Amelie

I watched one of my favorite films (if not THE favorite) again last night for the first time in a couple of years. It was perfect.
There's so much about that film that resonates with me, and with how things have been going for me recently (emotionally and otherwise), I'm glad I watched the film again.

Scorched

I recently attended a performance of Scorched by the graduating class of the National Theatre School (NTS).

It was incredible. But brace yourself.

I didn't have a chance to do any research or look into the premise of the play. Of course there are pros and cons to this strategy for seeing productions, but for me, at the end of the play, I was in a little bit of shock. I just wasn't sure how to process what I had watched, and wasn't able to go beyond the surface of what happened.

Content aside, the production was awesome. The acting seemed really good (although, I wonder if I would be able to tell if the acting wasn't good?), but I was most impressed with the staging of the production (which, students of the NTS took care of as well). It was a "theatre in the round" set up, and there was clearly a lot of care that went into the staging and choreography of it all. I liked the use of props in the production. The lighting and special effects were also great.

Well, the run of the production is over, so it's not like you can go out and see it for yourself. I guess the take away is that the National Theatre School has some great productions that I will continue to look into (and you can/should too) and that Scorched is a great play. I've only clued in, after the fact, that it's Incendies which I remember reading about when it made the rounds (during TIFF and otherwise).

Cendre des Pres

I went back to the cheese shop yesterday. I told them about the cheese that we'd gotten the last time and that I wanted to get something similar. I told the salesperson that I liked the creaminess. She asked is there was assez de gout, and yes, the taste was strong enough for me. I'm still a little shy when it comes to pungent cheese.
She offered me a couple cheeses to try. One left too much of a plastic and rubbery taste in my mouth and the other was too salty.

In the end, I decided to go for the Cendre des Pres from the Fromagerie Domaine Feodal.
A description: "Pâte molle à croûte fleurie cendrée au centre comme le morbier. Tres cremeux et leger. 1er service." (Translated by Google for those who need it)
I like that the label from the cheese shop also comes with recommendations for the type of wine that pairs best. It's not specific enough to suggest a specific wine, but to say blanc ou rouge fruite.

I have to admit, the ash throws me off. I think I like everything around the ash the best...which probably defeats the whole point of the cheese. (I'm a work in progress, ok?) But it's not like I'm eating around it. I'm a big girl and eating the whole thing and it's quite good. I like the creaminess of it and (again) the mild flavour. I think I like the Saint-Honore better, but it's good to try different things.

I'm wondering if I should keep trying similar types of cheese or go with something completely different next time. Or maybe try out a different cheese shop too? There seem to be many to choose from here. All of the grocery stores have a better selection than what I'm used to. But I think the specialty shops would be better for me as they will be able to help me select cheeses and I can try them out before committing to a purchase.

Saint-Honore

My first (!!!) experience buying cheese was great. I was intimidated to go into the shop similar to people I know are intimidated to go into the boutiques that I've come to realize aren't that scary (even if you have no intention of buying anything).

While walking around Jean-Talon Market, we had decided that a perfect lunch would be cheese and a baguette, so of course we had to find somewhere to buy the cheese (I already knew of plenty places to get a great baguette). We walked into Qui lait cru and were helped by a friendly and eager young man. I had no idea what was going on and what to buy, but it was decided that we should get a sharp cheddar (I forget the name of it, but we opted for a 10-year old cheddar with salt in the rind rather than a 15 year old one) and a brie.

We a tasted a couple different brie's, but in the end, we went the Saint-Honore. It was really good. It melted in your mouth and didn't have a strong flavour (ideal for a cheese neophyte like myself). It was so soft that we were basically able to spread it on the baguette, so I think I partially enjoyed it for its creaminess like I was eating a good butter on bread (without the actual butter taste though).

I still get a little confused by the rind and what to do with it, but I'm sure I'll get over that pretty quickly. Anyway, this cheese was clearly yummy enough to get me inspired to try to eat more cheese in the future.

An important goal

When I lived in Europe, I conquered mustard. I also tried to conquer olives, but that didn't seem to fly.

Here, I think I'm going to try to conquer cheese. I think conquer is the wrong word. Ultimately, I'd like to get to know more about cheese and expand my cheese repertoire.

This past weekend, I went to a cheese shop in the market. Encouraged by my cheese-loving friend, we chatted with one of the folks and the shop and narrowed our purchases down to a 5-year old sharp cheddar (instead of a 10-year old one) and a brie that didn't have a strong taste (we'd sampled a couple that we didn't enjoy as much) but absolutely melted in your mouth.

Coupled with a baguette and some tomatoes (I've also recently learned of the awesomeness that is salt on tomatoes), it lent itself to an awesome meal (or two) and our goal of having a faux-Paris weekend.

"To justice and all!"

I've had an awesome day, and this video contributed to that awesomeness.
Great choice of background music too!

Lovely weekend

Having weekends to relax is key. Whoever decided that there should be a five day work week really thought things through.
Yesterday, I finally made it down to a street that I wanted to explore and while the weather wasn't great, it was still nice to just be in the fresh air and walk around and take my time. I followed that up with a trip to the market. Lovely, of course. I was able to tidy up my place a little bit and try to reduce the number of boxes that are still scattered around. A quiet evening at home was exactly what I needed.
Today, after a lazy start to the day, I headed out in search of doughnuts. They have three different flavours: sugar, cinnamon, and chocolate and since they're quite small I got one of each to try. By the time I got the the grocery store just a block away, I had finished them all. I'd recommend the sugar and cinnamon ones over the chocolate. Actually, no, try them all for yourself so that you can decide. The place was very busy with a line almost out the door. As I waited, I admired the original art on the wall and felt very, err, square. I was in hipster haven. It was in the Mile End, so I guess it makes sense, but it still throws me off to be smack dab in the middle of the scene. Hipsters have a very unique look.
Anyway, done with my doughnuts, I picked up some items at the grocery store and people were buying leeks like crazy! They were on sale, but some people were buying multiple bunches. Is there something going on that I don't know about? I wonder what they were going to do with all of them?
Heading back to my place, I realized that some cultures go to school on Sundays. Not only do I live close to hipster-ville, I also live close to a Hasidic Jewish community. It's interesting learning more about different cultures and communities.
So now that I'm back at my place, I've decided to have a quiet rest of the day in. I see more cleaning and organizing on the horizon and I think I'm going to make a big batch of soup. Sunday is usually a big cooking day for me!