Yesterday I met up with a friend for drinks and dinner at a place called Coca - it was inspiring. Very much a tapas bar but they do things right, like making their own bregoala (a cured outside round of beef). They had citrus cured olive that was very tasty and a cider braised sausage (I think they called it a chorizo but it was unlike a typical Spanish/Portuguese style). We had a cheap and cheerful bottle of plonk. Later on an old high school friend showed up at the bar (he manages the restaurant across the street) and tequila shots were in order. Needless to say, not such a good idea after a hard day's work. Fortunately I remembered this lotion that a friend recommended to us called Traumeel, so I bought it and put it on my shoulder - by God it really worked and thankfully made the day a little easier.

Today we received an elk from one farmer and a New Zealand red deer from another, both organically raised. The deer is fed winter grass (dry) and carrots. The meat was so tender I could have used a butter knife to clean it. This is the first farmed dear that I have broken down so I took a picture of it. The stripes on the back were really beautiful. I hope we can work with this product again.

I cooked a flat iron steak from the butcher the other day for me and the kids. It was dry and purple and smelled great - like you could just take a chunk out of it fresh from the butcher paper. I paired it with some leftover mashed potatoes and braised onions, and made for a scrumptious quick dinner. We don't often eat red meat so it was nice to see the kids both enjoy a steak, especially one that was so good.

It seems that the Queen streetcar is getting worse. The cars are infrequent and jammed. I was left with the option to wait or walk today so I walked, even though I was tired. Not one streetcar passed in the 30 minutes. Karin asked me to pick up chicken breast for dinner tonight, I couldn't find any - the good thing is she really wanted chicken stock. [Karin states: the Queen streetcar has been like this FOREVER and it's just Mark's first experience waiting at rush hour - trust me Mark - FOREVER!!! I've walked from University and made it to Dufferin before another streetcar passed.]