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| Friday, 30-Oct-2009 18:23 |
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Happy Halloween 2009!
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| Thursday, 15-Oct-2009 20:34 |
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"The Night-Coach Mystery" by Rex Hardinge, Nov.30 1935
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Here is the latest addition to my library of my grandfather's Sexton Blake stories.
A Sensational Drama of a Modern Highway
By Rex Hardinge
November 30, 1935
Someone on the night-coach had the papers that would save an innocent man from the gallows. The murderer travelled aboard the coach to prevent those papers reaching London--and the Old Bailey.
Selby levelled an accusing finger at Kingston, who stood swaying against the doorpost, disshevelled and wild-eyed. "You did this!" he cried hysterically. "You killed him!"
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| Tuesday, 6-Oct-2009 23:33 |
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RIP Olde Ossington Avenue
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| Wednesday, 30-Sep-2009 14:39 |
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Old Cookbooks
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I just won this auction lot of old hardcover cookbooks. They vary in age from 1939 to fairly recent, and in condition from good to very good. They'll make a great addition to my growing library of cookbooks. The lot includes:
The American Woman's Cook Book edited by Ruth Berolzheimer (1939) - cover is worn around the edges, there is a spine split at the Table of Contents, and the back endpaper is torn, but the pages are clean and the recipes are as good today as they were back then. Plus, it has sections on school lunches, menu planning, cooking for two, and food equivalents.
Toll House Tried and True Recipes by Ruth Wakefield (1943) - corners are bumped and there is wear at the top and bottom of the spine. There are a number of small spots, indicating the book was well used, but it's otherwise in good condition. It does open naturally at page 216, where you'll find the "Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookies" recipe; I think this is probably the original Toll House Cookie recipe!
Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book (1951) - the title page appears to be missing, though the title and printing history is included on the inside of the front cover. Ring bound; the cover is in good condition, as are the tabs, though some of them are worn along the edges. Has an envelope at the back for holding a few recipes. There are several loose pages (and there may be some missing ones as a result - I didn't look at every page number); the first thing to do is to go through with a box of those little hole stickers and mend the book. Lots of good how-to sections and charts. This is a well-used cookbook with lots of use left in it.
Good Housekeeping Cook Book edited by Dorothy B. Marsh (1955) - corners are bumped and there is wear all around the spine, with a spine split at the title page. The inside is fairly clean, and one nice thing about the recipes is that they often offer ways to vary the recipe with substitutions, other cooking methods, ways to increase the number of servings, etc.
Searchlight Recipe Book (1977 reprint of the 28th edition, 1942) - this cookbook from the Household magazine was very popular while it was first in print. Original versions have tabbed pages, but this one does not. It's a very clean cookbook, in very good condition, so it probably wasn't used very much, but the early versions are generally spotted and stained, with pages that open automatically to certain recipes, so this would be a very good basic cookbook to have on hand.
Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker (1975) - a very nice copy of this book, in excellent condition; the cookbook of choice for anyone wanting to learn to cook and/or wanting to learn to cook better!
The Martha Stewart Cook Book: Collected Recipes for Every Day by Martha Stewart (1995) - with dust jacket and in excellent condition, a good cook book for someone wanting the basics - lots of basics!
In the Kennedy Style by Letitia Baldridge (1998) - with dust jacket and in excellent condition, this isn't just a cookbook, but it does offer lots of menu suggestions and tips for elegant dinners, as well as the recipes that go with them. Lots of photos, fashion tips, etc. - a look back in time.
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| Wednesday, 30-Sep-2009 02:01 |
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Big Pigeon at Yonge & Bloor
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| Friday, 25-Sep-2009 14:16 |
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"Community" statue outside Manulife at Bloor & Jarvis
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| Saturday, 25-Jul-2009 12:00 |
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Goodnight Hillside
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| Wednesday, 17-Jun-2009 20:12 |
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Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem, Nottingham Castle, Nottingham UK
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The Legend of Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem
The original Castle of Nottingham was established on the rock in the year 1068 by William Perverill for William the Conqueror. Perverill caused the course of the River Leen to be altered to pass by the foot of the rock, partly as a moated defence and partly as a water supply for the Castle.
After the building of the Castle, one of the first additions would have been the Brewhouse. Since water for drinking was notoriously bad in the Middle Ages, ale was brewed and drank, because as well as providing alcohol, the brewing process served to sterilise the drink. The brewing of ale requires a steady temperature and the caves at the foot of the Castle Rock were ideal because they provided not only a very effective ‘air-conditioning’ system, but also necessary storage space.
