Linking up with Marg at The Intrepid Reader
July 5 - 11 2025 - Toronto ON
REYKJAVIK ICELAND
Saturday we got into cleaning mode and John did the living room windows and we rearranged and tidied up some plants.
He also cleaned up the balcony
I finished our Portugal recap so that I could continue our Jan - Jun recap.
Sunday I went on a kitchen cleaning spree. We moved the new air fryer to the spot of the old one. I thought I would rearrange the kitchen for it, but it works best there.
I wanted to book a few places for Summerlicious but the booking apps required a credit card for a reservation and I am not giving that info. We'll walk into a couple next week and if we get in we get in.
I made date shakes mid afternoon.
Monday John golfed. I picked up vegetables (yes, Jinjer, I enjoy doing that!). I also photographed a new mural.
I also received a lovely hand painted card from an English blogger friend, as well as my first Charles stamp (we don't get much real mail).
Tuesday
I cleaned up my blog drafts folder from 249 to 147. Many were just place holders. Some just needed a little tweaking to be scheduled.
Why is there always so much laundry to do?
I received the photos from our Reykjavik food tour guide HADDY x Hafsteinn Níelsson.
And I found this great video of Reykjavik Walking Downtown. Our hotel is at 9:15 on the left.
I did receive my new cutting board. It seems titanium is the new cutting board. No microplastics, and it’s supposed to be super resistant to wear. My Joseph boards are getting old.
Patio
Wednesday John had his men's golf league.
It seems I missed our neighbourhood excitement around noon as I was downtown.
First, this one. Driver drove down a pedestrian path and then crashed? License plate is MAUIED.
18 fire trucks counted and a helicopter. Closed Esso gas station fire. Copy this link to see video.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/30384825397799337
I heard rumours of a squatter. This gas station was closed last year to make way for a condo. The timeline to begin construction is highly dependent on the environmental condition of the site and the remediation process required.
I got a hair cut and then wandered over to the market for tzatziki.
The shuttered Irish Embassy Pub.
John was telling me about an article on the benefits of sourdough breads. I was excited to see this new spot on King St. that only uses 100% sourdough.
Sourdough is more digestible than standard loaves and more nutritious too. Lactic acids make the vitamins and minerals in the flour more available to the body by helping neutralise the phytates in flour that would interfere with their absorption. The acids slow down the rate at which glucose is released into the blood-stream and lower the bread's glycaemic index (GI), so it doesn't cause undesirable spikes in insulin. They also render the gluten in flour more digestible and less likely to cause food intolerance.
I seldomly walk down this way. P.J. O'Brien's pub has been here forever and when I turn the corner it makes me feel like I'm in Dublin, and yet, we've never been in here! We need to rectify that before it falls to the condo hammer.
I wanted to make sure that the mural hadn't disappeared.
I have never noticed Uncle Tony's tucked away here.
New market building is open.
Kebabs, kabobs...
"Kebab" and "kabob" (also spelled "kebob" or "kabab") are alternative spellings for the same word, referring to a variety of meat dishes that originated in the Middle East and are cooked on skewers. The term "kebab" is more common in British English, while "kabob" is often used in North America. I see we use the British format.
Reminding us to shop local, at the St. Lawrence Market North building.
Thursday we caught the 11:20 bus downtown and walked over to Adelaide St. We were going to have lunch at one of the Summerlicious spots.
I've been watching this construction over its build. I used to work in that white building with blue rounded windows so have watched these corners evolving and shifting over the last 15 years.
They haven't yet removed the scaffolding in front of the preserved home fronts yet.
Omer Arbel’s innovative installation at Toronto House is a linear cloud or coral-like form, made of welded sand-cast aluminum pieces, called 44. Each 44 results from a free pour of molten aluminum into a large canister filled with rock-like modules of resin-impregnated sand, a waste product of conventional sand casting. Past installations of 44, most notably commissioned in 2016 by the Barbican in London, have been suspended by cables and included low voltage electricity passed through each form, thereby illuminating a spherical glass orb. In this application, the aluminum pieces are welded to each other and attached to the building slab edges, forming a coral-like installation lit externally from the building faces.
Last summer we hit Summerlicious twice in the one week and the Mayor ate in our building's Summerlicious restaurant!
Mother Tongue plays homage to the diversity of Toronto and Chef Francis Bermejo’s Filipino roots. Click here for their Summerlicious menu. We also did Winterlicious last year at Wild Fire.
It is a great way to try ne places and dishes.
We had to look up some of the terms, so I am including them.
