Big update; I've moved to Hanoi! I found a part-time job on Sundays teaching. This will allow me to find other work during the week. My hope is to get some work proof-reading, editing, writing, or even working in a quiet pub.
Next order of business: buy a phone and find a reasonable place to live! I'll miss Kampot and all my wonderful new friends there, but after returning to Hanoi and seeing some friends here, I am reminded why I loved it in the first place. Opportunities already abound; I've been invited to a film screening tomorrow!
Now my real focus: food. I randomly ran into a German friend from Phnom Penh at my hostel and took her out for two of my faves, bun bo nam bo (noodles with peanuts, pork, and herbs), and banh troi (a sweet soup with ginger, peanuts, coconut milk, and sticky rice balls served hot). Pictures to come once a PC is found, but I can't not talk about food here as you know!
Until next time!
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Monday, February 10, 2014
Hello all, I'm back!
I've been taking a break to figure out some things and finally realized that I needed to live my dream of traveling to Southeast Asia, where I have been for the last two months.
I started out in Saigon, Vietnam which is an incredible city! It's SO busy and warm. I needed heat very badly; Toronto is freezing!
After Saigon, I flew with a friend to Hanoi and immediately fell in love with the city. I could easily disappear into Hanoi and never be found again, but in the best possible of ways. It's enchanting. I used it as a base for a few weeks to explore other areas.
My first jaunt out of Hanoi was to Sapa to the north. The French called the area the Tonkian Alps and it is simply stunning! It was absolutely freezing with no heat at most of the hotels, but it was so pretty and totally worth the warm clothes I had to buy. It was a good thing we were up there for five days though, I ended up being sick for the first two days!
Back in Hanoi, I met some nice people and we decided to head I'vealong Bay. We went on a two night cruise down to Lan Ha and stayed on our own private island. Not luxurious accommodations, but it was gorgeous. We got to kayak, fish, and play cards together, which was the relaxing vacation we all needed.
Before leaving Hanoi, some friends and I had made a plan to fly to Hoi An (in central Vietnam) together. I love Hoi An, and I made a few new friends there, courtesy of one of my choir friends back in Toronto. Hoi An needs to be savored and I definitely needed more time there, so I took it!
A Canadian friend of mine from Hanoi wanted to see Hoi An, so we decided that she would fly to Hue and I would take the train up to meet her, then we would head back to Hoi An.
That train trip (at sunset) was one of the highlights of my time in Vietnam! The train goes to places the road does not and setting fishing boats and inaccessible beaches was so inspiring.
After an afternoon at the old Forbidden City and sampling some local food, we headed back to Hoi An, which she feel in love with as much as I did! Another friend joined us, and we spent a few days on the beach, biking around town, and drinking coconuts.
After this, I headed down to Saigon for a few days to meet some friends. From there, I headed to Can Tho in the Mekong Delta and meet up with one of the Canadians from Hoi An to do the floating markets there. We left each other there - her to head to Saigon, me to Cambodia.
Phnom Penh is an absolutely gorgeous city and its architecture blew my mind! It's more Indianised than anywhere else I've ever been. I even got to see the King passing by one day in a motorcade!
Up to Siem Reap to meet a friend from Hanoi and experience the wonders of Angkor. I didn't know it, but Angkor Wat is merely one temple in a complex that stretches for hundreds of kilometers! My favorites were Bayon and Bang Melea.
After Siem Reap, I made my way up to Battambang to meet a friend. It was not my favorite place, but they had an interesting market.
Back on Phnom Penh, I met some more people and I ended up heading to Kampot in southern Cambodia, where I am now. It's time to find work so I can stay in Asia longer! Any suggestions or connections appreciated ;)
Given the cold winter Toronto has been having this year, I've been very glad to generally be in warmer climes!
Sadly, I can't load pictures to this entry from my tablet, so that will have to wait.
Until next time!
I've been taking a break to figure out some things and finally realized that I needed to live my dream of traveling to Southeast Asia, where I have been for the last two months.
I started out in Saigon, Vietnam which is an incredible city! It's SO busy and warm. I needed heat very badly; Toronto is freezing!
After Saigon, I flew with a friend to Hanoi and immediately fell in love with the city. I could easily disappear into Hanoi and never be found again, but in the best possible of ways. It's enchanting. I used it as a base for a few weeks to explore other areas.
My first jaunt out of Hanoi was to Sapa to the north. The French called the area the Tonkian Alps and it is simply stunning! It was absolutely freezing with no heat at most of the hotels, but it was so pretty and totally worth the warm clothes I had to buy. It was a good thing we were up there for five days though, I ended up being sick for the first two days!
