Images from the Past Two Weeks

I can't believe we got home from Vegas less than two weeks ago ... with everything that's gone on since we arrived home, it seems like ages ago.  When my mom had a lengthy hospital stay years ago, while waiting for placement in a care home, I remember that time stood still.  It seems that has happened again. 

My time frame is jumbled, but here are some random foodie images from the past two weeks of our lives ...

At some point I also went for a couple peaceful morning walks around the lake.

My mom seems back to her usual self, but the doctors still don't know what happened on Sunday to cause her to land in the hospital.  She has responded remarkably well to fluids and antibiotics, but until they find out what's going on, they can't send her back to her care home.  Fortunately it's a long weekend in Canada this weekend so we can spend some extended time with her.

What are you up to this weekend?

We're on an Emotional Roller-Coaster

On Friday afternoon we drove to Saskatoon.  We had a quick dinner at Capanna Pizzeria before going to spend the evening with my mom.

We had a wonderful visit with her, then headed to our hotel to call it a night.  The next morning we had breakfast, picked up groceries for my mom, and headed back to spend more time with her for the morning/afternoon.

In the evening we took my aunt and uncle out for supper to Bottega Trattoria.  They have done so much for my mom over the years, and we appreciate it so much.  We don't know what we'd do without them; it is really hard not living closer to my mom, especially because of her MS.

We shared the bruschetta, and all ordered pasta dishes.

We had a really nice evening and a great visit.  It seems we only catch up at Christmas, so it was nice to see my aunt and uncle just because!

On Sunday morning we ate a quick breakfast in the hotel, and then were on the road home.

Unfortunately right when we got home, we got a phone call that my mom had been taken into the hospital.

She was incoherent and not herself.  The doctors thought initially that she had a stroke. 

Hours later, the CT scan ruled that out ... which is good news.

The problem is, they still don't know what is wrong.  They have done numerous tests, and although they say she has an infection, they can't find the source to treat it properly.  We were back on the road to Saskatoon on Monday, and spent the evening with her.  We're heading back again tomorrow.

Fortunately, my mom is coherent now, and seems back to her normal self in terms of speech and behavior.  We're so grateful for that.  I'm also so grateful for my amazing husband who makes my mom a priority; for the past three-ish years that we've been together, he's made it very clear that making time to see my mom often is something that is important to him too, even if it means missing a lot of different social engagements etc..  She comes first.  It's so wonderful to have someone who feels so strongly about being there for our parents.  We're looking forward to seeing her again tomorrow, and then spending the long weekend with her.  Hopefully the doctors will have some answers for us soon.

Please keep my mom in your thoughts and prayers.

Since We've Been Home: Part 2

We've eaten really well in the past week!  We had all of these delicious things, plus ...

We made perfect, homemade pho soup.  We started by roasting beef bones for about an hour, adding some onion and ginger to roast for the last half hour or so.

We threw all of that in a stock pot with water, fish sauce, brown sugar, and some glorious spices, and let it do it's thing for a few hours.

Once we strained the broth, we added some very thinly sliced onion, fresh ginger, and rice noodles to the pot.  When the noodles were cooked, in went very thinly sliced beef, salt and pepper.

Then came the garnishes ...

Fresh Thai basil, lime, bean sprouts, and sriracha.

So comforting.  So delicious.

 

Speaking of comforting, I also made an apple pie for my sweetheart.

 
Another yummy dish we made this week was a tofu, veggie rice bowl with peanut sauce.

What a week of good eats!  I'm excited for what we'll make next week.

Happy Friday!  How was your week? 

Since We've Been Home

We've been home from Vegas for a week as of today.  Over the past week we've been eating all of our meals at home.  We are totally "restaurant-ed" out.  We had omelet sandwiches:

Perfect pizza, loaded with olives:

BBQd ribs with Greek salad:

Maple glazed, pepper-crusted salmon:

I baked some hot cocoa cookies:

And this isn't even all of the deliciousness that happened in our kitchen in the past week!  More to come!!

What have you been cooking/ baking lately?  

What do you have planned for the weekend?

* If you eat at Menchie's, don't forget to snap a picture and enter my giveaway via Twitter or Instagram.  It's super easy to enter.

Coffee for the Crazy People

This coffee has become a thing.  I had heard of it, but I didn't see the recipe until Pioneer Woman posted it.  As soon as I saw it, I knew we had to try the crazy concoction.  We're not people who shy away from much when it comes to food/drink.  We'll try almost anything once.

You throw 1 tablespoon of good quality coconut oil (unrefined) into a blender.

Then you add a pat of butter.

Have I lost you yet!?  Haha!

Pour in 12 ounces of strong, very hot, brewed coffee.

And then blend until it's frothy and beautiful, and emulsified.

Then enjoy the creamy, slightly "coconuty" coffee.  It's not oily at all.

Christopher and I thought that it was good, but not as deserving of the rave reviews it's been getting.  It was similar to coffee with a couple creamers, but it had the slight coconut taste.  Although, we are well aware of the incredible health benefits of coconut oil, so if we want to incorporate more into our diet, this might be a good way to do so.

Also, we've heard of restaurants serving coffee with a pat of butter instead of cream.  Hmmmm, maybe we'll have to try that next.

So, would you try this crazy coffee?  Have you tried it already?

(I really want to try kopi luwak, and I will as soon as I can find it; Christopher thinks I'm crazy)

Last Full Day in Vegas

A week in Vegas flew by!  We had never gone to Vegas for more than four nights in the past, so we thought seven nights would be a lot ... but it really did fly by; I guess that's what happens when you're having fun. 

Christopher could not get over these cute slot machines. 

He loved 'em.

We chose to think of Encore as a resort, and basically not leave it, other than for the wedding and only two meals off of the property.  It was a great choice!  Encore is a small, less busy hotel, and it is gorgeous.  It has been awarded the AAA Five Diamond Award every year since it opened.  Also Encore, and it's sister property Wynn, collectively hold more Forbes Five-Star Awards than any other casino-resort in the world! 

Seriously, he was obsessed.  We couldn't even walk by them.

I'd say our favourite thing about this hotel was that it was not as crowded as others, and it was much smaller.  We also thought it was fancy, but not too fancy for us.  That being said, we loved our room at Cosmopolitan the best, and overall think that Palazzo is our favourite Las Vegas Hotel.

For lunch on Thursday we went back to Mizumi and shared some ramen.

In the evening we took at taxi to Bellagio to meet up with the newlyweds, Kaylee and Shane.  We visited a bit at Lily first.

Then we headed to Julian Serrano's LAGO.

When it comes to dinner views in Las Vegas, I'd venture to say we had the best.

We were on a patio, that was over the Bellagio fountain waters.  We were getting misted by the fountains.  It was insane!

And the food was incredible.  LAGO is a tapas-style Italian restaurant, with a few larger entrees.  Christopher and I definitely chose the tapas route, as that is our favourite way to dine.  We had some sashimi:

Some mini olive pizzas, which don't look like much, but were so good:

Margarita pizza:

And the best meatballs ever:

Everything was top-notch.

Christopher ordered tiramisu for dessert.

What a fantastic evening!

Another awesome thing about our trip ... we got to see one of our favourite DJs, DeadMau5, spin live in our hotel.  Wow.

Have you been to Vegas?  Where do you like to stay in Vegas?