The Poopypants Chronicles: Mmmmmmm Cookies - Part II

Tonight, Poop baked up another batch of delectable Pillsbury cookies.

He just walked in to the living room, with a handful of sweet-smelling, chocolate chippity goodness and mumbled, "I suspect the recommended serving of cookies is less than 8...oh well..."

He then declared, with supreme confidence, "But that's the great thing about being an adult - being able to eat as many cookies as you want, any time you want!"

And that shiny pearl of wisdom was brought to you by Poopypants, Pillsbury & potent potables!

You're welcome!

Tom's Dairy Freeze (aka What I Did This Summer)

Remember the first week of school, how they'd always make you write that stupid "What I Did This Summer" essay and share it with the class?

e.g. THIS SUMMER I PLAYED OUTSIDE AND WENT SWIMMING AND ATE POPSICLES AND KILLED ANTS WITH A MAGNIFYING GLASS AND MY MOM & DAD GOT DIVORCED SO I GOT 2 BIRTHDAY PARTIES AND I WISH I HAD A NEW BARBIE DOLL.

Actually, that sounds like a pretty fun summer!

Anyway, if I were to write one of those essays, come September 2010, it would go something like this:

THIS SUMMER I WENT ON SOME TRIPS AND THEY WERE FUN AND ALMOST EVERY NIGHT I ATE ICE CREAM FROM TOM'S DAIRY FREEZE WHERE THEY HAVE THE BEST ICE CREAM (AND ICE CREAM CONCOCKTIONS) IN THE WORLD.

Tom's Dairy Freeze is a place in my 'hood - mid-way between Park Lawn & Royal York on The Queensway - and I love it! I'm not the only one, either - online, there are tons of uniformly positive reviews of Tom's and at night, in the summer, there's always a huge line-up, right up 'til midnight (closing time).

Obviously, the quality of the product they serve is what keeps people coming back - the ice cream is unbelievable! (No offense, Dairy Queen, but Tom's treats are infinitely superior, at least in my opinion). They have everything you'd expect from an ice cream parlour - delectable soft serve (chocolate, vanilla or swirly, twirly combo!), choice of cones (waffle or regular), sundaes, banana splits - they even have a version of DQ's Blizzard - the Super Shake.

Actual conversation between Poop & the obviously disdainful (though less disgruntled than most teenaged food service workers) cashier:

Poop: What's a 'Super Shake'?

Cashier: Oh! It's, uh, sorta like a McFlurry or a Blizzard - only - obviously - way, WAY better!

I recently tried their 'Super Shake' - the Smarties variety - and it was awesome!

Note for my American readers: When I say "Smarties" I am referring to the colourful candy-shelled/chocolate-in-the-middle Canadian version - not the repulsive, uber-sweet, comes-in-a-roll U.S. version.

Contrary to their wholly reasonable prices, Tom's portion sizes are HUGE! If you are inspired to visit Tom's, after reading this glowing recommendation, be forewarned & repeat after me: ALWAYS ORDER SIZE SMALL. My Super Shake was a "Small" and it still lasted a week, in the freezer, serving as dessert for several nights in a row!

Tom's evokes nostalgia - it's like throw-back to a simpler time. It says right on its sign that it opened in 1969, which is entirely believable - it doesn't look like it's been renovated or updated at all in the time since - which is a good thing! Real retro! And it's not just the look of the building, it's the whole 'feel' of the place.

I fondly remember trips to the ice cream parlour with my dad, on summer evenings, when I was growing up; I usually had a small cone or a small sundae, except on special occasions, like the last day of school, when I was allowed to order anything I wanted (which often resulted in a tummy ache, but the memories are still fond).

Tom's is a "drive up" spot - no interior seating - you park, walk up to the window & get in line to place your order (don't worry, even though there's always a line, they are really fast!). Then, you can hop back in your car & take your treat home or you can have a seat at one of Tom's many picnic tables (which are almost always packed with smiling, ice-cream-filled people).

Tom's only takes cash. And you might be surprised by the scene that greets you - even though it's always busy, the many customers are happy, milling about, eating their ice cream - no petty arguments or nasty glares - just dairy-fueled joy!

Hey - I just had a thought - perhaps if everyone on the globe had access to ice cream like they serve at Tom's, we'd be able to achieve some semblance of world peace!! Unless all those stupid war-mongers are lactose-intolerant. Boo. Oh well. It was an idea.

Anyway - if you're in Toronto, I highly recommend Tom's Dairy Freeze!

P.S. Every single picture/image in this post was taken from the internet without the owner's permission. Think of it as an homage, rather than a theft.

The Poopypants Chronicles: Mmmmmm Cookies!

We went grocery shopping last week and Poop was really excited because he had a coupon for a FREE Pillsbury product (and, as you know, he adores great deals - and there's no greater deal than 100% off!).

He chose some ready-to-bake chocolate chip cookie dough (though he somehow forgot/neglected to use the coupon - which just means that some time in the not-too-distant future he's going to be coming home from Sobey's with another package of cookie dough!)

These are not the same "ready-to-bake" cookies I remember from my childhood. You can't really tell from the picture, but, this is a relatively flat package and the dough is separated into squares, that you simply separate and drop on the pan and when baked, become nice, round cookies!

The other night, Poop had the munchies and decided it was time to bake the cookies.

He was so eager for his snack to be ready, he turned on the oven light and situated himself on the kitchen floor in front of the stove, cross-legged, to watch his cookies bake through the oven window - sorta like a TV show that emits a delicious,  chocolatey scent!

He couldn't stop babbling in amazement (semi-coherently) about the wonder of the cookies turning from squares into circles..."They were square - now they're circles - that one's still square! - That one's a circle!"

Long story short: The cookies were delicious.

Need to beat the heat? Enjoy an icy brew from time to time? This post's for YOU!

Those of you who mis-read the title and thought you were entering the "Need to Beat the Meat?" zone - please feel free to leave now - that's going to be tomorrow's entertainment.

Today, however, I have a treat for all of you out there who are sick & tired of sweating your collective asses off in this sauna of a summer and have dreams of a tall, cold one - on a stick! - to assuage those rivulets of perspiration, coursing down your glistening torsos...damn, where was I? Oh yeah - The Hopsicle!

(Note: The remainder of this post was pithily composed by the folks over at http://www.urbandaddy.com/ - reprinted without anyone's permission)

 The Hopsicle!

Take a can of beer.

Lift tab, tilt back, consume, repeat.

A well-worn formula, easily mastered. Yet in these dangerous times, we feel it may be necessary to unmaster it.

Warning: this involves a samurai sword.

Introducing The Hopsicle Experience, a frozen can of beer, sliced in half and served like a Push Pop for big kids, launching today at Diablo Royale Este.

