17 posts tagged “friends”
We got lucky. Our friends in Toronto - Lex'n'Ger - invited us for a fancy-pants meal last weekend. They had won the services of a professional chef for an evening, and he was offering to prepare a 7-course meal for the four of us. Junkii and I were thrilled with the invitation, and even more thrilled with what the chef - Matt Kantor from Little Kitchen - came up with. It was the best meal we'd had all year - even better than the awesome meals we prepared over Thanksgiving weekend - so you know it was good.
Here's a rundown:
Course 1: Pan-seared Shrimp Tossed in Charmoula Sauce
None of us had even heard of, let alone tasted, charmoula sauce. It's a marinade from the Moroccan/Algerian corner of Africa and its made up of herbs, oil, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, and dozens of other things. It's got a wonderfully complex set of flavours that suited the shrimp perfectly. It would also go well with grilled fish or other seafood, and we're gonna have to figure out how to make it ourselves before next summer's grilling season gets here. Junkii said it best during the meal: "this is the first time I've ever cut up my shrimp to make them last longer." Me? I just gobbled them whole. Mmmmm.
Course 2: Beet and Grapefruit Salad with Gribiche Sauce
Junkii seems to be developing a fondness for beets. I've never been a big fan, but this worked really well together. The sweetness of the beets and the tart/bitter flavour of the grapefruit was nicely balanced, while the tarragon-based Gribiche sauce (another sauce we had never heard of) helped to bring the flavours all together.
Course 3: Seared Sea Scallop with diced Hidden Rose Apple and Curry Oil on Romanesco Puree
The use of curry oil here was pure awesomeness. Matt even explained how to go about making it (i.e. add curry powder to oil, duh) so maybe we could try to recreate this one. Seems pretty straightforward, otherwise. The diced pieces you see in the photo - the ones that look like carrot - are actually an heirloom varietal of apple called 'Hidden Rose'. The flesh of the apple is naturally that colour. The crunch of the apple pieces was a nice addition to the dish, which - because the scallop was so perfectly cooked - was otherwise very soft.
Course 4: Risotto of Roast Duck, Chanterelles, and Butternut Squash
This risotto was to-die-for. Duck is one of our favorites at any time, but to add it to such a creamy blend of rice, mushroom, and squash... sorry, I'm drooling.
Course 5: Ras el Hanout Lamb Cabbage Rolls on Eggplant Puree with Bordelaise Sauce
The only reason I have any inkling of what Ras el Hanout actually is, is because I watch Top Chef. They use this north African spice blend all the time. So it was a real privilege to get to have it prepared for us. And it was yummy. But the real icing on the cake was that this was also a case where the wine pairing was perfect. I don't remember what the wine tasted like - come on, we had already had 4 courses with paired wines! - but I do remember it went perfectly with the lamb dish. Fantastic! Torrederos Tinto Crianza 2004. Still available at the LCBO if you hurry.
Course 6: Tarragon Ice Cream with Beet Gelee and Candied Grapefruit Rind
I didn't expect this to have such a strong flavour of tarragon in the ice cream, but it was very pronounced - and mighty good. The gelee was a little too delicate and got lost between the tarragon and the candied rind - which also had a very robust flavour.
Course 7: Belgian Endive Terrine with Candied Hazelnuts and Guinness Caramel Sauce
Can't say I tasted a lot of endive in the terrine, but it was delicious either way. To me it had more of a mocha flavour - but perhaps that's just because the Guinness caramel sauce was sooooooo goooooood. Or maybe it's because I really don't know what endive tastes like. We served a trio of beers with this dish. The dark beer is Young's Double Chocolate stout which, to my palate worked perfectly with the dessert, but others at the table felt it overpowered the Guinness sauce. There was also an apple cider served in the trio, and that worked well with the dessert too, counterbalancing the tart cider with the sweet dessert.
So there you have it. Just your average, everyday dinner at home with friends. Thanks L&G for sharing with us! When can we do this again?
