Thursday on College

Freetimes Cafe. Not free beer though.

Look at those mussels…

I’ve wanted to try and steam my own mussels for a while now.  They are delicious, inexpensive (when bought from the store) and can taste great.  Her and I got a good taste of them when we lived in Ottawa and could get them for half price twice a week at the Clock Tower Brew Pub.  Not that we ever went twice in one week, but it’s nice to know that we could have.

So Loblaws has a 900g bag of live mussels on for $1 off regular price this week and I figure, why not?  It’s not a huge deal if I screw them up, and this way I can give steaming them myself a shot.  So I cooked them as follows

1. cleaned mussels with cold water making sure that the beards were removed. Threw out any that were cracked or open even slightly.
2. put a combination of white wine, garlic and parmeson bread dipper and water in a large pot until there was one inch of liquid in the bottom of the pot.
3. garnished the combo liquid with parsley and minced garlic.
4. heated up the liquid at medium heat for a few minutes, then added the mussels to the liquid and let steam for about 10 minutes.

And that was it.  Her and I both thought that the results were delicious and are excited to make them again for a dinner party in the future.

One important thing to note is that if any mussels don’t open after the steaming, throw them out.  That means they were dead on arrival and are not safe to eat.

They were enjoyed very much by the both of us and saved us a lot of money.  I think that the amount of mussels we bought would probably have cost between 20 and 25 dollars at a restaurant, we made them for $4.  The only thing now is that I’ve got a moderate case of heartburn and our bismuth has decided to disappear!

Dinner For Two

Don’t you wish you came home to this after a hard day at work? Then you should date me, because this is what my dinner’s look like when left to my own devices.

Dining in the Dark – SCARY OR NOT SCARY?

Welcome to dining in the dark my friends. Also – I can’t take credit for this kind-of-joke – it was the image used in an article about the restaurant O. Noir – I just think it’s too good to pass up.

Okay – where to start?

If you’re an avid follower, you’ll know that we’ve been following Toronto Star reporter Katie Daubs articles on picky eating – there’s three so far I think – here, here and here. Interesting stuff. As a picky eater myself, it’s always extremely reassuring to find out that there are other people out there who have the same hang-ups I do. I won’t go too much into it, because I think Katie does a better job than me, but seriously, if you’ve ever wondered why people are picky eaters, or if you hate us even, I think they’re worth a read.

Anyway, I pointed out these articles to my co-worker Michelle and her first thought was that we should go for dinner with Katie. Michelle is not a picky eater in any way, and she’s always harping on me to try new foods.

So, we did.

We went to O. Noir with the idea that maybe if we can’t see our food, it won’t taste so disgusting and we’ll be able to eat it. The conversation all night surrounded food – we hardly even discussed that we were eating in the dark. He and I had been to the restaurant once before, so it wasn’t as new to us, but still, it’s always a cool experience. The waiters are blind, so your experience is supposed to be similar to that sensation.

I don’t want to write too  much here since Katie will be dissecting our evening and even though I think the Toronto Star has more readers than our blog (maybe?), she should have the first coverage for sure. I can’t wait to see what she writes actually – really looking forward to the article coming out!

I apologize, this post was a bit all over the place – I think I’m having flashbacks to eating disgusting salad dressing and becoming nauseous. I’d better lay down.

CoUpLeS dAtE OMG!1

Last night was a night I had been looking forward to for some time – our Double Date with the writers of the Opposite Text, Kirsten and Rich.

We went to their wedding back in September – His first wedding actually, and we had a great time. The first of our friends to get married, it was neat to see how they carried things out. They did a great job – the food was good, the music was great, and the open bar was awesome. Now Kirsten even has her own business as a wedding planner -not that I’m needing her services anytime yet, eh dear co-writer of this blog?

I was looking forward to getting together with them, but if you had of told me two years ago we were going to, I would have been surprised.

Kirsten and I basically grew up together – our parents were best friends before we were born, and like to regale us with stories of building their own tv’s, red lobster dinner dates (like parents like daughter), and the time they were driving through snow and pretended they were going into hyper-space, and leaned back in their seats to emphasize this, breaking the seats in the process.

