Seatbelt Bags

A quick trip into Plaid Giraffe yesterday acquainted me with the novel Seatbelt Bags by Harveys. The line came about when a husband and wife, installing seatbelts into their 1950s Buick, decided to make a handbag out of the material. Out of demand, they ended up making more.

The bags are quite unique – the Laptop Bag in “Race Car Red” would make a durable yet stylish addition to an everyday business wardrobe.

But I think my choice would be the Carriage Baguette (shown below in “Champagne”) – the metal clasp makes all the difference to a timeless design.

Still, for an equivalent price of $200, it’d be quite easy to find a leather purse more widely recognizable. So I don’t think I’d be able to justify such a purchase…yet.

Theatre: “House of Cats”

After Murietta’s, May and I headed to the Varscona to check out the newest Teatro La Quindicina production, House of Cats:

“a hapless bylaw officer investigates a highly concentrated feline presence in a bungalow shared by two sisters and learns that in certain circumstances the lines separating what’s obsessive, what’s crazy, and what’s just plain fun can be deliciously blurred.”

A piece by Cathleen Rootsaert, I must admit my immediate bias against any Teatro premiere not penned by the venerable Stewart Lemoine. And while I do think it’s possible for a play to be both frivolous and entertaining (last summer’s Hey Countess! is a good example), House of Cats only exemplified the former. It was definitely a ‘madcap’ production, with emphasis on ‘mad.’

It was difficult to like the characters – while their actions throughout were reasonable, they were all so self-indulgent and contained within their individual existences that the entire script seemed like a pointless exercise. There were some good lines (e.g. after his explanation of blogging and WoW, the bylaw officer comments that, “Being anti-social isn’t what it used to be”), but most of the humor felt downright forced.

The bright spots included Jeff Haslam’s set – ornate, rich, and with more cat-nacks than I’ve ever seen in one space. Also, Leona Brausen’s nervous energy translated perfectly into the role of kooky sister Helene. She had by far the juiciest part, but she aptly demonstrated her comic timing and skill in exhibiting oddball tendencies.

Next up for Teatro: a new Lemoine in May!

Casual Elegance: Murrieta’s West Coast Grill

It’s no secret that I love brunch, so it’s probably a blessing in disguise that such meal selections are relegated to weekends only, as I’d likely be unable to resist eating out more often otherwise. And really, the food served at brunch isn’t that economical, as most of the dishes can be prepared for much less at home. Still, there’s nothing better than good conversation over a hot cup of coffee in a well-lit, buzzing dining room on a weekend morning.

When May and I decided to indulge in a late breakfast before a matinee on Whyte Ave, I jumped at her suggestion of Murrieta’s West Coast Grill (10612-82 Avenue). I had heard many positive reviews of this restaurant, and thought it was time I experienced it on my own accord.

The hostess led us into a bright dining area, lit by a wall of windows on the right side. With high ceilings, hardwood floor, and a beautiful upstanding wine cabinet, the room exuded a clean elegance. The tables were immaculate with crisp white linens, though I did find it curious that they chose a blue checkered cloth to accent the setting, as the pattern countered the rest of the chic decor.

Although we were given the option of ordering from the regular lunch menu, of course, we decided to choose a more conventional brunch dish instead. I went with the Cinnamon French Toast served with Berry Compote and Lemon Sorbet, while May opted for the Eggs Benedict with Salmon and Asaparagus.

The plating was beautiful – great color and overall presentation. We were both hoping for a bigger portion, but our selections were delicious – the lemon sorbet in particular was an interesting substitute for the whipped cream normally found atop French Toast.

Though the service throughout our meal wasn’t spectacular (our server didn’t split the bill as requested, and only refilled coffee when prompted to), we ended off with a nice surprise – a written Chinese New Year wish at the top of our receipt accompanied by a Red Pocket! Our server was of Asian descent, and though I’m sure we were targeted because we look Chinese, it was a gesture that obviously required some prior preparation. It was definitely a special touch that made our experience that much more memorable.

Murrieta’s – a noteworthy destination for brunch.

Dining room

Dining by the fire

Coffee Fixtures
Eggs Benedict with Salmon and Asparagus
French Toast with Berry Compote and Lemon Sorbet

The Cooking Chronicles: Lemon Almond Polenta Cake

I was inspired to bake this cake after watching the characters in Dinner With Friends consume it. But who knew one of the main ingredients would be so hard to come by? After an exhaustive search of many major supermarkets (for the record, the grocery manager at Save-On Foods had never even heard of it), and with the help of my Dad, I was finally able to get my hands on a package of polenta flour (coarse corn meal) at the Italian Centre.

