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WCYR Meeting – October 14th – James Fitzgerald

Posted on October 20, 2012

Another stellar event last Sunday. It was great seeing new faces and Chef Deb’s menu selections were as tasty as usual. Blue Heron books was on hand with an eclectic selection of James’ books (they sold out) plus a range of texts about the craft of writing. James Fitzgerald is the author of “Old Boys, The Powerful Legacy of Upper Canada College” and “What Disturbs our Blood”, was the featured speaker. I’d first heard James speak in June at a Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC) event downtown, and was impressed with his approach to dealing with the writing process. For “Old Boys”, he interviewed 300 former UCC students – almost all of them notable, recognizable, captains of industry and the world of entertainment and politics. “What Disturbs…

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Categories: Modern life, writing

Tagged: James Fitzgerald, Old Boys, secrets, trugh, What Disturbs Our Blood, Writers Community of York Region, writing

Red Wine, Safe Beef and Book Research

Posted on October 18, 2012

Jan and Karen – friends of ours, lovely people – are incredibly adventurous. Like us, they’re Boomers, happily retired from the frantic world of government and big business. Besides touring the world whenever they can, they’ve decided to buy a vineyard and some property near Mendoza, Argentina and live there for part of the year (Latin America’s spring is our autumn, their summer is our winter). They’re constructing a house, with room for guests (hooray). They also have a blog – Thirty Three Degrees South – which Karen writes. Check out the photo galleries! In August, when they visited us for a lunch on the deck during that blistering heat wave, they brought us a bottle from their first pressing. Chateau Denard 2010 – a Cabernet Sauvingnon, from…

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Categories: Modern life, Travel

So you like Cheese?

Posted on October 16, 2012

We loved Portland, Oregon – I walked for four hours every day and crawled yarn stores, fabric stores and of course, Powell’s books. Oh my goodness. The first day I stepped inside, I could only stay so long. I experienced total sensory overload. The next day, I was prepared, and had mapped out my tour. Powells City of Books is the largest independent book store in the world. No joke. When you walk in the front doors, you will be amazed. 4 floors (68,000 square feet!) and one full block of every imaginable book, in and out of publication. Check out these amazing stats: Powells City of Books has 9 color-coded sections throughout the various floors that house over 3,500 different sections and over…

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Categories: Modern life

Seduced by Soup

Posted on October 5, 2012

I blame my friend Deb Rankine. Deb’s a remarkably talented, but unrepentant author and purveyor of simple, beyond delicious recipes that please the palate. It was the soup, you see. Couldn’t get it out of my mind. Took photos. Had to have more. At the September Writers Community of York Region meeting, Chef Deb presented us with a vat of steaming golden soup. It went fast, with folks lining up for seconds. As soon as I came home, I tried to unearth my signed copy of Deb’s Condiment Confidential cookbook, couldn’t locate it in my collection. Deb, being the generous lady that she is, emailed me the recipe. Listen. I’ve been cooking since I could reach the top of the stove (yes, they had…

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Categories: Cooking & food, Modern life