A Summer Holiday Barbecue with Friends – 2018

c="http://www.loulou.to/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/canada-day-bbq-dinner-party-toronto-lifestyle-blog-canadian-blogger.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="480" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-39960">Hello! If you're in Canada, I hope you had a great Canada Day weekend, and if you're in The United States, happy Fourth-of-July to you. If you're elsewhere, welcome ... I hope you're all having a good Wednesday!We had our friend Andrea and her boyfriend over for a BBQ on Sunday. It was the first time we had the pleasure of meeting Geoff and we were glad to do so. Everyone got on well, as we talked late into the evening. As we relaxed, we looked up at the stars, finding the big dipper directly overhead.As it is for many right now, we were (still are) in the middle of an extreme heatwave here in Toronto, so while I was setting things up outside, I wondered if we would be better off hanging out inside with the A/C on. But no, we stayed outside in the heat, keeping comfortable in the shade. No doubt, we were hot, but we Canadians will take it when it comes!We decided on a vegetarian menu of grilled Halloumi Cheese, Portabello Mushroom Burgers and barbecued mixed vegetables. Those were served with slices of Nick's homemade pickles and hot peppers, tzatziki sauce, dijon mustard, ketchup and Matouk's Hot Sauce. (Ha, click that hot sauce link and you'll gat a blast from the past. It's one of the first blog posts I ever wrote here, 7 years ago and coincidentally also posted on a July 4th. Things have changed since then, but we still get Matouk's at Carlos' House of Spice in Kensington Market. In fact, we were just there getting some on Friday, and, I kid you not, Nick was wearing that same shirt!)We'd never had Halloumi Cheese, which is "a semi-hard, unripened, brined cheese made from a mixture of goat's and sheep's milk, and sometimes also cow's milk, originating in Cyprus" before, although we have had Paneer, which is similar but originates in India. The attractive feature is that both have a high melting point, so can be cooked directly on a hot grill.And now I know that I totally love grilled Halloumi! Yum!As is usual, Nick did the cooking, and I helped out where I could.

High in the Sky : Lunch on the Roof of The Bisha Hotel

ass="aligncenter size-full wp-image-39930" src="http://www.loulou.to/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/lunch-menu-kost-toronto.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="480">I was treated to a great afternoon out with my friend Julie, as a belated birthday gift. It was a surprise, so, aside from the date and time, all I knew about the outing was that we'd be having lunch, we'd be able to walk there from my place, and that I was to "wear something a step above casual". The destination was an intriguing mystery and I was pretty excited!The day came, and along with it, skies as cloudy as could be, and it was suddenly quite cool out; this after a mini heatwave of record breaking temperatures on the days leading up. It didn't matter though, as it wasn't raining out, and perfect walking weather.As we walked eastward along King Street West, past Spadina, approaching Blue Jays Way (which is Peter Street north of King.) I still had no idea where we were going, when instructed to turn right. Then, we soon made another right, and were suddenly facing a pair of huge black doors, with ornate golden handles.

A Beautiful Gift for Toronto : The Transformation of Grange Park

Hello! Today I'm sharing some pictures Nick and I took during a recent walk through Grange Park, located right behind the Art Gallery of Ontario.This park has been revitalized, thanks to the generosity of "The W. Garfield Weston Foundation", which contributed many millions to make the transformation possible.The two-hectare green space has been a city park for over a hundred years, since 1911, however it was originally the front lawn of The Grange House, an estate built in 1829. The building is Toronto's oldest brick home still standing, and is a beautiful feature of the park.  You can get a good look at from inside the park.The Grange House became Toronto's first major art gallery after the family bequeathed it, and today remains part of the AGO, being used as a Members' Lounge -- I was inside with my friend Julie and her son James (when he was only 3 months old!) and photographed and wrote about it in in this post, if you'd like to see. In fact, in one of the photos in that post, taken while looking through the window of the mansion, you can see the park in the first stages of revitalization.The project took about a year and a half to complete, beginning in February of 2016 and finishing in July 2017. The work went on around the variety of mature trees that were already in the park, and 80 more were planted.First, we'll look at the park as it looked when we recently visited, (and then, we'll go back in time) ...

Adventures in Eating : Chicken and Cheese — Guess the Cuisine

I'm thinking that you probably guessed Mexican, à la Chicken Enchiladas, or maybe Italian, especially after I add that noodles and a red sauce were included in the dish we ate, too.

But no, the "Chicken, Cheese and Noodles in Red Sauce" dish that we tried, while out for a Sunday lunch with our friend Andrea, was enjoyed at a Korean restaurant.

The date came about after talking to Andrea about her time spent living in Korea. Nick and I were not very well acquainted with Korean food, so we asked if she would show us the ropes.

She gave us a choice of a place that serves BBQ, where small grills are provided right at the table and you cook the food yourself, or a restaurant that specializes in a chicken dish called "Dakgalbi", which is a popular Korean dish made with sauteed marinated Chicken and a spicy red chili paste based sauce. Hancook, located in Korea Town at 605 Bloor Street West (just west of Bathurst), goes a step further with the traditional recipe and offer it with grated cheese over-top. In fact, their complete name is "Hancook Cheese Dakgalbi".

Our curiosity won out and we selected the latter.

Art and a Secret Garden in a Remarkable Old Building

c="http://www.loulou.to/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/sign-four-o-one-richmond-artist-and-culture-centre-toronto.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="480" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-39763">Greetings!I have a multi-dimensional post for you today, that involves two of my favourite topics : art and a historic building. Oh, and, as the title suggests, some missing balls come into play as well, but we'll get to that at the end.We'll begin with the art, which was the reason we were at 401 Richmond Street West in the first place.We went to The Red Head Gallery to see an immersive installation by Canadian Artist Sally Thurlow, called "Crossroads".Visitors are invited to walk amounst 64 suspended driftwood tree trunks, each one uniquely adorned to become a sculpture in itself. The show is is a beautiful thought-provoking experience, which the artist has written about in detail on her website here.