cook one day, dine the next

It's tough to have friends over for dinner on a weeknight, even if it is casual. Tougher still is doing so on a Monday. I coach on Monday nights, so that eats up an hour and a half or so out of the dinner hour. Advance preparation is clearly in order.

Sunday was ideal for that. I rubbed a few lamb shanks with oil, cumin, salt, pepper, and cinnamon, then browned them in a pan. They then went into a big roasting pan while I sauteed some spices (peppercorns, whole cloves, cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods, and bit of coriander, a few bay leaves) with some sliced onion and celery. Some chicken broth went into the pan, then when it was hot, poured with the rest of the mixture over the lamb. I popped on the cover and put it in a slow oven for a good couple of hours or more.

Up next: eggplant and green pea curry. I learned this recipe years ago at the restaurant. Saute some whole mustard seeds, sesame seeds, and cumin seeds. Add some turmeric, cayenne, and salt plus chopped onions. Cook for a bit to remove the rawness from the spices, then add chopped eggplant. Let that soften some, then mix in frozen (yes!) green peas and bit of water. Let this come to a nice stewiness until the eggplant is soft.

Note: I closed off all the doors in the house and opened a window to get some of the fragrance out.

While the curry was cooking, I sliced some red onion and tossed it into a small saucepan with sliced dried apricot, candy ginger nibs, sherry vinegar, and brown sugar. This I cooked into a chutney of sorts.

I let the items cool when done, then refrigerated them.

Flash forward one day, and post-practice, Brian came over to chat about Vancouver and gossip about our swim team mates. I was gently reheating the lamb during swimming, plating it a little while after he got there. Conrad and Brian helped themselves to the chutney and a very simple green salad while I dished up the lamb atop the curry and drizzled it with a seasoned mixture of yogurt and coconut milk.



Nice little dinner, in fact. Cheese, grapes, and chocolate for dessert. The cook one day, dine the next strategy paid off in a relaxed time enjoying Brian's company.

And even as I type, I have pork in the oven for after swimming tonight!

spring?

I swear I saw a few crocuses beginning to unfurl little shocks of purple, gold, and white in a few places around town today. It's been a very sunny Sunday here, and mild temperatures. We ate lunch at Letizia's on Division, and really, we should have grabbed a table outside given this early-in-the-year opportunity to sit outside comfortably. A glorious day.

First order of business today - after breakfast and showering and dressing - was coffee. Our habit, thanks to months of winter, would have been to bring reading material and/or laptops. Ah no, I suggested otherwise. Coffees in hand, we headed to the lake, aiming for a bit of stroll down by the water in Lincoln Park.

Most of the walk we didn't even notice too much of what was around us, in fact. Basking int he sun, holding hands, chatting and not chatting. At the Waveland Fieldhouse, though, we did stop to admire the blue skies the morning offered and the look of this fine old - disused? - building. A few shots from a morning walk in the park, then, and a wish that spring is with us all.

odd foods I like

Friday night I was at Tsuki with Conrad and CG, perusing the menu for some more items to order, and catching sight of something that gave me that, hmmm - slightly mischievous?, look that CG has come to know. No worries, I assured her and Conrad as I ordered.

A little while later out came three raw sweet shrimp. Tasty! Not long after that came part two: the shrimp heads fried to crispy, salty yumminess. The iPhone photo doesn't do them justice, though perhaps a better photo might not help any squeamish readers. They were hot out of the oil, though, and very good. It reminded me of a similar thing we enjoyed two years or so ago at the same restaurant involving the fried skeleton of horse mackerel. Also tasty. A nice echo of that particular night.

It's beginning to look a lot like...

...bunnies!



Chocolatey good bunnies. Easter must be upon us. Conrad caught sight of them in the window of a neighbourhood coffee shop yesterday, and we couldn't resist posing me with them when we went in for coffee today.
Nice little shop, by the way. I am a fan of Starbucks and gladly go to the one nearby, but I like this little independent shop, too. We each got our lattes and set out lakeward. Hopping along? Perhaps.

Sunshine Coast jaunt - last few shots

And just to squeeze out one more entry tonight (even if it doesn't get posted until some time tomorrow)...

Dad, in case I didn't mention it, has about 350 feet or so of waterfront at his place. The house is modest, the beach is rocky/barnacly (is that a word?), but it's waterfront, and that's pretty cool. Off to the north are some structures that have been there ever since I can recall - remnants of an old pier? Whatever they are, they make for a popular resting spot for cormorants. This was about the least crowded we saw it the couple of days we were up there.

Wheatberries. You may have seen in the blog, or on Facebook, or on Twitter that I would spend time there. My usual habit when I'm up visiting Dad is to get up at around 5:30, leave the hotel and drive down to Sechelt for a swim. After that, breakfast and coffee with a side of wireless Internet access at the downtown Sechelt location of this small chain. I'm rather fond of it. Also nice is the little shack out at the Langdale ferry terminal. Marie and I grabbed more coffee and a light bite there for lunch while awaiting the 2:30 sailing.

