Gallivanting to the U. S. of A.

As I've eluded to in the previous posts (slash "completely stated"), I did not "do" Halloween this year. I actually ran away from the city for a long weekend in New York City. We hadn't entirely intended to miss Halloween in the Tdot, but the conference my boyfriend was attending happened to be that weekend, and I'm game for most excuses to go to New York. Also, both of us got most of a week off from work as a result of this trip, so bonus.

The last weekend in October is a lovely weekend to see the fall colours in Central Park.

After a bumpy flight and a rainy walk to the hotel the night before, we were greeted by a 20 degree day in New York City. The boy went off to his conference and I started wandering throughout the city. I had a whole list of things I had some mind to do while there, well more than half of it was thrown to wayside in favour of wandering aimlessly.

Lady Liberty way off in the distance.

A Navel Monument of some kind... I neglected to read the plaque that closely.

Tribeca in the fall, looking fantastic.

I dragged G to the Chelsea Highline one night for an evening wander, which not only worked up the needed appetite for ramen and sashimi but was also a lovely place to see at night. The Highline was a raised train track in New York that stopped being used in 1980. Jump to 2006 and it's revitalization as a vibrant, urban green space. There are some handily place viewing platforms set up directly over some of the streets to get a view a fair ways through the city.

From the Chelsea Highline one evening. 

The one Halloween-y thing we did do while in NY was the one touristy thing that G wanted to do, which was visit the Ghostbusters Fire Hall. Hook & Ladder #8 was open for business and handing out candy to the various trick-or-treaters. They fully celebrate the movie fame and offer tours of the fire hall itself.

Who ya gonna call?

While most of the costumes I saw throughout the day were remarkably disappointing (sorry NY, but y'all need to step it up), Taco Dog here brightened my afternoon significantly. I am not above enjoying cutesy dog costumes. 

Taco Dog!

Our last morning was spent exploring Central Park, and occassionally going around it since we didn't know that the New York City Marathon went through the park. We got blessed with amazing weather throughout the trip, and the idea that it could be a comfortable 18 degrees on November 1rst was pretty sweet.

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir... and some joggers.

Cleopatra's Needle.

G photographing Belvedere Castle... and my photo being ruined by an algae bloom advisory.

The gal on the left was less than impressed by ol' Burnsie.

Random Greenery.

All in all, it was an amazing trip. There were a few things I wish I had gotten too while I was there, but life's tough. We ate a lot of great food which made up for most things, and got a lovely sunset above the clouds on the way home. Some of my finds from this trip will be making appearances in the next wee while, since I did get to a thrift shop and a flea market. I've been quietly getting into all things Christmas since I got back but holding off until closer to now to be less annoying about it. I also like fall to be fall, and not CHRISTMAS on November 1rst. It may involve copper reindeer. Just sayin'.

In another part of the galaxy...

My goodness it's been a while.

A variety of things have pulled me away from this blog, proper home cooking and making. I don't like to make excuses, but it is what it is. I believe the proper term is that I've been "busy as fuck" lately, physically and mentally. I have desperately been trying to crowbar a life into the little time I have outside my professional working and volunteering life, I guess to a point of being partially uninspired and frustrated at the lack of time. Procrastination and no time are not good bedfellows.

As I sit here over some surprisingly awesome homemade pizza (I need to steal the homemade pesto recipe that my roommate made for our St. Patrick's Day dinner party, it's really awesome. Yep, something else that was not chronicled), I'm slowly coming back to the life I want, and why I bothered with a blog in the first place. Now, I just have keep that momentum going and actually cook, make and document those previous two things.

There is hope yet.


Despite the busy, I did get a few pictures from my week off in between contracts. By a few, I mean the same shot out of our hotel window the night we arrived and the next morning. I spent most of the weekend at Blue Mountain sitting in a hot tub and the pool at our hotel while my friends narrowly missed trees. I was thoroughly relaxed by the time we left on Sunday.

 Hey guys!

August adventures recap

August was a month of mini-vacations. Normally I do this alone since my schedule is a bit wonky and I find seat sales at 2 am when it's a bit rude to call your friends and ask if they want to go to x. However, this time round, an old hostel buddy of mine has been in town and I was able to travel with someone else for a change. It's certainly different!

First stop, Washington DC for a few days. Never been, was awesome. I got to see one of my best buds from my Masters program, who's working in DC, actually in the field, unlike the rest of us. She made sure we had a great taste of the food and drink culture in DC and I can't thank her enough for it. I brought her some maple syrup to be stereotypically Canadian about it though, so that's a start. We hit up a few museums while we were there, one of my favorites now being the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, specifically the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Centre. Le holy crap this was an awesome way to start the trip! he Udvar-Hazy is the second location of the Air and Space museum, located out by the Dulles International airport, so we went straight there from our flight into DC. Despite the horrendously early hour, totally worth it.

 A part of the Enola Gay. Google that, you're in for an interesting read.

 The Canadarm!

 We spent an alarming amount of time making penis jokes about the monument. Yep, we're mature.

Two days after I got back from DC myself and a few friends ran up north to the cottage! This is known as the weekend of doing nothing but dock reading, swimming, campfires and cooking. I'm struggling to think of other things we did for that few days...

