Winterlicious

I just got home from a great Winterlicious meal at the Corner House. Wnterlicious, taken from a NYC event, is a winter celebration and promotion of Toronto’s favourite restaurants. In it’s fourth year, 130 Toronto restaurants offer prix fixe three course menus for two weeks where customers can sample the establishment’s famous fare. It’s a great deal, with lunches at $15 and $20 and dinners at $25 and $35.

The Corner House restaurant (a $35 meal) was excellent. My friend and I both had whole roasted sirloin steak with Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes and beans …. From heaven. As an appetizer I had a great Organic Baby Arugula greens with candied walnuts, pears, shallott redwine vinaigrette. For dessert I had Citrus scented cheesecake garnished with lemon and great fruit (ok, a pun for grapefruit). We also (hic) shared a great bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon.

…. Sigh …. Now I need to get to bed for an early work day tomorrow …. BUT

I can hardly wait until Sunday when I go and Winterlicious again at Toronto’s finest French restaurant, Auberge du Pommier. Lucky me – I was invited by a friend to attend. Lucky because this restaurant is so well reputed that all the reservations for Winterlicious were booked the first day they were allowed!

Lets hope I’m in good shape because the day before, on Saturday, I go skiing. 30 cms of snow fell just north of the city today … yippie.

For now, (yawn, hic)…. Bon soir!

What a great week-end

While the week-end was supposed to start with some friends coming over to dinner – that didn’t come to pass. Sure, It may mean have some extra food to freeze or eat up, but it was actually a blessing in disguise because I still have lingering fatigue stemming from my sickness earlier in the month and so my household cleaning chores priorities haven’t happened. It also meant that I was able to sleep the entire evening away.

Saturday I was dragged to the pool by a friend and it was actually good to get some relaxing exercise. I mostly did body stretches and the like because I didn’t want to exert too much. After the pool, we went and bought a small carpet each (I LOVE shopping!!).

In the evening I went to dinner with three girlfriends at a mediocre restaurant in Toronto’s famous distillery district. Two of us liked our dishes while two of us didn’t. I’ve never had a saltier caesar salad or pasta carbonara in my life. But the highlight of the evening came when we watched the Soulpepper theatre perform the three-penny opera, most famous for the “Mack the Knife” tune. Deanna had seen it previously and liked the previous Mack the Knife performer better because of his great voice and incredible sexiness. She couldn’t initially recall his name but then remembered it was Roger Daltry. My my – how could anyone ever forget seeing Roger Daltry???

This morning I sang with my choir and also sang in a quintet, which people seemed to really like (based on feedback). This afternoon, after having a break where I purchased about five Christmas presents for next year, I participated in a singing workshop where each performer/student sang a solo. I sang GF Handel’s Angels Bright and Fair. It was a total blast.

I’m home now and ready to cuddle on the sofa under a blanket with my cats and a book next to my fireplace.

Hope you all had a good week-end.

Women over 40

A friend emailed me this and while I hardly pay attention to many emails of this sort - I liked this one so much I've turned it into my latest post.

On the American current events show 60 Minutes, there is an older correspondent (probably in excess of 65) Andy Rooney, who does a commentary. Recently he provided one about what he thinks about women over 40:

"As I grow in age, I value women over 40 most of all. Here are just a few reasons why:

• A woman over 40 will never wake you in the middle of the night and ask, "What are you thinking?" She doesn't care what you think.
• If a woman over 40 doesn't want to watch the game, she doesn't sit around whining about it. She does something she wants to do, and it's usually more interesting.
• Women over 40 are dignified. They seldom have a screaming match with you at the opera or in the middle of an expensive restaurant. Of course, if you deserve it, they won't hesitate to shoot you if they think they can get away> with it.
• Older women are generous with praise, often undeserved. They know what it's like to be unappreciated. Women get psychic as they age.
• You never have to confess your sins to a woman over 40. Once you get past a wrinkle or two, a woman over 40 is far sexier than her younger counterpart.
• Older women are forthright and honest. They'll tell you right off you are a jerk if you are acting like one. You don't ever have to wonder where you stand with her.

Yes, we praise women over 40 for a multitude of reasons. Unfortunately, it's not reciprocal. For every stunning, smart, well-coiffed, hot woman over 40, there is a bald, paunchy relic in yellow pants making a fool of himself with some 22-year old waitress.

Ladies, I apologize. For all those men who say, "Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?", here's an update for you. Nowadays 80% of women are against marriage. Why? Because women realize it's not worth buying an entire pig just to get a little sausauge!"

While I'm not used to being referred to as "Older", I find truth in what he says here. Hope you enjoy it as well!

To everyone who is turning 50 - and I know a lot! ....

..... You're not alone ......


