an old friend

I'd love to attribute my lack of posting to a spiritual quest-filled absence, or to perhaps some sort of matter of principle type of endeavor (maybe involving me rebelling against cyberspace in general) but really, it's because I've been busy eating.  And by eating I mean drinking.  And by drinking I mean drinking.  It's been a very lovely holiday season despite my new-found friendship with red wine, and thanks to my mom's cooking, I'll likely be spending new year's eve in one of those motorized Wal-Mart wheelchairs, which I'll have driven past the limits of the parking lot, to the side of the road and, hopefully, into oncoming traffic.  On a less depressing note, my favorite part about Christmas this year was the color of the sky.  After dinner, we took a walk outside and, as can be seen by these photos, it looked like it was late afternoon instead of nearly-midnight. It wasn't too cold either, which was a very nice touch for Canada, and provided the best excuse to throw on an old friend: my vintage coat.

a little kissmas dinner

Once upon a time, I decided to have a kissmas dinner and invited my all-time favorite people (minus a couple of girls who erroneously informed me of their absences this weekend...I'm looking at you, Lindsay and Amy.) For some strange reason, the preparatory process this time around involved me looking like I participate in the occasional gang fight. While cutting the baguette, I somehow sliced my finger open. Staggering out of the kitchen in absolute bewilderment at the amount of blood a little finger can produce, I stepped on a sharp staple, causing half of it to sink far into my foot and causing my foot to follow my finger's lead, gushing more blood. That would've been fine, except in my confusion, I knocked over a piece of equally bloody beef, and still in shock, as luck would have it, stepped right on it, grinding my fresh cut into it. Thinking this scenario is beyond ridiculous and refusing to give in to pain or bovine diseases, I carried on my cooking journey, grabbing the next item that needed to be cut which turned out to be an organic carrot. Here's the thing though: organic carrots are thin and pointy.  This particular carrot also happened to be slippery, causing me to jam it under the nail of my index finger, tearing the skin and...yeah..more blood ensued.  So there I was, bleeding from both hands and suffering from mad cow disease, but all in all, it worked out pretty well. Figs, as it turns out, are out of season and had to be purchased practically on the black market - hello Lebanon!-and I only realized the meringues had to be baked the night before when it was already the night before (and I was moderately drunk)- though still somehow beat those egg whites into submission - but the spirit of kissmas ensued and everything was ready for the arrival of my beautiful guests.  Of exceptional importance is the fact that Tyler actually made it down from Montreal, causing 90% of the photos to be blurry from our laughter-induced convulsions.

Prosciutto Goat-Cheese Figs

Kahlua, Mint, and Raspberry Truffles

My new favorite sparkling wine!

Tyler making a serious effort to be classy..

Just two beautiful girls

Foreground: White Chocolate Meringues with Blackberry Whipped Cream

Benisa just being her gorgeous self..

With everyone at the table, a pretty sight

With Alisa at the table, well...

Our best attempt at a family photo..

Attempt #2..yeah forget it. 

oh sandwich, you bully

The other day, my friend Liam made me a sandwich, and when I bit into it, its deliciousness literally brought a tear to my eye.  I swear on my Lanvin pumps that I have never, ever cried from eating food before, but there was something about the combination of the deli meat and mustard that felt like edible fireworks.  I hope to Christ a sandwich never makes me cry again because there are few things more humiliating than said reaction, but mostly, this reminded me that I don't make them often enough. Truthfully, I think the reason I was so overwhelmed was because I hadn't eaten deli meat in like eight millenia, but at this point who even knows. I wanted to recreate a similar result- but less pathetic- using vegan, organic ingredients, and I'm pretty excited to say I did.  This bad boy is comprised of vegenaise, avocado (the steak of vegetables, really), hydroponic lettuce, steakhouse tomatoes, and the fun part: tempeh 'bacon' strips, grilled and seasoned.  I also used seven grain organic spelt bread which was appropriately toasted. Technically, it's kind of a BLT. Or I guess with an avocado, that makes it a BALT. Or a BLAT. Or an ABLT. Or just a sandwich.

ChuChai Romance

A few weeks ago I visited my better half, Tyler, in Montreal and finally obtained tangible proof of edible heaven.  Completely vegan, completely thai, and completely phenomenal, ChuChai (as I recently raved on BeSleek) tempts the palette of even the most discerning carnivores. With items like duck in red curry sauce and shrimp in peanut sauce with deep-fried spinach, you know you can't go wrong.  We also shared (well, destroyed) a plate of crispy seaweed, which to this day remains my favorite appetizer of all time.  ChuChai has been my favorite restaurant for several years now, so it's only fitting that we found romance in the same night. Oh and the very last photo is the best summation of the effervescent nature of our relationship.

  

 

kissmas, you're almost here!

This year, I opted to stray from the popsicle stick reindeer and popcorn garlands for the Christmas tree, and went with an aquamarine+white theme instead.  Just kidding about the popsicle stick reindeer and popcorn garlands..I wouldn’t dare.  My sister was kind enough to help me string the little (well I’ll just say it) blue balls, and the decorating process was warmly accompanied by Mariah’s All I Want for Christmas, on repeat.  

Then I put together a centerpiece for my upcoming dinner, which looked a little something like this, and left my apartment covered in tiny Styrofoam balls…

Money Tree was feeling a little excluded so I bestowed upon him my newly acquired (and very prized) ornaments- glass peanut and toadstool- purchased on a lovely afternoon with Anais:

After putting together the tree, I realized something vital was missing. I needed something to top it, something angelic, ethereal, pure, beautiful, and as holy as it gets: Daniel Craig.  Here he is:

I'd like this year-round, please.

oh pastels

Every time I eat maracons, I promise myself it's my last indulgence for a 'while'. That while lasts a few weeks at most, before I'm back in the arms of my incurably sweet tooth.  Well this time these rose, lavender, pistachio, apricot, and spiced chocolate treasures will really be my last...until next year, at least...because the flea market is officially no more, thanks to December stepping in (and by the way, yay! November, as can be seen by my sparse blogging, was so uninspiring).  Luckily, I've found something else to tide my pastel cravings over - the pastel nail color line from American Apparel. Move over, neon.