Back in Hanoi, I met some nice people and we decided to head I'vealong Bay. We went on a two night cruise down to Lan Ha and stayed on our own private island. Not luxurious accommodations, but it was gorgeous. We got to kayak, fish, and play cards together, which was the relaxing vacation we all needed.
Before leaving Hanoi, some friends and I had made a plan to fly to Hoi An (in central Vietnam) together. I love Hoi An, and I made a few new friends there, courtesy of one of my choir friends back in Toronto. Hoi An needs to be savored and I definitely needed more time there, so I took it!
A Canadian friend of mine from Hanoi wanted to see Hoi An, so we decided that she would fly to Hue and I would take the train up to meet her, then we would head back to Hoi An.
That train trip (at sunset) was one of the highlights of my time in Vietnam! The train goes to places the road does not and setting fishing boats and inaccessible beaches was so inspiring.
After an afternoon at the old Forbidden City and sampling some local food, we headed back to Hoi An, which she feel in love with as much as I did! Another friend joined us, and we spent a few days on the beach, biking around town, and drinking coconuts.
After this, I headed down to Saigon for a few days to meet some friends. From there, I headed to Can Tho in the Mekong Delta and meet up with one of the Canadians from Hoi An to do the floating markets there. We left each other there - her to head to Saigon, me to Cambodia.
Phnom Penh is an absolutely gorgeous city and its architecture blew my mind! It's more Indianised than anywhere else I've ever been. I even got to see the King passing by one day in a motorcade!
Up to Siem Reap to meet a friend from Hanoi and experience the wonders of Angkor. I didn't know it, but Angkor Wat is merely one temple in a complex that stretches for hundreds of kilometers! My favorites were Bayon and Bang Melea.
After Siem Reap, I made my way up to Battambang to meet a friend. It was not my favorite place, but they had an interesting market.
Back on Phnom Penh, I met some more people and I ended up heading to Kampot in southern Cambodia, where I am now. It's time to find work so I can stay in Asia longer! Any suggestions or connections appreciated ;)
Given the cold winter Toronto has been having this year, I've been very glad to generally be in warmer climes!
Sadly, I can't load pictures to this entry from my tablet, so that will have to wait.
Until next time!
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Venetian Tapas - Cicchetti!
Soundtrack - Colin Hay "Waiting For My Real Life to Begin"
One of my deepest pleasures in life is watching my friends live out their dreams. A deeper pleasure still is when they succeed at it! My friend Matt Basile aka Fidel Gastro (check out the amazing photography on the site by Matt's uber-talented girlfriend Kyla!) quit his day job a couple of years ago to pursue his dream of bringing his stellar pressed Cuban sandwiches to us lucky folks in Toronto.
He started his food revoluçion under the name Fidel Gastro, which is about the time I first met him at a pop-up Superbowl event he was doing. Somehow, we got to talking, became Facebook friends which developed into an actual friendship.
The next step in his food revoluçion evolution was to get a food truck which he dubbed "Pricilla"; his own nod to Elvis Presley. In April, he opened his very own restaurant called "Lisa Marie" (638 Queen Street West). It specializes in Venetian tapas, little share plates called cicchetti. Earlier in the day, I had lunch with a friend of mine who is a model of Italian descent and has spent quite a bit of time in Italy for work and to see her family. I told her I was having cicchetti for dinner. She said very quietly and reverently "Cicchetti...cicchetti are the best".
Back to last night. On top of the new restaurant, the food truck, and the pop-up events, Matt has a TV show on the Travel and Escape network called Rebel Without a Kitchen which documents his experiences running Fidel Gastro's. I'm calling it, Matt's officially got his own burgeoning empire now and I'm so proud!
Last night, my friend Jodi and I headed to Lisa Marie for dinner. I started out with a delicious shiraz by Dog Ridge as we began to agonize over what to order. It all looked fantastic!
We started with a deep fried pizza with duck, hoisin, and an asparagus slaw:
Next, a deeply delicious dish called "Alabama Tailgaters", which was bacon-wrapped beef carpacchio with a little kimchi, some amazing pickled vegetables and a creamy dab of sauce:
There was a dish called "Deli-Style Surf and Turf" which had some pastrami, sardine, and sour cream on a latke:
How does a nice Italian boy have a restaurant that serves such a nice latke? My Granny would be proud.
