I remember camping trips with my dad, traveling Northern Ontarian highways for hours or days to get to our destination in the middle of nowhere at lake such-and-such. At the time, I was always interested in the destination and getting there as soon as possible and never truly appreciated the "scenic view" stops along the way to stretch our legs.
When not hectic, life has at least been busy the past few months... and I miss the scenic views. All too often it feels as though I'm racing toward a destination - prepping for the next big cater-out or lunch-rush. I look back on the day after I've fed all the pets, taken out the recycling, and the kids are slumbering... I love the journey I'm on.... briefly. Then I pass out.
When I look back on it every night; I enjoy being a chef more than anything, creating food that bring joy and health to those that consume it - serving in a very fundamental and base level. More than that, since I have a big ego, I love being the rock-star chef I've become. I love getting press and hearing the praises from the soup-fans. It's all very awesome.
But.
In the moment - 20 minutes before the lunch rush pours in and I have to finish the soups, cut the fresh baked focaccia, pull the pork, deal with the fact that we're out of coffee lids, and also discover that one of the steam table inserts blew an element... it all just makes me want to smoke cigarettes and drink vast amounts of taurine.
It's kind of like I've been (or my generation has been, perhaps) conditioned to rush toward the destination to such an extent that I/we don't know how to stop and stretch our legs and enjoy a scenic view along the way - doubly so if you work in the food industry. And it's not just the work of being a chef but the trials and tribulations of being the father of three and a husband of one very awesome lady...
Life is immense. So large, in fact that it becomes all too easy to lose oneself in it and not enjoy the beauty seen in the larger picture. Too easy to drive past that scenic view.
This very blog, for example, is like a scenic view for me. It forces me to stop and reflect and rest, and yet I haven't written on it since September. I've been so busy rushing, that I only take about 2 minutes to reflect and enjoy life before passing out each night.
I'm going to stop doing that.
Somehow.
Carmi at Written Inc wrote a post about journeys which inspired the above ramblings.... you owe me an hour of sleep Carmi. ;-)
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Friday, September 16, 2011
Times, they are a changing
So, my wife and I opened a bistro last week. I'm the chef and she's a marketing genius/front of house manager.Regular blogging will resume after a nap. :)
Friday, August 5, 2011
Why Not
Alphabet Soup Meme
Age: 34
Bed size: King. However, I usually end up bed-sharing with Stella in her double as Momma and Lilu take up the entire king size bed.
Chore you dislike: Cleaning up any sort of dog mess - pee, puke, poop, chewed/partially digested housewares, etc...
Dogs: We've had them for three or four seasons. They're up for sale if you want them. ;-)
Essential start to your day: Cleaning up a dog mess.
Favorite color: Purple.
Gold or silver: Gold.
Height: 6 ft.
Instruments you play(ed): Classical guitar, bagpipe, tuba, banjo, mandolin, didgeridoo and tin whistle.
Job title: Full-time, underpaid dad.
Kids: Stella Sebastien, and Selene.
Live: Northern Ontario, all my life.
Mom’s name: Robin
Nicknames: Husband.
Overnight hospital stays: Tosils and adnoids came out when I was ... 4?
Pet Peeves: Sour cream donuts from Country Style. More about this at another time
Quote from a movie: "I'll have two of them prime ribs and in between them some peanut butter. A leather model of the Taj Mahal filled with some kind of jelly... I don't care, grape, blueberry, it doesn't matter. Some cats, a dwarf riding a pumpkin. Also, could I get a snake in the form of a man's belt with the belt hook right around its head. Spitting poison, constantly spitting poison. If you could poke it with a stick a couple of times before you bring it to the table. Also, could I have a flaming ice cream model of the planet Uranus. It's my favourite planet. I love ice cream and flames are quite exciting. And then id like some uh, could you just cover your fist with grape jelly and then punch me in the throat."
Righty or Lefty: Right.
