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Colin just got home, he went to the store to get the rest of the supplies needed for tonight’s television extravaganza. . . and he forgot the chips.
I wonder if we could send one of the moggies out to the depaneur like this chap . . . .
Wishful thinking. . . .
A Fracas Project! You’re invited to participate. Get details and see the participant list here.
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The Pizza Edition. I’m hungry, what can I say.
The Monday Melee Questions:
1. The Misanthtropic: Name something (about humanity) you absolutely hate.
I hate the stigma attached to pizza, that its fatty horrible and never nutritious.
You can make healthy pizza. You just need to be far more selective of your ingredients, and you really can’t get ‘healthy’ pizza from your local pizza parlour.
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2. The Meretricious: Expose something or someone that’s phony, fraudulent or bogus.
30 minutes or its free.
How many of you have really gotten the pizza free if its late?
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3. The Malcontent: Name something you’re unhappy with.
Small pizzas are too expensive to justify ordering them for one person. So we don’t order pizza that often, cause Colin isn’t really home for dinner during the week. 
I wish I could eat pizza every day.
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4. The Meritorious: Give someone credit for something and name it if you can.
Domino’s pizza local to us sent us some kick ass coupons, we haven’t gotten pizza from them in a while. One is $10.00 any order. The second is a free large pizza. SCORE!
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5. The Mirror: See something good about yourself and name it.
I can be flexible with my toppings on my pizza. I’m pretty easy to please when it comes to pizza pies! 
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6. The Make-Believe: Name something you wish for.
I wish I could make real ‘pizza joint’ pizza at home.
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Colin and I went to dinner with Chow and Alex tonight to Kanda Sushi in Snowden.
On the walk back to the car after dinner we saw the oddest thing.
A Hasidic Jewish Bachelor Party, at 8:30pm on a Thursday. Of course the backdrop to the shenanigans was a smoked meat joint called ‘Benny’s’
Gotta love Montreal.
On the past weekend while Colin and I were out on our errands (looking for lawn mowers) we decided to stop at Marche Adonis for some fresh steaks to put on the BBQ for dinner.
When we’ve been to Richmond’s house for a BBQ he always buys his meat from there, so we knew we were expecting good beef.
We walked up and down the fresh fruit and vegetables, not since we lived in England and bought from the local fruit market have we seen such beaufiul, undamaged, ripe and perfect produce! That is one thing I’ve always hated about Canada - is that you can only really get good produce for a short period of time each year.
Marche Adonis is Lebanese, and imports much of its fruit and vegetables this time of year (from Spain & Greece), but because they are a small market everything is well taken care of. There was little to none bruised fruit on the counters.
I was very impressed! (Remember I worked in a grocery store, so I’m a grocery snob as it were)
We continued onto the fresh cheese counter, the large Olive and anti-pasto counter, then to the glorious fresh meat counter.
We bought filet minon. 5 huge beautiful and tender steaks for $20.00. There was also fresh made souvlaki and brochettes as well sausages.
We checked out the fresh fish (which all looked great and very fresh!). Then onto the bakery and fresh bread. We picked up a still warm french baguette (that we ate in the car on the way home)
Pickled eggplant, jalapenos stuffed with feta cheese, fresh made spicy steak rub rounded out our purchases.
We quickly went home and got started. Colin being the master of the BBQ got to work on preparing the meat with the spicy steak rub.
I cut the vegetables up so we could grill them too on the BBQ (We have one of those grilling baskets, which is a MUST for anyone who BBQs alot like us)
The meat was by far the most glorious steak we’ve ever cooked at home. It was simply perfect!
The ingredients of the perfect steak are as follows:
I went back to Adonis last night to pick up some more steak and other fresh meats and vegetables. We plan on BBQing all week!
Yum!
4601 Boul Des Sources
Roxboro QC, H8Y 3C5
Phone: 514-685-5050
Fax: 514-685-9268
Have you ever wondered how long cheese takes to age, or the process it takes to make it.
Now the makers of West Country Farmhouse Cheesemakers invite you to watch cheese ripening. . .LIVE!
They have a webcam that allows you to continually, live and un interupted, view the ripening of cheese!
The process should take about a year (and we are only a mear 125 days in). For those that are a little impatient, or weren’t able to enjoy watching grass grow - there are links on the main home page to time lapsed YouTube videos.
Is it me, or is this all a little cheesy?
(Gawd I love puns)
Tonight we went for a meal at the Old Port in Montreal at the historic 200 year old Gibby’s Restaurant.
Anyone from Montreal understands that Gibby’s is an institution of culinary delights.
Gibby’s is a steakhouse, with the most amazing cuts of beef going.
Its the kind of steak you talk about, days, weeks, months, years later! Trust me, its that good.
Mrs Graham had the Beef Wellington, I had the New York Sirloin, and both Colin and Mr Graham had the Gibby’s Cut steak.
Awesome meal.
After the meal, we walked along the boardwalk on the Old Port, and talked to the crew of the HMCS Halifax ship which was docked at the Port.
