grateful (COUNT=1411)

i++ Beautiful summer walk to St James Cemetery via Cabbagetown

i++ For brunch, he made super delish French toast …

i++ … and I made cauliflower rice with smoked herring inspired by salt cod cakes from Newfoundland

apricot & maple keys (COUNT=1399)

In STL last Sunday so celebrated mother’s day this long weekend. Mostly according to plan but I couldn’t find any plums anywhere. Apricot with an extra touch of rice vinegar seemed to do the job.

Walking to Tsujiri to pick up the matcha desserts, he said: look, maple keys. Indeed, bright tulips floating on a sea of maple keys.

img src=rosemarywashington

mother’s day (draft)

Last year started planning in April. This year in March.

A. Pickled plum onion salad + lime zest + sweet shrimp

B. Sauteed carrot salad + orange zest

C. Chopped cauliflower garlic pasta + lemon zest

D. Pork + kumquat mustard sauce

E. Matcha x3 from Tsujiri

old things new

He is officially on a low sodium diet so I’m trying to reinvent our favorite recipes. For example, instead of parmesan crusted sole, I’m thinking break crumbs + lemon peel + lemon oil. Add
red cabbage slaw and we have a fish taco bowl.

Even without new constraints, I’m not a fan of redoing the same thing. The problem is that it’s never as good. Not because it’s actually less good but we can always find something wrong when there exists a basis for comparison.

Me: I wander what I should make for my dad’s birthday
Him: Why don’t you make that sesame-crusted tuna he liked
Me: But I already made it once

For 2017, I’m thinking seared scallops (with lime zest) + minced pork red curry (with arugula) + celery salad (with white hominy) + black bean soup (with tortilla).

Use #lemons instead of salt to flavor your dishes & you can cut sodium by as much as 75%. Learn how: https://t.co/vjanGw3nCS #Salternative pic.twitter.com/QdQJoojrdH

— Sunkist Growers (@Sunkist) December 27, 2016

ain’t she sweet (COUNT=1328)

1. When I fly to St Louis on a Sunday afternoon, he takes me to the UP station and each time, we say: Wouldn’t it be nice to grab a drink at the UPstairs Lounge? So that’s where we kicked off the weekend at 6:30 on Friday (with jazz and blinking departure lights)

2. Followed by unplanned dinner at Bravi. I was here a while ago for a corporate event. On a surprisingly quiet night, it’s rather romantic with salty olives and lush calamari

3. And somehow we find ourselves singing ain’t she sweet (and now I ask you very confidentially)

4. Saturday coffee day revisiting Sumach Espresso

5. Followed by unplanned walk through Acadia (and I picked up some Chekhov short stories)

6. For dinner, I made two vegetable dishes with a little extra apple cider vinegar while he prepared rice and meatballs (as 50/50 as 50/50 can be)

first baby party

img src=kitka

Fei is organizing an exploding kittens evening in December and I will be hosting potluck with Special Guest Baby G

Caprese + Charcuterie (Fei)
Butter Bean + Celery + Lime Zest

Roast Beef (James)
Whole Grain Mustard (Faisel)
Brussel Sprout + Gremolata
Bean Sprout + Mushroom
Caramelized Onion + Paprika

Mystery Tart (Jess)

non-boring

Wow!!! It’s been 33 months since I had a “my life is boring” moment. And another interesting experience this week.

On Tuesday, I got up at 4 am for my 8 am flight because I need to renew my work visa. I went into secondary and waited and waited and got rejected. Even though I’ve had TN visa for most of my working life. The upside is that, on the ride back on the Union Pearson, I got a nice view of the sun rising over Toronto.

This weekend: attempt visa renewal at land border. The upside is that, he’s been wanting to visit Buffalo for a while. We are thinking silo city and blue sky mausoleum.

Next weekend: hot pot party with Anne & Josh.

Next next weekend: celebrate his birthday.

Next next next weekend: he will make roast for my mum’s birthday.