Category: Food

Hurray for basil (and its kin)

I’ve not posted for a while on the “things I like” theme, so here’s a short and sweet one: Growing my own herbs. What’s great about that is:

  • It’s easy. Most don’t require much coddling. Maybe water them if they look wilty, cut them down if they look a little overgrown. S’about it. Some even come back the next year (sage, oregano, and marjoram, for me).
  • Instant satisfaction. You don’t have to wait (much) for them to grow, and certainly no wait for fruit or veg to develop. They come with leaves, and that’s what you eat.
  • Delicious. One of the easiest ways to perk up an otherwise mediocre dish is to add fresh herbs.
  • Money-saving. At least, I think so, given the price of the little packages from the grocery store, particularly considering the entire contents don’t always get used. You grow your own, you can harvest only what you need, as you need it.

Today’s menu of gnocchi with wild mushrooms in a simple olive oil/butter/chicken broth/Parmesan sauce were enhanced with very fresh parsley and sage leaves, which I crisped in the toaster oven. Very delicious with a 2008 Pinot Noir from Rosewood Estates, and only took a half hour to make.

French impressions

On our fourth trip to France (after our honeymoon European tour that included parts of northern France, the 2006 Valentine week in Paris, and the Pauwell’s tour in Provence in 2009), we mostly visited the Languedoc-Rousillon region, which is in the Southwest, near Spain. We also spent a couple days in Paris. These are the things that particularly struck me on this trip.

Everything is beautiful

Much like Spain, which of course it’s close to, this is beautiful countryside: mountains, beaches, castles, vineyards, charming little towns of stone, rivers, bridges. It didn’t hurt that we had constant blue sky, but every day, wherever we went, we also had fantastic views. (And Paris is in the most beautiful city in the world.)

Highway with view of mountains and blue sky
Beach with blue-green water and old-style stone buildings.

More photos

The roads are insane and the GPS will try to kill you

We purchased a new GPS before this trip and loaded European data onto it. This did prove very handy in finding our way in our rental car. Finding the anglicized pronunciations of French streets and cities near incomprehensible, we switched it to French mode, and let the nice GPS lady tell us which sortie to take in the rond-point and when we had to serrez à gauche. If we happened to miss a turn, she would recalcule and find us the next best route.

The only thing we were having trouble understanding was why, despite selecting the “fastest route” option, which should have kept us on the major roads (such as they are in this region), we were forever being directed onto tiny little winding sideroads, sometimes on the edges of cliffs, that seemed barely wide enough for one car, let alone two. Or that in the little cities, instead of taking the main road through towns, she had us go turn off onto tiny laneways and over what certainly appeared to be pedestrian bridges.

It took a number of days of hair-raising adventures before we figured it out. The French, it appears, take a very simplified approach to speed limits. In town, it’s 50. Approaching towns, it might be 70. Between towns, 90. And highways are 110.

But that 90 between towns—that’s for every road, no matter how tiny, twisty, or cliff-hanging. Of course, nobody actually drives anywhere near 90 on them. But the GPS, not knowing, would look at the many 90 speed-limit roads available to us, and select the shortest one, or the one interrupted by the least towns. So it wasn’t trying to kill us. It just lacked a windiness/narrowness factor in selecting the “fastest” route. (It become quite a game watching the GPS’s “estimated time of arrival” creep up and up as we wound around the 90-limit road at around 40 K an hour…)

You will eat when we say you can eat

On the first day, our B&B owner warned us that, in this region, meals were served between 12 and 2, and between 7 and 9. Period. So part of daily planning was always making sure to be in a city during those hours, so we could eat.

The very first day, this plan was stymied by another, unmentioned factor about this region: Restaurants may be closed on any given day. And apparently, if one is going to close in a city, quite possibly they all will. So our Monday plan to have dinner in Mont Louis was stymied when three of its restaurants were closed for dinner on Monday, leaving only one, and that one was overrun with a bus tour group.

So we took to the road, but of course, the GPS had us on some crazy narrow winding road, so our estimated time of arrival kept creeping up and creeping up, threatening to make us miss the 9:00 deadline entirely. And we were hungry! In the end, we were saved by Pierre Lys’ willingness to seat and feed us, despite the 9:02 PM hour.

Less dramatic but still somewhat astonishing was the restaurant in Espéraza (where we were staying) that we tried to go to four times, finding it open only once. (It was really good, but we were the only people there. Wonder why.) One of those nights, our second- and third-choice restaurants also proved to be closed, although it was Thursday! We ended having to eat at the same restaurant we’d eaten the night before, the very elegant Duc et Joyeuse. Excellent food and service, so there are worse things. But still.

Paris was quite refreshing in that we could eat at whatever time we wanted.

