The End of Our Week

Wednesday was my last day of holidays.  I got up early, went to the farmers' market, ran a couple errands, and had lunch ready for when Christopher got home.

I also whipped up some stuffed pasta shells so we'd have good lunches for Thursday/Friday.

In the afternoon we went to The Fat Badger patio downtown to visit and people watch.  We then came home and sat out in the backyard a while longer.  It was a great way to end off a wonderful summer break.

On my first day back to work, I ate a yogurt mess for breakfast. 

I topped plain Greek yogurt with blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, cantaloupe, PB, hemp seeds, and coconut.  I knew this would keep me full through meetings and hauling heavy furniture etc., until I was able to eat my delicious pasta shells.

I came home from work to lovely flowers - my husband is the sweetest!

We made a vegetarian curry for dinner and relaxed for the evening.

Now it's time to enjoy this beautiful weekend weather!

What are you up to this weekend?

Cheesecake, Visits, and Things ...

This week is off to a great start.  On Monday I made a classic cheesecake for the first time.  Although I love cheesecake, I can't remember ever making it before.  It turned out really well, especially for a first attempt!

I whipped up a fresh strawberry glaze for topping.

I brought water, sugar, cornstarch and fresh strawberries to a boil until it was thick and bubbly.  It's so much better than a store-bought sauce.

While the cheesecake and glaze were cooling I met Christopher for lunch at Western Pizza.  Since I'll now be working across town, I'll be closer to where Christopher delivers, and we'll be able to meet for lunch a lot more throughout the year (when we don't have delicious leftovers at home to eat for lunch).

He couldn't wait to dig into his cheesecake later in the day.

On Monday evening I caught up with some girlfriends, and then later that evening I learned that my cousins from Ontario were in town and wanted to have a visit on Tuesday!  It had been many years since I saw any of them, and Christopher hadn't met them yet.

Yesterday I was up early, cleaned up a bit, and picked up a few snacks and bevvies.  I baked some chocolate chip cookies, and made a Thai soup for lunch:

In the afternoon we had a lovely visit in the backyard with my cousin Janine and her sweet little baby boy Oliviero, my cousin Sara & her husband Luis, and their kids Mary and Sam.  It was so nice to catch up, and we look forward to seeing them again when we eventually make it to Toronto (hopefully in 2016).

Last night we had BBQd chicken and Greek salad for dinner.

Monday and Tuesday were wonderful!  I'm excited to see what the rest of the week holds. 

How's your week going so far?  Have you ever made cheesecake? 

The Weekend

On Friday evening we met up with another couple for dinner at The Lobby.  I ordered a pizza, and it was really good.  Christopher had the pad Thai, and thought it was just okay.

We were home early, and then up early on Saturday morning.  For breakfast on Saturday we had some fruit with cottage cheese, and a few slices of bacon.

Also, Christopher made some espresso, and we had mochas while doing vacation research.

In the afternoon we snacked on smoked salmon (from The Bulk Cheese Warehouse), paratha, and cream cheese.

This was such a satisfying snack.  We're happy to have found some smoked salmon, similar to the fresh stuff our friend made.  This will definitely do the trick until we eventually get our own little smoker.

Dinner on Saturday evening included shrimp, steak, scallops, and a bunch of veggies, all cooked on the raclette grill.  With that we also had cheese, bruschetta mixture, and bread. 

Raclette is fun to do with friends too!  If you're an inexperienced (or nervous) entertainer, or not a very confident cook, you could do this, and still have a fabulous dinner party.  You just buy a bunch of raw veggies, proteins, some nice bread and raclette cheese or gruyere, or anything else your heart desires.  You can use different dips/marinades, and grill everything up in a garlic butter, or flavoured oil.  You cook with the guests, eating a little bit at a time, over a long period of time, like with fondue.  One raclette grill is good for four people.

And there are little trays underneath to broil cheese, or make little cheesy toasts, or whatever!

We had a really nice Saturday without leaving the house. 