DUCK DUMPLINGS (4pc) duck confit, foie gras, shaoxing chicken jus. I loved it but I could have drunk a bowl of that jus!!! .
HUMBA PORK BELLY SSAM bibb lettuce, pickled mustard seeds, humba braise, shiso sprouts
HUMBA is a Filipino braised pork dish, traditionally from the Visayas region, known for its rich, sweet, and savory flavor profile. It's typically made with pork belly, slow-cooked in a mixture of soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, peppercorns, bay leaves, and fermented black beans, often sweetened with muscovado sugar GF. John loved it.
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GENERAL TAO BAO (2pc) crispy chicken, onion pickle, lemon mayo, choice of furikake fries or bibb salad. I didn't love the chicken, although it was nicely crispy. My fault, as John reminded me, I never order chicken for this reason, it was tough and felt like it had been reheated. My fries were good.
FURIKAKE is a dry Japanese condiment sprinkled on top of cooked rice, vegetables, and fish, or used as an ingredient in onigiri. It typically consists of a mixture of dried fish, sesame seeds, dried seaweed flakes, sugar, salt.
SZECHUAN STICKY PORK RIBS house six spice braised side ribs, charred scallion salad, jasmine rice. Again, John loved it.
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SWEET CRISPY SIO-BAO fried bao, pandan mascarpone, chocolate hazelnut, dulce de leche. OMG I loved this. Fried bao is the only way I want bao now.
PANDAN refers to the fragrant leaves of the Pandanus amaryllifolius plant, a tropical species native to Southeast Asia. These leaves are widely used in cooking, particularly in Southeast Asian cuisine, to impart a sweet, nutty, and slightly floral aroma and flavours. Pandan has a unique emerald green color derived from the chlorophyll in its leaves. When used in cooking, the leaves are often pulverized or extracted to impart this vibrant hue to various dishes, particularly in Southeast Asian cuisine.
UBE MASCARPONE TART miso toffee sauce, pistachio crumb, coconut cream. John also loved his dessert.
UBE pronounced "oo-beh", is a vibrant purple yam native to the Philippines, known for its distinct sweet, nutty, and vanilla-like flavor. It's a versatile ingredient, often used in Filipino desserts like ube halaya (a jam), ice cream, cakes, and cookies. Though it can be mistaken for purple sweet potatoes or taro,ube is a distinct species of yam.
GENERAL TAO BAO (2pc) crispy chicken, onion pickle, lemon mayo, choice of furikake fries or bibb salad. I didn't love the chicken, although it was nicely crispy. My fault, as John reminded me, I never order chicken for this reason, it was tough and felt like it had been reheated. My fries were good.
FURIKAKE is a dry Japanese condiment sprinkled on top of cooked rice, vegetables, and fish, or used as an ingredient in onigiri. It typically consists of a mixture of dried fish, sesame seeds, dried seaweed flakes, sugar, salt.
SZECHUAN STICKY PORK RIBS house six spice braised side ribs, charred scallion salad, jasmine rice. Again, John loved it.
.
SWEET CRISPY SIO-BAO fried bao, pandan mascarpone, chocolate hazelnut, dulce de leche. OMG I loved this. Fried bao is the only way I want bao now.
PANDAN refers to the fragrant leaves of the Pandanus amaryllifolius plant, a tropical species native to Southeast Asia. These leaves are widely used in cooking, particularly in Southeast Asian cuisine, to impart a sweet, nutty, and slightly floral aroma and flavours. Pandan has a unique emerald green color derived from the chlorophyll in its leaves. When used in cooking, the leaves are often pulverized or extracted to impart this vibrant hue to various dishes, particularly in Southeast Asian cuisine.
UBE MASCARPONE TART miso toffee sauce, pistachio crumb, coconut cream. John also loved his dessert.
UBE pronounced "oo-beh", is a vibrant purple yam native to the Philippines, known for its distinct sweet, nutty, and vanilla-like flavor. It's a versatile ingredient, often used in Filipino desserts like ube halaya (a jam), ice cream, cakes, and cookies. Though it can be mistaken for purple sweet potatoes or taro,ube is a distinct species of yam.
We waddled back to the bus. We caught up on five recorded episodes of MasterChef Australia S17.
Friday John headed out to golf. A friend, T, took our old air fryer.
I caught the 11:20 and walked up to Queen St. I decided to check out Bready for a lunch bite. Oh my, I thought Nord Lyon was a good bakery, but this was out of this world. I finally made my selection and enjoyed sitting on their patio.
Another new mural being painted on Front St. I'm guessing the artist is Julia Prajza.