Kirsten and I spent loads of time together as kids, complete with lots of matching outfits between the two of us and her younger sister. But over time our parents gradually grew apart, so we lost touch. Which is where the wonder of Facebook comes in. We became FacePlace pals, and then our moms did too, resulting in a lot more contact. Next thing you know, the two of us are planning dinner dates with our other halves.

Anyway, it was great getting together with them. It makes you feel super mature when you have a friend over for dinner but you’re not close with their better half – yet the four of you can still have a great evening filled with wine, cake, and watching Ellen reading Snooki’s book.

Cuba Day #3 – Very Varadero

This morning we woke up and had plans:  Trip to the city of Varadero.

As you can see from the map, Varadero is a very long and narrow peninsula.  There are so many resorts in the city already, but they keep building more of them to house all the Canadians who travel down.  Our resort was one of the newer ones, which is why it was basically at the end of the spit.

There are a few ways to get into Varadero from all of the resorts: taxi, unmarked coach bus that the driver says is only 2 pesos to get into downtown, or 5 pesos for a whole day ticket for the hop on hop off double decker bus.  We chose the last option, seemed like a good deal.  However, I guess we were leaving right at the same time as everyone else was at every resort in Varadero.  This bus was packed.  Think Yonge line at 8:15am on a Wednesday, packed.  Except it was with Canadian pensioners looking for a nice tour into Varadero to see the sights.  Also, the tour bus wasn’t as much of a tour bus as it was just a double decker bus that picks people up from the resorts and then drops them off downtown.

Speaking of getting dropped off downtown, before that happened She remembered something: that She had forgotten to lock the safe before leaving.  This got her extremely nervous and she felt like she needed to get back to the room as soon as possible.  I didn’t really feel like paying the 15 pesos to go from the city to the resort, so I told Her that we’d wait on the bus and just take it back to the resort.  About an hour later (this was a lot more time than I thought it would take) She said that She would just pay for the taxi and that She just needed to get back to the room to make sure that our money, passports, other camera, and everything hadn’t been stolen by our suspicious housekeeper (come on, only people who make swan towels have something to hide).

So we took a cab back.  A cab that was a 50’s era Plymouth (He thinks).

Pretty awesome.  We gave the cabbie some candy for his ninos (kids).

Sure enough, we get back to the room and everything is just as it should be. The housekeeper has come and gone and even closed the safe for us. Nothing to worry about.  But I think that She was glad to pay the 15 pesos for some peace of mind.

So, luckily we took the hop on hop off option, so all we had to do was get back to the bus stop at the end of the resort’s driveway and get on the next one.  It wasn’t as crowded after lunch, which made the trip nicer than the first time.

Got back into Varadero and we:

• Went shopping at the different outdoor shops that they have (bought 3 key chains for friends, a nice domino set, cool faces to put on our wall, a wooden car).
• Saw the beach and a cool looking beach bar that’s a bit off the beaten path.
• Really saw a bit at what Cuba is really like (staying on the resort would not have been worth it).
• Saw chickens walking around.
• Saw Al Capone’s house in Varadero (we later learned that he never actually stayed there).
• Took some pictures (see the gallery).
• Took the double decker bus back to our resort.

When we got back we had a bit of a decision to make.  On of our bonus a la carte meals (for booking with Nolitours) was a Cuban meal at 8:30.  She wasn’t sure that she would find anything that she liked at this supper, so She wanted to go to the buffet beforehand to have pre supper.  So we went and She had some nice roast beef. I had initially meant to have only a tiny bit, but, of course, I found way too much there that I really wanted.  So I wasn’t actually all that hungry for Cuban supper. We went anyways.

I tell you, the line was CRAZY long for what looked to be some decent steak or something.  But I was perfectly content with just getting some salad and soup from the places without much of a line.  She was 100% OMFG content with getting a plateful of the prosciutto that was served at this Cuban supper.  Didn’t know that it was a Cuban deli meat…

Then, while walking back from the restaurant, She remembered that the night’s show was the aquatic ballet at the activity pool.  We were both a little skeptical, but the show was actually really good.  It was over an hour of girls getting lifted up high into the air and then tossed into the waist high water.  All very graceful like.  Real horrowshow (as in good) show.

And that was our day.  Stay tuned for more.

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The Dream Comes True: Red Lobster At Last

 

I love lobster. I think it’s delicious. And I’ve been really hoping for it all week long.

