WND

Last night Di hosted WND. As you can read on her blog, she had an anxiety attack on Monday. Sometimes I wonder if WND had anything to do with it. It takes a lot of work and pressure when it's your turn. You not only have to think of a main dish but you also have to come up with a dessert. Tuesday night would be grocery shopping for your ingredients and the prepping of food. Sometimes you even cook a dish or two (usually dessert) to make it easier the following day. Normally we like to try things that are different and we hate to cook the same thing twice (except for roast beef). After Diana's anxiety attack I thought maybe it's a bit too much for everyone. But then again, it's really satisfying when someone else cooks. I guess all of the stress that goes into WND helps us appreciate it that much more. So to my WND crew, be strong and if you're feeling stressed, take Ativan! Norm will supply us all...

on call

This weekend was our turn for Grandparent duty so we made our way over after Saturday morning cooking class. I would have brought a sample of my cooked food but Norm ate most of it. Instead we brought an assortment of fruit as well as fresh bread from Richtree. Instead of going to church, Grandma was adamant about going to visit Tita Bernie so since her wish is Norm's command we ventured to Scarberia. After our 5 hour visit we took Grandma back home and since we were in the area we went to visit Mom & Dad. You can always count on Mom to have food ready within minutes. Her sour chicken will have Norm over in less than 5 minutes. Paul & Charissa made an appearance after a night of ice skating. They were just in time for all of us to convince Mom to take out her pistachio cream cake. It was delish! What a great way to end the night. Unlike Paul who exercised on his Dance Dance Revolution (expert level, that is) I went home and went straight to bed.

Keeping it simple

Last night's WND was hosted by Chef Norm and he kept everything nice and simple. Everything was prepared the night before which allowed him to sneak in a small nap before everyone arrived. For starters he served us clam chowder soup straight from a can. The main dish was his homemade Sheppard's pie and for dessert we made ice cream sandwiches with double chocolate cookies and mint chocolate chip ice cream. His inspiration for this meal came from Sally's new love for soft foods and the fact that we were all sick so he brought us comfort food. I'm starting to feel better already.

A 'love'ly day

We don't normally celebrate Valentine's but this year I decided to join the long line up at Godiva which was made up of mostly men. Some of them took the time to hand pick truffles while others grabbed the first box they saw. The guy in front of me was a student who was holding the smallest box they sold and probably spent his whole allowance on this Valentine gift.
An older gentleman spent most of his time at the front carefully choosing which truffle to put in his box of 32 and combined it with a box of Godiva biscuits. He has obviously done this before. After people watching at Godiva I made my way to the card store where I was met with another long line up. I was sure I saw these same people at Godiva. Again, I watched as people read and re-read cards to find that perfect one. I was on the look out for a mushy yet somewhat dirty card. (You like that one, Bigdog?)

Overall my experience of Valentine's Day was somewhat refreshing. It's nice to see people in love. And Norm if you read this, I would like to celebrate Valentine's Day from now on. I can't believe what I've been missing...

Norm's Birthday Weekend

Sunday morning we managed to get up early and brave the sub-zero temperature to start our day off at church. This time we decided to venture to East York to Canadian Martyrs. The 8 o'clock mass is usually empty - probably because of the winter chill and the mounds of snow that have over taken the parking spots along the road. It was a nice visit to the church. Especially on a special occasion such as this. After church we were welcomed with a traditional filipino breakfast courtesy of Mama Nitz. (I'm sure Dad helped, too). The mounds of food and uncomfortably full bellies brought the feeling of Christmas back in the air. Later that evening Norm requested that we celebrate at his favourite restaurant - Lin Garden. Francis and Trae made him a "I love Lin Garden" t-shirt which the owners of the restaurant absolutely loved. They started taking pictures of him and it even scored us free dessert! As Trae would say, it was a perfect Lin ending to a Happy Birthday weekend.

Class #5

This is the day Norm has been waiting for ... the day when I learn how to cook salt and spicy squid at school. Here's the secret: after you clean the squid and remove that thin purple layer, you score the squid with a design of your choice, quickly blanch it in boiling water, deep fry and stir fry with salt, garlic and chile. Besides the many pots you're left to clean in the end, it's a fairly easy dish to make. I also made pork with cantonese brown sauce. Norm devoured this dish and finished every last piece (serving for 4). They say a way to a man's heart is through his stomach. I hope this is true.

Birthday Wishes

Today is Grandma's 88th birthday so Norm and I decided to go over with some cake. Turns out everyone else had the same idea so we had an instant party at Grandma's. It was a bit of a squeeze (standing room only) but it was warm and cozy - and I could tell Grandma really enjoyed our company. Prior to this day we were thinking of having a big party for her but now I realize that this small, unplanned family gathering was simply perfect.

Happy Birthday Grandma.

Bridesmaid

Today I saw Ev in her wedding dress. To post pictures would not be right but I cannot begin to explain how beautiful she looked. As she stood in front of the mirror giggling at herself, it hit me like a ton of bricks... Ev is getting married! Norm and I are so happy for her. There's no one more deserving than her. For those of you who know Ev, she is always so generous. When she asked me to be a bridesmaid, I gave her all the excuses in the book: I'm too old, I'm married, etc. but she was persistent and did not back down. In hindsight, my answer should have been a solid YES. She has always been there for me ... so now it's my turn. I am honoured to be her bridesmaid and will wear my seafoam green dress proudly.

On that note, we had a lot of fun trying on our bridesmaid dresses. I would normally go into the dress and wedding details but Ev is on board with a wedding blog. Yes, yet another victim of my blogger craze.

mel's diner

We had WND on a Thursday again. It's getting harder and harder to coordinate our schedules but we still manage to meet once a week. Besides great company...it's also a night when someone else gets to do the cooking. This week it was yours truly. As promised, I gave them a taste of my Cantonese cuisine skills. It was a lot of pressure for a novice but am willing to step up to any challenge. I started out with won ton soup. Sounds pretty easy but it was the hardest dish to cook. The soup stalk was made from shrimp shells and dried grouper that was broiled beforehand to bring out the fishy flavour. Making the won tons were fun but time consuming. Thank goodness for a sous chef. While everyone was busy eating soup and deep fried shrimp won tons, I was busy in the kitchen with the main dishes: cantonese chow mein, ginger beef with scallions and lemon chicken. By the end of the night my kitchen was a disaster and for those of you who know me - I am a 'clean' cook. This meaning, I wash my utensils, pots and plates as I cook not to mention wiping and re-wiping my kitchen counters. I tried to stay on top of everything but cooking with a wok can be so tricky. It's so needy... I can't leave it even for a minute. The evening ended great for everyone - full bellies and great conversations - all of which I missed because of my attention seeking wok. I am so glad we take turns doing this but for the most part I do enjoy it. As always, it was my pleasure.