Saturday night we held our 4th Annual wig party - on Halloween night! This was the first time the party was actually on Halloween proper, and that had some interesting effects - some positive, some negative:
- Positive: The commitment to full costumes was huge this year. This is supposed to be a wig party - which means you don't need anything more than the cheapest wig you can find at the dollar store - so it's always impressive when people go all out with their costumes. And this year, probably because it was Halloween, we had an inordinately high number of full costumes. The "Total ensemble" category was hotly contested.
- On the downside: With loads of other Halloween parties going on, and trick-or-treaters at the door, many people had other places to be. We invited more people than ever before, but many weren't able to make it. Even some who had hoped to come dropped out at the last minute. Which sucks, but we had an awesome time with the people who did make it! They make all the cleaning and prep work worthwhile!
Oh, and just in case you're wondering, Rocker is wearing a wig called "urban vampire" - whatever that is.
Click the image above or this link for more photos!
We kicked the work week to the curb on Friday evening with a couple’s retreat to Le Nordik Spa. Junkii and I joined Steve and Krista for an evening of selfish pleasure at an all-but-empty spa.
It had been drizzling all day and the weather showed no
signs of letting up, so I guess most people decided that the outdoor baths
would be no fun in inclement weather. Wrong!
Yes, it was drizzly, but it wasn’t raining hard enough to annoy you once you were sitting in the hot tub. And everything else was indoors. So we had very little trouble finding seats around the fireplace or stretching out in the sauna. It was sweet. Rainy evenings are a great time to hit the spa.
And, to top it off, once we had relaxed, the four of us ducked into the local pub in Chelsea for a pint and a bit of supper. A Chambly Noire and a shredded duck sandwich were all it took to erase the remnants of what had been a busy and frustrating week at the office. And just what I needed to kick off the weekend!
We undoubtedly had one of our busiest summers to date. Apart from extended-stay visits from family in Texas and New Brunswick, we also took road trips ourselves, had an awesome wedding to take part in, and were invited to a whole slew of other social commitments that completely took over our weekends.
That's not a complaint - we like to be busy and social - but it made planning hell, and plus it meant saying 'no' to a lot of our friends and missing out on some of their events.
But Junkii and I both thought that, by the time we got to September, things would trail off a bit. We thought we'd be able to breathe a little and start taking it easier. And indeed the first week or two of September were like that. We even got to sleep in both Saturday and Sunday this past weekend! But now the weekends seem to be filling up quickly again.
Fall events are being planned. First of all, Wig Party 2009 is coming up on October 31st (save the date). That means some serious event planning has to happen soon! We're also doing our annual cooking weekend with Mom and George, Junkii is going away to Niagara for a conference, We have a Sushi-making class scheduled, and there's an Oktoberfest happening nearby next weekend, that looks like a load of fun. Add to that a birthday celebration this weekend, and we're pretty much busy into November. (and mostly with food stuff, which doesn't bode well for our diet).
Friends! We love you, but it's a load of work staying connected with you all. Still, we wouldn't have it any other way!
At last weekend's bachelor party, I went yet again to a strip club. Since I'm gay, it always comes as a surprise to people when they learn just how many times I've been to girlie strip clubs. The tale is far from lurid, though. In fact, it's kind of sad. It all goes waaaay back to my first year in Ottawa.
In 1990, I moved to Ottawa to go to university. But because my grandmother already lived in town, I didn't stay in residence. Hers was the obvious choice of a place to live, but that was probably a mistake in that I really didn't make any university friends. Moreover, she lived a good 40-minute bus ride from campus. People say university is the best time of your life, but quite honestly, I really don't remember much about my time there. I was too shy and too distant to be be social. In fact, I remember standing on campus one day thinking about how very far away I was from my high school chums (cue sappy music).
No, I was isolated, so that first year was kind of lonely. (And no, I didn't turn to peeler bars to drown my sorrows - I wasn't out of the closet yet, but I at least knew what I liked!)
