This weekend we were sporting the 2024 Lincoln Corsair Grand Touring, a vehicle we recall fondly, having driven the 2023 model the year before.
A sporty and rugged SUV on the outside, with a minimal approach on the inside. A simple dashboard, which includes their unique, hovering, double tiered gear shift and control panel in one. Everything you use regularly within reach.
The Corsair‘s wood grain finish and triple stitch beige leather trim gives it a luxury feel that aligns with the premium quality speakers, the massaging seats, and the auto air fresh function for better in-cabin air quality.
I appreciated the ability to adjust the seat electronically for a more customized feel, and the extra firm lumbar, for greater support. However, was disappointed by how weak the massage setting was. The above buttons are located on the door for both the driver and front seat passenger, so there was no need to hunt to have your massage on, which you will undoubtedly want to turn on as soon as your butt hits that seat.
Although, despite increasing the strength to the max, and selecting a would be stronger massage setting, I hardly felt the promised rolling, pulsing, or kneading. If it wasn’t for the minor movement you wouldn’t know the massage function was even activated.
We liked the look of the handsome two-toned driving wheel, which included discrete manual trigger and cruise control functions, under the wheel and at your literal fingertips. Like the wheel, the drive was a comfortable one, designed to make the driver’s life easier. Plenty of power and quick braking; this was effortless driving.
And the 2024 Lincoln Corsair Grand Touring proved to be the ideal companion for our weekend of errands and multiple stops. Plenty of in city traffic to having us concluding that the fuel economy was one of the best, and we even saved more on gas compared to last year’s model. This is mostly helped by the Corsair’s hybrid engine and its regenerative braking to help charge the battery, so long as you turn on the store battery energy setting upon the start of each drive. And for those with the capability, you even have the option to plug-in and charge at home. This compact sedan is ideal for those who live near where they work.
This weekend one of us was nursing a hangover, so we kept our activities pretty tame, looking for a more relaxing time.
On Saturday, we helped to host a candy themed pool party, celebrating Haribo’s, newest gummies, the Tropifrutti. The goal was to usher in summer and beckon tropical vibes. I welcomed the guests and tended to the gummy tasting station, where I walked everyone through an interactive experience. Here, we tapped into their five senses, and highlighted the 6 different flavours and their taste profiles. But more on that in its own separate post.
This was a 3 hour commitment of socializing in the sun of a roof hotel rooftop pool, that surprisingly left us tired. So much so that we decided to call the rest of the day off.
On the way home, we stopped in Chinatown to fulfill one of our common craves. The same things we always get whenever we are in the area. At Chinatown BBQ we got our usual order of two meats on rice: barbecue pork and soy sauce chicken; and one meat on rice with roasted pork. Plus, all the available sauces from their sweet soy to the ginger and green onion mix for the chicken, their duck sauce, and even packets of plum sauce. It is our favourite spot for Chinese style barbecue, and we have yet to find anywhere else that does it better.
And seeing as we were at Chinatown barbecue, it only made sense to stop at New Town Bakery, a few doors down for some buns to go. Similar to Chinatown barbecue, I have yet to find another steamed bun shop that makes their buns as good as New Town. I am specifically talking about their big bun with pork, chicken, barbecue pork, ham, and a salted egg. I can eat three of these back to back, in one sitting, and will be a happy camper for it. We picked up three of these, one barbecue pork steamed bun, one barbecue pork baked bun, one baked chicken bun, and two egg tarts.
After finishing our early dinner of Chinese barbecue, we shared an egg tart for dessert. Then we tackle the buns as a late night snack, one baked one steamed each. Then, the next morning finished the last two steamed big buns for breakfast.
This took us to Sunday, where after sleeping early, waking up to snack, and then going back to sleep again; we caught up on the rest we needed and felt a lot more lively for it. We met up with Monkey Joyce at one of our favourite retro bar/restaurant: Mount Pleasant Vintage & Provisions to take in their new Sunday Funday feature. More on this in its own dedicated post.
We played some games, sipped on cocktails, and enjoyed a share lunch of Asian fusion plates.
Then in order to keep with the retro theme, we sought out coffee at a near by shop. It too was branded with a white, yellow, and brown logo.
TV dinner is a cafe with made to order hot and cold caffeinated beverages, baked goods; and a collection of canned, bottled, and frozen food stuffs from local businesses. Not the literal frozen TV dinners, but dishes that are frozen and that you can purchase for dinner. More about this in its own post.
As we wrapped up our day out, we decided to stop by the grocery store for some ingredients for dinner. We made a quick stop at the nearby No Frills, after picking up local tortilla shells and salsa verde from TV dinner’s marketplace. We decided to have tacos for dinner and now needed steak, onions, and cilantro; plus some tortilla chips to round out the meal. We got everything we needed, loaded it up into the trunk and headed towards home.
Once showered and settled in for the night, we marinated our steak and allowed it to sit. As I prepared a couple of mango & lime tequila cocktails featuring Cazadores blanco with a tajin rim and a drizzle of chamoy.
A recipe with ingredients gifted, that included a taco recipe by celebrity Chef Aaron Sanchez.
The cocktail was a zesty and savoury tropical mix that would have went well with our tacos, were we able to sip it slow.
Instead, we took our cocktails outside, to enjoy in the cooler weather of the backyard. There, we hung out and chatted until we created a fun drinking game that combined catch, horse, and the need to drink if you dropped the lighter we were tossing back and forth.
This took us to dinner, with enough time for our skirt steak to marinade in a mix of fresh oregano, garlic, and lime juice.
We didn’t have access to a grill so after a heavy coating of salt and pepper on each side, we took our meat to a cast iron pan. Once browned we removed it from heat and allowed it to rest, as we began giving our frozen tortillas a good char and sear in the same pan.
Then it was time to build our tacos. We would follow the gist of Aaron Sanchez’s recipe, but make it our own with the addition of mayonnaise (as I put that condiment on any and every sandwich, burger, or wrap) as a moistening agent and to provide a nice balancing tang. We also grilled up some pineapple and watermelon slices and topped each with with some tajin, leftover from the rim job above. We found it a complimentary tie-in to the cocktails. This was a tasty meal we gobbled down before winding down for the night with the latest episodes of “The Boys” and “House of the Dragon”.
