Hot Plate

June 2017 - Toronto ON

You have got to click on this link to check out some of the most amazing cakes in Toronto.

SATURDAY

Decided on a lazy Saturday. But I did reorganize the cupboard with my baking pans.  I have a pantry for all the extra stuff, They had been in the cupboard by the water cooler, making it awkward to get them in and out. I moved them to the left cupboard and put most of that stuff, rarely used, into the other one.


I also used a couple of office file holders to contain the various trays. These were "acquired" when I was working.

I keep the most used pans in the kitchen cupboards.

I also tidied out a cabinet in the bathroom.

John also figured out why the Ikea under cabinet lights were not working. Problem? They didn't like the Ikea batteries, go figure...

So I'm on a decluttering/organizing mission which will continue this week.

Dinner was steak and sauteed mushrooms, green peppers and onions.

SUNDAY
Was more of Saturday. There was rain and thunderstorms in the forecast.

I tried this pork loin in the slow cooker. It was good but the gravy was amazing!
We had it with mashed parsnips and potatoes and mushy peas.

MONDAY
Monday Mural
Foto Tunes
Good Random Fun


I headed out to find a mural I had seen online. I found a few more as well.

Some photos from my stroll.

Perched outside the Shangri-La building at street level, a flock of birds is ready to take flight across the façade. The birds are part of a 22-tonne, multi million-dollar stainless-steel sculpture by the Chinese artist Zhang Huan. Up close you can see that the birds are perched all over a giant tree root

The title of this bold piece of public art is Rising. That may be a reference to the birds or it might be a reference to the 66-storey hotel and luxury condo tower that soars above them.

Left onto Queen St. where they are dismantling the stages from Sunday's MTV awards.

A mural by Birdo.

Ikea opened a pop-up store on Friday.
The IKEA Play Café will combine shopping, playing and eating in the almost 8,000 square foot space through June 27.

I was drawn into this new building at Richmond and Peter by the atrium filled with soaring x-shaped delta frames.

Known as the QRC or Queen Richmond Centre.

Architects at Sweeny &Co. incorporated the more than 100-year-old Weston factory - the original 134 Richmond - into a 17-storey tower.

Art in the RBC building on Wellington.

Some fun treats in Bulk Barn.

For dinner I tried a new meatball recipe Spicy Korean meatballs which turned out really well. When I was making them, I thought the recipe was a little boring so I added some Chinese 5 spice and lemongrass. They turned out delicious although John said he wanted more of the sauce even though I had already doubled it!

Steps taken - 9,310
Just a note these steps are counted by my phone so it only records my steps while I am walking with my purse and phone. At home the phone is usually on a table.

TUESDAY
I had registered for another session at the AGO Mindful Movement. Slow Looking: Georgia O'Keeffe. Traffic was so bad that I just made it there in time for class.
After class, I again stayed and looked at some exhibits. I focused on the Canadian galleries click on the link to see some works.
The Painter 1964 William Kurelek

I then had lunch in the lounge, mushroom rice soup and tea.

I decided to walk back to Union Station, and of course, got sidetracked with my camera.

I treated myself to some gorgeous peonies.

Dinner was Mushroom Bolognese, from the cooking class a couple of weeks ago.


Steps taken - 10,334
Just a note these steps are counted by my phone so it only records my steps while I am walking with my purse and phone. At home the phone is usually on a table.
Today the phone was turned off while I was at the meditation class.

WEDNESDAY

I headed out at 9:30 to meet my BFF for a meander around town, with Chinatown as a somewhat possible direction.

While I waited for her train to arrive I spotted this exhibit in Union Station.
TD is one of our Big Five financial institutions.
A generous donation from TD Bank Group will support The Remix Project, a local initiative aimed at helping youth from priority neighbourhoods in the Greater Toronto Area by empowering them with the skills and personal networks needed to succeed in creative industries or to further their formal education.

I am inspired by this photo to recreate it myself with my photos.

We took some of the same streets as I did earlier in the week.

An amazing food truck on King St. W.

The new and old, short and tall. The Royal Alex theatre built in 1907, the 1,497-seat Royal Alex is the oldest continuously operating legitimate theatre in North America.

Beside it is Theatre Park a striking 47-storey point tower on a site which has been occupied by a parking lot for the past 40 years. It was completed in 2015.A one bed, one bath, 600 sq ft will cost you around $600K.

We made a quick stop into Marshall's and saw this. Lots of Canadiana merchandise available about town in celebration of Canada's 150th.

