Anna N

I will throw my towel in with @HungryChris who just came off a cruise and might be ready for some homegrown food.

Lunch back at the townhouse in Little Current which does have power! Shaved leftover steak, lots of horesradish on super market bread labelled "sourdough". I suspect the in-store bakery equates anything boule-shaped as "artisan" and hence is deserving of a monicker more sophisticated than just "unsliced white bread".

Yes. I could not believe my eyes when we arrived in Espanola. I had carefully checked the websites of all the stores we wanted to visit and all should've been open. I thought the blame was all on me until Kerry read the sign outside Canadian Tire speaking of a scheduled power outage. Never mind we will try again next Thursday.

Not quite. Very close. Mine are much dirtier.

so here we are in Espanola all fired up and ready for some retail therapy. If you look closely at the photograph you will see those traffic lights are not working neither is anything else in Espanola. and here is the reason a scheduled power outage that we were completely unaware of. We are parked outside of Giant Tiger whose staff are optimistic enough to believe that the power will be on very shortly. I am not sure we are quite so optimistic.

Good morning. Rain is in the forecast but it's not looking too threatening at the moment. Breakfast this morning was this rug the salad slice of toast. Served as you see on the most delicate of paper towels. We are on our way to Espanola with the rugrat in tow. We are not looking for anything in particular. We just need a little retail therapy. This usually means we come home with far more than we ever imagined.

They hardly even resemble the leeks I buy here. That clear demarcation between the white and green is not present on my leeks and mine are nowhere near as slender and delicate. You would not even have to look inside to find dirt on the leeks here! Lucky you!

I think this is very wise and I do try to do it sometimes. At least then I can find a way to remind me of why I bought something just go back and look at my list.

Nope. Position already taken by moi.

Wall to wall per Gabrielle Hamilton/crust to crust per Jeff Mauro. But if you are going to insist on using Miracle Whip I don't suppose it much matters.

It's simply a matter of just because you can doesn't mean you should.

Just google long egg on YouTube and you will find out how.

If you click on the link a few posts up it will take you to the mini on Amazon.com.

Good morning. We're back to dull and dreary and rain is forecast for the whole weekend. Just a basic bacon butty this morning although an English muffin is not normally the bread of choice. (The last of the supermarket bacon re-appeared so I felt obligated to use it up.) I am thinking it is going to be another relatively quiet day although Kerry may get up to something when she finishes at the hospital. Stayed tuned.

Neither am I. But for side dishes, eggs, rice, etc., it's a winner.

Please don't do this! I don't need another one. Not even a baby. But.....

The link works for me. But, yes, you are right, it's shashuka on steroids.

So I did not think I would be hungry this evening but in fact I decided I did need a little something something. I happened to be reading Zahav and came across a recipe for Baked Kashkaval with Sweet Tomato Relish and Eggyolks. Yeah, no kidding, you don't find Kashkaval on Manitoulin Island. But the other option given was a British cheddar. Well you don't find British cheddars on Manitoulin Island either. But in our refrigerator, thanks to Kerry Beal, was a nice hunk of Cabot extra sharp cheddar. Perfectly adequate for my purposes. I have to tell you this one is a winner. Here is the only link I could find to an online version of the recipe. I modified the ingredients to make a single serving. I am so chuffed to have found a recipe this good using basically eggs and cheese. Everything it calls for is usually in my house and if the fresh tomatoes are not available the option of canned is given. Crusty bread would have been nice but soft, unsubstantial rolls had to do. My biggest worry was what this might do to the seasoning on the little cast iron pan that is here. After all it's not mine. It appears to have emerged unscathed. Really there is nothing difficult or time-consuming about this. Once you've made it you realize how quickly you can pull it together. OK I'm done waxing rhapsodic about this dish. But if you don't try it and you love all the ingredients, you're really missing out. Just saying.

Nothing sophisticated about a negroni. Equal parts gin, campari and sweet vermouth. Even I can do it.

Thank you. That seems to have done the trick.

I am finding the results with lamb shoulder chops quite baffling. I have often tossed them on the grill or in a skillet and they have turned out almost as good as rib or loin chops.

Kerry usually makes our cocktails but she can't drink tonight being on call and stuff. But that shouldn't stop me now should it? I could, if pressed, put together a negroni. But I took the lazy route and poured myself some more of our "aged" cocktail.

Some people claim the universe is held together by duct tape. I say a kitchen without a roll of masking tape is a poor excuse for a workspace. Somebody appears to have absconded with our roll of masking tape. I have added same to my shopping list. How is one supposed to temporarily label things without a roll of masking tape I ask? And how can one possibly emulate Thomas Keller without a similar means of labeling things? OK I know he insists on blue painters' tape but we don't all have his bank account.

As you may have guessed not much is happening here today. I have done some housekeeping chores and I'm currently defrosting some shrimp. No formal, and I use that word loosely, evening meal is planned. The shrimp will make a fast and satisfying refueling stop for Kerry if she gets too tied up in emerg. I have had breakfast and lunch so probably won't want very much this evening. Sometimes it's nice to have a down day.

Just the over the fridge freezer. Fridge space seems to become much more critical than freezer space up here. Cocktails seem to take precedence over food since one crisper drawer is filled with lemons and limes leaving very little room for vegetables.