We also ate brontosaurus-sized turkey wings; one buffalo-style with blue cheese:
and one with a sticky hoisin glaze:
Crispy, crunchy, yummy. And I don't even like "buffalo-style" foods but I loved this.
Lastly, we ate the most divine "Mozzarella and Marrow Sangweech" which was stuffed between focaccia and fried.
Could we eat more? Yes we could! Dessert anyone?
Matt made us these delicious little bone marrow zeppole called "Lisa's Marrow" (Italian donut holes covered in sugar) with a lovely cherry jam. The were surprisingly light and refreshing; I could have easily eaten a dozen all on my own!
We also tried the "Elvis" (patented off of Elvis' beloved fried peanut butter and banana sandwich) on the recommendation of our helpful server. Bananas, peanut butter, and candied bacon with whipped cream and custard in a pretty little jar. It was absolutely revelatory. Both Jodi and I flipped out over this dessert and I made sure it was the last taste I had of the evening!
We both agreed that we needed to come back to Lisa Marie to try the rest of the menu and to have both desserts again. How could it get better? Oh, it does! Matt also runs a shop in the back where you can get beautiful meat, his signature sandwiches, various pickled vegetables, and a few different sauces - including his Sgt. Slather and Sloppy Jose extremo sandwich sauces!
How does one not drool over this bounty?
So the moral of the story is that you should get down to Lisa Marie ASAP before the place gets so busy that you can't get a seat! It's the best thing watching your friends live out their dreams. Congrats Matt, the place is amazing and I can't wait to come back!
One of my deepest pleasures in life is watching my friends live out their dreams. A deeper pleasure still is when they succeed at it! My friend Matt Basile aka Fidel Gastro (check out the amazing photography on the site by Matt's uber-talented girlfriend Kyla!) quit his day job a couple of years ago to pursue his dream of bringing his stellar pressed Cuban sandwiches to us lucky folks in Toronto.
He started his food revoluçion under the name Fidel Gastro, which is about the time I first met him at a pop-up Superbowl event he was doing. Somehow, we got to talking, became Facebook friends which developed into an actual friendship.
The next step in his food revoluçion evolution was to get a food truck which he dubbed "Pricilla"; his own nod to Elvis Presley. In April, he opened his very own restaurant called "Lisa Marie" (638 Queen Street West). It specializes in Venetian tapas, little share plates called cicchetti. Earlier in the day, I had lunch with a friend of mine who is a model of Italian descent and has spent quite a bit of time in Italy for work and to see her family. I told her I was having cicchetti for dinner. She said very quietly and reverently "Cicchetti...cicchetti are the best".
Back to last night. On top of the new restaurant, the food truck, and the pop-up events, Matt has a TV show on the Travel and Escape network called Rebel Without a Kitchen which documents his experiences running Fidel Gastro's. I'm calling it, Matt's officially got his own burgeoning empire now and I'm so proud!
Me outside the gorgeous storefront. By: Jodi Goldfinger
Last night, my friend Jodi and I headed to Lisa Marie for dinner. I started out with a delicious shiraz by Dog Ridge as we began to agonize over what to order. It all looked fantastic!
I was trying not to be an obnoxious food blogger, so I refrained from using my flash last night. Excuse the dark pictures!
We started with a deep fried pizza with duck, hoisin, and an asparagus slaw:
Next, a deeply delicious dish called "Alabama Tailgaters", which was bacon-wrapped beef carpacchio with a little kimchi, some amazing pickled vegetables and a creamy dab of sauce:
There was a dish called "Deli-Style Surf and Turf" which had some pastrami, sardine, and sour cream on a latke:
How does a nice Italian boy have a restaurant that serves such a nice latke? My Granny would be proud.
We also ate brontosaurus-sized turkey wings; one buffalo-style with blue cheese:
and one with a sticky hoisin glaze:
Crispy, crunchy, yummy. And I don't even like "buffalo-style" foods but I loved this.
Lastly, we ate the most divine "Mozzarella and Marrow Sangweech" which was stuffed between focaccia and fried.
Could we eat more? Yes we could! Dessert anyone?
Matt made us these delicious little bone marrow zeppole called "Lisa's Marrow" (Italian donut holes covered in sugar) with a lovely cherry jam. The were surprisingly light and refreshing; I could have easily eaten a dozen all on my own!
They come in an order of 6, but were so excited to eat them that by the time I remembered to take a picture, we had already powered through one each!
