To post or not to post?

I know that I have been MIA for oh so long now, but I maintain that I have an (many) excellent reason(s) to justify my absence.

First off, November has been by far the most stressful, emotionally intensive month since as long as I can remember.  I managed to successfully clear one of the last hurtles in getting my degree (I am some reactions and a thesis away from the end), and cope with the passing of a grandparent, a professor and inspiration, and providing support to two coworkers who have lost a dear one all within two weeks.  Needless to expand on this point, I have not been in the writing mood.

Secondly, I have been experiencing a strange kind of intense focus and exhaustion due to lack of sleep.  This is probably related to the point about being so close to finishing my degree: I have many lofty plans of traveling to the great north and to south east Asia once I am done and I have set myself a strict deadline to be out of the lab and run away for some much needed adventure seeking.  I am also working part-time, I am constantly fighting a loosing battle trying to maintain my tiny apartment at an acceptable level of cleanliness, I am trying to keep in touch with family and friends, and I am trying to devote myself to my "relaxing" hobby of painting.

To summarize: mind has the attention span of a hamster and any activity that requires sitting down for more than 10 minutes is unbearable to me at the moment.  And yet...I have always enjoyed writing and have always regretted the long stretches when I could not make time to post my thoughts and photographs, and I don't want this blog to fall into disuse.  So I will get some sleep, pull myself together and get back onto the bandwagon (or leopard print motorino) and stop making excuses.

Toodles, til the next post!

A culinary conspiracy

I've always said that cooking for one is never as easy as cooking for two.

First off, motivation can be hard to come by if you're cooking for one, and doing groceries for that dinner in can be demoralizing when you're surrounded by family-sized packs of poultry, 10 lb bangs of potatoes (how much starch can one person eat in one sitting?), and party-size serving platters of cocktail shrimp.  Even if you manage to come out with one salmon steak, the world's smallest bouquet of asparagus, and a single portion of Haaden Dazs (ha!), will you carefully arrange your food on your plate?  Will you pour yourself a glass of wine?  Will you serve some cheese and crackers?

Probably not.  In fact, you'll probably eat watching TV, or reading a book, with your feet up and not even looking at your plate.

Since I came back from France (almost a year ago, yikes!), I can count on my fingers the nights that I ate alone.  In fact, cooking for each other has become (to me anyways, probably unbeknown to my worthy opponent) a culinary duel!  This weekend it was my turn to stand my ground and fill the kitchen with mixing bowls and cookie sheets.

November 9, 2009:

I will cut this entry short, for personal reasons and come back to finish off in a less cliffhanger style when I can.

Wine loving continued

On the same note as my previous post, I want to share some images from my Christmas gift to my boyfriend last year: I was in Paris, and he came to visit me, so I took him on a day trip to Champagne!


There are many towns and countless hectares of wineries in the region of Champagne, so I did some research and decided to head to Epernay, the home of Moët et Chandon! Unfortunately they are closed in the winter season, so we didn't have the chance to tour their caves, but it was still a wonderful (if freezing!) day.

Epernay is a charming town, with small quiet streets hung with evergreens and Christmas decorations. It was clear, when we walked from the train station and past the church (above) to the city hall how wealthy this little town really was. Regardless, its wealth didn't taint its charm.

We took a tour at Achille Princier, where its friendly owners didn't mind us exploring the caves unsupervised before the guided tour. It was an adventure heading down the cellar stairs alone!

The caves (which translated to caves) reminded me of the Parisian catacombs, except that they were filled with infinite quantities of champagne, instead of creepily arranged bones. The region of Champagne is like Swiss cheese, filled with underground tunnels just like this one.

All of a sudden, just around the corner we came to the bottles! Although this is an exact replica of the real thing, these bottles are only filled with water. You're probably thinking that's to prevent tourists from walking off with a souvenir, but in reality it's for the tour groups' safety: at this stage of the fermentation process there are 15 kg/cm2 of pressure building up in the bottles! Our guide told us that he himself had a bottle explode while he was handling it.

After the fermentation process, the bottles are placed in special holders that allow for the sediments to collect on the cap. Once they have settled, the tip of the bottle is dipped in liquid nitrogen and the frozen chunk (which contains the precipitate) is shot out when the metal cap is popped and immediately replaced by the cork. Voilà!

After the tour, it's time for the degustation: these delicate flutes were lined up and ready (and we were allowed to keep them once we were done).

There are two reasons why I love this picture: 1. the glass is engineered perfectly so that the bubbles rise from the center of the flute and spread across the top of the liquid, giving a lovely effect. 2. You can see the pride in the owner's expression! It took a lot of work, manpower and technique to get to this stage.

In the evening, we headed to a champagne bar - we sampled several champagnes from the area by the flute. The most interesting one was the champagne rosé, which I can't decide how I feel about. I guess I will just have to head back to Champagne one of these days and give it another try :)


Finally, before heading back to the train station and Paris, we walked through the crisp night and enjoyed the seasonal decorations. This fountain was converted to a skating rink.

Behind the Hôtel de Ville there was a large garden with a small stream and a Grecian-inspired gazebo. Up close, we could see the gouges left from bullets in the columns.

The facade of an ancient church was used as the backdrop of a life sized nativity scene.

The facade of the Hôtel de Ville.


One last little anecdote before I sign off: the temperature might have only been wavering around the zero degree mark, but never have I been as cold as I was in France! Here is proof of how two Canadians (presumably accustomed to the cold) tried to survive the French climate!

