The above was the scene from our roof. Our hearts sank. We couldn’t tell for sure which house it was, but the street is filled with young families and with elderly people. And it was too close for comfort. After snapping a few pictures I headed downstairs to join the growing crowd.

It seems there was some sort of bbq mishap on the roof. After the owner finished with the bbq in the backyard – not sure if it was all shut off - he flicked a cigarette under the porch and the embers lit up the porch (CityTV), spreading upward and to the neighbouring house (CP24 story). At some point I do believe that the propane tank blew up as well. Fortunately, everybody got out of the house in short order, nobody was hurt. The damage to the house was extensive. As of this writing it still stood, the fire was out, but the work continues. Fire Command isn’t going anywhere yet. One neighbouring house apparently has notable damage, although I don’t know how notable. Not super serious, it would seem. The other neighbouring house seems to have minimal damage; fortunately that couple had moved into an apartment to make renovations easier – work that was supposed to start very soon.

It was wild to see the firefighters and police at work. They are a calm, cool and collected bunch. For them it’s probably just another fire. They know their jobs and they do them very well. For us it’s the story of the day, month, perhaps year.

And just to be absolutely clear, we’re all fine. We were never in any danger.

> We haven’t done much posting, and none at all since February (in part because we just didn’t and in part because it didn’t make sense in the middle of all of the rest of what I’ll write)
> It got hacked. A bunch of spam links were added to posts but in a way where the links were hidden. About the time we figured out what was going on, the posts started disappearing.
> We were overloaded in comment spam. This broke the databases that power the blog.
> We were using WAY outdated blogging software. We were bracing ourselves for a nasty upgrade process from WordPress 1.5.x to 2.7.x but were pleasantly surprised at the ease with which we went to 2.6. Still have to get to 2.7, but that should be easy. (Famous last words)
> We thought we wanted to move the blog to pastabroccoli.net/blog. We DID move the blog. Then we changed our minds. Oops. But now we’re back where we should be.
> We welcomed our son, Maxence, into the world on April 6th. No complaints. But thinking about fixing our blog took a back seat for a while. That didn’t stop us from posting photos and videos, though!

But as of right now, 5:15pm Toronto time on April 22nd, we’re in good shape. The blog is where we want it, running current (if not the absolute latest) software, I have enabled a powerful spam blocker, cleared hidden spam from posts and even restored the formerly-hiding posts. Sound like a mouthful? Sorry. But I’ve learned a lot in the process.

So, next steps…
> Finish the upgrade to 2.7.x. Like I say, this should be easy (knock on wood). I just won’t do it until I make another backup that includes this post :)
> Change the look. We have a much different online presence now thanks to Twitter (riam and jft), the blogging I do on blogTO, Facebook and so on. Plus we want to feature photos and videos and our current space to do that is too narrow. Hopefully it won’t be too long before you start noticing some changes, and improved usability.
> Blog about life with Max!! We both have been inspired to write, but it wasn’t really possible in the middle of all this mess. But now there are no more excuses.

So bear with us (mostly me) as we make some changes, and if you find anything that seems weird, wrong or not working, definitely let us know.

In any case, I’ve gone live again over on blogTO. I’ll be handling the Morning Brew for the next several weeks, and I posted a review of a nice new bakery a couple blocks up the street from us.

But enough blogging for the morning. I’ve got a ham bone in the fridge and split peas to get…. mmmm… no blog can come between me and my split pea soup.

Happy Thanksgiving!

As I sit and write this, at work, I must admit (shhh!), I don’t find it as weird to be at work on Thanksgiving as I thought I would. But it is definitely not a normal feeling to know that I don’t have a giant pile of ads to look through, a leisurely lounge-y morning ahead of me, and a big dinner with family and/or friends tonight. American (real!) Thanksgiving isn’t really acknowledged here, and although I’m sure there are some groups of Americans who get together, plenty more head south of the border. Even some Canadians have their eyes southward, fixed on tomorrow’s big sales.

Even though we could have joined a group like Democrats Abroad tonight for a traditional turkey meal, we went a different direction. We talked about a couple different options, but renée and I (and to be fair, it was my choice as the American) settled on Silver Spoon. We haven’t been in a while, and the dedication to local, organic and/or seasonal seemed all to appropriate for Thanksgiving. Without my knowledge renée contacted Chef Rocco to see if he could do anything Thanksgiving-y; apparently, a pumpkin tart is on the menu and he’ll see what he can do with an amuse or appetizer. We’re looking forward to the meal quite a bit.

I also must admit that even though I love Thanksgiving more than any other holiday, the Canadians have the time of year a little bit better figured out. Since I still think theirs is too early, I think ours should be moved up a bit. The problem, of course, would be the extended Christmas shopping season, but think of the good fresh stuff available in the northern climes a couple weeks ago versus now. But alas, there’s no point in trying to move mountains – or at least, not this one – and I still love Thanksgiving and all its trappings. I love the long weekend, the kick-off of the holiday season, and even the uniquely American tradition of absurd shopping habits on still overly-stuffed stomachs. It doesn’t hurt that, as one blogger I read puts it, Thanksgiving is “the most adored food holiday in all the land.”

Weirdest of all, of course, is that for the first time in my life – and quite sincerely, I hope the last – I will not be with my parents and sister. Although I will be with my (growing) family, not being with the family I grew up with means it won’t be a perfect holiday. rIAm and I don’t know for sure where life will take us, or you, but we are firm in our conviction that we really want to be stateside for future Thanksgivings. Although it did occur to us that it could be great fun for you to come to us sometime, one day, but that’s just an idea and maybe we’ll think more about it some year.

