I don't do lunch

One of our temps is leaving so I made the suggestion to take her out for lunch. I don't like to go out for lunch on workdays, it gets too rushed. Today was no exception. We went out for sushi, which I normally love, but an hour is not enough time to appreciate any sushi.

Tomorrow I get to go for french food twice, hopefully those will be more relaxed and more enjoyable.

Just when you think you've got it all worked out

Life decides to make you re-evaluate. No, this isn't some major deep thinking going on here. We needed to buy a new dishwasher, so we went to look. Found what we thought was a great deal for a Bosch dishwasher, but when it came time to pay the final deposit on it, it turned out the sales guy had not given us the correct amount when we first talked to him, and he also wouldn't back down and apologize for his error.

So we went elsewhere, and ended up at Sears. There was a Kenmore dishwasher for sale, and our first though was, not a Kenmore! That's so middle America. Still, we let the sale guy give his spiel, how Whirlpool makes both Kenmores and Kitchenaids, and showed us the stainless steel interior and the turbo wash feature. We ended up purchasing it with the thought of hanging our tails between our legs in shame.

When we went to unpack it, we found that lo and behold, there was no name on the front of the dishwasher, the only place you could see that it was a Kenmore, was a label just inside the door. And we thought we'd have to ask for a Bosch sticker to put over the Kenmore tag.

Something to be said about tradition

As I mentioned previously, we're going to try and take advantage of Dine Out Vancouver this year. We asked our friends to join us in the festivities, and they agreed. C made some suggestions of restaurants she had tried in the past, but hubby and I figured we'd like to go with something less trendy and has withstood the test of time.

Listening to the news this morning, they mentioned a shooting that happened at Gotham, a trendy restaurant located in the heart of downtown. Now I know that shootings can happen anywhere, anytime, but I think they're less likely to happen in places where people aren't there to be seen, and if I'm going to get caught in cross-fire, I'd rather be enjoying good food at reasonable prices.

Clash of the Titans?

I hear more and more these days about people ordering chai lattes. What the heck is that? Chai, according to the American Heritage dictionary is "A beverage made from spiced black tea, honey, and milk." Lattes, on the other hand, are "hot espresso with steamed milk, usually topped with foamed milk." So is a chai latte a coffee drink or a tea drink? I read, when I googled, someone describing it as chai tea with foamed milk on top. So to me, that's just a chai tea with foamy milk. How the heck does that make it into a latte? If I put foamed milk on top of my hot chocolate, does that make it a hot chocolate latte? Am I just being too obnoxious and persnickety about what should mean what?

Don't try this at home kids

I thought I'd try out a coconut muffin recipe today. It sounded good, really simple, as all muffin recipes are, and it would be good to have during coffee break.

It asked to toast coconut flakes in a 400F oven for 7 mins. No problem, I think to myself, I can sit down for 7 mins. I don't know if it's the type of coconut flakes I have, or what, but 7 mins later, I open the oven door and there's smoke coming out because the coconut is completely burnt. You'd think I'd know by now to check a little more frequently to see if it's burning or not.

Note to self: have more coffee before attempting baking.

I've found my dream site

It's called foodporn. And before you all start making assumptions about me (which are probably true anyway), I found it through an article in the NY Times. The article itself was about food stalls in Thailand, but they had made reference to the foodporn site (or something in the article had linked back to the foodporn site). But anyway, it's a wonderful site full of interesting links to other food sites.

So in case I am remiss in writing here for a while again, you can always go to that site and think of me.

It's been a while

I was told by a friend recently that it's probably a good idea to write something here, just so people know I'm still alive. So I'm here!

Not much to tell of late, baked probably 10 dozen cookies over the Christmas holidays of varying types (gingerbread, shortbread, neopolitan, christmas icebox, candy cane) to give away. This year, hubby put together the care packages; they looked way better than what I usually do, but there were also less cookies per package. More leftovers for me!

Our friends invited us for Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve get together, which was really nice. Instead of the normal turkey dinner for Christmas Eve, our lovely hostess set out a variety of finger foods ranging from goat's cheese with a lovely cranberry sauce to hot swedish meatballs. I love having meals like that, it provides for so much more variety and I probably end up eating more than I would during a regular meal.

