Detoxing Diets November 3, 2007

When I was living in London last year this seemed to be all the rage, EVERYONE seemed to talking about them awash in the guilt of a holiday season of excesses. That being said I have not in the past month drank my weight in mulled wine and gin and tonics or tested my mince pie eating abilities. I just feel GROSS, I 100% blame my job and the fact that it’s driving me crazy (yes crazy, I’m not kidding I’m going looney). My once cheery self is being drowned out by this incredibly angry redhaired fiend, heaven forbid anyone come into my office asking me about toner! “TONER! I’ll F***ing show you WHAT TO DO WITH THE TONER!!!” Unfortunately one of my colleagues have gotten into the habit of trying to speak to me about such things as ”life threatening toner issues”  (also equally as important as the “life threatening stamp ordering issues”) before I have time to do my morning routine which involves reading the news and drinking a lovely earl grey. Bad idea.

 But back to the point, as I still am feeling icky and feel the need for something pretty drastic, as such this little redhead will be detoxing. Now for most this involves doing something with rosehips and generally not getting the nutrition needed. I on the other hand will do somewhat of the reverse, for the next week, Sat - Friday I will eat my veg, fruit and small portions or protein. I will not fry or use large amounts of butter or oils etc, seasoning will be herb and spices and there will be much soup involved. I’m going carb free, (that being said there is a party tonight so I will have two G+Ts but that is all).

 This food will not be flavourless mush, I  know that it is tempting to read that into this but I am very enthusiastic about what I can cook given the constraints of my diet.

I will post recipes and methods of cooking throughout the week ending with my blissful flight across the Rockies and into Zachary’s waiting arms. Once in Vancouver I have a feeling that my eating habits might change. We’ll see how that goes.

 Wish me luck!

 xx

Lauren

Something for you to consider August 31, 2007

Everyone likes a challenge!

 Why not try this one? David Suzuki is in the view of MANY scientists, a hack. While this may or may not be true I do believe in the necessity of what he does (I was forced into this as a young child and frankly I don’t think I’m all that worse off for it). Regardless, it is worth taking a look at, we all have our environmental vices, but, I think frankly it’s much more important to do SOMETHING rather than nothing. (this has been written in my plush corporate office at a multinational oil company = vice, taking the bus to and from work every day = good, walking as many places as possible = good, flying to vancouver = vice, recycling and reusing everything I see fit = good, publishing this note on my blog = good).

 At the very least I’m trying to break even

 xx

L

Occupied August 30, 2007

Well…

 Do I REALLY need to excuse myself? It was the summer, I’m on holidays and I really honestly and truely cannot blame work for a change, laziness is possibly the culprit, combined with my jet set life style (multiple trips to Vancouver makes me jet set, I swear). However the weather here in Cow-town has really started to turn. The crab apples on the trees behind my house have turned a fantastic shade of red and walking to the bus in the morning now requires a coat and scarf.

 Zac and I have been putzing around Vancouver a bit, we’ve had a bit of a difficult time being apart, but, we’re absolutely and over the top excited about him getting his new condo (which is lovely i might add). We have also eaten at some incredibly gorgeous restaurants which I have started the writing process on. I am incredibly jealous of Zac’s lifestyle but hopefully things will work out and I’ll be able to visit him more often than not.

So yes, you will get some blogging. I’m getting myself back into writing, slowly but surely.

Aida’s on 4th St. May 23, 2007

Before I left for Maine a couple weeks ago Zac and I decided it was time to celebrate an anniversary and have a nice day of relaxation, entertainment and food.

We both agreed that it was time to try Aida’s on 4th street. I personally was looking to beat my previous bad experiences with the restaurants on the Street and as Aida’s has been so highly praised by friends and the people on Chowhound I decided it had to be the restaurant to break the curse!

After a mix up with the booking, ie both of us making two reservations for exactly the same time on exactly the same day (hmm can you tell we were eager?). We were set and the day of we took in a movie and the strolled down the street on this very sunny (yet windy) day. We were starving, but it was alright as the meal was fantastic.

The decor of the place was a little sparse and though they are trying to go with a Lebanese, North African theme it doesn’t quite work. I do love the ceiling though as they have one of those fantastic old tin ceilings which are really pretty.

