Searching for a Perfect Pickle Recipe

Spices and cucumbers
ready to be pickled!

Have I ever mentioned how fond I am of pickles?  Some might call it an obsession.  I believe it is just good taste.  Adam and I have agreed to disagree on this point.  I consider Claussen's kosher dill pickles to be the epitome of the pickle perfected.  So delicious that I could easily finish off a jar as soon as it is opened.  Then I moved to Montreal - and horror of horrors - they do not sell Claussen pickles in any store!  This has prompted me to get serious about making my own refrigerator pickles.  I've tried in the past with various pickling spice packets, but I was never really happy with the outcome - if I am going to make pickles I want it to taste like a Claussen.

Ready for the
refrigerator!

I found what seemed to be a reasonable recipe online for copy-cat Claussen pickles and began my search for the ingredients.  Most were either already in our pantry or easily found at the store.  Except for the illusive dill seed.  Every store has dill weed, which I researched and found is not the same thing.  Tracking down dill seed took several days and an intense search guided by my iPhone and google maps to every market in the Plateau.  It took a while, but it was also a great opportunity to explore the neighborhood.  I finally tracked a jar of dill seed at a store near the mountain, picked up some mason jars, and quickly headed home to give the recipe a try.  The pickles had to sit in refrigerator for an entire week before they would be ready, so I didn't want to waste any time.

Okay, I forgot to photograph
the finished product.  Pickles
don't last very long around me.

It was a very long week, and I will be honest with you and admit I opened the jar a half a day short of the full week (I did better than I thought I would).  But the anticipation was too great.  I had been slightly suspicious when putting everything together because the combination of spices smelled nothing like a jar of Claussen pickles.  I was hopeful that after a week of chilling in the refrigerator it would transform into the great pickle taste I was after.  Sadly, it did not.  I am not saying these pickles were bad. They certainly had the crispy crunch of a Claussen pickle, but they didn't taste Claussen-esque at all... and actually were rather spicy.  But do not fear, for I did not let these impostor pickles go to waste.  I promptly ate the two jars I had made in about a week.


Thankfully there are always more recipes to try.  I am excited about a food blog I found in which another Claussen fanatic actually strained out the contents of their pickle jar in order to identify and quantify each ingredient. I have much more confidence in how these pickles will turn out - so it's back to the markets in search of some additional spices.  I'll let you know how the next batch goes!

Surviving a Tropical Storm with Homemade Pizza

A smoker will put up with
anything for a cigarette.

As Hurricane Irene was downgraded to a tropical storm, she decided to visit Canada and brought severe storms to Montreal.  We woke up Sunday to the downpour of rain and umbrella breaking winds.  It was clear this would be a day for staying indoors, comfortably seated on the safety of our sofa.  When Adam asked what movie to put on, I told him I wanted to watch something that was "kind of serious, quirky, with a bit of drama, and some comedy."  Adam quickly deduced that this meant we should watch Dr. Who (he's good like that).  I had yet to watch the first half of this season and the new episodes of the second half are just beginning, so this was the time to catch up.


With a marathon of Dr. Who on the agenda and Irene creating havoc outside our door, it would be important to have delicious food readily available.  We decided it would be the perfect opportunity to make a pizza from scratch.  An ambitious decision, because we have the worst luck making pizzas together.  Whether using a pre-made dough or a frozen pizza, something always seems to go wrong.  Things get burned, crusts meld to the pan, and we end up with an inedible mess.


I was able to quickly mix together a pizza dough with the help of our KitchenAid mixer (hooray for wedding gifts!).  We multitasked and let the dough rise during an eventful episode of Dr. Who, then Adam got to work punching down the dough and chopping up the toppings.  Adam gets very serious about his pizzas, so I was only allowed to grate some cheese and document the process with photos.  The pizza went into the oven and Adam carefully monitored its progress while I tossed together a caesar salad.  With high hopes and fingers crossed, the pizza was ready in twenty minutes and we sampled our hardwork.  Nothing had burned, the pizza lifted easily out of the pan, and it tasted delicious.  Our pizza curse had been broken - it was the best pizza we have ever made!

Compared to our friends on the east coast, we experienced limited destruction from Irene.  In Montreal, falling branches damaged cars, high winds brought down windows from a downtown high rise, and many were without power.  We were lucky and only experienced two power outages.  Both times, power immediately came back within seconds.  But nothing that could keep us from eating well and getting caught up with Dr. Who.

Adam's Birthday with a Splash of Adventure

Adam is not the type of person who believes in making plans, so trying to figure out how he wanted to celebrate his birthday was nearly impossible. Eventually, he agreed to drinks at Le Sainte-Elisabeth.  Being a Friday, it wasn't too much of a stretch from what he would normally be doing and it worked out nicely.  Adam's friends and workmates were there and it turned out to be the best non-celebration I have ever attended.  The only down side of staying out late, was waking up Saturday morning for our weekend adventure of white water rafting.


