Royal York Toronto
SATURDAY
JULY 1 CANADA DAY!
Weekend Green some Toronto gardens
In My Kitchen, eh! a recap of Canadian food items
July City Daily Photo monthly challenge MOTION
The rain held off while we were out. We were lucky we only had to step out to share in the celebrations.
We're not sure who sponsored this party, it may have been just a bunch of neighbours.
Farmers' Market where we bought tomatoes and strawberries.
Humber Bay West Park was all set up for entertainment and food.
But it just felt like rain so we headed back.
A group of people were creating their own 150 sign with branches and twigs.
Which turned out to be a good idea as the skies opened just as we got in.
I had chosen slow cooker Thai meatballs for dinner so I started prepping. These were good but I don't think this recipe is worth the effort. First the paste is made in a food processor, then fried to make a sauce which is then put in the slow cooker. Then the meatballs had to be made, broiled and then added to the slow cooker towards the end. These were served over rice.
However, garlic and ginger bok choy was delicious.
Sunday
nSPIREd Sunday recap of Tronto churches
One Word Sunday
Our mission today was the yellow duck! So we took the bus down to Harbourfront.
The duck was towed into the harbour at around noon Friday and will remain there until Monday evening.
He's a six-storey tall rubber duck, weighing over 13 tonnes.
First peak.
So many photos of the duck were taken, but you get the idea.
We wandered around the various booths that were set up.
Sorry, more duck sightings but this one shows the flooding as Lake Ontario spills over onto the walkway due to the incredible amount of rain we've had.
Too cute!
Needless to say the skies opened once again, but we were inside having a beer!
Back home and we were having last night's leftovers and added baked dumpling rolls.
Another new recipe but I think my original dumpling filling is better and my dipping sauce is tastier too.
MONDAY
Monday Mural
Good Random Fun
Foto Tunes a great look back at Toronto 40 years ago
A holiday due to July 1 falling on Saturday and we went to Queen St. W for lunch and a mural hunt.
We had lunch at:
MURALS! We found so many. A sample:
Planters along Queen St. W some even have "bee" hotels! Click here to see many more.
Before we had left this morning I had put a beef heart in the slow cooker. It is so rare to find heart these days that I had grabbed it when I saw it and froze it.
It was delicious and I served it with cauliflower.
Have any of you eaten heart? What about liver, kidneys, brains, tongue or sweetbreads?
TUESDAY
Wordless
Tuesday Treasures
We headed out early, John to golf with B and me to visit/shop with K.
We didn't do too much damage!
But we did see this appliance and fell in love with it. How perfect for car trips!
And having stayed in AirBnBs that didn't have coffeemakers/toasters!!!
Dinner was leftover heart along with the spring roll dumplings.
WEDNESDAY
John had his weekly golf game.
I made oatmeal raisin cookies this morning using the gluten free oats I bought yesterday on our shopping expedition.
I went to pick up some ingredients for the week and then came home and decided I should try using my Kitchenaid rotor/slicer shredder to make a salad for dinner. That entailed watching Youtube to see how to set it up. Then trying it out. It works well and would be handier if making large batches of chopped/shredded vegetables.
The first batch was terrible, so wet! I redid by hand.
Dinner was salad, some beef and chicken skewers I had bought at the market
along with cheddar biscuits.
It's not often I had a disaster in the kitchen (John said once in three years) but this was a hat trick. Salad had to be remade, the skewers were terrible, not my fault as such, but we won't be buying them again. The biscuits were made with gluten free Bisquick and just didn't hold together and were uneatable!
THURSDAY
Thursday Doors some doors from Graffiti Alley we visited on Monday
We decided to go down to the library at City Hall. This banner greeted us on the floor.
We headed into the libraryfor me to renew my card, required yearly and for John to finally get his own card.
There are some lovely old photos from the archives lining the walls.
As we walked around I commented that you usually see a wedding party and voila there is one!
I had also ordered a book and received it yesterday. Creating Memory, a guide to outdoor sculpture in Toronto. I have quickly looked at a couple of pages and discovered I have plenty to find.
Click here for a tour.
We then decided to walk to the AGO for lunch.
I had a cheese plate and John had Ghost Ranch chicken skillet
onion, leek, black bean, corn, tomato, coriander, soft-boiled egg, cheddar cheese, tortilla, cornbread, lime.
The name, Ghost Ranch is a tribute to the Georgia O'Keeffe exhibition currently on display. Ghost Ranch was her ranch in New Mexico that she built and loved.
From there we went to see the Every Now Then exhibit.
The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) marks Canada’s 150th birthday with an ambitious contemporary exhibition that critically explores three urgent questions through the eyes of some of the country’s best emerging and established artists: where has Canada come from, what it is now, and where is it going?
Click here to see the exhibition.
John really did not like this exhibit.
We poked around some more and then walked back to Union Station for the 3:45 shuttle.
