Author: cultureguru

Trippin’ in Elora

Not sure what was going on, but everybody and their brother seemed to be in the small town of Elora last weekend. We were there to take part in the Culinary Walking Tour, which itself seemed to have been overbooked with 19 people. During the $15 tour, you visit 7 food-related establishments for samplings, and get some history of Elora and its buildings on the way.

Town crier in Elora

Greeted by the Elora town crier

Each establishment our large group went to this day, however, seemed to be run off its feet by higher paying customers, making it difficult for them to give the tour group the normal amount of attention. This, despite the tour taking place from 2 to 4, so not exactly at peak dining hours.

Nevertheless, it was pretty enjoyable. It was a beautiful day, and we got to learn about a number of establishments we weren’t previous familiar with. This was the run down:

  1. Olive oil and vinegar tasting at the Village Olive Grove. This was one we were quite familiar with, having twice before done tastings here. Still, it was good, with both the olive oil and vinegar (which you taste via sugar cube) being impressive, and this particular host not phased by the large group or the busyness of his shop.
  2. Macaroons at the Mill Street Bakery and Bistro, another place we’ve actually eaten before. Macaroons were tasty, but we had to eat them standing up in the lobby while getting an abbreviated history of the building.
  3. Bocconcini salad at the Cellar Pub and Grill. We had to wait outside here a while before they were ready for us, but that did give us time to admire their fantastic patio we’d never before noticed. The usual host for the tour was away, so the bartender did his best to introduce the place. The salad was fine, but again, we didn’t get to sit, and no one seemed to think to tell us about their menu.
  4. E&G Fine Pastry and Cake was one place that wasn’t crowded with people, and it was a really interesting shop, full of occult books and medieval supplies along with delicious pastries. The owners didn’t say much–I don’t think English was their first language–but the mocha cake was very good.
  5. Cork was full, so we sat out their outdoor patio. The hostess and chef still tried to give a good overview of the place as we eat a sampling of grilled salmon with side vegetable. This was on the one that intrigued us the most—more on it later (plus photo below).
  6. At the Shepherd’s Pub, we got a small glass of MacLeans micro-brewed beer (not that they said that’s what it was, but that”s what the website says). As beer goes, it was fine, and the place seemed like your typical pub.
  7. Finally, they managed to squeeze us in at tables Cafe Creperie and talk about that place while we sampled a piece of smoked salmon, roasted tomato, and apple crepe. They were all really good; I would recommend this place if you were in those parts and in the mood for crepes.

Our tour group was from various parts of Ontario—Toronto, London, northern Ontario—further afield than I’d expected. (I somehow thought everyone would be semi-local, like us.) And there were a couple there from Australia!

In anticipation of this, we’d skipped lunch, which maybe wasn’t the best idea, because then all the samplings seemed too small. We were actually thinking of going out for a meal by the end. But we finally nixed that idea, instead heading and just having an earlier dinner.

So in retrospect, the better idea would have been snacking before the tour. (A whole lunch might have been sampling everything difficult.)

Cork Restaurant

The exterior of Cork

This weekend Jean invited me back to Elora, where he wanted to take some pictures, then try lunch at Cork. Elora was back to its sleepy self yesterday, with just the normal number of tourists milling about. Jean wasn’t super pleased with the results of his photography (his own assessment, not mine), but post some shots anyway.

Elora Mill

Elora Mill

Elora waterway

Cool look of the water here

Ontario autumn

Ontario autumn

And, we had lunch at Cork. We tried three samplers: a brie and pear flat bread (hard to go wrong with that, and they didn’t); scallops with smoky bacon and crip chips (nice combo, big scallops); and gnocchi in cream-based sauce with cheese (very rich, but great texture on the pasta). We had that with a half-litre of unoakced Chardonnay.

Lunch at Cork

On this calmer day in Elora, we spoke to the hostess and got a better overview of their offerings, which include:

  • Half-price bottles of wine on Tuesday
  • All-you-can-eat tapas on Wednesday (Uptown 21 style, they will just keep bringing items until you declare yourself full)
  • $2 oysters on Thursday, with a minimum of 2 kinds on offer
  • Live jazz on Saturday
  • Something beef-related on Sunday (for those of you still eating beef. She did mention it was Ontario, not Alberta, beef)

I think we’ll be back.

