Saturday, November 16, 2019

Hot Chocolate

November 2019 - Toronto ON


November 2019 - Gardiner Museum Toronto


Saturday we decided on cheeses, pate and cold cuts for dinner, it's been a long time since we did this.

Sunday slow cooker lamb shanks stewed in dark beer with mashed potatoes.

Monday's forecast was dire with snow warnings. Fake news! It was more like rain. We did get a little accumulation but nothing much in the city.

I had a book to pick up downtown.

Toronto's soccer team, sadly we lost in the finals to Seattle on the weekend.


Coming up on Remembrance Day ceremonies on the steps of Old City Hall.




The modern glass tower in the centre is the Eaton's Centre.


Funny enough, later in the day I received an email from Andrew with a photo asking me if I knew the location. It happened to be almost the same spot as the photo above.
The white building was the iconic Eaton's department store.


Reading the Prayer of Remembrance.



Walking to the library branch in City Hall. Only banks and government offices are closed for Remembrance Day, oh, and the LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario) only opened at noon, go figure.



I walked inside back to the bus. Inside the Eaton Centre.


Taken at Union Station.


Settled on bus.


Interesting patterns from our window.


Made my mother's gingerbread and we had it with spiced whipped cream for our afternoon coffee.






Decided to make a chicken pot pie and settled on this recipe (sorta) with the biscuits (gluten free flour) baked on top. Filling was delicious with white turnip, carrots, onions and peas. The biscuits were good, not great.


Tuesday

I decided to stay in for a change.

Made this naan bread  and gave up in frustration it was so sticky I threw it out.
I did make homemade tzatziki using John's recipe from years ago, but I used sour cream instead as we always have some since we get it from Costco. It was delicious. We had it with the lamb sausages I had bought a couple of weeks ago on the Danforth.


Wednesday John and I went downtown for an appointment and we picked up pork chops for dinner with broccolini and vegetable mash.

Thursday I met my BFF and we went to the Gardiner Museum, a ceramic museum. 

A new outdoor sculpture.
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Now covered in a blanket of snow, click here to see this garden in its green glory.




The crisis surrounding murdered and missing Indigenous women, girls, trans, and queer community members continues, with thousands of documented cases in both Canada and the U.S.

The Gardiner presents the Canadian premiere of artist Cannupa Hanska Luger’s Every One, a monumental social sculpture commemorating victims of the crisis. Every One visualizes the data behind the MMIWQT crisis, transforming large and abstract numbers into a representation of individual lived experiences. Responding to data collected by the Native Women’s Association of Canada, Luger created a call to action video shared through social media that invited communities across the United States and Canada to make 2-inch clay beads, each one representing a unique person who has been lost. Hundreds of participants held workshops, both with Luger and on their own, making the beads in studios, community centres, universities, and private homes. These experiences generated over 4,000 beads, as well as numerous conversations, stories, and occasions for healing through clay.

Every One references and stands in solidarity with the photograph Sister by Kali Spitzer. Spitzer explores the individual stories behind the MMIWQT crisis through portraiture and self-representation. She works in the medium of tintypes, a photographic process popular in the 1860s and 1870s, particularly with settlers in the Canadian and American West. Spitzer reclaims this process, adapting it to create images of contemporary Indigenous survivance.

Interesting that spell check doesn't recognize the word survivance. Wikipedia has a description.








The main exhibit was Savour. I will only include some highlights here and save the rest for Tuesday Treasures.
Food and dining were transformed in Europe during the age of Enlightenment by profound changes that still resonate today. What many of us eat, the way food is cooked, and how we dine continues to be influenced by radical changes that occurred in France from 1650 until the French Revolution in 1789.






Checking out some of the permanent displays. A French dessert typical table setting.








Gorgeous!





One Word Saturday.

Out the window from the museum, the ROM, Royal Ontario Museum is across the street.


Only the top two rows are real ceramics, the bottom three shelves are trompe d'oeil images.

The shelves are awaiting the Rosalie Wise Sharp's collection.



The Diana Reitberger Collection of Modern and Contemporary Ceramics stands out for both its breadth and focus. Its arrival at the Gardiner Museum significantly enhances the institution’s representation of Canadian artists across an extraordinary spectrum of contemporary approaches, including vessels, figurative sculpture, and abstract forms. The Reitberger Collection is significant also for revealing new connections between Canadian artists and leading international makers from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan. As a whole, it presents an overview of recent activity in the field of studio ceramics with an emphasis on Canada, yet an eye to the world.






