Friends and books, plus MacBook random shutdown woes

Had a lovely dinner with Dave Weingart, who is in Toronto on business; he lives and works in New York. It began with books and ended with books; not surprising, since both of us are bookaholics. After meeting in the lobby of a Chapters-Indigo, we had dinner at The Happy Buddha (2366 Yonge Street, Toronto, ON M4P 2E6 416 544 0330). THB had a wide range of vegetarian choices, with many mock-meats (which I believe are made from soy proteins): mock shrimp, mock chicken, etc.

The abundance of the word "mock" in the menu is somewhat off-putting, but both Dave and I very much enjoyed our meals. We shared a mock chicken satay appetizer, mock breaded sweet and sour shrimp, and a spicy mock chicken with peanut sauce dish. VERY good! I won't mock mock food again. Well...maybe just a little, but only because it's way too fun to use that phrase.

Conversation was fun and fascinating. So fun that at some point later in the evening, Dave had to point out that the restaurant staff was obviously shutting down the place, wiping down tables and putting chairs up on tables, so it was probably time for us to leave. On the way to the subway station, however, we got distracted by BMV Books (2289 Yonge Street, Toronto (416) 482-6002). I am ashamed to say that I had never been in this bookstore; I had always gone to Chapters-Indigo across the street.

Anyway, thanks to Dave for nudging me into checking it out! It was bigger inside than I expected, with two floors of new and used books. Prices were excellent, usually no more than half price. Lots of kids' books, too! We browsed a while, and I bought two books for young people, and just barely resisted a book about the history of chocolate. Dave escaped unscathed (no luggage space, he claimed) though he was sorely tempted several times. I'm definitely going to make this store a regular visit from now on.

A wonderful evening...thanks for dinner and the great company, Dave!



Above: Will Write For Chocolate has been updated (click above image for a bigger version plus an inspiration survey). If you identify with the above comic, do check out this XKCD strip; I think Randall Munroe did a much better job at summarizing what I suspect is a common trend. :-D

This morning is not going so great. My laptop has started shutting down at random times for no apparent reason. It happened yesterday and this morning. I did a bit of searching online and found:

Users report MacBooks and MacBook Pros randomly shutting down
ARStechnica discussion
AppleInsider discussion
The Uber Geeks
Appledefects.com
MacForums discussion
MacRumors discussion
Macnn.com discussion

:-(

So far, it does sound as I have one of the MacBooks with a faulty logic board, and that I might have to take it in. And yet the thought of going without my Mac for a even a week (or however long it takes) fills me with dread...I have client work due as well as my own writing. It's not just a matter of sending text files to another computer, but also having to install Wacom software so I can use my Artpad for illustration projects, moving over prefs, etc.

Argh. Not a happy camper right now. Meanwhile, I'm saving my work like crazy throughout the day. To make things worse, my backups don't seem to be working properly. I'm going to do manual backups by just dragging files over onto my backup drive for now. Jeff is going to look at my computer this weekend. Yay for technonerdboy husbands!




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Slow cooking

Just want you all to know that I am LOVIN' my slow cooker (thanks again to my father for the Christmas present!!). I've been mainly going through recipes in Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook by Beth Hensperger and Julie Kaufmann. Last night night I tried slow cooker bbq ribs for the first time, using bbq sauce gifted to me by Margaret Middleton when she heard I bought a slow cooker:



OH MY! Prep was so ridiculously easy that I feel like I'm cheating somehow: basically dump the ribs into the cooker with the sauce, and cook on the LOW setting all day. By dinnertime, the meat is so tender it literally falls off the bone.

Now I'm starting to look through The Healthy Slow Cooker by Judith Finlayson as well, and was delighted to find a slow cooker recipe for steel cut oatmeal for my size of slow cooker (3.5 quart). As I've mentioned before, I'm a big fan of steel cut oatmeal and have been having it most mornings, often with dried cranberries or fresh fruit thrown in. In fact, both cookbooks have lots of hot cereal recipes, so I'm going to start experimenting with those for breakfast; I love the idea of waking to a hot breakfast waiting.



I'm also working up the nerve to try some of the other kinds of dishes in my slow cooker books, like soups, vegetarian dishes, and desserts. Baking cake in a slow cooker? Who would have thought it possible?!? Some may ask, "why not in an oven?" but the advantage of using a slow cooker is that I can go out on errands or for a run while it's baking, something I wouldn't be comfortable doing while using a regular oven.

I also have a yummy-sounding crockpot honey wheat bread recipe from "halfmoon_mollie" that I'm looking forward to trying. My friend Allison recently bought a slow cooker, and I've been combing her message boards for other ideas. Like this scrumptious-sounding recipe for North Carolina Pork BBQ from Rob Wynne.

