Life in the key of E flat minor

Toronto is a lovely town - full of history, fun and ingenuity. I was lucky enough to sneak a quick picture of downtown and Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport on my trip back home via Cleveland earlier this May. (My flight was our of Pearson.) If you squint, you can see the CN Tower in the lower left area of the shot.

During my walkabout in Pittsburgh after getting a Primanti Bros. sandwich this weekend, I returned to my hotel via the End East. I walked past the U.S. Steel Tower . I remember the first time I was here was summer of 1993, two friends and I were returning from Cleveland and ended up parking at Fifth and Liberty to find a place to eat. We ended up going out to Squirrel Hill for dinner, not before I noted the steel and architecture of the the then named USX Tower. The building looks like a retro-futuristic skyscraper for a Jules Verne novel.  It is out of place, but yet, one of the appropriate iconic buildings for Pittsburgh. 

Like the Pollo en Escabeche and the Cawl recipes prior, this is another slow cooker meal to start the night before. As with the cawl, you will need to skim the fat off the top prior to serving. I find it easier to refrigerate while I’m at work and then skim and reheat when I get home. Just about to turn on the slow cooker but I forgot to take a pic of the seared oxtails :( Albeit, this is a little more complex than my usual “set it and forget it” meals, but I’m moving and I’m working on eating most of the items in my freeze and pantry. I had a leftover container of ricotta and some homemade stock. The ricotta, which freezes well by the way, was earmarked for my Cranberry Ricotta Tart for Christmas. However, I didn’t get to dine with Aunt Florence at Christmas this year, so I didn’t have to make the tart. Plus, oxtail just happened to be on sale and I do like a good ragù! Ragù and not the Unilever brand, Ragú, is a rich meat-based sauce. While there is a difference betw...

While I was in Toronto for work, I knew that I wanted to see the ROM and the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal .  Relatively early on Sunday morning, I rushed over Bloor and Queen's Park from the Delta Chelsea to get a good 90 minutes in the museum before I had to get ready for our event. I spent most of my time exploring the galleries of the crystal. This is one of my favorite galleries - the dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures. I took this picture as an example of so many opposites coming together in this exhibit: the juxtaposition of the very ancient with the incredibly new, the organic with the inorganic, the play of light versus dark, the sharp stiff lines and angles with the curving bones and the list goes on.

This week, I took an impromptu staycation overnight.  Our water heater broke and it was going to be about 72 hours before we would have hot water.  So I pricelined a hotel, which happened to be at 11th and Arch, for $55 and stopped home for a change of clothes.  After enjoying a great Malaysian dinner at the Banana Leaf , I returned to my room for some TV in a king-sized bed.  Before calling it a night, I snapped this photo of my view.   By the way, I had Beef Rendang for dinner and don't be too surprised if I adapt it for an Around the Word in a Pot soon.

The đuveč from the Wikipedia article on Serbia Welcome to my non sequitur life. As you may know, my folks are planning to go to Scotland and Wales this year, and due to the success of our trip to Ireland, I’m invited to go.  This explains why I was looking up cawl a few weeks back. In doing my research on our future trip, I spent Saturday afternoon googling the Celtic Nations, because I only remembered 4 of the 6 of them off the top of my head. (Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Cornwall. I forgot Brittany and the Isle of Man.) Then too, I only knew 4 of their 6 patron saints (Patrick, Andrew, David and Piran. St Anne is Brittany’s and St. Maughold – I never hear of him either – is Mann’s.)  While I was trying to learn about his story – he was an Irish thief converted to the priesthood by St. Patrick’s nephew and found refuge on Mann – I saw that Irish writers called the Manx island Eubonia . I had thought I saw that word before the night prior when I was reading Wikipedia a...