Getting Freaky on the TTC

Having lived in Toronto for most of my life, and spending most of it on the TTC (I still don't have a driver's license at my age, and at this rate doubt that I ever will) I rather thought that by this time, I had seen everything. I mean, from the mundane weirdnesses (mumbling psychopaths, guys playing with themselves, the girl who flashed her cooch at me, old men cutting their toenails - seriously, what's wrong with some people - even this guy by some standards blends in with the scenery) but the other day, I found that citizens in my city had reached a wonderful new low. I'm getting on the subway around 6:30 pm on my way to the pub from work, and at Royal York station, there's a section of platform that's wider near where the escalators are. Because it's wider there, there's some large columns to support the ceiling, that also create blind spots. A couple of months ago, I happened upon a guy openly writing on the wall with a marker - I didn't say anything to him, but decided that if I saw him again, I'd say something, because, again, what's wrong with some people. So this day last week, I'm walking down the platform, and I see something out of the corner of my eye, so I turn, and there's a guy pressed up against one of these columns. I'm about to turn towards him, when I realize he's not alone. In between him and the wall there's a woman, and they're totally banging each other. (Once more with feeling: what's wrong with some people?!?) I suppose I should give them some credit, as they were being relatively subtle about it - he was holding his jacket out around her waist, so you couldn't see the "point of entry", as it were, and he, being the more visible one, was standing still, while she was rocking back and forth. But, holy crap, she was getting nailed on the subway platform in rush hour. The most obvious thing to say would have been "Get a room", but shock won out and I simply got on my train. They happened to be fairly averagely unattractive people, but the thing was, they looked somewhat, averagely normal, also. As in, they didn't appear to be a couple of crackheads oblivious to their surroundings, nor did they seem to be the freaky sex-in-public type (mind you, I'm not sure I'd recognize that type in a lineup anyway). They just seemed like everyday, bland mundane people, who will now disappear into the earlier category of weirdos on the subway that you ignore. I shudder to think of what will come next.

Roller Derby Queen

Ahhh, the sweet solitude of a quiet day spent in boxers on the computer. I had expected to have a nice juicy rant about the neighbors for today - they had warned us (for a change) that not only were they having a party this weekend, it was to feature members of the local djimbe group - yes, really - but that they'd be done by nine, which of course I was anticipating would really be more like 1:30. So then we figured we'd head out to see Hot Fuzz that night, except H, it turns out, is actually serious about joining the flat-track roller derby league they're starting up here, and wanted to attend another scrimmage that night. Long, mundane story short, the neighbors wound up making absolutely no noise whatsoever that night, H had ordered her roller skates - which, sadly, will not look like these - and I spent my Saturday night with Meat Fest, a beef and bean dip thingee I tend to make whenever H is not around.

H gets home around 9:30 or so, and it's too late to go downtown for a movie at that point - *sigh* I am so old - so I spent the evening farting around on the web, and discovered that the resurgence of women's' roller derby has moved much faster and further than I had realized. H has been talking about starting out as a referee, but from looking at some of the images online, I have to say that if you're gonna do this, you really ought to go all the way, and after my original 48 hours of doubt ("Really? We should add that to the list of things we never tell Grandma.") I find myself wholeheartedly encouraging her to join as a skater. Throw on the fishnets, break some bones (hopefully someone else's) knock 'em dead. What do I do, you ask? I drink beer at the pub. Hell, I know I couldn't do this.

And if the wankers downstairs do decide to have their silly goatskin slapping party run late some night, HellKat or whatever she'll call herself (admit it, roller girls have the best names) can go down there and kick their asses.

These stocks of mine

I've decided that I will every so often talk about the cooking I do at home, so consider this the first in an irregular series.

I've been making my own stocks for a couple of years now, but only recently have I found them reaching a fuller, more perfect state. Usually, I was only making them to serve as the base for an actual soup - there's this butternut squash soup I make in the autumn, that I shudder to admit is actually largely derived from a Martha Stewart (pre-prison) recipe. Anyway, I was going through heaps of vegetables just to make the stocks, and overfilling my organics waste bin every time. The stocks themselves didn't taste that special to me, but I figured that maybe there was a layering effect happening, allowing the flavors to contribute in a subtle way to the rest of the finished meal. Naturally, a stock is meant to be background, filler, giving extra depth to another dish, so on their own, don't expect them to taste like all that much. But, with a little bit of preparation, it's not hard at all to make a gourmet stock that if need be, can stand on its own, too. With the girl being mostly vegetarian - eggs and most forms of seafood slip past the goalie - these stocks of mine are purely vegetarian as well. If I need to, I can always dice some bacon into my bowl.