And while I'm on the topic of food, I have to rave about Chow.com. Foodies should definitely check out this site, which is nicely designed and packed with all kinds of useful info. I was delighted to find a video section, where you can SEE experts trussing chickens, poaching eggs, etc.

Ok, I'm hungry now. :-)

Speaking of slow cooking, I originally created this cartoon to post at the top of today's Blathering, but decided to post it in Inkygirl instead as my weekly Cartoon Caption Challenge:



You can see what captions people have come up with as well as post your own by going to Inkygirl.

I'm still enjoying checking out Facebook. I like the fact that there are a wide range of Privacy options (what other people can and can't see) and I REALLY like the capability of threaded conversations via the "Wall-to-Wall" feature. One of the frustrating things about Livejournal is that an interesting thread starts up between two people but then is often abandoned as soon as there's a new post.

In Facebook, you can always click on "Wall-to-Wall" to see a conversation correctly interleaved, no matter what its length may be, and even if other people post about other things in between. This also makes it possible to have a Facebook "conversation" even if each person only posts every once in a while.

Back to writing...







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And suddenly, it was spring

I've been spending most of this past week indoors feeling like something that's been stepped on. This morning was the first that I've felt half-human, and was dying for some fresh air. I peeked outside and discovered that lo and behold, SPRING had arrived sometime in the past few days!




It was sunny! And warm! Apologies to you punctuation purists out there, but I feel the extra exclamations are well-warranted in this case.

Anyway, I happily dug out a peasant skirt, sleeveless t-shirt and sandals. I'm a huge peasant skirt fan. I love the feel of material wishing around my legs as I walk; I've always found pants somewhat suffocating. Peasant skirts go in and out of fashion (ok, mainly out) but I've never paid much attention to fashion trends; I just love wearing loose and swirly skirts.

I walked down to Cobbs Breads; someone had put a coupon for a free loaf of bread in our mailbox. My loaf of Country Grain was still warm when I picked it up:



Dropped by the fruit market for some fresh raspberries, strawberries and bananas. And then (I saved this for last) visited The Chocolate Messenger to check out their sugar-free selection.

I mentioned last week that my doctor had reported that my blood sugar was high enough (borderline high) that I should cut down on sweets. I've decided that I'm going to play it by ear until my next annual check-up. I'm not going to get obsessed with what I can and can't eat, nor am I going to cut out all chocolate. I'm also not going to worry about cutting down on carbohydrates, etc...I'll work on the sweets first, and see what my next check-up says.

I'm going to save real chocolate for special occasions, savouring it all that much more, and investigate alternatives to satisfy my sweet tooth, plus try to get out of the habit of always craving somewhat sweet after every meal. It'll be tough at first, I know, but I figure healthier for me in the long run. And speaking of running, I also plan to ramp up my exercise schedule.



Above: I bought three sugar-free truffles from The Chocolate Messenger. I've had the dark chocolate truffle so far, and it was very VERY good. I wouldn't have known it was sugar-free from the taste.

So it doesn't look I'm going to suffer much. There's little danger of me overdoing sugar-free chocolate -- most store-bought sugar-free packages are plastered with "EXCESS CONSUMPTION MAY CAUSE LAXATIVE EFFECT" warnings which are somewhat off-putting, plus (as I've mentioned before) I've rapidly discovered that sugar-free doesn't necessarily mean low calorie.

My doctor's warning, however, was a good wake-up call, prompting me to start investigating sugar and sugar-free info. Thanks so much to those of you who have offered advice and encouragement. If I come up with anything that I feel might interest others as well over the next while, I'll post it in Blatherings.

Meanwhile, I'm going to enjoy the rest of this fine spring day and luxuriate in the ability to walk around for more than a few minutes without needing to fall over.



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Chocolate deprivation and Skullshakers

So the conversation at my doctor's this afternoon went something like this...

DOCTOR: "So your blood tests came back and everything looks good except for your blood sugar levels. They're too high."

ME: "Oh?"

DOCTOR: "You had high blood sugar levels before, as I recall..." (flips through records) "...so I think you should cut down on sweets from now on. Anything with refined sugars."

ME: "Refined sugars? You mean like..." (swallows hard) "...CHOCOLATE?!?"

DOCTOR: "Yes, that's right."

Putting things into perspective, I know there are plenty of things that the doctor could have told me which would be far worse.

But as many of my friends know, I'm a bit of a chocolaholic. Well, maybe MORE than a bit of a chocolaholic. And I LOVE decadent desserts.



