Lifestyle

Hits and misses

In my desire to make a dent in the ever increasing pile of recipes that I wanted to try, I ended up with a lovely roast, and a wonderful cake. The roast was courtesy of Marcella Hazan, whose Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking is the gold standard in many kitchens....

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Cooking and an utter inability to follow directions

It's probably no secret that I love food, cooking and eating probably as much as I love animals. I mean, I eat animals.  Not all every day, but reasonably frequently, although I do have long vegetarian spells here and there.  And like many people who enjoy food and...

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Pumpkin and benign neglect

  This winter we rescued and inherited a feral kitty, with the help of a local rescue group that has a Trap-Neuter-Release program. They trapped, neutered and were about to release, as he was deemed to be too feral and hostile to be sheltered. This may sound cruel,...

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Our weather is typical, and a quickie review

        This was my hood yesterday morning.  We got our typical April dump that comes right after the first few days of sunshine and spring, just to give us that kick in the pants that says don't get too comfortable - this is Calgary.     Right before I left my last...

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A NOtaBLE Lunch

      This Sunday I my mother and I were running around doing some errands, and I persuaded her to stop at NOtabLE. It took a fair bit of persuading because she's on a perpetual diet, and considers restaurants to be the height of frivolous spending and caloric damage....

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Everything is better with ice cream

  All pets have personalities that are as unique as that of their owners. In our case, the male cats' personality can be best described as 'asshole'.  He is stubborn, obnoxious, needy, ungraceful and stomps around the house wreaking havoc and catastrophe.  He's lucky...

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Zero weddings and a funeral

    My grandmother passed away last week, and the entire family has been busy sending her off.  Please, no condolences are needed - she was a very respectable 85, and had cancer which left her very frail and tired at the end.   My grandmother loved entertaining more...

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I is getting a greehouse!

  A real one! This news fills me with deep joy since after the tomato-pocalypse of last summer, I was ready to pull a Pontius Pilate and wash my hands of growing vegetables altogether.   Scenes like this are not erased lightly, and my dreams were full of broken...

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