We're headed to the Pacific Institute for Culinary Arts on Monday for dinner. They've got a special running right now, and looking at their menu, I can't wait to try it out. There's also Dine Out Vancouver coming up. We'll probably try at least one or two restaurants again this year. Hope we won't be as disappointed as we were going to C a few years ago. The food was alright, but the decor was just too @#$%^ pretentious for our taste

Three weeks of fun in the sun

Without having to go anywhere tropical even. It was hot and humid at my sister's place. Not her house, just the area, but a good time was had by all. Or at least sis and me; drinking every night (not to excess mind you, since sis can't take too much alcohol), baking up a storm (as always) and eating tons of good, organic food. She made some wonderful sticky buns, and we made carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, thumprint cookies with orange marmalade, and was it lemon cookies? I can't remember now, it's been a whole 3 days since I've been back. My dear b-i-l, a wonderful cook made some incredible congee, not once, but twice for us. I don't make it myself because I'd be eating it all by myself, but after having his, I'm thinking that might not be such a bad thing.

Hubby of course came back from Paris before I got back, and he came home with tons of chocolates. Absolutely to die for. His major binge: a 1kg Valhrona chocolate bar.

Hubby's also been making dinner while I'm taking my accounting (blech!) course, which is very sweet of him. We have very different styles, he and I, so it's best that we stay out of each other's way when the other person is cooking. Or maybe that's just me, I prefer to not cook with him.

He's also doing all the food shopping, which is also different from my style. He came home tonight with a big Costco size (I was being redundant, wasn't I?) container of ground black pepper. I asked him why and he said it was for when we needed large amounts. Me, I dont' believe in any pepper that's not freshly ground. It just doesn't taste the same, no matter what the bottle says about finest peppercorn and all that crap. He also brought home a box of grapes, which I would call table wine grapes. They're the type with seeds, and thick sour skins. And he thinks I can eat this at work?

I'll be happy when this course is over and I'm back to doing the kitchen things. It's more of a passion for me and I think I'll get some ethnic foods that way too.

Something deliciously fattening

Our friends had us over for a brunch on Sunday, and of course you have to bring something. I knew our friends would be making tons of meat (her hubby is a little carnivore) and I needed to clear out our fridge in anticipation of hubby and me taking trips. So after scouring the internet, I fell back on my favourite site, Epicurious.com for inspiration. Needless to say, they didn't disappoint. I followed the reviewer's suggestions in splitting the recipe in half, but made sure I followed the instructions of using a souffle dish to make the sundried tomato and pesto torta. Didnt' turn out quite as pretty as the picture shows, but hey, it tasted good and that's all that matters, right?

The rest of the food was fabulous too, but you can never go wrong, according to our Polish host, with sausages, pork, and potatoes. I have to agree with him on that one.

Cravings

I'm not liking anything I'm cooking these days. We had friends over last weekend, and they oohed and aahed over the food, but after they left, I was bored of it. I'm still fine with the cheeses and the spinach dip, but the roast pork, I wish I had given more away.

I'm craving what I'm not getting. A friend of mine told me about a chinese banquet she attended: cold plate, abalone, lots and lots of seafood, fried rice with two types of sauces. Made my mouth water just to hear about it. I guess it's cuz I don't make much ethnic foods; hubby's a white guy through and through, so I'd rather make something he'll eat than have him pick his way through dinner because I've made something I like.

I'm looking forward to visiting my sister and getting some good food. I've started a course again, so hubby said he'll cook. It's a scarier proposition for me than him. Not that I don't think he can cook, but my kitchen is my refuge, just like the wood workshop is his. I don't go into his sanctuary, but he's quite happy going into mine, and he feels like I'm saying he's inadequate in his culinary skills. It's more the fact that I know what's where in that jumbled mess of mine, which drives him crazy, because he can't find things. Course, being a typical male, he won't look past what's right in front of him, which is half the battle.

Like I said, I'm looking forward to time spent with my sister, where I don't have to cook. Not that I mind cooking, it's more the battles in the kitchen with hubby that I find wearing.

