Category Archives: Random things

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What a crazy weekend!

But it was pretty awesome!  Friday left a lot to be desired as my other problem child tooth was being a pain in my ass!  Thankfully its pretty much dead with only residual nerve endings left so its not exactly painful just epically irritating!  Work was kinda of insane, I got sung happy birthday a lot that day lol.  So I went from being 30, to 30 something :p  The best part of that day was coming home and having Krystal drop off my birthday cake!  Which was adorable, and exceptionally yummy!  OMG seriously the best chocolate mocha/with almond icing cake I have ever had!

I\’m still battling this cold/flu thing I have going on, teamed up with allergies which is just horrifying!  So needless to say I haven\’t been feeling a 100% regardless of the fact that I had my birthday soiree planned for Saturday.  The crappy thing about Saturday was I had a doctors appointment.  Don\’t get me wrong my OBGYN is actually really nice but I mean really who actually *likes* going to the gyno…  So he turned down my request to get my tubes tied and has been forewarned that I will badger him about it when I have to see him in December and any appointment after that lol.  Simply put: I DON\’T WANT KIDS!!!!!!!  The mere thought of having a child horrifies me and I would in all honesty would very much rather adopt *IF* I had the burning need to raise a child.  Like I told Dr. G there\’s too many un-wanted babies in this world that deserve a home, so why should I go to the trouble of spitting out one of my own?  That and I\’m sick of taking the pill.  No the $17.00/month cost is nothing compared of raising a child of course but it would mean FREEDOM from ALL forms of birth control. Le sigh…  *TMI WARNING* although one good thing did come out of my visit with Dr. G: He told me that when your on the pill your period is artificial and not even remotely necessary unless of course your trying to get pregnant.  SO he told me that yes its OK to take your 21 pills and start on a new pack right away without having to wait the customary 7 days before starting a new pack. Thank God for small favors!  So I\’m going to give that a whirl, I\’ll let you know how that all works out.

Anyway I was outta there by 1pm, and had some last minute things to pick up stuff  like garnishes for my martini fix, and some items to assist a friends foster pet shelter (reach for the stars rescue) since she was coming over to pick up stuff for her garage sale for charity anyway so I bought some new items for her for the animals, go to the bank, head off to the SAQ for some vanilla vodka and various other goodies to make various martinis that I had planned to experiment with later that evening and clean my apt because I was too tired to do it Friday evening.

I was almost tempted to cancel my party because I wasn\’t feeling a 100%, half of my guests were sick/had dental issues like myself and so on.  John was sick and couldn\’t make it so were going to get together sometime this week.  Every time I plan something either its a hit or a miss and I really thought that this was going to be a miss… I thought wrong!  My apt is tiny so I kept the guest list down to a minimum but it was fun!  Its nice to get together with people I  don\’t get to see very often and well who doesn\’t like birthday swag!  I have to say I have some VERY generous friends 🙂

I got a really nice book from Donna:

I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence by Amy Sedaris (Hardcover)

Which is HILARIOUS!  A tad crass and far from being \”PC\”, I recommend this as a gift to anyone who\’s into food or entertaining and of course has a sense of humor!  I generally as a rule hate recipe books since I prefer to do things my way.  I have a subscription a Kraft Canada\’s what\’s cooking magazine because its helpful and practical (not to mention free in Canada woo hoo!) and  how to cook everything which is super helpful if your just starting out since it has a TON of techniques & helpful tips, not to mention some great recipes as well.  In today\’s day and age with the internet I generally hit up epicurious.com for some inspiration if I happen to be lacking or want to make something new.

Krystal made my birthday cake for me which was as already mentioned AMAZING!  Not to mention a great gift!  Megan in true foodie form bought me my very own basil plant which was also equally awesome.  My mom got me a magazine subscription and new wheels for my suitcase (well she gave me her CC number and an amount to spend and that\’s what I bought).  Shane and Dana made a contribution to my summer tattoo fund along with some nibs which is Shane & I\’s favorite licorice ( I bought him some as a wedding present ha ha) and nerds (which I haven\’t eaten in well over a decade)!  Along with some party snacks which was very sweet!  Ania also sent me an awesome gift from Poland as I have already mentioned full of handy stuff for my modifications and my favorite candy!  So I did pretty good!  I bought myself some birthday swag at the SAQ so I did pretty damn good if you ask me!

Dinner was simple since I was feeling a tad lazy and well just not well in general but still managed to pull off some awesome pizza!  I made (from scratch) pesto Alfredo pizza w/sun dried tomatoes, extra old cheddar and Parmesan cheese since Donna has a tomato allergy(so tomato sauce was a no no) and classic pepperoni and cheese with my homemade pizza sauce and garlic and cheese bread sticks.  Had it been in the winter I would have made something more hearty but I thought I would keep it simple.  But it was a hit, everyone really enjoyed it and I had a really good time!

