Mis tacos son deliciosos

I posted a little while ago on chowhound about how thrilled I was about a new “pretty darn authentic” Mexican place opening at the Calgary Farmers’ Market, and as it turned out, the place lasted about three weeks. This was a tragedy for this taco- and burrito-deprived city (never mind flautas, enchiladas, flan, etc etc), one that has myriad immigrants from pretty much everywhere except Mexico it seems. Canada as a whole is piss-poor for Mexican coast to coast to coast (I grew up in thrall of a ton of real Mexican food prepared by real Mexicans, in the Chicago area, not that I was a connoisseur as a kid, but I could have been if I’d wanted to be), and I guess that if we want anything like Mexican (or Tex-Mex or Cal-Mex), we have to make do on our own, and today, I did just that.

As I’ve mentioned elsewhere in my blog, Brian is the real cook in this house, but sometimes I get inspired. Today we bought some nice boned/skinned chicken thighs from the salubrious T and T Supermarket in Harvest Hills (yes this is an Asian market, bear with me) , and seeing that we had a pack of 10 corn tortillas in the freezer, I decided to try tacos. Here’s how I did it:

1. I sauteed a couple of small thinly-sliced onions and four minced garlic cloves in some peanut oil in a chef’s pan.

2. After the onions/garlic seemed a little limp, I added good tablespoonful of Doña Maria brand Pipian paste. Pipian is a kind of mole made with pumpkin seeds and no chocolate, not that I had any idea of what it was when I bought it (at Boca Loca Mexican Grocery, not at T and T); it’s mild but with lots of flavour. I also added about a teaspoon of sambal oelek, and yes I know this is getting ridiculously “fusion” but I used what we had in the cupboard.

3. I tossed in the chicken thighs, chopped, and sort of stir-fried this mixture for a couple of minutes.

4. Then I added, slowly, about a cup of water. Bubble bubble, the sauce is lookin’ and smellin’ good! After a bit, I turned the burner off and covered this rich-looking stew.

5. I wanted to put shredded cabbage on my tacos but had no cabbage, so I did a desperate thing: I sliced some brussels sprouts thinly and sauteed them in a different pan for a bit. And wow, what a nice way to prepare brussels sprouts, makes them nice and sweet and pretty bright green too.

6. I chopped some cilantro too…

7. Ready to assemble now: First, make the tortillas (CORN tortillas please!) warm and pliable by heating them–this is my suggestion–over an open flame. You can heat them in a greased pan, on a griddle or enchilada-style in a bath of hot oil, but this worked well. Second, if you like, sprinkle a little cheese (queso fresco or monterey jack or just plain mozzo which is what we had), or not, on the warm tortillas (trad tacos are double tortilla-ed); then I added a nice big spoonful of the stewed chicken mixture; then a good squeeze of LIME (never lemon!); then a few pinches of the green stuff.

MAN this worked! It was delicious, one of my proudest culinary moments, and a resourceful one at that. Here’s what the finished product(s) looked like:

Okay, there is cabbage on there, because Brian let me know that there was indeed cabbage in the fridge and cut some up for these… also, single tortillas but that’s how likes them. Still, happy times- who needs a “real” taqueria?

It’s only March, but the Weasel Word Award for 2008 already has a front runner: McNally-Robinson Booksellers.

McNally-Robinson Booksellers is abandoning downtown Calgary on August 1, 2008. And that sucks. They opened a gorgeous new store in a historic space on Stephen Avenue in 2002, and it heralded the continuing growth and strength of that street, especially its 100 SW block, which is home to some very good restaurants and lots of well-maintained old (for Calgary) architecture. McNally-Robinson has been one of my favourite hangouts, and Brian and I have both spent oodles and oodles of cash there.

When I read about its imminent (sort of imminent- August 1 sounds far away right now and also sounds like a long, painful death to watch) closing yesterday, it felt like a sock in the stomach, and I was prepared to damn our overheated economy, ridiculously tight labour market and all the other problems inherent in The Boom for killing another independent business, an important and to all appearances viable one for the downtown.

Then I read today’s story about this tragedy in the Calgary Herald, and I changed my opinion.

