Saturday, June 17, 2017

Market Share

June 2017 - Toronto ON
January 2017 - Arizona

This was a fascinating video.

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The demolition of 880 bay Street achieved an exceptionally high waste diversion rate of 95%, meaning that only 1/20th of building materials were sent to a landfill. Another notable element of the demolition process is that shipping containers were used for hoarding, with window openings in the pedestrian walkway for natural lighting.


House of the Week for a cool $6 MILLION! Over a 100% increase since 2013.

Saturday
Weekend Green

We drove to Montreal for a couple of days to see family.
John booked an Airbnb, a lot cheaper than hotels these days.
We left around 11 and arrived at 5, with lunch, bathroom and gas stops. The owner met us and showed us about.



We settled in and then headed out to dinner at Guac et Mole (gotta love the name) a Mexican restaurant.

There's little good to say about the service or food but the decor was great.


Guacamole was good, could have been spicier.



My overdone coconut shrimps with cold soggy vegetables.


John's chicken fajitas which he said weren't bad but a little greasy. The server initially dropped the sour cream and salsa on the floor which flew in the air splashing several of us, without an apology.




Sunday
One Word Sunday from last week's visit to the AGO
inSPIREd Sunday

Just weird, this Airbnb does not have a coffee pot, toaster, soap.

We headed out for lunch at an old favourite of mine Mike's.

Mikes, referred to as Toujours Mikes in the current logo, is a chain of restaurants that originated in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, with 70 restaurants in Eastern Canada, mostly in Quebec. Mikes was founded in 1967, in Montreal, as a sandwich shop.

My SUPERSTAR
Sliced steak, mozzarella cheese, capicollo, mushrooms, pepperoni, green peppers, onions, tomatoes, lettuce, spices and herb-flavored olive oil.






We then headed to John's grand-daughter's ballet recital at 2 PM. She was in three numbers, no photography allowed!

Then back for a family dinner.

Monday
Monday Mural
Good Random Fun


We grabbed a quick breakfast at Tim's and then headed down to an area known as Mile End.

Since the 1980s Mile End has been known for its culture as an artistic neighbourhood, home to artists, musicians, writers, and filmmakers such as Arcade Fire, Adam Gollner, Bran Van 3000, Ariane Moffatt, etc. Many art galleries, designers' workshops, boutiques and cafés are found in the neighbourhood, which have played a large role in Mile End being included on numerous lists outlining the world's most cool and unique neighbourhoods.

We only had a few hours to spend but had fun.



Click here for more photos of Montreal.

We then had a delightful lunch with an old friend that we haven't seen in at least 27 years at Fire Grill.

My tuna salad was absolutely delicious! As was John's salad. I want more of that salad dressing.





We headed home at 3 PM for the 6 hour drive to Toronto.
Dinner was a sandwich!

TUESDAY
Tuesday Treasures take a trip back in time to Arizona.

Tuesday was just a day of chores.

John wanted burgers for dinner and I made a potato salad.

WEDNESDAY
Wordless


It's John's weekly golf game.

I went downtown and snapped some photos on the way.

I don't think I've ever noticed this sculpture before.

Created by Canadian sculptor Bernie Miller's The Poet, The Fever Hospital, a 1992 piece made up of galvanized steel, bronze, granite, and marble. The sculpture incorporates a fountain and reflecting pool. The title refers to the poet Isabella Valancy Crawford, who stayed for a brief time in a house that was demolished for the construction of Metro Hall at the southeast corner of King and John Streets. The fever hospital refers to one of Toronto's first hospitals, which stood at the northeast corner of King and John Streets from 1829 to 1856.

I posted the Toronto historic plaque to Isabella Crawford in this post along with some background.



Adorable street/sidewalk art in the park near Roy Thomson Hall.








King St. West


Onto Spadina, a cheery mural by Uber 5000.


This area is known as the Fashion District.



The district's name is derived from the area's role in the garment industry. In the early 20th century, numerous textile and fabric factories and warehouses were located here due to the proximity and easy access to shipping and rail lines. Garment enterprise owners commissioned the construction of multi-story buildings to house their manufacturing operations.

Once 80% of the city's Jewish community lived in the immediate area resulting in the establishment of numerous Jewish delis, tailors, bookstores, cinemas, Yiddish theatres and synagogues. Many from this community worked in the garment industry.

After World War II, much of that Jewish community moved further north, and the factories and warehouses began to be converted into other uses.


Benjamin Brown, one of Toronto's first Jewish architects, designed more than 200 buildings throughout his career. Born in Lithuania, he came to Toronto as a child. Brown graduated from the University of Toronto's architecture program in 1913. He was partners with architect Robert McConnell until 1921 when he set up an independent practice.

