food is love

Today was Productive, capital P needed. I booked the day off work, and with the little one in daycare, I was able to dedicate the day to cooking for my mom. For breakfasts, I made fruit parfaits in mason jars layered with greek yogurt, blueberries, pomegranates, and gave her a separate jar of granola to mix later. I also made these easy sunshine muffins to go with the parfaits. For a lunch meal, I made this homemade tomato soup & these parmesan crackers. I'm just realizing as I write this that I forgot to add cream to mom's cream of tomato soup....oops....hopefully it'll still taste good. Healthy! For dinner I made these yummy chicken pot pies. To go with the chicken pot pies,  I bought some of those delicious bagged kale salads, as seen here.
Food is definitely love. I see it in the steady parade of meals that mom's friends deliver to her. I feel it in the thought process when I pack my daughter's school lunches or make our family dinners. When I first got home from the hospital after giving birth, I remember the steady stream of meals that our friends and parents brought over. It was the best gift new parents could get. Food is a means of giving us strength, of keeping us going, when we don't have the energy to cook anymore. Whenever my friends ask how they can help me in this tough time, I always just ask them to make some kind of food/snack/meal for my parents. I love seeing my mom eat, because I know it gives her that little bit of extra strength to keep up the good fight. xoxo

thankful.

This is the first year I did "the meal" in its entirety. It seems a bit odd to be forty(ish) and cooking my first turkey, but when your mom is as an amazing cook as mine is, you don't even try to compete. But this year, I wanted to take over for her, to let her give me her tips, then go to bed to rest. I did a turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, pan roasted root vegetables and homemade cranberry orange sauce. A few favourite recipes can be found here: Ina Garten's Pan Roasted Root Vegetables, Cranberry Orange Sauce. The meal turned out really well, which I'm so grateful for because not only was it a confidence booster that I can do it, but it was a silent way of letting my mom know that I can do it for her. I can take over the reigns. This Thanksgiving I am incredibly thankful to be sitting at a dinner table beside my mom, I'm thankful for my husband and daughter and their tremendous support, I am thankful for my dad, and his quiet courage in all of this......and I am thankful for my spectacular circle of friends, who keep showing up, even though I've been lying low lately, they keep showing me their beautiful supportive selves. I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving at a table full of faces that mean the world to you. xo

Strawberry Angel Food Cake Dessert

This layered dessert is easy and magically delicious. I took it to a bbq last night and it was gobbled up. I should also mention that the ladies and I met this morning to jog it off. For the recipe, click here.
(ps, the recipe calls for a glaze, which I skipped, and it was still yummy).

tex mex chicken

I've been tossing this together lately as an easy go-to healthy dinner and thought I'd share it:
Bake chicken in the oven at 350 for 30 minutes or so until cooked through. (I just use a little olive oil, salt and pepper to keep it healthy). While the chicken is baking, cook up rice according to directions (I prefer Spanish rice for this) and cook up black beans.
Layer in a bowl chopped lettuce, rice, beans, chicken, salsa.
You could also toss on some extra toppings like avacado, cilantro, shredded cheddar or a spoon of sour cream.
Y'all enjoy now, ya hear?

the feast

Friday's 365: Italian night was carbalicious. I've got two words for you - homemade gnocchi. Remember those two words because they are single handedly the reason my waistline expanded a few inches this weekend.
It was bellissimo!

ciao!

I am finally able to upload my photos again. Here's Thursday's 365 photo. I told my friends I'd bring bruschetta to Friday night's feast, but had never made it before, so I did a test drive Thursday night with Craig. Luckily, he survived.

Happy Friday!

Hello lovely friends! What do you have on your weekend line-up? We're going to give little miss her first sneak peak at Santa Claus as he arrives in town tonight. One of our American friends has also invited us for a delicious Thanksgiving feast. With the rainy, cold weather, I've been craving a lot of soup. I tried out this recipe for Broccoli soup last night. It was delicious.
I'm putting together a few holiday gift buying guides for you, although I am impressed that so many people I talk to are already done their Christmas shopping. I'm sorry, what? I haven't even started.
What kinds of Christmas traditions do you look forward to?
I can't wait to take our little girl on her first Christmas train ride through Stanley Park. I also can't wait to bundle her up and show her all of the Christmas lights at Van Dusen gardens. Basically, I am a sucker for a beautiful display of lights, like these at St. Paul's hospital. Look at this sparkling walk of lights in Japan. Stunning.
Do you have a tradition when it comes to decorating your Christmas tree? We always buy a fresh tree and have done it up like this for the past few years, but I'd like to try something different this go-round.
One of my funniest tree decorating moments was when I was growing up. No matter how hard my dad tried, our Christmas tree would not stand up in that $&#*@& stand. In the night we heard it fall over with a loud crash. My dad got up, took one look at the tree and tossed it over the balcony. Spectacular.
The right stand is half the battle, isn't it?
Thanks again for all of you lovelies who take a moment to peek at this blog. I am always heartwarmed by how many of you are out there and how far across the globe you span. A lovely reader from the Philippines asked me the other day if she could use one of my photos as her Facebook cover photo. I was so touched. This is my favourite hobby and I am always happy for any little slice of time I get to work on it. Have yourselves a lovely weekend!

images from the weekend

Hi sweet friends. I hope you had a wonderful weekend! Today I have exactly four weeks left of my maternity leave. I can't believe how quickly time is flying by!

