Saturday, March 27, 2021

Old School

March 2021 - Toronto ON

March 2021 Old School Café Toronto ON







Monday I was able to book John's vaccine appointments and I am on a pharmacy waiting list. A friend got her first shot this week.
The website was excellent, providing waiting time and then being very easy to navigate. He will go to a mass vaccination centre downtown.



John played his first round of golf today! It was the warmest March 22 in history, went to 22C.




I went downtown, had the bank machine eat my card so ended up in the branch to get a new one.

The Bird X pigeon deterrent balloons are doing their job so far. We've had some days with zero intruders and some with one or two. 





Mind you, it does help to actually READ the directions. I was about to throw out the package when I noticed it said "affix the shiny eyes.." OH!!! Luckily I hadn't thrown out the garbage and I retrieved the eyes. AND the instructions said to tie those red shiny ribbons (I had put them aside) so now the eyes reflect and the ribbons blow in the wind!



Tuesday and John did a Costco run.
Tuesday's Double Feature was two excellent movies. And the popcorn was great too.


Wednesday we stayed in and did the usual household maintenance, laundry, baking, watering plants, emptying dishwasher and so on.

Thursday to Hamilton for fish and chips for John, I tried their lobster roll. I did not like the gluten free roll they used but loved the lobster mixture, and it came with fries.


Random drive by mural shots. Some required the driver to go around the block.


This mural deserves a closer visit.



On King St. East. Hamilton is soooo confusing to Toronto. In Toronto you always know south is facing Lake Ontario. In Hamilton it is the opposite.




The corner of King St. East and Ferguson is full of things to see, murals, signs, train station.













1932: Dr. Elizabeth Bagshaw opens the first official birth control clinic in Hamilton even though it is illegal to do so.


Still at King and Ferguson, some cute kids' murals.




Walking along King St. East








Popeye building at 11 King St. East. There is a ghost sign that refers to Mills China Shop which was located in 11-15 King St. East. It closed in 1985.





Victoria Hall is a former ​3 1⁄2-storey commercial building on King East. It is a superior and rare example of a commercial building with a decorative architectonic sheet metal facade, which is completely hand-made. It was designated a National Historic Site in 1995.
For many years, the building was home to Gerhard Heintzman Pianos, A. Carey & Son Radio, J.H. Herring tea brokers, the Empire Newspaper, Canada Cycle Company and Bessie Brown Hats. A high-fashion women's store named Foster's moved into Victoria Hall in 1952 and about 10 years later it also took over the MacKay space next door. Since then, they've been treated as one property and apparently they even lean on each other.

Additionally, the building is an irreplaceable element in King Street's continuum of commercial architecture dating from the pre-Confederation era to the present and is likely one of the oldest surviving sheet metal facades in the country.

See, John, it was an interesting looking building!











John cancelled his Friday golf game as it was raining, cold, windy and just miserable until mid-afternoon and the sun came out.



COOKING

Saturday Cocktails VII

We tried a vodka Sidecar, it was sour!! But it grows on you. 





SOPHISTICATED SHAKERS - TO DATE
Mai Tai with orgeat which is new to us
Tequila Sunrise
Rob Roy required bitters which we had never bought
New York Sours 
Gin Fizz
Rusty Nail

Saturday's dinner was roast chicken, potatoes and carrots all done in the oven.

On Sunday the chicken carcass went into a soup pot.
I then made a haddock shrimp chowder for dinner served with focaccia.


Tried two new recipes on Monday garlic butter mushrooms and cauliflower and cilantro lime chicken thighs both from Damn Delicious. I had all the ingredients available! Both were great and I had made them together as suggested. However, it kind of felt like two separate plates. The chicken would have gone well cooked with the butter sauce and the vegetables would have been good with the cilantro lime sauce. 

Tuesday leftover chowder.

Wednesday short rib and lamb kidney stew in the crockpot. The stew made Friday's lunch as well.
I also made a lemon loaf and since we have a Costco sized bunch of lemons I took some and zested and juiced them into an ice cube tray.

Thursday we had a big salad with lots of vegetables, ham and egg.



Friday is Friday, Steak Friday.


I don't know if this belongs under cooking, watching or reading!
I binged on Nadiya Bakes (2021) on the weekend. I want to make almost every recipe. 


Marg of The Intrepid Reader alerted me to these new episodes.


This cheesecake recipe made with bananas instead of cheese blew my mind because I always have bananas in the freezer.

And then this teriyaki chicken and noodles - she doesn't cook the noodles but bakes them in the oven!

Her galette pastry looks really easy.


WATCHING

We finished Wanted and  Seven Seconds which was a very disturbing series.


We then started Intelligence a Canadian series set in Vancouver. Available on Netflix and Amazon Prime.



Tuesday we scored big with two outstanding movies.

Death of a Ladies Man starring Gabriel Byrne (what could be better) and featuring the music of Leonard Cohen (even better), filmed in Montreal where I grew up and in Ireland where I was born.

There is even a site called Byrneholics for fans and it lists the filming locations for the movie.

The use of Cohen's literary or musical work is a recurring motif in Matt Bissonnette's work, also seen in his 2002 filmmaking debut Looking for Leonard and his 2009 film Passenger Side.


The second movie was A Call to Spy.
I can only ask why I have never heard of these two extraordinary women??? Virginia Hall and Noor Khan??????? This movie highlights these women's incredible lives just as Hidden Figures did.