Don't let Adam's scruffy beard fool you, he is not the outdoorsy type.  His natural habitate is usually at a pub talking about games, on the sofa watching TV/playing games, or at work making games.  As I've mentioned before, he hates when I make him trek around Mont-Royal, so I wasn't really sure how he would take to rafting.  But despite having several pints and even more shots the previous night, Adam was ready for our adventure with Andreanne, Jack, and Bjorn the next morning.  And I was thankful that we didn't have to leave Montreal until 11am.


It was nearly a two hour drive, almost made longer by an accident and horrendous traffic.  But luckily, Jack's navigating skills and Andreanne's speedy driving got us there right on time to sign safety waivers and get suited up with life jackets, helmets, and paddles.  As we were grabbing our gear, a girl in a group we were paired up with asked why we would need paddles.  I still have no idea what kind of tour she thought we were on.


As it turned out, we did need to have paddles, but rafting wasn't nearly as laborous as I thought it would be.  Following our guide's commands, we only needed to paddle for short bursts and then let the river do the rest of the work.  I think this had a lot to do with the experience level of our guide, who obviously had a love of rafting and knew the river well.  He was able to negotiate the rapids and put us in position where the opposing currents allowed the raft to "surf" on the rapids.


For me, the hardest part about rafting was getting back in after we all jumped out to swim in the river.  My lack of upper body strength made it nearly impossible - and I think this knowledge is what kept me from falling out during the rest of our trip.


For Adam, the hardest part about rafting was staying in the raft.  Just about everyone fell out at some point, but Adam fell out the most and had a few close encounters swimming through the rapids.  I have a theory that the number of drinks consumed on the previous night may have had a direct correlation to the number of times Adam fell out of the raft.


Rafting has been my favorite experience since moving to Montreal.  It had just the right amount of excitement, without being too scary.  Not to mention the beautiful scenery!  During our trip down the river is started to rain - which was a bit cold - making it warmer to be in the river than in the raft.  It created a stunning view as the rain subsided and steam rose off the water.  The view was often so distracting, I would lose the rhythm of paddling and smacked into my neighbors paddle on more than one occasion.


It was an incredible adventure - one that we both would love to do again.  We didn't bring cameras and the tour group's photos were great but too expensive.  So instead, you will just have to accept my stick figure drawing as proof that we actually got off the sofa.  :)

Pride & Pressure

Last weekend, explorations of Montreal continued as we mixed it up with some of the city's sub-cultures.

Montreal Street Art.

On Friday, I went on the "Free Walking Tour of The Quartier des Spectacle."  A great tour if you are in Montreal or thinking of visiting - it is well worth your time!  The tour was a great opportunity to become better acquainted with the arts, culture, and history of Montreal as it highlighted Montreal's graffiti scene, innovation in art and technology, and the underground city and Metro.  I learned about very interesting urban planning that is currently being implemented on Rue Sainte-Catherine to better equip it for the many, many festivals the city hosts every year.  Among the cool innovations, is an underground vacuum system that will keep trash cans from overflowing during events.  Very futuristic!

Montreal Pride Parade 2011.

Montreal is all about the festivals.  There are small community celebrations and there are major events, but it seems there is always something to celebrate.  This weekend was no exception.  Montreal's Pride festivities were in full swing with the parade on Sunday.  A few streets over was the Under Pressure graffiti convention.  Two events that were all about being seen and bringing understanding to the community.

Under Pressure 2011.

We started Sunday afternoon by walking Under Pressure on Rue Sainte-Catherine.  This is an annual event to help bridge the gap in the debate over whether graffiti is art or vandalism.  The festival included artists from all over the world, skateboarding competitions, DJs, and b-boy battles.  The streets and alleys designated for the festival became a living museum as the artists climbed scaffolding adding their tags to the walls.  I had never seen anything like it!

Adam checking out the display
inside the pop-up gallery
for graffiti art across the street
from the Under Pressure
graffiti convention.

Artists adding their tags to the
brick wall canvas from
scaffolding along the alleys
of Rue Sainte-Catherine.

After a quick break for ice cream, we headed over to Rene-Levesque Boulevard to meet up with friends for Montreal's Pride Parade.  Here, Adam took a detour to check out Otakuthon, Montreal's Anime convention that was happening not too far from the parade route (there really is something for everyone going on in this city at all times).  The theme of this year's Pride Parade was "3011: Odyssey of the Future."  Quebec, and Canada as a whole, is a more accepting culture (it was the fourth country worldwide to sanction same-sex marriage) - and I think the parade's theme was hopeful that all countries would recognize this right in the future.  The parade was flamboyant and fun - although not as large (or crazy) as some of the Pride parades I've been to in Chicago.  In any case, Adam had hoped to see more boobs.

