Nexus

At Last!

First real spring day today - it is so gorgeous out. It is quite warm and the sun is out. I decided I couldn't pass up this opportunity for a run - and decided to take a chance on running the river trail. That may or may not have been a mistake .... it was so beautiful in there today - but incredibly muddy. I ended up walking a fair bit - otherwise I'm sure i would have been covered in mud right up to the top of my legs - as it was I managed to not slide and stayed fairly clean. The running shoes are a disaster - although the cats find them irresistibly interesting - I brought home all the really good 'outdoor smells' on them. I stayed on the trail to the half way point and then jumped off onto the roadway and ran back on dryer but less interesting terrain. It was really great to finally be outside however. Dare I hope that winter is actually over now? I just know we will get at least one more snow or freezing rain storm. Some rain would be good though - the road is full of plastic bags and Tim Horton coffee cups. Early spring - while gorgeous because of what the warmer temps and sunshine does for our spirits - is quite an unattractive time of year - mud, crusty old snow banks - salt and sand everywhere! One good rain is all we need now.

Spring Running

I'm afraid to call it spring for fear of jinxing our plus temperatures. But, here goes ..... we actually got to run with a +5C temperature tonight - and in the sun no less. The only drawback was jumping over puddles and muddy ground with all the excess water from quickly melting snow. I'm afraid I had begun to doubt that winter would ever end this year. I do expect more snow and freezing rain yet. Our run tonight included a visiting co-worker from Ireland - he usually spends two weeks here every six weeks or so - he tells me it was around 18C in Ireland today. Wow. Of course our weather will go from this - just above freezing - to hot almost over night.

The other thing about spring running - it usually means longer weekend runs. Last weekend we upped the usual 9-10 km to 13 km. It was tough. I am looking forward to getting back to longer runs and also to the usual (preferred) trail opening up again - it is not possible to run there in the winter - too much snow and way too slippery. It is a dirt trail so even after the snow melts, it takes awhile for the mud to clear up. Last year at this time, we were already back running there. I crave that trail right now - it is also a cycling route for me. One day soon, I will be able to hop on my mountain bike and head over to the trail - stopping to meditate by the river bank. I know I should be enjoying the beauty of the current season but at this time of year and after a very long winter it is hard not to want to rush the season along.

Vacation Planning

We started seriously looking at the logistics of our NYC trip today. Yikes - that was an eye-opener. We had investigated hotels a bit and had an idea of several places we thought sounded great. None of them had availability for the dates we had chosen. Well - all except one - that one we looked up on a user review site - the place sounded like a total flop-house dump. We kept expanding our definitions of what was acceptable - still nothing. We found several B&B's that looked reasonably priced and nice - nothing there either.

Both of us spent more time than we should have at work doing this investigation and were exhausted by the end of it. I have a few leads out there that I hope to hear back on tomorrow. We may have to consider changing our dates.

The internet presents so much choice - mind numbing choice.

Reconnecting

This has been a week of reconnecting to people from the past. I guess I should clarify .... it is not as dramatic as it sounds - I've been in touch with all of them to some degreee over the years - but none of them lately.

Frist, a guy I knew when I worked in Connecticut years ago for about 6 months. We were quite close/involved at the time without actually dating - it was complicated. Every few years we catch up by email - the last time being the time frame between 9/11 and June 2002. This time he called - newly divorced - and we talked on the phone. He may meet me for lunch when I am in NYC in April. For anyone who has read my '100 Things' ... he is one of the four.

Next, I received an invitation to an annual catch-up reunion evening held by the girls from the Elementary School I attended - these are girls I knew when I was 14. They regularly get together and I've only recently been included in the invite. This year is the first I'll be able to attend and I am so thrilled at the prospect of seeing them.

Lastly, today I had coffee with my high school biology lab partner. She was much more than a lab partner - we were great friends - took our first big trip together. We went to Vancouver and Victoria when we were 18. That was a big trip for two young girls. I was with her when she met her husband shortly after we returned from that trip. She has three grown kids - we've been out of touch ever since she married. We ran into each other on the local trails last summer and have planned to get together ever since. It was great catching up with her today.

The other high light of my week has been listening to the soundtrack to the movie 'Garden State'. This is a wonderful CD. All really great songs - the standout moment - listening to the song 'Don't Panic' with the line 'We live in a beautiful world' driving home from a class at the Buddhist temple. It caught me at a moment when I was particularly open to really taking in that thought.

The world is a beautiful place .... I have felt engulfed in it for the whole of the week.

Vegetarian Sheperd's Pie

This recipe is by Michael Bonacini as featured on Cityline which is a wonderful local Toronto daytime TV show. It looks fantastic ... I have been searching for a good vegetarian Shepherd's Pie recipe - it is the ultimate confort food. This one looks really special - I plan to try it soon.

2 cups of potatoes, peeled and diced
1 1/2 cups of celeriac, peeled and diced
3 tbsp. of butter
1/4 cup of 10% cream
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup of puy lentils (cooked)
Splash of oil
1 large onion, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups of parsnip, peeled and diced
1 1/2 cups of leeks, washed and chopped
1 1/4 cups of canned tomatoes, drained
1/4 tsp. of chopped thyme
1/2 cup of roasted walnuts
1/4 cup of cheddar cheese, grated

The first thing we need to do is to make the mashed potato topping for our shepherd’s pie. Take the peeled potatoes and celeriac, place in a large pot with salted water and bring to a boil.

Cook for 20 minutes until fork soft.

Drain well, add 1½ tablespoon of butter and cream. Season with salt and mash until smooth and creamy. Place off to one side and keep hot.

Next to cook the lentils, bring to a boil in salted water. Simmer for 7 or 8 minutes, drain and leave to one side.

