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Pure Vanilla Extract – more costly than Old Scotch

Posted on June 21, 2017

I bake – a lot. The crusty bottle of Kirkland vanilla was empty so I took myself off to Costco to get a replacement. $29.90 for a medium sized bottle! I thought for a moment I was in the tequila aisle at the LCBO. Yes, the stuff lasts for years, but still! So I investigated and discovered that the bloated pricing is not completely the fault of the farmers, but more the result of rapacious middle-men taking advantage of a previous glut, then convincing the uninformed farmers to pull out their vanilla bean vines. Of course, the result is a far smaller harvest and…you guessed it, an astronomical increase in costs. Here’s something I found online: The current market price for one kilo of…

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Categories: Modern life

Museum of African American History – by the Numbers

Posted on June 14, 2017

Whoever designed the layout of the Museum is a genius. There are so many subliminal cues about what we’re seeing and how the emotional impact resonates. You see, it was all about three crops: sugar, cotton and rice. Labour-intensive to grow, but oh, so profitable in the marketplace. And the demand for products was explosive. The leader in slave transportation was Portugal, which carried more than England, France and the Netherlands combined. Even more surprising to me were these facts: The most comprehensive analysis of shipping records over the course of the slave trade is the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database, edited by professors David Eltis and David Richardson. (While the editors are careful to say that all of their figures are estimates, I believe…

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Categories: Modern life

Museum of African American History – the Journey Begins

Posted on June 8, 2017

It’s taken me a while to figure out how to approach writing about the two days my cousin and two friends spent at the Smithsonian’s newest Museum. There’s no easy way to parse out my impressions and how it felt be so immersed in history that is, by and large, an abstract to me because I grew up as a third generation Canadian, in a loving family, more or less sheltered from the racial ugliness that permeates American life. Have I been untouched by it? Not completely, but the impact has been muted. I was never diminished by what other people thought of me because of the colour of my skin. I don’t recall being denied service or housing. Perhaps it was because we…

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Categories: Modern life

Road Trip – Washington, DC, Day 1

Posted on May 31, 2017

For a week in May, my cousin, two friends and I toured Washington, D.C. The lovely lady who hosted us – Hazel – lives in Virginia, about 70 kilometers as the crow flies. But the states flow together, linked as they are by a tangle of highways. There’s also excellent commuter train service, but that’s half an hour’s drive from her home. Flying Porter Airlines to Dulles was a treat. Instead of the crush and chaos of Pearson, having to take the Go train then a shuttle bus to Billy Bishop airport was a piece of cake.Only taking carry-on was an adventure, because my bag had to weigh under 10 pounds or they’d charge $47 to check it in. Needless to say, when the…

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Categories: Modern life, Travel

Friday reflections (lots of water, no sun)

Posted on May 5, 2017

It’s been raining since…forever. Makes me crave brownies or salted caramel cheesecake. Like the Fairy Godmother in Shrek, I want something chocolate or deep-fried.Think I’ll make some cookies. On the positive side, I think I’ve finally worn Hub down – the kitchen planner is coming to morrow to measure for new cupboards and to talk about shifting the layout a bit. Thank goodness we’ve moved beyond the idea of simply painting the old doors. Just as I began writing my blog, I got a call from “Mike” at some garbled name windows and door company. His accent was so thick, I could barely understand him. Thing is, Hub and I had watched a segment on W5 last night when some poor uninformed woman got…

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Categories: Modern life