A lifestyle blog documenting my move from the city to the country (and back to the city) as well as my daily inspirations, including food, fashion, travel and love. And celebrities.
After years (66 of them!) of complicated, and annoying, rules and regulations forbidding the sale of good eatz on Montreal streetz, the city has finally gotten with the program and joined the rest of the 21st century in enjoying meals on wheels.
And then some.
Even the high-end, and mouth-watering, Au Pied de Cochon is getting in on the moveable feast action which currently centres around the Just for Laughs festival in the city's Quartier des Spectacles (no English translation provided on the city's official website).
How bilingual of them. While the food trucks are sadly not a permanent fixture and have temporarily been given a schedule and set of operating sites by the city, it certainly is a step in the right direction. Mayor-to-be Jean Drapeau took a major step in the wrong direction when he banned food trucks in 1947 because he deemed them "undignified and unsanitary." Do these look undignified and unsanitary to you?
While Montreal is a little late getting on the mobile meal bandwagon, the Food Network's Eat St. has been singing the praises of street meat and other goodies for the last four years and is a great place to get the low-down on the down low.
While I have absolutely no patience for the schlock televised by most local and basic cable networks - and don't even get me started on the quality of "news" these days - the E! network holds a nearly endless fascination for me. From Joan Rivers and Chelsea Handler to Kimora Lee Simmons and Betsey Johnson, without forgetting the ubiquitous Kardashians (of course), the roster of talented, or at the very least entertaining, folks at the E! network is mind boggling.
As if turning 80 isn't enough to celebrate, Joan Rivers has a total of two, count 'em, two shows on E!: Fashion Police and Joan and Melissa. Fashion police is an hour of fashion truth doled out by the queen of comedy along with her Joan Rangers; Kelly Osbourne, Giuliana Rancic and George Kotsiopoulos.
While several celebrities don't seem to find the humour in being (good-naturedly) ridiculed - aka Anne Hathaway "we've seen your breasts, calm down" - I find it fabulous.
Speaking of fabulosity, Kimora Lee Simmons, self-proclaimed style icon, offers a behind-the-scenes look at her online shoe empire, JustFab, on Kimora: House of Fab. As a member of JustFab that has not yet taken the plunge and purchased a pair of sky-high stilettos, the show is pretty convincing. I mean... just check out what my fave gay Johnny JustFab has to say about... matching shoez and bagz.
While there is no one I enjoy keeping up with more than the Kardashians, I especially enjoy keeping up with their eating.
I'm weird in that I like to watch a lot of food shows. Whether it's watching food be prepared, served or actually consumed, I enjoy it. It calms me. It's like living umami.
I dare you to watch an episode, nay, a segment, of Keeping up with the K's without getting hungry. When they're not taking food out of a (perfectly organized) fridge, eating in, eating out, ordering in or taking out, they're talking about how hungry they are.
I know exactly how they feel.
I actually went online to try and find out who made and delivered their at-home meals (hello Sunfare!), because the chicken Caesar salad looked so good.
But back to business.
That's what she said.
Betsey Johnson I mean.
After going bankrupt, or out of business, the cartwheel-into-splits designer is re-launching her career, and returning to New York fashion Week, via the Style network and E! with XOX Betsey Johnson.
In honour of the True Blood season six premiere Sunday, I thought I'd bring back my bloody Valentine - aka the Sookie Stackhouse inspired French manicure - with a nifty how-to nail sesh.
I say inspired by Sookie, particularly, because I remember "someone" once telling me that the French manicure was slightly... waitressy in bent.
To achieve the bloody slash waitressy effect, start by painting your nails a light pink colour, the same shade you'd use for a regular French manicure. Once dry, take a bright red nail polish and trace the edges of your nails with it. Drag the brush down to create a dripping effect every couple of nails, without being too symmetrical. Once dry, apply a clear coat and let the mayhem ensue.
So what did y'all think of the True Blood premiere anyhow?
For starters, I watched the pre-show filmed live from the set of Fangtasia and was surprised to hear Jason Stackhouse's/Ryan Kwanten decidedly non-True Blood Australian accent.
Impressive. I was also surprised to see how... rude some of the "actors" were to the host. Not so impressive. As for the show itself, I was happy the second-half took place in Bon Temps instead of a boardroom of the Vampire Auhority's headquarters.