We came in just before a gigantic group was seated, we could tell it was someone’s birthday so we made a point of trying to get our orders in before the mad rush that the group of 30 or so people was going to create in the kitchen. We opted for four dips with pita bread as a starter and these were very tasty, hummus, a zesty roasted red pepper dip, tzatziki type of dip and another dip that had the same texture as the hummus but with significantly more kick. It was VERY tasty and I loved it. I would have preferred that they serve fresh homemade pitas, but then I’m sure there wouldn’t be any free refills and that would have sucked!

We both ordered significantly different mains, I chose a grilled chicken breast with vegetables and rice and Zachary had the meatballs in a pomegrante sauce with couscous. These again were very tasty and the portions were huge. I couldn’t finish my chicken so it ended up being my lunch at work the next day. It was superbly spiced with lemon, thyme and garlic and was incredibly moist and flavourful. Unfortunately there was confusion in the kitchen and instead of couscous Zac’s meatballs in pomegranate sauce was accompanied by rice. He didn’t complain and I’d like to think this mix up was solely because of the large group that had come in a bit later than us and who’s meals were starting to arrive (the wait staff seemed incredibly stressed).

For dessert we had sweet Turkish coffees with this gorgeous caramelly tiramisu. If I had been clever I would have remembered to keep the name of it but at that point I was in a sugar and carb induced daze and as such it will remain that incredibly tasty dessert that we had at Aida’s until I go back and prod the waiters for some idea of what they put in it!

The food was inexpensive and fantastic quality. I was quite happy with this experience and it seems like the third time’s the charm with my disappointing experiences on 4th!

Aida’s
2208 4th St SW
Calgary, AB T2S 1W9

Cupcaketastic - seven year olds like sprinkles March 1, 2007

Today was Zac’s little bros birthday and my gift to him (and possibly Zac’s mom) was baking the cupcakes for his class. The cupcakes were baked and we forayed into decorating them yesterday.

I made a ganache icing, which I was slightly concerned about as I had never made one before and I’m not cooking in my kitchen, that being said, they turned out quite well and I’ve included the recipe for you to peruse.

 Cupcakes a la Griffin

Step 1 – have older brother’s girlfriend bake cupcakes from recipe she had found online

Step 2 –the cupcakes become concave and “brownies”

Step 3 – have older brother’s girlfriend try once again, this time being a horrible chef and making the cupcakes from the box ( god bless you Duncan Heinz)

Step 4 – wait patiently for older brother and his girlfriend to get back from work

Step 5 – wait patiently while older brother and his girlfriend make ganache

Step 6 – sneak chocolate chips when your mom isn’t looking

Step 7 – eat some sprinkles

Step 8 – HORRAY ganache is finished – COVER iced cupcakes in as many sprinkles as humanly possible

Step 9 – eat all sprinkles that fall off cupcakes

Step 10 – have older brother encourage you to eat the sprinkles and lick the remnants of the icing off the spoon and out of the pan

Step 11 – have old brother wonder why you’re on such a sugar buzz and so desperate for his attention

Step 12 – Cupcakes are done.

Step 13(optional) – eat very little supper because you are “full”

So yes, we all had alot of fun and I was told that Griffin’s friends REALLY liked his cupcakes, which is really all that matters.

I stole the ganache recipe from cupcaketastic this site has some AMAZING cupcakes on it, i’m going to have to try it.

PS - I had forgotten how much seven year olds REALLY like sprinkles… ooopsies!

Basic Ganache - enough for 12 cupcakes (multiply recipe as required)

.

1/2 cup (125ml) thickened cream
200g dark eating chocolate, chopped coarsely

Bring cream to boil in small saucepan; pour over chocolate in small bowl; stir until smooth, strain through find sieve (if you what a high shine, but still great without the straining). Stand at room temperature until ganache is a thick pouring consistency.

The ganache will self level the cupcake so if you find that they sunk, just fill it with chocolate and enjoy. Decorate how ever your desire.

Last King of Scotland (wooeee he won) February 28, 2007

Just a quick note to say YAY Forest Whitaker won!

 

 You all need to go see it now!!!

 ENJOY!

 Lauren