What's Cooking?

March 2018 - Toronto ON


A very light week for photos so here is a food shot that Carol took of our breakfast place in El Quelite Mexico. Standard with every breakfast, the juice is missing.

Saturday
Six Word Saturday

Our first day home and I'm up at 7! John has a great lie-in though. When we were away we decided on our first day home we would go to Burger Priest for burgers. They are great because they do a gluten free bun that John says is really good. Today they also offered a keto bun which John also declared as delicious.
Check out their secret menu!

After that we went to La-z-boy to arrange delivery of our sofa and chair. Friday!

Then Longo's to get some groceries. I'm so happy to be cooking in my own kitchen again. For dinner we had roast chicken, roast potatoes, carrots, sprouts and tomatoes with delicious home-made chicken gravy.

Sunday
Inspired Sunday
One Word Sunday
Shadow Shot Sunday



We had blueberry pancakes for breakfast and spent the day reading and watching golf and movies.

I use Toronto Public Library a lot for books. But I finally looked at their movies that available on-line and I'm hooked. First I watched Loving Vincent which I did love.

Then Tortilla Soup, a delightful comedy full of great Mexican food.

The food! Watching him making the menus made me look up the recipes.

And the music!

Oh yeah, the story line was good too!

Dinner was the whole enchilada! Well, the British one...Roast beef, mashed potatoes, sprouts and mushy peas with home-made gravy and Yorkshire pudding.


MONDAY
Monday Mural
Foto Tunes


It was catch up with errands day and John made a run to Costco.

Homemade chicken soup for lunch from Saturday's roast.

I also picked up the mail from a friend and had a nice chat.

I hadn't made this banana bread in a long time but wow is it quick! No mixer and one bowl.

Leftovers for dinner.


TUESDAY
Tuesday Treasures

Trevor Noah interviewed David Chang about his food series Ugly Delicious so I had to look it up. Now I have to find a way to watch it.

From Food and Wine magazine:
Not only is it an international master class in some of the world's favorite comfort foods, the construct of the show combined with Chang's oftentimes-confrontational interview style offers powerful takeaways on multiculturalism and American history in every episode—all with an eye towards the future and how (or if) bringing people together around the dinner table can somehow open a gateway to mutual understanding and greater tolerance of our differences.

We went to the movies to see Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri. Loved it and it was certainly a lesson in tolerance.

Homemade pizza for dinner.


Wednesday

The air-conditioning guy was supposed to show up at 2:30 to get our order. I had met him at a friend's unit as he was doing hers and we arranged the appointment. He never showed after John and I waited around all afternoon.


I have realized that a roast beef gave me better value than a whole chicken. The chicken had cost me $13 and we had one meal and then a pot of soup for lunch on several days..

I used the roast beef to make beef with noodles tonight. This was a favourite growing up. Mom first made it after we had a meal out in a restaurant during Expo 67. This was a rare meal out for the family but Dad had worked at Expo and I think it was the only time the four of us went. This is a photo from that day. Dad was hopeless with a camera! That;s Mom, my sister and me with our backs to the camera.

I browned the meat with garlic and onions. Then browned onion, green pepper and mushrooms with the meat. Mixed it with some frozen tomato paste and some sriracha to the leftover gravy with extra mushroom stock added and poured over the meat and vegetables.

Served with salad it was delicious.

So the roast made three dinners and we both had it for lunch on Friday.



Thursday
Thursday Doors Dublin

I met my BFF for a long catch-up over lunch. She lost her 26 year old nephew in a single car accident this week, quite a shock for the whole family.


Dinner was teriyaki salmon, broccolini and salad.



Friday


Some groceries, car wash and general housework as we awaited our highly anticipated new sofa and chair.


TA DA!


I don't love the matchie cushions but the foam in them is excellent so I will need to shop for some more interesting covers. But we love it! It's been a long time since we had a new couch!







Steaks for dinner with my Mom's potatoes and onion in foil, which I haven't made in a long time. Simply slice potatoes and onions and place on foil, top with salt, pepper and Italian salad dressing, fold into a packet and bake about an hour in the oven. Works great on a BBQ.


So this was a really quiet week getting settled in at home.
BOOKS

FINISHED

Still Mine well, I didn't finish it, I got a couple of chapters in, on a plane, and just couldn't get interested. Judging by the Goodreads reviews I wasn't the only one.

A Different Kind of Daughter her story was very interesting and I would have liked a bit more insight into her life.

A Complicated Kindness was good if a little slow.

It's not the East Village in New York City where Nomi would prefer to live, but an oppressive town founded by Mennonites on the cold, flat plains of Manitoba, Canada. It certainly read like Miriam Toews knew what it was like to live as a teenage, rebel Mennonite. Sure enough she grew up in Steinbach Manitoba, and we had visited the Mennonite Village Museum there last September and had a delicious memorable meal.