As the ferry approached Horseshoe Bay, we were all summoned back to our vehicles. Our car was pretty close to the bow of the boat, and we wandered as far forward as we could to catch a shot or two. Our reward was great gusts blowing our layers of clothes about and doing an especially hilarious job of styling Marie's hair.
She'll hate me for these photos (but not because of the hair), but they really are funny without being mean, I think.

English Bay

Another in a small series of quick posts to get some photos up. It was a busy week behind me of being out of town, and it will be a busy weekend ahead of seeing Conrad for the first time in almost two weeks. Beyond that? Off to New Zealand in 8 days. If I'm not blogging, it's because I'm just too distracted with trying to clear everything off my plate and get myself onto that plane.

Tuesday night, after a slightly brutal practice with the English Bay Masters Swim Team (Fins, for almost an hour? Hello cramps!), Chris and I walked over to Denman along the waterfront. Evening was coming on, and the sunset amidst the clouds was lovely. I, of course, took a few shots. Small wonder we'll eventually move up there, right?

Seattle scenes

I should be doing work, but I should be catching up on my blog. Decision, decisions...

A week ago now I arrived in Seattle to gorgeous sunny weather. The city truly is a gem at any time, but in the sunshine, it's amazing. Don't worry Vancouver/Montreal/Chicago/many other cities - I love you, too.

The Thursday afternoon I did a bit of work in the hotel room, but otherwise met up with Medgar for happy hour. That evening I met CG and some of her friends/colleagues for dinner and ended up back at the same place Medgar and I went to. Other shots here are from the Saturday as we wandered through the Market area in search of lunch.

I managed some other shots through the weekend, mostly of a small area of downtown within easy walking distance of my hotel and the conference centre. I only wish the last of them - from a Starbucks (I unapologetically like the chain) near my hotel - showed the fat, fluffy Sunday morning flakes much better. Ah well, in any case it's pretty kick ass that I can take photos like that with my iPhone!

deliciousness

Frankly, I could not care less that it is St. Patrick's Day. Big whoop.

And so it is that I "celebrate" an "Irish" festival by turning to a dish associated (in my mind) with Scotland. Deliciousness itself, the deep fried Mars Bar.

In fact, Chris and I didn't talk about Ireland - or even Scotland - all dinner long. Come on, we were busy savouring. The fish and chips, I should add, were quite fine, too.

more evidence of impending spring

Evidence of spring on the Sunshine Coast, that is. Aside from the crocuses in bloom in many places (and they are such a glorious sight after a long dreary winter, I love them so), I spotted these in bloom on the grounds of our hotel here.

Filipino cooking

Ah, if only I could make this food. I never learned, and I've never sought out the recipes. Shame on me.

A couple of days on the Sunshine Coast, visiting family, and for the first time in (I think) almost 6 years, I got to have a bunch of homemade Filipino food. Ah, memories of many delicious meals made by my step-mother in years gone by. Bella's sister, Alberta, took care of most of the cooking while Bella was at work, offering up a dish of noodles and local prawns with a sauce made from the prawn shells and heads,
adobo chicken, and another chicken dish. And salad, by the way. A family dinner for me for a change.



Truly, it rocked. So very nice after all these years. I hope it's not 6 more years. After dinner, rain - then hail - moved through the area, then things brightened up enough for sunset over Texada.

Marie and I came back to the hotel, and all felt contentedly well.

coffee breaks with former colleagues

I'm tired. I was at the airport by 10 this morning, only to put up with inexplicably slow lines, crabby United staff, and flight delays. Some 10 hours later, I made it to my hotel here on the Sunshine Coast, only to get some room service so that I could do some work that needs doing by midweek while I'm still out of town. I'm tired.

I'm post-dating some entries, and this is one. There's much more I can and will say about the few days in Seattle, but I think it nice to end the blogging for the evening (regardless of when this is posted) with a couple of shots of former colleagues whom I caught up with in Seattle.

Tim taught English 161, and I taught library sessions for his classes. Curiously, some subsequent work I've been doing (and the topic of my poster) is of interest to work he's done and continues to do. In any case, a heck of a nice guy (and I'll say it again: I want that sweater), and I've already heard back from a former prof of his how delighted she is to have seen the photos.
I think we've lost him and his wife to Seattle, but I do hope to cross paths with him again back west or in Chicago.

Kristina, I adore. I miss working with her, and I miss the occasional lunch we fit in. On top of that, her husband is more into Christmas than I am, if such a thing is possible, so you just know that I think very highly of him, too. It's a sad fact of Chicago life that I don't see too many colleagues from other area institutions except at conferences. I'm glad she pinned me down for coffee; in fact, given the grant work I was stuck in the hotel with most of that day, I'm especially grateful to her and Tim for the human company and live conversation. Kristina, I'll add, looks gorgeous.

And that's a night for me. Sleep well, everyone, whenever you read this, whoever you are.