100 mile diet? Try 100 yard diet. (At least for wine)

Local takes on a whole new meaning in an area that has as many vineyards as Languedoc Rousillon. When the restaurant says C’est du vin local, they mean that it was made within walking distance. So as we visited different little towns, we got to try different wines with our meals (though often made with similar grapes).

What we didn’t do was visit any wineries. As we were afeared of the weight limits on our flights, we didn’t want to buy any wine. No buying meant why bother going to taste them at the wineries? In a way it was a relief, as the opportunities were plentiful, and trying to narrow down the choices would have been chore—albeit a fun one.

And actually, it isn’t completely true that we didn’t visit any wineries. Part of our trip package included a two-hour wine-tasting course. But although it did take place at a winery, it was independently run, and featured wines from 8 different producers. It was really well done. We were particularly taken with the sparkling, fruity wine from Limoux and a wonderful Cabernet Franc (not a typical grape of the region), but really, all 8 were good.

Jean in blue shirt with in a restaurant with a glass of red wine and a plate of meat and vegetables.

… As was lunch afterward. And this was my first experience on getting refills on a glass of wine. A glass. “I love France!” I exclaimed after every pour. (Possibly, as the DD—designated drunk, so Jean could drive—I was a little tipsy at this point.)

Other highlights

Lest you think we only drove, ate, and drank… We also did and saw cool stuff. Like:

  • Shopping at the Mirepoix market
  • Seeing Carcassonne, the second most-visited city in France
  • Walking through the Gorge de la Fou, France’s Grand Canyon
  • Climbing up into Chateau Perpeytuse
  • Enjoying the beautiful beach city of Collioure outside of peak tourist season
  • Reading the story behind the Rennes-le-Chateau mystery, while on site
  • Visiting the Paris neighborhood of the Marais

Of course I’ll be writing more detail this and the rest later…

(The result in edit: See Touring Languedoc by Car.)

What is a normal dinner party?

Though I like to cook and have a reasonable fondness for the company of others, I don’t host dinner parties that often. This is because I can’t seem to just have “normal” ones. Actually, I’m not even sure what a normal one is, but I think it means basically cooking something you normally do, only a little more of it, adding a dessert and a couple nice bottles of wine, and inviting a few other people over to help you eat it.

I always seem to go bigger and more complicated. Perhaps it’s true that everyone needs a challenge once in a while, and this is one I set up for myself. So, for my most recent dinner party, the idea was trying to “harmonize the food and wine for each course to a particular soundtrack, based on mood.” Which indeed was a wee bit of a challenge.

Selecting the moods

How many courses, and which mood would each have? At the start, the only thing that seemed obvious was that the start [snacks] needed to exciting and energizing, while dessert was by nature romantic. Retrospectively only, I realized that what I did from there was segue gradually down from that starting mood to the ending one. So exciting gave way to merely happy [appetizers], then to engaged/interested [main course], and onto refreshed (which I’m still not convinced is actually a mood) [palette cleanser], and finally to the relaxed romantic.

Playlist assembly

Again, the starts and ends were quite easy. Exciting and energizing = dance music to me, and I already had a large Dance playlist. I could afford to get pretty picky with that, knocking out the slower numbers and the ones I didn’t like as much, and still being left with a good 7 hours of thumpa thumpa. And I similarly had a good start on the romantic already, which just required a little removal of some racier items, and the addition of some more love songs.

But happy was tough. Apparently I’m not that big a fan of the upbeat pop tune. I was really having to comb through to find enough to last a sufficient amount of time.

For engaged I looked for songs that were of moderate mellowness and featured smart lyrics. I am much more of a fan of this type of music, it appears, so this was easier to put together. A lot of women artists feaured here—Alanis, Tori, Sarah… even a little Madonna.

And refreshing? I decided that was electronica… Not sure why. As I have only about 12 electronica songs, it was easy to gather them, and that was long enough for the palette cleanser course.

Food and wine

Jean was a big help in getting this part settled. I really didn’t want to do fiddly little appetizer things, because I hate making that kind of stuff, but I was failing to see how I could possibly make soup or salad “fun”. He’s the one who suggested that a two-tone soup, which we’d once had at a restaurant, could be kind of fun, especially with chow mein noodles. So that’s what I went with, adapting a carrot and parsnip recipe that was meant to have everything combined, but instead cooking it in two parts.

Similarly, it was his point that salmon seemed too dull to be the only main course protein on offer, leading to the idea of offering duck as well. Which of course meant we had to serve Pinot Noir, the intellectual wine—as we learned at the KW Symphony’s food and wine concert. And that concert is also where I got the Julia Child chocolate recipe that I thought I would be a suitable dessert.

