Tea for two, make that SIX!

I noticed all of the other girls have already posted about our afternoon at Windsor Arms but I couldn`t let the occasion pass without acknowledging it. Afterall, its not often we`re all able to get together. With kids, husbands, homes and just general busyness, its always hard to coordinate a good outing with some of your best girlfriends.

Saturday we were lucky enough to have a few hours for afternoon high tea at the Windsor Arms hotel. Cute sandwiches, your very own teapot, a beautiful room and some very good girlfriends, what more could you ask for. For a moment, it felt like old days again, the days before we had so many other obligations to keep us away from our usual fun and games. Being married really does make you appreciate girl time. I`m still getting used to daily life `with a boy`so any opportunity for some quality girl time is definitely welcomed. I`m so glad that we are still able to get together, even if it is a lot less often, the quality is still the same. Thanks girls, and thanks Sal for the awesome photography!

After tea, Saadia and I hit Bloor Street for a little shopping. Seeing as how it had been so long since I`d shopped on Bloor, I thought I deserved a few purchases, some vacation clothes from Jacob and a great pink dress from BCBG. Plus everything was on sale, so I didn`t do `too`much damage.

Eating Out

Something else I've noticed about being married is that I eat out a lot more often. I'd say we're averaging twice a week at least. Is this normal? Do all you bloggers eat out this often?

When I lived alone in the condo, I would buy groceries for a week and pretty much cook meals that would last me enough for dinners all week. Maybe I'd buy a lunch a few times a week but I think that was about it. Now that I'm living with a boy, all of our food disappears within the first two to three days of the week and suddenly we have no food. Or maybe its food we just don't want to cook. I used to be able to eat grilled cheese or a bowl of cereal for dinner when I lived alone. For some reason, my husband doesn't find this an acceptable meal. And so, we end up eating out. I don't really mind though, I find its a good opportunity to explore our neighbourhood and also it feels like we're "dating" again. Unfortunately its not so favourable on my waistline or our wallets.

Last night I met Susie and Mahi for dinner at Southern Accent in Bloor West Village. Its a New Orleans restaurant. They served Po Boys, Hush Puppies and Baked Garlic. Mmmmmm. For dessert, we had "King Cupcakes". These weren't just any cupcakes though, they had babies in em. Yes, I said babies. If you got a cupcake with a baby in it, you won a cash prize, the lowest being $40. So for $3 a cupcake, we ordered two. Unfortunately neither of ours had babies, so we didn't win. But we certainly were tempted to get another 10 just to find that baby! (The cupcakes weren't bad either.)

Tonight, Gerwyn and I went to Sushi Bento, our local Japanese place. I have to admit, the food isn't that great, I've definitely had better but there isn't much choice when it comes to Japanese in our neighbourhood so we had to make do. I was craving a little miso soup. Miso always reminds me of home cooking so when I'm looking for comfort food, I always go for the nearest Japanese restaurant. After dinner, we had a very cold but highly digestive walk home. We appreciated the clear sky and said hello to the man on the moon. All in all, a nice, spontaneous Thursday dinner out.

Honeymooning...

It may be 3 months late, but we've finally booked our honeymoon! On Feb 4th we'll be leaving for a 7 day all inclusive in Jamaica. After the last few months of being busy, we are definitely looking forward to some RnR at our resort. Coincedentally, our friends Mel and Norm have also booked a cruise during that week so we'll be meeting up for a day when they port in Ochos Rios.

I just took a look at my calender and it appears that our va-kay is closer than I thought, only 12 more days to go! Woo hoo!!

Happy Birthday Gerwyn!

Yesterday Gerwyn and I celebrated his 34th birthday with a special dinner courtesy of the Colonel. That's right, we had Kentucky Fried Chicken. KFC is one of Gerwyn's favourites but due to its lack of nutritional value, its become something he saves for one day a year. I couldn't remember the last time I had KFC so I was a bit excited. We got the family meal deal with 10 pieces of chicken, fries, 3 salads and a Deep 'n' Delicious Chocolate Cake. Gerwyn's friends Victor and Christine joined us and I have to admit, we all inhaled that meal. There's just nothing like fried chicken when the skin is oh so crispy. I didn't think I was going to enjoy it but it was SOOO deeeleecious, I couldn't stop! I thought I would only eat one piece but ended up eating two (skin and all) and devoured the unnaturally neon green coleslaw. It was amazing. McCain cakes are also a treat I don't allow myself to have very often and again, it was just as good as I expected.

