Walk to Coronation Park and the Ex

It was such a nice day that instead of spending time inside at the gym, Gord and I went for a brisk walk instead. It was 2C and sunny.

We headed south towards the water ... past the Princes' Gates of the Ex.

We walked through Coronation Park.

Looking east, the boats at the yacht clubs have been stored for the winter.

We headed west along the Waterfront Trail, towards Ontario Place.

We followed the Waterfront Trail, south of the Ex.

We sat for a while on a bench and enjoyed the water and the sun.

Heading home, we cut through the Exhibition grounds, walking past Medieval Times and the Liberty Grand.

Then we headed north through the Dufferin Gates to Dufferin Street.

You can tell today is a holiday ... the Gardiner wasn't busy.

We stayed on Dufferin Street.

We headed east on Queen Street W towards home.

We ended up walking 6.3km ... a great day for a walk!

Happy Family Day!

Today is a statutory holiday here in Ontario..

Enjoy and go spend some time with your family!

Churchmouse & Firkin, Toronto, ON

After Gord and I toured the Loblaws at Maple Leaf Gardens, we walked to the Churchmouse & Firkin at Church/Maitland for supper.

It was a busy spot and we managed to grab a table by the window.

Mark was our server and he took really good care of us. He was funny and friendly. He seemed to know everyone and obviously loves his job.

Gord ordered Pad Thai (rice noodles, chicken, egg, green onions and bean sprouts all tossed in our tangy pad thai sauce). It was tasty.

I was going to order wings but Mark talked me into ordering one of the specials, Meat Lasagna and Garlic Bread. It was good too (thanks, Mark!).

We had a fun time and will definitely popped back in the next time we are in that 'hood.

Loblaws at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, ON

Maple Leaf Gardens was home to the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1931–1999. The Leafs won 11 Stanley Cups from 1932–1967 (alas, our last win was in 1967) while playing there. It also hosted the Beatles, The Who and Elvis Presley in concert, wrestling, boxing, basketball and more before laying dormant for about ten years.

Loblaws bought the Gardens in 2004. They converted the arena into a Loblaws grocery store and Ryerson University built an athletic centre upstairs. The new Loblaws store opened on November 30.

From blogTO ... The new Loblaws at Maple Leaf Gardens is, as one would expect, a pretty remarkable grocery store. Not only is it a huge retail space at 85,000 square feet, but its market-style features — things like self-serve seafood, the grand wall of cheese, and loads of prepared food options — are part of what the company calls its "theatre of food."

Gord and I have been wanting to check it out so we walked there this afternoon (about an hour walk).

Instead of parking to see an event, patrons now park to buy groceries.

Happily they kept the integrity of the building.

Here's Gord at the entrance.

Here's the floor plan ... it's built where the ice used to be.

As soon as we walked in, we were greeted by the grill.

It is indeed huge!

The end of aisle 25 is where centre ice was ... they've marked it with a red circle.

Love cheese? Then check out the wall of cheese!

The dessert section looked amazing!

I couldn't resist a chocolate chocolate cupcake. It was denser than I expected and the big blob of icing in the middle was a fun surprise.

Love chocolate? Then check out the 1.5 foot chunk of chocolate!

There are some nice reminders of what the Gardens used to be ... like a giant blue maple leaf made from the old seats from the blue section.

Tables in the second level have descriptions of past events.

Remember the Maple Leafs as you get your cart.

On the second level, there is a Joe Fresh, a liquor store and a cooking school.

Hard to believe what it used to be! Loblaws has done a great job.

Looks like an awesome shopping experience! Gord and I are going to head there for groceries one day soon.

KC's tree, Trinity Bellwoods Park, Toronto, ON

Gord and I took a walk today and cut through Trinity Bellwoods Park to say hello to KC's tree ... we hadn't been by since October.

The tree is looking good.

Banana Stuffed Rum Runner Chicken

I have about 30 cookbooks. Some I bought, some were gifts, and the rest I found in the laundry room of the high rise where I lived from 1996 - 2001 (they were left with a note to take 'em so I did). I've rarely ever used any of them.

For years, I've had great intentions to try a new recipe on the weekend because I have more time to do something other than Shake 'n Bake. But I always forget to check for ingredients before I get groceries.

This week I got organized and made note of what I needed ... and I made Banana Stuffed Rum Runner Chicken (from my 365 Ways to Cook Chicken cookbook) for supper tonight.

4 firm ripe bananas,peeled and chopped
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/4 cup rum [I used dark rum]
1 tablespoon grated lime peel (green part only)
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
7 tablespoons butter or margarine
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 roasting chicken, about 5 pounds

Sounds weird, eh?

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash chicken and pat dry. Sprinkle inside and out with salt and pepper.
   
   
2. In a large frying pan, melt 3 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat. Add garlic and cook 1 minute. Add bread crumbs; cook, stirring, until crisp and brown.
   
   
   
3. Remove pan from heat. Stir in lime juice, lime peel, 1 tablespoon of the rum, brown sugar, nutmeg, and cayenne pepper; mix well. Add banana and toss to combine. Stuff into cavity; truss chicken.
   
   
   
4. Place chicken in a large roasting pan. Melt remaining 4 tablespoons butter and brush over chicken. Roast for 2 hours, until meat thermometer registers 185 degrees. Baste occasionally with pan juices.
   