I had planned on making butter chicken for dinner but lost my enthusiasm so instead made oven fried chicken that I had made a few weeks ago with slaw.
FRIDAY
Friday Finds a new round this time I am featuring towns across Canada
No gallivanting today, housework, laundry and baking were on the agenda. I also did some overdue posts.
Cranberry orange bundt cake took a lot longer to make when I realized I didn't have any cranberries, John kindly went out and got me some.
It's Friday so it's steak night with broccoli and baked potatoes.
DECLUTTERING
I got serious and decided to pack up my crystal glasses. We moved them here five years ago and have never used them. No one in the family wants them. Time to go.
A long skirt, dress also made it into the charity bag.
BOOKS
Finished A Deadly Thaw and enjoyed it, although I thought the story line was a little disjointed.
I started All The Missing Girls, so far ho hum. ALL the missing girls? There are two. The story is told backwards which kind of messes the timelne up.
I flipped through The American Test Kitchen Cooking School. It is 900 pages and would be a good gift for a complete beginner cook. It is very detailed but seems repetitive in places/ It starts with the basics like eggs although I disagree with their way of scrambling eggs since we use the Gordon Ramsay way and they are delicious.
I am still flipping but so far haven't found a reason for me to want this book.
SHARING WITH:
Friday Photo Journal
We wandered around the various booths that were set up.
Sorry, more duck sightings but this one shows the flooding as Lake Ontario spills over onto the walkway due to the incredible amount of rain we've had.
Too cute!
Needless to say the skies opened once again, but we were inside having a beer!
Back home and we were having last night's leftovers and added baked dumpling rolls.
Another new recipe but I think my original dumpling filling is better and my dipping sauce is tastier too.
MONDAY
Monday Mural
Good Random Fun
Foto Tunes a great look back at Toronto 40 years ago
A holiday due to July 1 falling on Saturday and we went to Queen St. W for lunch and a mural hunt.
We had lunch at:
MURALS! We found so many. A sample:
Planters along Queen St. W some even have "bee" hotels! Click here to see many more.
Before we had left this morning I had put a beef heart in the slow cooker. It is so rare to find heart these days that I had grabbed it when I saw it and froze it.
It was delicious and I served it with cauliflower.
Have any of you eaten heart? What about liver, kidneys, brains, tongue or sweetbreads?
TUESDAY
Wordless
Tuesday Treasures
We headed out early, John to golf with B and me to visit/shop with K.
We didn't do too much damage!
But we did see this appliance and fell in love with it. How perfect for car trips!
And having stayed in AirBnBs that didn't have coffeemakers/toasters!!!
Dinner was leftover heart along with the spring roll dumplings.
WEDNESDAY
John had his weekly golf game.
I made oatmeal raisin cookies this morning using the gluten free oats I bought yesterday on our shopping expedition.
I went to pick up some ingredients for the week and then came home and decided I should try using my Kitchenaid rotor/slicer shredder to make a salad for dinner. That entailed watching Youtube to see how to set it up. Then trying it out. It works well and would be handier if making large batches of chopped/shredded vegetables.
The first batch was terrible, so wet! I redid by hand.
Dinner was salad, some beef and chicken skewers I had bought at the market
along with cheddar biscuits.
It's not often I had a disaster in the kitchen (John said once in three years) but this was a hat trick. Salad had to be remade, the skewers were terrible, not my fault as such, but we won't be buying them again. The biscuits were made with gluten free Bisquick and just didn't hold together and were uneatable!
THURSDAY
Thursday Doors some doors from Graffiti Alley we visited on Monday
We decided to go down to the library at City Hall. This banner greeted us on the floor.
We headed into the libraryfor me to renew my card, required yearly and for John to finally get his own card.
There are some lovely old photos from the archives lining the walls.
As we walked around I commented that you usually see a wedding party and voila there is one!
I had also ordered a book and received it yesterday. Creating Memory, a guide to outdoor sculpture in Toronto. I have quickly looked at a couple of pages and discovered I have plenty to find.
Click here for a tour.
We then decided to walk to the AGO for lunch.
I had a cheese plate and John had Ghost Ranch chicken skillet
onion, leek, black bean, corn, tomato, coriander, soft-boiled egg, cheddar cheese, tortilla, cornbread, lime.
The name, Ghost Ranch is a tribute to the Georgia O'Keeffe exhibition currently on display. Ghost Ranch was her ranch in New Mexico that she built and loved.
From there we went to see the Every Now Then exhibit.
The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) marks Canada’s 150th birthday with an ambitious contemporary exhibition that critically explores three urgent questions through the eyes of some of the country’s best emerging and established artists: where has Canada come from, what it is now, and where is it going?
Click here to see the exhibition.
John really did not like this exhibit.
We poked around some more and then walked back to Union Station for the 3:45 shuttle.
I had planned on making butter chicken for dinner but lost my enthusiasm so instead made oven fried chicken that I had made a few weeks ago with slaw.