This isn’t about a struggling business being “victimised” by our hard-to-handle economy. This is about greed, and about carpetbaggers who have made a quick buck and are trying to make us feel sorry for them even while their story holds no water at all. Consider these two excerpts from Paul McNally’s “official statement”:

1. “Current real estate prices in downtown Calgary make it difficult to sustain a bookstore. The value of the real estate over-reaches the potential of the bookselling business.”

2. “In an average cost structure, the store would be viable and profitable. In downtown Calgary, not so much.”

Okay, let me look at each of these like the good critical analyst that I am.

On 1: Yes, “current real estate prices” do make it difficult to sustain a bookstore, but NOT IF YOU OWN THE BUILDING. McNally-Robinson BOUGHT the Clarence Block (the name of their building) in 2004 from the good, community-minded people at Encorp (the developers of the wonderful Art Central project at Centre and 7th Ave) for $5 million after presumably leasing the space for two years. Then a couple of months ago McNally-Robinson SOLD their building FOR EIGHT AND A HALF MILLION DOLLARS. Not a bad profit, especially when it was Encorp that had invested millions in the historical renovation. So Mr. McNally pockets $3.5 million. I guess this is what he means by “the value of the real estate over-reach[ing] the potential of the bookselling business.” He means they made a big pile of cash selling their business. Now, what happens to that money? Read on.

On 2: The money goes to the owners, I guess, but also to pay for new projects in markets THAT DO NOT HAVE ANYTHING REMOTELY APPROACHING “AVERAGE” COST STRUCTURES. I am talking most specifically about McNally-Robinson’s bizarre decision to allow their daughter to open a bookstore in that bastion of “average cost structures” known as Manhattan. So we’re supposed to believe that Calgary is too expensive, but MANHATTAN is not? No; what we should “believe” is that Mommy and Daddy had to dump a Canadian property so this “proud” Canadian (Western Canadian even! Oh, wait, hold that thought) bookseller could support a new venture in an already saturated (with bookstores) and ridiculously, absurdly expensive city like New York. New York, USA. Our loss is your gain! God Bless America!

I might add that McNally-Robinson has a huge store in Saskatoon, a city with labour pressures exactly the same as Calgary these days.

With respect to that Western Canadian thing: McNally-Robinson did once use this angle it their advertising, that they were “Western” (to the extent Winnipeg is “Western” but I digress) and didn’t have to kowtow to publishers or booksellers in Toronto or New York. Well, guess where they’re opening another new store? Why, Toronto!

This closure was about McNally-Robinson’s chance to cash in while they’re also pursuing this quixotic dream in NYC. It shows how shallow their commitment was to Calgary. They had plenty of business and the same patterns of customers as every store downtown: Massive crowds at lunch that keep you afloat, smaller crowds otherwise, but the store was NEVER EVER empty. No bookstore is packed day and night, and thank God for that. If they’d come clean instead of talking in weasel-worded doublespeak I’d say something besides “good riddance,” but right now, I can only say that.

I’m pissed off.

It’s DST, so, more on those tulips

Daylight Savings Time started yesterday. That says “Spring” to me, and the weather is complying in my corner of the world. Lots of sun and 12c days (that’s warm) are lovely. Those tulips from February 24? Here they are today:

For comparison, with my hand:

Nice sight for a Monday. I’m working on a manuscript revision (I got a positive “revise and resubmit” on this one but am having a tough time getting started- it’s hard to write when classes are in session) but did make it to Bumpy’s for lunch; I hadn’t got “food” from there in forever, which is a shame because the tuna melt panino I got there today was superb and at $6.95 with chips and a pickle spear a great deal. I also got what I now declare the best macchiato in the city (another shout-out to Ben)… but ask me again next week.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch: A perfect way to wash away the aftertaste of an Albertan PC landslide (with some bright spots, actually)

To my loyal public, I have to apologise for my last post, which was probably the most boring thing I’ve ever written. If this blog devolves into a review of blogging software, all is lost, and I’ll be the first person to admit it.

Luckily, interesting things–besides new web browsers, which, I know, aren’t all that interesting–have been happening recently. Too much interesting stuff. First, it’s time for me to acknowledge the 9000-pound elephant in the room (an average adult Indian elephant cow weighs 4500kg, so the next time somebody refers to “the 2000 pound elephant in the room,” ask them where they found such a tiny elephant) and talk about the recent Alberta election.