As luck would have it, about halfway through that first year, one of my high school buddies moved to Ottawa with his family. Brad was a nice guy, and we knew each other well (or as well as I let anyone know me, anyway). So I had a built-in friend in town. Granted he lived way out in Barhaven, but that was close enough. I had no car, so he would drive his truck into town every weekend to pick me and we'd hang out... at strip bars.
Brad had a thing for strip bars. I've lost contact with him, so I don't know if he ever got over it, but he sure liked them when we were hanging out together. Every Friday and Saturday night we'd go out and watch the girls. We would go to a bar in Gatineau called (I think) Club 61, or we'd go to Cheeks (which is closed, but used to be a real dive near Lansdowne Park), or we'd go to Fanny's Cabaret (which is closed but used to be a more upscale spot on Bank around Somerset). And I would sit there, watching the dancers, nursing a black label beer, and pretending to enjoy myself. And Brad would watch for a while and then usually go get a private dance or two. Thankfully I never felt pressured enough to get a private dance, but Brad loved it. And when our highschool friends visited us from NB, guess where we took them. Très classy, no?
Eventually, Brad and I drifted apart, but we did this on a regular basis for more than a year. You can imagine just how much time and money I wasted simply because I was too scared to say anything that might have outed me.
Neither of us has been to many weddings. Not sure why – maybe we only know non-committal people – but that’s how it is. As a result, the only things we knew about bachelor parties was what we had gleaned from Hollywood. We knew strippers had to be involved at some point, but other than that we were pretty clueless.
So when we got around to planning our friend’s stag, we were a bit out of our depth. We’d planned parties before, but this needed to be more of a multi-location series of events. We were both a bit nervous once Saturday came around and we got into the thick of it – but we needn’t have worried. It came off beautifully.
Part 1 – Surprise Event
Our research told us that we needed to do something that the groom wasn’t expecting, so we racked our brains to find just the right thing. Junkii was stellar, coming up with laser tag, paint ball, a day at the spa, the casino, white water rafting, waterslides, and an aerial adventure just to name a few. But I liked his suggestion of wall climbing best of all – and we knew none of us had ever tried it before.
So we told the groom to be at our place with gym clothes at 1pm, and off we went to the Coyote Rock Gym. They gave us all a few lessons on how to harness ourselves and how to belay (i.e. make sure the climber doesn’t fall). We each climbed the practice wall twice and we each belayed for a climber twice - then we were set free to explore the rest of the gym!
Which was great, but after just a few more climbs we all found that our gripping
strength was starting to fade. It wasn’t long before we had to pack it in.
Still, we managed to climb for the better part of two hours, and it’s
definitely something Junkii and I will go back to. We just have to wait until our forearms stop hurting.
And of course the groom had fun and was surprised – so we achieved our goals!
Part 2 – Drink
We then headed home to our pad and everyone had showers and enjoyed a beer or two. We got a chance to chill out a bit and then, after about an hour, it was on to…
Part 3 – Dinner
We drove out to Kanata for dinner - a big thank you to both Junkii and Stephen for staying sober. Yes, we hear you saying, “Kanata?!” but you’ll see why shortly.
We went to Moxie’s Classic Grill, which is a beautiful space with pretty good food for a chain. But of course the main reason we went was because all the waitresses are actually hired as models. So the groom was assured of some eye candy while he ate. It’s kind of like an upscale Hooters in that way. The waitresses are all well dressed though, and the décor is nicer.
Part 4 – Drink
Of course drinks were part of dinner, as well as part of the next event…
Part 5 – Roller Derby!
None of us had ever been before, and no one knew the rules, but turns out you didn’t need to. Everything was explained before the bout started.
Our team – the Rideau Valley Slaughter Daughters – were hosting a team from Vermont in this, their last home game of the season. The timing couldn’t have been better - scheduling their last game for the night of the bachelor party! We arrived with 30 minutes to spare, so we'd have time to grab some beers, and took our seats for a quick demonstration about how the game is played.
