The Joy of Eating Out, Alone

Posted: January 25, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | 1 Comment

As I write this I am sitting at the bar inside a warm restaurant. I can see the snow outside being beautifully whipped around by the wind.

It’s the middle of the afternoon and I am not in a rush. I am not on anyone’s schedule but my own.

I have stretched my things across two bar seats so I don’t have to sit on a bulky winter coat and hat.

I enthusiastically nod for a second glass of wine and order a second appetizer that I don’t have to share or fret over being polite about taking the last bite of.

It’s great to people watch and see the joy and energy of being together with loved ones. But I am not jealous that they are sharing appetizers.

There are things I want to share with someone else – a cab, the bed, our lives, the rent, diaper duty, love. But I will always be an only child and I really need you to order your own calamari dammit!

Recipe or IKEA Instructions?

Posted: January 19, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Recipes | Tags: | Leave a comment

If you want to buy booze in Ontario you usually have to buy it from the LCBO which controls all alcohol sales in Ontario (also why it’s not more cost effective to buy wine by the bottle versus by the glass and why bartenders don’t do buy backs).

The LCBO publishes a food magazine which has free distribution in each of its stores. The recipes are seasonal and they provide great pairings – although sometimes they suggest beer which I don’t understand but apparently other people do.

There was just an article on how QR codes are the next big thing and the LCBO is jumping on board by teaming with some of the advertisers to put QR codes linking to recipes to pair with the wine. I tried the Tomato and Meat Bolognese on Saturday and it had all the right ingredients. The instructions left out a few things, similar to the instructions that come with IKEA furniture that leave out just enough information that you worry your bed might collapse in the middle of sex. So I have recreated the recipe below with some edits in italics.

¼ cup (60 mL) butter
1 onion, chopped
1 small celery stalk, chopped
1 small carrot, chopped
4 oz (112 g) each ground veal, pork and lean beef
2 oz (60 g) prosciutto, chopped
½ cup (125 mL) dry red wine, preferably Italian
¾ cup (175 mL) milk
¼ tsp (1 mL) nutmeg
28 oz (796 mL) can plum tomatoes, drained and chopped – you can find pre-chopped canned tomatoes and I recommend not draining for a saucier sauce
½ cup (125 mL) whipping cream
½ cup (125 cup) Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese – grated or shredded
¼ cup (60 mL) chopped fresh parsley or 2 tsp (10 mL) dried
Salt and freshly ground pepper

  1. Melt butter in a skillet and sauté onions and carrots and celery until soft. Add ground meats, prosciutto, wine and salt and pepper to taste. Start with a 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper since you can’t season to taste until the meat has cooked through.

  2. Stir in milk and nutmeg and simmer until the meat absorbs the liquid. There will still be some liquid from the fat of the meat. Add tomatoes and continue to cook gently for 1 hour.
  3. Stir in cream, Parmigiano and parsley. Taste and adjust seasoning.

  4. Serve over a 450 g package of cooked pasta.

The Secret Is Two of Everything

Posted: January 5, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Relationships | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Hard-Won Lessons of the Solitary Years – NYTimes.com.

As someone who has lived alone most of my adult life the idea of living with someone scares the shit out of me. Similar to Sara Eckel I wonder if I can compromise enough and open myself up. Although about 10 years ago I did find myself wanting to move in with a guy for all the wrong reasons – triple the apartment space and half the rent.

The Today Show is my morning ritual. Even living in Canada I don’t care that Al Roker greys out anything north of the US border, I can’t watch anything else as I get ready for work. Weekdays off where I get to watch Kathie Lee and Hoda is better than a glass of red wine.

A number of years ago I was worrying (for no reason since I was single at the time) about what would happen if I met the man of my dreams and he watched CNN or some other nonsense. Some people might say that the man of my dreams would also have Today be part of his morning routine. Bullshit, if this were the case my friend the Red Sox fan would not be happily married to her husband the Yankees fan.

A friend of mine (he would call himself a wise friend) had a better solution, just have two TVs. Brilliant and applicable to other areas of friction as well. I am a cover hog, two duvets. If he can’t clean his whiskers from the sink after shaving, have two sinks. And although I am willing to discuss and compromise about kids, money, religion, his mother and golf with the guys I refuse to compromise the number of shoes I choose to own – so two closets.