It was 50 years ago this spring that the Wham-O company first produced what is now known as the frisbee. Originally called “the Pluto Platter,” the model was designed to resemble a flying saucer. And with minor adjustments to improve its stability, the adoption of a name inspired by the legend of a New England bakery and more than 200 million discs sold (exceeding all baseball, football and basketball sales combined), the frisbee soon became the international symbol of sun and fun.

So, for all my friends and family who are turning 50 .... I say take a frisbee out this Spring, perhaps with a dog or two and have some fun in the sun

At Last ..... Snow!

I've been homebound and quite sick since Wednesday so life hasn't been that interesting. However, I did leave the confines of these four walls last night to see the movie Notes on a Scandal starring Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett. What a movie!

This movie is certainly not the “junk food” food of cinema but the “real thing”. I won’t give the plot away except to say that the movie is quite dark and I was surprised to see Judi Dench portray the role she did – and with such a power that was actually quite chilling (in an understated and human way). The movie takes you to a very real place in the world that hopefully you haven’t been - by giving you an honest look at human character. I certainly recommend it. Both Dench and Blanchett are fabulous with a great supporting cast.

Oh the other exciting thing? It’s finally snowing in Toronto and keeping on the ground! We have a storm watch for tonight and tomorrow (a mixture of snow and freezing rain). While I’m not still feeling great I feel I can’t miss anymore work so I may be driving there tomorrow morning in sheer chaos. Oh, one good thing about my sickness is that I’ve lost five pounds!

Below are a few photos taken from within the confines of my four walls.

A little out of sorts these days

2007 hasn't been too good to me so far. I was sick last week and it has come back this week with a vengence. The doctor I visited says he's seen many people as sick as I am, but there's not a lot you can do with viruses. I'm at 38.5 or 101.3 - blah. Thats one reason why I've been a little silent these days. :(

Lots of rest, relaxation and TV for me.

Hey, thinking about TV - I want to congratulate our CBC for putting out a new show which loosely steals its name from the American classic series Little House on the Prairie. However, this series is called Little Mosque on the Prairie. It's been getting lots of media coverage

http://www.littlemosque.ca/

To quote the CBC, "Little Mosque on the Prairie, an unabashedly comedic look at a small Muslim community living side by side with the residents of a little prairie town. At the heart, Little Mosque on the Priairie is a humorous look at relationships, family, love, the generation gap and balancing Muslim beliefs and traditions in a prairie setting."

Usually I'm the last to comment on new television shows, however with recent world events, its nice to see a network create a story like this. Hopefully the formula works and all can understand more about how people from different faiths and cultures can all live side-by-side. I for one am crossing my fingers.

Toronto in ...... January?

Today, while looking out of my home office onto a small urban parkette I saw some strange things. So strange, I thought I'd share them with you.

As many of you know, I live in Toronto and January is mid-winter .... but look at this view! I see green grass and mud with absolutely no snow. Actually the only snow we received that I remember getting this season was the night of the WHO concert. Temperatures thus far have hardly reached the freezing point. A friend told me her crocuses are starting to bloom!



At this time of year you'll often see fancy Christmas decorations, however, when I looked up at one of the apartment buildings which also borders this small parkette I saw the strangest "decoration" I think I've ever seen. No, that isn't a person looking out on that balcony but a dummy-manequin sporting a dressing gown. Why? the only reason I can think of is to keep pigeons away.

And, here we are on January 6th and these guys have no coat on. While I find it too cold to only wear a T-shirt and shorts that fellow on the left doesn't think so.

Oh, I also heard from my brother this evening that someone was waterskiing this week on a lake in close proximity to where my parents live in the Laurentian Mountains of Quebec. Usually these lakes at this time of year are reserved for skating, cross country skiing or riding a ski-doo over.

The major topic of conversation these days? Global Warming ...

Happy New Year!

I’d like to wish all who have become friends via the blog world, a happy 2007.

What a busy holiday I've had. This afternoon, I just rolled into Toronto after spending a couple of days at "Cedar Oasis", which is a 2.5 hour drive north west. Upon my arrival friends were gathered around a game of Trivial Pursuit that I heartily joined in to help the women defeat the men! There was a little bit of snow on the ground but all the lakes, rivers and streams have open water. This is a strange phenomena as many New Years we've spend many an hour gliding across these bodies of water on skates and sleds.

Last night, however, warm weather came with rain and washed much of the snow away. The forecast for Toronto this week has temperatures all above the freezing mark and going as high as 10C!!

These two photos show the difference a few raindrops and degrees made to the landscape over the New Year's Week-end. While the snow is pretty and believe we should have it in winter. The absence of it certainly made my drive home much easier!

Here's to hoping that 2007 brings happiness, luck and ease to every one of my blog friends.