A blog full of memories
My sister Skyped me this recipe today. She’d made it the other day and said it was easy and delicious. 2 fish fillets (red snapper, salmon, tilapia etc) 1 tbsp of red curry paste 1 cup of light coconut milk 1 cup of sliced mushrooms 1 small head of bok choy 1/2 tbsp brown sugar( …
I haven’t been on the blog for a while. I just read a comment from my friend in Ottawa: “Update your blog or I’m calling your Mum!”. Oh. The shame! Mais, en fin, voila–an update. BARCELONA We went to Barcelona for a week. My cousin Nik won a cruise in the Mediterranean and she and …
Part of my first assignment of my journalism course: “What particular advice would you give a friend of yours who wished to become a freelance writer?” Here is my response. The first thing I would tell somebody who asked me for advice on becoming a freelance writer would be: Start. Just start. Start something. Start …
I made this jambalaya last night. I was looking for something low-cal and healthy. I found this recipe in an old cookbook I had (from when I was a vegetarian): Vegetarian Dinner in Minutes by Linda Gassenheimer. It was the first time I, personally, had cooked with cayenne pepper. It was just the right kind …
I made jambalaya last night. I was supposed to make this salad, but it was just too late. I was tired. Here is the recipe anyway. It looks yummy! 1 head of romaine lettuce 1 medium orange Dressing 2 teaspoons (10 ml) of vegetable broth 2 teaspoons (10 ml) of fresh orange juice 2 teaspoons …
Now that the nice weather is here, we are looking for a table to put on the balcony–so we can eat outside when it’s warm. And, if we have friends over, we can entertain outside. I haven’t found anything I like enough to buy. I thought in the meantime, in between time, I could just …
My friend has this blue shirt. She’s described it to me twice. Both times, after our discussion, I’ve wanted to go out and find one for myself. She says it’s just a regular shirt that she bought at WorkWear World. I think she said it’s made from material like Helly Hansen long underwear. Long sleeves. …
On March 16th, I asked my readers what I should write about while I was over here in Switzerland. I had a few ideas and a few of you pitched me some more in the comments. I started thinking if I were going to be researching and writing about life in Switzerland, I might find …
My sister read the recipe on turkey in spicy peanut sauce and knows how much I like peanut butter–with just peanuts. AND SHE SENT ME SOME!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU BIG SIS! THANK YOU. Have a look at this: I had some on toast with slices of cucumber this morning. PS: I still haven’t found any in …
My first week here, Ludo’s mother gave me some Swiss schwag — to make sure I was well equipped to live in Switzerland. She gave us two espresso cups with the Swiss cross on them. To equalize the national schwag in the apartment, I am now looking for the Canadian version of these cups. Specifically, …
When I looked at that meatballs in spicy peanut sauce recipe, it reminded me of a stir fry I used to make: Indonesian stir fry. My original recipe for that particular dish included lots of garlic and two tablespoons of peanut butter. I searched the web for something to refresh my memory, but no luck. …
Last night, a friend came to dinner. I thought I’d try to make something simple. I’d seen a recipe in the Fine Cooking magazine last week that I wanted to try out: Meatballs in spicy curry peanut sauce. This spicy meatball recipe called for ground beef. I couldn’t find ground beef in my grocery store. …
An improvement today. I dug out my rollerblades and cruised over to the gym. Total commute time: ten minutes. Still took the elevator down six flights of stairs. When I got to the building with the gym, I clunked up one flight of stairs. In the reception of the gym, I changed my rollerblades for …
Take the elevator down seven flights of stairs to the parking garage. Get in the car and drive 5 minutes to the parking garage at the gym. Take the elevator from the parking garage up four flights of stairs to the gym. Do a cardio workout on the reclined bike. Is that Californian or what? …
I arrived in Lausanne last week. It was also my birthday. Bear’s mother made sure that I was well-equipped to live in Switzerland. We also have a brand-spanking-new meat slicer. An industrial-grade meat slicer in fact. An important amenity here in Switzerland, with all that raclette and viande seche. She threw in some fromage d’alpage …
En fin. I have arrived in Switzerland. It took awhile. About a year in fact. And it’s been a helluva journey. At the beginning of last year, I didn’t know Switzerland was my destination. I just knew that my life wasn’t what I wanted it to be. In California, I felt like I was on …
On the way from Whitehorse to Healdsburg, I stopped to visit my friend in Smithers, BC. She has just bought a house there and is starting to become part of the community. It’s a time for change for everybody I know–or that’s what it seems like anyway. Regardless, I had left Whitehorse at 6h30 am …
…and sometimes in September.” I am sitting in the kitchen, chatting away rather comfortably (I think) in French to Ludo’s parents. And I see the quizzical looks on their faces. Just fleetingly, but enough that I question my choice of the word “culotte”. I was telling them that the Yukon is quite warm in June, …
We went to a soirée des courges (Hallowe’en) at a friend’s house on Saturday night. I notice that Hallowe’en in Switzerland is refreshingly absent from the stores. Maybe the commercialism was refreshingly absent because we still showed up to a friend’s house for pumpkin soup. Cheese, wine, de la viande sechée–and pumpkin soup. Mmmmmm. Our …
A few weeks ago, I installed Tweet Deck on my computer. I search for fellow bloggers and social media fans and just interesting people in general. I have an ongoing search for Lausanne and Valais. One morning I see a tweet flutter by: “On to Lausanne by train today… http://bit.ly/aid14.” I wonder who is arriving …
“Can I bring you something?,” he asked on his way out the door. “I can’t think of anything.” “Are you sure?” I stop and think a moment. I’d bought a butternut squash at the market on Saturday because I’d wanted to make butternut squash soup. I have a favourite recipe from my Looney Spoons cookbook. …
We held our first event on Monday 13 May 2013 at the Midi 20 Wine Bar and Oenotheque in Lausanne. We had such a great experience. Thank you to everyone who came out. Thank you to Sofiane and his staff for their lovely and knowledgeable service. Thank you to Olivier Dufrenne from La table d’Olivier …
We were a much smaller group this month–and we came in waves. I organized a meetup at 2h00 p.m. Anthony from meetup there. Cynthia, a new media teacher, came with questions about consolidating blogs and users. Check out her class blog at: jour163.wordpress.com. Both Theo and Lori were new members and were very helpful to …