Thursday, June 30, 2011

Recipes Found This Week

Chocolate cheesecake strawberries what else can I say?

Blueberry cream cheese crumb cake I'm not sure what the equivalent of Rhodes dinner rolls are here in Canada but will check them out.

Beets and goat cheese salad I love beets and think this would be a great summer salad.

Baked beans

Toronto Thursday

The Toronto Jazz Festival is on in Toronto from June 24 to July 3. What could be a better way to spend your lunch hour??



 Lunch
 Roti - curried chicken and potato with extra hot sauce
 Some vendors
 Boxes for sale - my downfall and it is almost July!




 A quick visit to the new Ritz-Carleton
 Very patriotic floor 
 Very cool looking bar!
Oh and this baby (box) had to come home with me!

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

My First Linky!

My first linky!I'm #38!!

Wednesday's Words - An Interesting Blog

I discovered this blog Home Is Where The heart Is. Sunflower is from Toronto.

Here is what she says on first post:
I'm not really sure how to start this blog but I guess the best way is simply to just tell the story of why I decided to move to South Africa in this first place so here goes....
Back in the summer of '08 while researching some working holiday info I came across an opportunity to volunteer in South Africa. For some reason it stuck in my head and a few months later, in October, I decided to just go for it. I found myself in a suburb of Cape Town at a "Place of Safety" for children, which is basically a transitional home for kids that have been taken away from their parents for various reasons or were simply abandoned. This isn't a permanent home, but serves to house these children until the courts decide what to do with them. There were 30 children between the ages of 6-14 that lived here, split in half by gender. This is where I met two of the most important people in my life. I will call them S and T.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Meat Loaf



Another old favourite from Betty Crocker.
Meat Loaf Roll:
1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped broccoli or I have used fresh or frozen spinach
2 pounds hamburger
2 eggs
3/4 cup soft bread crumbs
1/4 cup catsup
1/4 cup milk I don't think I usually add this just seems weird
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1 teaspoon salt
1 package (3 ounces) smoked sliced ham I never add this
3 slices mozzarella cheese, each 3×3 inches, cut diagonally into halves or whatever works for you
Mix everything except the vegetable and cheese together. Pat the mixture onto a piece of foil (see top photo). Add the vegetable and roll it tightly using the foil. Press edges and ends of roll to seal. Discard foil.
Place uncovered in a shallow roasting pan and bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/4 hours. Add chees slices and cook until cheese melts.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Toronto - The Underdown Pub



This post is a shameless plug for a family business. The Underdown Pub recently reopened after major renovation and is currently being run by Russ. They feature live music every night of the week.
You can also check out their Facebook page.
Here is a link to a slideshow of photos.


We had drinks there in April and last week met up with some family members for dinner.
Russ is a great and innovative chef so there were some interesting items on the menu.


They have great beers on tap and recently added Rolling Rock. They also serve a new cerveza sangria! What could sound better on a sunny weekend afternoon?

We started with lemon pepper chicken wings that were delicious, sorry, didn't take a photo but trust me we ordered a second helping!! The lemon flavour was mouth puckering great!

I had sliders - which you  could order with various dressings. I liked the onions and mushroom dressings the best. The root vegetable fries are the best ever!

 Grilled flatbread

Our party also tried the Works Nachos with ground beef and pronounced these as a success also.
None of us tried this salad (I stole the photo from Russ) but it looks so good  Mix greens,avocado,pink grapefruit , sunflower seeds tossed in a citrus vinaigrette !!! 

Then there's dessert!

The Underdown Pub on Urbanspoon

Recipes Found This Week




Simple Indian cabbage dish from Chow and Chatter.

Asian slaw ponzu dressing from Steamy Kitchen.

Lemon blueberry yogurt loaf three of my favourite things in one!

Wonton soup with rice noodles

365 Decluttering

A productive decluttering week as  Clothesline run by the Canadian Diabetes Association came and picked up all the stuff that was accumulating in the basement (stuff already covered in previous posts).
This is what the house looked like the night before:

New items added this week and were:
The two white shelves pictured above
The storage bins above
A couple of t shirts
Some old reading glasses


Reused:
My GF liked the centrepiece from my dining room which I had mentioned I was getting rid of on a previous post. They came to dinner a week or so ago and I  had it packaged up for her in a bag (decluttered) and she has given it new life on her patio table. She replaced the stumpy candles with nice new ones.



Thrown into the garbage:
An old hairbrush (replacement bought this week)
Old coaster
Camera thingy that we don't know where it came from


Used up:
Old lipstick - finished it this week and threw container out
Perogies - in the freezer since who knows when!! We didn't finish them but at least they have been opened and some consumed.



On the To Do - sell on Kijiji
Since we moved the bookcases downstairs things had to be rearranged and some items need to be sold.

Bombay company cabinet - I had it mounted on the  wall
My antique sewing table - minus the sewing machine when I bought it


And the old (pretty new) TV stand from Best Buy which has been replaced.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Saturday Sightseeing

We "happened" upon Montezuma in Arizona on one of our first trips there. We were staying two weeks in Sedona and took many exploring day trips. This was our first introduction to these tribes. They were the Sinaquas, an ancient Indian tribe who built the cliff dwellings about 700 years ago in the early 1300s. For unknown reasons, the Sinaqua abandoned their homes in this Verde Valley Arizona area in the 1400s. Perhaps they had over extended agricultural pressure on the land. Or perhaps there was a lengthy drought or they could have been eliminated through conflict with the Yavapai Indians that still exist today. If there were any Sinaqua survivors, they were likely absorbed into other Indian tribes to the north. 


It is considered to be one of the most preserved ancient cliff dwellings in America.


What astonishes me is that we were completely unaware of this monumental dwelling!
However, since then, we have discovered many more of these wondrous sights.







Thursday, June 23, 2011

Toronto Thursday - Urban Living

The roses have taken a beating this week with all the rain, but earlier in the week they were at their finest.