Running from the White Stuff

Okay... I figure if I am moving in the southern direction, away from Winnipeg, then it should be warmer, or at least less white - in the flake department.

I am still on the road, back later today. I had the pleasure of hitting Chicago just as one of their biggest blizzards of the season hit the city. Truthfully, it was no big deal, the El trains still went and I still slogged up and down the streets. Lake Michigan looked like a bigger version of Lake Winnipeg (though, is it? Hmmm... I'll have to check that out when I get home).

I also found the people to be warm, welcoming, and even apolgetic. I thought it was us Canucks that said sorry all the time - it seemed like everytime I so much as nudged someone an apology was given.

The highlight was the Chicago art Institute. I'll be saying more of this when I get back into my comfy woofreakinhoo chair at home. But just to say that standing in front of paintings that you have seen in books, art history lectures, movies, and ones that just take up space in your head (everyone think of American Gothic... see the pitchfork? Of course you do), is a delightfully surreal experience.

Now, if the car starts I'll head out of this frozen southern land and make my way to the frozen north.

(Argggg. Thankfully, Mexico awakes.)

Chi Town

Woofreakinhoo is taking it on the road tomorrow.

January and February this year will be travelling months - stay tuned for another trip south of the border. Probably not that exciting to just read about it, but I am pumped to be going back to Mexico!

But the first stop in my journey is Chicago - I'll be there for a few days. I know it's the windy city, but after the bone-chilling winter we have been experiencing I'll take anything above - 30.

Cheers.

His Royal Gordness

I think I've written before on how I get obsessed with certain chefs. After reading Heat I wanted to find out everything I could on Mario Batali, and of course, cook some of his dishes. I didn't go as far as searching for strips of Lardo (pork belly fat) to place on people's tongues (read Heat: "you can actually taste what the pig ate in his final days"). But I did introduce my family to fennel - now a must for all my red sauces.

A few months back I was killing time on the food network, waiting for Iron Chef to come on, and I thought I'd watch this show I'd heard a lot about: Kitchen Nightmares. After a couple of weeks, I was hooked, and Monday night was Ramsay night. And then I found out about the F word, and Hell's Kitchen, and biographies and cookbooks appeared on my bookshelf (and under my Christmas Tree). Now my family is getting inundated with fresh herbs and root vegetables. They're not complaining, I am a pretty good cook. But now they think everything I make is a Ramsay recipe. "No, it's one of mine. I call it the Grilled Cheese Sandwich!"

Still, they reap the benefits of butternut squash and apple soup, pasta with portabello mushrooms and stilton cheese, masala chicken with couscous... and on it goes. Looking at the difference between the body shapes of Batali and Ramsay, its probably good that I switched obsessions.

But I tend to swear a lot more in the kitchen.

Fuck yeah.

09 All da time!

Hey - happy new year everyone. I am working on a new catch phrase for the year ahead. I am getting older, so I need something to remind me of what year to write on cheques. So, yeah, 09 All da time. Okay, it's sort of lame - but feel free to use it.

My son asked me what abstract ideas do I have for my resolutions this year. Some people give up things - smoking, booze, cheeseburgers, creamed broccoli, that sort of thing - but I am notorious for being a bit more oblique in my resolutions.

So this year: I am searching for more closure. I'll let you know how that goes.

Oh, and I plan on having some sort of book deal this year. That is my plan, I'll see how the agents and publishers comply with this.

And lastly, I will try to update this blog more often (yeah, I know, you've heard that one before).

Happywoofreakinnewyear!

Ho etc.

As in, ho, ho, etc. Standing on the edge of Christmas holidaze, I am hoping for some good time curled up in front of our virtual fireplace (space heater) and pine tree (plastic) to drink something strong and read some good books.

I always seem to read weird, unseasonal books, this time of year. One Christmas it was Blood Meridian by Cormac Mccarthy - a very odd juxtaposition if you know the book. This year, I have a stack I'd like to get through, including Toni Morrison's Beloved. It was another of those books I kept trying to find time to read. Luckily, it is my bookclubs next read, so like a good student, I will make sure it is done before our next meeting.

I keep thinking I will write my own Christmas Tale one of these years - I do have one in the works, but I always think of it too late. By that I mean, it is a couple of days before Christmas and I think, hmm, I should finish that story and send it out. Knowing how publishing works, editors have long since picked their yuletide tales by this time. So, I put the story back in the drawer. Next year I'll finish it. Right.

I do have a favorite reading though - it has become a tradition to read Stephen Leacock's Hoodoo McFiggin on Christmas Eve. Some family members are tiring of this, yet, I still love it and crack up everytime. Though, in the interest of making things interesting, maybe I should read something from Blood Meridian this year.

Next year, they will be glad to see the return of Hoodoo.

Merry Christmas from Woofreakinhoo.

Happy reading.