Being Married to a Chef...

...brings me gratitude!

Ok, I know... this is an easy one!

I am absolutely blessed to be married to a Chef* that enjoys cooking at home...

He says it makes him a better cook... um, ok, Honey. What's for breakfast?

Free range organic eggs, thick cut bacon, sausage, local potatoes with fresh French bread with butter? Delicious! Thank you, Dear!

What about dinner?

Grilled striploin, king mushrooms, rapini, endive and corn on the cob, all roasted on a fire? Ok! Sounds delicious!... tastes even better!

I know, I know... it's a tough life!

All kidding aside, he really is an incredible cook! He has such respect a for food and the whole process it takes to get from 'earth to table'. He makes everything with love that the food is bound to taste as it should.. Simple, natural, pure...

...delicious!

He even makes sushi! At home!!!

Like I said, I KNOW that I am a lucky lady... I KNOW how blessed I am that I get to eat the absolute best of the best... I do savour the food that he makes for me and let him know how grateful I am.

Well, after a 15 year cooking career, the right time and opportunity has risen for him to open a business. It's a simple take out shop, focusing on great product, letting the food speak for itself.

Porchetta & Co. will serve Porchetta sandwiches, 3 ways, roasted potatoes, amazing soups (my favourite!), amongst other surprises. He's working on a late November/ early December opening.

I couldn't be happier... or more proud!

If Nick's customers love his food as much as I do, I know Porchetta & Co. will be a great success!

Thank you!!!

*Nick no longer considers himself a Chef. He has worked as a Chef du Cuisine and Sous Chef in some of the best kitchens in the city but since he is now self employed, he's now an entrepreneur and cook.

8 Years of Love!

brings me so much gratitude!

I am in awe...

of this crazy little thing called love,

and how blessed I am

to have so much of it in my life!

After falling in love

almost immediately after meeting Nick 8 years ago,

little did I know then

that we would be here today,

husband and wife and more in love

than ever!

There have been so many highs,

and some lows,

but we came through it all together,

with a clear vision of what is most important... our LOVE!

Baby,

I love you sooo much!

Thank you for being my rock,

my best friend,

my lover, partner, personal Chef ( : , joker

and just a truly wonderful person!

You inspire me... to be the best woman I can be!

Here's to 8 more!

Thank you!

How 'Bout Those Jays?

I had the brilliant idea (along with 45,000 others) a couple weeks back to get tickets for the Blue Jay's Home Opener... I had wanted to go in years past but had been disappointed by not being able to get tickets on the night of...

It was a brilliant Spring Monday... and my Love and I had the whole day off together! We have a tendency of trying to plan the perfect day off (they are so few and far between) and I didn't want the day to get away from us, so instead of planning I thought we should just a drive to 'The Beach' for an impromptu date... we grabbed some Timmie's, a park bench, enjoyed the warmth and each other...

We were close to my cousin Pete's place. I thought it best we call him or else if he found out we were down the street from his place and we didn't, he'd be like what the f@#$! We took him to one of our favourite restaurants, The Owl of Minerva, a Korean pork bone soup joint in Little Korea. The food is absolutely delicious, very substantial and ridiculously priced! A few dishes and a bottle of Soju later we made our way to the driving range to hit a few balls...

We stopped home for a rest and a beer, then went next door to the game..

The crowd was insane! It took us 20 minutes just to get in the dome and another 20 to get a beer! That was not the fun part... the fun part

was hanging out

with family

and 45,000 others bring in the game of summer!

Thank you!

Just Doing It!

brings me gratitude!

(A looooong overdue post!)

So... I haven't been here for a while... again, not sure why... perhaps not recognizing my blessings in everyday life. I have so much to be grateful for!

Here are some photos from the past little bit.

My grandmother's 85th birthday passed and it was a fun, family filled night at the Mandarin... my grandmother's favourite restaurant.

Maybe she was a little shy with all the attention at first but...

she soon relaxed... hee.

It's rare to have everyone at a family function so I thought it would be fun to bring some 'staches to the party! They were hit! We had so much fun! Dad looks how he looked in the '80's!

I love this photo of Uncle Peter... I'm sure he enjoyed himself... maybe just too much MSG.

Pete enjoyed himself a bit too much...

Sheila too... eeeeewwwwww

That's a bit better... cute!

Alyssa's 16th birthday was a couple of weeks later... has it really been 16 years?!

Oh my sweet!

We had dinner at a togarashi joint that we had all been meaning to try for years... It was lovely!

(Great action shot below with my face doing something weird...)

The birthday girl seemed to enjoy it.

Then some birthday cake while reminiscing Alyssa's childhood dinosaur love..

I tried to blend in with the teenagers... yes?... No!

Anyways, it was a lot of fun! and so so special...

The next day to keep the celebration going Sheila and I spent the day together...

We went to the Market to pick up food to make dinner for Nick and Pete... and it happened to be Earth Hour day as well.

Such fun!

Here is Nick helping out... he always finds his way into the kitchen!

Sheila is pretending to help...

...Here we are hamming it up after dinner...

and Sheila and I looking a little mischievous at the end of the night...

I've been keeping myself busy with workshops and such and lots of work gets in the way... it's the busy patio season again!

I must remember to stop, take a deep breath, enjoy the moment

and smile.

Thank you!