Okay, my side lost, big time. The final tally was 72 PC (that’s “Progressive Conservative,” for you Americans, not the other PC, or the other other PC), 9 Liberal, 2 New Democrat, 0 Green, 0 Wild Rose Alliance. This despite a predicted breakout for the Liberals, who saw their seats decrease from 16. NDs lose official party status, and we now have “King Eddie” at the helm for at least four years and likely much, much longer. What’s a loyal, generally optimistic “Grit” (”Grit” is slang for “Liberal”; not sure where it comes from… and Wikipedia comes to the rescue) to do?

I try to be a “glass is half full” person, and part of that is managing the fact that I’ve been on the outside of the political majority just about my whole life, in one way or another. Even my tenure in Ontario was during a conservative government there. And I’ve survived and haven’t gone native and switched my allegiances. Anyway, here are my “silver linings”:

1. Central Calgary is now one Liberal bloc: We won Calgary Currie (my riding, south of downtown, which was already liberal since the last election), Buffalo (which comprises all of downtown proper), and Mountain View (which comprises the neighbourhood just north of downtown). I like this, since I’ve almost always been sequestered in small- or large-l “liberal” strongholds, and it suits me to live this way. Calgary had one Liberal MLA when we moved here, then NONE, then three, then four, and now five (with Varsity and McCall, in the NW university area and the ethnically diverse, immigrant-majority NE). Still a minority, but as long as I can feel with increasing confidence that my neighbourhood exemplifies what’s Canadian and urban, I’m happy. That’s positive change.

2. The Wild Rose Alliance, which was selling itself and being sold as the “real” conservative alternative, was repudiated. They got votes, yes, but did not and will probably never get enough outside of a core of social conservatives (who are in no way shape or form a majority in this province, no matter what the rest of the country is committed to believing). They had one seat in the last legislature; now they have zero, and I’m happy about that.

3. I really don’t see this election as an affirmation or a mandate for the PCs. I see it more as an expression of the willingness of the voting Albertans (more on the “voting” part in a minute) to give the Stelmach government the opportunity for a try-out. Stelmach was not an elected Premier; he became Premier when he was voted in as PC party leader last year. Now, maybe, his support will grow or erode under the auspices of a “real” administration. To be honest, and I hate to admit this publicly, I don’t despise Stelmach the same way I despised Ralph Klein and his corrupt, bullying incompetence. Stelmach did some nice things: The province-wide smoking ban for one; refusing to demean same-sex marriage for another; in American terms, he’s actually a bit left of centre. But that doesn’t mean I’m voting for him; it just means I’m not as depressed as I could be.

4. This is not a “mandate” for Stelmach for another important reason: Nobody voted. Well, 41% of voters did, and the ones that did were OLD (Brian and I saw this firsthand at the polling place- sheesh!), and old people in Alberta remember the NEP and still see “Liberal” as “poison.” Yes, they’re idiots who cannot understand the difference between a provincial party in 2008 and a federal one in 1980, but they vote, so they make the rules. I have a conspiracy theory about this: Voters who’d vote against the ruling party are TAUGHT not to vote by media, local and national, who have a vested interest–the country as a whole has this interest–in Alberta remaining conservative. This has the effect of cowing people who’d vote for change because, and we’re told this from day 1 moving here, “there’s no point.” There IS a point; strategic voting would work in the cities at least, and we CAN change this province. Albertans are no more small-c conservative than average Canadians on any any issue except maybe Kyoto (and can you blame them?); Calgarians look exactly like Torontonians on social issues (they did on same-sex marriage but the media never told anybody, because the media NEED Calgary and Alberta to accept the myth about themselves or else regime changes and poof goes cheap subsidized oil); we DO have the power. I wish more people understood this.

So go matters political. Now, Brian and I went to see Sage Theatre’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch last night at the Pumphouse.

Last night (a Thursday, mind) was, like most of its performances, sold out. The film version is one that we both love, a lot, fantastic rock score and a great story, but it was originally a play, and I was curious how it would look.