We also tried the "Elvis" (patented off of Elvis' beloved fried peanut butter and banana sandwich) on the recommendation of our helpful server. Bananas, peanut butter, and candied bacon with whipped cream and custard in a pretty little jar. It was absolutely revelatory. Both Jodi and I flipped out over this dessert and I made sure it was the last taste I had of the evening!
We both agreed that we needed to come back to Lisa Marie to try the rest of the menu and to have both desserts again. How could it get better? Oh, it does! Matt also runs a shop in the back where you can get beautiful meat, his signature sandwiches, various pickled vegetables, and a few different sauces - including his Sgt. Slather and Sloppy Jose extremo sandwich sauces!
How does one not drool over this bounty?
The man himself and me, looking high on gustatory pleasure from our meal - by Jodi Goldfinger
So the moral of the story is that you should get down to Lisa Marie ASAP before the place gets so busy that you can't get a seat! It's the best thing watching your friends live out their dreams. Congrats Matt, the place is amazing and I can't wait to come back!
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
An evening in Liguria
Soundtrack - Eros Ramazzotti "LA COSA MAS BELLA"
Not many of us can afford trips to Italy very often; I've never been, though it's certainly a dream of mine. So when my friend Jamie from choir told me about chef Massimo Bruno's Italian supper club, I jumped at the chance to go!
We ended up being a party of nine people in the end; seven of us from choir or related through choir, plus Fong and Karon who ended up sitting with us and making friends. Much delicious wine was shared! I myself brought Reif Estates Sauvignon Blanc and a bottle of ice wine as an after dinner treat to share. Delicious.
Above the choir ladies! L - R: Kat, Hilary, me, Dianna
I had never specifically heard of the region of Liguria before this dinner party, though I had heard of its' capital Genoa. It is the area of northwestern Italy near Nice and the Cote d'Azur, on the border with France. It's a mountainous region that also has beautiful beaches by the sea. It's an area that tended to go back and forth between French purview, Saracen (Arab/Middle Eastern) and "Italian" (Italy did not become a unified country until the 1870's so Liguria was at times under Milanese rule, Sardinian rule, etc.), so you can imagine that its' cuisine would have benefited from those cultures as well as its' marine bounty.
Massimo told us that the region is particularly known for it's olive oil, basil, and pesto sauce. And of course the seafood.
Here is the gorgeous printed menu we received:
The menu was as follows:
Antipasti
Focaccia al Formaggio (cheese Ligurian Focaccia)
Jamie makes his chocolate semifreddo orgasm face
Simply delicious. A divine meal!
Food is such an amazing way to travel without spending thousands of dollars and taking months off from jobs that most of us can't afford to lose in this go-go-go life. In my opinion, Italians have it right in this respect. Earn money for the basics and enjoy living an actual life with good food, good wine, and good friends. Visiting Liguria in this way was such an unexpected pleasure for me; I can't wait for Massimo's next dinner in May. Sicily!
A few footnotes:
Check out Massimo's website as not only does he run supper clubs, he also organises culinary trips to Italy!
Special thanks to Jamie G. and Hilary M. for letting me use some of their photos of the evening. I specifically did not take my own photos as I wanted to simply experience the evening, but was then so inspired that I had to write about it!
Not many of us can afford trips to Italy very often; I've never been, though it's certainly a dream of mine. So when my friend Jamie from choir told me about chef Massimo Bruno's Italian supper club, I jumped at the chance to go!
The man himself, Massimo Bruno
We ended up being a party of nine people in the end; seven of us from choir or related through choir, plus Fong and Karon who ended up sitting with us and making friends. Much delicious wine was shared! I myself brought Reif Estates Sauvignon Blanc and a bottle of ice wine as an after dinner treat to share. Delicious.
Above the choir ladies! L - R: Kat, Hilary, me, Dianna
I had never specifically heard of the region of Liguria before this dinner party, though I had heard of its' capital Genoa. It is the area of northwestern Italy near Nice and the Cote d'Azur, on the border with France. It's a mountainous region that also has beautiful beaches by the sea. It's an area that tended to go back and forth between French purview, Saracen (Arab/Middle Eastern) and "Italian" (Italy did not become a unified country until the 1870's so Liguria was at times under Milanese rule, Sardinian rule, etc.), so you can imagine that its' cuisine would have benefited from those cultures as well as its' marine bounty.
Massimo told us that the region is particularly known for it's olive oil, basil, and pesto sauce. And of course the seafood.
