I love lentils.

…and I’m not just saying this because it’s Canadian Lentils’ Love Your Lentils month!

Lentils are nutrition powerhouses. Most people know them as a vegetarian source of protein, but they’re also rich in fibre, folate, iron, potassium, magnesium and manganese, just to name a few.

They’re great from a culinary standpoint as well. Unlike other dried legumes, lentils do not require soaking before cooking, perfect for poor planners like me, especially when you’re looking for some protein to round out a meal.

Green, brown and black beluga lentils can add texture to salad, soups, stews and other side dishes, while red lentils (which are actually green and brown lentils with the outer “skin” removed) cook down into a neutral-tasting mush, meaning that they readily take on the warm spices in daal or can be thrown into soups, stews, or even pureed into bread and cookie batters for a nutrition boost.

Of course, the fact that 97% of all lentils in Canada are grown in neighbouring Saskatchewan means they’re a local choice!

To celebrate Love Your Lentils month, Canadian Lentils is offering a contest to bloggers, home cooks and eaters across the country. Whether you like to write about food or simply like to cook, you’re invited to submit your original lentil recipes to loveyourlentils.ca.

This is where you eaters are come in – head over to the website to vote for your favourite recipes in each category. I submitted the Coconut Chili Lime Sweet Potato Red Lentil Soup that I created back in January.

The top 10 recipes will be reviewed by Chef Michael Smith, and the winner in each category will be flown to Saskatoon, where they will get to tour the city and take in some lentil highlights.

The winners will be joined by one randomly-selected voter, so please vote! EVERYDAY!

How do you enjoy lentils?

PS: I recently read in a news article that there are over three times as many Facebook users as there are Twitter users, so I’ve created a new Facebook page for this blog. It will updated with quick foodie shots and thoughts in between the longer posts here, so please head over and “Like”!

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Happy Mother’s Day! Where are you taking your mom to brunch today? For some reason, Mama T associates the word “brunch” with “buffet”, so I’ve taken her to Belgo a couple times now to avoid the hotel buffet crowds (and prices!) Mama T is out of town, so I’ll be celebrating with her in Hong Kong next week, but if you’d like to do something a little less traditional with your mom, give Mango Shiva‘s brunch a try.

I first heard that Mango Shiva, a well-known Indian fusion restaurant on Stephen Ave, was offering brunch during Big Taste Calgary and was intrigued by the fact that alongside traditional brunch items like eggs benny and waffles, they offered fusion dishes like butter chicken and waffles, as well as straight-up Indian dishes like curried chickpeas and masala dosa. Also unlike other Calgary brunch spots, it seems like the crowds haven’t discovered this place… yet.

While catching up briefly over cups of chai, it didn’t take long for Perennial Brunchmate Tiffany and I to decide to go for the unique fusion dishes – the aforementioned Butter Chicken Belgian Waffles for me, and the Lamb Kofta Baked Eggs for T. (both $15)

Tiffany’s baked eggs were served in a tiny cast iron skillet, surrounded by fresh garlic naan and hash browns. You could see big chunks of lamb in the sauce, which was drizzled with yogurt and mint chutney.

The lamb kofta certainly packed a punch – the meat was tender and the sauce was spicy and full of flavour. However, combined with the eggs, the dish was quite rich and Tiffany was only able to finish half her meal. We both agreed that fresh fruit would’ve made a better side than the hash browns, especially since she was already getting lots of carbs from the naan!

I was super-excited for the butter chicken and waffles. The Southern soul food combination of chicken and waffles has become quite popular in Calgary lately, thanks to the likes of Model Milk, Carino, Anju, Craft and of course, the Waffles & Chix food truck. So, when my waffles arrived, I…

Uh…

…was a little taken aback that I just received just the waffles ($9) but this was quickly corrected by our server and we got to keep the sweet waffles to boot – that’s a lot of waffles!

The butter chicken was rich, creamy and tomato-y, with just a tiny touch of heat. While it was good, to me it wasn’t as satisfying of a pairing with the waffles as crispy, fried chicken would’ve been! I was actually more impressed with the toppings for the regular Belgian waffles; I loved the colours from the berry compote and the pistachios. The nutmeg whipped cream was fluffy and light with just a hint of the warm spice.

I’d hoped that the waffles themselves would be thick, soft and fluffy, but they were on the thinner side and a little crispy.