Double Whammy

I'm going to tax my poor little brain and see if I can do this. I got it off my friend Rosie's site:

Use the first letter of your name to answer each of the questions. They must be real places, names, things . . . nothing made up! If you can't think of anything, skip it. You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

Famous Singer: Madonna
Four letter word: mime (can you tell I hit my head?)
Color: Magenta
Gifts/Presents: Music box
Vehicle: Mercedes Benz
Things in a Souvenir Shop: map
Boy's Name: Merlin
Girl's Name: Minerva
Movie Title: Memoirs of a Geisha
Drink: Margarita (Cheers, Rosie)
Occupation: Magician
Celebrity: Madison Mason
Magazine: Marie Claire
U.S. City: Maryland
NCPro Sports:
Fruit: Mangoes
Reason for Being Late for Work: Missed the bus
Something You Throw Away: mismatched socks
Things You Shout: "Me, me, me!"
Cartoon Character: Marvin the Martian

Eech, ooch, ouch

As my sister noted, things change as you age. For instance, she said her clothes and how they fit has changed. For me, I'm getting clumsier and clumsier. I'd like to blame it on association, as a friend of mine is an absolute klutz (and fully admits it) but I have to say, it is just me.

For instance, when said sister was here visiting, we were walking along, and next thing you know, she turns to me and I'm on the ground. It wasn't like the walkway was terribly steep, I just kinda misstepped and fell.

Today, I did one better. I was walking down the stairs when I caught my heel on the cuff of my pants and went ass over head down the stairs. Thank my lucky stars for landings. This time, instead of my pride being hurt (which happened when I fell 3 times this past winter in the snow and mud), and people seeing me fall, I managed to have absolutely no audience, instead, just hurting parts of my physical body instead.

So much for tai chi teaching you how to balance and compose yourself. I should ask my tai chi master (a.k.a my dad) for a refund. :-) And yes, I'm looking for sympathy...tons of it. ;-)

Salmonella, anyone?

I swear our parents are trying to kill themselves and anyone else who comes through those doors. If I'm a bad cook in terms of getting the food to the table all at once, I'm going to blame it on my parents from now on.

Mom had me get the fish fillets ready (her usual mayonnaise and onion soup mix), and it wasn't until that was sitting there on the kitchen table that she had dad prep the squash. Now, even an idiot knows that squash will take longer to cook than fish fillets, right? So what does that make mom? And then, because she is the queen of micromanaging, she tells me to keep the spoon I had globbed the mayonnias onto the fish with, instead of using it to spread the mayonniase, in case I needed more mayonnaise. I didn't tell her that I prefer to have a bit of seasoning with my fish, and not the other way around.

Meanwhile, she's preheated the oven for the last half an hour before the squash is ready to be cooked. And then they wonder why their hydro bill is so high. Sheesh! I put the squash in for a good 10 mins before the fish, and the squash still didn't turn out soft enough. I'd say the best part about dinner was the BBQ pork that our aunt had picked up. Sad state of affairs, tonight's dinner.

I'm baaack

Thanks for missing me Rosie. :-)

I wasn't really planning on taking a hiatus from blogging, but I started a new job this past week, and it didn't seem appropriate to blog at work while I'm still the newbie.

It's a great department to work in, they are so organized. Every new person walking through those doors gets a welcome package which includes an internal directory (and they update it regularly to reflect all the newbies), policies and procedures, and a pin of the department's logo. But the best part about this place is that week 1, they have a farewell party for a couple of people, and we all know what that means: food. They ordered in cookies and tea and coffee. I had already resisted the Rolosicles that had made its way around the office, but I couldn't pass on the chocolate dipped shortbread at the party. I had to be polite afterall, right? Next week is their monthly tea party to celebrate the birthdays for the month and I guess just overall have an excuse to socialize. Works for me.

Back to Basics...sort of

I was in a funk on the weekend, don't ask me why, it's not worth going into details. But having woken up early on Sunday (and not getting back to sleep cuz there was a freight train next to me) I decided to do some baking.

I checked out my yeast, which to my surprise, was still good. I've been using a book that shows how to use the microwave to proof bread, and their pictures always showed beautiful breads whereas my breads were always kinda blah. But I think I finally figured it out.