Here is the gorgeous printed menu we received:
The menu was as follows:
Antipasti
Focaccia al Formaggio (cheese Ligurian Focaccia)
Zucchine ripiene (stuffed zucchini with Italian Tuna)
Calamari in Zimino (Calamari with Spinach)
Melanzane sott'olio (olive oil and vinegar cured eggplant)
This is the focaccia and the cured eggplants, which I found particularly refreshing.
The stuffed zucchini with tuna and the calamari with Swiss chard were particularly revelatory for me. I could have just eaten those the whole night. Little did I know what else was in store for me!
First Course
Trofie al Pesto di Pistacchi (Artisanal Fusilli with Pistacchio pesto)
Tagliatelle alle noci (homemade Fettuccine with walnuts sauce)
Oh...the pastas. Sadly, I didn't get a picture of that incredible creamy fettuccine, but I got the pesto!
Pistachio Pesto on fusilli
Second Course
Pollo olive e pinoli (chicken with olives and pine nuts)
Burrida (fish stew)
So, so good! Our bellies already groaning, out came chicken with olives and pine nuts and a tomato-based fish stew called burrida which had shrimp, monkfish and scallop (sadly, no picture):
We could really taste the Mediterranean in these two dishes. I never think to put olives with my chicken, but it makes sense. They use olives with main dishes in the Middle East all the time!
Last Course
Funghetti ai Pinoli (mushroom with pine nuts)
Insalata (Italian salad)
You know it's funny, a simple thing like cooked mushrooms paired with pine nuts were such a treat for me. The earthiness of the mushrooms with the nuts just...fit. And then we had the salad which was simple romaine and radicchio with a citrusy vinaigrette which cleansed the palate so well. I don't even like radicchio, and I loved this! Kudos to Massimo's right-hand woman Giovanna for this one. Amazing.
And so we came to dessert.
Dessert
Semifreddo al Cioccolato (Chocolate Semifreddo)
The rich and creamy cold chocolate semifreddo (semi frozen) with raspberry sauce was like a cold chocolate pate, crossed with an ice cream. There were some very strong reactions to this dessert:
Simply delicious. A divine meal!
Food is such an amazing way to travel without spending thousands of dollars and taking months off from jobs that most of us can't afford to lose in this go-go-go life. In my opinion, Italians have it right in this respect. Earn money for the basics and enjoy living an actual life with good food, good wine, and good friends. Visiting Liguria in this way was such an unexpected pleasure for me; I can't wait for Massimo's next dinner in May. Sicily!
A few footnotes:
Check out Massimo's website as not only does he run supper clubs, he also organises culinary trips to Italy!
Special thanks to Jamie G. and Hilary M. for letting me use some of their photos of the evening. I specifically did not take my own photos as I wanted to simply experience the evening, but was then so inspired that I had to write about it!
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Boredom Kills
Soundtrack: Britney Spears' "Stronger"
This post is going to be a bit of a departure from previous posts; fair warning. I've been thinking a lot about boredom lately. Sometimes you get in a rut and nothing is flowing, you're not feeling engaged in day-to-day life. In those moments, what do you do? How do you get your sunny attitude and enthusiasm for life back without doing something foolhardy? In the past, I've shopped, eaten way too much, watched too much TV, disappeared into romance novels, and gone out too much with friends. At a certain point, exhaustion ensues - both physical and spiritual.
I've been exhausted, bored and angry for the last couple of years but I didn't realise it for a long time (or at least I didn't realise how bad it had gotten). It took the betrayal by a friend and an ex, plus my grandmother's death to finally wake me up to my malaise. I joined an amazing choir, made new friends and started figuring out exactly what I wanted and who I wanted to be. I joined a women's group and have recently become part of a protest choir, of all things! We get together to sing protest songs and hang out, with the possibility of maybe performing in the future.
As much as all that bad stuff hurt - I'm still dealing with the fallout and trying not to beat myself up for having the bad judgement of including those people in my life in the first place, plus missing my Granny like crazy - I can't regret that any of it happened. I wouldn't have choir, I wouldn't have the life or the self-knowledge I have right now, and I would not be as close as I am to fulfilling my career dreams.
Sometimes it takes a jolt and a punch in the gut to wake you up and make you realise what you really want in life. I'm still figuring it out slowly but surely. Hopefully there's no internal bleeding.
This post is going to be a bit of a departure from previous posts; fair warning. I've been thinking a lot about boredom lately. Sometimes you get in a rut and nothing is flowing, you're not feeling engaged in day-to-day life. In those moments, what do you do? How do you get your sunny attitude and enthusiasm for life back without doing something foolhardy? In the past, I've shopped, eaten way too much, watched too much TV, disappeared into romance novels, and gone out too much with friends. At a certain point, exhaustion ensues - both physical and spiritual.
