Do Re Mi

So by now, everyone has seen the Susan Boyle video, right? I admit it gave me a few good goosebumps the first time around, but now it's enough already with Boyle and her makeover and the new kid and the new, new kid.

But this is my new fave video!

I dare you to watch these dancers overtake Antwerp Central Station and not tap along or at least hum along to this Sound of Music classic. The video will make you happy -- promise!

Whoah, Nellie

Among the books I've been reading lately was our last book club pick, Nellie McClung, by Charlotte Gray -- part of John Ralston Saul's extraordinary Canadians series.

The book brought me totally back to my university days when I read all sorts of stuff like this. (Yes, I was a Canadian history nerd.) Seems like a lifetime ago...

The book's a relatively quick read, and while it's definitely more essay-ish than some of Gray's other books I've really enjoyed, I still liked this one. Nellie was born 100 years before me, and I was really struck by what a difference that century has made on the lives of Canadian women. I take so many things for granted now, but reading about Nellie made me reflect on things I should appreciate just a little bit more.

But I also thought about how Nellie's life was in some ways easier than today. For example, in spite of not learning to read until the age of 10, at 16, she decides she wants to pursue teaching, so heads off to Winnipeg for a bit of schooling and lands her first job. If only becoming a teacher were so easy today! And later in life, Nellie becomes a published author and popluar freelance writer and serialist. Perhaps Gray overstates the ease with which McClung achieves this, but it certainly seems as though her success was quite easy indeed. Not to say that success wasn't deserved, but her struggles or setbacks in this regard seemed to be few and far between.

Maybe those hardships came in other forms though, because the insights into McClung's personal life and marriage are pretty skimpy. Gray suggests that McClung's husband may have suffered from depression or other mental issues (shades of L.M. Montgomery here), and then following McClung's death, her oldest daughter burned all of her mother's diaries and papers. The reason for this is never fully explained -- and likely not known by Gray -- but as a reader, you're left with the feeling that a huge mother/daughter rift may have been the cause.

An interesting lady, an interesting life and an interesting life. Thanks, Nellie.

Blood orange tart

Now that spring is finally here, I guess I should write about a winter fruit recipe I made a few months ago (okay, so the seasonal segue isn't the greatest, but it's been a long week).

Anyhoo, I'm a big fan of blood oranges for their beautiful colour and their seemingly constant supply at my neighbourhood Farm Boy. I came across this recipe and was inspired to recreate it just as soon as I finished drooling over the photos.

The pastry is a cinch to whip up, and it baked into a lovely, crispy display for the bejewelled fruit. I must say the preparation of the oranges is a bit fussy, in that you have to tediously segment so many of them, but the purple-stained fingers and hands were well worth the end result. I love rustic tarts for their intrinsic handmade quality, and this one produced a manageable sized dessert as well. Very good for just a handful of people.

I'm not sure I'd bother with the salted caramel sauce again, though I might give it another try as I think I burned the sugar a bit. A spoon or two of thinned out dulce de leche would be an equally yummy substitute.

My orangina rustica!

Happy Sneeze-ster

While I've been thinking about starting a blog for a long time, one of the reasons I chose this weekend to launch is because I've been housebound with a wicked spring cold. And in case you're wondering, yes, I did want to spend a four-day holiday weekend stuck on my couch surrounded by cups of tea and Kleenex balls.

Needless to say, I'm not too happy about the situation. And that's mostly because I'm pretty sure I caught this cold from a co-worker, who came in to work all last week where she hacked and snorted away in her office. It didn't help matters that she constantly -- and loudly -- proclaimed to everyone that it was perfectly safe for her to be at work because she's read the "literature" and as long as she washed her hands and sneezed into her armpit, she wouldn't contaminate anyone else.

Right.

Speaking as the exception to that "literature" let me offer up a tip for anyone who works with other people. If you are coughing ferociously and loudly, whether it's into your armpit or not, those germs you're spewing don't know where the boundaries of your office end. There's a pretty good chance that your cold plague will float across the hall and infect your innocent co-worker. And if you cough all over the photocopier, printer and fax machine THAT EVERYONE USES, then you double or triple the chances of getting your colleagues sick.