Happy Easter everyone.
Colin got me a chocolate cat for easter. . . . check out the FREAKY eyes!!!
****Update May 11 2007**** As linked on Wikipedia for Grilled Cheese! Congrats Colin! hahaha
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We made grilled cheese tonight for dinner. As mentioned in a previous post, my husband makes the best grilled cheese. Its real comfort food, and when you have a rough day they really hit the spot.
Since I made my previous post I’ve received 5 emails from various people who stummbled onto my blog asking what Colin’s secret is to the perfect grilled cheese, today was the first opportunity to interview Colin. . .so as the master cooked his masterpieces, I took down the proccess - almost verbatim
Ingredients:
Very Soft Thick White Bread (For those in Quebec, Think POM ‘Ultra Soft’)
Cheese, two types (The better the cheese the better the sandwich, processed cheese is not real cheese - not matter what they tell you in the commericals) Colin likes to use Havariti and Extra Mature cheddar.
Margarine or Butter (the good stuff, not the low fat crap)
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Steps:
6. After you flip them (they should be golden brown) you press the sandwich down lightly. (La Belle Provience does this-again anyone from Quebec will appreciate this)
7. Then cut on the diagonal, serve immediatly with a dollop of ketchup and some soup, salad or chips.
In Summary,
the secret to the perfect grilled cheese sandwich is quality ingredients and control the heat.
I keep hearing about how great this Rachel Ray is. I’ve been tuning in here and there trying to catch a thing or two (Apparently according to Colin I’m not really a gifted chef. . . .any who. . .) She often uses the expression EVOO - for those that aren’t sure what that stands for (I’m sure there isn’t many of you) it stands for EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL.
Recently Rachel Ray was presented with a certificate from the Oxford Dictionary congratulating her that EVOO would now be an actual dictionary word
The EVOOing of America
It’s official: EVOO is now a word. The dictionary tells us so.
Today, on Rachael Ray’s talk show, Erin McKean, editor of Oxford American Dictionaries, showed up to present Ray with a framed certificate of recognition. As she explained to Ray, “Because of you, we are putting EVOO in the next edition of the Oxford American College Dictionary.” The entry will read: “EVOO: abbr. extra-virgin olive oil.”
McKean told Ray how hard it is to actually get a word into the dictionary: “We look at thousands of words every year, and very, very few of them get in. It’s easier to win the lottery, frankly.” McKean also wants people to know that this newest entry in the Oxford American College Dictionary isn’t just because Ray is more talked about than God: “In order for a word to go in the dictionary, it has to be useful to people. It’s not just enough to be a fabulous celebrity to get your word in the dictionary; you have to make a word that people like to use.” During their exhaustive research, McKean claimed when she and her dictionary cronies saw people using “EVOO,” Ray’s name appeared in more than half the examples.
I think its cool that EVOO is now a word, the part that drives nuts about it is that when she uses it in a show, she continues by saying. . . . .”EVOO. . . .thats extra virgin olive oil”. What is the point of having an abbrevation if you then s-a-y t-h-e w-h-o-l-e t-h-i-n-g o-u-t a-n-y-w-a-y?????????
Here is a receipe that Christine emailed me, its a “Rachel Ray”
Haddock with Bacon and Onions Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray
Show: 30 Minute Meals
Episode: Good Fish Fast
2 pounds haddock filet, cut into 4 8-ounce portions
2 tablespoons lemon juice – about 1/4 lemon
Salt
EVOO – extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
6 slices smoky bacon, chopped
8 cippolini, small Italian flat-shaped sweet onion, peeled and thinly
sliced–
(A medium yellow onion, quartered then thinly sliced may be substituted, but
cippolini are
widely available, so check for them in the local market.)
1large clove garlic, finely chopped
1 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, a couple of handfuls, chopped
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Rinse fish and pat dry. Sprinkle fish with lemon juice and salt. Rub flat
baking dish with butter, drizzle a little EVOO on top of butter. Place fish
in baking dish.
Heat a small skillet over medium high heat. Add the bacon. Render the fat in
the bacon 3 minutes then add onions. Sweeten and soften onions and garlic 10
minutes. Remove pan from heat. Add bread crumbs to the pan and turn them to
coat them in drippings. Add parsley. Top fish with coating of onions, bacon
and bread crumbs. Bake 30 minutes.
Sometimes something pops into my head, and I think to myself - I’m interested in that, I want to learn about that. . . . oddly my topic for today is Catnip. . . . so I have complied some information I read and gathered today about the topic of CatNip. I hope you all find CatNip as interesting as me. . . hahahahahahahhaha.
Cat Nip is defined on answers.com as:
But we know it as that green stuff that makes our cats act silly!Since the Middle Ages, the English had called it cat mint, because it belongs to the mint family, and because cats, domestic and wild, go wild for it. Another Middles Ages name for cat mint given by the English nep. A recipe of about 1420 calls for seasoning “with persoley, sauge, ysope, savery, A little nep.”The first evidence of nep in the
Americas was from Massachuetts in 1712. “He boiled tansy, sage, hysop, and catnip in some of ye best wort.” . The word was slightly altered and ‘cat’ was added, thus getting the name we are more familiar with catnip. 