FRIDAY
Friday Finds a new round this time I am featuring towns across Canada
No gallivanting today, housework, laundry and baking were on the agenda. I also did some overdue posts.
Cranberry orange bundt cake took a lot longer to make when I realized I didn't have any cranberries, John kindly went out and got me some.
It's Friday so it's steak night with broccoli and baked potatoes.
DECLUTTERING
I got serious and decided to pack up my crystal glasses. We moved them here five years ago and have never used them. No one in the family wants them. Time to go.
A long skirt, dress also made it into the charity bag.
BOOKS
Finished A Deadly Thaw and enjoyed it, although I thought the story line was a little disjointed.
I started All The Missing Girls, so far ho hum. ALL the missing girls? There are two. The story is told backwards which kind of messes the timelne up.
I flipped through The American Test Kitchen Cooking School. It is 900 pages and would be a good gift for a complete beginner cook. It is very detailed but seems repetitive in places/ It starts with the basics like eggs although I disagree with their way of scrambling eggs since we use the Gordon Ramsay way and they are delicious.
I am still flipping but so far haven't found a reason for me to want this book.
SHARING WITH:
Friday Photo Journal
Beth hosts Weekend Cooking where you can post anything food related.
Great shots! I love the murals and the sculpture of branches and twigs.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, and for visiting my blog.
I love that gigantic rubber duck! So cute and such fun. Love all the murals too. Great find on that guide to Toronto's outdoor sculptures -- you'll have a good time finding and photographing them. Total bummer on the disaster meal, it'd s good thing they're rare occurrences.
ReplyDeleteI love that all-in-one appliance. Like you said, kind of perfect for car trips and AirBnB's.
I've been meaning to read A Deadly Thaw -- I'll keep my expectations low.
Finally, I know what you mean about those all-encompassing cookbooks. They can be great for young cooks, but not necessarily worth it for those of us who know our way around a kitchen.
The big duck was well worth bringing out!
ReplyDeleteThat Ghost Ranch Chicken Skillet looks too damn delicious! Thanks for linking in to #wkendtravelinspiration!
ReplyDeleteI have a lot of Waterford Crystal that I don't ever use - but I can't bring myself to get rid of them. Have a great week. Cheers from Carole's Chatter
ReplyDeleteThat big duck reminds me of images I've seen of Gulliver's Travels
ReplyDeleteThe dumpling rolls look good as did your chicken skillet. Love the art work and so many things to walk around and see.
ReplyDeleteThat little contraption for coffee and griddle is so cool, I want one!
What a fantastic array of photos - especially the duck of course, and the murals which are really interesting!
ReplyDeleteThat big rubber duck brought a smile to my face, and I love the breakfast appliance, it would be perfect for a small NYC kitchen.
ReplyDeleteOh my I LOVE the giant duck, that is so cool
ReplyDeleteMollyx
Great photos! I love the duck.
ReplyDeleteA really busy week and I want to try the cranberry orange bundt cake. #MMBC
ReplyDeleteGreat to see Ducky again. He was in Sydney a few years back.
ReplyDeleteGives a really good insight into where you are and I loved the twig sculpture and the tasty ideas in particular.
ReplyDeleteWow, so many things I could celebrate (still, a belated Happy Canada Day!) Yes, that was an original 150 sign:) Had to smile about the wedding park - something similar happens in Balboa Park in San Diego - every time a wedding! How serendipitous - during the weekend got hold of an article on Facebook about Georgia O'keefe's life that was pretty good. Thanking you from All Seasons, and wishing you a beautiful week (off to the dumpling recipe!)
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting post. Thanks for sharing all the photos. Looks like fun.
ReplyDeleteLovely photos and "Cue the Duck". Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteWonderful 150th Canada Day celebration! Love the murals and the duck was too adorable!
ReplyDeleteHappy Canada Day! That duck though... :D
ReplyDeleteThat giant ducky got my attention in your thumbnail photo. Wow! I have a collection of (small) rubber duckies that I will never outgrow. I still collect them. I would have loved to see this funny one!
ReplyDeleteSorry I'm so late to the party, Jackie! I had a birtthday to celebrate in the Algarve and since he chauffeurs me everywhere I had to be accommodating. :) Many thanks for the share.
ReplyDeleteI love the duck. David and I once cycled all the way to Parramatta in Western Sydney to see that duck and it didn't disappoint. Admittedly we started our cycle much closer than Canada. I am not certain it was the same duck but I think it was. That is one well-travelled bird.
ReplyDeleteI love catching up with your weekly round ups Jackie. That duck is pretty awesome! I think my little boys would be mesmerised by it.
ReplyDeleteFab murals too, especially the sunflower one.
I must admit I like Gordon Ramsay's recipes, I use quite a few.
Thanks so much for sharing with #MMBC. Hope to see you Monday x
Thanks for linking on Amanda's Books and More!
ReplyDeleteThe street art is always exciting to see.
Also, happy belated Canada Day! I loved the 150 written with twigs - so original.