09

Nov. ’10

The Chef Upstairs

My oldest sister, Sandy, in Cape Cod a grillion years ago

My dad took that brilliant photo of my sister posing on a rock at Nauset Beach in Cape Cod.  All I can say is that she’s lucky that the wave hit her when it did, otherwise it would have been just another one of my dad’s fug mug shots.  The thing about my dad’s pictures is that he makes you sit and wait for what seems like hours while he adjusts the focus and by the time he is ready, you’re about to shut your eyes, or sneeze, or have a facial tick.  We all learned to pose stoney faced because of that.  When they unearth our family photos from the landfill generations from now, we will be known as The Sad Family where everyone seems to have Bell’s Palsy and the baby (me) has Down’s Syndrome.  It’s the element of shock and surprise that makes us question the photograph:  Is she having fun?  It turns out, no, she almost drowned right after.  But she lived to tell the tale and she also lived to see another big surprise last Saturday night.  No, it wasn’t a snake, it was a surprise birthday party arranged by our other sister, Sue and Sandy’s husband, Clifford.  The how, where and when took some care to configure because Sandy likes fine dining and was hell-bent to go to Marben, organic restaurant on Wellington but try sneaking 20 other people in there at just the right time, it’s like preparing for the G-20.  And by the way, this is why people should have cell phones.  I don’t know how they did this kind of thing in the olden days.

It turned out they chose the perfect spot, The Chef Upstairs, 516 Mt Pleasant.  It’s like being in your own house, if your house was a restaurant and you had your own chef and wait staff.  Check out their website here.  They do catering, cooking classes for adults and kids, private parties, and have Sunday brunch.  They have guest chefs come in, including Jamie Oliver, am going back if they ever have Tyler Florence (call me! I would totally do his laundry).  The venue is upstairs in one room where the entire kitchen is surrounded by bar seating and there is a dining area where we had set up a Sandy slide slow and bonus:  washrooms on the same level.  The food was fantastic and you could chat with the chef and the staff like they were part of the party.  Why would you ever have a home party when you could do it there?

The kitchen at The Chef Upstairs is right in the middle of the fun.

Posted by . Categories: Eat & Drink. Tags: , , . 1 Comment

06

Nov. ’10

Sweet Dreams: Cupcakes For Haiti and Diwali

Diwali (Festival of Lights) is on this weekend:  Waddle, don’t walk over to Gerrard Street and graze on this spectacle.

I’ve got a big weekend planned.  When it rains, it pours especially since I discovered the event box on my Facebook page a couple of weeks ago.  Also this is the weekend we turn back the clocks.  Good news for teenagers, and shift workers.  Bad news for insomniacs.  I wonder how an extra hour of tossing, ruminating, obsessing over paranoid delusions will affect my daytime psyche?  Why can’t I just ease myself to sleep with simple fantasies like the one I have where John Stamos is a plumber and I am a porn star:  He fixes my faucet, we do it on the couch, and then he leaves and I fall asleep for real.  But no, I have to spend my sleeping hours creating detailed scenarios involving my real-life crush who doesn’t know I’m alive which makes him even hotter.  At one point I iron his plaid flannel shirt, going over the pocket plackets, careful not to burn the buttons.  You’d think I would bore myself to sleep but no, I just keep going, folding his laundry, sorting his socks.

This weekend is Diwali, the Festival of Lights, and the biggest Hindu celebration of the year.  Little India on Gerrard goes all night.  The restaurants bake up a storm for the event.  I just picked up a box of sweet treats from Mahar at 1410 Gerrard Street East.  They have the craziest selection of blobs in all colours and configurations.  I picked up only four (because I was scared) but I have almost finished them off.  They are all kind of similar, honey soaked doughy things but some have nuts, coconut, and one has chocolate.  They are so good, I need to go back.

And more sweets this Saturday.  Friend and neighbour Susana Molinolo is having a book launch in Leslieville :

She started it as a bake sale and raised $12,000 for Haiti (see how the ladies know how to raise funds?  see previous post).  Now she has put together a cookbook featuring 30 different recipes from different chefs to help Doctors Without Borders and FINCA Canada.  Check it out on the Facebook page.  The book launch is Saturday, November 6 at Beaufort Decor, 1576 Queen Street East and you’ll be able to buy some already baked cupcakes at Voulez Vous Cafe down the street.

