Could that be the most boring name for a cake you’ve ever heard?
Archive: January, 2011
Standard Two-Egg Cake
Sunday, January 30th, 2011
Chicken B’stilla
Friday, January 28th, 2011I was super excited about this recipe…but slightly disappointed on how it turned out. I really wanted to love it – I’ve not had much Moroccan food before and I kept replaying the scene from the Harrison Ford remake of Sabrina in my head where they go to the Moroccan restaurant and eat with their hands, ‘on the floor, lots of cinnamon…’
In which I go on several tangents and become very wordy.
Thursday, January 20th, 2011I have a bloody cold again. I think it’s my body trying to keep me from the gym. First my back started to act up due to a lack of exercise (I have what I like to call an ‘old lady back’, which causes me every so often to shuffle slowly and be unable to bend over or sit down or stand for any length of time. It’s pretty much all in my head, tho), and now that Jon & I joined a gym last week and I’ve been going every other day since we joined in spite of my back (which is what makes me say that it’s all in my head because it’s totally feeling better), I have a cold which normally would make me stay home. But I’m stubbornly refusing to give in and hoping a little sweat will get rid of it faster.
I started to feel a sore throat coming on last week after my first workout and by Sunday, I was in the mood for some comfort food. I had a roast in the freezer and besides soup, there are few things I love to eat more than roast beef with potatoes, gravy and Yorkshire pudding. And no leftovers I love more than roast beef sandwiches.
Gnocchi à la Parisienne
Friday, January 14th, 2011This was probably the best possible way to get me to make pasta. I’ve wanted to for the last few years, but haven’t been brave enough to actually go for it until there was no getting out of it: French Fridays With Dorie dictated gnocchi this week, and I was forced to oblige!
Oatmeal Cookies
Wednesday, January 12th, 2011Funny story: on our recent trip to Boston, my sister & brother-in-law got us onto the steel-cut oats bandwagon. Jon absolutely loved the texture and chewiness to them with a little drizzle of maple syrup, while I was more into a little brown sugar and peanut butter on mine. And upon our return, I was ordered to find some before the following weekend so we could enjoy this delicacy at home!
However, I ended up buying old-fashioned oats instead of the steel-cut ones and was very clearly told that they were not the same thing when Jon saw them in the cupboard. Dammit! So, back to the store I went and returned with the right oats.
Dinner Party
Sunday, January 9th, 2011I haven’t had a chance to throw any elaborate dinner parties because a lot of our friends in Ontario don’t live here in Toronto, they live in London. We do have a few friends here in town, and I do enjoy having 1 or 2 people over for an evening. Last night was one such occasion, with a good friend who is also a foodie, so I pulled out some of my favourite recipes and something new to impress her with.
On the menu was Ginger-Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Maple Mustard Sauce, roasted potatoes, a spinach & strawberry salad and Marie-Hélène’s Apple Cake from Around My French Table with caramel sauce for dessert.
New Year’s Cheer
Saturday, January 8th, 2011It started out innocently enough. As I mentioned, my brother-in-law, Al, is a fabulous cook & bartender – he’d actually had a menu of drinks for us to choose from. How lovely is that? And they’d picked out a drink especially for me, since I was such a huge Fleetwood Mac fan back in the day: The Gypsy. I can’t remember much about it except there was St. Germain and lime in it and they went down really smoothly.
Paris Mushroom Soup
Friday, January 7th, 2011Happy New Year, Friends!
I hope you all rang in the New Year with some good times. I know I sure did – a few too many ‘good times’, if you catch my meaning. But that’s a post for another time. Like right after I’m done this one.
January is always a time for me to make grandiose resolutions about losing weight, especially after all the indulgences of the holidays. This year is no different, but because I’m crap at keeping myself on a diet-and-exercise regime, I’m going to try to approach it a little differently this year. As in, I’m going to step up my exercise – since I’m not working, I have no excuse for not at least doing a yoga video or zipping over to the pool at lunchtime every day – and try to eat healthier, smaller portions at least during the week. I figure we can leave the fun foods and booze for the weekends, like grownups.