We had plans last evening to eat dinner with his Dad, Grandma and Bro and GF. There were rumours about going to RL. I was excited.

All day I was thinking not only about lobster, but about shrimp, steak, lemons, and that bowl of melted butter they give you. I think it’s what kept me going actually.

Then the dream became a reality. We went to Red Lobster.

I chose to have the Shrimpy Lobster Yummy Special, or whatever it was called. It came with not one, but two Lobster tails, and two different kinds of shrimp, although I’m pretty sure they were the same. I felt wonderful.

The next best part was that while ordering, none of us realized that the meals came with sides too! Mashed potatoes for me please, and a Caesar salad with dressing on the side. At first I wondered if they would just think I was a health nut, with dressing on the side, but then I realized I would probably consume a chocolate bar size of butter tonight, and that they probably don’t get a lot of health nuts in the Lobster. I just don’t like salad dressing.

After that, the best part was the biscuits. Better than Popeye’s – I kid you not. And they just kept coming! I brought three home, and everyone at work will be jealous of me today.

Now, you might think, “Hey man, this is just about food!”

Well, it’s not. His grandma also told a really funny story. Apparently an elevator at her condo/old people rich house thing had been broken, and while it was being fixed, the other one became broken! It was during dinner, so they just hustled all the ol’ folks into the bar and ploughed them with free alcohol! And then gorgeous firefighters came (her words – not mine)! Man, what a great life. The only sad (kind of funny though) part was that two old women were in the elevator while it happened. It was only for 1.5 hours, and they had had dinner, and a manager was there talking to them through the door the whole time, AND they had walkers, so they could sit down, so don’t put on your sobby hats just yet. I wanted to ask if they were wearing diapers too, but thought it would be rude, so I just ate more biscuits.

It was the best.

P.S. The Red Lobster site is actually really cool! They have an interactive chef’s kitchen, and did you know you can get lobster delivered to your house?! I think the menu for the next (pay-your-own) Dinner Party has just been decided!

It will be biscuits.

The Most Illegal Thing In The History Of Pro Wrestling

This is Her new favourite youtube video. Simple, yet effective.

Should have tried this at our dindin party last night….Kidding!!

Dinner Party III: The Triforce

Last night was our third dinner party (maybe fourth?) and it went off, surprisingly, without a hitch.

Originally it was planned for tonight, but since for secret secret reasons we’re traveling to a secret secret location tonight for a secret secret event (read on tomorrow), we moved it to last night.

Which would have been totes fine – other than the fact that work has been caarazzzy this week and I’ve been staying late every night or working from home.

Right before I finished work, I was also asked to run and grab 50 bags of candy for something going on Monday. The pro side of this was that I got to take a cab home. The con side of this was that 50 bags of candy is damn heavy! And it’s sitting in my house. Luckily, I’m just as picky with my candy as I am with my veg, so I won’t eat it all.

He and I booted it home and prepared – cleaning madly, starting the appetizers, and OMG fIgUrInG oUt WhAt To WeAr!!1

It was great though. A friend from my work, a friend from His work, and a friend from university – small, but sweet. The food was pretty awesome, and we even remembered to cook the corn this time! A huge plus.

After dinner we played Apples to Apples – man, that game can get serious! One guy and I had some serious debates going on between what was more profound – Abe Lincoln or recycling. But seriously, that’s no debate! Abe Lincoln changed the States – recycling can change the world…

 

Go To: P.J. O’Brien’s, a stellar Irish pub in downtown Toronto

We just got back from P.J. O’Brien‘s for supper.  Great place. The food was the best that I’ve ever had at an Irish pub. Beer and whiskey selection was good.  Waitresses had Irish accents (no kilts).  Just a great place. As BlogTO said, “…older crisply dressed Irish gentlemen almost always to be found sharing a story or a joke somewhere in the place, this is as Irish a pub as it gets. Period.”  And, you know, I’d have to agree with him.

Check it out if you’re at Yonge and King (the pub is located one block south of King and two blocks east of Yonge).

As a side note, Him and Her are going to try to hit up each of the Irish pub’s in BlogTO’s list of “The Best Irish Pubs in Toronto.” So far we’ve been to 5, and He thinks it’s safe to say that Mr. O’Brien’s is the most authentic…well, except that having really good food might compromise it’s legitimacy as a REAL Irish pub!