In a medium-sized sauté pan, melt the butter with a splash of oil and begin to gently sauté the sliced onions, stirring from time to time.

Next add the garlic, parsnips and leek and continue to gently sauté and stir for approximately 7 to 10 minutes. If need be, add a tablespoon or two of water to help the vegetables to soften.

Next add the tomato, continue to cook for an additional 3 to 4 minutes. Then add the lentils, freshly chopped thyme, walnuts and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook for an additional 3 to 4 minutes before transferring to an ovenproof dish. It is important to ensure that as much moisture from the tomatoes has been removed and cooked off so as the vegetables are not sitting in liquid.

Once in your oven proof dish, sprinkle with a little grated cheddar cheese, spoon on mashed potato topping, sprinkle with a little more cheese and bake in a hot oven 325 to 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until the mashed potato begins to take on a light golden brown colour. Remove from oven and allow to cool, and serve.
Note: This is a very versatile vegetarian dish. You can use just about any vegetable of your choice. You could also substitute the lentils for chickpeas or navy beans. I sometimes make my shepherd’s pie a day ahead just because I find that it often tastes better once the flavours have had a chance to blend. So it’s the perfect dish to prepare ahead and serve the following day as an entrée for a casual supper, a light lunch or sometimes I will serve it alongside pork tenderloin or roast chicken. Either way a big crisp salad, a loaf of crusty bread makes this vegetarian dish a perfect and welcome change.

Weekend Update

Can I first just say - I hate the new Gap commercials - I am very quickly getting sick of SJP. Having gotten that off my chest, I'll move to the weather - what is with the weather? Last year at this time we had green grass for crying out loud. It was nice out today - sunny and somewhat warm - but I am sick of winter! We had a very slippery run yesterday - a snow over a layer of ice.

I've been down with food poisoning today - a pretty low grade but I've been not been too energetic. I had an omelette and potato latkes last night - I think they were the problem.

Also went to see the movie/documentary 'Born Into Brothels'. It was excellent. The children and their photographs were amazing. It's a very gritty movie but colourful, noisy and hopeful all at the same time. I'm glad it won an Oscar.

Planning for the trip to New York is coming along well. One of the guys from our Thursday evening running club movie to NYC this weekend. Looks like I will have a Central Park running buddy while I'm there. I will really miss this guy - he was one of the most interesting people at work. This is a great opportunity for him though. We've lost two running club members over the last couple of weeks.

I also went to my first service at a Buddhist temple on the weekend. This is something I'm exploring.

New York

I'm planning a trip to New York .... I must see the Gregory Colbert photography exhibit. I think this will be sometime in May. This will be wonderful. I've only been to New York once and that was many years ago - 10 years I think. And that was a one day trip. Not sure how long we will have - I hope 3-4 days at least. There will be so many things to do - I'd love to go to at least one art gallery (the MOMA perhaps) and a show - in addition to the aforementioned exhibit. A bit of shopping, some eating, some drinking, a run in central park. How do I make more hours in a day?

Breakfast for Dinner

I love breakfast type foods - eggs, waffles, french toast, pancakes, cereal, fried potatoes, rosti potatoes etc. This is all 'comfort food' for me. With the extreme cold out there today (and an exhausting day) all I really wanted for dinner tonight was cereal. But cereal with 'add ins'. It was the add ins that made it really good.

Before I describe the contents of the bowl, I'll describe a couple of items I recently started buying. Kellogg's has a new type of Special K that I picked up on the weekend - Special K with added soy. There are great little bundles of granola. It is really tasty and crunchy. I also tried plain, organic fat free yogurt. I often buy fat free and often buy organic, but hadn't tried that combination before. It was excellent - better than full fat non-organic. I wonder if it is because it was made by a small manufacturer. Actually all the types of organic yogurt I buy are excellent - it may well be because they are produced in small quantity.

So my dinner - in a huge bowl, I added a heaping serving of Special K with soya, scooped on some plain, organic yogurt, drizzled it with honey, added fruit (blueberries, strawberries, melon) and threw on some sliced almonds. It was fantastic. I may have to have seconds.

UPDATE - I forgot to add, the whole thing was then liberally doused with organic vanilla soymilk.

Ashes & Snow Exhibit

It would be worth traveling to NYC spcifically to see this exhibit of the work of Gregory Colbert. I'm totally fascinated with his view of animals. The photographs are very powerful - even the small renditions in the newspaper or the internet. There is one photograph of a small boy reading to an elephant that brings tears to my eyes - the animal is treated with utter respect.

A quote from the article I read -"Children have that capacity to treat animals as equals, but we modern-day man aren't known for our humility." "This project explores and celebrates the interaction between man and animal. But mostly, it's there to underline in our hierarchy of nature that we as mere primates are one small part."

Looking at these photographs makes me realize how far away we are from this view - from treating animals and nature with respect and that this disregard for nature and animals is going to kill us all eventually. I think that's why the phtographs move me to tears.

Root Vegetable Salad With Blood Orange Vinaigrette

1 bunch baby red beets, cooked
1 bunch baby golden beets, cooked
1 bunch baby carrots, cooked
1 medium red onion, sliced ¼ inch thick
4 slices roasted buttercup squash
2 blood oranges, segmented
1 oz olive oil
1 oz red wine vinegar
Salt & pepper

Cook the beets separately in boiling salted water, cool, peel and set aside.
Peel the carrots and cook in salted water, set aside.
In a skillet add some oil and the onions and cook until soft. Then add the red wine vinegar and let evaporate.
Add the beets and carrots and warm up a few minutes.
Remove from the heat and add the orange segments, salt and pepper to taste.
Serve at room temperature over a bed of lettuce.