Sunday, January 31, 2010

Second Birthday

This Thursday Robbie surprised me by taking me out for dinner for my second birthday. The first few months that we were dating Robbie somehow got it into his mind that my birthday was January 26. We are both unsure of what ever led him to this belief but apparently it was quite a shock for him to find out otherwise as my actual birthday is in October. So short story, we jokingly celebrate this date as my "second Birthday", which for me is a pretty sweet deal. We went to a fancy Italian restaurant called del Dente and had a wonderful meal of all you can eat bread (baked in cute little flower pots and served with a variety of 3 different spreads), wine and pasta. Rob had the classic cheese tortellini (Parmesan & ricotta stuffed tortellini, tomatoes, wild mushrooms, rosé sauce, baked with mozzarella cheese) and I had the prime rib cassarecia (sweet peppers, red onions, marinated tomatoes and fennel, tossed in a gorgonzola cream sauce), both delicious. We were much too full for dessert, mainly because of all of the bread we both ate, but we managed to sneak a few fancy chocolate mints to go.

Afterwards, we went to our weekly dance class feeling slightly uncomfortable from our over indulgence but still managed to make our way around the dance floor. We have now covered the steps to the waltz, the foxtrot, rumba and paso doble, all of which we are only so-so at but still manage to do ok. This past class was actually one of the best because our instructor (who normally is occupied by dancing with another student who does not have a partner) was free to keep a watchful eye on us and make corrections as needed (often).

Today we took a drive to Milton which is a 30 minute drive east on the 401 and met up with a few of my AVC friends for lunch. It is always good catching up with friendly faces and Robbie is always up for anything that involves good food.

When we got home we walked over to the local sliding hill which was once an old landfill now landscaped into a recreational park including sliding hill and bike park. With our new crazy carpets in hand we made our way over only to find that there was very little snow actually covering the grown. We attempted 2 separate runs, both which were quite disappointing as it was mainly ice and dirt which made for a bumpy ride. We decided to call it a day but we'll be back to try again once we get more snow. I had forgotten how much energy it takes to go sliding. How are kids able to run up the hill over and over without getting tired? It made me feel a little old. I'm going to have to continue doing my work out videos so I'll be in tip top shape for our next sliding adventure!

Monday, January 25, 2010

Lessons Learned

This weekend turned out a lot differently than Robbie and I had planned. I apologize for the lack of pictures but it is a result of the lot of "nothing" that we ended up doing.

Saturday started out well enough, we had a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs and "Toads" (little pastries with sausage in the middle) made by Robbie and then we proceeded to run errands in town. The best part of the day (at least for me) was test driving some new cars which has been something I've been subconsciously putting off for the past month. I tried out a 2006 Honda civic coup, a 2005 Civic sedan and a 2006 Mazda 6, the civic sedan being my favorite so far. I couldn't believe how easy the standards were to drive compared to my old 95 civic, what an eye opener! I have plans on trying out a few others but by this point we were quite tired of listening to all the salesman's pitch.

That evening we had planned on going for diner at the Fireside Grill and then to a Kitchener Rangers hockey game at the Aud. Dinner was so-so. We went only because every time we drive by, the place is packed and generally lined up at the door so we figured it had to be good. It was busy inside, the service and the atmosphere fairly standard and the food good, large portions but nothing special. It was definitely a family restaurant, emphasis on the family (lots of children) and I don't think we'll be going back. Our next stop was the rink. We have never been to a hockey game in town and didn't know what to expect so we went an hour early thinking we'd be in plenty of time. Apparently hockey is a really big thing in Kitchener and by the time we made our way to the head of the line at the box office there were tickets for standing room only!! Not wanting to spend $20.00 each to stand around for 3 hours we decided to come up with plan B; go see a movie at the theater. We figured that being around 7 PM there would be some movie starting shortly or at least one which we wouldn't have to wait around for too long. Again we were wrong and either would have missed the first 20 minutes or would have had to wait around an hour and a half. Next time we are going to have to plan ahead!! So then we came up with a plan C: Bowling. Wouldn't you know it, all the lanes were booked until 9:30. No bowling for Robbie and Jenn. By this time I was feeling fairly dejected and had lost any enthusiasm to do much of anything. Finally plan D: rent a movie. We ended up watching "500 Days of Summer" which, much like the rest of the evening was only so-so. Lessons learned; plan ahead!!

Sunday we planned on taking it easy and making a nice meal for dinner. We started the morning with fruit smoothies (made with our new blender which works great), beagles and cream cheese. Robbie kept himself busy by cleaning the kitchen and floors and I practically killed myself doing an exercise video that apparently is way above my skill level!! I then spent a few hours making pastry and a pumpkin pie ( I was in charge of dessert) and then handed the kitchen over to Rob so he could slave over making home made crepes stuffed with scallops and shrimp and preparing muscles. YUM. Everything was going great until an unfortunate accident involving a mix up with the stove burners. Unknowingly the wrong element was turned on under my pie where I had left it on the stove to cool. As you can imagine nothing good came of this; there was smoke, panic and breaking of the glass pie plate :( Robbie, never wanting to throw anything out, was determined to still eat the pie and despite getting a few mouth fulls of glass still says that it was delicious; I decided to go without. Easy to say I was disappointed in the whole pie incident but the main course was excellent.

