135 posts tagged “food”
this past saturday, we had our annual 'deep fried turkey and kid's secret santa exchange' party at steve and cor's house.
what a good party - i just felt like a huge release being there with good friends. laughing and talking and best of all - the kids are so good at playing on their own now. they spent most of the time in the basement with each other. ah bliss!
an important lesson learned within five minutes of arriving - even though i think people never read my facebook status updates, they SO read them.
within the first hour, the following facebook statuses by yours truely was discussed:
- that i admitted to staring at zac efron's 6-pack in '17 again'
- that i love red, orange and yellow peppers, but am not fond of green peppers
- that i almost went to see 'new moon' on my own
i think the highlight of the night was the guys chin-up contest. boys will be boys, after all.
afterwards, steve l. said, "i'm very disppointed with myself. hoa! i should hire you to train me back into shape."
to which hoa's reply was, "okay. but you HAVE to listen to me. if i tell you to do a push-up, you can't just say, 'bah! why bother?'"
hoa totally had steve l. pinned on that one because that's EXACTLY the type of thing steve l. would say.
and i think it's these little conversations of parties that seems to stick with me the most. the kind where a smaller group is off to the side, chatting and having a good laugh or two.
after the annual SCAW (sleeping children around the world) charity concert, we finally had a chance to try roger mooking's kultura restaurant. like his other restaurant, nyood (pronounced 'nude'), it's like a tasting menu where you share as a group.
oh yum. definitely a good choice. the only problem was that there were so many yummy items that we over-ordered. at the same time, the plus side is that the next time i go back, i'll have a clearer idea of what i want to focus on.
our crazy, long list (including appetizer, main menu items and dessert):
Edamame - Miso, Black Bean
Scallops with Gow Gee - Braised Beef Cheeks, soy Emulsion, Cripsed Shallots
Mushroom Orecchiette - Mailvoire Pinot Noir Pear Chutney, Aged Cheddar
Peppered Tuna Carpaccio - Daikon, Sesame Oil, Mizuna Cress, Miso Crisp
Naan - Garlic, Black Onion Seed, Harissa Yogurt
Indian Samosas - Shitake Mushroom, Pine Nuts, Truffled Paneer, Tamarind Date Chutney
Miso Black Cod - Yuzu Corn Puree, Pickled Radish Salad, Crystallized Tamarind
Crispy Tofu - Miso Consomme, Shitake, Garlic Chips
Chicken and Gnocchi - Rice Crunch, Spring Peas, Peppered honey
Black Quinoa Cursted Lamb Loin - Roasted Salsify, Gai Lan, Maple Gastrique
Chocolate Delice - Salted Caramel, Sesame Nougat, Twizzler Ice Cream
Flourless Chocolate Cake - Chocolate Pudding, Caramel Parfait, Frozen Lemon Curd
Vanilla Sugar Doughnut Holes - Caramel and Chocolate Dipping Sauce
keep in mind, for a lot of it, we had to order two as there were about 5 adults and chaeli, whom loved the food that she tried but was a bit disappointed that roger mooking himself wasn't there to greet her (he's one of her favouirte 'cookers' as she likes to call it, from foodtv.ca). okay, i admit it. i was disappoint too, even though i knew full well that he wouldn't be there.
my favourite was the black cod, mushroom orecchiette and the tuna carpaccio. the tofu and scallops were also amongst some of my faves.
- the only problem with having my closet now clean and organized is that i find myself wanting to sit in it. for no particular reason. i want to just go in and plop myself in the middle of the floor. just to marvel at the beauty of how being clean and organized really revitalizes me. of course, there is still that half of a shelf and my cd collection that needs to be done. maybe i'll get some of it down tonight.
