Made in Canada

American menswear and lifestyle blogs and sites all seem to place a premium on American-made goods. And I understand the argument. As a Canadian, however, I've begun to notice that the Made in Canada idea doesn't seem to get as much traction. I've talked about this with some of my friends, but we've never really come to any conclusions or had any major insight. Market size, I suppose. Or Canada's long standing habit of buying from the US.

In any case, I've been keeping my eye out for Made in Canada stuff, and today I came across a company that makes ties, called Dolbeau, right here in Montréal.

Ties. Gotta love 'em. I'm thinking of instituting some sort of Tie-day Friday (get it? do ya get it? Friday, Tie-day?).

Sigh. Look, let me know if you know any good Made in Canada stuff, and whether or not you wear a tie, especially on Friday, k?

WIAT (Purim Edition)

Clearly, for those of you conversant with Jewish holidays, this is not strictly speaking what I ate today, but rather some days ago.
Purim is a Jewish holiday celebrating the deliverance of the Jewish people from the Persians, by the actions of Esther. The story, which I do not feel I am really well informed enough to tell here, involved some feasting, like many good bible stories, and no small amount of slaughter, also a hallmark of good biblical narrative. It also involved a rather unlikable fellow named Haman, who meets a grim end on the gallows, I gather. In any case, one of the traditions on Purim is to eat hamantashen, which are named after Haman's ears, or maybe his three cornered hat. Any way, people eat them on Purim, which I did. First introduced to hamantashen last fall (not anytime around purim at all) I looked forward to getting my hands on some again. And so, while out and about with a certain someone, I, rather, we, picked up a box. Along with some cupcakes. I don't have any pictures of the cupcakes, as I hit them pretty hard, and few survived long enough for photographic evidence. But I saved some of the hamantashen for breakfast the next day.
Here we are:

And hey, look at that. Everybody has these plates. I know.

Spring. Requires a good hat. And here we have one...

I've been reprimanded lately for so called boring posts. I feel this has something to do with the lack of substantial introductions and substantial captions for the pictures. I am making a serious effort to rectify this situation. Writing, after all, is fun. Nevertheless, sometime, a picture really is worth a thousand words, and, as it is late, I will save myself the hassle. I present to you, Dear Reader, a spring hat. By the way, you should get one, maybe, if you don't already have one.

Key notes: Wonderful pattern. Vintage. Also, great hair.

Buckles and Brogues

I purchased new boots. They have brogueing on them. I should not need to tell you, Dear Reader, how awesome that is. To celebrate this, and to immortalize a pleasant moment in the spring sunshine with a dear friend, I snapped a few pictures. Her boots have buckles. I shouldn't need to explain the awesomeness there any more than with the brogueing. Boots are good. Two pairs are better. Life lessons, people. Learn them.

Skating

Last of the winter photos. Skating with a friend, to celebrate. 

Skiing

Since it is very much beginning to feel like spring here in Montréal, I thought I'd post the last of my winter photos this week, to avoid too much cognitive dissonance. Here the first batch of two. My mother and I decided to try out some professional trails at a local cross country ski club. This is the chalet. I love the grey color of old, weathered wood.

Quilting

Came across some pictures I took of my mother's quilt. She makes them entirely by hand. I have no idea how long it takes her, but I do know her stitches are a helluva lot better than mine.

Pi Day

In honor of the Year of the Pie, I give you... Pi Day.

Pi shaped Pie at Serious Eats.

Pie Chart at Savage Chickens.

Some kinda semi-official looking Pi Day website at Exploratorium.

The Year of Pie... Gaining in Popularity...

Elsewhere, I have written about how luck I am to seem to attract friends who want to feed me. Among these is a colleague at my department, a wonderful baker, who always seems to have baked goods for me. Bene. In any case, I may have mentioned to her that this was the Year of Pie, and lo and behold, she showed up at our last meeting with miniature pies. All hand made. Pumpkin. Different shapes. Flaky as hell. Delicious.

Gentle reader, we have a few months left. Let's make the Year of the Pie a real thing. Let's bake some G-d damn pies, shall we?

Tapping into the Zeitgeist

Mumford and Sons, a bandwagon I have recently jumped on, announced a new tour, based around travel by vintage rail. It seems my recent fascination with trains (or rather, the recent revival of my lifelong fascination with trains), seems to be related to some sort of undercurrent in the wider world. Could just be coincidence. One never knows with these things. Nevertheless, I'm topical. In any case, I'd really like to see this happen with the Year of Pie, as well.

Pie it on up out there. Let's go.

Out and about... Freight edition

Went skiing with my mother, saw a train. I love trains, on some visceral level. We can hear the whistle of one, twice a day, from my mother's house, and depending on how loud it is, she can predict (and I am learning to predict) the weather. Some thing to do with barometric pressure, it seems. Or relative humidity.
In any case, a train...

Duck Fat Fries

Over at Serious Eats, they're talking about duck fat fries. They say this:

"In a slightly odd comparison, the flavor is reminiscent of mashed potatoes wrapped in fried chicken skins. If that doesn't sound glorious to you, I don't know what else to say."

I concur.