So on this day of Thanksgiving, I’ll share with you that I am vey thankful for many things. I have all I could need and am particularly grateful that I am confident renée and I can weather the economic storm in the face of bringing our first child into the world, which, of course, is what I’m most thankful for: an expanding family, and one that seems to be as healthy (and active!) as possible. I am surrounded in my life by wonderful family and friends, and indeed, what else could a person want?

Lots of love-
Be well,
jft

We’ve cooked some great meals – I discovered grilling cauliflower gets a wonderful tandoor-like flavour – and explored our neighbourhood, as well as eating at some of Toronto’s finest restaurants and catching a Toronto FC game. And, of course, we’ve done a lot to set up our apartment.

It’s been so nice to have a place of our own again. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed – despite some frustrating moments and trips to Home Hardware – assembling, installing and otherwise being the handyman. There’s one towel bar up that isn’t going to go anywhere. Ever. There’s a kitchen shelf I just hope holds after so many failed attempts, but I feel good about the chances. And there’s a wardrobe that I hope I can just sell to the next occupants one day. But there’s also the Tibetan prayer flags adorning our bay window, recipe books filling out two of Billy’s shelves and “new” vintage furniture we’re enjoying.

So amongst all of these rewarding pursuits I have just lately found some time to blog (the above link goes to one post on blogTO) and tonight I wrote about a local woman who decided that she should put in an eco driveway, and her story is simply wonderful. I gave her a call to get some photos and it was such a pleasant conversation; she seems so down to earth despite having some of the biggest names on the internet featuring her prominently.

I haven’t forgotten about our pastabroccoli readers; thanks for checking the site. I hope to have more regular content here in the coming weeks and months, with a “tour” of our new place on the short list.

The idea is to compare what a week’s worth of groceries costs and consists of for families in several countries.

That the American family featured spent $341.98 was not surprising. And while the difference is arresting, it was also not surprising that a family in Chad spent a mere $1.23.

Economic disparities aside (and after visiting in some very poor places, believe me, I’m not forgetting those disparities), something else is striking.

More money spent on groceries does not mean more food, it means more (perceived) convenience. And if anything, it means worse food. In fact, the poorest families actually eat (percent-wise, at least) more fresh fruits and vegetables.

Check it out for yourself.

The poorer families (or at least the ones spending less), actually have more real food. The photos are filled with fruits, vegetables, rice and grains. And while the Mexican family would do well to reduce or eliminate their Coca-Cola intake, it’s clear that the American family stands out as being the only one filled with junk food, and an appalling lack of fruits, vegetables and other fresh food.

Obviously these photos are not a picture of every family in each society, but they are also not aberrations. The Italian family’s food reflects choices that are based on a food culture that has been developing for centuries. It involves lots of fresh foods.

So many American families eat the junk food and products that make claims to fast, easy meals because they are supposed to be cheaper, and easier, than cooking from fresh ingredients. It’s primarily Americans (and maybe Canadians, who aren’t pictured) who have bought into this idea. Local plantains carry the day in Ecuador. Fresh vegetables win in Egypt. The Mediterranean diet persists. And so on.

I understand that this web page is not a scientific study, that it is merely one piece of information related to a topic that is much bigger. But it is reflective of the bigger issue. The notion that to get dinner on the table we need to order pizza, grab Burger King or start meals from a box, or the idea that we can’t afford or don’t need or don’t have time to use fresh fruits and vegetables has been cultivated in this society by the major “food” companies. Our sense of what is good to eat has been perverted.

Looking around the world you can find many different diets (I don’t mean of the Atkins kind), and many ways of eating and balancing foods. There is not a single best way, such as “French” or “Mediterranean” or “Japanese.” But you can point the finger at America and see that there clearly is a wrong way. Land of the free, home of the obese.

For all of the effort and money that has gone into fighting the tobacco companies, the food companies have caused harm just as bad or worse with none of the repercussion. They will be the next target. Nonetheless, an entire culture has lost its way with what food is, with what we, as human beings, should be eating. Yes, it’s a matter of personal choice – and plenty of Americans are now choosing fresh, real food – but each food “innovation” comes at a price. A very high price.

I grew up with a homemade dinner on the table virtually every night of the week. Sometimes it may have been leftovers; one time-saving strategy for two working parents my mom used was to make a lot of food on the weekend or days she had the time. It may have been re-heated, but it was still homemade, good food. There was always at least one vegetable, and no meal was complete without a salad. We read labels; there were always fresh fruit and vegetables in the house. Everything may not have been made from scratch, but it was close.

My in-laws are the same, and perhaps even more so. They go through a lot of pasta, but you will never see a jar of sauce (unless it’s been made by the nonni). Meat or fish during the week is done simply and easily, without the assistance of Hamburger Helper. The reality is that it doesn’t take long to put some fish fillets in a baking pan, coat them in a bit of olive oil, bread crumbs, garlic and parsley, and then put them in the oven. Similarly, it takes almost no time at all to slice up some chicken breast, toss it in bbq sauce, and put that in the oven. Vegetables cook quickly; salad is a cinch when you wash all the lettuce on the weekend and only have to grab what you need for the nightly salad.

I’m not advocating fancy meals every night. But in one hour or less you can put a very good, very fresh and even healthy meal on the table. It may take a little more planning and a change in buying habits, but it’s worth it. It’s better for you and the planet, and better still, the result is tastier meals.

(click above to try it for yourself; report back here in comments)

-Dr. Wayne Dyer, during an appearance on the Ellen show.