I've been exhausted, bored and angry for the last couple of years but I didn't realise it for a long time (or at least I didn't realise how bad it had gotten). It took the betrayal by a friend and an ex, plus my grandmother's death to finally wake me up to my malaise. I joined an amazing choir, made new friends and started figuring out exactly what I wanted and who I wanted to be. I joined a women's group and have recently become part of a protest choir, of all things! We get together to sing protest songs and hang out, with the possibility of maybe performing in the future.
As much as all that bad stuff hurt - I'm still dealing with the fallout and trying not to beat myself up for having the bad judgement of including those people in my life in the first place, plus missing my Granny like crazy - I can't regret that any of it happened. I wouldn't have choir, I wouldn't have the life or the self-knowledge I have right now, and I would not be as close as I am to fulfilling my career dreams.
Me being fierce and take-charge
Sometimes it takes a jolt and a punch in the gut to wake you up and make you realise what you really want in life. I'm still figuring it out slowly but surely. Hopefully there's no internal bleeding.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Mason Jar Smoothies, my new favourite thing!
Soundtrack - Princess Chelsea "The Cigarette Duet"
Sometimes our inspiration is invigorated in odd ways. My dear friend Dani has a Facebook group called Frugtastic where she shares tips on how to economise or create things in unique ways that don't require spending a lot. She posted a wonderful article from a website called "Apartment Therapy" about how to make a mason jar into a blender (in lieu of buying one of those little blenders one sees in 3am infomercials that can cost an arm and a leg). Well, I've been trying really hard to be better about my food. I used to do smoothies for breakfast last summer (and went on a bit of a frozen fruit buying blitz) but I was finding the clean up was a deterrent first thing in the morning. I even tried making them the night before, but with my crazy schedule (and no dishwasher) the darn blender would sit in the sink for days before I finally had time to clean it, which was not at all hygienic.
With this brilliant method (apparently, mason jars used to come with blenders, so this is not a new idea), you make the smoothie in the container you will end up storing it in, and transport for a breakfast on the go is a snap! Of course, you know I just had to try it.
So, as you can see from the pictures above, take the original lid off the mason jar, screw on the blender attachment once you have your ingredients in the jar, screw it into the base and blend as normal. I had a teeny tiny bit of leaking, but I think I didn't have the blender attachment on tight enough.
Today's smoothie was particularly delicious, and easy peesy! I've put the leftovers in the fridge in the mason jar with the lid screwed on, and there was no messy clean up because there was only the blade attachment to clean!
Today's smoothie ingredients:
1 cup lactose-free 2% milk
100 grams of coconut Greek yogurt (one individual yogurt container because that is what I had on hand)
1 cup of mixed tropical frozen fruit (strawberry, peach, mango)
1 tbsp pistachio butter (like a cross between peanut butter and Nutella. Crazy good)
Blend until smooth, add more milk if it's too thick. I find it easiest to pulse the mixture first for a few seconds and then go full-tilt blend after it's broken up a bit.
Not only is this new method going to make it easy for me to use up all the frozen fruit I have in my freezer, but now I'm totally inspired to eat healthier; these smoothies are definitely going to be an integral part of my summer!
Sometimes our inspiration is invigorated in odd ways. My dear friend Dani has a Facebook group called Frugtastic where she shares tips on how to economise or create things in unique ways that don't require spending a lot. She posted a wonderful article from a website called "Apartment Therapy" about how to make a mason jar into a blender (in lieu of buying one of those little blenders one sees in 3am infomercials that can cost an arm and a leg). Well, I've been trying really hard to be better about my food. I used to do smoothies for breakfast last summer (and went on a bit of a frozen fruit buying blitz) but I was finding the clean up was a deterrent first thing in the morning. I even tried making them the night before, but with my crazy schedule (and no dishwasher) the darn blender would sit in the sink for days before I finally had time to clean it, which was not at all hygienic.
With this brilliant method (apparently, mason jars used to come with blenders, so this is not a new idea), you make the smoothie in the container you will end up storing it in, and transport for a breakfast on the go is a snap! Of course, you know I just had to try it.
So, as you can see from the pictures above, take the original lid off the mason jar, screw on the blender attachment once you have your ingredients in the jar, screw it into the base and blend as normal. I had a teeny tiny bit of leaking, but I think I didn't have the blender attachment on tight enough.