Now, the thing about the hopsicle is that it looks like your standard can of Tecate: Red. Cylindrical. Icy cold. Except the barman-witchdoctors at Diablo have taken the “icy” bit quite literally, injecting the beer with simple syrup and lime juice, jamming a wooden stick into the hole of the can and then putting it in the freezer. For four days.

The result is a genuine beer popsicle, which the bartender must saw in half with a serrated steak knife (or samurai sword) to open. Then it’s up to you to push the wooden stick upward to dispense the hopsicle in true Push Pop style, and decide if you want your savory sweet frozen joyride bathed in tequila as well (note: you want this).

And on certain days, when those same barman-witchdoctors are feeling especially inspired, they may take their creation one step further and turn over an entire margarita machine to the conjuring of potent beer slushies.

No samurai sword required.

Poop's Birthday Weekend

This past weekend was Poop's birthday (Yay!) and since we hadn't planned any sort of celebratory extravaganza (due to all sorts of crappy stuff that's been going on lately), we made a last-minute decision to take off to Niagara Falls for the weekend.

We both took Friday afternoon off and hit the road for Niagara around 3 pm. Unfortunately, being Friday, rush hour out of the city started at about 2 pm. We were stuck in some pretty nasty traffic all the way to Hamilton (and beyond?). It was, as you can imagine, frustrating. Moral of the story for us: Always take the 407.

We had booked a room at the "Country Inn & Suites", located directly across the street from Casino Niagara. We've never stayed there before (I believe it's relatively new) but we'd definitely go back - we got a great deal (total bill for 2 nights, including tax & parking etc. was less than $180). The room was more than adequate, very comfortable beds/pillows, nice decor (though those olde tyme TVs that aren't flat actually sorta freak me out now: WHAT IS THAT THING?!! IT'S SO BIG!).

We learned, upon checking in, that there was a big "dance competition" occurring in Niagara Falls that weekend - which explained the 8-year-old girl in the lobby with the slicked-back hair and sporting eye makeup akin to Cleopatra.

We actually saw a number of hyper little girls wearing makeup (and unhappy brothers & dads caddying tap shoes & sparkly costumes) over the course of the weekend. I think several of them were in our hotel. The accomodating desk clerk put us on the 7th (top) floor, assuring us it was the "quietest" floor - and it was, til Sunday morning, when I came dangerously close to unleashing a string of expletives on the noisy assholes in the hall who woke me up...

Anyway, we arrived at the hotel around 5:30 on Friday and after checking in to the hotel, headed over to the casino for dinner & subsequent shenanigans. We tried to get a comp (some quantity of $$ from the casino) to eat at Lucky's (the "steakhouse" at Casino Niagara - Note: despite being designated a "steakhouse", they have wonderful vegetarian, seafood & pasta dishes, too), but we were informed we needed to gamble for a bit before we could get any freebies. We played for a little bit, then opted for the buffet - which was disgusting, but quelled the hunger pangs temporarily.

Friday night at Casino Niagara is ""Ladies Night" - which means they hold draws for prizes (for the women) and try to give all the ladies roses when they arrive. I had to turn down no fewer than 4 pink roses - who wants to carry a friggin' flower around all night? (Carrying a flower around all night would seriously impede my ability to gamble my money away as quickly as possible - you'd think that casino management would realize this floral gift program is to their money-grubbing detriment!)

I love Niagara Falls in general and the casino specifically. The cross-section of people is unfailingly amusing. For example, you very rarely see such a high concentration of mullets in one place nowadays. I also love the fact that I get ID'd everytime I go there - and they're always surprised when they find out my actual age.

Poop played poker for a few hours, I played some slots & some Caribbean Stud - neither of us had much good luck that night, so around 12:30 we decided to leave and get something to eat - after our wholly unsatisfying buffet experience, we were hungry again. We decided on Kelsey's - because it was nearby and because it had a huge patio (and it was an absolutely beautiful night). And while I normally try to avoid this type of conveyor-belt/chain restaurant, it was actually quite good. I had a Cosmopolitan and some sort of cheese/spinach dip thing served with crispy pita pieces - tasty & filling. Poop had a Jack & Coke and a brilliant innovation called "Buffalo Perogies" - basically, perogies tossed in buffalo wing sauce - genius! All in all, an enjoyable end to a fun evening.

We headed back to the hotel and crashed pretty quickly...and slept soundly til we were awakened by the alarm on the Iphone in the morning...Poop had set it to go off in time so that he could partake of the "Free Breakfast" that was included with the cost of our room, the availability of which ended at 10:30 (he really loves a good deal and hates to miss out). Poop went downstairs and got us some egg sandwiches and yogurts - not bad! Though he was somewhat dejected since one of the brochures promised a waffle station - he was really looking forward to making (and eating!) his own waffles. Poor Poop. Didn't they know it was his birfday weekend?!?!!

We lazed around for a bit, debating what we should do with our Saturday. We decided to go to Dave & Buster's and spend exhorbitant amounts of money so we could play games. Wheeee!

The forecast was calling for a storm and the sky over the falls was threatening to open up and pour at any second - every time I looked out the window it appeared that the velocity of the wind had increased - litter was flying everywhere and little girls in spandex & hooker makeup looked like they were going to blow away! We decided to wait for a bit before heading out, to see what was going on with the weather, since neither of us brought an umbrella nor did either of us feel like participating in a tornado. As it turned out, we didn't have to wait very long - the storm was over as quickly as it started (though it sure poured down hard for a few minutes) and we were off on our next adventure.

Before leaving the hotel, we raided the brochure area of the lobby and ripped out some Dave & Buster's coupons from one of the tourist guidebooks. We love our great deals!

Stepping outside was a bit of shock - the humidity was atrocious, particularly for early May - hot & sticky. I definitely didn't need the fleece jacket I'd brought with  me!

We walked over to Dave & Busters and had a great time, playing skeeball, air hockey, a random shooting-at-monsters game (that made my hands really sore) and a basketball free-throw game where you get as many baskets as possible in a certain amount of time.

I was at a disadvantage in all of our competitions, never having played any of these games before, whereas Poop grew up playing them! He was incredulous that I didn't have any experience with skeeball or air hockey - I guess you just can't comprehend the "growing up in Dryden" experience unless you've been there...we 5-pin bowled in Dryden, we snowmachined in Dryden, we fished in Dryden - we did not play skeeball in Dryden!!

One odd occurrence while we where there: A woman carrying a baby who (along with her family) followed us from game to game, watching us as we laughed, hooted & hollered and, in my case, liberally used four-letter words. There was even a long, intense air hockey rally that they got a bit too into (emotionally) - when I eventually scored on myself (yes, I'm that kinda girl), they appeared devastated!

