The week in yum jan 24-31



I skipped last week's week in yum. I was supposed to write it up last Saturday after I got home from visiting my sister two hours away. That was before there was a storm vortex attack and it took me closer to 8 hours to get home. Because I was exhausted when I finally arrived at home, I put writing the post off until Sunday. I wrote a really long, funny, involved tale about our odyssey in the eye of the vortex and then something happened and the whole thing was gone. My entire post vanished into the vortex of blogger, much like my search feature and the ability to control the colour, size and font of my ramblings. Instead of taking another hour to try to recapture what I had scribbled down, I walked away. Sometimes you just have to do that.

Highlights, in pictures, of last week were:

because Rob Ford


juicy, perfectly executed flat iron steak at The Wren on the occasion of Kate's birthday




delicious pizza at Mangia and brevi with the delightful Libby Roach

they were out of carpaccio which meant we were forced to eat this bresaola, thank god because it was incredible

food blogger doing a review. Nothing to see here. Move along

made rock your socks off cabbage rolls using Walter  all natural caesar mix aka tomato clam juice 


showed my sister how to make a roast in her crockpot

Perry's Place, the new restaurant in Seeley's Bay Ont. The only restaurant and a welcome addition

In the eye of the vortex just trying to get home. Thank you wonderful Mega Bus driver




Okay, now that the week before last is out of the way, let's get to this past week, shall we?
I will start off by sharing that picture up top with everyone. Those amazing dolls have been fashioned by the lovely and talented mistress of Hooked Studios right here in Toronto. I met her at a craft show and fell in love with her crocheted superhero dolls but don't really need a superhero doll at my age. The Kid inquired about getting some anime character made into a doll and she said sure. That led to asking her if she could make a Walter White doll and, again, she said she would relish the challenge. Now, if she can make Walter White, she can make a Shack doll since Shack is just Walter White in a flashier outfit and a different hat! The Shack doll is coming everywhere with me when the real Shack is off at work, out of town or otherwise engaged.

Since she made me my very own Shack doll for Christmas, she has gone on to make a Lego Man for one nephew and a lumberjack for another. I have a couple more on order and am seriously considering just getting everyone I know a custom doll of themselves because I can. Get her to make you a doll, you won't regret it.

It was actually a very uneventful week. It was cold - I know you are shocked to hear that. We stuck close to home and so we didn't go out to eat once. On the weekend I made another attempt at coming up with a coctel de camarones using more of the delectable Walter Caesar mix but I am still not totally nailing it yet. Unfortunately, the authentic version is just a whack of ketchup mixed with some tomato juice or V8, a squeeze of lime and some cooked shrimp so it's not even as delicious as an old school, Mad Men shrimp ring with horseradishy cocktail sauce. Basically, I am starting from a bad place and working back but I will get where where I need to go. Oh yes, I will get there.

traditional ceviche vs coctel de camarones round 1. Not even a contest at this point
I went to see August: Osage County and dined on my usual fare of lightly buttered movie popcorn and a can of fresca that I was forced to smuggle in, seeing that the Cineplex on the Queensway has been out of Fresca for over a month. I try to be good. If you haven't seen this movie, go see it. See it for the scene, near the end, where Julia Roberts screams:

EAT YOUR FUCKING FISH BITCH!

I have been caterwauling this all week and it is not making me any friends, I can tell you that.


this was my catered lunch on the set of a tv commercial I worked on this week. I know, spoiled rotten.

I picked up an outside round oven roast and tried another variation on the High Low Roast I made a few weeks back and it worked beautifully. We turned it into amazing sandwiches the next day.

I can't believe how easy it is to make a perfectly cooked roast beef



The week was wrapped up with a nice mushroom, chili shrimp risotto with arugula to celebrate the end of semester 1 for the The Kid, his good grades and general pretty nice kidness. I know some people are intimidated by risotto but it is unwarranted. Maybe it's the fancy sounding name for what is really just a big bowl of soupy rice but it really is not difficult to make, just a bit time consuming. If you do it properly, you pass the 20 minutes that you stand stirring your ice, sipping a nice, big glass of wine and listening to music and the time flies by. 20 minutes of stirring is a small price to pay when you are rewarded with this :

I didn't write down what I did for this one but check out these 7 risottos that i have made already

Pin of the week:  Must you ask? Really?

Facebook share of the week:  Nothing to do with food, whatsoever

Instagram of the week:  Don't you just want to eat your screen?

Tweet of the week: again, not food related but too fabulous to ignore



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