Chicken Pot Pie

I picked up some chicken thighs yesterday at the Read Canadian Super Store in Westboro. I think they were $4.41/kg. Not sure if that is good but it seemed like I could make a lot of meal for the $6.00 package. I decided to make Chicken Pot Pie since I also had puff pastry I could move along. And the recipe would also make short order of my last few carrots, sticks of celery and some potatoes. I love moving things along! The recipe is simple but does create a bit of a wow for something that is in the comfort food category and more about soothing than culinary prowess. I found the recipe on the Canadian Living website and it has been through the paces of the Canadian Living Test Kitchen. I do like that kitchen as it has never failed me. So if you find yourself with some of these ingredients and needing an idea, Chicken Pot Pie is just the thing to move it along.

http://www.canadianliving.com/food/chicken_pot_pie.php

I ended up barbecuing the 8+ thighs and using cooked meat in the recipe. It just seemed to me that it would make the meat easier to handle since it was bone in and skin on. That worked just fine. I then used all the bones, etc for making a chicken stock and that has yielded me 15 cups of yummy flavours for another day. My experience isn't quite nose to hoof, or whatever that saying is, but I think I did well with my $6.00 worth of chicken. Now if I could just remember to take a picture next time.

How Do You Decide The Rest Of Your Life?

My days of 'parenthood' are numbered. 66 days until he is 18. 92 days until school is done. And something like 166 days until the Fall Term begins for first year university. The offers are coming in and in order to keep his options open, he cast his net wide when it came to applying to programs. So far, all five letters have been offers. He still waits for 4 more. I have no idea how he will decide. In general, the theme is engineering but the discipline varies. How will he decide? Every school is very different in its own right. Differentiated by size, campus setting, pedigree, diversity of the student population and history. How will he decide? In some ways, this is close to one of the biggest decisions of his life. Where he goes will dictate who will be taking that journey with him and potentially who could become his life long friends. How will he decide?

You've Got Mail!

It is the digital age. Information and communication coming at us from all directions.

My laptop sits at the kitchen table while I work on a special project. Pulling myself from the monotony of the cluttered office setting is going to help my creativity or so I have dictated. Every once in a while I leave my seat to attend to the other parts of my life.

Having the laptop on the main floor for the past little while means I regularly hear that 'bong' so infamous with the arrival of a new piece of e-mail. It is a curiousity for me that I don't seem to be attuned to it emotionally. Some might want to dash to its beckoning call. But that slight reverberating sound in C Major can't conjure up a reaction in me. Maybe too much spam has clouded those long ago moments of anticipation.

It is now 12:35 pm and the Pavlovian feeling that the noon time does evoke in me is purely old-fashioned. Before long I will hear the drop of the heavy cast aluminum lid of my mail box just outside the front door and I will run to see what treasures await.

Now THAT is a sound I do like. One I wait for, and wait for, and wait for.....

Metal on metal, bellowing out to me "You've Got Mail!"

Potty Mouth Chef Leaves A Bad Taste

I follow a number of chefs on Twitter that have fine establishments here in Ottawa. My expectation is that they are using Twitter to sell their restaurants by giving a bit of a glimpse into their work experience. This is by no means a private experience for them. It is an extension of their marketing.

And so here is the rub. One of the chefs I follow on Twitter commonly interjects potty mouth commentary which I find just doesn't sit well with the idea of fine dining. I have quite a list of places that I want to try this year. I feel our tastes are discerning and our cash be reserved for the finest. So far we have ventured to Eighteen, The Black Bistro, Fraser's Cafe, The Urban Pear, and Allium, to name a few. I have considered putting potty mouth's restaurant on our list but I fear his crusty language is holding me back. I don't want to feel like I am having a culinary experience straight from the tar sands.

Interestingly, before the days of Twitter, I am sure I could have easily gone to this Market-area restaurant and never had a whiff of the blue language. I may have been settled into the contentment of the wait staff, the decor and the good food. But with a menu that creeps as high as $35 for a main, I want to live in the fantasy that part of the package is someone running the kitchen that has a solid command of the English language that doesn't require him to profess a lack of capable vocabulary to convey a thought, feeling or idea. So no, I don't want to hear such nuggets as..
* "I admire the efficiency of mcdonalds. But obviously the food is inedible shit."
* "I want to change my menu. It's like waiting for fucking Christmas."
* "broke a geoduck tonight, and served it to [name removed]. Its decent with yuzu and shallots. Those fuckers are nasty to clean."
* "On TV tomorrow. Something about chocolate. What the fuck should I do?"
* "[name removed] pimps the shit out of yet another beet salad. [twitpic link removed]"

Maybe I am being a snob, but the chef's constant use of profanity is leaving a bad taste in my mouth.