All that activity made us very thirsty (a sad commentary on our physical fitness), so we ventured out to the Clifton Hill area to grab a tasty beverage and a snack. The area is pretty much always overrun with tourists, from all over the world, but none of them annoyed me (much). I do try to be a good Canadian ambassador as much possible, you know!.

We grabbed some soft drinks (mmmm..fountain soda..) and a hard, salty pretzel (with mustard, of course!) and found a seat. We were impressed with how well they maintain the area - probably 20 or more park benches/picnic tables where we were situated and every single bench had a garbage can beside it - I know people will still litter (lazy assholes) but this certainly must reduce the urge!


We returned to D & B to use up the rest of our credits. I just assumed we'd give all pf our prize tickets to some kid when we were finished - I know I wasn't interested in anything from the "prize" area? Apparently, Poop had other ideas and the birfday boy gets what he wants! He used our meagre allocation of tickets to purchase a maple, moose-shaped sucker. He saved it for the drive home on Sunday where he proceeded to eat an entire antler & half the moose's head before asking me to take it away and never let him near it again (see pic).

After our D & B adventure, we decided to get some ice cream cones - seemed like a hot day/birthday kind of thing to do - I got a Rocky Road cone (Gross - I had no idea there were marshmellows in Rocky Road. I'm not sure what I thought it was going to be, but that wasn't it!) and Poop had something else, that escapes me at the moment, cuz I'm so upset thinking about a delicious ice cream cone opportunity spoiled by marshmellows!! ARGH!!

We went back to the hotel to relax for a while (i.e. so Poop could have a 2-hour nap) and shower before dinner. Our plan for the evening was to go to Mamma Mia's, an Italian place that we used to frequent, but haven't been to in a few years, and then go back to the casino. I was also looking forward to having a nice, relaxing bubble bath - I haven't bathed in ages (well, I've washed myself, but I only have a shower at my house, so I almost never get to have a bath!) so it was going to be a treat!

To my surprise & delight, Dirty Dancing was on the TV! And, even though I've seen it about 175 times and I know all the dialogue by heart (and it's always somewhat bittersweet to watch, since both Jerry Orbach and Patrick Swayze are with Phil Hartman now), naturally, I had to watch it. It was as delightful as ever.

We had a nice dinner at Mamma Mia's - Poop's newfound love of Eggplant Parmesan is a revelation. He declared Mamma Mia's version to be "melt-in-the-mouth delicious". My dinner wasn't spectacular, but it was OK. Here's a picture of Poop holding up the "candle" on the table (it wasn't lit, so we looked at it more closely and realized it was plastic and had a switch that needed to be turned on - classy!).

The whole weekend was a lot of fun - thanks, Niagara Falls! Happy birthday, Poop!

Pasta w/Mushrooms & Spinach in Rosee Sauce

Last night, I created a delicious dish for dinner: Bruschetta alongside garlicky pasta w/mushrooms & spinach in rosee sauce.

Bruschetta was pretty basic....chopped up tomatoes, minced garlic, chopped fresh basil, minced red onion, olive oil, salt & pepper on fresh bread from the Cheese Boutique. Mmmmm.

For the pasta sauce, I sauteed the mushrooms & spinach for a few minutes (w/some garlic & chili flakes) until much of their inherent water evaporated and then set them aside. I added some olive oil to the same pan and sauteed some more garlic (I really do love garlic) and a medium-sized onion.

Once the onions started to soften, I added a large can of diced tomotoes, some tomato paste, oregano, chili flakes, chopped fresh basil & some black pepper. I let that simmer while the pasta was cooking.

When the pasta was almost ready, I pureed the sauce in the blender (in 2 batches) so it would mix seemlessly with the cream, then put it back in the pot on low heat and slowly stirred in the cream. It was a thing of beauty. Once the sauce had heated thoroughly, I stirred in the previously sauteed mushrooms & spinach.

Voila! Veggie rosee Sauce a la Patchoulia! It was quite divine!

(My food pornography-phography skills need a lot of work, so I had to steal a reasonable facsimile picture off the internet...)

Ingredients
mushrooms (to your taste)
spinach (to your taste)
1 onion
garlic (to your taste)
chili flakes (to your taste)
1 can diced tomatoes
tomato paste (1/2 small can)
3/4 tablespoon oregano
basil leaves, chopped (several)
olive oil for sauteeing
cream (half small carton)

What does heaven taste like, you ask?

Ah, Good Friday. What's so good about it? We get the day off work, of course! (I know, I know, I'm going to hell...that's not news...).

I left work a bit early yesterday (thank you, boss!) and took a nice long walk...I was WAY too hot, though. I definitely didn't need a coat!

Along the way I picked up some gifts @ Chapters and then picked up some mail at the post office that required my signature. The delivery turned out to be my passport, which was somewhat surprising, since I'd mailed in my renewal form only a couple of weeks ago - that was fast!

Incidentally, my new passport contains the worst, most hideous picture I've ever seen. You might think I'm exagerrating, but you could not be more wrong. When I say this is the worst picture I've ever seen, I'm not even limiting the comparison to pictures of myself - I can confidently proclaim that this is the most putrid picture ever taken of anyone, anywhere in the world, in the history of the universe.

After I ran my errands, I walked home and we took Kuda to the dog park for some frolicking (stick-throwing, trail-running, doggy-friend-making etc.)

Upon returning home, we commenced our daily debate on what we were going to have for dinner. I swear to god, if I didn't love eating so much, I'd survive by ingesting nutrient-rich pills or subsist on those meal-replacement shakes, and be done with the whole, stupid decision-making process/daily argument.

I won't bore you with all the meals & restaurants that were discussed & rejected before we finally made our decision, which was to go out to eat. We chose Classico Pizza & Pasta, in our neighbourhood (it's located in Bloor West Village, near Jane, for those of you in Toronto).

We've eaten there a few times and enjoyed it a lot. Their pizza is reeeally good and they also have a variety of pasta dishes.  They also serve one particular appetizer that we adore...I can't remember what it's called, but it's like a spring roll filled with cheese that you dip in a tart vinaigrette. Sounds like an odd combo, but the different flavours complement each other very well and it is AMAZING! Unfortunately, it wasn't on the menu last night (Poop seems to recall that it was previously on a list of specials inserted into the menu, so perhaps they only serve it occasionally...I hope it comes back!).

When we arrived, we realized that they'd opened their patio (Yay! Patio season!) which effectively doubled their capacity...good thing, too, cuz it was packed! We hadn't realized that they have live music on Thursday nights...I don't know the musician's name, but he was playing guitar & singing (later joined by a sax player); they were pretty good and it created a nice ambience.

