Silhouettes, Moustaches, and a Baby Bump

It's no surprise to anyone that I've been behind with my blogging. Over the next month or so, I'll be making a concerted effort to catch up. Wish me luck.

Earlier this year, my good friend, Belle, asked me to join her in a baby bump photo shoot and I readily agreed. Sara and Craig were such fun to photograph - their creative and happy personalities translated into an eclectic collection of images, filled with silhouettes, shadows, movement, and even a moustache or three! :)













Sara and Craig, congratulations on your little one!

Barns and Gardens and Stockyards, Oh My!

It's been somewhat of a low-key summer this year. I've wanted to stay close to home, spending time in my usual neighbourhood and following my usual routine. There's something addictively comforting about the usual. But sometimes you need to shake things up. Months ago, my friend and I had made plans to go to the Barns Art Market and today was finally the day.






The sky was threatening rain when we first arrived but it soon cleared up as we stepped outside to take a peek at the little gardens outside the barns and to watch the farmers pack up their markets for the day.





After visiting the barns and the gardens, we headed to The Stockyards for some delicious grub. A highly fulfilling day. Far from usual but no less comforting.

53/101 | Spaghetti & Meatballs

It never fails. Whenever I have a big project due, I always find a reason to put it off. I don't really procrastinate like I used to - I just find something else to to that's way more pressing.

For example, I might make it a priority to clean the kitchen from top to bottom, including going through all the goodies in the cupboards. Or maybe I'll decide that today is the day to alphabetize our DVD collection and rearrange all the items displayed in our built-ins. Or perhaps I'll insist on going through the junk drawer... the one that's been sitting happily in disarray for three (or more) years.

One of my favourite things to do when I'm, erg, not procrastinating, is to cook. I can simultaneously feel productive and domestic. It doesn't get any better than that.

I've been craving spaghetti & meatballs for a while now and watching a recent episode of Chef at Home motivated me to try a new recipe. I normally don't like a lot of filler in my food but Michael Smith's tip to soak breadcrumbs in milk to add moisture to the meatballs caught my attention. Happy comfort food! Yum!

Spaghetti Carbonara, A Documentary, and Exploring the Lightbox

Today, Vince and I had a very exciting unplanned day planned for ourselves. In other words, we were going to gorge on junk food, watch Criminal Minds on DVD, and take naps until we both got headaches. But there was one hiccup in our unplanned plan. We had brunch reservations at Luma. So we started our lazy, uninspired day at a beautiful light filled window table where we munched on delicious steak & eggs (him) and spaghetti carbonara (me). Oh me oh my, the spaghetti carbonara was to. die. for.





After brunch, we decided to check out the TIFF gift shop. We walk by this shop at least 3 times a week but we've never popped in. We literally spent around 20 minutes in there before heading home. Or rather, we started to head home - we even made it onto the street - when Vince turned to me and said some guy told him that there was a free costume exhibit on the 4th floor. What? Please don't tell me that! We were on our way home to be lazy.

Since we were already there, we turned on our heels and ended up spending the next hour or so exploring the Bell Lightbox. The costume exhibit was alright - nothing too special as I had never heard of any of the movies except Saw - but it was great checking out the rest of the building.




Then I saw this poster for El Bulli and stopped dead in my tracks. "How to we get tickets to see this movie?" Vince looked at me curiously. I sputtered and spewed a string of incoherent sentences. "Molecular gastronomy!" "Spain!" "Remember when we went to Chicago?" "Alinea?" "We couldn't get reservations?" "He worked under him!" I had to slow down, start from the beginning, and explain. We figured out where to buy tickets and learned that it was the very last day that the movie would be playing. Vince clearly saw that I was excited, too excited, and even paid for the tickets. :)



The movie wasn't playing until the early evening so we headed home, took a nap, walked Lulu, and picked up some groceries. In between, I had some time to read reviews for the movie and I grew steadily more nervous that Vince was going to hate it. Or fall asleep. Or both. The movie was rated very poorly and it sounded boring, really boring. Hard to follow and did I mention boring?

Still I was excited so we headed back early to the Lightbox, bought popcorn and root beer, chose our seats, and waited while the theatre filled up around us. What followed were the two most entertaining hours of the year for me! In terms of movies, that is. El Bulli was both fascinating and funny. It was not hard to follow and in no way boring. Vince stayed awake and I think he even enjoyed it. He came home and googled the best restaurants in the world and read me the top 100. This from the guy who never reads anything to me (believe me, I've asked).

The verdict? El Bulli - Cooking In Progress was easily the best movie I've seen since The September Issue. I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT. People clapped at the end. I was one of them. I can't wait to own it on DVD.



(movie poster courtesy of El Bulli - Cooking in Progress)

53/101 | Curried Garbanzo Filling

It seems like just yesterday that I was lamenting the disappearance of the Kathmandu Wrap off the Fresh menu. Belle and I had decided to go there for a healthy dinner when I was shocked to discover my favourite menu item was nowhere to be found. "What?! Where is it?!" I could feel my voice rise to a high pitched squeal... or maybe that was just in my head. I read the menu a few more times before I came to terms with the change and very reluctantly ordered a meh-tasting soba noodle bowl.

The first thing I did when I had a moment was e-mail my vegetarian friend, Christina, to tell her about the heinous crime. I knew she would understand. I lamented, "that was my favourite thing the menu!" and "that means we can't go there anymore!" Ok, I didn't actually write that we couldn't go there anymore... but I thought it. Lo and behold, Chris came to my rescue and sent me the recipe for the Kathmandu Wrap! She said she tried it the other day and that it was really good and really easy. Finally, someone who takes me seriously.

So earlier this evening, I made the Curried Garbanzo Filling and the result was utterly delectable. Only I had forgotten a few items when I went grocery shopping so I had to make a few modifications. Like no green peppers or banana chilies. Instead of cumin and turmeric, I used curry powder. Oh, and I used tahini in place of tomato paste - not exactly substitutes but I thought the recipe would still work. And it did... it was lipsmacking. And Chris was right - it was easy peasy. For dinner, I gobbled up a big glob of it with whole wheat tortillas.