A MEAL WORTH BLOGGING ABOUT

Currently having second dinner which consists of this...Catelli Smart spaghetti with local honey garlic beef sausage, local garlic scapes, tomatoes (non-local) in a sauce of cream, an egg and parmesan reggiano.

Yes, if you guessed that what started out as a lame non-meat version of spaghetti carbonara ended up being the meal you see above, you'd be right. It's because I forgot all about the pre-cut lardons I have in the freezer from Sean's homemade bacon. But it's probably also a good thing because I've had the sausage and the garlic scapes since Canada Day, which I picked up from the Farmer's Market in Stouffville.

There's a lot to recap actually but the weather has been so hot, so humid and so sticky that it's put me in quite the funk (I am NOT a fan of the heat) and I've been away from home a lot. Aside from being from at work, Sean's picked me up either immediately from work or shortly thereafter coming home and headed back to his house where there's air conditioning. Oh yeah, PS: I have no air conditioning. So yeah, in this 40+C weather (it was 112.5F one day with the humidity), I just haven't been in the mood to do anything.

My body just doesn't function in the heat. I get heat rashes, I get migraines, I get mosquito bites like crazy (and they swell to the size of twoonies) and this list could go on and on. I really just can't function in the heat. So when Sean offered to cart me back and forth to his place to cool down with some AC, I jumped at the opportunity.

Just to give you an idea of how hot a room is without air conditioning, at night my house was hotter than it was outside. The candy thermometer in my room would read 32C and even with a fan running, it would only go down a degree or two. It was hot, oppressively hot. There were two nights when I slept on the ceramic floor in the kitchen because with the patio door and the opposite facing window open, there was a slight breeze coming in. Without that sleep on the kitchen floor, I don't know what I would have done. I actually shed a few nights one night because I was so frustrated, depressed and felt really pathetic about my situation. Nothing makes you feel more pathetic than crying about the heat, trust me.

Anyway, it finally rained last night and for part of today and the temperature is currently 22C. The relatively humidity is 78% but there's a cool breeze blowing and it makes it feel downright lovely! I am in love. Seriously. IN LOVE! In love like I've never been before!! I swear that I will never, EVER complain about being cold again! I will finally get a good night's sleep and will not have to take two showers a day or leave bowls of ice out in a lame attempt to cool down my room.

So getting back to that meal...it was good. A little weird but good. Nothing really went all that well together. Heavy cream sauces don't bode well for garlic scapes or honey garlic sausages and tomatoes. If I were to make this dish again, and I know I will because I have more sausages and scapes in the fridge, I'd just make a loose tomato sauce with some extra roma tomatoes. Still, it was good and I'm glad I finally got a taste of garlic scapes. They definitely were garlicky. I think next time I might try them in a different manner, something similar to beet greens and garlic scape bruschetta featured on Love and Olive Oil. I think I might sub the beet greens for roma tomatoes and add some red onions for extra flavour. Perhaps this weekend I'll get to cooking.

Oh yeah, just in case you're wondering what the hell garlic scapes are, check 'em out:They're the stems that grow from the tops of garlic bulbs. Most of them they're trimmed so that the bulbs of garlic (a gathering of cloves) will grow larger, faster. (This happens because the nutrients are no longer being carried to the stem of the plant once it has been cut off.) They look pretty wild and crazy and are solid in the center, unlike chives or green onions. They remind me of some Chinese veg that I can't remember the name of but it tastes a little bit similar. I'll have to ask one of my parents to find out.

Anyway, there's yours vegetable lesson for the day. Plus, there's a whole whackload of photos and posts I need to get working on so this weekend should feature a bunch more posts. Happy reading!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I really cannot express just how happy I am right now...and not just because 2009 is over and done with. I quit my job! Yes, that's right...after three months of complete stress and frustration, enough was enough. As much as I loved the job itself and as much as I'm going to miss the people, I can't for one more minute, be there and take it from the back (if you know what I mean)...because that's really how I felt for the past three months. Working for what is known as one of the worst companies in Canada, I am so beyond relieved right now. I am on Cloud Nine.

And yes, I know I'm unemployed and that this isn't the greatest time to be looking for a job, (I quit effective immediately) but I'm happy...for the first time in three months and everyone that's important to me (my parents and Sean) already see the difference even though it happened less than 24 hours ago.

I was actually afraid that my dad wasn't going to take it well...he's always of the mind that's it better to have a job than no job at all, but he actually said to me "to hell with them" after I told him in detail exactly what had happened that made me come to the decision that I had to quit. And then today, on our drive alone to and from work so I could pick up the last of my things, he said that on principle, I had to quit. So I'm glad he was on my side this time.

So to new beginnings! I know that 2010 will bring bigger and better things. Sean and I plan on moving out. There's snow falling outside. It is cold and wintery. What better way to start the new year?

Cheers everyone...(aka my two readers)