So now time for pictures:

My cake:

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\"P8270072\"Birthday swag from Ania\"P8050003\"

And my present(s) to myself  which will likely last forever since I don\’t drink that much (really I don\’t) 🙂

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I also got news that Carly\’s coming back to Canada for a visit and I can\’t wait to see her!  So that\’s pretty exciting!  I haven\’t seen her since she moved to West Virginia to be with her hubby so its been TOO long!  I\’m also toying with the idea of making a recipe book of my own…  I\’ve debated over it for a  while now and I just might actually do it.  But I don\’t know if I want to share my secrets with the world.


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Madness!

OMFG I\’ve been so busy its insane!  I\’ve become horribly addicted to Mafia wars, so much so that I think I need Mafia wars rehab lol.  In between MW rounds though I\’ve slowly been building pages and getting some much needed work done!  Anyway time to backtrack a little bit…

Saturday I did some work during the day, didn\’t get to sleep in because Ms. Kitler had a dire case of the munchies and demanded I feed her in the wee hours of the morning!  I love her, she\’s great but come on its Saturday!  Then I hit the town with Ms. Donna Saturday evening.  She had to work, I didn\’t so we met up at Berri metro which was SO sketchy!  I really hate Berri square when there isn\’t an event because that\’s where most of the drug dealers hang out and sure enough we got offered half price on PCP…  Which didn\’t surprise me but I hate hanging out at a metro by myself whilst waiting for someone to show up.
Then we went to Cafe European for dinner which was nice, we sat out on the terrace but it was somewhat windy & chilly so our food got cold a little too fast but it was pretty yummy. We were there for about two hours, munching and talking. Jeremy was in town so I gave him regular text updates because we were supposed to meet up later for drinks.

Then we headed off to Kilo Cafe for coffee and dessert. I skipped the coffee because I knew I wouldn\’t get any sleep but I had a Kilo sunrise instead which is the same as a tequila sunrise but with peach schnapps instead and it was good. Quite girly but tasty just the same. We shared a piece of this decadent raspberry thing (can\’t recall the name) but it was SO good! Light and airy with whipped cream and raspberry goodness throughout and we were stuffed!

So then we headed off to the drugstore for some drinks, this bar is massive! It has like 4 floors (as most places in the village do) with a rooftop terrace but that was closed so we settled in on the third floor which is semi closed in because its surrounded by four walls but no roof so no wind which was nice! There was someone getting married and they were being rather loud and obnoxious so that was kind of annoying but we had fun just the same. We didn\’t stay out too late since we were taking the metro and didn\’t want to miss the last one. Never did meet up with Jeremy, I got a text that said\” sorry hot men\” and that pretty much explained it all 😉

So Sunday was my day with Jeremy, we went out for brunch which seems to be our tradition of sorts now when he comes here. Anyway it was pretty warm and sunny out and that means terrace time! Also meant that I got a sunburn and so did poor Jeremy! Must invest in some more sunscreen. I of course know better but you know how it is… Anyway we were talking about my dental issues and I was debating did I want breakfast or something else. So we settled on breakfast, we ordered the same thing and just as I was about to dig in Jeremy says to me\” Um Honey, there\’s a shell in your eggs\” sure enough there was and it was HUGE how could you not see that?

Not only that, part of my eggs were slimy and not fully cooked which really grossed me out! Jeremy offered to share which is very sweet, but I still had my toast so I just nibbled on that instead. Then they came back better cooked and shell-less but you\’d think they\’d change the plate… UGH! Jeremy found a bunch of shells in his too and that of course is a total turn off. That aside our waiter was cute, very sweet and prompt! So I left him a nice tip just the same. In any case it was really nice to sit and catch up with Jeremy. Talked about a few things that would be really good for the site, and just life in general. I made him a photo album of the few pictures I have of us and the various trips he\’s taken up here and he really liked that which was good! He brought me some goodies that you can\’t buy in Canada so that was extra nice!

My week thus far has sucked, can\’t sleep to save my life! Monday I had really odd dreams of the psychologically disturbing sort and it was cold in my room so I kept waking up every freaking hour. Tuesday I had strange dreams again and woke up at 5am cos i had to pee and that was just annoying! I hate when my sleep gets interrupted like that! Throws my whole damn day off! Maybe tonight will be better, I hope so!

In happier news… I have a dental appointment at McGill July 27th! Sucks about the wait but at least I got my foot in the door!