- we went to cathy's little M's 5yr birthday party yesterday. it was fun! the kids had such a blast. cath had hired a clown. and when the invitation first mentioned about a clown, i was a bit concerned. i have an irrational fear of clowns. not a phobia, per se. but they have always given me the creeps. i was happy with this clown, though. she was whimsical and cute and really knew how to create good chemistry with the kids. and the children did love her! not only did they get a ballon twisted into something they loved, she put on a great magic show that starred a cute rabit in the end. the kids got to sit on a chair have hold the rabbit on their lap for about 30 seconds each. and then, after lunch, each of them got to have their face painted of their choice. chaeli was so crazy about the clown that she said, before going to bed, that she hopes she will meet the clown again someday.
- i'm hungry. it's a weird kind of hunger. i feel like i can eat a lot today. which isn't good, really. because i know that if i allow myself to go nuts, i'll feel like complete crap at the end of the day. but, i have brought some healthy snacks so hopefully, i can stay good.
actually, the peppermient mocha at starbucks is a tad too sweet for my taste. but i love the minty flavour so it's hard to resist.
the heaven part really isn't just the drink. it's that i took the day off, got the house cleaning done in the morning (so i know it's out of the way for the weekend), gone for a very good, strength-circuit class from hell, had a very yummy turkey sandwich with sparkling water and am now listing to tunes while surfing at starbucks (god bless 2 hour free hotspot a day here).
the mocha latte is my dessert.
and i have about 2.5 hrs more before i have to go pick up little miss.
i'm loving it!
how often does halloween fall on a saturday night? not often enough!
it was so nice not to have to race home from work along with all the other parents doing the same thing, thereby making rush hour even crazier. and then, not having to rush dinner to leave time for trick-or-treating.
and then, it was just so very nice not having to try and rush the whole bedtime routine knowing that it's a school night.
what made the night even better was that we got to spend it with friends. di and rick hosted a little halloween party which ended up being just as fun for the adults as for the kids.
last night, we went to hamilton, which is just over an hour away from toronto, for a very fun potluck dinner party.
doug made pulled pork in a slow cooker. there was little time to cook so we figured something we could slow cook overnight would be our best option. we brought some fresh dinner rolls so people could make their own sandwiches. it turned out to be a hit! thankfully, we made so much that we have leftovers for tonight.
the hosts were anthony and kay, plus their two boys and their very anxious and shy chihaha, coco. poor thing was out of sorts with so many people on her territory that she spent a good majority of the beginning and end of the night, yapping away. i tried to get her to warm up to me but everytime i offered my hand to sniff, she would run away.
we spent some time playing rock band - i got a chance to try out the beatles for the first time. excellent - very well made! i was especially impressed with the animated intro to the game.
the only problem i have with rock band is that everyone has to sing at least once. and to be honest, none of us from the posse can sing, really. some of us are not too bad but i definitely can speak for myself and say that i'm a tad tone-deaf. and my range in octives is pretty limiting. so unless it's right in my range, it actually hurts to sing. i think it was hoa that turned to me and said, "cool - you guys can sing in harmony for the beatles" to which i said, "yeah... okay, hoa... because i just got better in the past 30 minutes!" :p
one thing about going to hamilton is cross over the burlington bridge. granted, it's not an incredible bridge when compared to the golden gate in the bay area, but there's something i still love about it.
it was a fantastic night. we had a great time catching up with a few people we don't get to see very often.
i admit that i was disappointed that i couldn't take part in nuit blanche this year. while chinese moon festival and my uncle's birthday were celebrated at my aunt and uncles home on the same nute as nuit blanche, that wasn't the reason why i couldn't go. after all, the dinner party ended around 10pm which would have allowed us to go until around 1am (since it's an all night event). but doug had to do the practical part of his course this weekend and had to be up fairly early. a part of me wondered if i should have gone on my own but no. i had to take care of chaeli on my own the next day. and man - it is not easy doing that when all you want to do is sleep!
next year. it's something i hope to do for sure.