Slacker/Wine Lover

I am officially slacking!

I haven't written in this blog, nor have I finished the post that I have been working on since August for a joint blog-initiative. In other words, I am a slacker. I have a month left to prepare for an all-consuming seminar that I have to give if I want to graduate...I printed a wad of articles as thick as brick of butter, and they are still lying about my apartment.

Since this is the first night alone in many, many weeks, I am taking the time to relax and enjoy the empty apartment, post a little about my summer adventures, and sip some wine.

Lavender, lavender, lavender! One day I will live in a field of lavender (and every morning I will be dressed by birds)

Where have I been? This summer I have been making the wedding circuits, flying across Canada and traveling to the norther reaches of Ontario. In between weddings and wedding parties, and lab work and more lab work I took in two of Canada's best wine regions!

The first stop was the Okanogan in beautiful (and hot! up to the high 30's) British Columbia. Our lovely hosts jumped at the opportunity to show us around and get us acquainted with what the valley had to offer.

Our stay in Kelowna was marked by the scent of the fires burning nearby. In this shot is what remains of a forest one a few kilometers south of Kelowna, where the 2003 fires reached the city and even destroyed some buildings.


It was amazing watching the green hills rolling out across the valley, especially after seeing the devastation the fires from years passed had left behind.




Quail's Gate winery (the quails in Kelowna were the cutest things I've ever seen!)

The Elephant Island, an organic fruit winery.


Last but not least, we took a weekend to relax and take in the tannins and the scenery in the Niagara region. The damage was substantial and we brought back several cases of wine (each bottle was worth it, especially the ice wines and the Gewürztraminer!)

Olá o Brasil, velho amigo

I did promise more photos and a few stories from my trip to Brazil, and I am keeping my word! I spent a lovely weekend at my parents' where I uploaded all of the photos that were kicking around an old hard drive.

I have also decided to (for the first time) compile and print a photo book of this trip. I am currently still fighting with the software and the restrictions of how many photos I can choose.

More on that later, now please enjoy these wonderful photos:

This is the view driving from the East into Rio (to Ipamena to be precise) our first destination on this exciting journey. The ocean is glorious


O Cristo Redentor at sunset as seen from the Pão de Açúcar

Ouro Preto (which means Black Gold) is the provincial capital of the richest Brazilian province (and a UNESCO heritage site), full of gold and precious stone mines. I had the pleasure of bartering for my very own gold and Imperial Topaz pendant in one of the countless shops.

The oldest theater in South America, the quiet, artistic atmosphere really spoke to me.


Brazilian churches are very ornate (maybe too much so at times?). Most of these had carvings by an artist known as "little cripple", who, although disfigured by syphalis carved many of the stone artwork in Oro Preto and surrounding towns.



The town of Buzios is located on a small peninsula about 3 hours west of Rio de Janeiro. It's a heavenly little town.


The view from a charming ocean side restaurant full of Brigitte Bardot memorabilia.

These are a few of my favourite things:

A happiness charm I brought back from my trip to Japan two years ago. I keep it by my door so that I leave with and am greeted by happiness each and every day.

A bicycle I saw at the bottom of the Canal in Ottawa. It has a very ethereal, calming appearance.

A silver and pearl ring I bought at an outdoor market this afternoon, while walking with a good friend and relishing the summer sun.

A cookbook filled with lavender recipes: my favourite scent is now a flavour! How wonderful!

Flowers given to me on a whim, at a train station when I came back from an interview. I guess this photo has two things I love: fresh cut tulips, and warm, romantic gestures.

The first time I was in Paris I didn't go all the way up the Eiffel Tour, because I think subconciously I knew that I would be back and even live in that wonderful city. It was while I studied at the Piere et Marie Curie Institute that I finally took the elevators to the top! This video follows that exciting ascent and descent...

(I should of course talk about my wonderful fashion things: my vintage Salvatore Ferragamo, Coach, and Hermes from my stint in Paris, and my shoes, but I thought I would stick to the basics for this post)

Back from the Wild

let me begin by saying that I am yet to find the photos from Brazil, but I promise to have them posted with a more detailed story next week!

sugared rose petals: after sitting overnight, they will be ready for cooking into a wonderful rose-jam

I am back from a weekend getaway at a friend's house, deep in the forest. We spent our time hiking around the loopy dirt roads, where we met a friendly gold retriever, who decided to tag along for the excursion. We sat by the quiet lake soaking our feet and watching the fish pass under our toes. I love weekends away like this.

I am now enjoying a lazy, quiet evening at home where I am undertaking an ambitious new hobby: my mother had told me that her grandmother was known for making jam out of rose petals, and I decided to take up that family tradition and revitalize it (rose-petal jam making for the 21st century!). I picked some wild roses and soaked them for a day, then drained them and covered all the pungent little petals with sugar. It'll be another day before I can make the jam, but I already have the jars ready, and my fridge smells like a beautiful garden.

Here is the recipe for those of you brave enough to try it!
* 1/2 pound pink or red edible rose petals
* 2 cups sugar
* 4 1/2 cups water
* Juice of 2 lemons, pips or seeds removed

I am also exploring urban cultivation: I have picked up a few plants at the local farmers' market and have been an attentive mother to my little tomatoes and basil. I have been enjoying the tender leaves for a week now, but the tomatoes aren't ripe for the picking just yet.

my precious basil