Dinner: Monday, Jan. 29th, 2007

Guests: Jay, Kinga, Lisa and me

Menu:

Lemon Sole Paupiette – carrot, leek, celery, fingerling potatoes, dill, lime zest, lemon wedge, pat of butter, white wine – all wrapped up in parchment paper and baked…. so good, the fish was so fresh it wasn’t even flaky, it just sort of fell apart like fluff… amazing

Tea Brack – cake made with raisins soaked in Earl Gray tea served with chocolate banana, and sweet cream ice cream… so tempted for seconds….

And this time we were drinking champagne with wild strawberry liquor… lol… which might have prompted some very odd and very funny conversation… good times…

Winterlicious 2007: Pangaea

Winterlicious has begun this year on Friday, Jan. 26th. Jay and I of course had made reservations as soon as we could, still we did not get some restaurants that we wanted... well there is always next year... hahahaha

Yesterday we went to Pangaea with Magda and Patrick.. our reservation was at 8pm, and the place was packed. The hostess looked like she was going to have a nervous breakdown any moment... madhouse I tell you... We ended up at one of the best tables... I had the perfect view of the restaurant.. and our waiter was witty, funny and attentive... plus the bar service was lightning fast, always a good thing..

PANGAEA RESTAURANT WINTERLICIOUS MENU:

Appetizer
Pangaea Hot Soup Lobster bisque, with wild mushrooms and waterchestnut relish
or
Pear & Endive Salad Roasted pear, shaved fennel, watercress, frisée, walnuts, Stilton cheese, mustard dressing
or
Grilled Quail Asian glazed, crisp tempura onion rings, mizuna greens, mustard-honey sauce

Main
Ocean Trout Pan-roasted, on aromatic beluga lentils, organic beets, sorrel, crispy onions
or
Lamb Grilled lamb chop on cassoulet of lingot beans, braised lamb shank, heirloom carrots, lamb braising juices
or
Sweetbreads Riesling braised cabbage with smoked apple, bacon, potato rosti, black truffle sauce

Dessert
Passionfruit Pot de Crème Tropical fruit salad, coconut cookies
or
Fresh Ginger Cake With caramel apple and vanilla sauces, maple candied pecans

The soup was actually lemon and parsnip not lobster bisque, could have been a touch warmer but other than that delicious. Jay and Patrick had the quail, which was very tasty as well. For the main Magda and I went with the trout, Patrick with the lamb and Jason with the sweetbreads. My trout was beautifully done, cooked to perfection. Lentils were good too, but Jay makes them a lot better. The plate could have used some kind of a sauce, a bit more salt and I don't remember seeing any sorrel. Jay's sweetbreads were amazing, although they were cold, however since the plate was piping hot, they warmed up quickly. Patrick enjoyed his lamb as well, it looked a perfect medium rare. The dessert did not disappoint. The plating of the pot the creme could have used a bit more thought... the sliced and diced pineapple were kind of out of place. The ginger cake was delicious, I just felt the pastry chef should strain the ginger before mixing it into the batter so one doesn't find strings of ginger in their cake.

Overall a very nice dinner, would definitely recommend.

Another chilly evening….

Winter has finally arrived… for the past couple of weeks it’s been freezing.. we have snow.. and I can’t think why at one point I was wishing for the white stuff… I want sandal weather… I hate it when my toes are cold…

Queen Bee and The Drooling Idiot...

Ahhhhh... how i love them...

Nefertiti (aka Kicia)

Dinner: Monday Jan. 22nd, 2007

Guests: the usual 4 suspects: Jason, Kinga, Lisa and me...
The Menu: Classic French Theme
- Bouillabaisse
- Rouille
- Toasted Baguette Slices
- White Wine
- Whole Wheat Scones with Blueberry and Apricot Jam

This meal was so good, that I am still at a loss of words to describe it. I hope the pictures do it justice.

love this song...

Eurythmics - I've got a life... I don't know sometimes when I'm down I listen to it... it's my pep talk... hahahaha .... well anywho... Annie Lennox you rock... :)

Dinner: Monday Jan. 15th, 2007

Guests: Jason, Kinga (my sister), Lisa (Kinga’s best friend).. and me

Mmmmmm… another fabulous weekly dinner... I forgot to mention last time, that if my sister comes over for dinner there is no meat… an extra challenge but we don’t mind. Meat byproducts such as cheese are ok and thank god she loves seafood.. otherwise I’d be miserable… so this week’s menu included:

- Adraintinis (a martini Adrian told us about last time he was here, I’m not sure if there is a proper name for it.. but even if.. I think I’ll stick with Adraintini)

- sautéed baby bok choy, warm green lentil salad with herbs finely diced tomatoes and lime dressing, seared trout and scallops and shrimp, half a grilled lemon (it looses its sourness when grilled)

- for dessert carrot cake with macerated berries

The quality of the pictures isn’t that great because I couldn’t get my digital camera to work.. however Miss Lisa came to the rescue with her cell phone…

Winter walks are not much fun...

We got some snow today..

It wasn't much, but it finally felt like winter.

Bad Tattoo...

Ah were to begin... This past summer a friend (Adrian) who works at a Keg, biked across Canada with two other Keg buddies to raise money for The Keg Spirit Foundation.. their awesome trip became known as the "Cycle for Spirit".. and you can read more about it here..

But this post isn't about that ... it's about a bad tatoo :)

So to remember this achievement Adrian decided to get a tattoo.. I won't say where or who done it... needless to say when I saw it I couldn't stop laughing.. it’s one of the shoddiest jobs ever, not the design the actual artwork... I think the person who did it was running out of ink.. I took pictures of it.. enojoy

Honey and the cow...