Enough with that already. I need me some Merlotte's.
As parasocial relationships are all the rage these days, let me take you back to my buddy Bourdain (!) for the low-down on one of his favourite foods, and mine, pho. Before we start talking pho though, let's talk about how to properly pronounce it. Fuh. That's right. You heard me. Or maybe you didn't.
Now that we're on the same page, linguistically speaking at the very least, let's get our pho on and find out what it is that makes Tony and I cuckoo for cocoa puffs.
"Early warning sings of great things to come: I got my lime... chunks, got my chili paste, tissue box, very important... this is where the food porn really is, okay?" Well okay then Anthony... glad to hear you're "quivering with desire." Ahem.
"A textural Disneyland" indeed! While I may not be able to go on a tour of Vietnam to find the best pho I can do the next best thing and go on a tour of Gatineau and Ottawa to try and find the same. Or not. While I had some decent pho in Ottawa at Cafe Indochine, in the Byward Market, and some very quite good pho at Pho Bo Ga 777 in Gatineau, the best pho I've had in the Outaouais was actually at yours truly's. This time I know you heard me! While my version of pho is far from traditional (for starters, I use linguini instead of rice vermicelli) it is very close to deee-luscious.
I start by warming a little chopped onion and garlic on canola oil before adding equal quantities of organic chicken and beef broth. Next, I add a couple of star anise as well as the 4 C's (cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and coriander) and some fennel, sugar, salt and pepper. Once the broth has come to a boil and simmered for as long as you can handle it (the smell is beguiling!) prepare a big bowl with cooked noodles (linguini in my case) and raw, thinly sliced beef. Add piping hot broth and stir. On a side plate, prepare some chunks of lime, Thai basil (the smell is also beguiling) and bean sprouts. Dress your bowl with a little of each and add as much chili paste (Sriracha in my case) as you can handle. Now you understand why the tissue box is so important. While I absolutely love traditional pho, and would kill for jump for the opportunity to try it in its native homeland, I can't actually recreate it at home.
So instead of recreating it, I've reinvented it. Let me know what you think Anthony! PS. For Bourdain's take on Quebec cuisine, scroll down here and check out what he has to say about being food%#&@ed (ahem) by chefs Martin Picard, David McMillan and Frederic Morin... food porn indeed!
Sure, he was morally confused more often than not but I thought he was a "good" person. Deep, deep, deep down.
I was wrong.
Since almost dying he has become insufferable. And very, very unlikeable.
First he cheats on Megan. Then he loses his creative touch. Now, he's disappointing Sally.
With Father's Day fast approaching (June 16), I started thinking about what it would be like to have Don as a dad. A man who puts himself, and his "needs," before his family's. A man who lies to get what he wants. A man who is incapable of true love...
Is it the fact of having children or the act of caring for them? When I typed in Father's Day in Google today I came upon this heartwarming letter from a father to his daughter. Two lines really caught my attention.
This
one: "You physically have your mom everyday of the week, and I only get
you in my memories. I've missed out watching you grow up."
And
this one: "I am saying all this to convey as deeply as my spirit can
muster that I need you in my life. And as much as I need you, I feel that it is
equally important, if not more so, that you have me in your life. Please know
that I love you and gotchya back."
Waterworks!!!
In
the end I realize that fathers (and parents in general) are like everybody else.
No
better. No worse.
Some
make mistakes. Some don't. Some try to make up for them. Some don't.
Time
has yet to tell whether Don will try to make up for his mistakes.
For
Sally's sake, I hope he does.
***
The
Grand Optimist, City and Colour
I fear I'm dying of complications
complications due to things that
I've left undone
that all my debts will be left unpaid
feel like a cripple without a cane
I'm like a jack of all trades
who's a master of none
then there's my father
he's always looking on the bright side
saying things like "son, life just ain't that hard"
he is the grand optimist
I am the world's poor pessimist
you give him burdensome times
and he will escape unscarred
I guess I take after my mother
I used to be quite resilient
gain no strength from counting the beads on a rosary
now the wound has begun to turn
another lesson that has gone unlearned
but this is not a cry for pity or for sympathy