Commissioned largely by members of Toronto's Jewish community, Brown's projects ranged from parking garages and gas stations to apartment houses and factory lofts. His Tower Building (1927) and Balfour Building (1930) on Spadina Avenue at Adelaide Street formed a gateway to Toronto's garment district. Other well-known buildings by Brown include the Hermant Building (1929) on Dundas Square, the Primrose Club (1920), and the Beth Jacob Synagogue (1922), the first Toronto synagogue designed by a Jewish architect. Brown retired in 1955.
Click here for a detailed post I wrote on this area and an exhibit about Benjamin Brown and his buildings.




My primary destination was Chinatown to get some ingredients for a new recipe Malaysian coconut curry soup with rice noodles. It also has chicken and shrimp.
I needed shrimp paste and dried shrimp.



Then I stopped into Bulk Barn. I have never seen lemongrass powder before, it smells divine.


Once home I had to put all this away and began the soup by making the laksa paste from scratch although I had found it in a jar in Chinatown!

The soup was delicious if somewhat spicy! John took this very unartistic photo after we finished (because we forgot to take a photo of the elegant presentation I served) of the soup in the pot!


Thursday
Thursday Doors

I headed downtown at 9:30 to go shopping with my BFF. We hit the jackpot in Winner's, both of us buying a few items!!

Then we walked to the market and had delicious pizza for lunch.

Some photos of unusual food items.

Here we have sliders: wold boar, venison, goose, camel, crocodile and pheasant.


Kangaroo. Yes, I've eaten it! And it is good.




Don't expect to see this on any of my menus any time soon.


Delicious looking prepared skewers or kebobs.


Tomahawk steak is a cut of beef ribeye that has five or more inches of extra rib bone for presentation purposes. It's called a "tomahawk" cut because the steak with the long bone resembles a single-handed axe.



AND for all those who asked, the fencing was removed around the dog fountain!





And look who showed up this week at the entrance!



Home to make oven fried chicken and the leftover potato salad and raspberries and fresh cream.



FRIDAY
My Town Shootout
Friday Finds
Weekend Reflections

I had planned to go to an art book show but then got involved making a stew for dinner and finding a recipe for the remaining raspberries.

John went to golf and I decided to just go and pick up the groceries I needed for the weekend.

I also got it into my head that the fridge and freezer really needed cleaning and sorting. I am not proud of the stuff I threw out!
For the freezer (fridge kitchen) I removed all the gluten free breads/buns/tortillas and put them in the upright freezer in the pantry.
I really need an app to control the freezer contents!

I made this raspberry cheese coffee cake.


Dinner was hamburger stew.


BOOKS

I finished Ruth Rendell Speaker of Mandarin enjoyable but not memorable.
I also finished The Guest Room which I loved until the ending, not that it was disappointing, but it saddened me as that was not the ending I wanted.
I had not read Chris Bohjalian before but I have bookmarked several of his other books.
I started Conclave by Robert Harris


SHARING WITH:

Friday Photo Journal

Weekend Cooking hosted by www.BethFishReads.com
Beth hosts Weekend Cooking where you can post anything food related.
Amanda’s Books and More
West Metro Mommy Reads
 Saturday Snapshots is hosted by West Metro Mommy


11 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  2. Gorgeous buildings, rooms, and food! I haven't had breakfast yet, so I'm seriously hungry. LOL.

    Thanks for sharing...and for visiting my blog.

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  3. I really like Chris Bohjalian's books -- and I know what you mean about the ending of The Guest Room. I love all the cool street art you can find in Toronto. Nice that you were able to make the trip to Montreal, but totally weird about no coffee maker.

    Loved learning about Benjamin Brown.

    Oh those exotic meats. I think I'll pass on cod tongues. I've never seen kangaroo or camel meat for sale. I wonder what they taste like.

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  4. Looks like another quiet week :). Love the dog fountain being eyed by the cat.

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  5. Thanks for sharing your adventures. I always enjoy seeing the delicious (and unusual) foods you find. Too bad about the overcooked shrimp -- So disappointing -- but it looks like you had lots of yummy meals. LOVE the dog fountain and all the other town photos.
    My Saturday Snapshot post features a walk along Mercer Slough.

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  6. You are very adventurous. I am not willing to even think about eating kangaroo! Cheers from carole's Chatter

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  7. Sounds like such a fun week; those are some pretty unusual foods... not sure I'd ever want to try cod tongue!

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  8. Your Arizona photo really looks like roadside Arizona! We just drove to & from Flagstaff, so I saw similar things.

    best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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  9. My and his girlfriend went to Bali and stayed in Airbnb's the whole time. And those are some exotic sliders, I'm not sure I'd be brave enough to try them.

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  10. I've eaten kangaroo too, it is rather a delicious meat. But that tuna salad looks amazing, I'd pick that too. Your homemade soup looks great, I bet it tasted amazing, homemade soups really do repay the effort.

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