With those main items selected, the rest just had to be built up around it. And we were so well stocked in wine at this point, selecting those proved pretty easy, and required no special trips to the LCBO. Everything was already in our wine cupboard.

Inviting guests

Oh yeah, the people! On the first date we proposed, very few could actually attend. So we were pretty surprised when, on the second day we suggested, everyone could go! But that’s a good problem to have, since we wouldn’t have invited them if we didn’t want to see them. So we were eight guests, plus Jean and me. Inventory revealed we actually did have enough chairs and dishes—as long as we weren’t too fussy about everything matching—and a little creativity allowed everyone to sit at the same table, albeit covered with three different, small table cloths.

Everyone was willing and able to bring something, and that also helped round out the menu and assuage concerns that someone would go hungry. And on the day, all were really great about helping with music changing, wine opening, and dish delivery and removal. I could definitely see why I wanted to spend time with these people.

So how did it go?

Generally good, I think? Jean and I had fun. Everyone else claimed they did too. I felt most items I made turned out well, and certainly everything brought was delicious. Definitely the most challenging part was the final preparation of the main courses, where we had to cook duck, beans, salmon in sequence in the oven (cause each needed a different temperature) while also preparing the sweet potatoes and reheating the magret, but we mostly managed that. (We probably would have done a little better had we not already had a couple glasses of wine by then, but hey, it was a party, and we didn’t have to drive.)

After that, everything was actually pretty easy to serve, as it was all ready, so then we could largely relax and just enjoy the company and conversation.

As I had typed up the menu for the whole evening, I’ll copy that in here now. Thereby making this the longest post ever!

Continue reading “What is a normal dinner party?” →

Niagara getaway

Despite the unrelentingly miserable weather this past weekend, we had a nice “joint birthday” getaway to Niagara-on-the-Lake.

We left around noon on Saturday, and our first stop was Rosewood Winery. We already knew that we liked their Sauvignon Blanc-like Sémillon, so we picked up a couple bottles of that, and their Ambrosia honey wine. Then we did a bit of tasting.

The 2007 Pinot Noir was sold out; the 2008 did not have the incredible rich fruitiness of that one. It tasted more like a Pinor Noir normally does, nice but somewhat light and tannic. Good enough for us to get a bottle anyway. Then we tried a few others, including the 2007 Mon Cherie, which is a cherry honey wine. Doesn’t that sound appalling? But it’s actually very nice, not overly sweet—only a little off-dry. Should actually work with food.

And, we bought some honey.

We then asked for lunch recommendations, and were directed to About Thyme bistro. It was indeed a nice place to eat. I had the thin-crust, smoked pork pizza and Jean had duck confit. I had a glass of cab sauv with my lunch (had never heard of the winery before, but it was fine), while Jean had the Egomaniac Sonafabitch Pinot Noir. Nice wine.

Then we doubled back a bit, because we wanted to visit Malivoire, an old fave. We were aiming for wines less available at the LCBO, and came out with their 2007 Chardonnay, 2006 Pinot Noir, and a couple new styles. The red Guilty Man is so named because it’s a Cabernet Sauvignon style that owner Martin Malivoire had once sworn to never produce. But it does include a splash of Pinot Noir and Gamay, and it is a really nice wine.

The other was the semi-dry 2009 Musqué Spritz, a light “Brunch-like” wine. Though somewhat concerned about when we’d drink it (we don’t do as well with sweet), it was different and good, so we got a couple of those also. And for getting 6 bottles, we got a free Cabernet Franc ice wine.

Next we headed to our B&B in Niagara-on-the-Lake, and checked in. It would have been great to do some walking around at this point, but it was still perfectly awful out—rainy, cool, windy. So, instead we drank more! We went to a pub where I had a Guiness (yes! Like beery coffee. Which I actually don’t hate). And Jean had a red wine.

Dinner reservations were for 7:30 at Peller Estates. They were offering their five-course dinner for $50.

Peller is a very fancy-looking place; all French chateaux and nice linens. They did a good job with the meal, which was actually seven courses if you count the “amuse” and palette cleanser.

  • Amuse: Single oyster—very delicious. Wine: Private Reserve Riesling 2008
  • Appetizer: Foie Gras & Goat Cheese Soufflé  Truffle White Bean Soup. Nice, rich flavor. Wine: Signature Series Chardonnay Sur Lie 2007
  • Palette cleanser: Sorbet
  • Main: Dry Aged Rib Eye with Lobster Knuckle Crust Barley and Woodland Mushroom Risotto. (Beef is beef, but the barley thing was cool). Wine: Signature Series Merlot 2004. Fantastic!
  • Cheese: Sweet Chili Crusted Blue Ice Croquette on Apple, Arugula and Toasted Walnut Salad. Wine: Signature Series Ice Cuvée. Not sure about this pairing, but each was nice.
  • Dessert: Dark & White Chocolate Marquise With a Raspberry Gamay Compote. Despite thinking we were getting full, we had no trouble devouring all of this. Wine: Signature Series Cabernet Franc Icewine 2007
  • Then, decaf cappuccino’s.