   
   
5. In a small saucepan, warm remaining rum. Ignite and drizzle over chicken before serving.
   
   Prep: 30 minutes
   Cook: 2 hours
   Serves: 6

I didn't know what to serve with it so went with boiled red potatoes.

With all the crazy stuff that was included, I didn't know what to expect. But it was tasty. The stuffing was sweet but then the heat of the cayenne kicked in. And I could really taste the nutmeg. The chicken was tender with hints of sweetness.

Gord liked it too but found the stuffing too heavy-tasting so didn't have too much ... a bit was enough. I ate all of mine and some of his!

I'd make this again.

Book ~ "The Virgin Cure" (2011) - Ami McKay

"I am Moth, a girl from the lowest part of Chrystie Street, born to a slum-house mystic and the man who broke her heart." So begins The Virgin Cure, a novel set in the tenements of lower Manhattan in the year 1871. As a young child, Moth's father smiled, tipped his hat and walked away from her forever. The summer she turned twelve, her mother sold her as a servant to a wealthy woman, with no intention of ever seeing her again.

These betrayals lead Moth to the wild, murky world of the Bowery, filled with house-thieves, pickpockets, beggars, sideshow freaks and prostitutes, where eventually she meets Miss Everett, the owner of a brothel simply known as "The Infant School." Miss Everett caters to gentlemen who pay dearly for companions who are "willing and clean," and the most desirable of them all are young virgins like Moth.

Through the friendship of Dr. Sadie, a female physician, Moth learns to question and observe the world around her, where her new friends are falling prey to the myth of the "virgin cure"--that deflowering a "fresh maid" can heal the incurable and tainted. She knows the law will not protect her, that polite society ignores her, and still she dreams of answering to no one but herself. There's a high price for such independence, though, and no one knows that better than a girl from Chrystie Street.

This book started off okay. It was an interesting story to see how Moth was living in poverty with her mother, who was a Gypsy and made selfish decisions. Her mother sold her to wealthy woman as maid. After being constantly beaten and abused by the woman, Moth escapes and heads home, only to discover that her mother has disappeared. With no choices, Moth enters the world of becoming a whore. All this at the age of 13.

I wasn't crazy about the writing style ... I found it draggy and drawn out. With about 100 pages to go, I found that I started skipping pages to get to the end to see how things were going to go for Moth.

In the sidebars on some pages were tidbits of information of how things were back in those days.

So though I found the story interesting, the writing style makes me not recommend it. But that's just my taste ... maybe you'll like it better than I did.

Nikon Coolpix S8200

I'd bought a Canon PowerShot SX120 IS in September 2009.

I loved it and used it a lot ... it was always in my purse/knapsack. It's traveled with me all over the country.

In November 2010, the flash stopped working so I'd taken it to Future Shop to have it repaired. I'd bought a four year warranty ($70) from them so it was covered. I rarely buy warranties but am glad I did this time.

While we were in Bermuda at the beginning of January, the flash stopped working again. I stopped off at Future Shop last night after the movie to drop it off to be repaired. I was advised then that Canon's policy is that it's not worth their while to repair it so instead they'll replace it with the latest model ... if it was a higher price, I'd just have to pay the difference.

Huh? Um ... okay.

They have the updated camera and now it has a 12x zoom (mine had a 10x zoom). I'd paid $280 for my camera in 2009 and the latest model is $240 so I wouldn't have to pay any extra $$.

I asked if I could get a different camera instead. No problem!

If it was a more expensive camera, they would credit me the $240 towards it.

Cool!

The Nikon Coolpix S8200 caught my eye. It's on sale 'til tomorrow for $240 (regularly $280) and has a 14x zoom. Seemed like a better deal to me. When I talked to the sales guy about it last night, he said it was a much better camera than the Canon.

I stopped in at Future Shop today and did the exchange. The sales guy I talked with today said it was a cooler camera than the Canon. And I didn't have to buy a new memory card because the one from my Canon will work. Yay! So all I bought was a three year warranty and extra battery.

Interesting and exciting turn of events!

Update:  This camera stopped working on January 1, 2013, on top of Mont Tremblant ... too cold, I guess.

"Safe House"

Gord, Shawna and I saw Safe House this evening.

Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds) is a CIA rookie who is manning a safe house in Cape Town, South Africa, when Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington) the CIA's most wanted rogue agent is captured and taken to the safe house. During Frost's interrogation, the safe house is overtaken by mercenaries who want Frost. Weston and Frost escape and must stay out of the gunmen's sight until they can get to another safe house.

We grabbed a bite to eat in the foodcourt first and then scampered upstairs to catch the 6:15pm movie.

Because it was Valentine's Day, I thought the later movies would be jammed. When we walked in, we discovered that ours was too. We ended up having to sit in the second row from the front ... you know the seats where you have to tilt your head back to see? But at least we were able to sit together.

The movie was good. Ryan and Denzel did a great job and I was buying them in their characters. There was lots of action. One complaint is that when there was a lot of action (car chases, people running around, etc.) the camera got jittery so it was hard to see what was going on. I think even if we'd been back further, it would have still been annoying. And there were some weird grainy shots ... especially close-ups on Ryan and Denzel when their face took up all the screen. But other than that, I enjoyed the movie and would recommend it.



Here we are after the movie ... Gord, me and Shawna.