Font Size. Ridiculous.

   This is one of those times when I complain about things that are ridiculous. Out shopping last week when I saw a package of cabbage rolls. I thought Okay the package size is reasonable, unlike buying a full family-sized tray of cabbage rolls. Regardless, I love cabbage rolls. Got home and put them in the freezer. A few days later it was time to try them. 

I cooked up some potatoes and took the package out of the freezer and pre-heated the oven.  I figured the oven would be roughly 350 degrees, but I wanted to be sure so I checked the package for the cooking instructions. 

Imagine my surprise at seeing the instructions on the front of the package in such a tiny font that I could not read it. I had to use a magnifying glass.  I snapped a photo using a loonie as a reference for size. You can see how small the font is. That is just silly. Click the photo to see it full size.

Music? Your opinion.

 If there is one thing that people are quick to have opinions about it is music. 

In the past few months I have had the time to watch a lot of television. One of the things I have noticed is the popularity of "reaction channels" on YouTube.

A reaction channel is where a person responds to such things as old movies and old music. I am always amazed at the large number of people who have not heard about such popular musicians as The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Marvin Gaye, Linda Ronstadt and even Elvis. I am not making this up.

So I get a kick when I see people respond to songs and musical choices I have always liked and many people are amazed that singers and performers from days gone by were so  talented and did not use things like Auto-Tune or other technological assistance.

One particiular song that seems popular on YouTube is Bobby Hatfield of the Righteous Brothers singing Unchained Melody. It was performed in 1965.

It was performed live on the Andy Williams show and is a masterpiece of a 1960s pop love song.

I have seen it now many times because so many younger people respond to it. I like the melody. I like the lyrics. I like that the guy sings live. I like his voice. And I like that I can understand the words.

One of the commenters remarked that modern music is failing because singers and songwriters just don't seem able to write well and do not actually sing well. Too many singers just shout, or wail in a scream-like voice or they just talk the words. That's not talent. It may be creative. But it is not singing.

Good news and one of my best photos

I heard good news from the business world this past week when it was revealed that a Canadian company is reviving the iconic Canadair 415 water bomber that is used to fight forest fires.

The plane, first developed by Canadair in the 1960s and then by Bombardier and then DeHavilland Canada, is now being rejuvenated for a new upgraded version called the DeHavilland Canadair 515.

Prime Minister Carney and the Canada aviation industry have worked out a deal to build and sell more than 50 new airplanes. Some will be purchased by provinces in Canada. Others are being sold to Europe,

Canada, EU plan to buy 50 De Havilland water bombers

As an aviation fan I have long admired the plane which is regarded as the best of its kind in the world. I am pleased to share a photo I shot roughly 15 years ago during a forest fire in Timmins. The planes were swooping down onto Porcupine Lake to fill their water reservoirs and then dropping water on a forest fire near Schumacher. 

The plane in this photo had just loaded up with water when another plane, flying from behind was setting up to do the same thing..

Photoa were were shot By Len Gillis with a Nikon D50  135mm  lens, on May 19, 2010.  Below are a couple of other shots taken that day.

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Soup weather

  October is here and suddenly I have the feeling that salad, sandwiches and a cold beer just dont seem fully appropriate for supper. I was out grocery shopping when I decided that a nice hot bowl of beef barley soup would be good especially now that the weather is cooling off. 

As I broswed the meat counter, I was surpised to see that a small package of stewing beef would cost more than $11. That's expensive. 

Then I noticed there was a small steak on for "quick sale" for only $7.  That ws reasonable. I added chopped up carrots, celery, onion, corn and barley. I threw in a package of Lipton Beef Vegetable soup set it to simmer for about three hours. 

One thing I forgot to pick up when I was shopping was garlic, which I think would have been nice. The soup was still tasty and filling. I enjoyed two bowls with bread and butter and put the rest in the freezer. 

Can Washing

So I first read about this in a news article some time back.  Then I talked to a guy who worked in a soft-drink warehouse. He said YES, rinse the top of your pop can or beer can if you're going to drink from the can. 

The thing is that all kinds of crap and dirt can land on the top of drink cans that you don't know about; things like rat shit and mouse piss.and who knows what else; things like chemicals and other substances that could be found in warehouses or other places where cans are stored.

So it's just a thing I do and I rarely drink from cans unless I know I can clean the top. I am a bit wierd that way I guess. 

Pea Soup with bacon

I admit that Habitant Pea Scoup is one of my favourite foods, but I also confess that I enjoy making my own pea soup because it is just so delicious. I made abig batch of pea scoupl earlier this year, but in my enthusiasm I added big chunk of salt pork, which is believed added an authentic touch to the recipe. To my disappointment, the salt pork was far too salty. I was not aware of this because my generation was not privy to the methods of daily cooking with salt pork ... something my mother and grandmothers would have known about. 

So I picked up a pound of split yellow peas and was determined to do it better. Just so you know, a traditional can of Habitant Pea Soup now retails for $3.49 at most grocery stores. The price for a pound of split peas was only $2.99.

I confess I also used a litre of Campbell Soup chicken broth. Add $2.99 to the total.

 So it took about five hours of simmering on the stove top and it turned out very nice. I had to add about halfa teaspoon of salt to the pot, which was about six litres of soup. I had two bowls and the rest when into the freezer. So was it good. Delicious! So I can look forward to a few more nice suppers with pea soup and a grilled cheese, or ham and cheese on a nice multi-grain toasted sandwich.

CORRECTION; Three litres of soup ... enough to fill six 500 ml jars.

Fish dinners

Pleased to report that I was invited to a couple of special family dinners recently. The first was with Don and Denise who have returned from spending a good part of the summer in Newfoundland. That's where they purchased a whole scoff of of seafood and they were kind enough to share it with a family dinner.

As you can see from the menu Denise posted on the dinner table, we enjoyed a feast of fine seafood, along with the amazing company of most of the family. What a treat it was and the take-home leftovers were just as good a couple of days later. 

As if that wasn't enough, Scott and Jennifer hosted a fish fry along with a nice bonfire this past weekend. The amazing fish, chips, salad, coleslaw and other fixin's was a real treat. It was nice to share a great meal with the extended family again. I wonder what the poor folks do on weekends. :)