So they didn’t chintz on the wine.

The next morning, I think I might have been a wee hung over. At any rate, something was making me feel somewhat headachy and nauseated. (Jean was fine, damn him.)

So, I wasn’t much for the “breakfast” part of bed and breakfast, mostly drinking coffee and juice, and picking at my fruit. Jean had my helping of French toast.

And the B&B owner decided to sit with us, and the other couple also staying there, and share her opinion on things. Such as:

  • Dinner at Peller Estates is a rip-off. We only felt full because of the rich sauces. (Oh, and also because I’m a small woman.)
  • Women in the Olympics are damaging their reproductive organs.
  • Buildings weren’t brought down by planes, but by explosions, during 9/11.
  • One can do astral projection (soul leaving the body) through meditation.
  • Smoking isn’t really that bad for you. Because it’s legal.
  • Norwegians are evil because they kill seals. There’s a video.

While I started out trying to debate these points, it soon appeared a bit hopeless. Especially when my head hurt. At least it was sort of… entertaining.

Anyway. After breakfast we went to more wineries! Actually, we went back to Peller first. We wanted that Merlot (which is $35). We were also shown the “private tasting room,” which has to be reserved, and given an offer to try more things. But I wasn’t quite up to it.

Next, Southbrook Winery. Turns out this one is also aiming pretty high end, with an emphasis on aging wine (which we don’t do in any big way) and some pretty expensive stock. Like, we tasted a $60 wine. So we didn’t buy too much here—one Chardonnay, one Cabernet Sauvignon—and still felt we might have overspent a bit.

Next time, we’re going to have to get to Coyote’s Run winery.

Music and food

The KW Symphony’s latest Intersections concert, Bon appétit, was on the theme of music and food. It was one of the most enjoyable concerts I’ve ever been to.

Held at the small Conrad Centre for the Performing Arts instead of Centre in the Square, acoustics were sacrificed but intimacy was gained. It proved a good trade-off.

Principle conductor Edwin Outwater introduced the evening by outlining a fact he’d only recently learned, which is that symphonies first came together as a way of accompanying large feasts in the 15th century. Then he read some of the items served at these feasts (didn’t sound too bad), along with the instruments combined to accompany each course.

Then the Symphony played their first number, Raymond Scott’s “Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals.” (Not the KW Symphony, but here’s a YouTube link.) A lot of Raymond Scott’s music is used in cartoons; this was one lively and fun work.

Up next, Natalie Benninger of Nick and Nate’s Uptown 21 restaurant was introduced, as Edwin explained there would actually be food as part of this concert. (We were also allowed to bring wine to our seats.) She introduced the next piece, the lyrical “Pastorale” from the film Babette’s Feast, the soundtrack to the big meal in the film. It was lovely, but I have to admit to being distracted by the appetizer being distributed while it was being played. And to the fact that Jean and I didn’t get any.  It was apparently a salad of endive and blue cheese from the film, and quite delicious. (I suppose I should add that it wasn’t only Jean and me who didn’t get any. For whatever reason, there seemed to be enough for only about half the audience.)

At some point—maybe here—we also did a video link up to Nick, toiling away back at the restaurant. In his first appearance, he talked about the type of restaurant it was, and the focus on local foods and changing menus. And then the next piece played was Shostakovich’s “Tea for Two”, a variation on that tune that he (Shostakovich, not Nick) wrote on a dare. It was a lot of fun. (Look, you can hear that one on YouTube also.)

Nick appeared again, commenting that he was more of a Rolling Stones guy than a classical music fan, but that he did appreciate this particular concert. Then he asked Edwin about food, to which Edwin expressed appreciation for Italian and Japanese cuisine, and his sense that chicken was a highly overrated food item.

The final piece of the first half was by a living Canadian composer, John Estacio. It was one movement from the Farmer’s Symphony, called “The Harvest.” It was quite grand, and was served with an appetizer of cornmeal in a honey sauce. (For everyone, this time.)

Before we broke for intermission, John from Art Bar spoke about the wine he’d been drinking during the performance, which was a red blend from Southbrook Winery, and how different characteristics of the wine came to the forefront with the different styles of music. Edwin then asked concertmaster Stephen Sitarski what music would best accompany Pinot Noir. He thought a relaxing smooth jazz, whereas a Bordeaux would require something more intellectual.