The reno

It’s been nearly a week since the new flooring was installed. The house is not all put back together yet (much remains to be “unpacked”), but it’s quite serviceable now, and we’re pleased with the results so far. The stress level in the household has gone down ten notches.

The most surprising thing was what a big difference the hardwood in the hallway makes. This was more of an aside to the whole thing–hey, why not also have these guys install that hardwood we bought for the hallway years, that’s been sitting under a bed ever since–but they did a great job, and the hallway really looks fantastic.

(Which you can’t probably tell that well from this mediocre picture taken by me with my phone. Maybe a better one by Jean will get substituted eventually.)

Hallway and stairs in hardwood

Almost worth the glue smell we’re still trying to dissipate!

The focus was actually on the downstairs, a now much emptier room–and not only because we haven’t unpacked everything yet. The extra floor space was a deliberate attempt to create a new exercise space for me (and Jean), by moving the main computer and accessories, the big desk, and the file cabinet upstairs to the former exercise room. (Which I hadn’t been using as such in months, since the DVD in there died.)

Here is an even worse (blurry!) phone picture of the a corner of our emptier downstairs, with its new (less glamorous than hardwood, but functional) flooring–including some leftover pieces:

Exercise room

What you can’t see on the other side of the treadmill is my big weight machine. And yes, there is still a computer in that room–the secondary one.

It’s a big room, so the other half remains a TV area, with couches, fireplace, and media storage. Even when unpacked, that part is going to look unfinished until we get the new TV purchased and mounted above the fireplace. (Maybe a Christmas prsesent?) And add some more shelving. And, OK, get the fireplace area finished with a stone overlay.

But hey, the hallway is definitely all done!

Ladies and gentlemen, Ms k.d. lang

I had all good intentions of getting a list a few tracks from k.d. lang’s new album, Sing It Loud, before seeing her in concert last Wednesday. But with the renovations going on, that just didn’t happen. So it occurred to me that I didn’t really know that many k.d. lang songs. I have the Ingenue album, and Hymns of the 49th Parallel, a few more versions of her singing “Hallelujah”, and her duet of “Crying” with Roy Orbison. That’s it.

Turns out my three companions to the concert were pretty much in the same boat. We were joking how we’d all just be sitting there, waiting for “Hallelujah”. But that voice, right? It should be great on any tune, whether we knew the song or not.

Continue reading “Ladies and gentlemen, Ms k.d. lang” →

Enjoying the harvest at Solé

Most of the weekend was spent prepping for a floor installation, which meant boxing items, moving furniture, rewiring networks, ripping up carpet, and such things. Not so much fun, really. So we decided to eat out on Saturday.

We’d really enjoyed Solé Restaurant’s Harvest of Ontario dinner last year, so decided to try it again. I think it was even better.

The place was just hopping, and despite our reservation, we did have to wait a bit at the bar before we could be seated. Not a big deal, though. Once seated, it was in their back room, which was a quieter spot, more amenable to conversation.

Course 1 was fresh fig, minted mascarpone, Niagara prosciutto, in a red wine reduction. That was served with a 2011 Pinot Grigio—all wines by Vineland Estates.

Prosciutto and Fig

The prosciutto was amazing, wonderful texture, not dry and chewy as it can be. The cheese, fig, and mint all worked beautifully together and were a nice contrast to the salty meat. The wine wasn’t the greatest to drink on its own (not that it was bad), but it did suit the food well.

Course 2 featured pernod and dill-cured smoked salmon (not from Ontario!), potato blinis, lavender, and Niagara peach preserves. That was served with a 2011 unoaked chardonnay.

Salmon Gravlax

The Chardonnay was nicer drinking wine on its own. Being unoaked, it had a nice fruitiness. And the food was once again superlative. The blinis were a nice support to the salmon, contrasted by peaches. The lavender was subtle.

Main course featured Nipping Farms boneless quail, served with gnocchi, cipollini onions, fennel, mushrooms, and double smoked bacon jus. The wine was a 2011 Cabernet Merlot.

Roasted quail

With that description, how can you go wrong? Jean worried a bit about the onions, but I think they were overwhelmed by the delicious bacon. The gnocchi had great texture, soft but not mushy. The quail was nicely done, not overcooked, and not having to deal with bones was nice.