Today's smoothie was particularly delicious, and easy peesy! I've put the leftovers in the fridge in the mason jar with the lid screwed on, and there was no messy clean up because there was only the blade attachment to clean!
Today's smoothie ingredients:
1 cup lactose-free 2% milk
100 grams of coconut Greek yogurt (one individual yogurt container because that is what I had on hand)
1 cup of mixed tropical frozen fruit (strawberry, peach, mango)
1 tbsp pistachio butter (like a cross between peanut butter and Nutella. Crazy good)
Blend until smooth, add more milk if it's too thick. I find it easiest to pulse the mixture first for a few seconds and then go full-tilt blend after it's broken up a bit.
Not only is this new method going to make it easy for me to use up all the frozen fruit I have in my freezer, but now I'm totally inspired to eat healthier; these smoothies are definitely going to be an integral part of my summer!
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Passover Follies!
Soundstrack: Maroon 5 "She Will Be Loved"
A belated Chag Sameach to my Jew Crew!
So a bit of a rundown for those of you who aren't familiar with the Jewish holiday of Passover. We celebrate Passover to commemorate the story of the Israelites (we weren't Jews at that point yet) being freed from slavery under the Egyptians over 3,000 years ago. G-d is supposed to have brought down 10 plagues on the Egyptians to help convince the Pharoah to let them go. The final plague was the killing of the first-born son; which the Israelites avoided by painting lamb's blood on the doorposts of their houses so G-d knew which houses to "pass over", hence the name. That was the final straw for Pharoah and he told us all to get the heck outta Dodge ASAP. In preparing food for the road, there was no time to let the bread rise, so in celebration of that Jews around the world who follow the tradition don't consume anything that rises during the 8 day festival. This includes bread, legumes, barley, even peanuts are off the table. Of course, this means that we're cooking at home all week and most alcohol is off the table.
Anyway, on to my day yesterday. You know when you're keeping Pesach (Passover), but sometimes a bit of chametz (non-Passover food) sneaks in there? Yeah, that was me yesterday. And by a bit, I mean a lot. And by chametz, I mean beer. The picture below is not from last night, but for the effect, you know.
I started out the day by going to the One of a Kind Show at the Direct Energy Centre with my parents. Oh boy, oh boy you guys, we had such an amazing time! We actually did it in two blocks. We arrived in the morning, went for some lunch at The Rhino (where they had Granville Island's excellent Lion's Winter Ale which I first tried while out at Canadian Music Week with some of my colleagues and was completely impressed), then came back to keep browsing.
Among my booty picked up at the show: The most beautiful tin of foie gras from Les Canardises, Henderson Farms' delicious fig-rhubarb marmalade, pistachio butter (like peanut butter, but with pistachios) from Hawberry Farms on Manitoulin Island, some amazing magnets (I have a thing for fridge magnets...), some awesome organic granola as well as this incredible salve that seems to cure all from Matter: Outdoors. Plus, my father bought me a fancy hat. The picture is a bit blurred, but voila!
After the show, I met up with my dear friend Reethi for a drink at Bar Volo. We ended up making some new friends, Isabelle and Hacene. We had a gay old time! In the end, the Gladstone's karaoke night sucked us in. Hacene had been talking about wanting to sing Maroon 5 for at least an hour before, and my musical selection today is a tibute to our new friends!
So, seeing as I completely broke my Passover dietary restrictions yesterday, I thought I would share the recipe that usually gets me through the 8 days. So here you have my reipe for Matzo Bagels, which is essentially the recipe from Second Helpings Please!, but with a few tweaks.
Matzo Bagels
1/2 cup oil (something neutral)
2 cups water
2 cups matzo meal
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
3 or 4 basil leaves, chopped fine (ish)
5 eggs
Preheat your oven to 400C. Boil the oil and water together, then add all the other ingredients except the eggs. I find this works better if I mix all the dry ingredients (and herbs) together before adding them to the liquid. Remove from the heat and allow to cool (covered) so the eggs don't scramble when you add them; about 15 - 20 minutes.
Add the eggs one at a time and stir them in so your mixture gets fluffier.
Put about a tablespoon or two of oil in a little bowl - which you will regularly us to grease your hands to avoid sticking while shaping the bagels - and start forming your dough into flattened circles and put on a greased/lined cookie sheet. I like to actually make them bagel-sized so I can have sandwiches during the week.
Then use a greased chopstick or greased back of a wooden spoon to make holes in your bagels. The holes allow your dough to cook evenly. My mother tried my recipe this year without the holes and found that her buns were overcooked on the outside, but still raw on the inside.