So, the thing that changed was, a while ago I went for dinner at a fancy restaurant with a friend of mine who works in the kitchen there. We wound up having a bit of a tasting menu, in that they brought us a few freebies and bonuses, and my friend was able to tell us how they made what. We got on to sauces and stocks - one of my friend's departments - and he filled me in on some very obvious ideas, so obvious I was surprised I hadn't done it before. Stocks and soups more or less developed over the years as a way of cleaning out the pantry, using up the ends and leftovers, and squeezing every little bit out. Every time I make a stir-fry or a pasta sauce I've got a whole bunch of scraps just going in the bin. Why not get every little bit of use out of them? I've read elsewhere that some gourmets frown upon the idea of using scraps in their stocks - they say there's a reason they weren't used in the original dishes after all. Well, to each their own, I suppose, but there's a ton of flavor and nutrients in the woody ends of asparagus, carrot peel and so on.

What you see above is today's stock being brewed. I'll do it about every 2 weeks or so, and it becomes the foundation of many of my other dishes. Last night I discovered at the last minute that I only had brown rice (an overpowering flavor I can not stand) so I threw in my last couple of cups of stock, and it made a huge difference. Anyway, the base of all good stocks is the mirepoix - a combination of onion, celery and carrot usually in the ratio of 2:1:1. For my stocks, I usually use one very large white onion (or 2 average), about 4 large carrots and half a bunch of celery. (Fennel bulb, with its slight anise flavoring, make a nice substitute for celery - again, about half a bulb.) Chop them up, saute in oil - canola, olive, whatever - until the oil starts to color. Then come the scraps - I save them up in a large zip lock bag in the freezer; sometimes I've got a couple on the go. You want to avoid stinky stuff, or at least go easy on it, as you don't want to overwhelm your stock. (So, avoid too much broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, beets.) Some things are no-brainers: ends of carrots, onions, peppers (lay off the spicy ones), tomatoes etc. Consider the peels of onions and garlic - saute them at the beginning with the mirepoix. If you peel carrots and potatoes for other dishes, throw in the peels here (as long you've washed out any dirt). Sometimes I'll even throw in some potatoes while I'm at it - I prefer Yukon Golds for that. Basically, I usually have about 6 to 8 cups of odds and ends to put in, on top of the mirepoix. Today they included: mushroom stems (cremini and oyster), asparagus stems (from about 2 bundles), eggplant ends (from one small one), tomato ends, cores from red, green and yellow peppers (include the seeds), the peel from a head of garlic I roasted last week, bits of lettuce and the ends from a bunch of snap peas. As long as it's clean, and not funky, it goes in. In addition, I add: kosher salt and peppercorns to taste, a couple of bay leaves, equal amounts of oregano, basil and thyme: if fresh, say about 4 or 5 sprigs each, if dry, about a tablespoon each, although I try to go easier on the thyme.

Fill up the pot with water, with room to spare - I usually am able to add about 16 cups. Bring it to boil, and then let it simmer all afternoon, covered, until it reduces a bit - at least 2 hours; 3 or 4 is better. I'm usually able to get mine down to about 12 or 13 cups of finished stock. Let it cool, uncovered, for a good 15 minutes or more, so you can handle it better. Ladle out the soup, chunks and all, into a strainer. The finer the mesh the better, as you want to be left with a smooth, clean stock. I use a cheesecloth, which gets everything, even the starch. For storage, I reserve the stock in those plastic containers that you get salsa in - the ones I use won't quite hold 2 cups, but they'll hold 1 1/2 quite well, and I've got tons of them. Ladle them out, pre-measured, and put a bunch right in the freezer. They'll keep for weeks, but if you're at all like me, you'll find that you use them up pretty fast. I always try to keep one thawed in the fridge, so that H can have a quick soup if she likes - just add some noodles and some fresh green onion, maybe some carrot shredded, and you're set. I'm flavoring rice with it, giving depth to tomato pasta sauce, basically in place of water in most recipes. You'll find that even your best dishes will pop at with more detail than before.

Vegetable Stock

Fresh Vegetables:

• 1 large (or 2 medium) onions, diced
• 3 or 4 large carrots, chopped, ends and all
• 1/2 large bunch of celery, or half fennel bulb, chopped loosely; in either case, include the leaves, minced
• 3 or 4 cloves garlic chopped

herbs: basil, oregano, thyme, bay leaf; 4 or 5 sprigs of the first three, may each be substituted with 2 tsp dry - use 4 bay leaves if fresh, 6 if dry

Scraps:

• save your scraps in a large freezer Ziploc bag - chop items smaller before freezing so they will be easier to handle (like ends of large onions, pepper cores, etc)
• things that make great additions to stocks: bell peppers (not spicy), mushroom stems, asparagus ends, broccoli stems (in moderation), lettuce hearts, skins and peels from onion and garlic, zucchini, cucumber, eggplant
• things to avoid: "stinky stuff", such as: cauliflower, cabbage and brussel sprouts... use them in moderation, otherwise your stock will be quite one-dimensional
• tips: beets will make your stock red.
• roasting some vegetables beforehand will broaden and enrich the flavors; try it with root vegetables, but also with peppers and garlic