And we both loved this production! It works beautifully, despite–maybe because of–being staged in the small confines of the Doolittle Theatre space at Pumphouse. It’s basically a concert peppered with monologue, and the actor cast as Hedwig (Geoffrey Ewert) really channeled John Cameron Mitchell well, right down to his body type. He also had a great voice. In even better voice was Jamie Konchak as Yitzhak, superb singer. The animations were done by a local artist, not copied from the film, and there are a lot of local references (”Tommy Gnosis is playing at the Pengrowth Saddledome right this minute”) to keep track of. I found this a cleansing and emotional experience, and not only because there are some songs in Hedwig that cause me to lose it, “Midnight Radio” especially. It’s also because after another exercise in apathy with this week’s election and being told, again, how “conservative” we all are here, to sit through some ribald, queer-friendly theatre in a packed house felt like baptism to me.

Joining the flock

I read about the demise of Netscape today, which makes me feel a little melancholic, since like a lot of Gen X-ers, I first discovered the real value of the “world wide web” on Mosaic and then on the must-have Netscape. But now like most people (it seems) I’ve abandoned, many months ago, MS Internet Explorer for Firefox (and now that I’m on a Mac, I can’t even choose IE if I wanted to), which was created by “the Mozilla group,” which itself comprised (I think) a bunch of folks downsized from AOL/Nestcape, and so the more things change etc.

Well among suggestions for people forced to abandon Netscape are for them to adopt Firefox, of course; another (which I had to find out for myself, actually) is for them to migrate to an “internet suite” called SeaMonkey, which is great for me since it has an almost-identical-to-Netscape’s HTML editor called “Composer.” I need this for uploading my course materials to my teaching site, and it’s nice to see that the learning curve for this new product will be nice and flat.

Another suggestion for the “Netscape community” is to try a new browser (albeit one with the same “engine” as Firefox) called Flock. It’s interesting, because it integrates all these features from social networking sites–facebook, myspace, flickr, youtube, the whole damn web 2.0 social world–into the browser; this means… well actually I’m not entirely sure, but I can have my facebook friends and their status updates and such in a sidebar on my browser 24/7. How this is going to help me, I dunno, but one thing I like is that there is a photo upload applet built right into the browser that lets me (I think) upload pics to my facebook page, and even cooler is that I can create and upload blog posts from a standalone blog editor, which is what I am doing right now.

Flock also quite seamlessly absorbed my Firefox bookmarks and cookies, which is cool and which I could not do with Safari (the Mac browser from Apple- which is a superbly fast browser but with too little of the firefox bells and whistles, especially an addictive thing called Stumble Upon and its associated toolbar that everybody should avoid because it’s too much fun). So this should be an interesting test drive.

I joined another sort of FLOCK today because Brian and I went to a rally for the Alberta Liberals at Crossroads Market (link at “places I like”), which is the more depressing of the two year-round farmers’ markets in Calgary. I say “depressing” because Crossroads has–in addition to a nice assortment of fruit/veg, very good and well-priced meat and cheese sellers, and excellent little “food court” with, among other things, Turkish-style bureks–a very sad “flea market” with just the most depressing bunch of trailer-trash accouterments being sold- blankets with Harley logos, paperbacks, cheap imported garbage. ANYway, the rally was upstairs in the “Artspace,” a great art market that COMPLETELY makes the flea market seem out of place and doubly skanky, and there were hundreds of people there. Very inspiring. Do I think the Grits are going to win? Not a chance, but I do have high hopes that they’ll take more seats and that we’ll continue to evolve a meaningful opposition in Alberta.

We picked up a tonne of produce at Crossroads (Chongo’s Produce there), including big, SWEET strawberries from Cali I assume but really, really delicious. On the way home we stopped at Bite Groceteria again (note previous post about this wonderful little foodie boutique) and scored some Italian jarred tuna with hot peppers (a sample sold me, good enough to eat straight out of the jar in one expensive sitting) among other things; we then had one of the best sweet things I’ve ever, ever tasted at Nectar Desserts; ’twas a dark choco and caramel tart, which B and I split. Completely amazing. THEN we headed downtown to Caffe Artigiano for two traditional macchiatos and split a smoked turkey panino, which CA does on cranberry sourdough, a beautiful sandwich.

Great day for body and mind! And the weather continues to astound. The tulips are a good 5cm out of the ground now.

Happy March!

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