It’s going to be a super sweet weekend, but it’s okay, I’ll be burning it off at two hour boot camp Saturday morning.  Ugh.

Posted by . Categories: Eat & Drink, go girl. Tags: , . Leave a comment

04

Nov. ’10

Happy Movember

Freddy’s answer to Movember:  If you can’t grow it, then glue one on

I feel sorry for men sometimes.  They never know how to get things done.  Even from the beginning, their fecklessness is cultivated.  For example, last month the Girl Guides were out and about, selling cookies for $4 a box.  They were everywhere, especially in front of the liquor and beer stores.  And nobody buys just one box.  And if you want to buy 2 boxes and give them a 10 dollar bill, they never have change, so you end up getting 5 boxes for 20 bucks.  They are sharp and strategic, those little girl guides.  The boy scouts, on the other hand, stand in front of the grocery store selling apples.  For how much, I don’t know.  I grew up in an apple orchard in Quebec, I can’t even bring myself to buy a mercy apple for a good cause.  I did have a conversation with a mother of a boy scout who was standing in front of Loblaws with the saddest box of apples I`ve ever seen.  I couldn`t even pick one, they were all so battered up:

Me:   Why don’t you sell cookies like the girl guides? 

Mother of Boy Scout:  People like apples!

Me:  They like cookies better and they`d sell more.

Mother of boy scout looked at me like I was a monster.  How ironic is it that Eve tempted Adam with an apple and the men can`t even give them away?  Last month, October was breast cancer awareness month.  The ladies kick ass on this project.  They have charity galas, runs and walks, they sell stuff from pink Sharpies to pink SUV’s.  Everyone wears pink, including professional sports teams.  Yes, everybody loves boobs and they are everywhere:  They’re in your morning cereal (at least mine are), on your screen saver in the form of Katy Perry (at least Freddy’s is), millions of them are in your computer just a click away, they’re bumping you in the subway if you stand in the right spot, they’re on billboards, they’re at Banana Republic in cashmere, they’re in your thoughts and in your prayers.  So being “aware” is not that hard.  What is hard is to grasp the concept of “Movember.”  Apparently “mo” is an Australian slang term for “moustache.”  Please.  Put another shrimp on the barbie.  Movember’s M.O. is that by growing a “mo”, you are helping raise awareness for prostate cancer.  Facial hair to prostate….let’s work with it then.  Only some of us can grow a mo but we can glue or sharpie one on.  I’m into it, I’m doctoring my Facebook profile picture with a free iPhone app called “HairBeard Lite” but it keeps coming on crooked.  Maybe the prostate men should have a moustache iPhone app that you pay 99 cents that goes to awareness.  Men have to start thinking like women if they want to raise some money and start selling stuff that people want, especially women because they are the major consumers.  Check ot Movember’s official website here and learn about the cause.  And I have to say, I do love a man in a moustache!

Posted by . Categories: This Charming Man. Tags: , . 1 Comment

02

Nov. ’10

Bootcamp in Cabbagetown

Daryl Hanna is a replicant machine in “Blade Runner”

Apparently Google thinks I am a machine.  According to the blog whisperer I went to see last week, Google doesn’t think I’m a human.  My beloved blog baby needs to be hit more to be alive and breathing.  You need to help me, let’s get my blog viral, like Two Girls, One Cup.  Tell your friends this post is about a bunch of broads and one kettlebell.  Seriously, get the word out, hit me often, and spread me around, take me to your forums and link me to your people.  Follow me on Twitter, too.