 It may not be paradise to most, but you can see it from there.

About a week after that myself and the hostel buddy went to Ottawa for a few days! I have soft spot for Ottawa, despite its many, many faults, since it's one of my home towns. It was fun to be super dorky about knowing Canadian history and showing off occasionally to my hostel bud (he's Australian), and we got to enjoy some time with some of his old friends that now call the city home.

 ATTACK OF THE GIANT SPIDER!

Our government buildings can be surprisingly pretty sometimes.

Now that I'm broke again, there should be more cooking and DIY postings soon. Can't afford to do much else after these few adventures.

Ottawa T minus 11 hours

Much like two weeks ago, it's past midnight, and I'm putting the last of my stuff into a suitcase so I can get up in a few hours. This time, it's a little later in the day, on a train and to Ottawa, a city I used to live outside of and have been back to many, many times throughout my life. I'm not sure I could live there again, despite the jobs that keep coming up there, but spending a few days there every now and again is always nice, no matter what time of year it is.

From the back of the parliament buildings looking out towards the Museum of Civilization in Hull.

I'm looking forward to going to the National Gallery for an exhibition they've got going on right now where I can fully dork out on Canadian photographic history. Early Exploration Photographs in Canada has been in partnership with Library and Archives Canada and focuses on 19th century exploration photographs taken by four individual photographers and one group of explorers.One of said photographers, a man working for William Notman named Benjamin Baltzley has just had a book written about him by a fellow Photo Historical Society executive.

I also just love train travel. Via rail tempts me with sales fairly regularly and I am slowly racking up points for free travel. Some day I'll head out the other way to complete the cross country train ride and head to Halifax.

Washington DC in T minus 8 hours....

It's just about midnight and I'll be getting up in about 5 hours to get on a plane to go to Washington DC  for a few days. My buddy is asleep on my couch so we can catch a taxi into the airport together and save some money. I love my city, but it's nice to leave it every now and again.

I probably won't get to much on this list, since we're aiming for galleries and museums almost exclusively, but Apartment Therapy has a Design Lovers guide to the city that makes for good reading.

Apropos of nothing, I found an interesting article about smoked salmon in Alaska on Apartment Therapy recently.

Catch you soon for some possible regular programming.

A variety of things

Happy Civic Holiday! or Simcoe Day! or BC day! and a variety of other names this August long weekend seems to have. It's Simcoe Day where we are. So far as I'm concerned, it's a day to clean this place up.

My apartment's a bit of a disaster. Not even close to one by other people's standards, but both my roommate and I are working long, 9-5 days at the moment, so we haven't swept, vacuumed or put things away with any enthusiasm in a long time. We did get a start on that yesterday, since while I was at a baseball game, she was at ikea with a friend and got some great shelving units for our kitchen and linen closet for more space and organization. Pictures to come.

I've been doing some cooking lately, nothing too exciting though. This week has been very repetitive and boring by way of cuisine. That being said, I have discovered an amazingly easy recipe for dumplings, something I have never made before. This is another Kitchn find, and is so quick and easy to make. I may have to start keeping ricotta in my fridge on a regular basis, since it makes a good quick dinner. It's always a little different each time since I vary the herbs each time too!

Original recipe here.

Ricotta Dumplings with Chèvre and Herbs!

serves 2 generously as a main dish, or 4 as a side dish

Ingredients:
1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons of water, as needed
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Handful fresh herbs (rosemary, flat-leaf parsley, sorrel, mint, thyme, or combination thereof)
2 ounces fresh chèvre

Place a 3-quart (or larger) saucepan of water over high heat. Salt generously and bring to a boil.
While waiting for the water to boil, whisk together the ricotta and eggs. Add the flour, salt, and a sprinkle of fresh black pepper. Mix together quickly and lightly with a spoon. If the dough is too thick and floury, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water. 

Turn the dough out onto a floured countertop and quickly pat it out. (Don't add too much flour; these will be just slightly sticky.) Pat the dough out until it is about 1/2-inch thick, and cut into 1-inch squares. Using a pizza cutter that had been dipped in flour every couple of cuts works really well.

Drop these little squares into the boiling water and cook for 2 to 4 minutes, or until they float to the top and are fully cooked inside. Remove them from the water with a slotted spoon. 

Pour the water out of the pan and place back over medium heat. Melt the butter in the pan. While the butter is melting, chop the herbs roughly. When the butter has melted, add the herbs and cook for just a few seconds, stirring them until fragrant. Turn off the heat and add the cooked dumplings back to the pan. Toss with the herbed butter. Add the goat cheese in small dollops and toss.
Serve immediately. 

 Makes for some great leftover lunch the next day too!

In other news, vacation update! My friend and I were up late a few nights ago and found a great travel deal that was hard to pass up, 75% off is hard to argue with. So, as a result, we're going from Toronto to Vancouver by Train!!!

See that big, long red line? That's us for four days!!

We each got a one-person room which included all of our meals on the trip for a fraction of what the room would normally cost. We're also spending a few days in Vancouver upon arrival and the flying back to Toronto. Back to the homeland I go!