READING


I am reading Outtakes from a Marriage and find it a quick easy and sometimes funny read with some profound truths about marriage.

I finally went through my new purchase, The Atlas Cookbook and was a little disappointed as I didn't mark as many recipes as I thought I would.

I flipped through The French Menu a step back in cooking time with recipes like boiled pigs' tails, grilled lamb's heart and kidneys. Don't get me wrong, I like heart and tails and we had lamb kidneys this week and we both remarked on how much we like them.

22 comments:

  1. Ha, ha on reading the directions! I've been guilty of the same. Fabulous street art--I always love your captures. Humm, I may have to try a vodka sidecar--I like sour. We make our Rob Roys without the bitters and very little vermouth. I've bookmarked those chicken thighs; they look so good.

    OMG, I just finished a historical fiction book about Virginia Hall and immediately checked out a nonfiction one about her from the library. I too had never heard of her until last week or so. Now I have to watch the movie. The fiction = The Invisible Woman by Erika Robuck (I like it a lot); the nonfiction is A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell (hope to start it in the next couple of days).

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    Replies
    1. Looks like we like the same cocktails, Beth!
      I also looked up some books about Virginal Hall and Noor Khan and added them to my library wish list.
      You MUST watch the movie!

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  2. Love the murals (as always) and have also just this week discovered Virginia Hall...will certainly look for books and shows about her! Thanks so much for talking about cooking/eating...as well as architecture! Have a great weekend!

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  3. The lobster roll has me drooling! I like the arms race photo, so appropriate. We both had our first round of the Pfizer shots and are waiting on the next dose.

    We use Russian Standard vodka too. Its great. Yummy to the chickena nd galette, now I'm seriously hungry.

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    Replies
    1. John gets his first Pfizer this week.
      Try the chicken it is good!

      Delete
  4. Looks like a great week. Loving the artwork too and I just added a bunch of things to my "To be watched" list from your post. ;-)

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  5. Art on utility boxes is becoming popular worldwide -- you found nice ones!

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  6. Hamilton street art and surviving buildings look very interesting. Thanks for sharing your week with #WeekendCoffeeShare

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  7. Your list of Sophisticated Shakers sounds kind of like mine! I've been trying different cocktails every night, just about. My current favorite is still a Negroni, but the Carpano Antica Formula vermouth, which I learned about in an online cocktail class, has been a revelation. We've been drinking Maple Sours this week, though, when I learned that March is Maple Month -- 2 oz rum (I use St. Johnsbury Dunc's Maple Rum, but the recipe comes from Mt. Gay Rum); 1 oz fresh lemon juice; and 1/2 oz simple syrup. Yummy!

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  8. I love seeing these pictures, it’s great seeing where other people live!

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  9. I wonder if after a while the birds get used to the deterrents and start to ignore them.
    I've not tried a vodka sidecar. I expect I would like it.
    I had no idea we used so many phrases and lines written by Shakespeare.

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    Replies
    1. I think that too, Andrew, they become street smart. But so far, so good, but that might be that they have now found their nesting places and are settled. NIMBY is what I say!!!
      Definitely try the sidecar!

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  10. Death of a ladies' man, I knew I knew that title, of course it's the great Leonard Cohen ! And with Gabriel Byrne, I need to watch this, thanks for sharing. That and the beautiful mural paintings :)

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  11. Wonderful news about the vaccines. We were thrilled at how smooth the process was here. We did a drive-thru set up at a park and never had to get out of our car.

    Glad your husband is getting some good golfing weather there. My husband has been rained out the past couple weeks.

    I think I like best the Hamilton Has Gone to the Dogs mural. It looks like a collaborative mural, and that's one of my favorites.

    Thanks for the recommendation for Nadiya Bakes. We are just finished with the 2020 season of The Great British Baking Show and we don't know where to turn next. I'll also look for Death of a Ladies Man.

    Have a great week, Jackie!

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  12. I love the bird balloons! I always enjoy the "tour" of your town. Thank you.

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  13. You’ll have to try a Fluffy Duck :)

    * 30ml Advocaat Creme Liqueur
    * 30ml Vodka
    * 15ml Cointreau
    * 30ml orange juice
    * 30ml cream
    * 2-3 Ice cubes
    * 30ml Lemonade

    Instructions
    Place all ingredients except for the lemonade in a cocktail shaker, and shake well.
    Pour into a large glass, top with lemonade, stir and serve.

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  14. Trying different cocktail recipes is so much fun. I did that with my BFF in L.A. back in the day. I didn't make a sidecar but I tried one in a bar once because it was my Mom's cocktail of choice when she was a young lady in the late 40s / early 50s. I liked it!

    That mushrooms & cauliflower sounds really good. I'll follow your cue and use that same sauce for my chicken thighs.

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  15. What a fun tour - thanks so much for sharing all those great pictures :) I'm about to start reading a book by best friends in Toronto - they'll have a giveaway specifically for a Canadian winner once my review is posted at BooksIThinkYouShouldRead.blogspot.com - probably late next week, or the first week of April. Yay on vaccines! Stay healthy and have a great week.

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  16. Have to say that I like these friendly graffiti much more than what they usually call graffiti! You make me laugh Jackie - You talk to your hubby on your blog instead of in person?? I would like a ham and egg salad like the one you had! Wow, 22 degr. that is awesome!Many thanks for sharing your fun diverse post with All Seasons! And have a fun week, Jesh (enjoy the good weather!) Jesh

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  17. I just love all the murals. So pretty.

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