So quit being a martyr and stay home when you're sick. Because really, I don't like you that much to begin with, and getting me sick isn't helping change that.

Achoo.

Sugar shack adventure

Last Sunday I visited a gourmet sugar shack in Quebec. To celebrate sugaring season, Montreal Chef Martin Picard (star of Wild Chef on the Food Network) has opened a shack to produce syrup for his restaurant and to raise pigs, which he'll eventually feature on his menus. The shack's only open for the month of April, and service has been sold out for weeks.

The cabin itself is in Mirabel, about an hour outside of Montreal. After a what seemed like a ridiculously long drive through every butt ugly town in Quebec, we eventually found the place, and were surprised to see the parking lot jammed full of Jags, BMWs and other pricey drives. My mud-spattered Mazda fit right in!

The inside of the shack is typical of other sugar cabins, with a rustic interior and family-style seating at long tables and benches. The upscale element of this particular shack included a bar, complete with $200 bottles of champagne!

The menu was an hommage to syrup and pig, and the service is dim sum style. We started with great pea soup, boasting large chunks of ham and what we thought might have been foie gras. Next came a salad course, lightly dressed with more ham and pork scratchings on top. This service also included a plate of tiny pancakes that were insanely good, and some creton and smoked salmon.

Up next was a smoked haddock omlette and lobster roll, cooked tempura style, and filled with rice and beets. Delicious!

Despite the fact that we were already filling up, the next course was the "main" and it was a carnivore's delight. In this dish alone were rabbit, quail, chicken and duck breast -- all served with beans, polenta and turnip.

After gorging ourselves on various bits of animal, out rolled a sugar-fest of dessert. The star was an amazing banana split, served with maple ice cream, sugared nuts, candied pineapple, some kind of Quebecois dulce de leche, homemade marshmallows and maple spun sugar. It was heavenly!

Also on the dessert menu were two maple doughnuts, fried in duck fat, (not our favourites) and a plate of snow, on which was poured some maple syrup, which you then rolled up on a popsicle stick -- just like when you were a kid!

We really didn't need to eat for the rest of the day after this. Yum, yum good!

Two happy diners at the bar.

Hola Cuba

So I visited Cuba for the first time in March and had a great time. As expected, the beaches were beautiful and the people were very friendly.

My absolute favourite thing (because I am a really lazy person, who is incredibly fond of naps) are the outdoor beds (little tent like structures with curtains in the picture). Let me just say that a few pina coladas, followed by an outdoor sleep is one of the best ways to spend an afternoon ever.

One day we left Varadero to go into Havana, where we toured the city. I took this photo of some street ladies. Check the woman in the background holding up the massive pair of underwear. WTF?

Like, did she just take them off? Is she holding them for a friend? Or did some well-intentioned Canadian give them as a gift? I prefer this last theory. "Here you go, my communist-suppresed sister, a pair of previously-enjoyed gotchies from the land up north. Wear them in good health!"

The architecture in Havana is really interesting, even though most of the buildings are decrepit and in some state of disrepair. This is one of the government buildings adorned with Che's face. His face isn't just on buildings either : you can buy an entire Che wardrobe in Cuba if that's your thing. Sadly, Fidel's mug isn't anywhere to be found.

I'm currently reading Stuff White People Like and one of the items on the list is Che Guevara, so I guess I fit the mold!

Here's a shot of some school kids we say walking along a Havana street. So cute!

Apparently Cuba has almost 100% literacy rate. Cubans can go to school for free and even when they're in university or grad school, all their supplies, books, even sheets, towels etc. are all paid for by the government. And students can choose to study whatever they like (medicine, law etc.) without writing any kind of entry test or meeting certain criteria. As long as they maintain their grades, then they can graduate.

Communism rules!

Brand new blog!

So I'm entering the world of blogging! Enjoy!