The Cab Merlot was very young. Nothing to be offended with there, but it will probably be better in a year or two. Still, with quail you don’t want a big red, so it suited.

Dessert was zabagione with fresh seasonal berries, served with 2008 Cabernet ice wine.

Zabaglione

One can quibble that these berries aren’t really seasonal anymore, but it was a tasty and light and somewhat healthy ending to the meal. And it’s always nice to get a red ice wine. We were left feeling quite satisfied, but not unpleasantly full.

The whole shebang was $60—$40 for food, $20 for the wines—which seemed like a deal to me. Service was perfectly fine, with wines being described as they arrived this year (something that didn’t quite happen last year).

I believe this menu is available until the end of September, with the Blackshop in Cambridge offering another take on the same idea.

Movie reviews: Never Let Me Go, One Week

Never Let Me Go posterWithout intending this, last weekend we ended up watching two movies on the cheery subject of human mortality, as depicted through the prism of young adults facing a death sentence:

Never Let Me Go, 2010, starring Keira Knightly, Andrew Garfield, and Carey Mulligan

One Week, 2008, starring Joshua Jackson and Liane Balaban

Based on a novel, the premise of Never Let Me Go, a British film, is an alternate world where cloning technology was perfected in the 1950s, leading to a world where clones are created for the purpose of providing life-extending organ donations to everyone else. We first meet the donors as children in a British boarding school, then move ahead to their lives as young adults. The focus is on three characters who form a love triangle.

One Week is a Canadian movie in which the protagonist receives a terrible cancer diagnosis in the first scene. Instead of immediately going into treatment, as recommended, he decides to take a motorcycle road trip across Canada first, to take stock of his life.

As you might imagine, Never Let Me Go is sad. But at least, blessedly, you’re never made to wallow in the sadness. It’s there, it’s built into the story, but it’s all underplayed, somewhat interior, all very British. It never brought me to tears. It’s very well-made, with a lot of attention to the look, the dimmed color palette. It moves along at an appropriate pace. Both the child actors and the young adults in the film are quite good in their roles.

Most striking about how the story plays out if how accepting all the clones are of their fate. It never seems to occur to anyone to run and try to escape the transplant surgeries that will ultimately kill them. If they had, that would have been a whole other movie. (I think it was called Logan’s Run.) If still wondering why this story was told in these terms, watch the extras! It is explained there.

One Week movie posterI was going to say that One Week is therefore a contrast, as it’s all about escape, but that’s not really true. Lead character Ben knows perfectly well he can’t outran cancer. He’s just looking for a slice of time before he becomes a patient.

Everything in this movie takes place with Ben basically still feeling well, so it’s much less sad than Never Let Me Go. The whole story is approached with wry humour.  It’s also a real love letter to Canada, as you see a lot of the iconic and beautiful Canadian sites Ben travels through, including the Big Nickel, the Terry Fox statue, the rolling prairies, the gorgeous beaches of Tofino.

The script does not have the fullness and depth of Never Let Me Go‘s, but I still found it interesting to participate in Ben’s examinations of the choices that had led him to a job he isn’t passionate about, and into an engagement with a lovely woman who nevertheless may not be The One. And of course, leads you to wonder why you might do if you had a week before entering into likely hopeless cancer treatment.

Jean’s take? He found Never Let Me Go really sad, and overall thinks I should rent more comedies. As for One Week, he was strongly critical of Ben’s treatment of his fiancee, but did enjoy the travel through Canada aspect. I think his attention reasonably well, for another movie that is more about self-realization than plot twists.

Missing from the North American version of Tommy

Bit of a tiring weekend, sorting through papers, files, magazines, books that all needing clearing out of our large downstairs room, so new flooring can be put in. Still to be addressed is all the media–CDs, DVDs, VHS! Many of the latter I expect to finally discard (though I do still have a working player), but I plan to hang on to the CDs and DVDs for the time being. Even though they’re rapidly becoming obsolete themselves.

One concerning thing about DVDs disappearing is that with them seem to go the “extras”. I realize that plenty of people don’t give a toss about the “extras” on a DVD; they just want to see the movie. So the alternative of downloading, or using Netflix (which never includes extras, I hear?), suit them just fine.