STARTED

One of my wish list books became available and I am hooked! The Woman at 72 Derry Lane is set in Dublin so I am especially enjoying it but it does read like a Maeve Binchy story.

SHARING WITH:

Beth hosts Weekend Cooking where you can post anything food related.
Saturday Snapshots is hosted by West Metro Mommy.
Sundays in my City
My Sunday Photo
Seasons
Monday Walks
Monday Morning Blog Club
Through My Lens Monday
Our World Tuesday
Wanderful Wednesday

Outdoor Wednesday

Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global
Travel Photo Thursday

Expo 67

Summer 1967 - Montreal QC

It is the 50th anniversary of Expo 67 this year. WOW where did those years go?

Opening Day was April 28.

I was living in Montreal and spent my entire summer there as I was lucky to have a season pass - above photo is my original passport. I collected stamps from all the pavilions.
I was allowed to go by myself to Expo 67 as well as going often with family and friends.

The cost was $30 which was a lot of money then.That would be $215 today.

Here is a link to many interesting stories and photos of Expo.



The theme song was Hey Friend, Say Friend. This video starts with the theme song for the 100th anniversary of Canada, CAN A DA.

Montréal's Expo literally rose from the depths of the St. Lawrence River to give Canada a dazzling one hundredth birthday party.



Montréal mayor, Jean Drapeau, came up with the idea of enlarging Ile Ste Hélène, an island park in the St. Laurence, and adding another island to become the fair site. His plan was met with skepticism and derision by almost everyone. But Drapeau and his engineers persevered and began the momentous task of filling the river with 25 million tons of earth to create a magnificent and unique locale.

The choice of the islands in the St. Lawrence River for the location also carried historical significance for Canada. As an important trade route and the access point for early immigrants, the St. Lawrence symbolizes the link between Canada and the world.

Wikipedia

Photo credit: © National Archives of Canada

Here is a great video.

How I wish we'd had digital back then. I don't have many photos. *SIGH* which meant I thought of my postcard collection and thought I must have some in there. Two hours later, they are scanned!!

This bottom photo above is the Canada Pavilion.



Expo By The Numbers

To give you a sense of the grandeur that was Expo 67, here's a rundown of some of the very interesting figures about the World's Fair.

• Cost: $1,000,000,000


• Participating Nations: 62


• Total Attendance: 50,306,648


• Area: 900 acres


• Movies shown: 5, 000+


• Ticket costs: $2.50/day (adults), $1.25/day (children)


• Opening Times: 9:30am to 10pm


• Opening Date: April 27, 1967


• Closing Date: October 29, 1967

Habitat 67, or simply Habitat, is a model community and housing complex, designed by Israeli/Canadian architect Moshe Safdie. It was originally conceived as his master's thesis in architecture at McGill University and then built as a pavilion for Expo 67.

The development was financed by the federal government, but is now owned by its tenants, who formed a limited partnership that purchased the building from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation in 1985. Safdie still owns a penthouse apartment in the building.

My Dad worked as an electrician on Habitat when it was being built for a few years. 

These are the only photos I seem to have.

Three heads in front towards right are me, Mom and my sister.

The province even released special license plates.

Happy Birthday!

Today would have been my mother's and her mother's birthdays. 
Mom would have been 86 (died 1989) and Nanny 110 (died 1972)!!!
These photos were taken in Montreal around 1967.

My sister Ursula is no longer with us either so I hope they are all sharing this day together.

Sepia Saturday

I'm posting at Sepia Saturday today.

Today's theme is:

Things are slowly but steadily improving here in Sepia Towers and a couple more weeks and a little time in the sun might see me back in circulation. When we do venture into the recuperative sun I doubt whether we will be staying under canvas, but I hope we are as happy as this trio of happy campers. For the themers in the sepia tent, there are lots of possibilities - children, tents, fences, fields, poppies, smocks, or even sailor-suits again. And, as always, you can pitch your tent in the non-theming section of the campsite and go with any old photograph you like. 

Winter 1962

Image source

My sister and I were Brownies and Girl Guides (Girl Scouts in the States). I went on the be a Brownie leader.

Girl Guides were my first and only ever camping adventure. I don't do camping at all. I would not be a happy camper.

My parents were not great photographers!!! Someone is always missing part of their head.

I'm guessing we are about 7 and 10, BTW that is me on the left. We are in our home on Carleton Ave. in Montreal.

We sold Girl Guide cookies as well, going door to door, unlike nowadays.

I googled girl guide 1960 uniforms and came up with this photo of Princess Anne in her Brownie uniform in 1960.

I guess her parents were better photographers LOL! Better camera too.

When my sister was in Guides my mother volunteered as a Guide leader at St. Malachy's, our parish. Mom is on the far right in her very stylish 1967 (ish) uniform. She loved being involved and would go camping every summer, a very happy camper.

I don't recognize the girls, I will post on Facebook and see if I get any information.