Siblings: Karen
Time you wake up: 7:42 AM.
Underwear: Usually.
Vegetables you don’t like: Eggplant.
What makes you run late: Three kids under 4.
X-Rays you’ve had: Just dental ones - but I should get one for my broken finger.
Yummy food you make: All of it! Why would I make food that isn't yummy?
Zoo animal favorite: Goat. Maybe. I don't care for the zoo-ing of animals.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Vicissitude
The only thing that can be guaranteed in life is that tomorrow will not be the same as today. Change is inevitable, and for me much like a monarchs journey from egg to caterpillar to butterfly, I can split my history into several unmistakeably distinguishable chapters.
The most recent chapter began on May 29th, when I decided the quickest way to shed 30 pounds for bathing suit season would be to stop eating bacon. This led to my watching "Food Inc" (to help motivate myself) and my eventual cessation of eating farmed animals altogether. I learned about Monsanto in said documentary, which prompted me to learn more and so I watched "The Corporation".... that led to an in depth study of Noam Chomsky 's "Manufacturing Consent" and there you have it: Canadian Mark, the born again hippy.
My wife (the sociology graduate) thinks it's funny because she was where I am now ten years ago - outraged activist - while she isn't exactly "at peace" with things, she's at least learned how to live in society while still being awake. I'm still wrapping my head around the situation and trying to plot my next moves without comprimising my new found moral compass while still supporting my family in the western world.
While I don't see any other option at present, I also can't see myself serving up 3 - 5 pigs worth of bacon from GMO corn fed swine every day for breakfast when I go back to work.
It's technically Thursday. I'm thankful for the little things... like riding out into an endless field of milkweed searching for a monarch caterpillar to go with a post like this, and then actually finding one.
The most recent chapter began on May 29th, when I decided the quickest way to shed 30 pounds for bathing suit season would be to stop eating bacon. This led to my watching "Food Inc" (to help motivate myself) and my eventual cessation of eating farmed animals altogether. I learned about Monsanto in said documentary, which prompted me to learn more and so I watched "The Corporation".... that led to an in depth study of Noam Chomsky 's "Manufacturing Consent" and there you have it: Canadian Mark, the born again hippy.
My wife (the sociology graduate) thinks it's funny because she was where I am now ten years ago - outraged activist - while she isn't exactly "at peace" with things, she's at least learned how to live in society while still being awake. I'm still wrapping my head around the situation and trying to plot my next moves without comprimising my new found moral compass while still supporting my family in the western world.
While I don't see any other option at present, I also can't see myself serving up 3 - 5 pigs worth of bacon from GMO corn fed swine every day for breakfast when I go back to work.
It's technically Thursday. I'm thankful for the little things... like riding out into an endless field of milkweed searching for a monarch caterpillar to go with a post like this, and then actually finding one.
Monday, July 18, 2011
About before....
Perhaps I was a bit hasty in calling the Canadian Dream a lie.... It's just not what I expected it to be, nor is it where I though I'd left it.
I've been all about rediscovering myself this summer, which I think is partly to blame for my lack of posts of late. Also, I've been quite involved and spectacularly busy with my family the past few weeks... enough to prevent me from even checking email or Facebook, let alone blog. Anyway, I'm working on some big posts that I hope to share soon.... can't talk much now. Must sleep.
Bye bye.
I've been all about rediscovering myself this summer, which I think is partly to blame for my lack of posts of late. Also, I've been quite involved and spectacularly busy with my family the past few weeks... enough to prevent me from even checking email or Facebook, let alone blog. Anyway, I'm working on some big posts that I hope to share soon.... can't talk much now. Must sleep.
Bye bye.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Selling Out
Just like the cake, The Canadian Dream in Action is a lie... it always has been, at least for as long as I've been pursuing it.