1. Saute fresh veggies in large stock pot or dutch oven on high heat in oil - I use olive oil, but any oil would be fine - until oil starts to pick up color of the carrots
2. Add fresh (or dry) herbs, and kosher salt and peppercorns to taste (I usually use about 1 Tbsp of each, plus a little bit of fresh ground pepper)
3. Gradually add frozen veggie scraps - some may take a while to break up. The frozen ones that hold a lot of their own water - like fennel, for example - will release their moisture as they thaw, preventing sticking.
4. Add water until you can cover the heap of vegetables by at least an inch. I find I can generally ad between 14 and 16 cups of water, depending on how densely I have stuffed my freezer bags.
5. Bring to a boil (may take a while with frozen stuff) and reduce to a simmer; let simmer for 3 or 4 hours, stirring every 30 minutes or so. Occasionally, I like to gently use a potato masher to really wring the veggies out.
6. When done, arrange a cheesecloth over a large mixing bowl - one that will be large enough to hold the pot's contents! - and slowly pour the contents of the pot through the cloth. (If you don't have a cheesecloth, get one; or use your finest-mesh strainer which won't get everything, but most of it.)
7. After straining, let cool before storing. I like to pre-measure my stored portions before freezing them for storage - pick a round, reasonable quantity that will be useful to you - i use 1 1/2 and 2 cup portions.
   

Between Timid and Timbuktu

When I was 11 years old, I was one of those kids who was labeled as 'gifted' and placed in a special program once a week at a different school, where we had a lot of fun, but I don't think I really learned all that much. Seemed to be that the biggest perk was having the fun, and not having to deal with the drudgery of regular schoolwork. (I missed an entire year's worth of 'music' with the worst music teacher in the world thanks to this.) In the seventh and eight grades, they started having us do independent study, and gave us theme options to loosely corral us into some semblance of discipline. One term, on a whim, I chose Science Fiction - this would have been shortly after Return of the Jedi, but long before Star Trek Next Generation, so my exposure was somewhat limited. To get us inspired, they presented us with a shelf of books, and not sure what I was looking for, I pulled this one out:



I admit, I was likely captivated by the lithe female forms garcing the cover - I would have been 12 or 13 at the time after all - but got sucked into this incredible universe, that likely forever polluted my concept of what sci-fi actually was. (I certainly don't remember much else from that particular class.) But what I took from him, and what kept taking, the more Vonnegut I read, was the overwhelming sense of humanity in his writing, the depth of feeling, and moral outrage at the shitty shitty things that man is capable of doing to man. I haven't read much writing since Timequake, and haven't honestly read any of my copies of his works in a few years, but I am certain to return to him now. Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions are easy and obvious favorites, but I may start with Bluebeard, a favorite for the ballsy reveal at the end that bests the title, but also for its sense of hope and optimism; in a sense, redemption for the despair of the current state of things. I think he was far more optimistic than people give him credit for.

People - at least people in movies - like to say that the dead have gone to a better place; I would prefer to think that Kurt Vonnegut has become unstuck in time, and is currently spending time on Tralfamador with Billy Pilgrim and Unk and Kilgore Trout, and that he'll be back.

A cold start

It's Monday, and it's cold in Toronto today, and I'm still figuring out what I'm doing here. In a few weeks I'm hoping that this will evolve into something meaningful. Maybe I'll share some music with you, maybe pictures, maybe complaints about the streetcar driver, or the cats which still don't get along after 6 months, or the people downstairs who apparently couldn't be bothered with birth control. They can, however, be bothered with incense and a didgeridoo... but this isn't about them. This is me, I guess. Maybe the goal is to find out what I have this is worth saying, and sharing. I guess the real reason I'm starting this - at least the short answer - is that it was swell to actually have 2 days off in a row, and not wanting to go outside today (it's amazing how cold 1 stupid degree can feel after recently experiencing double digits) I found myself in front of the screen, contemplating what would keep me busy today. And after the first 36 hours of not working, well, creating this was about it. I've taken to even procrastinating from my procrastination: there's about 5 cds I've been meaning to burn for people, a wedding speech to write (I've still got 5 months to work on it) and I guess I really ought to return to that novel I was trying to write... I've actually gotten a lot further tonight with this (for a neophyte) than I thought I would, but pretty soon the key will go in the lock, and then I'll have to create some magic for H with the leftovers in the fridge...

So, anyway. Welcome. It'll take me a while to fill in the blanks, as it were, so be patient. This is going to be a gas.

In the meantime, I'm ghoing to see if this part works, and try posting an mp3:

Art Brut - Modern Art

It makes me want to rock out too.