On the weekend we had friends over for dinner and I wanted to share the recipe for this yummy hot apple and brie salad that was a hit: (from the Best of Bridge series)

Ingredients:
4 large Granny Smith apples
1/4 cup maple syrup
8 cups washed spinach leaves
1/2 lb. brie, cut in small pieces
1/2 cup toasted pecans

Dressing:
1/4 cup apple cider or apple juice
3 Tbsp. cider vinegar
1 tsp. dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
Peel and core apples; cut into 1/2″ slices. Arrange on baking sheet and brush with syrup. Broil until golden; turn, brush syrup on other side and broil. Place spinach in large bowl. Whisk dressing ingredients together in a small saucepan and heat until simmering. Pour over spinach, toss and add cheese, apples and nuts

Pumpkin Gingerbread

INGREDIENTS:

1-1/2 cups sugar 1/2 cup vegetable oil 2 eggs 1/3 cup water 1/2 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree 1 teaspoon ground ginger 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 3/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2.	In a large mixing, combine sugar, oil and eggs; beat until smooth. Add water and beat until well blended. Stir in pumpkin, ginger, allspice cinnamon, and clove.
3.	In medium bowl, combine flour, soda, salt, and baking powder. Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and blend just until all ingredients are mixed. Divide batter between prepared pans.
4.	Bake in preheated oven until toothpick comes out clean, about 1 hour. Recipe from allrecipes.com

easy moroccan chicken

This recipe (from the Best of Bridge cookbook series) is really easy and magically delicious. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 1/2 lbs. ( 750 g) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
2 cups salsa 
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup currants
2 Tbsp. liquid honey
1 1/2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 325 F. Heat oil in a large frying pan and brown chicken. Place chicken in a baking dish. Lightly saute onion and garlic. Spoon over chicken. Combine salsa, water, currants, honey, cumin and cinnamon. Pour over chicken. Cover and bake 1 hour. Sprinkle with almonds. Serves 4. Cous cous makes a great accompaniment. 

Hola! Fish Tacos!

These fish tacos are from Weber's Way to Grill cookbook. Our friends first made them when we were up at Whistler a few weeks ago and I was blown away. I cooked up a batch last night - they are delicious and really easy to make: 

For the Rub

• 1/2 teaspoon pure chile powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin 
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 4 halibut, salmon, or tilapia fillets (I used halibut and it was delicious!)

For the Slaw

• 3 cups very thinly sliced green cabbage
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 c mayo (light mayo works too)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice 
• 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon canned chipotle chile in adobo, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

6 flour tortillas (10 to 12 inches) (I warmed mine in the oven in aluminum foil)

1) Mix all the rub ingredients together in a small bowl.  Brush or spray your fish fillets with oil and apply the rub evenly over each fillet.  Cover and set aside in the refrigerator. 

2) In a large bowl, combine all the slaw ingredients and toss to make sure the cabbage is evenly coated.  Set aside until you are ready to build your tacos.

3) Prepare the fish.  The cookbook calls for grilled fish, but I pan sauteed mine.

Break the fish into large chunks once cooked.

4) Build your tacos with slaw and fish. Enjoy!

I'll drink to that!

Happy Friday friends! I hope you have a fun weekend lined up for yourselves. Here are a few things I've tried lately that I highly recommend: 

Infused water. Throw some frozen mixed berries in a jug of water or try slices of lemons/limes or oranges, strain and pour. Get creative. It will get you drinking more water and keeps it interesting. I also tried this refreshing recipe: mint and ginger lemonade. If you want to get the party started, the mint/ginger lemonade would be delicious mixed with gin over ice. Just sayin'.  