We made a side trip (well, really this whole outing was side trips) to see if the Elicser mural (above) was visible. They had almost finished demolishing the set from Sunday's MTV awards, but not quite.

But just up a block is this Elicser, which has been there for many years.

We dropped into Umbra to check out the fish hotel.

Finally we get to Spadina and Chinatown. We investigate all the exotic items for sale in an Asian grocery store.

I buy a Toronto coffee mug like I was a tourist.

I had fun arranging these guys to reflect our cultural diversity!

We make stops in De Serre, Dollarama and Home Sense where K finds the baskets she's been looking for for her photo shoots of babies.

I see that What A Bagel has gluten free bagels so in we hop to get some.



Steps taken - 13,650
Just a note these steps are counted by my phone so it only records my steps while I am walking with my purse and phone. At home the phone is usually on a table.


THURSDAY
Thursday Doors around Toronto

We decided to catch the 10:30 but as we waited it was cool and felt like rain. We came back in and changed and headed back out at 11:20 when it started to pour. We decided to take our changes and adjust our plans based on the weather. Traffic downtown was horrific and we were quite pleased to be sitting on a shuttle.
The driver took a different route and I amused myself with my camera.
This is the latest library to open in Toronto.

A different view.

Flower Power by Mark Di Suvero.

Since it was raining still we went to a new food court in the PWC building that we could reach through the PATH, without going outside.
Z-teca was our choice for Mexican, a chicken bowl for John and shrimp tacos for me.
The sun was coming out so we headed out for our initial plan, to go to the market and get some steaks.
First, though, we checked out the Market Gallery exhibit.

The Market Gallery animates the second floor of the South St. Lawrence Market which encloses all that remains of Toronto’s original 19th-century Front Street City Hall council chamber, operating from 1845-1899. The historic site presents a variety of changing exhibits related to the art, culture and history of Toronto. The gallery's signature fan windows, which once overlooked Toronto’s harbour, today overlook the main floor of the market featuring various food vendors.

Somehow we left the market with 4 steaks, a pound each of ground chicken, beef and pork and five skewers, 2 lemon chicken and 3 Asian beef. And raspberries.

I wanted the raspberries to make cream truffles. The recipe called for strawberries but we prefer raspberries.

We were invited to a dinner and a financial presentation at the Granite Club.

Steps - 8,866 same caveat as above.

FRIDAY
Friday Finds
My Town Shootout
Weekend Reflections
Toronto Pride

The day dawned rainy and foggy and remained that way. I took a quick trip for some vegetables for the weekend and then decided to treat the day as my Saturday since we will be out all day tomorrow.

I usually take a photo of this from the other side.
It is a piece by John McEwen entitled Search Light, Star Light, Spot Light. It is said to have been inspired by a quote from the author Louis Untermeyer, “God, if you wish for our love, Fling us a handful of stars.” The surface of each steel column is perforated with star-shaped holes, which glow from the inside when lit. They are reminiscent of the spotlights placed on players during sporting events. It is outside the Air Canada Centre where hockey and basketball are played.

Dinner was steak (of course, it's Friday) baked potatoes and balsamic honey Brussel sprouts. And then fresh raspberries, cream and a truffle or two.

BOOKS

Not getting much done this week. I am reading Conclave but it is a slow read.
I also started listening to The Royal We.

DECLUTTERING

Some old Tupperware containers
Thingie for opening jars
Scissors even though John sharpened it they were still dull
Red dress
John a pair of dress pants

365 Decluttering - Week 2

Sunday
While looking for something else, came across old digital camera that I thought we had already gotten rid of. Found a 2GB card in it and added it to our others.

DH went through some old CDs with obsolete software that went into the garbage.

Two shirts into the charity pile.

Decided to go through the fridge and cupboards to take stock (see this related post).
Combined the 2 open maple syrups into the favoured container and discarded the other container.
Threw out the jar of tahini as it had no expiration date and I have no idea how long its been there.
Also thrown out was a jar of Coleman's mustard - not the dry kind, I am ashamed to admit that the best by date was 2002!

Also found was a pastry mix - will be used for chicken pot pie shortly.
A biryani mix - which will also be used soon.
One old baking powder tin went into the garbage as there was a new unopened one. As well as the sticky sesame jar. OH and I found a new sesame jar unopened with expiry date of late 2010, will hang on to it for now.

Need to find a use for some of the cereal we bought because it was on special that we don't really like.
Emptied opened box into container.
Used the box as a temporary home for all the loose hot chocolates there were there. When I go to the Dollar store I will get a basket to hold these loose items.