It was a little chilly on the patio, but we had our fleeces on, so it wasn't too bad. Besides which, there were 2 tables full of families inside the restaurant with their unleashed (and, by "unleashed", I don't mean "let loose", I mean "not on leashes", as I would prefer), screeching children running rampant and I had no interest in being anywhere near that.

We ordered a couple of glasses of Shiraz (it was their "featured" wine that night, which worked out well, since it's my fave!). Poop ordered a Greek salad to start and I decided on the soup of the day. It was tomato something or other...not worth remembering...it was very bland, I barely touched it...to their credit, the server offered to take it back and bring me the other soup to try, but I wasn't interested.

The pizza was delicious (tomato sauce, tons of broccoli, sundried tomatoes, goat cheese); we ended up eating half and taking the rest home, which made for a delicious lunch the next day!

As we ate, I fell victim to the power of suggestion; I witnessed several other patrons receiving fancy coffee (with whipped cream on top!) and I simply needed to have one, too (or I might have died, you understand). Poop decided to order creme brulee for dessert; I've never had creme brulee, but it always looks like so much fun when they set it on fire - and the end result is always so lovely to look at. :)

I received my fancy coffee (with whipped cream & Bailey's) and Poop got his creme brulee (they didn't bring the blow-torch to the table, which was disappointing).

My coffee was delectable and I was convinced to try Poop's dessert, after much pestering. How was the creme brulee....?

Let me put it this way: If you believe heaven exists, this is what it would taste like.

I attempted some trickery....I mentioned that I thought I detected poison & it would be better for Poop if he didn't eat any more of it - I was, in essence, saving his life - but he didn't fall for it.

 *sigh*

I gave it a shot.

I love you, creme brulee.

Ooooh thinkin' about all our younger years, there was only you & me, we were young & wild & custardy....**

------------

**Bryan Adams' ode to creme brulee

Julie & Julia & Julia

We watched the movie Julie & Julia on the weekend. I was definitely disappointed, I was expecting more. Meryl Streep's performance was, as usual, beyond reproach, but, overall, I found the film to be pretty dull. I didn't become emotionally invested in the characters, so I didn't really care what happened to them. On a positive note, it was quite lovely to look at, the portion of the film focusing on Julia Child (set in France) was particularly beautiful.

One thing that happens to me when I watch a film or TV show whose characters are based on (or allegedly portraying) "real" people is that I become sort of obsessed with finding out the "real" story. Historically, very few filmic portrayals of famous figures are done without some degree of artistic license, and I find myself wanting to know more, needing clarity as to what actually happened, wondering where they ended up etc etc.

At the end of Julie & Julia I immediately reached for the computer to find out how Julia Child ended up becoming the famous chef & TV personality "Julia Child" (the film focused on a brief period in her life when she first moved to France, learned to cook "the French way" at the Cordon Bleu and collaborated on her first cookbook).

I also became curious about the "Julie" of the title, who became quite well known back in 2002 for her food blog, the "Julie/Julia Project". If you've read the book on which the film was based, or seen the movie, you already know the story: In her 2002-2003 blog, Julie Powell chronicled her endeavours to prepare each of the recipes contained within Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking in a 1-year period.

My preliminary internet search for Julie Powell turned up a plethora of ink* on the author & her 2nd book, Cleaving, that had been released in the latter half of 2009.

----------------------------------------
*Can we still refer to written press as "ink" even if there's no ink involved and it only exists in cyberspace? Ladies & gentlemen, my pointless conundrum/aside of the day....applause, applause, applause...
----------------------------------

In reading the (mostly) scathing reviews of her new book and profuse indictments of the author herself (moreso for her attitude and "shocking" stories she reveals in Cleaving, than for her writing) I became intrigued. The Julie Powell being described in these pieces - foul-mouthed, unapologetically self-centered,  brazenly adulterous - bears little resemblance to the bland, saccharine-sweet, semi-endearing, pathetic, oft-victimized Julie Powell portrayed in the film. The real Julie Powell sounded eminently more appealing and my interest was piqued.

I figured that I should start from the beginning and hoped that the original "Julie/Julia Project" blog was extant on the internet. I wasn't sure it would be, considering its contents were made into a book  (you know...cow, milk, free $$$...etc.) However, a bit of searching revealed that it is still out there and set upon my quest to read the entire project, from beginning to end...which I accomplished in less than 48 hours.

You could say I was a trifle obsessed.

I'm not sure why I found it such compelling reading. But, I suppose it shouldn't be all that surprising, considering its popularity during its original incarnation (apparently becoming one of salon.com's most visited blogs ever, with hundreds of thousands of hits during that first year alone).

I will confess, I did speed-read parts of it...and, by speed-read, I mean, I only skimmed certain portions. Since I have no interest in French cuisine, either preparing it or consuming it, the sections devoted to the minutiae of the recipes - ingredients, cooking methods etc. - were quite tedious & extremely repetitive (butter, anyone?).

Besides which, consuming all of that French cooking (writing) in one sitting can't be good for one's arteries.

So, as I read through the blog entries, I did skip what I considered to be the more rote sections and went straight to what I considered the meat of the saga: The successes & failures, trials & tribulations of Julie Powell in both her kitchen & her life.

I can see why so many people became fans of the blog, it was quite entertaining. And, other than her penchant for using the word "phase" when she meant to be using the verb "faze" (as you know, this type of faux pas is anathema to me), I thought it was exceptionally well-written.

I actually found her voice as a writer to be alarmingly similar to my own: Self-deprecating (yet superior), self-aware (yet self-absorbed), witty (yet whiny) and replete with mother-fucking expletives. Odd dichotomies, to be sure, but, as the douchebags at my old job were wont to say: It is what it is.

Additional similarities became apparent when I visited her current blog "What Could Happen?" (http://juliepowell.blogspot.com/). I was immediately taken aback by the subtitle of the blog: "Musings from a Soiled & Narcisstic Whore" - because I had literally *just* hung up the phone after speaking with a gentleman about pre-planning my funeral and I had told him that I wanted almost that EXACT phrase carved into my tombstone! What are the odds??!

Just kidding. I'm not pre-planning my funeral (I'm totally getting cremated).

But....whore? Yes. I have been characterized as such.

Narcisstic? Who me? Me me mememememe!!! Look at MEEEEEEEEE!!

Soiled? Hmm. I'd say spoiled. Or rotten. But, close enough.

Anyway...

I'm definitely going to read Cleaving, despite the plethora of negative reviews I came across. I have to assume that the detractors are puritanical, morally superior, vegetarians: Who *doesn't* want to read a sordid tale of extra-marital S & M, interspersed with first-hand accounts of what it takes to become a butcher?! That's gold, Jerry...gold!!

