Mystery Solved

Now I can stop wondering how cat-hair gets in places where Eddie is not supposed to go.

Food Friday : Potato Salad, Light but still Delicious

I know you probably already have a potato salad recipe but I thought I'd throw mine up, because it might be different than what you do. I've been fine-tuning this one for some time to come up with something that tastes really good, but isn't sinfully fat-laden, as those that use whopping dollops of full fat mayonnaise. Sure that tastes good, but we eat quite a bit of salad around here and so needed an alternative that would be more healthy and ok to eat more often.

Before I precede, I should say that I'm not a big user of products that are "light" or "diet". If I'm going to eat ice-cream or a cookie, I go for the old fashioned full fat type, but just try to eat less. There are a couple of low fat products however that we regularly use, which are so good that I don't even notice the difference from the originals. These are mayonnaise and sour cream. The mayonnaise that is available here in a lower-fat version is made by Hellmann's. It contains 1/2 the fat content. They also go one step further on the health front and make a mayonnaise using heart healthy olive oil. If you have access to this product, you should try it out. We actually bought it by mistake once, and were annoyed until we tried it and really could not tell the difference. As for sour cream, there are various fat levels available here .. we go for the type that is 5% fat (as opposed to the 14% full fat product and the not-so-delicious extreme 1% fat type.)

A third way I have made this salad more healthy is by reducing the amount of mayonnaise required by thinning the dressing down with milk or cream. A thinner dressing coats the vegetables better and I find give the salad a more appealing texture.

Danger Due to Demolition : An Old Building Comes Down

In another life I must have been a six year old boy because I love to watch big trucks. I can't walk by a construction site and not stop to take a look, and with a building boom going on in this city there has been a lot to look at lately. That is seeing a lot going up, but rarely does a building get taken down. Recently I did see such a unique and special sight though, in that over the span of a few weeks I caught the demolition of an old building.

Given the age of its surroundings (at the corner of Bathurst and Adelaide Street West), it was probably built in the mid to late 1800s. It was so old and beautiful but has always had the appearance of abandonment. I was surprised to see it demolished actually, as the city seems to be quite strict about enforcing the saving of its remaining old buildings, with most plans in the downtown core seeming to incorporate the old structures right into the new designs. But I guess this one had never been designated a heritage building so developers were able to take it down. Seems to me that it would have made gorgeous loft apartments as it was, but it's too late for that now.

Sunday Matinee at Factory Theatre and What I Wore

On Sunday afternoon Nick and I enjoyed another one of the prizes from the raffle we won last month at the 'Dare to Wear Love' Fashion Week Gala last month. This is the third outing we've had so far, and once again this prize coaxed us out to do something we wouldn't ordinarily have done, which was nice.The tickets were for a matinee showing of a play called "My Granny the Goldfish" and it was held at the Factory Theatre. The building has never been a factory though, as it got its name when the building was bought by a theatre company called Factory, in 1983.Rather, the structure (located on Bathurst Street at Adelaide St W.) is one that is classified as a heritage building, having been erected in 1869, as the home of an Irish immigrant, John Mulvey, who had made his fortune establishing shops along nearby Queen Street West. Actually, the building is made up of two parts, this former home, and then some years later, in 1910, an addition that was constructed by the catholic church located across the street (St. Mary's, which I posted about here), when they bought it because, unfortunately, Mr. Mulvey had been hit hard by the long depression in the 1870s. The church used it as a community centre until it was bought by The Factory Theatre. Apparently there is still a floor with bowling lanes drawn upon it, leftover from those days.Our prize consisted of tickets to see three shows at this theatre, so we will be returning, and when we do I'm going to try to get some pictures inside, including some of said bowling alley.

Much Love Monday : Beautiful Cookies in the Mail

Hello! This morning finds me participating in Anna's weekly link-up with a positive vibe, Much Love Monday.

I mentioned in my last post that I had received a special parcel in the mail last week. My lovely cousin Lisa and her two little ones made these stunning cookies and then mailed them to me via overnight post.

They were an unexpected and charming surprise. On Thursday afternoon the doorbell rang and when I peeped out the peek-hole there was nobody there. Was it the neighbourhood kids playing nicky-nicky-nine-doors?, I wondered. (Did you play that when you were young? It's when you ring someone's bell and then run away and hide. Then laugh your head-off while they open the door and there's nobody there! hahaha. I will admit that I did partake in such a game as a child.) Anyway, my doorbell rang and nobody was there. BUT there was a package! How exciting. Inside was a beautifully wrapped box and within this box were these cookies!