Found a jar of kalbi jiim that can be used to make Korean spare ribs using this recipe. I just won't be making the sauce from scratch this time.

Why do we have a fajita kit when we normally make them from scratch? Use this up shortly.

There is also a jar of marmalade that I wanted to make cranberry muffins with orange marmalade glaze from http://www.eatathome.com/. And/or perhaps these orange marmalade cranberry sweet rolls. Or perhaps vegan-recipe-damp-orange-cake-with-marmalade-glaze or even chocolate-cranberry-orange-marmalade-cookies from a new blog  In the Kitchen with Polly I just found.

Put the opened bag of noodles into the correct container.

I have a container from a gift of scotch that my husband received from a neighbour as a thank you for being his computer tech support throughout the year that I want to use for storage but not sure for what as I already have one I use for spaghetti.

Next large job to tackle is spice organization!

Monday - Wore my black turtleneck to work and now it is in the charity pile. It reminded me of an an article I read about turtlenecks being one of the worst things to wear so it is gone!

Tuesday - found my new winter coat, purple!! Old coat immediately into charity pile.

Wednesday - found 2 little purses/bags I bought in Greece and brought them in for 2 coworkers.

Thursday - randomly found an orange shirt I don't like. Gone.

Friday - sorted through the vitamin collection, combined and discarded some.
Took the juice container and the measuring container from the hand blender and will put in the basement to see if I miss them.

Saturday - Phoned friend's daughter that is moving into her own place at end of month and offered some kitchen stuff. She will be getting 2 small round Pyrex dishes that i never use which were taking up room on top shelf of cupboard.
I aslo decided I did not need 2 thermos warmers. I got rid of the green one as it was marked inside. I love using these for gravy for a large crowd, so much more sensible than a gravy boat!

Pondering
2 year collection of Photoshop magazines  - keep/sell/give away?? Just checked out their website and it really has everything one would need on it, tutorials etc. Also looked on Ebay and saw lots of back issues for sale with no takers.

2011 - Week 2 Eating

On Sunday I looked through the freezer for something for dinner. Normally I'm an old-fashioned type and love to do a roast on a Sunday. We thought we'd have steaks but didn't have any potatoes or crusty bread in the house. DH suggested going out to get them but I said, no there is so much stuff here let's just make do.
So again, we had sausages with pita and tzatziki, making use of our stockpile again.
Once this pile goes down a bit I'll be more creative and interesting.

While freezer diving I found 2 packages of oxtails for soup. They were frozen but I put some olive oil in a pan and browned them with some garlic, onion and a carrot. When they unfroze I separated them and continued the browning process. Then I added water, salt, pepper, bay leaves, thyme, sundried tomatoes (because I had a jar from a gift in the fridge) and let it simmer away. Barley and carrots were added to finish the dish.

DH decided to make some popcorn from a free sample of microwave popcorn we had gotten. Another good reason for decluttering... it stunk up the house and was uneatable as well as having a July 2010 best by date. Have I mentioned how much I HATE microwave popcorn anywhere near me? It is the most grotesque smelling!

Monday - leftover pea soup as DH decided.

Tuesday - Steak sandwiches using up leftover frozen steak.

Wednesday - Takeout fish and chips  from Olde Yorke - was soooo good. I took the photo only after I was half way through it.

Thursday - DH away on business and I went out for drinks and nibbles with 2 friends.

Friday - Ox tail soup and biscuits. DH had been in Montreal on business and didn't arrive home until 9 pm so soup was perfect.

I also started out to make aloo gobi to use up the cauliflower but added too much liquid so instead made a curry potato and cauliflower soup for during the week.

Saturday - Since it is a cold snowy day I'll make my tried and true favourite shepherd's pie made with lamb. I use Emeril's recipe with ground lamb and homemade lamb stock. I also add some nutmeg for an interesting twist.

Again using up some stuff already in freezer - the lamb and the stock..



2011 Week 1 Eating Review

One of the things I would like to get under control this year is our food budget. It's not really about the money but rather the waste. As well my freezer is stuffed and we really need to use up this stuff and get better control over meal planning and incorporate more vegetables into our diet.

I think I do a pretty good job with making soup stocks so there isn't any waste there. I keep baggies in the freezer labelled beef, chicken, turkey, lamb, ham, vegetable and pork. Leftover bones are place in them and leftover vegetables are added as well. I throw in baked potatoes, onions, peppers, tomatoes and any other leftovers.
When full I put them into the stock pot add water, bay leaves and appropriate other herbs. I leave them simmering and then strain and end up with amazing stock.
This week I saw a commercial for Knorr's Stock Exchange and suggested to DH to add to grocery list. He responded why not make our own? DUH!
Then today, when I was looking for something for dinner I found in the freezer exactly that! I had made beef cubes using an ice cube tray a while ago. Note to self - buy some ice cube trays at dollar store.