At intermission, I bought a glass of the Southbrook red. (I’m highly suggestible.) It was quite nice.

Part 2 led off with Ralph Vaughn Williams’ “March Past of the Kitchen Utensils”, which somewhat sounded as titled. The next number, which featured mezzo soprano Megan Latham, was an orchestral version of the Cole Porter tune “The Tale of the Oyster,” arranged by Edwin Outwater himself. This was a hilarious little number about an oyster who longs for the high life—and finds it on a silver platter. (YouTube) And Latham has a beautiful voice and a very expressive manner.

Nick then introduced a video of a competition between himself and Latham, as to who could make the best version of Julia Child’s Gateau au Chocolat. Quite amusing (and no winner declared). We then moved into Lee Holby’s Bon Appetit, which is an episode of Julia Child’s program, in which she makes that Gateau, set to music. You can definitely picture Child as the piece proceeds. And most happily, we didn’t have to imagine how the gateau tasted, because we all got a piece. It was one of the best things I’ve ever put in my mouth.

And, they gave us the recipe in the concert program. I think I might try it. Heck, it’s only 6 oz butter. Practically diet food, for Julia Child.

Anyway. The last piece was a real change of pace, an adaptation of 60’s band Strawberry Alarm Clock’s “Incense and Peppermints.” Though orchestral, it was very much in tune with the psychedelic original, complete with phase-shifting vocal (in technical terms, Latham used this gizmo to make her voice echo and layer). On the last verse, Edwin joined in the singing as well. And then he thanked us for “coming out for something we’ve never done before, and that I’ve never even heard of before.”

Though the joke was that the near-capacity crowd would then all head to the 54-seat Nick and Nate’s for a nightcap, we just headed home at that point. But we were smiling all the way.

Catching up

OK, so instead of owning the podium, we just rented the top floor.

I have to give a CP reporter the credit for that quote.

Wasn’t that fun? The Olympic withdrawal is going to be tough. It’s been the framing device around all events for the past two weeks. Furthermore, that’s been true of almost everyone else. What else does that anymore? Not the Oscars, not the series finale of Lost, not the Superbowl, not even the Stanley Cup.

Big eating weekend

I described last weekend (Feb. 19–21) as my “big eating weekend.” For the Friday, well ahead, we had arranged to meet up with friends at Verses. They were particularly pleased to have meat there. “We’re coming off a month of veganism,” they explained. “If you think vegetarianism is hard? Try veganism.”

Then on the following Saturday, our neighborhood association held a wine tasting dinner at Solé. Solé generally does an excellent job with these, and the featured wine was from Rosewood Estates, which we really like. So we had to sign up for that as well. We ended up sitting with the owner of the winery, who proved to be a very interesting guy, with rather strong opinions about wines of different price points, and the marketing strategies of various regions.

And it was a great meal. It started with their Sémillon, which I judged reminiscent of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, so was pleased when informed that’s what they were going for. It was delicious, as was the smoked trout served with it—amazing stuff, the food highlight of the meal. The main course was chicken with wild mushrooms, and it was served with a Meritage wine. (I was hoping to get their Pinot Noir again, but the 2007 is apparently all sold out.) Dessert featured honey wine, served with an apple caramel tart.

Olympic-wise, that was a pretty quiet weekend. That’s when there was all that grousing about Canada’s performance being somewhat disappointing, which I mostly found irritating. But since we don’t really know our neighbours (and besides the wine people, that’s who was there), it was very handy to have that to talk about.

Shall we dance?

Despite some moments of mild panic—me on the “hockey stick” step (seriously, that’s what it’s called) of the cha-cha, Jean on the intricate shaping of the slow fox—we’re fumbling our way reasonably well through our ballroom dance classes for people who had taken a seven-year break. This week’s class coincided with the Russia-Canada hockey quarter-final, but late arrivals reported on the already lopsided score involved there, and we stopped worrying about that too much.

But our dance instructor wanted to talk about another sport: ice dancing.

Continue reading “Catching up” →

Join the majority

Like two-thirds of Canadians (!), apparently, I tuned into the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics last night. And I even watched it live, and nearly to the bitter end.

They really did a fine job, I thought. I liked the special effects re-creation of the ocean, and the fields, and the mountains (even if it perpetuates the myth that we’re “outdoorsy” country people, when most of us live in cities). And I liked the slam poet, reminiscent of the old “Joe Canadian” ads, but with more eloquence and no beer. (Even though it claimed an environmentalism we don’t deserve. But the rest felt right.) The fiddling medley was lively fun. And man, does this country have a great set of women singers, or what? Nikki Yanovsky, Sarah McLachlan, Joni Mitchell, Measha Brueggergosman, and most especially, KD Lang, actually outdoing her Juno performance of “Hallelujah”.

