Tag: barbecue

Jacked up

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Squeezed in around work, we’ve had a nice relaxing weekend. If a little fattening.

I’ve already written about our Friday night adventure in beer, coffee, and bourbon tasting.

On Saturday we decided to finally visit the Left Field brewery with the intention of buying some bottles, sampling some different beers, and showing our support in the face of whining neighbours. We might’ve chosen the wrong travel route on one of the warmest days of the year so far: taking the streetcar across Queen and walking up Greenwood proved to be…a little sweaty. Plus, the tasting room is attached to a (naturally very warm) brewing, so according to their own thermostat the tasting room was 91°F — or 33°C in the modern world. Either way, much too warm. I didn’t enjoy my Prospect: Simcoe (maybe the first Left Field I’ve ever had which I didn’t love) but I had a sample of Eephus to make up for it.

Later, Nellie made dinner: watermelon, cucumber, and sheep’s milk cheese salad with a balsamic reduction (paired with another disappointing wine club white from Benjamin Bridge) followed by grilled steaks and asparagus (paired with a simple Wynn’s Coonawarra cab sauv). We ate while watching nearly the entire last season of Nurse Jackie.

On Sunday we attended the rescheduled Northern BBQ event, just down the street from our place. We were barely there for an hour, but we managed to taste at least one thing from all six vendors, and left extremely full. This is what we tried:

And now I’m supposed to work for the next six hours. We’ll see how that goes.

"It's important that you feel through this."

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

What a great weekend. Not because we did anything particularly dramatic or new, but because it was just so damn enjoyable. With work being the way it has lately (though it’s let up a bit for me in recent weeks, Nellie’s still hard at it) we’re usually happy just to relax and not feel guilty/worried about not working on the weekend.

Yesterday — easily the nicest day of the year so far — was a day to get out, stroll around, do some shopping at the market and visit friends. On the way over to see CBGB we spotted this little guy hanging out in a tree.

CBGB just got a new back patio and we helped them celebrate by taking advantage of their hospitality. They grilled burgers, served amazing cheeses (note to self: cranberry raincoast crisps + creamy applewood smoked cheddar = amazing), threw some beer in ice and welcomed us under the shade of the umbrella. The weather was perfect for sitting, drinking, laughing, eating and even hanging out with little LB, who was determined to get himself some beer. The oncoming rain forced us to wrap up, but not before we’d finished eating anyway. Inside we had more drinks and some delicious gelato — spiced chili chocolate mixed with blood orange, the latter being more of a sorbeto, really — before retiring once LB got his crank on a little bit. Awesome, awesome Saturday afternoon. I’ve been waiting for a day like that since, oh, October give or take.

Today wasn’t nearly as nice — cold, windy, grey — and started out a bit odd. The old gent next to us at breakfast seemed to be having his own one-man coot-off, yelling to his wife about how young people can’t do simple math anymore, and so on. No matter, it’s been more than satisfactory since then. We caught up on some TV. We got groceries and did laundry. We talked to our parents. We watched Snow Angels (imdb | rotten tomatoes) which, as with most David Gordon Green movies, was an excellent and textured slow burn leading to a few moments of raw violence. We lazed about and read. Nellie made pizza. Good, good day to cap off an excellent weekend.

Should work let up for both of us at once it’ll be nice to actually do something outside the city, or even explore something within it, but for now we’ll take these kinds of weekends no questions asked.