karaoke

Oh, don't get your hopes up. Remember how I'm actually a shy kind of guy? You know, the sort of shy guy who can stand in an exhibits hall for an hour and talk with any person who comes by to look at my poster session? Yes, that kind of shy guy, the sort who will sit back and only watch/listen as his friends tear through karaoke.

I sing, as CG (for one) will tell you, but I have no confidence in my voice. So it was that Friday night was a late one for me (happily, little alcohol, just a late night) with some De Paulians and associated librarians, enjoying a karaoke bar. Hula Hula Tiki Bar, I think it was called. Sweetest mai tai I've ever had (and I've had more than a few in my time now), but gosh darn, was that a fun night.

I mean, come on, there were some mighty good performances. One librarian (the place was overrrun with us) was a ringer, voicewise, for Steven page as he wailed through "Brian Wilson". A friend of his, a woman, was not just a good singer, but she worked the room very well. I was impressed.

And then there was my crew:

Missy, singing country. I just wish she'd turned to face all of her admirers.

Jake.
Straight and married, a cross between Barney from HIMYM and Howie Mandel, and yet just super cool and (I admit) kind of (quite) sexy. Whatever. He ripped through "Need You Tonight", and he had people up dancing and cheering.

My favourite, not shown here, was CG's take on "Black Horse and a Cherry Tree". I've long liked the song, and she did it well. Almost as good, though, was her take on that forgotten (at least, I'd kind of forgotten it) 80s duet "Separate Lives". Remember it? Her friend Josh was Marilyn Martin, CG was Phil Collins. The emoting was fantastic.
It rather makes the three young men who did "Welcome to the Jungle" later in the evening seem all the sadder for it.

Maybe one day I'll be braver, but not that night. Ah well. I have fun photos to show for it, at least. And yes, I really did go do actual conference activities!

mighty big coffee?

A few days in Seattle, the land of Starbucks and many other coffee houses, chains, shops. Frankly, I like Starbucks. Oh, rail against it if you will, and I freely admit that there is good coffee elsewhere. Just the same, I think they deliver a consistent and good-enough product. Venti whole milk misto? Makes me happy most every time.

Arek snapped the shot at Sea-Tac while we were waiting for his bags and Heather's (his wife). Jokingly, he made it wanted it posed as if I had hit upon the venti-est venti of them all. Truthfully? The tube holds my poster session.

Good days in Seattle, and some blog entries in the days ahead. I'll be back to Chicago on Thursday.

splurge recommendation

So, do you have some money lying around and a desire to treat yourself nicely? Yes? I have a helpful suggestion.

Brunch at NoMI.

Get a window table. Not always possible, but the view over the Water Tower is something else. Admire the Chihuly chandeliers, if that's what they are. Get a glass of champagne (the cocktails are not a strong suit there, so go with the wine by itself). And indulge in the food.

Ah, yes. Yummy, pretty food. Stations set up for serving yourself, plus entrees made to order. I loved the remoulade (I think it was) scented with truffle. The Brussels sprouts salad was another winner. Seafood, cheeses, bacon and sausages. All of it good. My meal was grouper, and I was very pleased with it.

But really, good food, good view, let's get to desserts.


Ah, desserts. Ahhhhhh. I was greedy and happy and was especially charmed by the simple little macaroon and the very light bottom layer of the parfait crowned with candied pineapple.


Allison, Brenda, and I waited out a great deal of lashing rain, with such a wicked view of it coming down. Some coffee, much contentedly wandering conversation, and after a good two hours or more we ventured out shopping and playing the tourist. In amidst the horrid weather that caused them an extra night in Chicago we got a smidgen of blue sky and took advantage for photos.
It really is an impressive city, you know.

we should have guessed

Ah, Mother Nature and Air Canada. Such merry co-conspirators. Or something.

Conrad got off the ground on time on Sunday morning, and he made it to Honolulu without the slightest difficulty. Allison and Brenda, returning to Toronto? Not so easy or lucky. It was mighty nasty Sunday morning when I dashed for a latte nearby, and it was similarly wet and stormy through until mid-afternoon.
Is it any wonder that as the system moved Toronto-wards that I ended up with a relaxing extra night of company?

I'm not complaining. I'm impressed with the look of the weather, and I'm not-so-secretly delighted and grateful to steal extra time with me friends.

a long-awaited trip to our second home

For so long, years even, Brenda has heard about our love for Yoshi's. Last Friday, she got to know it herself. Welcome to our second home, Brenda. We hope you liked the dessert!

:-)

entertaining

As mentioned a couple of days ago, we had Brenda and Allison in town this weekend. Allison has visited several times before, and there were some Chicago folks she was hoping to see again. Dominic and Francis couldn't make it, but we were really delighted to have Kim, CG, and Rachel over. Added to this was a new face for Allison (and Brenda, who had heard of the others and even exchanged e-mail and FB messages, but had never met them), Tim. 8 of us for dinner. I hadn't done a proper dinner party in ages. Was I up for it?

Heck yeah!

I should say that Conrad gets huge credit for pulling through this. We had this all planned before his work travel schedule for March reared its ugly head, and he was left with only 36 hours in town on the weekend. I know he would have liked a quiet weekend, and I would have liked one with him. Still, we didn't want to let our friends down, so we soldiered on. Thank you, my handsome guy!