I liked that the final torch run wasn’t just Gretzky. I liked all the French. And it was appropriate that the tragic death of luger Nodar Kumaritashvili was recognized, and recognized again.

I have some sympathy with Olympic protestors. The IOC is really the most appalling organization. But the athletes… they’re mostly inspiring. They always win me in over in the end.

Finally, live TV meant not fast-forwarding the commercials, and the somewhat dubious sponsors involved. It made this 22 Minutes bit even more hilarious the second time around:

Of hams and Whos

So this was a Sunday of firsts. Not only my inaugural viewing of a Superbowl half-time show, but also my first attempt at cooking one of those big, big hams with the bone in it.

I’ve always been a mystified by ham-like meats and their various grocery store names—why is one a “sweet pickle roll” while another is a “steak” and that one there is “smoked hock”? But anyway, whatever the actual name, the big ones with the bone, that are not precooked, were on at a very good price at Sobey’s this week, so I decided to take a stab at cooking that. How hard could it be?

I had assumed it would be like other big hunks of meats, in that you flavored the outside somehow, then stuck it in the oven at a certain temperature for 2+ hours, until the middle part reached the acceptable temperature. To my surprise, though, the package for this thing said it was to be cooked on the stove top in water (for 2+ hours).

Well, thank goodness I still have that huge pasta pot I received as a wedding present and have rarely used since, because it just fit in there. The wrapper then instructed me to remove the wrapper before I cooked it in the water. Boy, what kind of an idiot does this wrapper think I am anyway, I thought, as I removed the plastic and discovered that the meat was in this other mesh-like wrapper. Was I supposed to remove that one?

“Jean! Help!”

Jean called for reinforcements. Since his Mom left the mesh on, so would I.

The instructions then said to cover the meat in cold water, then cook it over low heat for 2 to 2.5 hours, til it reached 71C. Seemed easy enough, so I did as told.

An hour later when I checked, the water was warmish but not bubbly or anything. That seemed a bit odd, but what did I know? Another half hour later, there was some simmer going, and I started working on the scalloped potatoes (which I actually know how to make).

As those went in the oven, I got the bright idea of actually sticking a meat thermometer in the meat to see how it was doing. It was nowhere near 71C. It was at, like 27, or something. And here I was, kind of hoping to eat this thing today.

I now did what I have to assume I was supposed to have done in the first place, which is bring the water to a full boil, then reduce heat to a nice simmer. That did get the temperature moving up a bit quicker. But not really quickly enough.

As microwaving didn’t seem to be much of an option, I was at a bit of a loss as to how to accelerate the cooking time.

“Jean! Help!”

Jean’s suggestion, which I had sorted gleaned onto also, was to cut the big hunk of meat into smaller hunks, figuring each would cook faster that way.

And faster it did go, finally finishing about 3.5 hours after starting, and about 0.5 hours after the scalloped potatoes and braised cabbage with cranberries were done. But that wasn’t so bad. And everything was really very tasty. (Thank goodness, because I think we’re going to be eating the leftovers for the next week or two.)

So in the background of this kitchen drama, as of 6:45 or so, was The Superbowl. Muted. (Yes, I have a TV in my kitchen. Doesn’t everyone?) So I was able to look up to it every once in a while, between fretting about meat temperature, to see the first two quarters count down.

Though I needn’t really have worried, because as the second quarter wound down, I got not one but two calls informing me of the impending halftime show. It’s so nice to have people in your life who care! And who actually want to watch The Superbowl. And by then, we were actually done eating dinner (though not putting away all the leftovers).

I went downstairs where the PVR lives and put it on Superbowl channel. Only the sound was all broken up. That wasn’t going to work. So I tried other Superbowl channels – CBS, maritime, BC. Then other, non-Superbowl channels.

Basically, the sound was a fubarred anywhere. With about 2 minutes left in the second quarter, the PVR needed a reboot.

So while it reset itself, I watched the countdown on the kitchen TV. With about 10 seconds left, the PVR was back, sound restored to normality.

I then sat with the remote, planning to hit the record when The Who actually began their set. Only, it had been so long since I actually recorded anything playing live (I normally preset everything I plan to watch), I didn’t really know how to do that. Which I only realized as their set began.

“Jean! Help!”

Jean managed the highly complex [not] process of recording what was currently on (and we later remembered that it actually tapes everything from when I first tuned to that channel, so I actually have the whole thing).

And then we watched The Who—me a little more closely than Jean.

Jean [during Baba O’Reilly]: Is that all they’re doing of that one? Me (feeling weirdly proud that he now knows when Baba O’Reilly is shortened): Yeah, it’s medley.

