like to wander around. It's always such a nice day out for us.

We didn't go last summer ... none of the plays interested us.

Book ~ "Nova Scotia Drink-o-pedia" (2008) Graham Pilsworth

From Amazon ~ A "spirited" look at the history of drinking in Nova Scotia, Nova Scotia Drink-o-pedia is a collection of anecdotes, bits of trivia and stories. From alcoholic drink staples like rum and beer to tea, coffee, and even water, Graham Pilsworth's fun history of Nova Scotia's drinking habits is jam-packed with interesting and little-known facts. The book discusses the role of women in rum-running, the development of Alexander Keith's business empire and the importance of coffee in Nova Scotia culture. The book includes photos, advertisements and artifacts, as well as original and humorous illustrations. The sections are divided by "drink": rum, beer, whisky, wine, moonshine, tea, coffee, soda, and water.

Sister Sarah gave this book to Gord for Christmas.

It interested me because I'm originally from Nova Scotia and I like rum, wine and beer.

It's a fun book to read. I like history and I learned a lot about the names and brands I had grown up with.

In case you always wanted to know ...

To cure a man of drink, take an eel and put it in rum but don't leave the eel in long enough to die. Then give the rum to the person to drink. But don't tell him about the eel. If he drinks it, he will never touch rum again.

Rum of the Month - January - Smuggler's Cove Dark Rum

From guest blogger, Gord. And I must say that I agree with him ... it is a very delicious dark rum!

"Just like smugglers using the cover of the night to deliver their goods during prohibition, this rum's rich and deep auburn darkness conceals within the history of its making."
Quote from Rumshop.net September 2003 newsletter

For Christmas each year, Teena's sister, Sarah and her husband, Joey, send us some much appreciated bottles of rum, which are not available here in Ontario. One of my favorites is Smuggler's Cove Dark Rum brewed by Glenora Distillery located in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.

Glenora opened in 1990, not just as a distillery but also as a nine room inn complete with a 50 seat dining room and a pub on the grounds.

It's major claim to fame is being the only producer of single malt whisky in North America with their Glen Breton Rare Canadian Single Malt Whisky . They are very proud of this and you can read about their whisky production all over their website.

The also have extensive coverage with their battle with The Scotch Whisky Association over the use of the word "Glen" in it's name. Their claim is that "glen” is a Scottish term, and only whisky produced in Scotland should be called Scotch whisky. Glenora claims they use the "Glen" to reflect the region as the distillery is located in Glenville, Cape Breton, outside the town of Glenora Falls, and do not call their product "Scotch". The battle has seesawed back and forth.

Glenora is very proud of their whisky-making and their entire website is almost dedicated exclusively to their single malt whiskey.

Being a rum drinker and a fan of Smuggler's Cove, I was puzzled by Glenora's lack of enthusiasm for their rum product. I had to do a very thorough search through their website to find where they even admit to making rum. And they mention it almost in passing: "In addition to distilling single malt whisky, which is presently aging in oak barrels, Glenora blends and bottles Smuggler's Cove dark, white and amber rums."

They don't even mention that at the 2003 International Rum Festival, it won a Gold Medal in the Dark Rum Category. Not too shabby but I found that gem on another rum website.

Smuggler's Cove is an excellent tasting rum and stands the ultimate test of being sipped on it's own. It has a nice molasses taste and is a very smooth going down. I really enjoy this rum. You would think that Glenora would show a little more pride in having made this.

Hey Sarah!
Hey Joey!

Did you notice the picture at the top of this article. We're out!

New Years Day dinner

For supper tonight, I made Cornish hens, dirty mashed potatoes, carrots and stuffing (so what if it was Stove Top, it was yummy!) along with a Hillebrand Chardonnay.


And the kids had something special too ... Merrick's Thanksgiving Day Dinner (turkey, sweet potatoes, carrots, green beans, & Granny Smith apples).


They were swarming me when I opened the cans.


It didn't take long for the plates to be cleaned off!


And here they are snoozing an hour later!

Happy New Year!

New Years Wishes

I wish you Health .... so you may enjoy each day in comfort.

I wish you the Love of friends and family ... and peace within your heart.

I wish you the Beauty of nature ... that you may enjoy the work of Mother Nature.

I wish you Wisdom to choose priorities ... for those things that really matter in life.

I wish you Generosity so you may share ... all good things that come to you.

I wish you Happiness and Joy ... and Blessings for the New Year.

I wish you the best of everything ... that you so well deserve.

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:

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.

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.

$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!

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!

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.