Cube croissants!
In 1697, Le "Roy d'Espagne" in Brussels, Belgium, was originally the headquarters of the baker's guild. The building was named after a bust of Charles II of Spain, who was the sovereign of the Southern Netherlands at the time. This provides a historical link between pastry and Belgium in the late 17th century. I was so tempted by this!
But I chose the cream cheese croissant Danish!! Sooooooooo good!
My view as I ate, I used to work in that building across the street 1997 - 2002. You can just see Plensa's sculpture on the right.
Then I noticed that Nathan Phillips Square was having the annual Art Show. It was a little hot to browse so I just snapped a few photos as I cut through.
And went on to my actual destination, Old City Hall.
It has been decommissioned and until the city decides what to do with it, it is open to the public on Fridays. We had visited it in 2013 but it was still being used as a courthouse so no photos were allowed.
I walked through the Eaton Centre, it was hot out, to T&T and only picked up a couple of the Shanghai curry that we really enjoyed.
I debated taking the subway back but decided that by the time I went back and down and up at Union I'd be faster just walking.
Back through the Art Fair. I did like his work. James McKeag.
The mural had progressed as I waited for the bus.
COOKING
Saturday corned beef, cabbage and mashed potatoes
Sunday Chinese pork and green beans
Monday pork schnitzel potato salad and corn
Tuesday BBQ chicken quarters, potato salad and corn
Wednesday fish chowder (cod, shrimp - needed to be used up)
Thursday popcorn!
Friday steak frites chimichurri fry dip. John cooked the fries in the new air fryer and of course, did the steak. The fries were excellent.
I was on a roll on Friday, I decided to make my second crème brûlée for tomorrow. It took 3 egg yolks so I made macaroons (NEW recipe) with the 3 egg whites. Not to be confused with macarons!! John declared them as excellent, as he scarfed them down before I even dipped them in chocolate.
WATCHING
Attack on London Eyewitness accounts and previously unreleased footage reveal the 2005 London transport bombings and subsequent events. We had just left London that morning in 2005 to fly to Dublin!
Straw is a 2025 American psychological crime drama film. A single mother navigates a series of unfortunate events, leading her down an unforeseen path where she becomes embroiled in a situation she never envisioned, finding herself at the center of suspicion in an indifferent world.
Good storyline, terrible writing/acting.
Toxic Town is a 4 part British drama miniseries. It follows the story of three mothers involved in the Corby toxic waste case. When dozens of babies in Corby are born with disabilities, their mothers embark on a battle to hold those responsible to account.
Brendan Coyle (Mr. Bates from Downton Abbey) is a bad guy! And I love Robert Carlyle in anything!
A Fall from Grace Disheartened since her ex-husband's affair, Grace Waters feels restored by a new romance. But when secrets erode her short-lived joy, Grace's vulnerable side turns violent.
Pretty bad...
Den of Thieves 2 (2025) Big Nick is back on the hunt in Europe and closing in on Donnie, who is embroiled in the treacherous world of diamond thieves and the infamous Panther mafia, as they plot a massive heist of the world's largest diamond exchange.
A Widow's Game (Spanish: La viuda negra) is a 2025 Spanish crime drama film. The plot is based on the murder of the engineer Antonio Navarro Cerdán [es], stabbed to death in a garage of Patraix (Valencia) on 16 August 2017. The widow, nurse 'Maje', and the latter's lover and workmate Salva Rodrigo are condemned as perpetrators.
The Takedown (French: Loin du périph) is a 2022 French action comedy film. Diakité and Monge are police officers who are complete opposites, and get paired together to uncover an unexpectedly big criminal case.
We tried watching Baby Farm, almost Cops and The Craigslist Killer but couldn't get interested.
READING
Five Total Strangers (whoever recommended it, sorry, not sorry). Ridiculous plot, unrealistic coincidences, unfinished story lines...I only stuck with it because I wanted to know how they got through a Christmas Pennsylvania winter storm! I skimmed/read it so it didn't waste a lot of time. The idea that five people were going from San Diego to Pittsburgh via Newark on Christmas Eve? All ended up in the same rental car?
Not worth any more comments.
What We Buried by Canadian Robert Rotenberg #7 in a series that I've enjoyed until now. A good storyline let down by some cheesy characters (Opal, Rake) and it felt dragged out.
I did like the background story of the I Quaranta (the Forty Martyrs) from WWII as I had never heard of this true piece of history before.
The Heretic It’s 1975 and DI Duncan McCormack is back in Glasgow determined to complete unfinished business from the Quaker case of 1969.
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