Mock Turtle

Next casualty of the recession: spas. Any place whose doors I’ve darkened in the last ten years has been in touch over recent months; some highlights from this week:

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It’s time to set some new rules around use of the phrase “in this economy.”

Rule number one: If the extra fee you’re talking about can be counted on your hands, “in this economy” does not apply.

Example, courtesy the Star:

Cathy Dernick’s eyes widen in surprise as she learns that come June 1, she’s supposed to start charging customers at her north Toronto women’s clothing shop five cents for every plastic shopping bag they use.

“I didn’t know that,” says Dernick, then adds: “Poop. In this economy.”

Her customers are buying clothes. And they’re going to care about 5 or 10 extra cents?

We need more rules to rein this in. More suggestions/examples?

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Several weeks after the first case of secondary transmission in Canada, and a few hundred hundred “mild” cases of flu later, the Ontario government issues new guidance for clinicians. Key changes:

- health care workers now to wear N-95 mask and eye protection when examining all patients with influenza-like illness (ILI); last guidance (April 28) only recommended this for patients will Mexico travel history

- specimens for laboratory testing now mandatory for patients with moderate to severe ILI; previously, no testing was required for patients without travel history.

- However, they’d rather not know about every case of novel H1N1, thank you very much… there is no mandatory reporting and no mandatory testing of those with “mild” influenza. The basic message: we got it — it’s spreading like wildfire. There’s no way to control it, so let us know if you notice anything weird.

Comparing the April 28th guidance with the May 19 guidance provides a pretty good indication that the new flu has been, most likely, underreported in Ontario. While 284 cases were confirmed by lab testing by yesterday, and the majority of those had no connection to Mexico, it’s just a fluke that most of those cases were tested, since there was no guidance suggesting doctors should do anything other than pat patients on the head.

Many will argue that, with this illness being so mild and all, neglect can only be benign. I don’t agree. For one thing, the “mild” flu knocks many people out for weeks. For another, the less accurate the guidance, and the more laissez-faire the treatment advice, the more cases like this. And this.

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Who to believe? Yesterday, infectious disease expert Allison McGeer of Mount Sinai Hospital told the Canadian Press she is starting to “question the delusion that this was actually going to quiet down and we weren’t going to have a first wave” of cases as weather got warmer. Today, she tells CP24 the level of flu activity is, unusually, increasing right now: “I suppose it could shut itself off at any given time. But the last couple of days look like we’re going to see a (flu) season.”

But if it’s a delusion, it’s one still firmly held by the head of the Public Health Agency David Butler-Jones, who tells Canadian Press today that “It looks at this point like we’re over the worst of it in Canada for this season.”

Also of interest in yesterday’s CP story, this assertion from an influenza expert from the University of Michigan:

“I think in addition you have far more transmission in Canada than anyone is saying — it’s not just imported cases and circles around imported cases.”

Will be interesting to see if anyone follows up on this.

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From a Star story on tonight’s Tamil protest. Emphasis added:

Dave Crowell, a Grade 8 teacher with his class on a field trip from Saskatchewan to study citizenship and immigration, explained to his class the right to protest.

“At the moment we live in a democracy,” he said he told them. “This is a peaceful demonstration. This is how a minority group makes a statement.”

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As the Tamil blockade of the Gardiner continued on Sunday night, Twitterers reacted to Bill Blair’s warning that the expressway could possibly still be closed the following morning. For a good approximation of the dominant fear-mongering, largely xenophobic tone of messages posted, see Christie Blatchford in today’s Globe. Here’s a lazier example:

No kidding. I’m not surprised. We’d all like to see peace in SL, but I’m afraid this group is losing support fast in T.O.10:17 PM May 10th from Tweetie in reply to XXX

I particularly like the insouciance of “We’d all like to see peace in SL”, as if a. the Twitterer would give it a moment’s thought if continued Tamil protests hadn’t brought the issue to a place of prominence in media coverage and b. it’s just another nice-to-have that we’ve all, at some time, vaguely daydreamed about (presumably taking place somewhere far, far from any Toronto-area thoroughfare).

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This is a variation on a basic tomato-based pan sauce. Serves 3-4 over pasta of your choice.

Boil approx. 1/2 cup water in kettle and pour into small bowl over one package dried porcini mushrooms until mushrooms are covered — it probably will not take all the water to cover the mushrooms.

Chop one medium-sized onion and two cloves garlic. Fry in olive oil at medium-low heat until softened. Add one 28 oz. can Roma tomatoes, drained — I recommend the Unico San Marzano style tomatoes, which have some of the taste of Italy without the additional consumption of petrochemicals associated with the importation of actual Italian tomatoes. Whether or not you drain the tomatoes is up to you but in my experience it’s really a matter of how long it takes for the liquid to boil off — and you’re about to add more liquid at the next step.

Cut 4 slices prosciutto into small pieces — supermarket brands such as President’s Choice will do fine for these purposes. Add to sauce with reconstituted mushrooms and broth. Season according to taste — we usually use oregano and/or marjoram.

Boil down sauce until enough liquid evaporates — to taste, but I generally prefer a thicker sauce. Serve over pasta of choice, topped with grated parmesan if desired.

[Note: I have never made this sauce exactly as described, because only one of us likes Porcini mushrooms enough to have them dominate the whole sauce. Though probably it would not be as dominant if I were putting the mushrooms in the whole sauce as opposed to only one serving...]

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In case anyone missed it: BruceR is home safe and sound after eight months as an intelligence officer on the staff of an ANA brigade in Kandahar province, and is blogging up a storm.

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The Cappellaccio Aglianico Riserva 2004 I briefly raved about earlier was released at Vintages on May 2, and is still widely available throughout Toronto Central (though not at Manulife, apparently). We uncorked a bottle at dinner last night and — perhaps predictably — we gave it a rave review. It’s a rich dark tannic (and somewhat alcoholic) red, which needs a while to open up (give it at least half an hour in a decanter). It has a nose of  baked mincemeat, plums, oak, toast, and a hint of organicity to keep it interesting — maybe black olive. Med+ body, tannins, and acid; good balance and avg+ finish. It’s a good group dinner wine — ideal for smoked meats, charcuterie or rich meat dishes. It was perhaps a bit more than was needed for our tomato-prosciutto-(optional) porcini pasta but frankly I am not complaining.

It’s also pretty impressive after being pumped and left for a day in the fridge — similar mincemeat and plum profile once it warms up, just missing a bit of complexity.

It’s a bit pricey both cash and alcohol-wise at $17.95 and 13.5%. But still a great deal for a red under $20.

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Did the 80 layoffs at the Globe include all the copy editors? From Joanne Kates’ review of Globe Bistro this morning:

Despite evidence to the contrary, some people are afraid of eating pork.

Come again?

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