But me, I like a good “extra”. I’m a bit a analytical, and if a movie makes me think, I like to see if the extras provide any answers. I therefore still rent physical DVDs (albeit from an online service). And though my movie purchasing has slowed way down, I can still be lured in by the offer of juicy additions to a movie I really enjoyed.

When I discovered that the European version of Ken Russell’s Tommy had a whole extra disc of “stuff”, none of it available on any North American release of the movie (and also not findable, at least by me, on any torrent site), I had to get it. I have reconciled myself to the fact that I basically love Ken Russell’s Tommy, despite its excesses, sexism, controversial portrayal of pedophilia, and casting of people who can’t really sing. For me, that’s just outweighed by the incredible visual design of the film, the effort at teasing out a semi-coherent narrative from a muddled LP, and of course, the sheer beauty of Roger Daltrey.Roger Daltrey in Tommy

Young Mr. Daltrey looking rather angelic

Finding a European copy proved a bit tricky, as the movie is going out of print. But via Ebay, I did my hands on a German version. (The movie and extras are all in English, of course; it’s just the subtitles and navigation and cover that are in German.) It was PAL format and Region 2, but Ebay also offers region-free DVD players at a good price, so I was set.

And now, from her interview, I know what Ann-Margret was thinking during her infamous writhing in beans, chocolate, and champagne scene. (At one point it was “ouch!”, because she badly cut her hands on the broken glass.)

Ann-Margret with beans in Tommy

Ann-Margret losing herself in the role

Unfortunately, they didn’t ask her one of my other questions, which was how she felt about having been cast a “mother” to someone just 3 years younger than she. Daltrey kind of covers that, though, saying that his biggest acting challenge here was trying to pretend that the gorgeous woman draped all over him in certain scenes was his “mom”.

(Honestly, those two look like they want to devour each other in some scenes. I’m curious to see what Ken Russell has to say about that in his commentary, but I’m not up to those parts yet.)

It seems that no one but Daltrey was ever seriously considered for the lead, but Townshend does say the age thing gave him pause. “Well, Roger wasn’t a natural choice to me! He was a bit long in the tooth for it.”

And what did Ken Russell, an older man who preferred classical man, think of working with the ‘orrible ‘oo, reputed to be so ill-tempered, out of control, and generally nasty bunch of guys? He said:

He [Daltrey] was as good as gold, full of suggestions, willing to do take after take. He suggested things, very inventive, very imaginative guy, and one of the nicest people you will ever hope to work with.

In fact, I was told at the beginning, Oh, you don’t want to work rock stars, they’ll make your life a misery, they’re difficult, they’re drunk. They were the nicest people I’ve ever worked with! They were good as gold. They were like little babies! They were just sweet.

The Who. Sweet as little babies. Where else am I going to hear something like that, but on a DVD commentary track? How will I find out these things, in a future world with no “extras”?

Movie review: Ruby Sparks

*** Ruby Sparks (July 2012) – Theatre
Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan. A young novelist struggling to write his second book after the successful first is finally inspired by a character he names Ruby. Then one day, Ruby shows up in the flesh, just as he has envisioned her…

She says: It was hard not to go all “feminist analysis” on this one, with the character of Ruby being, of course, the ultimate “manic pixie dream girl”. Having literally been imagined into existence, she is indeed a quirky young woman who lives only to inspire and please the main male character.

But then the movie examines that point. Having been brought to biological life as a complete human being, Ruby starts to chaff under her limitations. She’s lonely. She wants to do more. She wants to be more. And the reclusive Calvin isn’t sure he likes it.

It was definitely an interesting movie. Though I still wonder what it would have been with the genders reversed.

He says: Yes, enough happened in that movie; it had enough plot for me. He was an odd duck, that Calvin, though. Not a typical guy at all. She was just riveting. The whole thing held my interest.

Yeah, OK, I liked it.

Alone for two days

Jean was away on a canoe trip the last couple days. He was asked a lot, as he usually does on these occasions, “What does Cathy do when you’re gone?”

When obviously, I just sit in the corner and cry.

No, actually… I’m not really sure what to make of the question. (What do they think single people do… all the time?) But to answer it: I do pretty much the same things I do on any other weekend at home. Only alone.

