Quaintrelle Weekender
Five tips to a better weekend.
Welcome to Quaintrelle Weekender.
This is a short list of things I am currently loving to make eating, drinking, and hosting easier and a lot more interesting.
To Serve:
Popcorn and Champagne
It never ceases to amuse me how a host can put out piles of fresh oysters, overflowing platters of cheese and charcuterie, and piping hot things stuffed in delicate puff pastry… and what will always go first and fastest is the chips.
Try this for your next cocktail hour: freshly popped popcorn, drenched in good butter, sprinkled with truffle salt, and topped with a snowfall of shaved parmesan. Serve with brut (dry) sparkling wine. It’s magical.
Stock Up:
From stock pots to salt and pepper shakers, this is where the Toronto’s top chefs shop. Don’t expect Tap Phong to offer the luxurious bells and whistles a high-brow Williams Sonoma experience, but then again, don’t expect to remortgage your house for a frying pan. The unadorned, fluorescent lit Tap Phong is smack-dab in the centre of Chinatown and carries the same energy of the frenetic neighbourhood: workers shouting in their native tongues; hungover, tattooed cooks shopping for kitchen gear amongst teetering shelves, and the deal-seeking shoppers – wide-eyed and somewhat shell-shocked at the ensuing chaos – squeezing through overflowing aisles. But it’s all in good fun, so eat a gummy, grab your credit card, and dive right in.
Staying In:
I recently just binged Funny Woman, a British dramedy set in the 1960’s about a girl from Blackpool trying to make it the glitzy showbiz world of London. Of course, as a drop-dead knockout, people dismiss her as stupid and vapid, forcing her to get really clever for what she wants and deserves. A great story based on the Nick Hornby novel, with captivating set design and FOMO-inducing costumes.
Going Out:
This is entirely self-serving, but a girl’s gotta eat.
Winos, foodies… you’ve got to get to Wine School.
If you’re looking to increase your hosting confidence, learn modern ideas for entertaining, recipes to make your dinners so much better, and wines and cocktails to just make you feel like a superstar, Wine School is the place to be.
April 17 – Pasta Making and Wine Pairing. Roll up your sleeves and get flour-y! Learn to make fool-proof pasta and enjoy a paired wine tasting.
May 15 – The Art of the Cocktail Party. Shake up a classic cocktail, learn three back-pocket appetizer recipes for easy entertaining, and get crowd pleasing wine pairings.
May 22 – Wine + Pasta. No work in this workshop! Sit back, relax, and try four different pastas to different wines. Recipes will be given.
June 5 – Wine for Chicken, Beef, or Fish. Ever notice a wine – any wine – is always described as going well with those three things? Slow your role, wine lover! We need to know the preparation, sauces, and spices before deciding if it works or not. Try two preparations of each chicken, beef, and fish, paired to wines to see what works, and what doesn’t.
Conversation Starter:
I’ve recently subscribed to Oldster on the Substack platform. I love it.
Author Sari Botton celebrates the rebellious act of aging in a society that firmly digs its heels in to do anything but. My favourite is a weekly series that asks interesting people, some famous, some not, about their reflections on getting old. Some of these people are approaching 90, some are as young as 50. One of the most popular, understandably, is the interview with writer Elizabeth Gilbert who, at 54 (maybe 55 by now), is living a life completely on her own terms. Yes, she’s wildly wealthy and has the unimaginable privilege to be able to work from anywhere in the world on her own time and at her own pace, but regardless of her fortunate status, her reflections on life had me thinking. I might write further on that in a future newsletter, I’d love to know your thoughts.