On Sunday we went to friends' Jeff and Alaina's for their daughter's second birthday.  She's a very active little girl, it was hard to get a snuggle from her!  Toddler age is so much fun; it's all running around and playing.  I did get to hold our friends Matt and Alissa's brand new baby girl.  She was about 11 days old!  I didn't let her go the entire time they were there.

How was your weekend?  What did you do?

Visits

Yesterday morning I met my lovely friend Jocelyn (and her sweet little baby) for coffee just down the street from home.  It was really nice. 

Then yesterday evening we stopped by Christopher's parent's house.  It's his mom's birthday today!  Happy birthday mom - we love you!

She had some delicious snacks for us to eat while we visited:

She always makes snacks.  She's pretty fantastic.

We brought bevvies to share out on the patio.  We had some good laughs!

This morning I met my friend Bonnie at a newer breakfast restaurant called Breakfast Bistro. 

I was impressed with their menu selection.  They also have good coffee, and reasonable prices.  Also, it's nice to have another option for a non-chain breakfast restaurant that is open very early if need be. 

I ordered the sriracha benedict, and I thought it was really good.

I'll definitely visit this restaurant again.

What do you have planned for the weekend?

Tonight Christopher and I are meeting up with another couple for dinner and a visit, and then tomorrow we're staying in to cook and relax all day.  On Sunday afternoon we have a birthday party to attend.  It should be a fun-filled weekend.  Actually, we have a lot of busy (but fun) weekends coming up :-)

Thursday Things

Breakfasts this week have looked a lot like this:

Homemade bread, toasted up, with some cherries - mmmm.

I usually make lunch for Christopher when he comes home from work in the summer, but sometimes we meet somewhere out for lunch.  On Monday we went to Western Pizza for their lunch buffet, and it was really, really good (and only $10). 

It was definitely the best pizza/pasta based buffet I've had in town. 

Last night we went out for dinner and a movie.  We ate at Thai Basil, sharing soup, noodles, and crispy salted chicken.

We got home way past our bedtime from the movie.  I think we might be like zombies today! 

What have you been up to this week?

Mouth Watering Monday

I was up early today - before 6:00 a.m..  I toasted up some homemade bread for the best toast ever, and enjoyed that while reading blogs. 

Then I got to work on a lovely peach pie for my sweetie pie.

It was a bit of a cooler day, so I made a pot of clam chowder soup for lunch.  When Christopher came home we enjoyed it with cheesy bread.

We BBQd rack of lamb, potatoes with mint and feta, and portobello mushrooms for dinner.

It was the perfect dinner for the gloomy, cool evening.

For dessert ... peach pie of course!

How was your Monday?  Has it cooled off where you live?

The Weekend

This has been such a wonderful, and relaxing weekend.  On Friday evening we sat out in the backyard and cooked a chicken on the BBQ with some potatoes and zucchini.

It was probably the best chicken I've ever had.  We cooked it over a can of 7-Up, and the cavity and under the skin was stuffed with garlic and ginger.  The skin was so crispy ... I ate way too much of it.  The meat was juicy, and perfect.

We've had a couple wasps hanging around the backyard, so we tested out a method to keep them away, and it seemed to work.  You stick about 10 cloves into a lemon half, and then cut a bit off the end of the lemon so it doesn't wobble around.

Apparently wasps don't like the smell, but we thought it smelled great!

On Saturday morning we made a quick breakfast before heading out to the farmers' market.  We wandered a bit and bought some produce.

In the evening we went out to celebrate our friend Heather's birthday.  We started out at Beer Bros. and then went back to Heather and Chris' place after dinner. 

We had a fun evening out!

After sleeping in really late this morning, Christopher told me to relax while he cooked up a fantastic breakfast.  We had the most delicious omelets with crisp bacon, and some spicy, herb-potatoes.

We had been planning to spend all of Sunday in the backyard soaking up sun, but it's kind of a gloomy day - there's always next weekend! 

Instead, we're chillin' in the house with snacks.  Can't complain!

 

How was your weekend?  What did you do?