Morning art

playing around this morning before work. Not at all what I had intended to make, but meh ^_^

Peaceful

I was going to construct a little art project from plant matter today after work, but found myself too tired to function after a day of REDACTION. So, I satisfied my need for some bonding time with nature by stopping in at the conservatory at the WPL (again). Its such a peaceful little space. Apparently the local wildlife thinks so too, as today I was visited by a very inquisitive squirrel as I sat and enjoyed the flowers.

 
 
 
 
 

Bori-Bori

Today I tried a recipe from the Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul regions of Brazil, called Bori-Bori, which is a chicken and dumpling dish, and it is AMAZING.

I found the recipe here, which is a really awesome blog, that I would highly suggest you take a few minutes to explore. I didn't really do anything wildly different, except for cut the recipe down by about half, so I'll just copy/paste the whole thing here:

For the chicken:
1 large chicken, cut into serving pieces, without skin
salt to taste
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
2 large onions, finely chopped
1 sm. serrano chile, finely chopped (use to taste)
4 Tbsp. neutral vegetable oil
3 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
10 cups water (1.5 liters)
3 Tbsp. green onions, finely chopped

For the dumplings (bolinhos):
1 cups cornmeal (white or yellow, medium ground, polenta-style)
1 cup grated hard cheese (parmesan, romano)
salt to taste
broth from cooking chickens


Prepare the chicken: season by mixing salt, garlic and one chopped onion and rubbing this mixture into the serving pieces of  chicken. Put the chicken in the refrigerator and leave for at least one hour. Heat the vegetable oil over medium heat in a large, heavy saucepan, add the other chopped onion, and fry until lightly golden. Add the chicken pieces and brown on all sides. Add the chopped tomatoes, correct the salt, and cook for a few minutes over medium heat. Add the water, bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for approximately 30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through, but not falling off the bone. Remove from heat, and reserve one cup of broth for making the dumplings.

Prepare the dumplings: In a large bowl, mix together the cornmeal and the grated cheese. Add the broth from the chicken, stirring to incorporate completely. If necessary add a small additional amount of cornmeal until the dough becomes firm enough to roll into balls. Using hands, form the dough into small balls, about the size of a large walnut.

Final preparation:  reheat the chicken in its broth to a slow boil. Push the chicken to one side of the saucepan, making space to place the dumplings in the broth. Add the dumplings, and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for approximately 15 minutes, or until the dumplings are firm. Remove from heat.

Serving: Place the chicken and dumplings in a low casserole, pour the broth over, and sprinkle with the chopped green onions. Serve immediately.

(Recipe translated and adapted from Cozonha Regional Brazileira by Editora Abril)

and, here we have it!

OMG so good. Apologies for the bad lighting, but it really wound up looking purdy too. 

At the park today

Let me just say I love Westmount Park. Its got such a good vibe. I went there today, and apparently it is Westmount Family Day, so there was all sorts of things going on. . .food vendors and clothing vendors and information booths and music and three massive bouncy castles and rock climbing walls and a zip line over the pond, and rafting lessons. I enjoyed wandering around looking at everyone enjoying the fun. Then found a quiet spot to sit and read for a bit, then found another quiet spot to doodle and write a bit. So, I might as well share what I doodled and mused.

A flash of light

in bleakest night 

a rap on cellar door

bar lifted

meaning shifted

in durance held no more

I flew with you 

through twilit valleys

and felt what it was to feel

and now you show me my reflection

where by your pool I kneel

My eyes my skin

my mouth my ears

my stubborn jaw

and drying tears

leave the water unrippled

All things tripled

a phrase, a thought

a taste of woodsmoke 

and dimness 

in this shadowed grove

are what you show

You are me

and we are three

Mother 

daughter

Holy Spirit

The music was always here

waiting 

for my ears

to hear it

I follow you 

barefoot back

as twilight slips 

from rose 

to gray

to black

My little world

Went garage sale-ing today, and bought a mirror for my room, finally. Hung it, cleaned room, hung a couple of other pictures, and now, after almost a year, its starting to feel like home. So, I decided to share some pictures of my little space, complete with mattress on the floor, microwave-turned-bedside table, and plastic dresser. If you don't find me handsome. . .

New mirror, and shoe collection!

plastic dresser is classy

I love my window. I love how big the ledge is.
 I love that it opens inwards.
 I love that there is a vine growing into my bedroom

Sleeping on the floor is cool.

Detail of the mirror. Hand crafted in Quebec from pine.
Artist's signature on the back. Not bad for $15.

poorly hung pictures :D

me chillin' 

Shiny things!

Playing with the flash on my camera, and sunlight : 

In Soviet Union, Omelet makes YOU

No picture with the recipe today, partly because I'm too lazy/hungry to take one, mostly because this dish looks less appetizing than it tastes. Here is the recipe I stumbled across: Omelet USSR. Apparently that means omelet with bread in it?

And here's my "meh, I only have some of those things in the kitchen" version:

3 eggs
1/4 cup ranch dressing
2 pieces bread
salt and pepper
swiss cheese

whisk up the eggs and the dressing, put in the bread, salt and pepper, and let bread soak while you heat up pan/ manically clean out fridge for a bit. Pour in egg/bread mixture in heated pan. Cover. Continue being manic. Realize things smell a little crispy, add cheese, and fold omelet over cheese so it melts. Turn off heat now to avoid doing further damage. Let cool.

THEN OM NOM NOM

simple, but tasty.

Hell's Chicken

Had a little mishap with this one. . .GIMP started crashing just as I finished. Luckily, I am ingenious, and took a closeup of the graphic from my laptop screen onto my camera, giving me this:

For your viewing pleasure, Hell's Chicken

Reading Between the Lines

One of the differences between men and women. Or maybe its just between sane people and crazy people. . .