Outside the museum.



The front of the ROM.


New and old at the University of Toronto.



Behind Union Station.



I had leftover brie that I wanted to use up so did a combination of this bacon brie pasta and this chicken mushroom brie fettuccine. I used the brie (natch) bacon and mushroom and added the chicken broth and cream to make a thicker sauce.

John said it was really good.


Friday we met an old friend for lunch on the Danforth.


BOOK ENDS

November 2019 - Gardiner Museum Toronto


I finished He Said She Said and I must say I was blown away by the outcome. Never saw it coming. One of the best books I read this year.



I'm not a big Anna Quindlan fan, but this popped up on my library wish list as available so I thought I'd read one of her later books.
Alternate Side was a good quick read with many provoking thoughts on marriage and parking spots. It focuses on first world problems of very rich New Yorkers but it was still a fun read.

Almost finished The Flight Attendant  which is an interesting thriller with the main character so incapable of making a smart decision that I am left shaking my head.


LINKING UP WITH
Beth hosts Weekend Cooking where you can post anything food related.
Sunday Salon
Seasons
Say Cheese
Monday Walks
Monday Morning Blog Club

13 comments:

  1. I adore lamb shanks . . . and now I have a major craving. I'll have to see what the store has tomorrow. Gingerbread seems like a great choice for snowy days. I've got a loaf of pumpernickel bread in the oven now to go with a chicken soup tonight.

    I *love* that vase sculpture with the legs. It makes me smile. And the Savour exhibit looks amazing.

    Finally, Yay for a good book! I like Anna Quindlan's non-fiction, but I'm not a big fan of her novels. I have a copy of The Flight Attendant ... I'll keep my expectations low.

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  2. Somewhat of a coincidence you being in the place I asked you about. Your old street cars look nice. So much snow around. Is it unseasonable? I've bookmarked your gingerbread recipe.

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    1. Yes, it is much colder than normal for November. In fact, we set records, as if that was anything to be happy about.
      https://www.theweathernetwork.com/ca/news/article/early-november-cold-sets-new-record-streak-for-toronto-ottawa

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  3. I’m lnot bing the museums you feature, always gives me ideas for if I EVER get up that way!
    Yum to the lamb, such a comforting meal when it’s cold.

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  4. Early snow for you, early fires for us! Enjoyed the tour as always.

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  5. The Gardiner Museum looks lovely - I love ceramics and sculptures. I dislike, however, snow and hope we don't see a single flake this winter. Your snow pictures are nice but we're just not equipped for the white stuff down here.

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  6. That snow on Remembrance Day got here by mid afternoon.

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  7. Snow makes your entire city beautiful. I especially like the view out your window...lovely lines. We were shocked to have a freeze last week. That's very early for us; many years we don't even have a freeze.

    I shall look for He Said She Said. I like books that surprise.

    You could spend your entire life within the confines of Toronto and never see the same thing twice, I think.

    Have a great week.

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  8. I love how people showed up for the ceremony despite the snow. Now I have a yen for gingerbread. :-)

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  9. It looks very cold in those photos. It’s pretty, though. I love all the artwork. Have a great week!

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  10. Love you photographed the Day of remembrance. It is neat to see people will come out in rain and wet snow to do that! The snow gives you interesting views downs from your apartment! Does it help to feel less cold, when the snow is below where you live? Love the base sculpture with legs and feet - and interesting mix of beauty and humor! My, the table settings are gorgeous. This is a post I am used to from you. Was concerned for a week or two, were you feeling sick,or was something going in your life (these are rhetorical questions-don't have to answer that!)- anyways, am happy you are back with the energy you are known for in blogland. Many thanks for sharing with All Seasons, Jackie and have a lovely week, stay warm and safe - Jesh

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  11. Wow, what a walk! But at least we had wonderful food to sustain us. I just wish it were real (to me.) I loved seeing the falling snow in the photos, although I know not everyone likes snow. I hadn't heard about all the missing people. How sad!

    janet

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  12. Your photos of the 'gentle' snow are great. Happy to look from a distance though :) :) Thanks, Jackie! Love that platter with the butterfly too.

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