So much for the days of wild drinking and partying, now birthdays are about your pjs and a bucket of chicken! Finger-lickin' good!

Another (healthier) meal

Lately I've been discussing SCD with my friend Saadia as she has been considering going on the diet. Now that its back in my mind, I've decided to start trying to cook a few more scd-ish friendly meals (no wheat, sugar, rice, potatoes, etc). I was never super strict about it but last night I came up with a new conconction while attempting  to cook beet greens.

I decided to brown chicken legs in some oil with s&p. Removed that, then browned some onions, carrots and zucchini. Added the chicken back in, added my washed and trimmed beet greens, one can of rinsed broad beans, one can of diced tomatoes in their juice and some chili spices, capers and broth to cover everything. I put the whole thing in the oven for 40 minutes and at the very end tossed in some fresh baby spinach. The stew came out quite nice and after skimming off the fat from the chicken, quite healthy too! Gerwyn went back for two helpings and we're looking forward to enjoying more today. He ended up having it with rice but on its own, its quite hearty and filling. And I'm very happy to report that my first taste of beet greens were deeleecious! Probably cause I boiled the crap out of them in my stew but they weren't bitter and considering their health benefits, a great new discovery.

Holla for my Challah!

Challeluja! Turns out the challah wasn't so bad afterall. It may not have risen very high during the day but somehow it managed to get big and fluffly in the oven. Fresh bread.... mmm....mmmmm.... good.

Also included some photos of the rest of my dinner too.

New Recipes

This weekend was pretty uneventful except for one thing. Discovering new recipes. While visiting Saadia on Saturday morning (I finally made my official "neighbourly" visit,) I started looking through her cookbooks for a good bread recipe and realized there are so many recipes out there that I have never tried. I suppose after you learn a few, you just get stuck circulating these same few around. But while perusing her Italian cookbook, I noticed there were some interesting simple vegetable dishes that I could add to the repetoire. After a long overdue grocery shop today, (our fridge was totally empty and I actually didn't eat yesterday - with the exception of breakfast at Saads, due to sheer laziness) I made the following new recipes for dinner: rosemary and dijon encrusted rack of lamb and garlic and basil sauteed zucchini. Both were extremely easy and very fast and very deeleecious! The entire dinner was probably done within 30 minutes.

I also attempted to bake a challah from scratch however after waiting HOURS for my bread to rise, I'm disappointed to admit that my cold and drafty house didn't get the job done. Its in the oven now and looks promising, but I'm not very hopeful.

Maybe my blogger friends would be interested in doing a little recipe exchange to add a few new items to their repetoire too? Its always better when you know its been tried and tested! I'm ready to hand out my lamb and zucchini recipe, whatcha got in exchange?

Bathroom breaks

Slipping back into work mode was pretty seamless with the exception of one thing. Over the last couple of weeks, I had gotten used to having the ladies washroom all to myself. The majority of the offices on our floor had closed down for the holidays so our entire floor and more notably, the bathroom, was a ghost town. I got used to having the place to myself and doing my "business" as I pleased. Now that everyone is back at work, that bathroom is always busy! My poor body had gotten used to a "routine" and now with all the traffic, I've been suffering from major performance anxiety. For the past two days I've come home with stomach cramps and had to mad dash to the bathroom.

As much as doing your business is "natural", I don't think I will be able to get over the embarrassment for the sake of my intenstinal health. I think I'll have to get my bowels on a new schedule from now on...

Back to work! :(

The holidays are officially over. But they were everything I could have asked for. Get togethers with family, friends and lots of FOOD! During all the festivities it always feels so busy, there's always something to clean, bake, cook or find but now as I reflect back, it was always worth the trouble. For me, getting together is what the holidays are about.

Hope everyone has a good week back at work! Looking forward to getting together with each and every one of you in 2010!

My wedding photos!

My friend Freddie (my first boyfriend in grade 6,) so kindly agreed to be our wedding photographer. Check out his beautiful photography here: http://www.icontactphoto.com/2009/1128_Diana_Gerwyn/wedding.html