Un-Wasting Space...And a Feel-Good Story

I just read this article in the New York Times about an architect in Hong Kong who re-designed his 344-square-foot apartment (and I thought 500 was crazy small) to have 24 rooms, which he can set up and store away using shifting wall units suspended from steel tracks. The photos kind of give you an idea of how it works, but I really wish there was a video demonstration (I'll let you know if I find one). It sounds amazing!

Also a cool read: this GQ story (by Alan Richman) about an offbeat, unpretentious, and very talented chef named Michael Carlson. Is it just me or could this make an excellent screenplay? Hmmm.

Best. Cookie. Ever.

You know you have a weird pre-occupation with food when you go to a broadway show and you want to write about the cookie you ate at intermission. Not that the show wasn't enjoyable—it was The Sound of Music, and an excellent rendition of one of my favourite childhood movies. Loved the sets and the singing. Oh, to be one of the Von Trapp children...

But back to the cookie. I first read about Circles & Squares bakery on the excellent blog TasteTO.com, where the editor said they made the best cupcakes in the city. I really wanted to check out their Liberty Village location (although I'm still not sure if it's a storefront or just a wholesale/order-type operation), but I also heard they supplied some of the big theatres in the city. I had no luck at the Four Seasons Centre, but the Royal Alex had their food priorities in better order. At intermission, I snatched up a Canadian Rockie cookie and it was, I'm prepared to say, my best cookie experience. Ever.

The ingredients included milk chocolate, oatmeal, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, raisins, sunflower seeds, flax seeds. Nothing artificial. Crumbly with a crunch. Healthy-ish but still indulgent. I had a Starbucks oatmeal raisin cookie on my coffee break today to try and recapture the moment, and I didn't even feel like finishing it. I'm ruined for cookies!

So, although my judgment may not be as highly regarded, I give Circles & Squares a best cookie title to go along with their best cupcake honour. It's a damn good thing I don't live in Liberty Village.  

Putting a Face on Job Loss

More than 100,000 people have lost their jobs in Canada, and more than two million—yeah, two million—more in the United States. 

When hearing numbers like that, it's easy to think about how it's a terrible situation. But, like almost anything, it's not the same when it doesn't hit close to home. From what I've been reading so far, there hasn't been much of a personal perspective put on these job losses. So I was glad to see a piece in the latest New York magazine where seven people from all different industries talk about the day they got laid off and how it changed their lives. There was the guy who was at Citigroup for nine years whose boss told him it was a "reduction in force" as opposed to a layoff, and then there was the online editor whose ribbings from his family ("How's the vacation going?") were starting to really piss him off. For a couple of people, the layoffs were a good thing, a kick in the ass for them to start doing something different with their lives. I loved getting all these perspectives from people who had gone through something I went through a couple of months ago. It's always comforting to feel like you're not alone.

I'm one of the lucky ones—I found a job in my field within a month, and I genuinely like what I'm doing. But getting laid off  from a job I loved left me wounded. For weeks I went through cycles of feeling worthless and direction-less and worried and sad. And it was hard explaining it to people who weren't going through the same thing because I feared sounding pathetic—and I really didn't want that. 

It looks like it's going to be a tough year, and more people will lose their jobs and go through the anxiety of figuring out what to do next and how to pay the bills. I hope I see more stories like this New York one—sure, it's small comfort for those going through the mess of a layoff. But it is a comfort, and it reminds us to feel supportive and thankful and not so alone. 

Mark Bittman Part II

Bittman is great because he understands that making good food quickly can be challenging, but he's always suggesting ways to make meals better and more authentic. Here, he gives tips about stocking the pantry so you can whip up stuff quickly. Sadly, I can't see myself giving up canned beans or broth anytime soon. But I'll try for you, Mark!

Dining Out Does You Good

For me, going out to dinner and discovering new restaurants is one of the great pleasures of living in a big city. Sure, it can be pricey and a place has the potential to suck. But dining out is one of the few times I feel like I'm really slowing down and enjoying things as opposed to thinking about all the stuff I should be doing or letting my mind go on autopilot via television or computer. 

I went to Tati Bistro last night and had a very nice meal of roasted beet salad and crispy-skinned pickerel (plus some tasty bread). I had the dilemma of ordering a la carte or going for the prix fixe, which, at $25 for three courses, was a hard deal to pass up. Sidecar, a restaurant in Little Italy, also has a reportedly excellent Sunday-Wednesday prix fixe for $22. These types of deals had me thinking that more people should be trying out little neighbourhood places like Tati as opposed to going to the chain restaurants that seem to be infiltrating Toronto at the moment (for a great reflection on this trend, see this James Chatto article in Toronto Life). Maybe it's just me showing my yuppie colours, but Jack Astor's on a Saturday night? Or any night? Really?! (Cut to exasperated sigh)

For more ideas on dining on the cheap (and being a little more adventurous, food-wise), check out this Toronto Star story by my friend Corey Mintz, who is an excellent writer and eater. 

Clever Commercials Part II

I just saw this commercial for the World Wildlife Fund Canada and it's a very clever piece of advertising. It also seems a fitting message after all the interest in shows like Mad Men and movies like Milk, which remind us that yes, certainly, things/times have changed. But that's not an excuse for complacency, laziness, or close-mindedness—there's always room to be better and do more.

Ah, New Year's Resolutions

I haven't spent much time thinking about my New Year's resolutions (yet), but I do think I should make some. 2008 was an important year for me, most notably career-wise, but I feel like it ended on a more lazy note than I would've liked it to. So I'll grant myself one more chill weekend and then get back to it. You heard it here.

What do I want to accomplish in 2009? The usual for me, I guess. Do more of the following: reading, cooking (improving chopping skills, in particular), learning about everything (right now it's economics), listening to interesting music, watching interesting films, practicing yoga, throwing dinner parties, exploring restaurants, promoting worthy causes, flossing, stream-of-consciousness writing. Do less of the following: sleeping, slouching, watching Gossip Girl, staring at the computer screen, complaining, mumbling. Oh yes, and post on this blog more often.

I have a bit of a head start on the list—I just finished a sort of oddball collection of short stories called No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July, a Christmas gift from my sister. It really captures feelings of loneliness and longing, and even though some of the characters are hard to like (and more screwed up than is comfortable to read about), the writing is honest and whimsical. I also liked, strangely, that none of the dialogue was in quotations. 

I've also been watching the PBS series Spain...On The Road Again with Gwyneth Paltrow, Mario Batali, Mark Bittman and Claudia Bassols. I'm a huge Bittman fan (his blog is one of my daily reads and his cookbook How To Cook Everything Vegetarian is one of my indispensable kitchen resources), and this series not only increases my fondness for the guy, but also makes me really want to go to Spain and eat lots of seafood. That might not happen until at least 2010, though, so I'll just stick to my slightly more realistic goal of returning to NYC this spring. To compensate, I've already tracked down a delicious sounding Spanish restaurant. 

Happy 2009!