Corn flour vs. Polenta
The recipe in the playbill was written in Imperial measures, which meant the extra step of converting the quantities to Metric, but after that, it was fairly straight forward. Though I should have left the cake in the oven for a few minutes longer than I did, and let it set in the pan before attempting to overturn it onto the cooling rack (oops), I was very pleased with the end product. The combination of a generous amount of lemon zest and lemon juice resulted in a nice, refreshing flavor, and the ground almonds supplied a great texture and crunch.

As I still have quite a bit of polenta flour left, I may, out of necessity, have to recreate this cake again.

Lemon Almond Polenta Cake

EDIT: the recipe, from the Dinner with Friends program, as requested,

1lb unsalted butter at room temperature

1lb superfine granulated sugar

2tsp vanilla extract

10oz ground almonds

6 medium eggs

4tbsp lemon zest

2tbsp lemon juice

8oz polenta flour

1 1/2tsp baking powder

1/4tsp salt

  1. Preheat the oven to 320 degrees. Grease and flour a 12-inch circular cake pan.
  2. Whip the butter and sugar together until fluffy and pale. Stir in the almonds and vanilla, followed by the eggs, one at a time. Add the lemon zest and juice, the polenta flour, baking powder and salt. Stir well together. Put the mixture into the prepared pan and bake in the oven for around 45 minutes. The cake should be firm in the centre and golden on top.
  3. Serve alone or with ice cream. Serves 10-12.

“Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures”

I finally finished Vincent Lam’s Giller Prize winning Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures on the weekend. I actually wasn’t aware until I read the press release that the book was meant to be a collection of short stories, instead of say, a stand-alone novel. This does, to some extent, excuse the fragmented and jarringly disjointed way in which the narrative is told. I realize too though that yes, Lam was attempting to capture and simulate the fleetingness of life and physicians’ roles in their patients lives (e.g. Chen’s night shift in the ER), but reading it, I kept waiting in vain for glue to appear between chapters, and for a greater coherence to the overall story.

One of the strengths of Bloodletting is the multitude of voices, as patients, nurses, and doctors all air their perspective. On the other hand, this led to the running weakness of the book – with the exception of Chen and Fitzgerald, none of the other characters are developed to any extent. This forced the reader to make judgments and assumptions based purely on speech, and I ached to understand the motivations behind their actions. In particular, I was left hanging with Dr. Ming, who remained hard and detached even in marriage.

I found the beginning and end of the book the most enjoyable, and really, the valley of disconnectedness in between is really a shame. That said, “Contact Tracing,” the penultimate chapter, is by far the text’s most powerful segment. It would work really well in a 10-1 English class, as it is ground in the SARS reality that most students would remember, and employs some really effective stylistic elements.

It’s difficult not to admire Lam – a family man and full time emergency doctor – I can’t imagine how he found the time to pen this book. It does shed a light on the medical profession that I haven’t encountered before, and is worth a read for that alone, but I was still hoping for something more.

New Works Festival 2007

After dinner, Dickson and I headed to the Second Playing Space in the Timms Centre for the New Works Festival, an event that features various student-created productions.

The first show we watched, Flap, tells the story of a young couple who unite over their quest to save a dying bird. Dickson sarcastically commented afterwards that he was “fascinated,” and I’d have to agree with that description for the most part. It was a linguistically-weak play, almost too colloquial, and phrases meant to be “cute” came off as tired (e.g. the “Good Grief”/Charlie Brown connection). Moreover, the pacing was uneven, and without proper transitions between the scenes (via dialogue or physical space), the blocking appeared rough and counterproductive. Most egregious, however, was the overly transparent theme. The ‘caged animal’ repetition was tiresome, and seemed in many respects like a writer’s exercise in moving from a literal wing flap to a verbal tussle to the female lead’s relationship-ending flight for freedom. In all, it was a decidedly amateur production.

The second show of the night was light years ahead by comparison. Employing a Greek chorus, cheeky musical interludes, and two charismatic leads, Skewed Logic presents the story of Stu, womanizer extraordinaire. Like The Game meets Euripides, this was a wonderful experiment in theatre. Beginning with Stu’s delineation of the “5 types of girls” (if you were wondering, they are: cute, hot, cool, attractive, and beautiful, with a “secret sixth untouchable” category), the show started off light, fun, and relatable to the mainly 20-something audience. From there, the plot escalated in intensity, and by the end, resulted in Stu’s tragic death at the hands of his best friend. Unexpected but thought provoking, it was an undoubtedly whirlwind play. I was thoroughly impressed by the director’s use of space, as she fully exploited the thrust stage and all potential entrance and exit points to her advantage. That said, there was one part of the play that Dickson enjoyed, but made me rather uncomfortable – Stu and his psycho ex-girlfriend’s simulated sex scene, complete with both actors in their underwear. While I can understand the need for the audience to appreciate the level of betrayal Stu was capable of, I still believe it was gratuitous and unnecessary. But despite that blemish, I was still floored by the complexity and creativity of Skewed Logic. The playwright, Vincent Forcier, has a bright future ahead of him!