Their recipes use a food processor to make the dough, and for the longest time I only had a mixer. Albeit, it had a dough hook, but it didn't seem to do for the bread dough, what the processor managed for some reason. So lo and behold, by using the food processor, I managed to make bread as beautiful as what they showed on the cover of the book. Now if they'd only show how to make brioche using the food processor.

One way or another, hubby got to wake up to fresh baked bread, and even though it wasn't kneaded all by hand and set to proof for half a day, it still made him happy.

And now for something completely different

I think they got it wrong, it was my sister who caused this. ;-D

Turn on your speakers -Breaking News: All Online Data Lost After Internet Crash --Officials confirm that all online data has been lost after the Internet crashed and was forced to restart.

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/63609

Last day full of fun, eating but no tears

Well, yesterday was my last day at my old job. We went for drinks after work on Thursday, but since it was me and the guys for a good portion of it to start, I stuck with just drinking cranberry and orange juice. I know I was leaving but you still have to be sort of on best behaviour. It was good though, mostly it was just the people I wanted there so it was much more relaxed than the sushi lunch.

A co-worker was going to take me for lunch at Provence yesterday, but came down with something nasty. I'm assuming it was nasty because he's not one to not come into work. He swears it wasn't the two or three Guinesses the night before either. Oh well, I settled for a coffee and a lemon blueberry scone for coffee instead.

They also had cake for me at 2:30, and I thought it was going to be a quiet affair with just the staff, but it turned out my friend had gotten a chocolate cake, key lime pie, and lemon cheesecake for the occasion, and anyone who wanted to show up could show up essentially. It was touching to have people around, and they gave me some lovely gifts. I could tell it was my girlfriend who chose the gifts, because who else would've gotten a gift certificate for Miraj Hammam spa, her favourite spa; gift certificate to my favourite restaurant, and another gift certificate for The Bay? I guess being in the same place for 6 years must account for something. This was quite a show of support from the department considering it is summer and many people are away right now.

Another friend came by to give me Nigella Lawson's Forever Summer cookbook, and yet another friend gave me a couple of beautiful chocolates and a couple of mangoes (because she didn't have time to make me mango pudding).

It's nice to know you're appreciated, even if it only seems to show when you're leaving.

More eating today

The department had my good-bye lunch today; take out sushi brought in at my request. I was stupid enough to meet with a friend for coffee at 10:00am, having a coffee and scone at the time, and that screwed up my sushi fest. Oh well, I'm not that good at eating lots when I'm in a large crowd, so that was probably a good thing. One prof showed up late, so it was probably a good thing I didn't scarf down everything in sight.

The great thing about leaving...

is all the food. I was taken for lunch today by a couple of my co-workers to the ritziest spot on campus. Which doesn't say much, just that the price is steep. But I enjoyed my food, and the company. I went for the farfalle, because one of the guys ordered the halibut, and thes erver said that it was a smaller portion, and I was starving. I don't normally order pasta when I'm out, and even DH expressed surprised that I did, but it was the sort of day that I really wanted to eat something heavy. For dessert, the guys had a chocolate thyme pate, my girlfriend had the Snickers pie with butterscotch sauce, and I had the strawberry rhubarb crumble. I know, mine was the most boring, but I wanting some fruit.

Staff Gorge

They had a "staff appreciation" tea yesterday. It was nice in that there were tons of food, but not so good in that it was 2:30 in the afternoon and how much can you eat then?

The catering was good though, they had various types of sandwiches, with the crusts cut off of course. The one that was unusual and nice was the cucumber sandwiches, but it also had cream cheese and pesto. The curried chicken salad was also a nice one. Of course, since it was a tea, they had to have scones wtih marmalade and jam and cream there, along with a big bowl of strawberries. I tried not to think of how much pesticides I was ingesting. There were also several types of quiche and sausage rolls. Oh, and they had two cakes to celebrate whoever's birthday was this month; one was a chocolate mousse cake, no idea what the ther one was.

There was so much food in fact, that we had leftovers for lunch today. So is that a staff re-appreciation?