Bake them in your oven for 50 - 60 minutes until brown. I find I usually get about 6 matzo bagels when I make them the size I like.
I very carefully cut them open length-wise with a serated knife when I use them and then put all manner of things on them such as butter, cream cheese, tomatoes, leftover brisket, spinach etc. Also, you can change up the herbs as you like; I've also had great success with fresh chives chopped fine.
A belated Chag Sameach to my Jew Crew!
So a bit of a rundown for those of you who aren't familiar with the Jewish holiday of Passover. We celebrate Passover to commemorate the story of the Israelites (we weren't Jews at that point yet) being freed from slavery under the Egyptians over 3,000 years ago. G-d is supposed to have brought down 10 plagues on the Egyptians to help convince the Pharoah to let them go. The final plague was the killing of the first-born son; which the Israelites avoided by painting lamb's blood on the doorposts of their houses so G-d knew which houses to "pass over", hence the name. That was the final straw for Pharoah and he told us all to get the heck outta Dodge ASAP. In preparing food for the road, there was no time to let the bread rise, so in celebration of that Jews around the world who follow the tradition don't consume anything that rises during the 8 day festival. This includes bread, legumes, barley, even peanuts are off the table. Of course, this means that we're cooking at home all week and most alcohol is off the table.
Anyway, on to my day yesterday. You know when you're keeping Pesach (Passover), but sometimes a bit of chametz (non-Passover food) sneaks in there? Yeah, that was me yesterday. And by a bit, I mean a lot. And by chametz, I mean beer. The picture below is not from last night, but for the effect, you know.
I started out the day by going to the One of a Kind Show at the Direct Energy Centre with my parents. Oh boy, oh boy you guys, we had such an amazing time! We actually did it in two blocks. We arrived in the morning, went for some lunch at The Rhino (where they had Granville Island's excellent Lion's Winter Ale which I first tried while out at Canadian Music Week with some of my colleagues and was completely impressed), then came back to keep browsing.
Among my booty picked up at the show: The most beautiful tin of foie gras from Les Canardises, Henderson Farms' delicious fig-rhubarb marmalade, pistachio butter (like peanut butter, but with pistachios) from Hawberry Farms on Manitoulin Island, some amazing magnets (I have a thing for fridge magnets...), some awesome organic granola as well as this incredible salve that seems to cure all from Matter: Outdoors. Plus, my father bought me a fancy hat. The picture is a bit blurred, but voila!
After the show, I met up with my dear friend Reethi for a drink at Bar Volo. We ended up making some new friends, Isabelle and Hacene. We had a gay old time! In the end, the Gladstone's karaoke night sucked us in. Hacene had been talking about wanting to sing Maroon 5 for at least an hour before, and my musical selection today is a tibute to our new friends!
So, seeing as I completely broke my Passover dietary restrictions yesterday, I thought I would share the recipe that usually gets me through the 8 days. So here you have my reipe for Matzo Bagels, which is essentially the recipe from Second Helpings Please!, but with a few tweaks.
Matzo Bagels
1/2 cup oil (something neutral)
2 cups water
2 cups matzo meal
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
3 or 4 basil leaves, chopped fine (ish)
5 eggs
Preheat your oven to 400C. Boil the oil and water together, then add all the other ingredients except the eggs. I find this works better if I mix all the dry ingredients (and herbs) together before adding them to the liquid. Remove from the heat and allow to cool (covered) so the eggs don't scramble when you add them; about 15 - 20 minutes.
Add the eggs one at a time and stir them in so your mixture gets fluffier.
Put about a tablespoon or two of oil in a little bowl - which you will regularly us to grease your hands to avoid sticking while shaping the bagels - and start forming your dough into flattened circles and put on a greased/lined cookie sheet. I like to actually make them bagel-sized so I can have sandwiches during the week.
Then use a greased chopstick or greased back of a wooden spoon to make holes in your bagels. The holes allow your dough to cook evenly. My mother tried my recipe this year without the holes and found that her buns were overcooked on the outside, but still raw on the inside.
Bake them in your oven for 50 - 60 minutes until brown. I find I usually get about 6 matzo bagels when I make them the size I like.
I very carefully cut them open length-wise with a serated knife when I use them and then put all manner of things on them such as butter, cream cheese, tomatoes, leftover brisket, spinach etc. Also, you can change up the herbs as you like; I've also had great success with fresh chives chopped fine.
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