The bottom line result of this week's obsession is that I plan to try more new things in the kitchen. And not be thwarted when I see an unfamiliar ingredient listed in a recipe (So what if I only use it ONCE?! Big deal!)

And I will share these endeavours with the world...why not...if she can do it, I can do it!

Plus, I desperately need to get working on a project of some kind, so that those business cards that I had printed up with my title listed as "Project Manager" won't just big fat falsehoods. I hate handing out falsehoods when I'm networking.

Until tomorrow, lovelies!
 ~ Julia Patchoulia

Score: Jalapenos 2.5, Patchoulia 0

Everybody knows (or should know) that it's dangerous to wipe one's eye(s) after handling hot peppers.

I semi-learned this lesson via an experience, several years ago, when I absentmindedly touched my eye after slicing a jalapeno...as such, I try to be super-diligent, whenever I am cooking with jalapenos or any hot peppers, to wash my hands thoroughly after touching them.

Of course, if I had, in fact, fully learned the aforementioned lesson and if I were, in fact, super-diligent with regards to washing my hands after handling hot peppers, I likely wouldn't be typing this post right now, would I?

Last night I made a delicious, spicy, tomato-based cabbage/veggie soup for dinner.

One note about my cooking...when I have the time, I enjoy cutting up all my veggies beforehand, putting them in bowls, prepped & ready to enter the skillet/pot/saucepan/frying pan when it's their turn.

Why? My reasoning is twofold:

1. a) I like to pretend I'm a hostess/chef on a television cooking program. Even though those chefs do some chopping/demonstrating during the course of their program, that's frequently just for "show"--they always have their ingredients prepped, measured and ready to go!

1. b) Speaking of television cooking shows, I really miss The Urban Peasant. I wish I'd had the opportunity to meet and/or cook with him before he went to that big gourmet kitchen in the sky. Sometimes, when I'm cooking, I like to adopt his accent and use his phrases & mannerisms (even if I'm alone), "NOW! If you haven't got wine, use apple juice, if you haven't got apple juice, use water--use what you LIKE! It's YOUR KITCHEN!!"

(If you were wondering, I *was* dropped on my head as a child. Seriously.)

2. I don't like the pressure that's put on me when I've already begun the cooking part of the meal preparation and I still have chopping left to do...it's extremely stressful!

"The onions are sauteing, but I still need to chop the carrots, mince the garlic, locate the oregano & the basil...NO!! Crap! NO!!!! The onions are going to be too cooked, the meal's going to be ruined...AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRGH!"

(See? Dropped on head=Julia kooky)

Anyway, last night, I chopped up all my veggies before I started cooking.

The jalapeno was the 3rd item I chopped. I stopped, washed my hands, and continued my chopping, cutting up the carrots, garlic & cabbage. I them proceeded to cook my soup...in went the onions, then the carrots & celery, followed by the jalapeno & the garlic...

If you deduced that I did not wash my jalapeno-tainted hands a second time, after putting the peppers into the soup pot, you would be correct.

Once all the ingredients were added, and my soup was simmering, I began tidying up the kitchen. The cutting board was still, apparently, infested with onion, because my eyes started watering. I wiped away the tears from my right eye and was immediately besieged by a horrific burning sensation...I realized we were dealing with a jalapeno-eyeball situation...

I couldn't even open my eye, the burning, searing pain was far too intense. I tried to flush the eye with water, but couldn't keep it open to do so. I tried bawling (not difficult)in an effort to wash away the jalapeno oil, with little effect.

I rubbed the eye a bit, with a towel, and then came to the appalling realization that not only had I rubbed jalapeno oil in my eye, but a teeny piece of the pepper was actually lodged under my eyelid! The blinding (literally) pain suddenly made more sense...

While all this was going on, I had also been crying out of my left eye and my face was covered in mascara...so I tried to wipe it off...at which point, I rubbed some still lingering jalapeno under the (previously unaffected) left eye!

I am a moron.

With my eyes squeezed shut, I then washed both my hands, thoroughly.

Poopypants conducted a quick internet search that revealed pouring milk in an affected eye supposedly helps neutralize the pepper acid/juice.

Naturally, we didn't have any milk in the house.

Another online suggestion was to use Visine, which I do have in my medicine cabinet.

Visine did succeed in quelling the burning, after a few minutes, which was, as you can imagine, a tremendous relief.

The reason I report the score as Jalapeno 2.5, Julia 0, is because not only did I actually end up rubbing both of my eyes with my pepper-infested hands, but, I think I may have infected the Visine with jalapeno as well! When I woke up this morning, I realized that my (still extremely red) eyes could use another shot of Visine...and when I inserted the drops, my eyes began burning all over again!

Summary: All homes should be equipped with one of those chemical eyewash stations, like they have in laboratories & high school chemistry classrooms. It's just good sense.

Dearest "Cheese Boutique": How do I love thee? (Plus: An odd, semi-related post-script)

There's an amazing gourmet foode shoppe near my house (an extra e at the end of a word means it's e-xtra swanky) called the "Cheese Boutique".

I've lived in this 'hood for 7 years and had never been inside til just the other day...which seems weird, but, since it's called the "Cheese Boutique" and I was vegan for so many years, I didn't think the "CHEESE Boutique" would have anything to offer me! Silly me. It's awesome! With something for EVERYBODY!!

http://www.cheeseboutique.com/

If you like cheese, it's got every possible kind...many of which, I've never even seen (or smelled) before. It's also got fresh breads, soups, baked goods of all kinds, organic veggies, desserts...I could go on and on!

And it's HUGE! Like the size of a regular supermarket almost!

And since it's sort of in a residential area (and not on the main drag of Bloor Street where a lot of these gourmet shops are located), it's not crowded either. The shops in business districts have their products JAM-PACKED in order to maximize the space available to them and, as a result, navigating around shelves & the other customers is almost impossible (at worst) and incredibly uncomfortable (at best).

Anyway, I love it!!! I love it so much, if I were Tracy Jordan, I'd take it out back behind the middle school and get it pregnant!

Yesterday, I was perusing the shelves, wandering around, because I had some free time and wanted to check out every bit of their inventory, at a leisurely pace. I wanted to see everything they had to offer and I also wanted to memorize where everything is so that I can be an expert patron of the store. (Everyone needs a hobby).

Oh! Also, you could conceivably eat enough samples of cheese & pickles & crackers & bagels & chocolates & cookies & chips & grapes & cake (etc etc etc) whilst walking around inside there, you wouldn't even need to buy anything! (Not that I'm recommending this...your patronage allows the "Cheese Boutique" to maintain it's fantasticosity!!).