Easy appy: chopped figs, olives, crackers, goat cheese (I topped it with a few spoons of pesto) - it literally takes about 5 minutes to throw it all together. I guess I've got food on the brain because tonight I'm meeting up with yayas: a group of past and present co-workers(friends) where we eat delicious food that some of our in-group gourmet cooks whip up. We used to have our dinners on weeknights, but I think the sampling of vino has pushed our get togethers to Fridays. After all, no one wants to work with a pumpkin on their shoulders. Food and friendship, my favourite pairing. Bon appetit! 

bits and bites

Oh hi friends!
I thought I'd share a few things from around the web...
Have you seen these hilarious trailers for Anchorman 2 or the new Seth Macfarlane film Ted? What about this clever video of Uncle Drew playing basketball?
Feeling potlucky? Tis the season. So far we've been to three potlucks this week. I personally love them: Potlucks take the pressure off the host, are affordable for everyone and people usually bring one of their best go-to dishes. Here are a few things I tried this week which I highly recommend:
delicious guacamole, easy scones (I did the orange-cranberry version in the recipe's footnote) or this perfect summer salad.
Yesterday I booked a little getaway on Expedia and used their Unpublished Rates to find a hotel (Search for a hotel as you normally would and then in your search results, you'll see a photo of a question mark in your listings). You get to choose a price/star rating and they tell you the hotel name after you book. I know this is how Priceline operates, but I've never used this service through Expedia before. It ended up being an amazing deal. We scored a 4.5 star hotel for $139 a night.  I was actually applauding when I saw the hotel's name pop up because I know it's a beaut that usually goes for a lot more. Yahtzee!
Yes, that's right, I am super cool.
Have a great day lovelies.

all hail the kale

day 23 photo prompt: vegetable
Kale is my current obsession. Here's a delicious recipe I tried the other night: sweet and savoury kale

hibernating

On these dark drizzly nights, I crave homemade soup, delicious baking and a cozy fire. A glass of red vino would be the perfect end to the day, but hot tea has become a temporary substitute. I've got a nice Tetley buzz going on right now. Tonight I whipped up these pumpkin pie tarts ( I just substituted tart shells instead of pie crust). Pumpkin seems to be one of those things people either love or hate. Are you a pumpkin person? I can't get enough of the stuff - pumpkin scones, pumpkin lattes, pumpkin pie - yes, yes and more please. I had three Thanksgiving feasts within 24 hours. Sunday night with my family, Monday afternoon at work and Monday night with Craig's family. Let's just say I'm giving my maternity jeans' waistband the ultimate test. It was no shocker that today's weigh in with the doctor was one of my quicker gains. I'm pretty sure if you look into my eyes you will see cranberry sauce.
Have you seen this ad? Hilarious.

for the team...

 During the past two weeks I've transitioned into my old department at work after doing two back-to-back maternity coverages in two other positions. After two years away from my team, I felt r-u-s-t-y. It also has taken getting used to being up at 5:30 again, but now that I'm back in the routine, I love it. The job has also changed tremendously since my absence. The baby brain I'm sporting these days certainly hasn't helped matters. Let's just say I've done extensive note taking so the new info doesn't slip into this endless baby brain crevasse. (It really is a legitimate thing. Just ask any woman who has experienced pregnancy. The other day I called my husband and said, "hon are you there?" He said, "yes, what's up?" I said, "I forget. Call you later." Scary. But I digress....)
Returning to my old department, it feels like I'm home again. This team feels like family to me. I've literally grown up with a lot of these people. It has also been wonderful having so many young parents in our group to bounce questions off of. I love how at the end of the workday, we sit in a circle and chat about anything and everything. I baked some lemon bars tonight to surprise them with tomorrow as a little token of thanks for all of their help with my transition back.
Here's the recipe I followed for yummy lemon bars.

eggs benny knock offs

When you're travelling with a group of women, you get to sample a lot of great food. I loved the simplicity of this recipe: 

Put turkey or ham slices in a muffin tin to form a nest. Crack an egg in the middle. Add a sprinkling of your favourite cheese and thyme. Bake in the oven at 350 for approx 15-18 minutes - check, as you can see I burnt the edges of mine. Then, once the eggs are cooked, remove from the oven and top it off with a few spoons of delicious Hollandaise or Bearnaise sauce. (I just used the Knorr packet of Bearnaise sauce). Serve over English muffins. Add some fruit salad on the side and voila, a delicious breakfast! This recipe lends itself well to cooking for a large group.

...drink and be merry.

Aug 23

It is Monday. It felt like a Monday. A little meh, a little bleh. But all it took, to turn the beat around, was to go to Yoga. This was my pre-yoga snack - something light, a little effervescence,  to give me a boost. We partnered up in class, did some handstands, listened to amazing music, and tried, for the love of god, to find some flexibility. Lauren always picks themes for her class, tonight's was gratitude: gratitude for our bodies, gratitude that we're all there working out together, gratitude for what we have instead of looking for what we want. I was grateful my partner didn't drop me. Very grateful. We ended the class in the corpse pose, listening to hallelujah. Perfection. Who can feel bleh after that? Sore, maybe, but bleh? Forgettaboutit. 

dinner with the ya-yas. aug 19.

Do you ever have one of those nights where your cheeks hurt from laughing so much? Me too, everytime I'm with this incredible group of women. How lucky am I?