We spent the remainder of the evening quite excited as we can now hook Rob's lap top up to our new big screen tv. It is like having one giant computer monitor, 40 inches is so much better than 12!!

So now that it is Monday I guess that we had better plan ahead and get ready for next weekend if we want to actually do something. Maybe we'll plan on doing the exact same thing and see how it goes this time!! So much for being spontaneous!

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Curtains

I have decided that one of the things I hate the most about living in an apartment is finding curtains. Why does every apartment I've ever lived in have abnormally sized windows?? And why can't these apartments come with ready to go curtains?? I know for a fact that this apt. had curtains (albeit crappy) left by the previous tenants when we first looked to rent, but after the land lord went through to clean and repaint they must have been thrown away. For cleanliness, allergens and such, I understand why they dispose of them but for the sake of my sanity to have to put up new hardware I would have taken them no matter how ugly.

We do live on the back of the building so it is somewhat private but we do have the occasional dog walker go past and for sleeping I like it quite dark. Currently the window in our kitchen remains curtain-less which is not of great concern at this time. I have recently installed a rod over the patio doors in the living room and was able to use preexisting holes from curtains past which appear to be secure. The problem here is that I thought I would be able to use old curtains from another apt. which also covered a patio door BUT....they are much to short and look pathetic. So I'm going to have to suck it up and buy or attempt to make new curtains that actually fit the doors.

For the spare room we actually have a nice set of curtains (which fit) that actually came from my sister Laura's old room in NB, made by Rhonda. The problem here is that there is a nasty metal support mesh that goes all around the window hidden by plaster so I wasn't able to properly screw in the middle support hardware piece. These curtains look great, just don't pull too hard!!

Our biggest problem is in our bedroom and it is all my fault but we've been too stuborn to fix it properly. We got a blackout pull down blind custom cut to the width of the window but b/c I'm not too bright I measured the actual window and not the casing so it is an inch too narrow (1/2 inch on each side). We thought we could compensate by attaching the hardware to the top of the casing instead of the sides but then we ran into the stupid metal support mesh again and the screws can only go in 1/4 inch into drywall. As you can imagine they arn't holding. I even tried to put wood glue on the the screws to help hold but of course the pulling action of the blind creates too much strain and it has now come crashing down on my head 4 times. Now that I'm thoroughly frustrated I've resorted to duct tape and an old shower curtain to cover the window.

So really I just hate having to put up curtains in general, they are expensive and a pain in the ass but I know for next time to just give in, spend the money and take the time to install them properly......or.......have someone come and do it for me!!! Any volunteers?

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Squid

So Jenn and I are start ballroom dancing classes this Thursday evening. We will be learning the Waltz, Foxtrot, Samba, Tango, Swing, and Pasodoble over the next 11 weeks.

We have been having beautiful sunny, clear weather since we returned home from N.B. but it has been very chilly so we need to find Jenn a pair of snow pants. As we found a new pair of skates for her, she will need to be warm when we go skating this weekend.

Last night I made calamari (the apartment still stinks of deep fried fish). The batter recipe I used was only so-so. The calamari was a little chewy and bland but Jenn and I ate three whole squid between the two of us anyway.

Deep fried Calamari

flour 1/2 cup
cornstarch 3 tbsp.
cayenne pepper (optional) 2 tsp.

Coat damp calamari rings and toss them in the deep fryer at a high temperature for about a minute. Once golden brown, place them on some paper towel and salt to taste.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Arroz con pollo

New Year's Eve was fun. We went over to my lab mate Sophia's place where there was a small gathering. I taught them the card game pass the ace and we drank champagne and ate risotto with some kind of eggplant appetizer.

Today, however, was fairly uneventful. Jenn went to work and I spent the day reading ("Beethoven's hair" in case your interested) and playing x-box. For dinner I made a recipe out of my Mexican cook book called Arroz con pollo (pronounced ah-rohs kahn poh-yoh). It was very good and I have included the recipe with a picture below if you choose to try it.

I hope you all enjoyed your New Year's holiday and look forward to talking with you soon.

Arroz con pollo

skinless bone-in chicken pieces 3 1/2 lbs. (1.6 kg)
long grain white rice (uncooked) 1 1/2 cups (375 ml)
finely chopped onion 1/2 cups (125 ml)
frozen peas, thawed 2 cups (500 ml)
chicken bouillon powder 1 tbsp. (15 ml)
salt 1 tsp. (5 ml)
pepper 1/4 tsp. (1 ml)
saffron (or turmeric) 1/4 tsp. (1 ml)
chopped pimiento 2 oz. (57 ml)
boiling water* 3 cups (750 ml)
can of dice tomatoes w/ juice 14 oz. (398 ml)
basil 1/2 tsp. (2 ml)
garlic powder 1/4 tsp. (1 ml)

Arrange chicken in a greased 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Bake, uncovered, in a 350 F (175 C) oven for 30 minutes. Remove chicken to plate.

