Weekend Cooking

 August 2016 - Toronto ON

The weekend passed in a blur. Monday was a civic holiday and we headed out to find Corktown Common.

Here's a photo from the party a couple of weeks ago with all of us that I just received.

A new jewel in the landscape of the West Don Lands, Corktown Common is a 7.3 hectare (18 acre) park located at the foot of Lower River Street and Bayview Avenue.

You'll have to come back on Monday to see more of these intriguing sculptures along with Corktown Common.

We stopped and had brunch at the Dominion Pub, right up the street on Queen St. W. Perfect patio weather. No idea why John's phone is on fisheye.

Monday will also show another Elicser mural we found.

Tuesday John played golf at Royal Ontario and I went downtown with the idea to get a birthday gift (shush!!) for my cousin at the AGO. However, the subway wasn't running at Union Station so instead I walked to City Hall to renew my library card.

Then I went looking for some more brains, my brain fetish as John calls it. In case you don't know about it click below for links to some brainy ideas.

A Brainy Idea - City Hall 19 to date
Brain Wave - Distillery District 7 to date
Brainstorm - Union Station 5 to date
Racking Brains - Big Business 5 to date

Here's a brain teaser of one at City Hall.

Wednesday I did go to the AGO, renewed my membership, got a birthday gift and saw the Lawren Harris exhibit.

From the AGO website:

.

A founding member of the Group of Seven and a major figure in the history of twentieth-century Canadian art, Lawren Harris (1885-1970) remains largely unknown in the United States. This year the AGO is partnering with the Hammer Museum to introduce Harris’s iconic landscapes to audiences in Los Angeles and Boston. The Idea of North: The Paintings of Lawren Harris will be the first major solo exhibition of his work to be shown in the United States, and will arrive in Toronto in July of 2016.

The exhibition is curated by comedian, musician, actor and writer Steve Martin in collaboration with Cynthia Burlingham, Deputy Director, Curatorial Affairs at the Hammer Museum, and Andrew Hunter, Fredrik S. Eaton Curator of Canadian Art at the AGO.

 Harris also liked to write poetry.

Food truck on University.

Thursday was August Coffee Club at the condo.

Then John and I walked to a spot on the lake for a poutine.

Friday John golfed early (8:00 AM) as a result I was up at 6:45 when he left. House cleaning. laundry and I headed downtown on the 10:30 shuttle.

I walked underground from Union Station and came out at the St. Andrew subway station where I got a great reflection. Following this map  I walked along King to John St. up to Richmond and over to Spadina, down to King and headed back above ground to Union Station for 1:00 shuttle home. That was about 9,000 steps.

Plans were to stop by the Royal Alex to see the big red chair but they were running a contest for tickets so I only got it from the side.

It is hot out! 29 C or 84 F which doesn't sound that hot, but the sun was beaming down.


A couple of food trucks on King St getting ready for the noon time service.

Into Marshall's, Michael's and Linen Chest - leaving empty handed. Dollar store some items, nothing exciting. Bulk Barn for quinoa and gluten free flour.






Saturday - sticky chicken thighs with kale salad and feta
Sunday - ham, cauliflower and potato au gratin and braised red cabbage
Monday - roast chicken, carrots, potatoes and tomatoes

Tuesday - chicken pot pie with last night's chicken
Wednesday - turkey stuffed green peppers

Thursday - NEW balsamic honey and mustard pork chops with colcannon.
Recipe was ok but will not make it into My Recipe Box. I did use homemade blueberry/blackberry jam that I made on the weekend.
Friday - steak and NEW potato salad. I've made lots of potato salads but never used the blender for the dressing. Definite keeper!!

My Recipe Box - Potato Salad Dressing

I have always just mixed mayo and salad dressing in with the cold potatoes, radishes and/or celery and onions for potato salad.

I got to thinking that if I blended the ingredients it would make a smoother dressing and this was delicious!! I could see using it on a Caesar salad or coleslaw.

Adjust the items depending on how much you need. Whether you use a blender or just give them a good shake is up to you. I have even used an almost empty mayo jar so I could get the bits that were still in the jar.

1/2 cup olive oil/avocado mayo

1/4 cup Italian salad dressing

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon pickle juice

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

A drizzle of olive oil
Siracha to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Weekend Reflections

August 2016 - Toronto ON


St. Andrew church and CN Tower captured in the building on the northwest corner King and Simcoe.

Ramelton Ireland

Hosted by Joy's Book Blog.

April 2007 - Ramelton Donegal Ireland 

We now leave Northern Ireland and head into the south of Ireland, Eire.
We had rented an apartment online in the town of Ramelton. The owner was a doctor in Letterkenny.

I found a video online for the town. I could see this building with the red shutters from our place.

Ramelton is situated at the mouth of the River Lennon, 11 km north of Letterkenny and 4 km east of Milford, on the western shores of Lough Swilly. The town is named from Ráth Mealtain, (Irish for "the fort of Mealtan"), an early Gaelic chieftain. The fort is said to lie under the ruins of a medieval castle of the O'Donnells, the ruling family of West Donegal before their exile to mainland Europe in 1607.

I never tired of the view overlooking the river.

Ramelton was settled by English and Scots planters during the Ulster Plantation of the 17th century and is the site of the oldest Presbyterian church in Ireland.

This was such a pretty town and we could walk everywhere.

Market day.

Pick up groceries from the Spar.

I first traveled to England with my Mom in 1960

My parents took us back as a family in 1970.

John and I first went together in 1986 to London.

Continuing 1986 with Oxford and Stratford.

Ireland 1991 Part 1 Dublin

Ireland 1991 Part 2 Around Ireland

Ireland 1991 Part 3 Around Ireland

London 2005 with family

Ireland Part 1 2005 Ballyvaughan Aran Islands

Ireland Part 2 2005 Ballyvaughan Dunguaire Castle, Galway

Ireland Part 3 2005 Burren Bunratty Castle Aillwee Caves Lahinch

Ireland Part 4 2005 Dingle Kinsale Inch

Ireland Part 5 2005 Killarney Limerick Ashford

Ireland Part 6 2005 Dublin

Ireland 2001 Ballybunion

1987 London

2001 Scotland

2007 Belfast Northern Ireland


2007 Derry Northern Ireland

My Recipe Box - Sticky Chicken

I have seen a bunch of sticky chicken recipes on Pinterest and decided to make it for dinner with salad. I've also served it with rice and broccolini.

I sometimes mix and match recipes.

Sweet and Sour chicken with bok choy


I mixed the following and marinated boneless chicken thighs for a few hours, the longer the better.

The volume below would work for 8-10 chicken thighs so adjust accordingly.

1/3 cup Honey
1/4 cup Ketchup
2 tablespoons Soy sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons Hot sauce - your choice I usually have several on hand. I would put more the next time.
1 tablespoon Chopped garlic

Pineapple chunks (optional - grilled)

Many of the recipes then cooked them in a frying pan before transferring them to the oven. I thought, why add that step? So I put them into a roasting pan and poured the remaining marinade over them and baked them for about an hour. They were delicious.
I could see using this marinade on chicken wings too!

Wordless

Wordless Wednesday and at Wordless

July 2016 - Rochester NY

My City's Skyline

This month's theme is City Skyline - Click HERE

August 2016 - Toronto ON

I can step out my door and see this amazing view of my city!