Like, I run errands. I read (especially on my highly addictive tablet). I watch TV and DVDs (especially those programs Jean  doesn’t care for). I cook (and eat. And drink wine.) I exercise (inside and out). I call up my parents.

Now, on some of these occasions, I do get together with friends and do stuff (dinner or concert out, or whatever), or get myself to Toronto and meet with a sister or two. I am even capable of taking myself out to a movie or concert—something I occasionally do even when Jean is home, actually, to give him a break from attending events he’s only semi-interested in. (Try it sometime, if you haven’t. Turns out, once you’re in a crowd at an event, it’s really hard to tell you’re a loser with no friends. 🙂 )

I guess that’s what they’re really wondering, eh? How I handle being alone? Well, for an introvert, there are worse things than alone. My weekend was not exciting, but know what? I was never bored.

Byelections are hard

My riding is one of two in the midst of a byelection for the Ontario legislature. And I am Undecided.

I have decided against the Progressive Conservatives (I know, you’re all shocked) and the six fringe candidates that are running. That leaves three options: Liberals, NDP, and Greens.

Recently I’ve just been voting for whoever appears to have the best chance of defeating the Conservative candidate, and in this riding, that’s normally Liberal.

But a byelection is not the same. For one thing, I do not have to fear the Conservatives in the same way, because even if they happen to win both seats up for grabs, they will still not form government.

For another, it’s not really so clear the Liberals are the next leading contenders. The NDP have a strong, well-known local candidate, and with voters not having to fear an NDP government resulting from her winning the seat, they might just vote for her. There’s no knowing for sure, but all indications are that this is a three-way race.

So, another strategy I sometimes take when struggling to decide is to just pick the best local candidate. In a byelection, this seems a particular sensible approach. Therefore, I watched the local debate, and came to the conclusion that… All the candidates I’m considering are quite good, really.

The Liberals Eric Davis and the NDP’s Catherine Fife both speak very well and knowledgeably. He’s a lawyer and she’s local schoolboard trustee, and they both already have the politician’s ability to seem like they’re answering a question when they haven’t, really. And it’s in this respect that the Green’s Stacey Danckert was quite refreshing, even though she was soft spoken and less assured. But she was also clearly very smart, informed, and sincere.

Plus, the Greens have some cool policies. Combine the Separate and public school boards? Yes, we can! (Wait, that’s someone else’s slogan.) Reduce income taxes and increase pollution taxes? Sounds good to me. Proportional representation? Bring it on.

But do the Greens have any shot at all in this thing? That is unlikely. Do I consider them anyway, for supporting the candidate and the policies? I’m undecided.

This byelection is also unusual in that actually could change the shape of the Legislature. If the Liberals happen to manage to win both byelection, they’d end up with a very slim majority. Do I want this? Majority governments—including this one—tend to be rather arrogant and undemocratic. But minority governments are all gamesmanship, with everyone threatening elections at every opportunity… All dreaming that majority they might win.

Basically, we have terrible political system, in which both majority and minority governments kind of suck. I can’t change that with my vote. (Ontarians could have changed that in a referendum a few years ago, but they didn’t. I may never forgive you for that, Ontarians. But I’m digressing.)

So… Not much point in voting strategically, no clear favorite amongst a set of good candidate, not really sure who I want to win the seat (except I’d prefer not Conservative or a fringe candidate).

Gosh, I may actually have to read the party platforms, or something.

Around the world in 20 plates

Verses restaurant decided to try something new: An evening of 20 (twenty) tasting plates. We decided we would go.

The evening began on their patio with prosecco. The first course was served out there, of a single raw oyster topped with jellied Bloody Mary mix. Very nice.

Bubbly on the patio

We then headed inside, where everyone was seated. They explained that:

a) It was sold out, plus had a 45-person waiting list

b) It wasn’t feasible to wine match 20 different small plates, so they would be offering one Chilean Pinot Noir and one Chilean Sauvignon Blanc, for which we could request refills as we chose

c) They had no idea how long this would all take. (We started at 6:0o pm.)

There was a printed menu giving the essence of what was to come, and Jean was pretty excited about the next item: Foie gras. We predicted it would be cold rather than seared.

That proved correct, but it was still amazing. Among the best we’ve had of that style. It was served with figs and jellied ice wine, and topped with fleur de sel.