It was a lot of fun. Wheeeeeee!

If you couldn't tell, I highly recommend the "Cheese Boutique."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

P.S. As I was looking through an area of canned goods, I noticed a can of something called, "Vegetarian Haggis". Um..WHAT??!!!!

Regular Haggis=Ew (but who am I to judge the Scots...to each their own, just keep it away from me)

BUT.....

Vegetarian Haggis=HUH?!?! What the WHAT?

I don't get it.

Why, why, WHY would anyone want that? <-------------not a rhetorical question

A Tale of Two Concerts

In the past couple of weeks, I've gone to a couple of concerts--both of which had been eagerly anticipated. The first, on May 7th, was Bruce Springsteen and the second, on May 16th, was The Tragically Hip.

I had been yearning to see Bruce for, oh, let's see...about 25 years. "Born in the USA" was the first album I loved in its entirety. That summer, I'm pretty sure I wore that tape out and had to buy a new one, due to continuous, ridiculous playing.

When I learned he was playing Toronto, I was incredibly excited--granted, he hasn't been relevent, in terms of "my music" in many years, but I had heard that the man and his band could still put on an incredible show (that turned out to be true..I'll explain more on this later...). In any case, I really wanted to be there. More importantly, the pre-teen me from the "Born in the USA" summer really wanted to be there.

As for the Hip, they were huge in my later years of high school and through my university years. I was never a crazy fan. I never saw them. I even went to university in their hometown, hung out with various folks from the Hip "organization"...just never caught a show. I did attend a show at which they performed, a music/camping festival in the early 90s, north of Winnipeg. I slept through their performance. So, I figured, I was due. I owed it to this band, this classic Canadian institution, and myself, to finally see them live.

I ended up getting tickets for both shows, which was fortuitous since they both sold out almost instantly (in the case of the Hip, they ended up adding like 5 or 6 more shows to the original 1 they had intended on playing at Massey Hall). I was super pumped.

I was counting down the days til the Springsteen concert. I had seen his half-time performance from the Super Bowl this year and it was, in a word, hot. When he literally blind-sided a cameraman with his crotchal-slide..well..c'mon...good times!

Anyway...I met up with some friends before the show at the always enjoyable "Harbour Sports Grille" near the ACC. Had a few cocktails and headed over to the show. The anticipation in the crowd was palpable. I'm sure I was radiating excitement and, if we could have bottled it, a new energy drink could have been invented right there and then.

Bruce came on, did his thing. And it was clearly "his thing". It was very much like a musical or an opera--an extremely well choreographed performance. Little passion (other than pre-orchestrated passion). It felt like that episode of the Simpsons where Spinal Tap played and said, "We were told they knew how to rock in Shelbyville. But nobody rocks like...[looks on the back of his guitar] Springfield!"

He pumped his arms a certain number of times per song, he said, "I can't hear you...Toronto..." no matter how loudly the crowd was pandering...I just didn't get it.

That being said, my friends who were with us, and had seen him several times in the past, really enjoyed the show. So, perhaps it was simply unrealistic expectations on my part that led to my disappointment.

Then again, there were several reviews in local papers that echoed my impression of the show...so, to each their own, I guess. The Bruce Springsteen train will inevitably keep on rollin'.

As for the Tragically Hip...

I had a great Saturday, to precede the show. Went for a big walk with the dog in the park, came home and ate lunch and watched the start of the Jays game on TV. Then I went out to run some errands in what became POURING RAIN..came home an hour or so later and the score remained the same...and watched the Jays win the game!

We went out for a lovely sushi dinner to our new favourite sushi place, Momiji, with our friends Chad & Sarah who had procured a sitter for the evening so we could all go to the show.

We were looking forward to treating them to a nice dinner, since they have been opening up their home to us (and the gargantuan gaggle of hippies we call friends) for YEARS for fun gatherings. Unfortunately, I don't currenly have a home suitable for entertaining--unless it's backyard weather...Chad & Sarah had even agreed to host a surprise birthday party for Brian, which occurred the previous weekend, and we all had a great time.

Naturally, we all ate too much (this place is reeeeally good) and headed to the show.

Massey Hall is one of the best venues in Toronto at which to attend a concert...the accoustics are incredible, it's aesthetically gorgeous, we usually get really good seats..and The Hip put on a pretty good show. The light/stage show was amazing!
Gord Downey is either seriously OCD or just has an incredibly crazy/kooky/jerky stage persona.

He also sweats more than any man I've ever seen.

I've been on stages, I know what those lights can do to a person! I also have a friend named Schwa--he sweats so much that he brings no fewer than 5 shirts to summertime concert--all this and I'm pretty sure Gord could give Schwa a run for his schweat.

He changed shirts a few times during the show (and there was an intermission) but for the entire evening he toted a white hanky/scarf thing with which he mopped his continually dripping brow--he'd then proceed to throw the sweat-soaked napkins into the audience, and certain fans were strangely compelled to fight for possession of these drenched tokens of rock star juice.


One of the problems, occasionally, of seeing shows at Massey Hall, specifically (and in Toronto, in general) is that the crowd is lame. Quiet. Seated. Bored. Indifferent. The great thing about this show was that not a single person in the entire place was sitting the entire time!
As anyone (with a soul) from Toronto can attest, they've been at a show (or a sporting event) and been yelled at for STANDING or DANCING. Yes, you read that correctly. At this concert: Everyone was standing and dancing. And it was a joy to experience (at a non-jamband show).

I *Heart* Hot Sauce

I love hot sauce. It really does make everything better.

For chinese or thai food, I like the chicken hot sauce...Sriracha:

You know: The one w/the big cock on the front. :wink:

For a more tangy hot sauce, I like the green hot sauce that is made in-house and sold at one of my fave restaurants in Toronto...it's called Utopia (the restaurant) and I couldn't find a pic of the hot sauce online, but it is awesome! If I've taken you to eat there, and I didn't encourage you to try to the hot sauce, feel free to smack me next time you see me: I deserve it.

I also enjoy Cholula, from time to time, though hot sauce snobs claim it's fairly pedestrian..(perhaps I've been hoodwinked by the cute, little wooden knob on the top and the fact that I just looove saying the world "Cholula"...c'mon, say it...it's fun!)

I reeeally like "Valentina's"....it's perfect for Mexican dishes, but I put it on almost everything..I have a bottle at home in the fridge and I keep a bottle in my desk at work...

My question relates to this particular hot sauce...in the store they have a "Red" version and a "Black" version...nowhere on the bottles does it explain the difference between them...the only english writing on the bottle is the "nutrional information". I've searched online, but have come up empty-handed. Anyone know?

While searching for this info, I discovered something else: There are a surprising number of blogs out there devoted to hot sauce! Who knew?