In general, I try to cook and eat healthy foods. I exercise regularly. I had figured that with those in cards in play, I could get away with indulging my sweet tooth whenever I wished. Well, looks like I was wrong. :-(

On the positive side, I don't have to cut out sweets completely. I'll be able to appreciate them even more when I do have them. It'll be better for me, healthwise (yes, I'll chanting that over and over again, with gritted teeth....). I'm going to do research to find out more about high blood sugar levels, how to lower them, sweet substitutes. If any of you have experience or knowledge to share, I'd appreciate it.



Sick today, so had to cancel on visiting with Sue, Dave and Tom this evening; I was going to watch Tanya Huff's Blood Ties premiere episode with them. :-( Disappointed about that, and now the chocolate news (ok, sweets in general...but you know it's all about CHOCOLATE!)...well, it hasn't been the greatest day.

But then the postman rang the doorbell, and look what showed up:



A wonderful birthday present from the Snyder family: a genuine Beadbrain Skullshaker for my rhythm instrument collection, woohoo! THANK YOU to Scott, Amanda, Zoë and Will, and thanks especially for the bright spot in an otherwise greyish day.

:-)



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Toronto's Pomegranate restaurant: a Persian delight

(FKO reports to continue in a future Blathering...)

(Updated: Woohoo! My sister's newest book, A Trip With Grandma, got a great review in today's Globe & Mail! You can see the review on the Globe & Mail's Web site, but apparently the paper version also has an image from the book as well. Flatmouse is going to be famous!)

My friend Craig and I were trying to decide where to eat yesterday; we decided to look for something in the CAD$25 range, and I wanted something unusual. Like me, Craig's an adventurous eater, willing to try almost anything.

We ended up choosing Pomegranate restaurant (420 College St. (at Bathurst), Toronto, ON 416-921-7557, Map) because of this Toronto Life review. I've never tried traditional Persian cuisine, and the unusual-sounding ingredients intrigued me.


Doogh, a tangy yogurt drink.


The restaurant was full when we arrived; the only space available was a small raised alcove in the back that the hostess called a "takht" (a Persian double bed), just big enough for two people along with their dinner; you take off your shoes and sit crossed-legged or lounge against the pillows as you eat.

Craig and I were delighted; we couldn't have asked for a more exotic dinner setting! The hostess said most diners tended to opt for regular tables, so was relieved that we didn't mind. Craig and I both agreed that when we come here again, we'd purposely reserve the takht.

For drinks, Craig ordered the Persian tea, and I opted for doogh, a homemade salty carbonated yogurt drink with mint. You can see a photo of it above. The green is mint and the red is powdered rose petals; it made for an unusual tasting drink which I very much enjoyed. Plus I like the name: doogh. What a cool word. ("Hey, come sit in my takht and share my doogh.")



We ordered an appetizer called maast-o khiar for $3.75 (see above), a blend of English cucumber, walnuts, raisins and rose petals in a rich creamy herbed yogurt. It came with a warm Barbary flatbread.

For our main courses, we ordered queymeh and fesenjaan.



Above: The queymeh was a tomato-based tangy stew of yellow split peas, lamb chunks and dried lime topped with cinnamon. CAD$10.95. The round ball on top was the lime, I think; we ate the whole thing, peel and all. Yum.



Above: fesenjaan -- a smooth rich stew of ground walnut and pomegranate syrup served beside a plate of saffron basmati rice, creamy yogurt and salad. We ordered the chicken version instead of the vegetarian version. CAD$13.95.

EVERYTHING was very good, and I would definitely come back here. There are so many things I still want to try! Like the kashk-e bademjaan appetizer, which is charred eggplant, persian whey, garlic and walnuts topped with crispy onion. And a main course called aloo gheysi, which consists of bokhara plums and dried apricots in a saffron sauce with boneless chicken pieces served with creamy yogurt. And morasa polo: jewelled rice - slivers of seville orange peel, almond and pistachio with diced carrots and barberries blended in saffron basmati rice served with a braised lamb shank, creamy yogurt and salad.



Above: For dessert, we opted for a dessert tray which included honey-soaked, deep-fried pastry and chickpea cookies. The pastry was a yummy sticky-sweet concoction topped with slivered almonds and something else I can't recall. I wasn't so crazy about the cookies, which seemed relatively tasteless (at least in comparison to everything else). Next time I think I'd like to try the saffron-rosewater ice cream.

After an appetizer, doogh drink, two Persian teas, two main courses and a dessert, the total bill came out to less than $45 for two people. I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for good food in an unusual setting. Reservations highly recommended, and be sure to ask for the takht in the back!

Pomegranate Chai House
420 College St. (at Bathurst)
Toronto, ON Canada
416-921-7557
Map







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