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Random Thursday stuff… & my chocolate review

Today at work was \”interesting\” to say the least.  It was a constant flow ALL damn day!  Which is really irritating because it just doesn\’t stop.  Thankfully I didn\’t have a bunch of other work to catch up on which is rare, otherwise today would have been one hell of a hindrance!  Although I did have a rather humorous moment with some of my all time favorite Thursday regulars today who always brighten my day.  I bring their food to the table which is something I don\’t normally do but I always make an exception for them.  There was a little bit of icing sugar on on of their napkins so he says to me\” Hey Chef Steph, what\’s this white stuff on my napkin?\” I just sniffed really loud and said I had no idea lol.  He laughed at that, which is good because they have an awesome sense of humor!

I got a rather bitchy e-mail from the property manager because I haven\’t sent in the revised lease renewal/rent increase forms.  So I send a bitchy one back informing her that she STILL hasn\’t had my heat repaired and my hot water is still epically screwed and only works on occasion ( these occasions are generally NOT when I need to shower of course!) and the front door lock is broken AGAIN, the people upstairs are STILL a thorn in my side among countless other things so off to the Regie du logement I go after I send her a registered letter stating my long list of complaints and if they\’re not dealt with in a certain period of time that I specify then I can file a complaint with the regie.  Generally the Regie falls in favor of the tenant and that generally scares the crap outta landlords 🙂  I of course will use this in MY favor!

Anyway moving along to my promised chocolate review 🙂  First though I should mention that I am NOT a fan of white or dark chocolate.  I find white chocolate WAY too sweet for my liking and dark chocolate is too bitter (for my tastes) if the cacao content is too high.  30%-40% is OK but this 90% nonsense, might as well suck on some coco beans. Yeah its healthier but well not my style, unless its paired up with something yummy like orange ganache.

Anyway my lovely friend Lisa who is also a foodie like myself sent me a lovely assortment from Russell Stover.  One of my favorite chocolatiers if I want something simple yet delish!  I\’d never seen this one before: The urban collection: Modern world chocolates my box was blue, good choice since its my favorite color!  I was intrigued to say the least!  Can\’t find these in Canada (not that I looked very hard but I have never seen them here).

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I tried the Sea Salt Soft Caramel first, and I was surprised that it was actually quite tasty and not salty in the least.  Unlike regular caramels it wasn\’t very sweet and yes in case your wondering there was visible sea salt in the caramel itself.  Its not something I would eat all the time as it did leave an unusual aftertaste but I liked it! Rating 6

Dark Cacao from Ghana was next…  Again not a dark chocolate fan but this was decent.  The taste wasn\’t too bitter but a little bland for my tastes.  Rating 5

Key Lime was my next victim and it SUCKED!  Essentially its a white chocolate base that I picked of because I really couldn\’t stomach it and nibbled on the middle.  Not too limey, mostly it just tasted kind of strange.  The potential is there, I think a dark chocolate base would have been better.  Rating 4.5

Pistachio Nougatine was my next choice, not a big pistachio fan but I love chewy things.  Its milk chocolate that has been rolled in red colored sugar crystals which made for an interesting first impression (and hurt the roof of my mouth) but it was SO good!  So good in fact that I would have to say that this is indeed my favorite one of this collection.  Had a true to form flavor, was bright green inside and was chewy.  I give this one a 7

Grapefruit Ganache looked really cool on a first glance but was an EPIC FAIL on the taste scale!  The middle was somewhat grapefruit-ish but left an odd aftertaste.  The texture was kind of hard and well the white chocolate shell left a lot to be desired.  Again I think this one could be better, and would likely taste better with a slightly darker chocolate shell.  I rated this one a 3

Espresso Truffle was the last one left in my 1/4 eaten box of chocolates.  Again this one also looks very artsy and I was excited about trying this one!  Truffles and espresso teamed up with chocolate? YES PLEASE!  I took a bite, after drinking some water to get the taste of grapefruit ganache fail out of my mouth and I found the dark chocolate base to be too bitter for my tastes.  The espresso truffle in the middle somewhat fell flat but the taste was intense which was good but I felt that it was slightly overpowered by the dark chocolate shell.  I would think that milk chocolate or even a less coca intense dark chocolate would have please me more personally.  I give this one a 6.7

Overall I wouldn\’t buy it again but it was certainly worth the taste trip!  It satisfied my need to try something new, it is artistically pleasing and would make a nice gift for any foodie who likes chocolate.  Although likely better suited to more adventurous types and people who like ALL chocolate overall.

This brings me to my ALL time favorite chocolatiers and that would be Lindt, you can\’t go wrong there!  John got me a heart shaped box of chocolates last year for valentines day and I have to say that I loved the whole thing (even the white chocolate and dark chocolate are decent!)  So when I went home to ON for Christmas I spotted a box of Lindt Petits Desserts at my moms house.  I was intrigued as they looked SO yummy!  Each chocolate is designed after a dessert: Chocolate log, Macaroon, Lemon tart, Meringue, Brownie, Tiramisu and Creme Brulee.  My mom had a mini gift box and of course wasn\’t willing to share.

