A Life, Lived

Travel Tuesdays - Thanksgiving in Venice

Our first trip to Italy fell over the Thanksgiving time period. Here our some shots from Thanksgiving Day in venice 11 years ago . . .

Happy Thanksgiving

Adele

Friday was a bad day. I was supposed to take the day off as a vacation day but that was cancelled when I meeting came up that I could not ignore. I will nor lie - I was feeling sorry for myself.

Things took a turn when our Xerox rep called - they had two tickets in their box for that night's Adele concert. Was I interested?

Was i????

It was last minute - there was no way Paul could leave work and come into the city. I was tempted to say no but my colleague convinced me to say 'yes'!

It was one of those impromptu things which becomes the perfect thing you need.

My friend Nancy was free making it a happy date.

We headed to the Air Canada centre and made our way to the box. We were the first to arrive but that allowed us to get the best seats, start in on the drinks, and get the lay of the land.

In the end there were about 15 people in the box, most of their Soebys employees (I guess they have a big contract with Xerox). We drank, ate, and listened to a great show.

All in all the perfect finish to a rather hellish week . . .

 

Photo Hunt - Harbour

This week's Photo Hunt theme is 'harbour'.

A cruise ship coming into the harbour at Santorini.

Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes and Ricotta

For the last few weeks our CSA has had a bounty of Roma tomatoes - far more than two people could possibly eat. They were collecting and need to be eaten. I also had some ricotta in the fridge which needed to be used. I thought that perhaps I might find an interesting pasta recipe which combined the two and sure enough, Google directed me to one of my favourite food bloggers where I found this gem.

This recipe takes time - you slow roast the tomatoes (for far longer than the 40 minutes the recipe calls for) which really concentrates their flavour. Later you mix the slow roasted tomatoes with pasta, ricotta cheese and voila (look at me being all French) you have an amazing meal.

There were a couple of things I did differently. Our tomatoes were large so they required a full two hours of roasting! I think the time took longer as well because I had about 5 pounds of tomatoes in the oven - trying to use them all up. I froze the extra. I tossed the ricotta with the hot pasta - a technique we were shown during a cooking class in Italy. The ricotta melts from the heat of the pasta and makes a cheese sauce. The reserved pasta water helps to smooth out the sauce as well. I also added some chopped fresh basil to round out the flavours.

All in all, this was darn good!

Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes and Ricotta

1/2 kilo or 1 pound pasta
1 kilo or 2 pounds San Marzano Tomatoes
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup of olive oil (approx)
salt
freshly ground black or crushed red pepper (your choice)
2 tablespoons oregano

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F

Wash the tomatoes and slice them in half, lengthwise.

Lightly oil two large baking sheets.

Lay the tomatoes on the sheet, side by side.

Sprinkle with salt, pepper, chopped garlic and oregano.

Drizzle liberally with olive oil.

Roast in the oven until cooked through and beautifully caramelized. About 40 minutes.

Take pan out of oven, and while still hot, add about a 1/3 cup of water to the pan with tomatoes. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, scrape up all the bits that have stuck to the sides and bottom of the pan. This is flavor-packed and will add a huge boost to your sugo.

In the meantime, boil pasta in salted water and drain, reserving a half cup of the cooking water.

Toss pasta with the tomatoes and their liquid. Add a bit of pasta water if it seems dry.

Add the ricotta, or other cheese, a bit at a time, tossing to distribute. Top with a bit more cheese and serves

More Views From the North

Happiness is . . .

coming home from work and finding a wine club delivery awaiting you at the door!

This shipment contained 2 bottles of Portfolio 2014, 2 bottles of Chardonnay 2015, 1 bottle of Amphora VR 2015, and 1 bottle of Dark Pool 2010 (LSV new port-style wine). I'm looking forward to uncorking these!

Travel Tuesday - Canandaigua

Hard to believe that this weekend is Thanksgiving.

I was looking at some pics from when Paul and I went to the Finger Lakes for Thanksgiving.

Cats

Rally for Decent Work

Yesterday I joined the throngs of people at Queen's Park to encourage the Provincial government to increase the minimum wage to $ 15 and to revise the Employment Standards Act and the Labour Relations Act to provide for decent working conditions.I confess that it was the LAST thing I wanted to do on a Saturday after a busy week and an even busier week (how is it even possible) ahead. Nonetheless I was there.

Here are some shots from the rally.

The rain held off and we were able to ensure our voices were heard.

Here is an article from the CBC regarding the rally:

Thousands from across the province gathered at Queen's Park on Saturday as part of the Rally for Decent Work, which in addition to calling for labour rights, is also advocating for a $15 per hour minimum wage. According to Queen's Park security, more than 3,000 attended the event.  

The rally coincided with Ontario raising its minimum wage to $11.40 per hour, up from the last increase in 2015 to $11.25. Alberta, P.E.I. and Saskatchewan also increased their minimum wage on Oct. 1 as well, and Alberta has already pledged to bring its minimum wage to $15 by 2018.

"We have people in the province of Ontario working two and three minimum wage jobs just to keep the wolves away from their front door, and at the end of the week, they're going to food banks to feed themselves and their families," Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) president Chris Buckley told CBC News.

The 15 cent increase is tied to Ontario's consumer price index, the main measure of inflation in the province.

The government raised the minimum wage to $11 in 2014 — then an increase of 75 cents — which marked the first time the benchmark wage had gone up since 2010.

"To the critics out there who say they can't afford a $15 an hour minimum wage or it's going to result in job loss, I would say show us some proof," Buckley added, saying small businesses that cannot afford a higher wage should talk to the province to work out a solution.

The Rally for Decent Work also marks the the start of Decent Work Week, and the event was organized by the OFL and its community partner Fight for $15 and Fairness.