On one of them, the guy set out to consume an ENTIRE (different) bottle of hot sauce EACH DAY!...I have to admit, it was riveting...I read several weeks worth and will probably go back for more later...it was called "The Smoking Tongue":

http://smokingtongue.blogspot.com/

I also found these...but I don't have any comments yet, as I haven't had a chance to peruse them...at a glance, I can see they all do reviews of various brands of hot sauce...an excellent resource!

http://www.hotsauceblog.com/

http://www.frommildtowild.com/blog/

http://www.sweatnspice.com/567-10.htm

My Weekend in Chicago--Part II!

Saturday morning we awoke in Chicago--woohoo!

It was just as cold, if not colder, on the Saturday and, as such, we decided to hit the Lux (again) for brunch, since it was so close.

My brunch was great. Since we were heading back to the hotel after the meal (instead of heading right off to an event), I was able to bring what was left over from my brunch in a take-away box to snack on later...it was pretty much a full-size meal...Oh, and, in case you were interested: They make a kick-ass Bloody Mary there. :D

And, in case you weren't aware, the Bloody Mary recently had a birthday--75 years! Gotta love the Bloody Mary...to quote a friend of mine, "Cheers to the Bloody Mary--telling hangovers to 'fuck off' for 75 years!"

I headed over to the convenience store and received a call from my (then very pregnant) friend Gill in California...almost the first thing she said was, "Wow, you sound COLD!"

We had a nice chat while I picked up a few things at the store before heading back to the hotel.

Our plan was to meet up with some friends for dinner before the concert we were going to that night. My buddy Bryan works with the band and he said he'd be done setting up around 6 so he could meet us for dinner then.

I spoke to our other friend, Duck (an awesome guy whom I met many years ago at a music festival..I'm thinking Vibes '02?...anyway, we run into him from time to time, at various music events...now he happens to live in Chicago, so it we were excited to see him). Anyway, I told Duck the plan, such as it was, though we hadn't quite decided on a location, yet, for dinner and he was pretty much game for whatever we suggested (my kind of guy!).

Upon consultation with various sources & the folks who were to be attending, we finally decided on a highly recommended Costan Rican restaurant, not too far from the venue where the band was playing, called "Irazu". Everyone seemed to be enthused at the idea of Costa Rican food...though nobody could confidently attest to what "Costan Rican" food would entail (I guessed "lots of beans & rice" and that turned out to be fairly accurate).

We were warned it was a very small restaurant and they didn't take reservations. After all was said and done it appeared there were going to be 7 of us for dinner...when 3 of us showed up early to try to get a table (in light of the "small place, no reservasions" tip), we were told they wouldn't seat us until our entire party arrived..oops..


So...we waited. I spoke to Bryan on the phone, who was running late...very late...

We had also been told that this resto was "BYOB"...though we didn't find out til we had already arrived that, unlike restaurants in Ontario, it wasn't "BYO" wine and they charge a corkage fee, it was BYOW(hatever booze you want) and they don't serve alcohol otherwise.

This reminds me of a note about Friday night at the basketball game that I forgot to mention...if you go outside at half-time at the United Center, in Chicago, you're allowed to bring your drink out with you! That's crazy! (at least for Canadians) In Canada, the only time you can bring a drink outside is if they have a heavily contained patio or some such nonsense...in Chicago, you can just walk outside, put your beer on the garbage can, light up a smoke..or walk away...I was shocked!

Anyway...

Luckily, since Bry was running late, I had time to go over to the wine store, conveniently located right across the street.

It was a very, very cool place--the architecture/design of the interior was amazing. Unencumbered by the rules governing alcohol sales (and, I assume, interior decorating) in Ontario, this place looked like a cozy restaurant in a ski lodge..semi-low lighting, walls done up almost like a log cabin, candles in beautiful glass domes scattered about.

The folks who worked there were so nice--we got into a great chat about Toronto (and baseball) and travelling. And, as wine-store owners should, they really knew their wine! They helped me pick out a couple of nice reds (excellent suggestions from the folks at the store) and headed back to the restaurant.

We waited a few more minutes and Bryan and his crew finally arrived--turned out, 2 of them (whom it was great to see) were just dropping him off, which left us with 5 for dinner. Unfortunately, they didn't have a table for 5, nor would they allow us to pull an extra chair up to the table for 4 they did have. We decided to split up the group, Bryan and I sat at a 2-seater and Brian, Duck & Mike at another table.

So we ate dinner and the food was pretty freakin' great. I think we all had a good time. Afterwards, we all headed over to the concert venue. It was well before the show and we were lucky enough to be with a guy who works with the band so we actually got to hang out on the band's phat (yes, PHat) bus. Seriously, these buses have everything! Wow. Had a drink. Marvelled at modern technology at all the fancy shit you can fit on a freakin' bus. Good god.

I think we might have been kicked off the bus at that point (though no one said that specifically) so we all headed into the venue.

We had to stand in a "special line" since my friend very generously had put us on the guest list. After waiting an interminably long time (in the insanely freezing lobby, due to the doors being open), I finally got to the front of the line and told the guy I was on the guest list. He could not find my name. I insisted I was on the list. He insisted I was not. I saw another friend (who was with the band) walk by and appealed to him--he pointed out that they were looking for my middle name, instead of my first name, on the list, and that I am on the guest list and I get "all access" passes immediately.

Thanks, Mike. You rock.

So we finally got in...beautiful venue...my friend told me that we should meet him backstage...so we approached the wings of the stage...naturally, I had no idea where I was supposed to be going...the security guard at the edge of the stage stood tall and imposing, til he saw our "all access" passes and then he backed right off immediately..unfortunately, I had no idea where to go...so I texted my friend and he came and got us. :)

Anyway, we were escorted backstage and got a little tour...saw the crowd from the stage view..had some drinks...even got an interesting mini-tour of the bowels of the building....

All in, it was a great night. :D

My Weekend in Chicago-Part I!

The weekend of January 24th included a jaunt to the balmy shores of Chicago!

(...they don't call it "The Windy City" for nothin', let me tell ya! )

Luckily, being from Toronto, the cold--while significant--wasn't painfully shocking...but painful, nonetheless...

Anyway, travelling for a Raptors' weekend road game has become a bit of a tradition, and since they were playing on a Friday night, and we managed to secure a fantastic deal on a flight from Buffalo ($111 all-in/return) we decided to make the trek.

Thursday night we enjoyed a complimentary night in a fancy-pants room at Casino Niagara (compulsive gambling is good for something after all!) and Friday morning, we got up super early to ensure we had enough time to get across the border, parked and through security in time for our flight.