Stir remaining 12 ingredients together in the same pan. Place chicken on rice mixture. Cover and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until rice and chicken are tender.

* I omitted the boiling water in this recipe and just used the juice from the jar of pimientos and extra diced tomatoes and it turned out great.

Thursday, December 31, 2009

Christmas Re-Cap

As most of you know we had been in New Brunswick over the Christmas holiday visiting family and friends. We had a wonderful time despite the horrible drive there in the middle of a snow storm that made for 20 hours of white knuckle driving and a 7 hour stay in a hotel. To jump ahead, our drive back to Ontario was much less eventful with only some black ice and slow going near Kingston. Despite this improvement, we have decided that we are now going to be "flyers"vs "drivers" at Christmas time.

It was great to be home for Christmas. I was surprised once again that I was actually able to get time off . I feel as though my luck is bound to run out soon regarding time off around the holidays but I'll take what I can get.

Despite only having 4 full days, I think that we both managed to do everything that we had planned even with a few changes in the regular Christmas routine. Cookies were decorated (I am now Cookie Decorating Champion for the 4th year running) and outrageous amounts of food was consumed (esp by Robbie). I was able to get together with my good friend Becky on Christmas and we had dinner at her sister Jill's house. Normally dinner is at her mom's but we decided we could be flexible this year and it was OK because her mom brought the traditional raspberry trifle for dessert. We had boxing day roast beef a day late this year on the 27th in Westfield with my aunt, uncle and cousins of my dad's side and we got to see cousin Charlotte via skype who is currently living in NZ. Robbie had to miss out on this delicious feast as he was getting winter tires put on the car but I am greatful that we had better quality tires for our drive home, so his abscence was justified:) I was also able to get together with some classmates of mine, Crystal and Sue, and we caught up over nachos at Jungle Jims and discussed crazy vet stories.

Robbie spent Christmas eve this year at his dad's place and Christmas day with his mom. Traditionally they alternate every year. Mandy and Penny were both home but unfortunately Tracy was unable to come this year so I 'm hoping she was able to spend the holidays with good friends and that we will see her next year! By the look of their tree, Santa found all the Smiths and they must have been really good this year:) Robbie will have to recount the rest of his holiday first hand but it sounds like they were very relaxed and played alot of cards and games.

Our Christmas present to ourselves is a new 40'' LCD tv which we get to pick up on the 14th as well as a new coffee table!! We are pretty excited to get the tv mounted on the wall and watch Robbie's new Planet Earth DVD's. It should look pretty amazing! Now we might have to concider getting cable.

But now our holiday is over. I was back to work yesterday (30th) and worked a half day today an again Saturday and Robbie has been into the University tending to his cells and will be back to TAing next week once classes resume. We don't have any real plans for New Years save hanging out with one of Robbie's lab mates from school and having a few drinks but tomorrow we have plans for dinner and a movie. My New Years resolutions are to 1. be more active (so we are signing up for a ball room dance class and I'm going to resume pilates) and 2. to write more consistantly on the blog.

I hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Years and that 2010 is a great year!

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Settling In

Its been nice being back in Kitchener and being surrounded by all of my stuff including my boys, Robbie, Cooper and Bailey. In my rush between moving here and leaving 3 months ago to Pembroke I have seem to have misplaced certain items that continue to be missing such as my nice black leather mittens, my purple neck warmer and random veterinary books that I know must be somewhere. It is very frustrating not knowing where things are and after having searched in every possible box and tote I am left wondering if they have just got up and walked away. Eventually I will get organized and go through all of my things, through a bunch of junk out and hopefully find my mittens!!
I have been off all week enjoying being able to sit around but at the same time being somewhat productive. I've been out to see Bailey every other day, working him on the lunge line and he is doing very well. We had a Bell technician out and she got our internet up and running so I no longer have to steal it from the random signal I was picking up from somewhere in our building. (Although less convenient, pirated internet would have been much cheaper)!
This past week Robbie and I headed out to take in some of the holiday events in downtown Kitchener. There is a German market that is taking place this weekend called the Christkindl Market down at city hall which seems similar to the christmas market put on by the Boyce Farmers market at home. There are lots of craft tables, food vendors, apple cider and a skating rink set up! We only briefly walked through on Friday but plan on going back again today to see what its all about. Friday we also went out to dinner at the Rum Runners pub which was very tasty. Robbie had pecan encrusted chicken and I had the maple and chili glazed salmon. After wards we headed over to the adjoining Yuk Yuks club and took in a standup comedy show. I thought is was hilarious (but had also had three beer) and Robbie thought that it was "alright".
Yesterday we traveled to Richmond Hill to visit with Rob's mom, relatives and Mandy. It was great catching up and as expected we left a few pounds heavier. Thank you for the wonderful day!
Today Robbie is supposed to be marking student papers but doesn't appear to be getting much done as he is snoozing with the cat. Later we plan on heading back downtown and running errands and hopefully I'll make it out to the barn.
We are keeping our fingers crossed that we don't get any snow between now and our trip home on the 22nd but it looks and feels as though winter is on its way, but hopefully our drive will be uneventful and we'll see everyone soon!!