 

As Jean-Luc Picard would say. .  .

*facepalm* 

Panfried fish and . . .Mule . . .Skinners. . .Gravy

Yeah, you heard me  . . . 

A) The Fish

Ingredients: 

Fish (I used cod) 

Egg

tbsp water

salt and pepper

cornmeal

mix together the egg and the water, then dip your fishy bits in, and then dip those in the cornmeal. Then fry those mo'fo's, about six to ten minutes, turning once, until cornmeal is golden brown, and fish flakes. 

B) The Mule Skinner's Gravy

I have no idea why this is called what it is called, but it was a tasty addition to the meal.

Ingredients: 

Fish fat

1/4 cup cornmeal

Can of diced tomato

Salt and Pepper

White Vinegar

Garlic Powder

3 egg

Take the fish out of frypan. Put more cornmeal in frypan. Fry cornmeal until brown, add tomato and seasoning, stir in 3 beaten eggs, and then stir around until eggs are cooked through. Modified from: http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1826,154163-232194,00.html

I had this on rice (though grits are recommended. . .lol, as though I could find grits in Montreal), with some spinach and parmesan on the side. 

Nobody needs to see this pt. deux

I think its getting worse instead of better.

April 18, 2012

May 19 2012

April 18, 2012

May 19, 2012

but I'll try not to get discouraged. Even if I'm still big, I can feel myself getting stronger!

Bad Poetry Saturday

All things are sweet smelling
and open
memories like wounds
gape in silence at
a golden present

Did you know who
I was then?
Now?
My heart a black box
(the puzzle of toymakers)
and you the one
with the soft touch
to shatter it open
bringing pain and pleasure

Untold and unfold
like petals
all the words
I have no mouth to form
All the feelings
I have no words to speak

Did you know that your touch
on me is the sun
warm on my shoulders
your words
the cooling breeze
on my skin?
(like the wine-sodden breath
of the gods)
you soothe me.

Perfection is here
everywhere around us
sight, smell, sound
               touch, taste

Perfection is here in fifty years
spent holding hands
a mat of clover
youth chasing dreams and butterflies
unashamed,  the
steady squall of swingsets and
in dappled shade
the melancholy sweetness
of the lilacs.

Perfection is here
in afternoons spent sleeping
off nights caught dizzy in
the lives of strangers
thrown back somehow lighter
into my ocean.

Did you know
my heart was a black box
now split open like pandora's
to spill bright chaos in
a honeyed nectar
over all I see and hear and feel?

Darkness doesn't live here anymore.
I do.
Shake out the dusty covers
Throw open rusted shutters
Lay a welcome mat at the door
for I am here
and here I'll be
forevermore.

Restaurant Eduardo Duluth

Had a girls night out last night, and continued that elusive quest for good, reasonably priced restaurants in Montreal.

Restaurant Eduardo Duluth fits the bill.

 Located at 404 Avenue Duluth Est (which is a lively but not overwhelming street off of Saint Denis), Eduardo's is an Italian restaurant that has a distinctly family feel. Like a smiling Italian grandmother might walk up to your table and goad you on, "Eat! Eat!"

Don't be fooled by the less than stunning exterior: inside, Eduardo's is decorated in a very nifty, incredibly cozy "cottage" style of dark aged wood (wood errywhar!). There are a number of quirky little touches which add to the homey feel of the place: crayon drawings from child patrons up on the wall, and inexplicable cartoons of scaly monster things (think where the wild things are) on the bathroom doors.

Its also byob, which is great. Coming from SK, where a night drinking at a bar is bound to leave you bankrupt, and minus the left eye you used to pay for that last bottle of Keiths, I heartily approve of anywhere I am allowed to bring my own cheap alcohol and not pay restaurant prices.

And now for the food. We started with warmed and breaded cheese (fondue, minus the due?) which was soft and flavorful and delicious (and nummy, too), and some herbed bread, which seems to be a house specialty, and is quite good.

For mains, I ordered cheese tortellini with rose sauce. I won't lie, deciding what to eat was kinda interesting due to my stupidity when it comes to french, but I was pleased with my choice. The sauce was rich, tangy, and irresistable. The tortellini was packed with cheese. I ate all of it. OM NOM NOM. I'd like to go back and sample their spaghetti, I think.

Also, the prices are good. My share of the bill, all told, came to $13. It is so hard to find good food in Montreal that isn't expensive, but Eduardo's is one of those places. I will definitely try to get back there, perhaps on a shopping day sometime in the coming month.

In other news, hope everyone has a great long weekend! I have a park to go sit in. Ciao!

Lessons from this week

1) Good shoes = good day (I have to re-learn this at least once a week)
2) There are never as many dishes to wash as you think there are
3) Marmalade isn't so bad after all
4) A family pack of ham is A LOT of ham
5) Persistence is key
6) People in the fifties centered their writing style on beating around the bush.
7) Cocobun makes everything better. Period.
8) I need new tights
9) My gut instinct is typically to rebel
10) Sometimes I get sad for no reason, but I am grateful for those in my life who are patient with me when it happens.
11) Writing can be *fun* (I forgot).
12) When reading a novel, it is impossible not to fall in love with any British character named Nigel.
13) The rich people do indeed live in Westmount.
14) I have an unshakable mental connection between the scent of lilacs in spring, and memories of home.
15) I have a long way to go in acclimatizing to the humidity in Montreal.

Hope everyone is having an equally informative week!
-S

More photos, mostly Westmount

If you want to see more along these lines, go here