SPACE! but not Outer

Posted on February 16, 2011 by Smelly Danielly

You know you are really lazy when you awkwardly sit at your desk for 3 hours because you have to pee really badly, but going down a flight of stairs is just too much effort.

Yes, I am that pathetic today.

I wish I had a bigger desk at work. Thanks to the giant colour printer my desk space is limited. I don’t even use the colour printer. RE: Danielle is complaining.

I’ve created storage bins out of cardboard boxes. I don’t have any drawers, so all my snacks are kept in a box under my desk. If the mice every come back they are going to have a field day.

I have to keep everything so organized, otherwise my 3 inches of desk space would be taken over by paper work. I’m so obsessed with space that sometimes, when Alicia isn’t looking, I organize her side of the desk to make it feel like there is more space, even though there isn’t, and it’s on her side anyways.

I just wish I had more room to spread out. Why am I always in a situation where I have to live in a cramped space? Is it because I’m so small?

In Italy I had to sit at the very back of the van with a the luggage. At home, my closet is the size of a 2 x 2 foot hole in the wall, and at work my desk space is taken up buy printers and scanners and crap.

It makes me sad. And claustrophobic.

Le sigh.

But its OK. I’m sure I will live.

Valentines Day Farts

Posted on February 15, 2011 by Smelly Danielly

Valentines Day Farts. It’s true. Actually it’s been like Valentines Weekend Farts.

Chad went out for beers on Friday night and ever since his ass has been a trumpet band for the Guinness Parade.

3 days people.

I should probably invest in an air purifier at some point here.

Valentines Day to us consists of an exchange of cards and cookies/chocolates and dinner out. We love trying new restaurants so Valentines Day is the perfect excuse to do so.

Chad usually picks the place and this year we headed to EBO at the Delta Hotel which is 5 minutes away from our place. Since Valentines Day is usually nuts, we always try to go to a place that takes reservations since waiting for an hour in line is no fun. We made our EBO reservations through Open Table, which we love to use.

I was obsessed with the giant wine glass and Chad felt the need to give me his ‘unimpressed’ face, probably because I was using the flash.

Our meal came with complimentary Welcome drinks, which consisted of Cranberry and Apple Cyder, Oysters, and Valentines Cookies.

Since Chad hates things of the sea, particularly raw things of the sea, the Oysters were all mine. I had never had Oysters before and was somewhat nervous, but I couldn’t let them go to waste. They were placed upon this salt and pepper mixture. I tried a bit of it first and holy mother was it salty and spicy all at once. Whole pepper corns and chunks of sea salt. Talk about an explosion of flavour in your mouth!

I put a little bit of the mixture on the oyster and sucked it back. It was good, but the sea salt was a bit much for me. Kind of tasted like I was eating English Bay haha! But over all, it was a good experience!

As an appetizer I got the Tomato and Mozzarella salad.
Fresh sliced Tomato, fresh sliced Bocconcini, Basil, Aged Balsamic and Arbequino Olive Oil

It was so good, it tasted like I was back in Italy. I actually made that comment to Chad. The Mozzarella was covered in a pesto sauce and the balsamic vinegar was amazing. This was one of the best tomato salad I’ve ever had.

My camera doesn’t focus well when I take food pictures, as you can tell. I didn’t want to take a million hoping one would work, I mean, I was in a fancy place after all.

As a main I got the Tuna.
Rare Rice-Crusted Albacore Tuna Steak with Avocado Puree, Asparagus with Serrano Ham, and Chili Gastrique

Yes, it was as good as it looked. The Tuna tasted amazing and the Asparagus and Serrano Ham were crisped to perfection. The only thing I wished it had was a little sauce to dip. Yes, there was the Avocado puree, but the sushi lover in me was missing the Soy Sauce.

The Delta hotel it’s self was beautiful. Totally not what we were expecting.

The hotel has been a staple in the neighbour forever. A few years back now it went under a major renovation. I think they changed the name, added a casino and classed it up a bit.

If purple velvet couches don’t say glamourus, I don’t know what does!

We went to the restaurant straight after work, so we looked more classy then usual.

I wore another new Spring purchase. This adorable sleeveless Kensie shift dress was purchased at Plum, of course. It was too cold to go sleeveless so I wore a Kersh Ribbed Waist Cardigan over top, which covered up some of the design details of the dress, but oh well. I’m sure I will wear it again, sans sweater!

Elastic Belt, Silver Ball Necklace, and the infamous Fleece Leggings were also purchased at Plum. The silver bracelets are from Forever 21 and the Boots are from Spring.

The colours are still very Winterish, so it makes for a good transitional piece.

Chad decided to make an Espresso at home instead of having one at the hotel. He wanted to try out the new coffee he recently purchased. Only problem is that our stove is getting more ghetto with age and it caused the smoke alarm to go off 4 times. Slightly annoying!

Chad always buys the best cards. I love how he always edits them so they are more specific to ‘us’.

He told me that he knows I love him because I put up with all his farts, and after this past weekend, there is no denying that.

Every year he buys me Chip Ahoy because they are my favorite. This year I requested the rainbow kind. Best.Gift.Ever!

A friend of my Moms makes cookies as a little side job, so I ordered a personalized one for Chad. So adorable!