The set list was utterly unsurprising. They only have 12 minutes. Of course they’re going to play all the CSI themes, somehow. It certainly would have been nice to hear more of their catalog, and it might have been interesting (or an interesting disaster) if they’d actually tried to “mash up” some of their songs (and come to think of it, they used do that very thing, live … quite brilliantly). But again… 12 minutes.

Jean [during Who Are You]: You must disappointed he’s wearing a shirt. Me: Yeah, and no wardrobe malfunctions this year.

The outfits: Though still in remarkably great shape for nearly 66, I don’t actually think Daltrey should still go out in full bare chest-al glory anymore. So the jacket was fine, but that scarf? I don’t really get his fondness for scarves, unless he feels having a warm neck actually helps with singing, or something. (And some bloggers are complaining about seeing Townsend’s “white tummy” far too often—which I can’t say I particular even noticed!)

Jean: [during Won’t Get Fooled Again]: Wow, I’m impressed how fast they set that stage up. Me: Did you know The Who pioneered the use of lasers in rock concerts?

The staging was pretty awesome. The light show, the fireworks—it looked great on TV, it must have looked fantastic in the stadium.

As to the overall performance? Though a bit sloppy at times, I thought they were pretty good, generally. Mind, I wasn’t expecting them to sound like they did in 1971. It was fun to hear the big stadium singing along with them. Knowing that Daltrey’s voice is a thing of wonkiness these days, I was actually tense waiting for him to attempt the “Won’t Get Fooled Again” scream. But to my relief, that was great! (Though it may well be the years of doing that scream that has reduced his voice to what it is now…)

I did a bit of review reading afterward. What I found most weird were the accusations, at Rollingstone.com, that they lip-synced the entire performance. (This is not in the review, but in the dreaded comments section.) I’m with those who said, you know, if the whole thing was pre-recorded, don’t you think it would have been a little… better?

And my favourite review is the fairly poignant one in the New York Times, some of which I’ll quote below:

Instead, for what was probably its biggest one-time viewing audience, the Who chose repertory from Townshend’s increasingly ambitious late-1960s albums and afterward, when he was already taking a grown-up’s point of view: “Pinball Wizard” and the gentle “See me, feel me” snippet from his 1969 rock opera “Tommy”; “Baba O’Riley” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again” from the 1971 “Who’s Next”; and the title song from the 1978 “Who Are You.” If there was a 21st-century attention-span paradox in having the man who wrote rock operas and concept albums compress his life’s work into 12 minutes — well, Townshend said beforehand that the medley was Daltrey’s idea.

They were songs about prowess, determination, desperation and rage at how revolutions fail: an arc of verbal frustration defied, and explosively overcome, by musical assertiveness, with the power chords that the Who made ring worldwide. They were songs that expected, and got, large audiences at the time. It was music born to be heard in arenas and stadiums, and the halftime show might have been these songs’ last airing on their accustomed monumental scale.

…

The Who did its best to punk up its songs again, even amid the Super Bowl’s fiesta of corporate branding, and “Won’t Get Fooled Again” — the song that got the fullest airing — still had a good part of its old ferocity. But it was a line in “Baba O’Riley” that touched on what kind of milestone this brief, happily unkempt, late-career performance was for the Who. “Let’s get together before we get much older,” Daltrey sang, looking directly across the stage at Townshend.

PS – I also quite liked this blog post [link no longer valid, unsurprisingly], which (despite not containing nearly enough information about ham) nicely made the point that while The Who’s Superbowl performance was mostly fine, they’re just doomed now by having once been the best live band. Period. I especially liked this line: “The Who are probably the most underrated band that many people consider wildly overrated.”

The Music of Fleetwood Mac

This was the theme of our latest Jeans’n’Classics concert: The Music of Fleetwood Mac. Our original guests had to bow out, so we attended with Camie and Frasier instead. As with the previous concert, and despite some lobbying for the new Mexican place (Margaritas), we went to Uptown21 first.

Once again, they did a great job. We all went for the day’s three-course prix fixe menu, three of us with matching wine (Camie had Shiraz). The first course of duck confit and wild mushroom was fabulous. The other option, grilled shrimp, also looked very nice. Next up was either a root-vegetable soup, which got some raves, or a salad with apple, sugared pecans, and cheddar in a balsamic vinaigrette. Very good. And the main course choices included lamb with vegetables (Jean), trout with vegetables, a vegetarian option, and something I can’t remember. But my trout was well prepared.