anyway, despite the disppointment, it was a wonderful weekend. chaeli stayed at my parents' place on friday night so the anal nerd in me spent friday night cleaning the house and reorganizing chaeli's summer to fall/winter wardrobe. just as i suspected, the pile of 'too small' clothes was three times bigger then the pile of clothes that fits her. but most of them were mix-matches of tops and bottoms that didn't all go well together. geez - that kid sprout up big time this year.
i also went through her huge pile of books on her night stand, which was so huge that half of it was on the floor underneath the little table. her usual bookshelf, which is very small and a part of her closet) was jammed pack. i had to put some of the bigger books on the very top shelf. i'm going to have to invest in a kid's book shelf to put her books away in. while i have no issues deciding on toys to give away, ones that she's outgrown, i have a pretty huge issue with getting rid of books. i do have a small pile of maybe 8 books i'm prepared to donate to her school, but that's about it. she's got so much more that i didn't even make 1/8th of a dent.
doug came home just near the end of my organizing and cleaning. we decided to head out for a late dinner at a local vietnamese restaurant. i had the lemongrass, grilled chicken, rice, shredded pork and fried egg. doug has his usuall vermecelli with an assortment of goodies in it - vietnamese spring roll, beef roll and shrimp paste on sugar cane. we shared a cold spring roll appetizer and some spicy, fried squid appetizer. what i love about vietnamese food is that it's so affordable. with all that we ordered, it only came to $35 after tips and tax.
saturday morning, i headed off to another power-pump class, making it the first time i've done three in a week. it was at 9:30am which helped getting my butt out of bed early. as usual, the class was great, though this instructor probably would not be considered my favourite one of those i've tried. she wasn't bad but her program was a bit too repetitive. not enough was mixed up which made it easier, i felt. i compensated by adding more weights to my routine.
afterwards, i headed up too shop for chaeli's fall/winter wardrobe. while i was at the mall, i also bought some stocking stuffer items for christmas. i was able to get everything done before 1pm which was nice - i had a few hours to relax and unwind before going over to my aunt's place.
dinner was great, as usual. my doctor and his wife joined the party as well and we had such a great night laughing and chatting away. the food was fabulous though i wasn't able to really dive into it as my appetite has shrunken. it was good, though. at one point, i was able to stop and remind myself that i was satisfied. that any more eating would have just been out of habit and pleasure. but that i would suffer later by being overly-stuffed. so rather having more steak or pasta, i opted to having a couple more of the grilled portebello mushrooms (which were just amazing, anyway, but light).
last night was definitely a great social night.
we went to add and hoa's place around 5:30pm, meeting up with di and rick (plus their two kids). the boys went on a test drive with hoa's stick (as rick wanted to get use to it - in a couple of months, he picks up his new audi and it's been awhile since he's driven a stick-shift).
on the way back, the boys picking up an ultra-large order of two sushi platters. from sushi marché - the sushi chef and owner there trained under and worked for iron chef, morimoto. the whole idea behind sushi marché is high-quality sushi and sashimi using market, fresh ingredients for a very reasonable, affordable price. it's a pick-up/take-out only place so the price of a waiting staff and interior sit-down furniture, etc., needn't be added to the price. it's actually, an amazing concept and, from what i've had here in toronto, probaby the best quality sushi ever. and only at $20 per person.
afterwards, we were so stuffed that we decided to take a 15 minute walk to ed's real scoop on queen east where we had one of the best gelato scoops ever! i wasn't able to make up my mind what i wanted so i got a regular cup size of 1/2 lemon and 1/2 coconut gelato.
doug, chaeli and i stayed for about another hour after diane, rick and their kids left. ada and chaeli ended up cuddling on the couth while chaeli introduced pocoyo to ada. very sweet. :)
today was a nice, relaxing day as well. we woke up extra late and then headed to the zoo for a late breakfast and a two hour walk. the sun was so nice but very comfortable now that there's no humidity.
i live for weekends like this!
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