Vitamin Water posted this on Facebook and I just had to steal it. I Blanche the thought of losing you! PRICELESS hahaha!

Valentines Day was a success, aside from my tummy hating me yesterday morning. I blame the sugar overload from Sunday night.

EBO Restaurant was first-class. We would definitely go again, and bring friends. I loved the food, atmosphere, decor, and the wait staff was excellent. Not to mention all the little treats we got because it was Valentines Day! The made us feel very special.

We didn’t go and gamble after dinner because Chad and I are the most unlucky people ever, so we kept our money safe in our pockets.

Hope everyone else had an amazing Valentines Day too!

Italian Fuchsia Velvet Cupcakes

Posted on February 14, 2011 by Smelly Danielly

I am probably the most anxious baker of all times. I read a recipe 20 times and I still screw things up. I never trust any of the things I do and so instead of leaving things alone I have to poke them 20 times and then ruin them. And the worst part of all, I never, ever learn.

Somehow the idea of making red velvet cupcakes for Valentines day was put into my head. Then, through looking at recipes online and talking to people I thought I would make my life difficult by making them from scratch and not from a box.

My cousin sent me this recipe and I was hooked.

It actually wasn’t that hard to do, but you know, I second guess myself all the time and so these cupcakes were basically made during an anxiety meltdown.

I always make sure to read the recipe a million times before I make it because I am well known for starting to bake and then realizing that I don’t actually have half the ingredients.

When the recipe called for Oil, I thought to myself, “Of course I have oil, I’m Italian, I have many oils”. Yes, well, I don’t think people actually bake with Olive Oil, but when you are me, and you are in a pinch and realize you don’t have canola oil (which, I’m assuming, is what one would bake with) you just go with it. If it was a little bit of oil, I probably wouldn’t have worried about it so much, but in was 1 1/2 cups of oil. YEA, all I could taste in the batter was OLIVES.

Chad disagreed with me and said if I said the cupcakes tasted like olive oil one more time he was going to fire me.

You need A LOT of red food colouring to get red cupcakes so I opted for Fuchsia. Much more cost effective.

I also have immense trouble filling the cupcakes just right so they don’t explode in the oven. These don’t look too bad, but that’s because I didn’t take pictures of the ones that actually did explode.

The recipe for the cream cheese icing produced a big mess and a LOT of icing.

Thank GOD I only used 4 cups of icing sugar instead of the recommended 6!

Piping them was probably my favorite part. Cupcakes are all about the icing and decorations anyways.

HEARTS!

They ended up looking better then I expected, and they didn’t actually taste like Olive Oil once I put the 20lbs of icing on them. Maybe it was a whole lot of anxiety for nothing.

Or maybe I will just leave the baking to the professionals.

This blog has become 95% food, 5% fashion.

I think it is clear what I am more obsessed with.

Happy Valentines Day LOVES!

Tony Made Me An Offer

Posted on February 11, 2011 by Smelly Danielly

It goes with out saying that eating pasta is a part of our weekly lives. When we are on the go and have to make something quick, pasta is the easiest thing ever to whip up.

At the height of our Sopranos obsession I got this book for Chad for his birthday. Needless to say, it has become our pasta Bible.

Ingredients

4 large garlic cloves, lightly smashed
1/2 cup olive oil
4 lbs plum tomatoes (very ripe, peeled, seeded, and chopped) or 2 (28 ounce) cans diced tomatoes (Italian, drained)
salt
8-10 fresh basil leaves, torn into pieces

We find this makes enough for 4 people, so we usually half it.

We also use the cans of diced tomatoes since it is easy to keep a stock of them in the cupboard ready to be used.

The first step is to cook the lightly smashed garlic in the oil, in a large skillet. Press them occasionally with the back of a spoon, until they are golden, which usually takes about 4 minutes.

Next add your tomatoes and salt to taste.

Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring often, until the sauce is thick (15-20 minutes, depending on the tomatoes).

Chad likes to break up the chunks of tomatoes with a spoon or tongs. He is obsessed with making sure the chunks are the right size.

Now, normally, you would just cook the tomatoes as direct, then throw on some fresh basil, mix it around and BOOM, you’re done, but we here in the Ciavarro house hold, like to take artistic liberty.

A splash of red wine adds depth of flavour, so feel free to add as much as you like.

Chad likes things a bit spicy so he always throws in some red pepper flakes.

Something new we have started to do is to partially BBQ a hot Italian sausage, slice it up, and then let it finish cooking in the sauce. It’s a simple (and very yummy) way to add some meat to this otherwise vegetarian dish.

Lastly, just before the sauce has come to your desired consistency and thickness, throw in some fresh basil and mix.

Nom nom nom. Doesn’t that look good!?

All that is left to do is to toss the sauce with your favorite (fully cooked) pasta noodle. We love using short noodles and noodles with ridges (Short Cut Extruded Pasta) as they grab more of the sauce. It is a much more satisfying eating this sauce with some Penne Rigate then it is with Spaghetti!

As you can tell, this recipe is SUPER easy to make. It can satisfy both Vegetarians and Carnivores, depending on which version you use. Plus, if you always keep some cans of diced tomatoes stocked in your kitchen, you will always be ready for an amazing and easy meal!

Now that I have shared this recipe with you, you have no excuse to EVER eat store bought pasta sauce again!