We also enjoyed the company. We discussed Austen (the author, not me misspelling the city), university funding, travel plans, the joys of home renovation, the Olympics, and the last time we’d listened to Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors. Though not necessarily in that order. They managed to get us out just before 7:00, and we commented that it would be nice to go again sometime and not have to rush through dinner. And maybe also try the Mexican place.

There was the usual insane number of people looking for parking when we arrived, but this time we did manage to get a spot at the Kitchener Library, which is pretty nearby. And as a bonus, their parking meter machine was broken! It was a near full house again.

The concert featured Rique Franks, Katherine Rose, and Neil Donnel on vocals. They explained that it was a new show, and it was a little rougher than usual, with some lyrics and vocal lines and song dates mixed up. But overall it was very enjoyable. Kind of a reminder of the many hits they’d had in the 80s there, all of which I knew at least by chorus, and a good selection from Rumors, which I pretty much know inside and out. I especially liked that some non-single but excellent songs from that classic album, such as “The Chain” and “Oh Daddy” were included. 

The music in general was well-suited to the orchestral approach. Jean developed an insta-crush on Katherine Rose based on her husky speaking voice. And Camie noted that it was nice to have the speaking and singing duties distributed among three people.

Next up: Elvis!

Overdosing on self-improvement

For someone who doesn’t believe in New Year’s resolutions, I seem to have a lot of self-improvement efforts going on.

I actually did make a New Year’s resolution once, which I did keep that entire year and beyond: To practice the piano at least once a week. The “piano” in question at that time was my Yamaha digital keyboard, a lovely Christmas present, and a very nice-sounding instrument. But as I practiced, and improved (though never to a particularly impressive level), its limitations became clearer: Not being a full keyboard, meaning I couldn’t play all the notes of certain songs. Not having touch sensitivity, meaning that every note of the entire song had to be at the same volume (unless I borrowed one hand to actually turn down the volume button). Not having a sustain pedal, meaning that I could either set to have every note to sustain in equal amounts, or none of them to.

Well, now all of that is solved with my beautiful new Roland digital grand piano.

But with the cost of that thing (though we did get a nice discount on it), I’d darn well better get back to that weekly (minimum) piano playing.

But, I’m going to have to fit that in with my current efforts to try to get my house in better order. What suddenly motivated me to start sorting through the piles of paper, magazines, newspapers, catalogs, etc. in various parts of my house I have no idea, but there it is. Not that you’d notice any major improvement yet. But the pile of reading material beside my bed looks semi-reasonable now, and you can actually see much of the top of the coffee table downstairs. And I seem to feel compelled to keep making the piles smaller, or at least more organized.

That somehow recently extended to the DVDs and CDs scattered across the TV cabinet and computer, now all put away—somewhere. Admittedly some are just in Lee Valley Tool boxes on the floor, but that still looks a little tidier. And it led to a discussion of how I really need more open cabinets, because I need to see my CDs and DVDs. Which gradually extended to a discussion of redoing the entire downstairs, with me actually participating meaningfully in the discussion. This is unusual for me. I don’t generally like thinking about renovating and redecorating. But now, in the interest of eventually having more cabinets, plus a more integrated fitness room, plus a big-ass TV, I’m invested. At least theoretically. We now have a plan for designing the downstairs.

OK, so I’m practicing the piano, cleaning up my piles of paper, and planning renovations.

But that all has to fit in with my new fitness plan. Mind you, I was working out before, but what’s new now is exercising with the hubby. About a month ago I became convinced that hubby really  needed to exercise more frequently. But after attempts to convince him of this with nothing but intense looks and thoughts proved completely ineffective, I tried a radical approach. I used my words.

To my surprise, he actually agreed. Of course, there were some conditions. Activities that he found awkward, like yoga, Pilates, and dance aerobics, were out. Activities he enjoyed more, like weightlifting, boxing, walking, canoeing, and ballroom dancing, were in. Fair enough.

I was expecting this to be a case of me dragging along reluctant hubby, but he’s turned out to be quite the slave driver himself. Let’s walk longer! No, I don’t need a day off! Heavier weights! Jeez.

Plus, the ballroom dance lessons themselves are somewhat self-improvement-y in another way, in relearning all those dance steps we’d forgotten. (At least, I sure hope we’ll relearn them.)

OK, so piano practice, dance practice, daily fitness, cleaning up, planning renovations… Might as well eat better too, right? How else will I keep up with all this? So currently, our fruit basket runneth over. Literally.

The most annoying thing is that all of this is happening in January, which culture tells us is supposed to be the month for self-improvement. Which I just hate buying into, because that would make me just like everybody else.

So, I will just declare that these aren’t new year’s resolutions. That they are just a bunch of projects and activities that happened to all start around January this year. To no particular end goal of self-improvement. Really. It’s all just a big coincidence…