Foie gras with figs

Halibut was up next, proving that fresh really matters when it comes to fish. This was on forbidden rice with red pepper coulis.

Halibut with rice

Then, tiny pizza, served with a bitty pizza paddle.

This had a sweet taste, thanks to tomato marmalade, and was topped with smoked gouda. Likely my first Verses pizza–very nice.

Tiny pizza

The single seared jumbo shrimp on sugar cane was just fabulous.

Shrimp on sugar cane

We were pretty curious what the “cotton candy” would be. Well, it turned out to be cotton candy. Like, on a stick. Only it was lime and chili flavored. Spicy! Really spicy! But couldn’t stop eating it anyway. (The one cone was for the table, not one per person.)

KF commented it was the first time she’d ever had cotton candy at a restaurant.

Lime and chili cotton candy

For an infusion of veg, we next got an edamame shooter. There were whole edamame included. Love that veg. (Artistic shot of it follows.)

Edamame shooter

We discussed risotto, the next course, which I don’t make because it seems too labor-intensive. KF says it turns out fine sans constant stirring.

I don’t know if this one was constantly stirred or not, but it did have great texture, and the wild mushrooms tasted amazing.

Wild mushroom risotto

Verses always does a great job with scallops, and this evening’s was no exception. But the photographic proof didn’t turn out that well, so you just have to picture that course in your mind.

… And also the next one, the delectable “almond and bacon crusted suckling pork Sammie”, or what non-foodies might pulled pork. It was like a little pork sandwich, with bacon, and was just delicious.

But we did manage a shot of the escargot with squid ink pasta. With the color, squid ink pasta always looks so weird. But it was really good.

Escargot and squid ink pasta

Time for more veg! Now it was beet, carrot, and ginger sorbets. Carrot was the best, beet was good as long as you like beets, and ginger really woke up the palette. (Also, Jean was a little drunk at this point, as reflected in the picture focus.)

Beet, carrot, ginger sorbet

We had really been intrigued by the listing Waygu tartare. What the heck was a Waygu? I was guessing some sort of fish. I was wrong. Turns out that’s like Kobe beef, only not from the Kobe region, so they can’t call it that.

So right, this was raw beef. A first for… All of us, I think. We all tried it. It was OK. I don’t think any of us need to have it again, though. (The quail egg was really good. Also, not raw.)

Waygu tartare and quail egg

Hence was beginning another round of protein / meat items before dessert and we were starting to feel a little… full. Interestingly, Jean was proving to be the real lightweight at this point. We thought we might lose him.

But, onward. Next up was squab on potato. (Squab, of course, is the foodie word for pigeon.) Very good.

Squab on potato

Beet and goat cheese featured caramelized goat cheese over red beets, with yellow beets surrounding. Yummy.

Beet and goat cheese

The duck confit turned out to be served spring roll. I adore duck confit (and generally like spring rolls, for that matter), but didn’t find the texture of mine quite right. Or maybe I was just too full of food.

Duck confit spring roll

The last of the savory courses was bison with green beans. The bison (which tastes somewhat beefy) was nice; the green beans were delicious. There were also cherries involved.

Bison with cherries and beans

The first dessert combined sheep’s milk, rose water, and mead noir pearls. Odd, huh? It was very light, though, which welcome, and really good! Would prove to be the favorite dessert. It seemed to revive Jean, who managed to finish this, when he hadn’t been doing so well with previous courses.

Unusual dessert

Then we got blue cheese ice cream, which tasted a lot like a mild blue cheese. Wasn’t to KF’s taste, but Jean loved it and I liked it. It was surrounded by delicious little meringues and, I think,some form of beets again.

Blue cheese ice cream

And finally… Chocolate palette with banana cream on top. Also a lighter-style, and quite good.

Chocolate and banana

The cooking staff came out at the end, and were given a standing ovation.

Standing ovation at Verses

The whole thing was $140 per person, including wine, tax, and tips.

It was a bit difficult sleep right after, as we didn’t get home until about midnight. So feeling a bit tired today, but not so bad. Didn’t have a very big breakfast, though!

Full gallery here: http://jean-cathy.smugmug.com/Food/Around-the-World-in-20-Plates (Jean’s comments are amusing)