Whilst there no maps of that era, examination of the caves suggest that the original location of the Brewhouse was in the area of Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem. Two vertical passages through the rock emerge into the open air outside the Castle walls - one of which leads from the present upstairs Lounge of the Inn. It seems very likely that these two passages were used in the malting process. This would have required a large fire and also a very wide ‘chimney’ and although these chimneys may have been partly natural, the similarities between the two suggest that they were probably altered to suit the needs and were thus the malthouses of the day.
Much of the history of the Inn is very poorly recorded. An archaeological dig in 1974 proved conclusively that the location of the original Brewhouse could only be that of the caves of Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem. This established that the Castle Brewhouse existed prior to 1189AD but the first dated reference is to be found is in the records of the City Council for the year 1618. The parochial rights to the area now known as the Brewhouse Yard did not in fact belong to the Castle but passed backwards and forward over time between the Priory of Lenton, The Knights Templar and the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem.
The black and white half-timbered section of the outer buildings of the Inn most certainly dates to around 1650 to 1660 and is shown accurately and in the correct location on Badder and Peat’s map of 1744. This was used as the basis for Charles Deering’s map in his 1751 book, “History of the Antiquities of Nottingham”.
Shortly later, the Inn was bought by William Standford who was responsible for many of the period buildings of Nottingham. This resulted in the structure of the Inn as it can be seen today and those with a keen eye for detail and old architecture will be able to spot the join between the old and new structures.
The first reference to the Inn with a name came in Deering’s book, where he referred to it as” The Pilgrim”. Bearing in mind the connection with the Court of St John of Jerusalem it seems but a short step to the name “Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem” which first appeared in Willoughby’s Directory of Nottingham, dated 1799. Interestingly, in deeds of sale recorded in 1834, the Inn was noted as “Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem, formerly known as The Pilgrim”.
The next point of particular note was the acquisition of the Inn by George Henry Ward. A colourful character known to everyone as “Yorkey”, he had his nickname painted on the outside of the Inn where today the inscription “Well known throughout the World” is to be seen. Wright’s Directories of Nottingham record that “Yorkey” was the licensee of the Meadow Inn on Arkright Street in 1891 and the Fox and Owl on Parliament Street in 1893. By 1894 it is recorded that he had taken over the licence of Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem and remained there until his death in 1914.
Beers
As one of Nottingham's finest real ale establishments, the Trip to Jerusalem offers a selection of Hardys & Hansons branded beers which are now brewed by Greene King at Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, where ale has been a feature of life since at least as far back as 1086. There is also a selection from Greene Kings’ own portfolio, such as Greene King IPA 3.6% abv (alcohol by volume) and Abbot Ale 5% abv, plus a wide selection of quality guest ales from an ever-changing selection.
http://www.triptojerusalem.com/index.php?page=the_pub
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| Monday, 25-May-2009 21:08 |
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History and Modernity together
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The entrance to Canterbury Cathedral and next to it, Starbucks!! B-)
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| Tuesday, 19-May-2009 19:33 |
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Swatow Restaurant Toronto
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I love to tell this story everytime I visit Swatow restaurant, on the east side of Spadina Avenue, just north of Dundas St. in Toronto. Swatow is the most amazing chinese food restaurant I've ever eaten at. The food is amazing. I was first introduced to Swatow by my pastry chef buddy, Steve Song who at the time was working at Ultra Supper Club on Queen St., said that this was the place that his chef friends used to hang out at after they finished their shifts.
Well he was right. The night we went, after watching April Wine and Kim Mitchell rock it up at The Docks, we stumbled into Swatow and there, sitting at the back of the restuarant, was Toronto's most famous chef, and now one of New York's leading chefs, Susur Lee, sitting by himself eating at Swatow. Hell, if it's good enough for Susur, it must be good enough for us, right?
The food is magnificent. It doesn't hurt to have a native speaker to help you, but the menus are in english and you'll have no problem finding something you'll like. Try the General Tao chicken or the Beef in Black Bean sauce, or the Fuk-kin Fried Rice .
Of course while we were eating and catching up on old times, doesn't Susur Lee come over to our table to speak to Steve. I believe Steve had worked in his kitchen at one time, but certainly Steve is well know in the Toronto chef community, and I believe Susur was looking to see if Steve wanted to do some "guest gigs" at his restaurant. Of course we were hammered and it was only the next day that I realized that we should have invited Susur to sit and eat with us. Of course we neglected to do so and after getting nowhere with Steve, he returned to his table at the back of the restaurant to eat by himself. Susur now is in New York at his recently opened new restaurant Shang in the LES Thompson Hotel in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, NY.
So get yourself to Swatow when you've been downtown and want some great food late at night. You won't be disappointed.
recent reviews
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