It just isn't Pride without
a few drag queens!  

Line dancing cowboys in
Montreal's Pride Parade.

Of course, being so close to Chinatown, we had to stop in for a late lunch/early dinner after the parade finished.  I don't know how this happens, but our weekend adventures always end with a meal in Chinatown.  Our bellies seem to like it.

This should be in a museum!

Feeling adventurous, Adam and I headed out to Vieux-Port this past Sunday for the Indiana Jones and the Adventure of Archaeology exhibit at the Montreal Science Centre.  Adam had been wanting to go since I moved here, and the exhibit will only be in Montreal until September 18, so we decided to go check it out.  


I have insisted on leading the way when we go out so I can learn my way around the city.  Adam isn't allowed to correct me if I make a mistake - I learn best through experience.  Luckily the route to the museum is not complicated.  A quick Metro ride downtown and I managed to get out at the proper stop and successfully led us to the museum.  On our walk through Vieux-Port we stopped to check out some downtown condo listings posted in a window, but decided the million dollar lofts weren't really our style.  I happen to like our cozy, narrow apartment in the Plateau.  And I think it will get even better once I "girl" it up a bit.

My wayfinding skills took a turn for the worse as soon as we arrived inside the museum.  I'm still not really certain if the museum's signage was poor or if our excitement was at fault, but we somehow managed to walk right by the very long ticket line and down a very long hallway all the way to the archaeology exhibit - only to be turned back to the museum entrance for our admission tickets.  Once we managed to do things in the proper order we were finally allowed into the exhibit.  


It is billed as an interactive museum adventure, shedding light on historical myths (such as the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail) through clips and memorabilia from the movies.  The displays include a large collection of Indiana Jones film props, costumes, models, concept art and set design from the Lucasfilm archives along with material remains and real world artifacts from around the world. 

It was a unique comparison, and I learned a lot.  Who knew bullwhips are not standard gear for archaeologists?  I think Adam was hoping for more action and that we would be chased through the exhibit by a giant bolder.  He spent more time on the movie displays than most of the artifacts (although the hieroglyphics had his attention).  At one point, while going through an educational section of the exhibit, Adam said to me, "We can skip this extra stuff... there is more Indiana Jones stuff over here!"  Of course we stopped to try on fedoras at the gift shop.


After spending a couple hours going through the museum, we wandered over to Chinatown for a delicious lunch.  Our bellies full of sizzling beef, we headed back to the Metro and home.  But not before we stopped to get our free samples of Dr. Pepper inexplicably being handed out from the back of a Dr. Pepper van.  Not a bad day for a couple of couch potatoes. :)

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad Men World

Mad woMan, Lauren

Adam and I are avid couch potatoes.  Our favorite moments are when we are sitting around, doing nothing, watching television together. And as newlyweds, our couch potato habits haven't actually changed very much.  Even though we purchased a brand new kitchen table and chairs for our apartment, we have only eaten at it a handful of times.  The table has become a catch-all for immigration paperwork and where I sit to write my blog.  Most nights we fix dinner, then fix ourselves in front of the TV for a marathon of our favorite show of the moment.  Right now that show is Mad Men.


Although Adam had already watched it all, I was (way) behind the times, and had never even caught a single episode.  As we were settling into our spots on the sofa one Saturday morning, our plates heaped with cheesy omelets and bacon, Adam turned on the very first episode of Mad Men.  From that long overdue moment, I was transfixed by the story of 1960's ad man Don Draper and his colleagues on Madison Avenue.  The stories, the sets, the costumes... what's not to love?


We have nearly finished watching our way through the fourth season, and it's going to be a long wait until new episodes begin airing next year.  But honestly, I am kind of looking forward to our hiatus.  When you are immersed in a marathon of Mad Men episodes, you can't help but feel like a character yourself.


I am not a smoker.  But after watching the characters puff through countless cartons of cigarettes (not to mention the drinks!), I find myself craving a cigarette... or at the very least a drink (or two).  So if a non-smoker like myself, feels compelled to smoke it's no wonder that Adam has been having trouble sticking with his plan to quit.  I wouldn't be surprised if there is an increase in cigarette sales during any given Mad Men season.  After a brief relapse, Adam is back to the Nicotine gum.  I can't say that I mind the slip-ups or that I even blame him (the last several weeks have been stressful at work).  I just hope that he doesn't quit trying to quit.