With Festival passes going for just $5, it’s an inexpensive opportunity to support young artists and be entertained – I encourage you to check it out!

Quaint but Mild: 9th Street Bistro

Dickson and I went to 9th Street Bistro (9910-109 Street) for dinner last night. About two blocks from my place of work, it was a rather chilly walk with the wind, but we made it. I’ve eaten at 9th Street on occasion with my workmates, but never for supper.

Reminiscent of Rice Howard Way’s Bistro Praha, the decor was old world European – the faded wallpaper, aged wooden tables, and direct but dim pendant lighting created an intimate atmosphere. The menu boasted many mature and healthy selections, but Dickson and I both opted for the day’s Quiche Lorraine with a side of fries, and a plate of Fried Zucchini to share.

There were only two other tables, so the food was naturally prompt. The Zucchini was quite good – tender and crisp, the fried morsels made a surprisingly nice appetizer. As for the Quiche – instead of combining the egg with the filling, the cooks layered the swiss and ham on the bottom crust, poured the egg on top, and baked it as is. The result was a dense, heavy layer of egg comparable to a custard. I didn’t mind it so much (though I now know how much difference parmesan or asiago cheese can make in flavoring baked egg) but Dickson was disappointed, much preferring Urban Diner’s version.

So though the restaurant itself is charming in an inoffensive kind of way, I think we may have to shop around some more to find a Quiche we can agree on.

Fried Zucchini

Quiche Lorraine with Fries

Music: Norah Jones’s “Not Too Late”

I’ve been listening to Norah Jones’s third CD, Not Too Late, for just over a week, and I’m happy to say that I am appreciating it more over time.

I loved her debut album, Come Away With Me, with its sultry and sumptuous ballads, and really disliked her second, country-tinged release, Feels Like Home, so I was a bit apprehensive with this new CD. Though not untouched by country (“Sinkin’ Soon” and “My Dear Country”), there are enough jazz and blues numbers to balance out the remainder of the disc.

My favorites so far include the first single, “Thinking About You,” (which has one of the oddest videos I’ve seen to date), the mellow “Rosie’s Lullaby,” and the strikingly nostalgic “Until the End” (I may be musically off, but the song transports me back to the 50s, all twilight and lavender, innocence at a high school dance, and could be perfect for an episode-ending House montage). And as you may have guessed, I lean heavily towards tunes that remind me most of Come Away With Me.

Not Too Late is worth a listen, particularly if you’re a Jones fan, or want to give a new incarnation of the blues and jazz a try.

The Cooking Chronicles: Super Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

This shouldn’t really qualify as a “Cooking Chronicles” entry, as what I made tonight was essentially baked peanut butter, but I wanted to include a picture, so here it goes:

Thwarted by my inability to find polenta flour, I was forced to switch from my desired Lemon Almond Polenta cake to my plan B craving, which this weekend has been Peanut Butter Cookies. I typically try to avoid recipes printed on the back of packages, but for ease and all-out laziness, I resorted to Kraft’s suggestion, albeit substituting the chunky version instead.

I think the preparation time worked itself out to 5 minutes, so topped off with 15 minutes in the oven, this was by far the fastest cookie recipe I’ve ever tried. The end product was all right – I should have omitted some of the sugar, but really, for 20 minutes, I can’t complain.

SEPBC

Quotable Women

Annie bought me a lovely page-a-day calendar for Christmas, filled with empowering, witty and feminist quotes from women through the ages. A few of my favorite gems so far this year:

  • “You see a lot of smart guys with dumb women, but you hardly ever see a smart woman with a dumb guy.” – Erica Jong
  • “I think – therefore I’m single.” – Lizz Winstead
  • “‘Stay’ is a charming word in a girlfriend’s vocabulary.” – Louisa May Alcott
  • “A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous.” – Ingrid Bergman
And one more – gleaned from the “Telescope” section of the Edmonton Journal‘s “Sunday Reader” that’s too good to forget:

  • “I once had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalogue: no good in a bed, but fine up against a wall.” – Eleanor Roosevelt