So this week:
Sunday - leftovers as I had cooked a primb rib for New year's Day.

Monday - leftovers again.

Tuesday - neither of us remembers...

Wednesday - was supposed to be Chinese style green beans with ground pork like this recipe which is more or less the same as mine. Mine doesn't have any sugar or sherry. Will post mine one day soon.
But instead we ordered chicken from Swiss Chalet.

Thursday - used up some pita and Italian sausages from freezer to go along with the tzatziki that was in the fridge. Check out this post.

Friday - made pea soup from some ham stock that was in the fridge and some cheddar biscuits using my tried and true recipe from the CopyKat site. These are a knockoff on the Red Lobster biscuits that everyone loves. We decided that Friday night would be soup night going forward.

Saturday - home made pizza. Had everything in freezer, fridge and cupboard.
Also felt guily about not eating the ground pork so made it into a meat loaf with apples and sage.

365 Decluttering - Week 1

So I'm going to bore you with my organizing plans in 2011.
A GF and I have a pact to do at least 1 organization activity per month with before and after photos.
I actually plan to try the 365 Decluttering which I first saw some time last year over on this blog. Since then I've seen numerous other blogs on the same subject if you Google it.

The idea is to remove at least 1 item per day by either throwing it out, donating it, gifting it or even selling it!

Day 1 Sunday
Started on bookcase beside computer. UPDATE not finished.

Emptied one of the cases for holding CDs - going into charity bag
Now have to go through the CDs and determine what's worth keeping.

Chinese calendar from restaurant - charity
NY Times crossword puzzle - charity
Mom's crossword dictionary with her tags - charity

Debated book 1001 books to read - kept it, love the art work in it.

Foreign money from trips - odd ones into baggie that was there - baggie going upstairs, not sure where.
US and UK money sorted and into baggie.
Cdn coin and old bills - will research if any value in keeping - UPDATE  just looked on Ebay and not much value for US 1964 half dollar or Canadian 1964 silver dollar. Also have a 1929 nickel, and a Bahamian 1 cent which is very pretty andd has a star fish on it. Maybe make jewelry out of them???
Then headed over to Etsy to see if anyone there would be interested and found this lovely bank! And the seller is located here in Ontario.
Did get some other ideas - coasters,
Or I cound add them to a coin bracelet my grandmother had made years ago....
Added them to the foreign coin bag and the Harrod's box they were in went into charity pile.

3 work books - DH's to go upstairs with his stuff. BONUS he threw 1 book out.
Threw out mag cover I was keeping??

Convinced DH to move humidor to dining room. this meant moving speakers on top of stereo to make room, which meant dusting first!

Sorted pile of International Living magazines - sat and read December's. Looked for article on best time to book flights. Found it!!! Will post soon.

Found bunch of things from trip to China including the sillhouettes that were made by a street vendor in Guilin. What to do with them?
Nice Chinese map - contemplating whether to frame or not....
Ten Yuan note - into foreign money collection.

Day 2 Monday
Remembered that Katy over at Food for a Hungry Soul blog loves old cookbooks so I dropped a note asking if she was interested in these 2 cookbooks and she was so they are being gifted to her! Love it when something goes to a new home. Now I just have to mail them to her.
This was given to me by a friend of my mother's and it is from 1930.

Don't you just love the first chapter in the book!

Found a bunch of CDs with downloaded music and had DH listen to them and load some on the laptop and then threw them out.

Day 3 Tuesday
Put a pair of yoga pants (too short) and a shirt, bought, worn once and disliked, into the charity pile.

Day 4 Wednesday
4 coffee mugs and a tray - ask friend if her daughters would like them for their new condo.

Day 5 Thursday
In speaking with a friend at work about something she mentioned her router at home only had 1 connection so I brought her an extra one that we had in the basement. Another good home.


Day 6 Friday
2 half full (or half empty?) jars of vaseline combined into 1.
Finished book that I will pass on to a GF as it is full of references to Edinburgh where we had both been in the spring.
Picture of our trip on video.

Day 7 Saturday
A quick clean out of sock drawer yielded 4 pairs of white socks, several pairs of hose that haven't been worn in I don't know how many years. BONUS DH put a shirt in the charity pile.