Also, no photos of the guests. I was in the kitchen, and Conrad was tending to drinks and enjoying the conversation. He did take photos of food for me for the blog, but I didn't want him stuck taking shots all night long. Sorry gang, your days of glory on the blog will have to wait.

Dinners are a great excuse to use the big table, get out the nice linens and silver, and play with colours of Fiestaware. I went with a blues through purples to reds theme and by happy coincidence, CG brought us tulips to match.




The guests arrived, and we dined in a fairly leisurely manner. Up first were some cheese, ham, nuts, and a sparkling Spanish rose. People got acquainted or reacquainted. I got busy in the kitchen.

To the table, then, and it was a simple asparagus soup with lemon creme fraiche. To drink? A Saint Clair Sauvignon Blanc. I am sorry we won't go to Marlborough on the upcoming trip to NZ (oh, and Allison, if you read this, the book is getting much better) because we did love the wines and the area. Ah well. Less than three weeks to go. But that's a different blog entry.

For a main course, brined Cornish game hens with some parsnip leek puree and Brussels sprouts. Simple stuff paired with Georges Duboeuf Chiroubles Beaujolais. I'm drinking the last of the last bottle even as I write this.

Dessert was geared toward a gift Allison and her husband Sean had given us a couple of years back: Niagara ice wine. It's such a luxury, and I wanted it to be the star. Accordingly, I made a simple walnut gateau breton and set out four cheeses. Clockwise from top left:

• Cana de Cabra (Spain, goat milk)
• Cypress Grove Midnight Moon (USA, goat milk)
• Valdeon Blue (Spain, goat and cow milk)
• Cypress Grove Humboldt Fog (USA, goat milk)

Some pieces of chocolate, some grapes, there's your dessert.

I feel badly that we had to chase people out at about 11 but Conrad did have an early flight. I'm just grateful that we have such terrific friends, and that they've become friendly with each other through us. Having Brenda and Allison in town was a great reason for a dinner party, but I'd be glad to have any and all of them over again. Hmmm....

Brenda!

This may take me a few days to catch up. It already feels late to me, and it's not yet 9:00. I'm getting old.

But hey, a happy post. Brenda just made her visit to Chicago and even got a bonus day out of it. Yay bad weather! I'll have more to write about the dinner I cooked for her and Allison (also in town from Toronto) and some other dear friends, as well as a post on brunch at NoMI yesterday (Kick. Ass.), but I think I'll beg off a long post today and just leave a few photos from Brenda's first full day here.

Last Friday. 67 Fahrenheit degrees. Sunny. Perfect. I worked for an hour or so until she got up, then took her over to Whole Foods/Center on Halsted for a bite of breakfast. After that, I put her on a bus downtown to explore. She had a great day. I came downtown to have lunch at Bin 36 with her (lobster club sandwich with celery and blue cheese soup for me) before coming home to continue working away at a grant proposal. She continued seeing it all and loving it.

More to come in the next day or two. For now, let's be content that we got to see her here for once and that she had one brilliant day of weather to show for it.

cookies for a birthday boy

So you may have read how the NBF has his fortieth birthday today. 40, JEPH, 40!

:-)

I'm evil, and he will get me back when I turn 40 YEARS from now.

Anyway.... Sunday I was in the kitchen a bunch after getting work done that I'd brought home. Cookies were the order of business. Over the course of the afternoon I managed to get dough put into the freezer and batches of three other cookies made.

These are the ones I'm most happy with: Martha's bourbon raisin recipe. In fact, no bourbon in these but Irish Whiskey instead. No one will know the difference, will they? I loved the flavour of the dough, and it was soft and easy to work with. One drawback: cut out cookies with currants in them? The bits of currant stick out and make for raggedy cookies. Ah well.


I love to make biscotti, though I've come to wonder if ANYONE likes eating them. Perhaps. This is a simple recipe from a biscotti cookbook: Biscotti Toscani. Never made them before, but they had a nice light flavour from blood orange zest, almond extract, and nutmeg. They're the cookies in back.



The others (triangle shaped) were a simple recipe I spotted in a book of Swedish baking. I'd been meaning to explore it since Karen gave it to me, and this was a nice opportunity to try it. In the end, I'm not sure the recipe is great. Not bad, but not great. A bunch of dough wasted by the process of cutting out the cookies from a solid sheet of baked dough. A too-subtle flavour. I'll think on whether I want to try that one again.

Happy 40th

A landmark birthday for the NBF: 40! Happy birthday Jeph! How funny that it was the never-ending Web Committee work that introduced us on a field trip to your library. How wonderful a friend you've become in the three years since. You deserve nothing less than a wonderful birthday, and I wish you all the best for it.

Yes, I still not-so-secretly covet your BF.

:-)








Awwww, who's a handsome little guy?

I love lamb

Yes, it's true. Oh sure, my Dad (and now other people) josh me about my love for pork. Hey, pig is good! But I love lamb very much. My step-father won't eat it, so when I was young, my Mum would only cook it when he was away at logging camp for the week. But then we'd have it with a vengeance - I swear we had a three lamb dinners one week!

I rely on shanks a lot. As cuts go, they're hard to mess up. Put 'em in liquid and braise in the oven for a couple of hours or so. Turn occasionally. Easy, and tasty. The braising liquid reduces down into a good sauce. Add veggies, and instant YUM!



This was last night. A busy weekend, including hours in the kitchen. We had a bottle of an unfamiliar French red that also went into the braising liquid. And darned if it wasn't a fine meal in the end!