I must say, the ability to print one's boarding passes 24-hours before one's flight is such a wonderful convenience, it saves so much time (unless, of course, you put your boarding pass down on the table at a restaurant and forget it there..*oops*..not that *I* would ever do that, though,..perish the thought!).

Turned out we needn't have worried--we got across the border with no delays whatsoever and had plenty of time to spare in the terminal once we got through security. We had breakfast and I purchased a USA Today.

I love USA Today. It's total brain candy. Like Smarties. Tiny little bites of multi-coloured deliciosity (Yep, I just made up a word. Suck it if you don't like it). You can bounce back and forth between colours and it's all delectable and you don't even have to think! Wheeeeeeeeee! :)

Our flight was great, too. No hassles, no annoyances. The flight attendants on this particular flight were remarkably amusing (failed stand-up comedians with a penchant for inflatable slides, perhaps?)...very funny, actually. We each got TWO packets of peanuts and--the best part!--unlimited tomato juice! I'm sure whichever non-alcoholic beverage you'd chosen would have been unlimited, but I just looooove tomato juice(especially on airplanes, for some inexplicable reason), so it was tremendously exciting for me.

We landed in Chicago--ahead of schedule!--and since we didn't check any bags, we just headed straight for the El. The transit system in Chicago is incredibly convenient and efficient. We bought our 3-day passes, got on the train, switched trains once, arrived at our destination station and walked a few blocks to the hotel.

On the way, we passed a "soup" restaurant (looked like a take-out place)..in the window, they had a big list of the soups they were serving that day, including a few that were described as vegetarian/vegan. Being a soup lover, and being that it was 8 million degrees below zero, we made a note of the place for future reference.

We checked in to the hotel (Omni Suites on the Magnificent Mile--fantastic experience--everything was great all weekend long. I highly recommend it.) and headed up to our "suite". This particular hotel is "All Suites" so the room was amazing--even better, we got it for 50% off! Some kind of reimbursement dealie for a previous stay at another one of their properties that had gone awry--hey, I'll take it!

We decided that soup from the soup place was in order as it was almost lunchtime and our breakfast had been verrrry early in the morning. We ended up getting the veg chili & the mixed vegetable soup. Neither were overwhelmingly impressive--chili was so-so (I like some KICK in my chili, dammit!) and the veg soup was somewhat bland--but the crusty bread that accompanied the soups was AMAZING!

Prior to our arrival, we hadn't really decided what we were going to do with our afternoon before eating dinner and heading over to the United Centre for the game. With the weather as miserable as it was, we didn't really feel like wandering around and sightseeing--besides which, I think we saw all the top tourist spots on our last trip to Chicago--so we decided to have a nap. Actually, I don't think the nap thing was a conscious decision, it just sort of happened...laid down to watch a bit of TV..woke up 2 hours later...it happens..:)

Feeling revitalized, we showered and got dressed (in Raptors shirts, naturally) and headed out for dinner. We decided on "the Grand Lux Cafe"..which is a chain restaurant, tourist-trap, affiliated with "The Cheesecake Factory" restaurants...anyway, I'd heard really good things about it and, most importantly, it was only 2 blocks from the hotel.

Turns out, it was pretty damn good. The food was fantastic. The service was impeccable. I will, however, warn you--in case you ever have the chance to eat there--the portions are HUGE. Actually, one adjective doesn't come close to adequately describing the enormity of the portions they serve there--gargantuan, mammoth, collosal. There. That's better.

I had a "dinner-size" salad (see below). It pretty much looked exactly the same when I was finished with it as it did before I dug in. But, boy, it was GOOOOOOOD.

Actually, the elephantine portions bother me a bit..unless you're planning to split one meal with one or two other people, it seems like a tremendous waste. Considering half the patrons are probably tourists for whom doggy-bags would be inconvenient, you have to assume a really big quantity of food is wasted at that place every day. A shame.

After dinner, we pondered the route & train(s) we'd need to take to get to the United Centre from our location...the wind and the temperature helped us decide: A cab it was!!

Turns out, it was only about $10 to the United Centre...well worth the expense...I need my butt and I'm almost certain it would have frozen off had I been forced to stand on an elevated platform for any length of time waiting for a train.

We got to the arena and found our gate. We did do a cursory glance around the outside of the building in search of the "famous" Michael Jordan statue that lives there but, not finding it immediately, we abandoned the quest and went in where it was blessedly warm.

The tickets we bought off the internet from a season-ticket holder turned out to be just about the greatest seats in the entire place--5th row (3rd row of permanent seats, 5th row if you include the floor seats) centre, across from the benches--a perfect view of everything! We had a great time and everyone was incredibly friendly--even though we were cheering for the visiting team(some of us..aka ME...being VERY loud about it, too).

I went up the aisle to go the bathroom at one point and asked the usher which way I should go--he said, "Are you here from Toronto?"

It took me a split-second to determine how he knew that I was Canadian--was I emitting some kind of Canuckian vibe that only dogs and ushers can detect?!?

Then I remembered that I was wearing a Raptors shirt. hehehe.

I responded that I was, indeed, from Toronto, and he bellowed, "Welcome to Chicago!"

Isn't that nice? I also saw these signs all over Chicago saying "the mayor welcomes you to chicago"...at first, I was skeptical...by the end of the weekend, I truly believed Mr. Daly was welcoming me to Chicago!

My old friend Chuck Swirsky, who was the TV play-by-play guy for the Raptors for years til he moved back to Chicago to cover the Bulls, told me to get in touch with him when we got to the arena, which I did and he came over to say hello. We chatted for a bit and we got some restaurant recommendations.

We wanted to get a pic of us with Chuck in the home of the Bulls, for souvenir sake, so we asked an usher (not the one who welcomed me to Chicago) to take a pic of us--methinks it might have been her first encounter with a digital camera, as she looked both perplexed and a little frightened, when we handed it to her and the resulting pic (as evidenced by its exclusion from this post) was a classic "heads-cut-off" disaster. Thanks anyway, lady!

I yelled out to Jose Calderon during the warm-up and he turned and looked and saw us and gave us a big wave & a smile and I gave him a thumbs up. A couple of the other Raptors saw us (fans in Chi-town!) and gave us a wink & a nod...they were happy for our presence. :)

Turns out, for the first time in a game for which we travelled, the Raptors kicked ass--it was the return of the Raptors' previously injured starting point guard, Jose Calderon, and he ran the floor like he'd never been gone. It was great. No one booed us, even though we cheered for the visitors, and..the Raptors won!

After the game, we met up with some friends at a random bar for a few drinks..didn't last too long..though we did meet up with some Bulls fans who'd been at the game and, yes, we did gloat, just a little bit...then we went back to the hotel and crashed.