Dec 2022 - Royal York Hotel Toronto ON
Monday I went shopping for a friend's gift. John saw the chiropractor again this week and had acupuncture and treatment for his hip and neck.
Union Station has the skating rink set up for the holidays.
Perfect for beginners!
What's left of last week's "storm".
Royal Bank Tower decked out.
More Royal York photos.
The rest of the week passed in a blur of cooking, cleaning and shopping online. New sheets for the holidays. Website image.
Got myself a good pastry blender.
Lots of doom and gloom about the forecasted "major" "generational" storm on Friday! Schools announced closures, bus routes cancelled, flights cancelled. Traffic heading out of town on Thursday began at 2 as everyone headed home to "work from home" on Friday.
Yes, west of us, around London, did get badly hit as temperatures plummeted from a balmy 4C to -13C with rain turning to ice. There were major traffic pileups, 100 car accidents east and west of us.
East of us the 401 was closed between Oshawa and the Quebec border, unheard of!
And this is what we got, other than we did experience the very strong winds.
Thursday our contractor came by to look at what we want done in the kitchen and offered his suggestions. He will come up with a quote after the holidays and we will schedule for around March!
My Christmas food order came so we are stocked for Christmas. We are going to my cousin's for Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
I did spend many hours editing our Newfoundland video.
COOKING
Saturday tourtiere and beans.
Tourtière, also known as pork pie or meat pie, is a traditional French-Canadian pie enjoyed throughout Canada and New England. It is made from a combination of ground meat, onions, savory seasonings, and baked in a traditional piecrust.I made a huge batch of filling (enough for 5 pies) and baked one for dinner. I will take one to my cousin's as well.
I used the baking soda trick that I showed last week to help the meat brown and I think it works. I also used it later in the week making a hamburger stew.
Used my food processor to get everything chopped.
Spicing it up.
Decent gluten free pastry.
Sunday I had two avocados that looked like they might be passed their best by, but they turned out to be perfect so I made guacamole.
Then I made pastry for two more tourtieres, one to take to dinner on Christmas Day and one for us. I froze the rest of the filling for two more pies in the new year.
Chicken wings and fries.
Monday pineapple pork BBQ meatballs with rice. This was good! Made lunch for the next day.
Tuesday made gingerbread gluten free mini donuts in my new donut pan.
I made a glaze of maple syrup and icing sugar.
Leftover tourtiere and beans.
Wednesday hamburger stew.
Thursday Chinese chicken curry.
Friday I tried making gluten free lemon shortbread. This was not easy dough to work with. They turned out well. I did some recipe comparisons and decided this recipe didn't have enough butter in it and the 8 minute cooking time didn't make sense. I am game to try making them again. I forgot to take a photo!
John made me my favourite sandwiches for lunch this week. Tuna, salmon, egg cut in triangles and crust removed!
WATCHING
Fatale is a 2020 American thriller film. After a wild one-night stand, a successful sports agent watches his perfect life slowly disappear when he discovers the sexy and mysterious woman he risked everything for is a determined police detective who entangles him in her latest investigation. As he desperately tries to put the pieces together, he falls deeper into her trap, risking his family, his career, and even his life.
MI-5 Spooks - The Greater Good we had seen before but enjoyed.
Togo 2022 Netflix's first movie set in Uruguay. Togo is a neighborhood ambassador of sorts. The man is a former boxer with a dangerous jab. He has gone not grey but utterly white with a gloriously full head of hair and beard to boot. He is the “road attendant” who helps visitors and residents in and out of parking spaces. Togo has a limp and is well over his 60s. The man also has a daughter in rehab with bleak prospects. He will also clean your car, and all you owe him is a tip which amounts to pocket change.
This is something we see all the time when in Mexico.
For a change we watched a comedy on Friday.
Murder Mystery is a 2019 American comedy mystery film loosely based on famous book "Murder on Orient Express" The film stars Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston, and Luke Evans, and follows a married couple who are caught up in a murder investigation on a billionaire's yacht.
READING
Not much done, still reading The Mother's Secret, which is slow going. the first half just droned on and on. I am just waiting for it to be done. I see from the reviews that the twists come at the 90% point.
I was going to buy that donut pan!! Never got around to it. Your donuts look yummy as does that pie!! Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteI'm having tourtiere myself tonight.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine how the pastry blender works. I saw one a Aldi last Thursday and wondered what it was.
ReplyDeleteI hope your day goes well. Merry Christmas.
I have a pastry cutter like that and love it. Lately have been staying in as we have temps right now of 29 F/ -1 C and high winds. When I lived in south Florida I didn't have to deal with the ice :-)
ReplyDeleteRecently we have been watching Manhunt starring Martin Clunes. I think there aew only two seasons and we are on season two.
Your tortiere looks delicious! And I am tempted by the pastry blender!
ReplyDeleteI love seeing how other cities decorate themselves for Christmas!
I made tourtiere once, a long time ago! It was delicious!
ReplyDeleteI bookmarked the meatballs recipe.
I love that your husband cuts the sandwiches in triangles and removes the crusts!