It's important to not sell out, you know? To hold on to your values and ideas and not let dollar signs change or bend them. It's ironic really... to be a really good hippy, it helps to have a little coin backing you up, right? To purchase some land, to build an eco-friendly home, sow a sustainable garden, provide clothing and learning resources for your family and so on and so forth. Money money money.
We all sell out for the money, and then make justifications for it later - or at least Ido did.
Work 60 horrible hours a week and become a zombie to your family. Buy your consumables at Walmart instead of a locally owned shop to save that nickle. Feed the No Name and Great Value brands to your family and don't question why they're have the price of raw ingredients. Follow orders: Sell the turkey that's been mistakenly thawing at room temperature for 36 hours to unknowing customers.... just make sure it's cooked well, and by God, don't breath a word of it to anybody.
It's how we keep getting the ol' paycheck and stretch it as far as possible. I'm sacrificing this in order to get that, or I'm suffering now so my children won't have to later, or I'm looking the other way because if I don't see it it isn't really there it it ultimately saves me or makes me some money. But it is there. It's not right... it doesn't feel right. None of it. Saving and making money has a very high cost.
For too long now, I feel like I've been swimming against a current, trying to fit in with society... trying to have what society tells me I should want to have - kicking myself and regretting choices I made in the past that landed me so far away from societal 'norms'. I use the term 'norm' lightly, as I think there's far more people like me out there, than there are idyllic models of the Canadian Dream in Action.
I'm sure I'm a growing statistic of failed college student who defaulted on student loans which were then placed in collections in error, not corrected through ignorance and inaction, resulting in one or more bankruptcies and ultimately entrapment into the retail and service sector with little hope of finishing post secondary education, and thus obtaining the magical job with the six figure salary and key to the executive washroom. But who cares!?
Oh right, I do because I want to buy a farm. :S
I haven't been blogging much of value lately... just recipes and some photos. No real substance, because the substance has been cynical at best and depressing at it's low points. I'm tired of trying to be what I'm not. I'm fast becoming a crunchy attachment parenting hippy, and while my brain still tells me that I want a house in the east end with a big back yard, a cottage on the lake, and at least one suit valued at over $500.... my heart is screaming at me that I don't in fact want these things. Corporate western civilization wants me to want them... tells me to want them... has been drilling it into my head for 34 years that I need to have them at any and all costs.
I'm feeling a little more awake today. I'm not sure exactly where I'm going, except that it's certainly not where anybody is expecting or predicting based on an intense focus group.
This "What Not to Do Wednesday" has been brought to you by the letters, "wake up" and the number, "follow your heart".
/rant
It's important to not sell out, you know? To hold on to your values and ideas and not let dollar signs change or bend them. It's ironic really... to be a really good hippy, it helps to have a little coin backing you up, right? To purchase some land, to build an eco-friendly home, sow a sustainable garden, provide clothing and learning resources for your family and so on and so forth. Money money money.
We all sell out for the money, and then make justifications for it later - or at least I
Work 60 horrible hours a week and become a zombie to your family. Buy your consumables at Walmart instead of a locally owned shop to save that nickle. Feed the No Name and Great Value brands to your family and don't question why they're have the price of raw ingredients. Follow orders: Sell the turkey that's been mistakenly thawing at room temperature for 36 hours to unknowing customers.... just make sure it's cooked well, and by God, don't breath a word of it to anybody.
It's how we keep getting the ol' paycheck and stretch it as far as possible. I'm sacrificing this in order to get that, or I'm suffering now so my children won't have to later, or I'm looking the other way because if I don't see it it isn't really there it it ultimately saves me or makes me some money. But it is there. It's not right... it doesn't feel right. None of it. Saving and making money has a very high cost.
For too long now, I feel like I've been swimming against a current, trying to fit in with society... trying to have what society tells me I should want to have - kicking myself and regretting choices I made in the past that landed me so far away from societal 'norms'. I use the term 'norm' lightly, as I think there's far more people like me out there, than there are idyllic models of the Canadian Dream in Action.