Fun Facts about Cat Nip
Science Stuff
The NAPETA CATARIA, or Catnip as its popular name is a plant of Asiatic origins, it is a hardy groundcover perennial and a member of the Mint family (Labiatae). The Cataria can grow two to three feet high. The root sends up square, erect, and branched stems which is very leafy and are covered with a downy gray hair. The leaves are heart-shaped and toothed and covered with a soft, close down. This gives the plant a grayish-green appearance, as though dust has blown over it. The white or pale lavender tubular flowers all with purplish spots are in bloom from July to September. The flowers form small light clusters. The plant secretes an aromatic oil, which is similar to that of mint, to discourage insects that would otherwise eat its leaves. The odor of this oil has a strange fascination for cats,NEPETA FAASSENII, the second of the two varieties of Nepeta better known as Catmint grows about 2 feet high and forms soft mounds.. Both varieties of Napeta grow throughout North America, Catnip is a common garden plant now on the continent, but the plant is also found growing in hedges, fence rows, roadsides, railroad tracks, stream banks, and water ditches.
The chemical within the leaves and stem is that the Nepeta plants share is called NEPETALACTONE . The flowering tops of the plant are used in medicine. The other names of the plant arecatnep, catmint, cat’s-play, catrup, catwort,nip, nep, and field balm.
Cat reactions to Catnip
Catnip is easy to grow, and the fresher the product, the more the reaction. Many toys for cats are sold as “with catnip”, which supposedly encourages the cat to play. Personally I don’t find that dried catnip works with my cats, the fresh home grown variety seems to attract them much more. Store bought dried catnip often has been on the shelf for a long period of time. For the catnip-loving cat, sniffing this herb is harmless and non-addictive
A responsive cat approaches the catnip plant and sniffs it. He then proceeds to bite, chew and up againsit it, licking and repeating the whole process. They will headbutt the plant and show their satifcation with purrs. Some cats even meow & growl and they leap and roll all over the plant. It is said that many of the actions and movements cats do in the presence of ‘nip mimic that of a cat in heat. Some have thought that cat nip is even a feline aphrodisiac. Feline catnip addicts are lucky though, because they suffer absolutely no side effects from this, unlike humans do when they smoke cannabis, a “kissing cousin” to catnip. Catnip is not the only plant to have this effect on felines. VALERIAN is another one, plus plants that contain ACTINIDINE. The strange action of these plants though is the strangest thing of all to understand. If any of these plants were given internally, instead of putting FRISK back into the word FRISKY, the actually sedate the cat. It is strange indeed, when they are “uppers” when sniffed, and “downers” when swallowed.
Medicinal properties
Tea made from catnip has been used to relieve intestinal cramps and gas discomforts, also they havebeen applied to sore breasts of nursing mothers and to the neck for tonsillitis. Recent researches show that consumption of teas containing catnip has anti-cholinergic effects The leaves of catnip have traditionally been chewed as a remedy for alleviating toothaches. The inhabitants of
Southern Appalachia have used it since the eighteenth century as a remedy for cold.. Catnip has been used for relief of insomnia and prevention of nightmares, and has a mild anti-spasmodic effect and is used to treat cramps. The juice from the leaves was used to stimulate menstrual flow. It has been used in the treatment of children’s ailments, such as colicky pain, flatulence and restlessness. The herb has also been used as a cold remedy, for hives, as a diaphoretic, a refrigerant and an anodyne.
Catnip is also sold as an dietary supplement for general well being and to promote a healthy immune system during the cold and flu season.
The flowering tops of catnip yield up to 1.0% volatile oil, 78 % being nepatalactone, the main attractant to cats. Thymol extracted from catnip has beneficial antiseptic uses on the skin and in the nasal and pharyngeal passages.
Non-medicinal uses
Obviously the most common non-medical use for catnip is as stuffing in toys for cats. Some less common used for catnip include, using small quantities as a scent in trapping bobcats and mountain lions. Many of the compounds found in catnip oil, namely, citronellal, geraniol, citral, carvacrol, and pulegone can be used as excellent natural insecticides. Thymol extracted from catnip is used as a fungicide.
Growing & Harvesting CatnipCatnip can be grown in sandy soil within a pH range of 5.8 to 7.5 and annual precipitation between 16-51 inches. The catnip plant is very hardy and grows well in full sun
Before planting the shells of the seeds should be softened, this can be done by soaking them in water. You’re your plants start to sprout you should thin them out allowing for space up to 20 inches between plants. seeds should be
When the plant is in full bloom the flowering tops should be harvested, this is done by cutting a few inches above the ground. To quicken the drying time, the steams should be broken in several places.
Sources:
What People are Saying