It’s such a fun sport – and quick. The two 30 minute periods go by in a flash, and they’re separated by a break to give us time to drink more.
We left about 20 minutes before the end, but the Slaughter Daughters were creaming the Vermont team. So there was no chance of a comeback. We’ll be back next season for sure. So fun.
Here's a quick video of part of the match.
Part 6 – Drink (you see a trend yet?)
Repeat step 2, but without showers and exchanging beer for martinis.
We were supposed to go bar hopping at this point, but the groom preferred to just relax at our place for a bit. So we stayed there until it was time for the finale...
Part 7 – Strippers!
The evening ended in the Market at the BareFax Gentleman’s Club. I'm serious - it's actually called a gentleman's club. Like you'll walk inside to see dapper, upper-class fops with top hats and monocles sitting in lounge chairs and enjoying a snifter of brandy.
Okay, I’m not gonna get into any details here about what you WILL find inside – some things are best kept private – but suffice it to say we closed the club and even hung around on the street chatting afterwards.
The day was perfectly timed. We never felt rushed. The groom had a fantastic time - as did we all - and . we only regretted it slightly the next day when the headaches set in. Let’s just say we didn’t over-exert ourselves on Sunday.
Okay, it's been a week - time to blog Canada Day.
As usual, we had a full day planned. But rather than head down to Parliament Hill to watch the throngs of shirtless guys and eat junk food from chip wagons (we got there eventually, but not 'til the evening) we headed off to Lafleche Adventure park again for our annual summer trek through the trees.
This was a different course than we'd done in previous years . It promised to be more difficult and higher up - but really, it wasn't much different from our earlier visits. Still, it was fun and we did have a heart-pounding moment - or at least Junkii did.
In doing these adventures, you get a harness with three lanyards to keep you attached at all times and prevent the risk of falling. One lanyard ends in a pulley - used on the zip lines - and the other two lanyards end in safety clips. You're instructed to keep at least one safety clip secured at all times. And they watch to make sure you follow the rules.
Well, evidently they weren't watching closely enough. Partway through the course we reached their longest, fastest zipline and Junkii hooked up his pulley and took - without his safety lines attached! Now, in fairness, the pulley is pretty safe in itself, but when he realized, partway across the chasm, that he'd omitted his safety lines, he stopped enjoying the view pretty quickly.
Thankfully he didn't get kicked off the course and we were able to finish, but he was pretty vigilant about keeping his safeties attached from that point forward.
The adventure took up the rest of the morning and, after a little afternoon nap, we headed back out in the evening to watch the fireworks. They were great this year - and much louder than in previous years. And our gang wended our way through the busy streets to find a pub so we could cap the evening with a pint. Canada Day was on Wednesday this year - a school night - so we couldn't get sauced, but we had fun all the same.
We made a pilgrimage to Waterloo, NY this weekend for a clothes-shopping excursion at the outlet mall. Not as much for ourselves as for our friend, who wanted to renew his entire wardrobe. What great timing too. Most of the outlet stores were offering sales of 30, 40, or even 50 percent off merchandise, in an attempt to help spur sagging sales figures. The fact that it was father's day weekend probably didn't hurt either.
We arrived at 1pm on Saturday, ate our lunch, and proceeded to wander from store to store until about 8:30, just before the mall closed. Seven hours! That's a lot of shopping! Junkii and I did okay - each buying a couple of pairs of shoes and a few small items - but most of our time was spent helping our co-traveler outfit himself in new couture.
Once we finished, we faced a new challenge: where to eat. None of us wanted another dose of food court (I had already had my Arby's fix at lunch). So despite our rumbly tummies, we decided to suck it up and wait for dinner until we drove back to Syracuse, where we spent the night.
A New Default Chain?