Because I have too much time on my hands, Adam and I took a quiz on AMC's Mad Men page to find out which characters we are most like.  As he predicted, Adam is a Pete Campbell (who oddly enough, is one of the few characters that does not smoke), ambitiously working his way up the corporate ladder.  I feared that I would be a Betty Draper, but was relieved to be likened to Salvatore Romano, the former art director at Sterling Cooper.  (whew!)  I'd gladly be compared to a highly creative, closeted gay man over an immature housewife any day.


I can attest that it is isolating to be a housewife when everyone you know works and you don't speak the local language.  I made it nearly a month, but I finally became really homesick last week.  Luckily, I have Adam for a husband and not Don Draper.  Adam heroically made it through my crying melt down, and then helped me pick out a French class to ensure that I will not become a bored housewife.  He made me feel a thousand times better - but I must admit, I feel silly for getting so upset.  I have an amazing opportunity to live in a new country, learn a new language, and meet new people.  I can't help missing my family and friends, but I think it would be really unfortunate if I spent too much of my time here crying about it.  Hopefully, I won't have more Betty Draper moments.

Mad Man, Adam

As for homesickness, I think Don Draper's pitch to Kodak at the end of the first season says it best: "Nostalgia - it's delicate, but potent.  Teddy told me that in Greek, "nostalgia" literally means "the pain from an old wound".  It's a twinge in your heart far more powerful than memory alone.  This device isn't a spaceship, it's a time machine.  It goes backwards, and forwards... it takes us to a place where we ache to go again.  It's not called the wheel, it's called the carousel.  It let's us travel the way a child travels - around and around, and back home again, to a place where we know we are loved."

Lighting up the Montreal Sky

Best seats in the house, an apartment view of the
International Firework Competition in Montreal.

There are many things I enjoy: a deliciously crunchy pickle spear to accompany a sandwich, coming home to snuggle with Adam in front of the TV, and the razzle dazzle of fireworks (just to name a few).  I will elaborate on the first two in future posts and stick to the subject of fireworks this time around.


Having lived my entire life in the United States, there are two national holidays that burn brightest - The Fourth of July and New Year's Eve.  Any celebration that requires lighting things on fire and watching them go boom is bound to be a great time.  Montreal must feel the same way, because they have devoted a good portion of their summers to enjoying pyrotechnic displays.


Known for being the best and largest fireworks festival in the world, L'International des Feux Loto-Quebec began in late June and finished up last weekend.  At 10pm every Wednesday and Saturday evening, the sky over Montreal lit up - with at least 4,000 fireworks set off during each thirty minute display.  I don't think I need to explain how exciting it is to have a full hour of fireworks every week!  


The competition has been held yearly since 1985, over Lacs des Dauphins (Dolphin Lake, for my anglophone friends) at La Ronde (Montreal's amusement park, opened as part of the Expo 67 World's Fair, and now a Six Flags theme park).  At La Ronde, the show can be viewed from the 7,600 seats available for purchase or there is standing room for an additional 30,000 people.  If you don't want to pay the park's admission you can join the thousands of spectators who enjoy the show for free throughout the city - in Vieux-Port, on the Jacques Cartier Bridge, or as we did this year - from a well positioned apartment balcony belonging to Adam's friend.


This was the first year we realized the fireworks were synchronized to music, which seems obvious now, but makes them even more spectacular.  There are sixty acoustic speakers surrounding the lake.  Or if you are at Bjorn's apartment, the music is broadcast over a provincial radio station to accompany the display.

This year eight countries competed: China, Czech Republic, England, Italy, Australia, USA, Canada, and France. The final show was a non-competitive tribute to the Beatles and their music.  A jury, chosen from the general public, determined the winners of the Jupiter award in Gold, Silver, and Bronze.  Those familiar with Roman Mythology, may remember that Jupiter is the god of the sky and natural elements, such as thunder and lightning.


I'd love to say that we made it to each and every pyrotechnic display, but sadly there were a few we missed.  I truly regret having missed Italy's "Angels and Demons" themed display (put on by Pirtecnia Mosani RSl, the same company that does the firework displays for the Vatican) which was awarded the Gold Jupiter.  I wish I could tell you how amazing it was to watch that show in person, but I wanted to attempt ordering dessert in French when we were out to dinner that night.  Adam warned me I would not have time for both dessert and fireworks, and I forgot that service can be a lot slower in Montreal than what I am used to in Chicago.  On a side note, I learned an important lesson that night: "mangue", French for mango, is not pronounced "man-goo".

iPhones aren't best for photographing fireworks,
but this captures some of the awesomeness
during the finale of the Beatles tribute display.

Next year I would like to splurge and actually see one of the firework displays from La Ronde.  There is no doubt that the fireworks are impressive from anywhere in the city.  But after watching some of the displays we missed online, I think there is definitely an exceptional view of the ground show and a whole perspective at La Ronde that just cannot be seen from anywhere else.