I'm sure I'm a growing statistic of failed college student who defaulted on student loans which were then placed in collections in error, not corrected through ignorance and inaction, resulting in one or more bankruptcies and ultimately entrapment into the retail and service sector with little hope of finishing post secondary education, and thus obtaining the magical job with the six figure salary and key to the executive washroom. But who cares!?
Oh right, I do because I want to buy a farm. :S
I haven't been blogging much of value lately... just recipes and some photos. No real substance, because the substance has been cynical at best and depressing at it's low points. I'm tired of trying to be what I'm not. I'm fast becoming a crunchy attachment parenting hippy, and while my brain still tells me that I want a house in the east end with a big back yard, a cottage on the lake, and at least one suit valued at over $500.... my heart is screaming at me that I don't in fact want these things. Corporate western civilization wants me to want them... tells me to want them... has been drilling it into my head for 34 years that I need to have them at any and all costs.
I'm feeling a little more awake today. I'm not sure exactly where I'm going, except that it's certainly not where anybody is expecting or predicting based on an intense focus group.
This "What Not to Do Wednesday" has been brought to you by the letters, "wake up" and the number, "follow your heart".
/rant
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Blueberry & Goat Cheese Torte
This Thursday I'm thankful for the myriad of events, both known and unknown, that expanded my food horizon and allowed me to enjoy food with a much more accepting pallet. True, I don't eat meat anymore for the most part, but that's nothing compared to the list of non-meat things I used to not eat.... Mushrooms, pineapple, coconut, olives, zucchini, cheese other than mozzarella and cheddar. When I was a kid I wouldn't even eat onions or peppers.
Anyway, now I eat just about everything except mayo and peanut butter. And farmed animals, of course. In any event, it wasn't until the past year or so that I would have ever dreamed pairing blueberries with goat cheese would be acceptable. Did I say acceptable? I meant INCREDIBLE!
Earlier this morning, I adapted my Memere's bran muffin recipe to make delicious vegan multi-grain cookies this morning, and had enough left over dough to improvise a quick torte. This is probably the best blueberry thing I ever tasted.
Mix the following together:
1/2 cup bran
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup wheat germ
2 tbsp shelled hemp seeds
2 tbsp steel cut oats
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp baking soda
Then fold in:
1/3 cup apple sauce
4 - 5 tbsp grape-seed oil (just enough to moisten)
Press dough into torte or pie pan lightly sprayed with canola to make the crust (Or just drop by the spoonful on parchment lined sheet for cookies). But I digress, back to the torte.
Fold together:
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 cup crumbled soft goat cheese
1/4 cup chopped raw almonds
1 tbsp organic blueberry or blackberry fruit spread
Fill unbaked crust with above mixture and back @ 350° F for 25 - 30 minutes.
Anyway, now I eat just about everything except mayo and peanut butter. And farmed animals, of course. In any event, it wasn't until the past year or so that I would have ever dreamed pairing blueberries with goat cheese would be acceptable. Did I say acceptable? I meant INCREDIBLE!
Earlier this morning, I adapted my Memere's bran muffin recipe to make delicious vegan multi-grain cookies this morning, and had enough left over dough to improvise a quick torte. This is probably the best blueberry thing I ever tasted.
Mix the following together:
1/2 cup bran
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup wheat germ
2 tbsp shelled hemp seeds
2 tbsp steel cut oats
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp baking soda
Then fold in:
1/3 cup apple sauce
4 - 5 tbsp grape-seed oil (just enough to moisten)
Press dough into torte or pie pan lightly sprayed with canola to make the crust (Or just drop by the spoonful on parchment lined sheet for cookies). But I digress, back to the torte.
Fold together:
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 cup crumbled soft goat cheese
1/4 cup chopped raw almonds
1 tbsp organic blueberry or blackberry fruit spread
Fill unbaked crust with above mixture and back @ 350° F for 25 - 30 minutes.
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