The Blork Blog

The Red Cross of Canada accepts online donations (Visa or Mastercard) here. Cash (credit card) donations are the best way to help during a crisis like the earthquake/tsunami situation in Asia. It puts resources in the hands of relief workers right away, with little or no delay.
The coastline areas affected by the tsunami are devastated, […]

I’ve posted a review of the "limited edition" Sleeman’s Fine Porter over at A Good Beer Blog.
In the review I mention that a pot of chili was bubbling away on the stove as I tippled. Actually, it was a pan of chili, to be precise. A big, well-seasoned, cast iron pan that I’ve been using […]

Oh, great. Now even my dreams get unwanted advertising.
Early this morning I had a flash of a dream in which I saw the corner of a New Orleans-style hotel. A professional broadcaster’s voice said “Independently owned! Personalized service!” Then this really ugly guy appeared, wearing glasses, and he said with a Southern drawl, “I’ll come […]

We planned our Christmas dinner well, so there were not so many leftovers. Enough turkey for about four sandwiches and some chunks that are good for dropping into soup. There was also a big pile of mashed potatoes (I made and froze two shepherd’s pies today), some green beans (into tonight’s soup) and some (un)stuffing […]

Martine and I played host to her family for Christmas-eve dinner again this year. We planned a full-on turkey fest for ten adults and three kids. This is only the second time we’ve fed so many people, and we hoped things would go smoothly.
Things got off to a promising start. For one thing, I didn’t […]

Last year about this time I complained about those tarty Bratz dolls in a post titled "Ho for the Holidays." This year, The Sneeze has a tarty toy reference under the same title, over here.
2004’s holiday ho is none other than Tinkerbell! Upon further consideration, however, I think Tinkerbell is far less of a ho […]

Sunday night was cold outside but cozy indoors. In the kitchen a big pot of beef stew was bubbling away in a terracotta cocotte in the oven. I had used Guinness and beef stock as a base, and lots of aromatic onions in with the beef and vegetables and herbs, so the fragrance was wafting […]