freezing rain

Icicles on my AC unit and week old snow that is slowly turning into an ice cube.

gobi paratha for the win

Gobi Paratha is possibly the favourite meal I've learned to make from my mother-in-law. Flatbread stuffed with spicy cauliflower mixture that you eat with yoghurt and chutney? Yum!


Start by grating the cauliflower florets, spread out on a towel and leave to dry overnight. Add garam masala, chili pepper, ajawain and salt. Note: ajawain is not required, it just helps with digestion.


Make the dough with chapati flour and water. I learned to how to do this by feeling the dough and watching, so I don't have the best idea of the ratio.


Roll out two discs and pile on the cauliflower mixture. Put the other disc on-top and roll them out together!


Cook until golden brown on both sides, spread a small amount of olive oil on both sides. And finally the best part, eat! If you want to learn how to make it, I suggest you buy a ticket to New York and I'll show you in my kitchen. Otherwise I'll try my best to write out the recipe, but I make no promises that it'll turn out correctly.

etsy-addict

Recently I lost an earring while walking outside all bundled up; I'm assuming that the scarf/toque-combo pushed it out of my ear. As a result, I have become more partial to post-style earrings during bundling weather! My most recent purchase is from Upper Metal Class and I'm obsessively refreshing the USPS website to see if they are getting closer to my earlobes!

mr.brown can cook, can you?

Alton Brown is possibly the most inspiring food network chef. I love Nigella, Jamie, and Ina; my love has been proven by my ever expanding cookbook collection (I will not admit I have a problem yet). Oh but Alton... Mr.Brown, you make me think I can do anything in my kitchen. Including rendering my own lard.



I'm not sure if I even have a use for lard... but the way he sells it makes me think I should rethink my love affair with butter.

winter wonderland

Winter has a grip on the city and the resulting effect is all the New Yorkers complaining about the "arctic conditions". As a perennial optimist I'm going to point out the great things about snow in this city: fresh snow blankets the old dirty muck, the city seems to slow down and (saving the best for last) when is it better to bake then when a blizzard is happening outside your window! Which means making a batch of my now perfected bread. I'd also like to point out that -5C is hardly arctic.

tastes like canada

om nom nom indeed! Firstly, having Nathan tell me "look for the om nom nom sign, and you'll have found Poutini's" was possibly the best nerd moment I've experienced in awhile. Followed by heart-attack-inducing-squeaky-cheese-gravy-fries-coma. I'm definitely making a trip back there next week while I'm back in Toronto.

first new york christmas

Christmas away from Victoria = my very own Christmas tree. I had a great time running around to find ornaments, finding out how expensive they are, buying a few (how could I say no to a narwhal Christmas ornament?!), making a few, and receiving a few in a care package from Mum. I do have to say that my favourite project was the faux capiz shell garland it did take me awhile to get it long enough even for my small tree and then I was paranoid that the cats were going to attack it so I was vigilant in repositioning it every night on the higher branches. I took the tree down today, carefully packed up all my ornaments and put them away. I think that's the worst thing about Christmas, how empty the apartment is without any decoration.