Now, we didn't want to spend a lot of time or money at a nice restaurant - nor were we dressed for fancy fare - so we elected to go to one of the many chain family restaurants on offer in the US. In the past, Junkii and I have had disastrous luck with such places. Friendly's, Chili's - they've all promised yummy food, but they've all delivered over-salted, over-sized, over-cheesed, otherwise unmemorable meals. We've nicknamed Appleby's Crappleby's because it's so dismal. Nope - from our experience, chain eateries tend to be sub-par at best. Still, they're quick and cheap, so we decided to try our luck at one we hadn't tried before (for food, anyway) - TGI Friday's.
Maybe it was because we were so hungry, but honestly the food was good. A little over-salted maybe, but we ordered off the "reasonable portion" menu and received a good-sized plate of tasty food. My crusted pork chop was tender and juicy, with a yummy sauce and some particularly good mashed potatoes. Junkii had a perfectly cooked (medium rare) 8oz steak that was like butter. We left satisfied, overjoyed that we now have a chain restaurant option that we can turn to in times of need. Huzzah.
Of course, there is another chain that we rely on. We visit one every time we go to the States, and this visit was no exception. Breakfast at IHOP! It was the highlight of day two, and really, there was nothing else to report on.
well, maybe one other thing...
No Go Hotels
Junkii and I now have a total of 4 hotels that we won't use in Syracuse anymore. we long ago concluded that the Red Roof Inn was dirty and the bed was too hard for another stay. And we found Motel 6 too smokey to bother going back. But we added two more to the list this weekend. Mel likes the Days Inn, but I find it feels old and dirty. I've always liked Super8, but on this trip Junkii found it gave him the creeps on cleanliness. So we agreed not to use either anymore.
Our co-traveler's experience this time also helped change my mind about Super8. His room had an odor so bad that he couldn't stay there. Unfortunately they had no extra space to move him to. He wound up sleeping in our room on the floor (well, on a couple of comforters and some sheets. It was a hard bed, but at least it didn't stink. They comped him his room in the end, but there's no call for such poor quality cleaning.
So far, the only hotel we agree on is the Quality inn. It's comfortable, clean, and with a friendly desk staff. That will probably be our default hotel. It's pricier, but it's worth the extra $20 a night for the peace of mind.
Saturday afternoon was beautiful in Ottawa and, after a morning spent looking at the work of local artists in the Glebe at Art in the Park, Junkii and I got it in our heads that patio season was upon us. We wanted to relax on the deck with our books and some beer.
With a few drinks in the fridge, we decided to put out an open call to anyone who wanted to join us for a little social time on the lanai.
We cast our net through Facebook and Email and, not counting the people who wanted to come but were not in town, we snagged 4 people. Not a bad catch for an impromptu event.
We shared some cheese and crackers, some beers, and some conversation and, once our numbers dwindled, the remaining guests all chipped in for a round of Indian food. A perfect cap to the afternoon.
Winter tends to be a bit of a dormant period for Junkii and I. I'm sure the cold plays a big part in keeping us indoors during the frigid months, but whatever the reason, we tend to shun our social obligations in January and February. It's not meant to s light anyone, it's just how it happens. It's cyclic.
But, like the spring thaw that melts away the snow to reveal the blooms of spring (oh dear. sorry.), Junkii and I also start to emerge from our cave around March to see what our friends have been up to, Lo these many months.
Last weekend was our first semi-busy social weekend in weeks. We gathered with a few others who had not yet seen Wall-E and finally watched that on a Friday evening (following it with wine and conversation, of course). Then on Sunday of the same weekend we invited two other friends over and introduced them to Settlers of Catan. This week was even busier. We hit two birthday celebrations - a house party for Nigel at his place on Saturday night (Oh! the hangover!) and a fancy brunch buffet at Prime360 for Greg on Sunday morning (Oh! the belly ache!).
And now that spring has sprung, the social calendar shows no signs of slowing. This week we're scheduled to take in The Watchmen with a couple of friends one night, then close on the heels of that the whole gang is supposed to be gathering for drinks and grub downtown.
We are social creatures, Junkii and I, despite our annual hibernation. Maybe next up we should host a film night!
