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February 2021 - Toronto ON

Boulder City NV

February 2021 - Toronto

AS I publish this on Saturday it was announced on the 19th that we are in lockdown for another two weeks as areas around us move to red and grey zones.

A long weekend and Valentine's Day, although in lockdown, the days are all the same. Only essential services open.

We decided to have our Valentine's meal on Saturday and presents. John me a new cookbook and Samsung Buds Live, wireless ear buds. 

I have already marked the recipes that I want to do. I will feature some of my selections over the next few weeks.

They are set up to play music, I downloaded a book from the library and I have received calls. I now have to work on making calls. These were a delightful surprise.

I ordered a bottle of Canadian single malt whisky from Glenora in Nova Scotia for John along with some glasses from Etsy.

We had visited and stayed at the Glenora Inn back in 2013 and I am on their mailing list.

It was a very quiet week as we really didn't go anywhere, which is unusual for us.

Monday was movie day instead of Tuesday since it was a provincial holiday (Family Day) anyway and we had a snow warning. Mind you we have had several warnings this winter and have yet to get any decent snow accumulation.

Click here for last week's Hamilton murals.

Last week's lanes are here.

We got some snow but nothing like the surrounding regions. School was cancelled in most areas, Tuesday was supposed to be the first day back to in class learning!

John did a Costco run. We had a lot of tangerines (so good) that I made a tangerine lemon cinnamon marmalade.

Thursday called for snow squalls beginning in the afternoon.

 John went to pick up a gluten free bagel and focaccia order at Nate's who makes his favourites. So along with a glut of lettuce, tomatoes and salad we also have 60 focaccia to get through, although the breads can be frozen.

It did snow most of the afternoon but didn't really amount to much.

It snow a little overnight as well but this is all we got.

The week passed uneventfully and we kept busy with our computers, knitting, working out, jigsaw puzzle, chores, cooking and reading.

John made good progress this week, working from the top down.

I thought I was going to lose this fern a month ago. I cut off the brown leaves, fertilized it and topped up its soil, and it now has three  five 5 new ferns opening.

I took this earlier in the week, the middle fern is now almost open. Another is unfurling on the right and there is a smaller one at the back.

One of the perils of watching cooking shows is seeing new/different cooking utensils. I am now the proud owner of a wok.

COOKING

Breakfast on Saturday was huevos rancheros, a favourite of mine. Breakfast prep.

Saturday Cocktails V2.0 - Tequila Sunrise in our new glasses I got John for Valentine's Day.

I found an article on the classic cocktails everyone should know how to make.

Crab legs for dinner because they are our favourite decadent meal. These were from Metro and the shells had been cracked making it easy to eat. But the next time I think we will go to Hammerhead's in Hamilton to get crab legs.

Sunday breakfast was yogurt mandarins, blueberries, honey and cereal topping, the end of the Organic Traditions that I love. 

I offered John some dinner suggestions and he chose pork hocks which we did in the slow cooker for the first time. John did all the prep, browned the hocks in the slow cooker and added all the ingredients (potatoes sweet and white, carrots, cabbage and onions along with tomato paste and beef broth), slow cooker set on HI and 8 hours.

Valentine's and you have to have something chocolate so I made orange chocolate mousse.

Monday I felt lazy and we thought about ordering dinner. But then I thought we should use up the last of Christmas turkey in freezer and last night's leftover vegetables. Not exciting, but needed to be used. Also made a couple of lunches.

Tuesday I decided to make a tangerine lemon cinnamon marmalade. Tangerines are from Costco and delicious. I was light on the cinnamon because I didn't like having a heavy wintery type spice with those summery smells of citrus.

Dinner was creamy mushroom pasta and I added pancetta.

Eggless Caesar dressing 

And I finally made (been on my To Do list forever) parmesan crisps.

This dinner was so delicious and I didn't take any photos!

Due to the Costco glut of lettuce and mushrooms they will be featuring in this week's menus.

Wednesday butter garlic shrimp and salad with rolls. I cooked them in the new pan.

Thursday I made chicken a la orange, it's been AGES! Served with rice, salad and focaccia.

Friday I made these gluten free blueberry scones. Instead of converting the measurements to cups as they weren't quite standard, I used my Cuisinart scale to measure. I haven't used my scales for baking in this way before but I could easily add your ingredients to the mixing bowl quickly and accurately without dirtying extra cups and dishes. Major flop - did not like them.

Dinner steak and surprise - salad and focaccia.

How fun is this! How to make 29 pasta shapes.

From the MOCA link below you can learn to decorate a cake using a palate knife.

WATCHING/READING

John finished Witcher and started Scandal, which I've already seen.

We caught up on the latest episodes of TV shows. The finale of Your Honor (spoilers) was a bit of a surprise. 

The debut of Clarice, yet another Silence of the Lambs spinoff, Hannibal is also. Which is better? 

Clarice and Hannibal, as their respective titles would suggest, focus on each of these central characters, but due to a complicated division of rights to Harris’s original works, Clarice will not feature Hannibal Lecter and Hannibal could not feature Clarice Starling.

Hannibal has the benefit of a star studded cast with Mads Mikkelsen as Hannibal and Laurence Fishburne as Jack Crawford.

Saturday we watched The White Tiger - excellent. Forbes magazine has an excellent review of this 2021 film.

Tuesday Monday was movie day. We started with 2019 Charlie's Angels, lighthearted and amusing.   

Followed by 2012 Berlin Job St. George's Day, a British gangster movie, what could be better?

We did another bank heist this week, I love bank heist movies. Inside Man reminded me very much of Money Heist, the plots are similar.

Friday night's movie was 2021 I Care a Lot starring Rosamund Pike, a thriller/comedy about elder abuse.

I continue to watch MasterChef Australia Season 12 (2020), I am now up to episode 20. I like the new judges, I didn't think I would, but they are more down to earth than the previous trio. 

MasterChef Canada 2021 started this week using the same format as AU 12, bringing back 12 former contestants.

I do enjoy our judges Michael Bonacini (love his restaurants) and Alvin Leung (coloured socks) , but I am not a fan of Claudio Aprile. But the contestants and their cooking is not up to par with AU or the UK. CA AU and UK have helpful judges.

I can't bother watching the US version as there is too much bickering and arrogance, the judges are not helpful. 

Check out the MOCA learning activities. Visit MOCA exhibits here.

LISTENING on my NEW BUDS LIVE Asylum by Patrick McGrath

Still reading on my phone House of Correction.

Also still on my tablet I Should Have Honor and I haven't opened it all week.

Browsed through Marcus Wareing's Everyday Cookbook. Some interesting recipes but it is almost impossible to find his recipes online! I enjoying browsing, but I wouldn't bother buying it.

I will definitely make his chicken leek and wholegrain mustard pie. Basically it is mashed potatoes, chicken legs roasted, leeks sauteed in butter. The trick is the mustard sauce.

Pour the chicken and leek mixture into a casserole dish, top with the mashed potatoes and sprinkle the grated cheese. Bake 15-20 minutes.

How about carrot and parsnip cake with orange cream cheese frosting?

One tip he wrote and I'd seen him do it on a show but I need to write it here as a reminder.

Salt white fish with rock salt  it seasons it well and also removes some of the water content.