My Dog's Café and Bar

 Linking up at Marg at The Intrepid Reader 

Weekend Coffee Share

Sunday Salon

July 2022 - Toronto ON

Hamilton ON

It was our usual at home weekend. Nothing exciting but then the covid cases are climbing again, they are saying we are in a seventh wave.

Monday John was golfing early with my BFF's husband so went shopping. Normally we do lots of shopping damage on these trips, but try as we could, we didn't buy much. I did find a light rain jacket as I didn't have anything for hot summer rainy days. We even commented that it seemed like all the stuff in the stores felt picked over. Never mind, we got caught up.

On the way home we stopped for fruits and vegetables $54!!! and filled up with gas at Costco.

I had heard (Facebook) that an artist was painting utility boxes around the neighbourhood and we came across her.

I assume she just finished this one (right next to it) as it still has a wet paint sign on it.

Wednesday was golf again for John.

Thursday we met our financial advisor for lunch downtown at Modus, an Italian restaurant none of us had been too and I couldn't even remember seeing it. But when I saw the side patio I realized I walk passed it all the time. It was great! The service, the food, the ambiance was perfect. 

FA and I shared a Caesar salad (creamy roasted garlic anchovy dressing, toasted pane fritto, smoked bacon, romano cheese) and John had an arugula salad (fresh pear, toasted pecans, grape tomatoes, gorgonzola, sesame-maple balsamic vinaigrette).

John - Gluten free penne & meatballs, he cleaned his plate!

smoked mozzarella-stuffed Wagyu beef meatballs, San Marzano tomato sauce, basil, pecorino Romano

I had Atlantic salmon - absolutely delicious!
spinach, white wine lemon tarragon sauce

FA had penne with salmon. We shared a bottle of Chianti Classico. 

We all agreed we would definitely go back there.

Friday we agreed not to go out (The Open was on anyway!). We did a good sorting and decluttering of the electronics drawer and basket. Some went to the charity bag, some got thrown out. I have to recycle a couple of cell phones at a provider. John has to get the car camera cam working. I have a gazillion USBs to look at and decide what to do with them. Then we have to sort our DSLR cameras that we want to take away.

New York Times had an excellent article about Toronto.

COOKING

Saturday pork belly bites in tortillas.

Sunday ordered Swiss Chalet chicken.

Monday curry chicken because we got home late afternoon and it was easy to defrost boneless chicken thighs. 

Tuesday pork hock -  I knew I had made another recipe before that we didn't care for. So I tried crispy German Pork Knuckle (Schweinshaxe) with Beer Gravy. The beer gravy was delicious to my surprise, it didn't taste "beery" at all. I did think that the hock could have been more tender and the skin crisper. I will use another recipe I found the next time as it boils it first.

In searching my blog I found we had eaten it in Germany!

Wednesday I threw the leftover hock into the slow cooker and the gravy. I served with mashed potatoes and cauliflower with cheese and broccolini.

Thursday lunch out so we picked up sushi for dinner.

Friday John wanted steak sandwiches again!

WATCHING

We watched The Billion Dollar Code which we enjoyed.
In 1990s Berlin, an artist and a hacker invented a new way to see the world. Years later, they reunite to sue Google for patent infringement on it.

We tried to watch You but just didn't like it. I have it on my to be read list so will be curious.

When They See Us is based on the Central Park jogger case also known as The Central Park Five. This was a very disturbing series to watch.

I was flicking through Netflix and found Money Heist - Korea - Joint Economic Area and started watching it.

Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area is a South Korean television series and second series in the franchise, based on the Spanish heist crime drama series of the same name.

It depicts a hostage crisis situation set in a unified Korean Peninsula, involving a genius strategist and people with different personalities and abilities. The first 6 episodes were released on June 24, 2022 on Netflix. No release date for the remaining 6 episodes of the season has been published yet.

READING

A friend mentioned she was reading short stories by Canadian Alice Munro and I said I had never read her as I am not a fan of short stories. So I borrowed Dear Life and quite enjoyed it.

I also finished Good Chinese Wife: A love Affair with China Gone Wrong. Well written and honest, from the title you know this won't go well.

A friend had mentioned she put a book on the waiting list at the library (86 copies/93 holds). I was able to get the e-book immediately! I was totally engrossed in it and finished it in about 6 hours!!

An intimate and no-holds-barred memoir by Canada's top defence lawyer, Nothing But the Truth weaves Marie Henein's personal story with her strongly held views on society's most pressing issues, legal and otherwise.
With Nothing But the Truth, Marie Henein, arguably the most sought-after lawyer in the country, has written a memoir that is at once raw, beautiful, and altogether unforgettable. Her story, as an immigrant from a tightknit Egyptian-Lebanese family, demonstrates the value of strong role models--from her mother and grandmother, to her brilliant uncle Sami who died of AIDS. She learned the value of hard work, being true to herself and others, and unapologetically owning it all.
Marie Henein shares here her unvarnished view on the ethical and practical implications of being a criminal lawyer, and how the job is misunderstood and even demonized. Ironically, her most successful cases made her a "lightning rod" in some circles, confirming her belief that much of the public's understanding of the justice system is based on popular culture, and social media, and decidedly not the rule of law. As she turns 50 and struggles with the corrosive effect on women of becoming invisible, Marie doubles down on being even more highly visible and opinionated as she deconstructs, among other things, the otherness of the immigrant experience (Where are you really from?), the pros and cons of being a household name in this country, opening her own boutique law firm, and the likes of Martha Stewart and her commoditization of previously unpaid female labour. Nothing But the Truth is refreshingly unconstrained and surprising--a woman at the top of her game in a male-dominated world.

The Toronto-based lawyer has earned a reputation as a formidable litigator for her successful defences of prominent clients such as former CBC host Jian Ghomeshi, Vice-Admiral Mark Norman and former Ontario attorney general Michael Bryant.

Click here to read about Jian Ghomeshi, a case that was big news here in Toronto.