Anyway, I wish I were a machine.  If I were a machine, I’d be a replicant, like Daryl Hannah in “Bladerunner.”  How I loved that movie.  I used to pretend I was her in the 80’s and wear my hair all spikey and squeeze my pillow in between my thighs and pretend it was Harrison Ford’s head.  If I were a replicant, I would be fierce at bootcamp.  I would breeze through burpees.  I’d do backflips through the pylons.  My shoelaces would never be an faux issue.  I would hop out of bed this Saturday, November 6 and go to “Kick Bootie -No Duty” without being hindered by some sort of hangover.  You know what, it’s probably the best way to shake off the cobwebs anyway, so I will go.  My bootcamp guru, is Amy from Quantum Physique.  She is a fantastic trainer and runs indoor and outdoor bootcamps year round, all over downtown Toronto.  Check out her website here.  Her special Saturday bootcamp in Cabbagetown is FREE and it’s TWO HOURS so wear your Tena pads because there is a lot of jumping around.  Her website has the details.  And here is Amy, ready for action:

Kick Bootie – No Duty is November 6 from 10 til noon at Spruce Court Public School, 70 Spruce Street

Posted by . Categories: Get out of your comfort zone. Tags: , , , . 4 Comments

28

Oct. ’10

I’m In With The In Crowd

The In Crowd on a Wednesday night, blithely unaware of who got voted off on “Survivor”

I’m a circumstantial hermit, socially speaking.  I spend the evenings with my dog and the t.v. but my day takes me all sorts of places where I see people and have conversations even.  A typical one would go like this:

Me:  Oh hi, Rhoda (random name), how’s it going?

Rhoda:  Oh great!  Went to Carlu last night for that fundraiser for cute abandoned puppies.  Didn’t you get my e-mail?

Me:  What e-mail?  No….

Rhoda:  I sent you an invite.  The food was fantastic.  All the booze you could drink.  There was a litter of Shiba Inu puppies there and celebrities, too.  John Stamos was at our table, you know he’s still single and he likes tall women.

Me:  Redonkulous!  (jokes, I would never actually say that, but I would watch Survivor, which is where that term became popular)  I want a puppy!  I love John Stamos!  and food and booze…..how come I missed this?

Well, here’s why how come:  there is an event invitation box on the right side of your Facebook page.  Now I used to get these in Notifications but you know how Facebook likes to shake things up, well I’ve been missing all sorts of things for a long time until yesterday.  I got in just in time to RSVP for POP!   a group art show at 920 Eastern Ave, which runs until October 31.  It’s open from 1-6 and I suggest you go if you’re looking to buy some art.  There were some really great pieces there by Heather Dunn, David Brown, MJ Steenberg, David Trevor, and Mary Wong.  There was a piece by Mary that actually made me gasp, it was a blue grotto…”grotto”  makes me think of the Playboy mansion and that episode of Sex and The City where Carrie and Miranda make a wrong turn, where all the bunnies are in the hot tub and Miranda says: “Look, tit soup!”  Yes, I watch too much tv, but I’m out now.  Here is what I saw last night and links to the artists’ websites below:

And here is the Blue Grotto by Mary Wong ( Christmas is coming, Santa):

And wait there is more.  A couple of hot cheese mongers from about cheese were there carving hunks and wheels of fine artisan cheeses.  And this is what I ate:

I love cheese, especially this batch and they actually sell it to Loblaws which is across the street which superhandy.  Go grocery shopping and then check out the show this week only until October 31!  910 Eastern Ave, Open daily 1-6 pm or by appointment 416-805-6740

click on the name for their websites:  Heather Dunn, David Brown, MJ Steenberg, David Trevor, and Mary Wong

Posted by . Categories: Get out of your comfort zone, Hanging Around. Leave a comment

26

Oct. ’10

W32 + M3 – 1 Cow = H*O*P*E

Mary-Margaret McMahon finding out she won (by a landslide) her seat for Ward 32 at the Naval Club

My timing is almost always wrong.  I’m always a little too early or way too late and ill-prepared.  Last Wednesday, I went to the dentist but I was a week early, which means I have to go back tomorrow, ugh.  Last Sunday, I was walking Betty by the fire hall  and there was a girl guide selling cookies (the mint chocolate ones!) but I didn’t have a twenty on me, which is enough for 5 boxes which is my usual order.  When I came back, I was too late, she was gone.  I was even born in the wrong decade.  I should have been born in the 1940s so I could have been sashaying around in pencil skirts like the real Madmen instead of the fake Banana Republic Madmen which I resent because those sweater sets are not the same without a bullet bra underneath.  And if I was born in the 40s I could have been part of the woman’s movement, instead of having to witness its demise by watching the Jersey Shore and listening to any given song by Kanye West.  But I am not bitter, I walk the drunkard’s walk of randomness and I will inevitably reach my target.