However whilst shopping after boxing day madness was over I was in the pharmacy looking to score a bottle of my favorite perfume So De La Renta by Oscar de la renta (which retails for about $85.00 CAD) yet always goes on sale at Christmas for $20.00 and lasts me for a LONG time.  Which they were sold out of so I bought my second favorite Volupte instead at a bargain price.  Anyway as I was walking to the cash I noticed a GIANT box of this chocolate collection on sale for $10.50 regular price $28.00 which is more in my budget and for 41 of these assorted chocolates it was a steal!

I didn\’t open it until I got home to Montreal because it was sealed in plastic and I didn\’t want to spill my precious chocolate all over my luggage!  When I did finally decide to indulge I was drooling and couldn\’t decide which one I wanted to taste first!  Let it be noted that I can really only consume 1 or 2 of these before I have had enough and I still have some left from Christmas and its May now lol.

The chocolate logs are divine!  Milk chocolate filled with dark chocolate and marzipan which made for an interesting combination and a lovely silky texture inside that was music to my taste buds!

Meringues were also yummy and certainly one of my favorites in this collection!  Its soft center milk chocolate with crunchy pieces of meringue and exceptionally smooth as per the usual with Lindt.

Tiramisu was a little disappointing!  Its my favorite dessert EVER and even though it claims to have a coffee and tiramisu flavored center I beg to differ.  Still tasty overall but not as good as I had expected or hoped.  I even tolerated the white chocolate top for this one.

Creme Brulee was interesting visually as it does resemble a edible chocolate \”bowl\” filled with white chocolate acting as the brulee that was infused with biscuit pieces that I couldn\’t quite detect, brulee and caramelized sugar.  While it was super cute and even looked like a real creme brulee the white chocolate was a little sweet for my tastes with the extra added sugar and such but it was still good if you like a sweeter tasting chocolate.

Lemon tarts were the cutest of the bunch!  They very tiny and very much resemble a little lemon tart with milk chocolate of course acting as the \”tart shell\” and the inside was filled with a decedent creamy white chocolate truffle center, lemon flavor and these mysterious biscuits.  While the lemon flavor was almost an afterthought ( I am a DIE HARD lemon dessert fan) so I was disappointed in the truffle\’s sweetness overpowering the lemon and I don\’t know where these biscuits were supposed to be (possibly in the base) I didn\’t detect them much.

Brownies were interesting…  Its a dark chocolate truffle with a dark chocolate/hazelnut flavored base.  While I did enjoy these I felt that the dark chocolate somewhat over powered the hazelnut just a smidge but these too were adorable and they are shaped like itty bitty brownies!  Ah hell the whole collection is adorable!

Last but not least is the macaroon another one of my favorites that still lingers in the box because I want to savor it!  Its dome shaped milk chocolate infused with biscuits (yes I can actually see them in this particular chocolate) infused with almond praline and they are heavenly!

Worth the price overall but I being the thrifty one would certainly buy these again.  Most likely when I visit the Lindt Chocolate factory that recently opened not to far from my mom\’s house!  Makes a lovely gift, they\’re adorable to look at and delicious to consume as well!

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Brain dead Monday…

I *almost* posted this entry to the wrong blog, oops!  That\’s what i get for having so many of them linked to my site…  None of which are directly relevant to my day to day life…

Monday\’s ALWAYS suck in some way!  Of course I had the most irritating customer ever today, but its late so I will save that tidbit for Tuesday.

I don\’t know what\’s with me lately but the strangest things have been irritating the crap outta me!  ESPECIALLY provincial taxes, Quebec\’s tax system is quite simply :FUCKING RETARDED!  That\’s all I have to say about that…  The federal ones are SO much easier!  I will most likely owe AGAIN to provincial ones but the federal ones are looking like I will get a nice fat refund (I HOPE!) hello paying off some debts and a new tattoo!  That would be splendid!  So I\’m mailing those out tomorrow along with some other things that I should\’ve mailed out a while ago (contracts anyone?) but its slipped my mind a 100 times.  But they\’ll get there sooner or later…

Spring cleaning is done finally YAY and my hot water/shower works like its supposed to thanks to Krystal\’s boyfriend Justin.  I figured out something really cute for John\’s birthday that\’s likely going to make him laugh but in the rare event that he reads this (which as far as I know he never has) I won\’t post it here.  I am grateful that I have some talented friends that can pull off certain things better then me.  Krystal\’s making me a ladybug shaped cake for my birthday and its going to be CUTE!

Anyway i\’m off to bed, cos its 12:02am and I shouldn\’t be awake but yet I am!