Last night was a celebration of perfect timing and preparation.  It was my pleasure to volunteer as a scrutineer for the Mary-Margaret McMahon campaign on election day yesterday.  Sandra Bussin has been our councillor since she defeated the devil-you-know, Tom Jakobek years ago.  For some reason, people kept voted her back in maybe because  of her ageless Dorian Gray sign recognition.   As we know, the real Sandra Bussin does not look like that (see previous post).  The people of the Beaches have spoken because they came out in droves to vote.  There were line ups at every polling station, the one I was at went around the block.  It was like they were giving away Christmas turkeys at Honest Ed’s.  And it wasn’t because people cared about the next mayor because that was a choice between a buffoon and another buffoon.  I have to say this to George Smitherman:  You are a gracious loser but do not wear purple!  It makes your teeth look like the colour of a mid-flow urine sample.  Anyway, in Ward 32,  M3 won with 65% of the votes which is fantastic.  And so was the party at the Naval Club on Gerrard at Woodbine.  And for once I was in the right place at the right time:  free beer and food!  Here’s to change and hope!

Posted by . Categories: go girl. 1 Comment

21

Oct. ’10

The End of Bad Hair Days

Please Don’t Do This

Normally I don’t think about politics at all.  I think more about my hair.  I’m in the process of growing it out, by the way.  You know how a woman cuts her hair when she is pregnant or she ditches some crappy man?  Maybe it’s something about change and rebirth.  I’m in the opposite stage, I’m not having a baby and I feel like I’m dying a little every day.  So I’m not going to cut my hair and see how that goes.  And speaking of hair and change, the municipal election is coming up on October 25.  I have some thoughts about the mayoral candidates and reserve the right to change my mind but I definitely know who I’m voting for councillor in Ward 32.  While I am thinking about hair, I am also thinking it’s time for a change.  Let’s just call “hair” a metaphor for political platform and say somebody is using too much hairspray and has split ends and needs a new ‘do, not to mention maybe some Botox (shhh, it’s fine, I’ve tried it, it stops you from squinting and getting headaches and improves peripheral vision) and a new wardrobe while we are at it:

The real Sandra Bussin, as you can see from this picture, even her campaign signs are old

About a month ago, one of the other candidates came to my door and we had a little chat.  Mary-Margaret McMahon had a lot to offer.  She has really good hair.  She actually cares about community spirit.  I liked her so much, I volunteered to help her campaign and I am urging everyone in the hood to vote for her!!!  Please check out her website here:

Mary-Margaret McMahon for Ward 32, the change is going to be good

Posted by . Categories: Do This Not That, go girl. 1 Comment

14

Oct. ’10

Digging For Fire

Quad East Indoor Cycling Studio at 672 Queen East

My loins are on fire.  I’ll let you know what happened but first let me share with you my brilliant business idea, and if you steal it, I will go all Winklevoss on you.  You know how men go golfing and before they head home, they dip into the Rub and Tug for a little stress relief?  Yes, they do, sometimes the guys forget I’m a lady and they tell me things they don’t want their wives to know.  Well, something like that should exist for women, we can call it the Swirl and Twirl!  I actually thought I was going to get something like that when I went to Body Blitz last winter but instead I was made to wear plastic underwear and sprayed down with a hose like at a car wash.  I think that most ladies, after devouring confit-soaked chevre logs at their book club meetings would  hit that before heading home.  In fact they probably wouldn’t even bother with reading the book at all.

As for me, a LOCA (lady of a certain age), I have to go to far more obtuse measures to bitch slap my mojo out of the Snuggie and off the couch.  Last night my friend and I went to Quad East, click here for more info, an indoor cycling studio for a good old fashioned spin class.  Now I’ve been spinning for 13 years and I even have my teaching certificate, so I can call myself a veteran.  I ride bareback in shorts with no lining.  This is the first time that I’ve been to Quad and I have to say, it’s the coolest studio I’ve ever been to.  It’s spacious with disco balls hanging from the lofty ceilings.  Upstairs there is another huge studio space for Pilates classes and the women’s change room is like in an old office with modern showers.  The vibe is very friendly, sometimes spinning people can be intimidating in their skintight Spandex outfits, clomping around in their metal soled shoes like they are dressed for Halloween.  Quad has the Schwinn bikes, which are my favourite and easiest to use.  Lucky for us, the class was headed by Bruce, one of the most dynamic instructors in the city.  His voice is like a baritone sexed up Darth Vader and he looks like the UPS delivery man, the one in your dreams who delivers your package every afternoon, come rain or shine.  Here he is:

Bruce, he’s got the quads and other things, at Quad East

The Cycling studio at Quad East

It was a great class and Bruce, let’s just call him the mojo whisperer, did his job superbly.   It’s all about cadence and tunes.  And as a bonus, Quad East is on that fun block (just west of Jilly’s) where my favourite pub, Prohibition is and where we went afterwards.  I did something wild and crazy which was ordered the chicken lollipops (drumsticks) with the hottest sauce known to humanity.  They were freakishly hot and my skull felt like warm velvet until I got home.  And yes, today the burning ring of fire has kept me housebound for the morning but it’s all good!  The embers are still aglow.

Posted by . Categories: Get out of your comfort zone, LOCAs gone wild, This Charming Man. Tags: , , , . Leave a comment

09

Oct. ’10

A Change in Weather

It’s Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada, have you turned your heat on yet?  Me, not yet, but have been walking around in the house wearing a Snuggie.  I am thankful that the weather is fantastic and that the leaves are still on the trees so that the Chore Family next door won’t get any ideas for the long weekend, like raking while I sit on my porch and watch until the guilt sets it.  I am also thankful my sister will be making a turkey on Sunday.  Although, you know, the only way I really like a roasted turkey is when it’s sitting on the counter waiting for someone to cut it.  I like sneaking by, picking the greasy, loose, dark, bits at the bottom, and pilfering the pope’s nose while no one is watching.  Also  I am thankful that my deep fryer is broken and I won’t be compelled to host one of my disastrous Misfit Monday parties.  This is where I would deep fry a turkey and everything else I could get a hold of and invite some motley neighbours, get them liquored up, and then FIGHT!  The emotional aftermath to contend with was nothing compared to having to dispose of 16 liters of spent canola oil, and THAT little secret will stay with me until the end.  But I am sad about the deep fryer though because a deep fried turkey is a wondrous thing, even the white meat tastes dark.  Mmmm, meat….and speaking of meat, Meat on the Beach, 1860 Queen Street East is the place to go to order a turkey, or a ham.  And anything else including gourds and pumpkins because Halloween is just around the corner!        Meat on the Beach 1860 Queen Stree East

Posted by . Categories: Hanging Around. Tags: , . Leave a comment

02

Oct. ’10

Mama Mimi

Mi Mi’s Restaurant, 668 Gerrard Street East at Howland

I was sick this week!  I don’t know what it was but it left me baffled and wanting my mama.  And soup.  Although I pretty much always want soup.  As a child, I ate it everyday in elementary school.  I would walk home for lunch (through the woods behind the sugar shack which was a mile from the school, true!) and I would slurp down a bowl of Campbell’s Noodle O’s while watching the Flintstones.  Those were the days, my friend.  I still jones for the old can but I’m more apt to make from scratch….not really, when I am sick I am part baby, part slave driver, so the recipe is here.  When I can’t wait for you to make chicken stock and need a heaping dose of mama love right away, I head to queen of noodle soup, Mi Mi (her real name is Ni) and her Vietnamese magic bowl of goodness.  I always order spring rolls first, then the mixed noodle bowl with bbq pork, it all looks like this:

first course:  Spring Rolls

The soup:  egg noodles, big fat rice noodles, and bbq pork

Also, speaking of the Flintstones, it was their 50th anniversary the day I ate the soup which was yesterday (am still a little delirious)…here is a little a tribute, a picture of Alan Reed, the voice of Freddy (who I named my son after!):

And R.I.P. Tony Curtis who was Stoney Curtis on my all-time favourite episode, here’s the you tube clip

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