All in all, the brunch at Mango Shiva was an enjoyable experience. The food was unique and the service was friendly and professional. It’s definitely worth the trek downtown on a weekend… if only to beat the usual crowds.

Mango Shiva
218 8 Ave SW
Calgary AB T2P 1B5
(403) 290-1644
Open Mon-Thu 11:30 AM-10 PM; Fri 11:30 AM-11 PM; Sat 11 AM-11 PM; Sun 11 AM-10 PM. Brunch served on Saturdays and Sundays only. Dinner service begins at 5 PM.

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Finally! It’s warm enough to dine al fresco again! I’m typing this to you from my “other office” (aka a lounge chair on my deck). B. and I loved spending time out here last summer, whether it was working away on our laptops (powered by a giant orange extension cord) or relaxing with some snacks and a cider.

Another thing that we’re looking forward to (though really, this recipe can be made year-round) are these Pork Meatball Banh Mi Sliders. In Vietnam, banh mi means bread, but here we use the term to describe Vietnamese subs – the French introduced the baguette to Vietnam during their rule, and the Vietnamese used them to sandwich their own meats and veggies. Unlike the subs that we’re familiar with, banh mi are packed full of flavour with a bit of an Asian flare, thanks to satay sauces, pickled carrots, Thai basil, and cilantro, to name a few. These meatballs, which came to me from Gwendolyn, get their distinctive flavour from garlic, green onion, fish sauce and Sriracha – yum.

While Gwendolyn has instructions for quick-pickled carrots in her recipe, I used the ones from Serious Eats instead. Both are similar and use salt, sugar and rice vinegar, resulting in pickles that are a little less harsh than what we’re familiar with. To assemble the banh mi, you have the savoury meatballs with the sweet-and-sour carrots, then add fresh, cooling cucumber, and cilantro and basil for garnish. For a bit of an extra kick, you can add slices of fresh jalapeño. We ditched the mayo because B. is sensitive.

The meatballs would go great in actual baguettes, but we had a surplus of dinner rolls so we made sliders instead, which oddly enough, made them a little harder to eat. Next time I think I will try shaping them into patties…

Pork Meatball Banh Mi Sliders

Nutrition Information

• Serves: 12

• Calories: 220

• Fat: 8 g
• Carbohydrates: 25 g
• Sugar: 7 g
• Sodium: 830 mg
• Fiber: 2 g
• Protein: 11 g
• Cholesterol: 25 mg

Print

Adapted from Patent and the Pantry and Serious Eats

Ingredients

Vietnamese Pork Meatballs

• 1 lb lean ground pork
• ¼ cup (60 mL) finely chopped fresh basil
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 green onions, finely chopped
• 1 Tbsp (15 mL) fish sauce
• 1 Tbsp (15 mL) hot chili sauce
• 1 Tbsp (15 mL) sugar
• 2 tsp (10 mL) cornstarch
• 1 tsp (5 mL) black pepper
• 1 tsp (5 mL) coarse kosher salt

Pickled Carrots

• 1 large carrot, peeled, cut into strips ⅛th-inch square and 3 inches long, about 2 cups
• 2 Tbsp (30 mL) sugar
• ½ Tbsp (7 mL) kosher salt
• ½ cup (125 mL) water
• ¼ cup (60 mL) rice wine vinegar

Banh Mi Sliders

• 12 whole wheat buns, halved
• Mayo
• Hot sauce
• 1 English cucumber, sliced
• Thai basil and/or cilantro
• Sliced jalapeno pepper, optional

Instructions

Vietnamese Pork Meatballs

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (205°C).Gently mix together all the ingredients in a large bowl. With moistened hands, roll scant tablespoonfuls of the mixture, forming them into 1″ (2.5 cm) balls. Place on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake the meatballs until golden and cooked through, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Pickled Carrots

1. Combine carrots, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Using fingertips, massage salt and sugar into carrots until dissolved. Add water and rice vinegar. Pack vegetables into a quart-sized mason jar. Pickles can be used immediately, or for best results, seal jar and refrigerate at least overnight and up to 1 week.

Banh Mi Sliders

1. To assemble sliders, place two or three meatballs on bottom half of bun. Slather other half of bun with mayo and/or hot sauce. Add sliced cucumber, a clump of pickled carrots and a few sprigs of Thai basil and/or cilantro. Put together the two bun halves and enjoy.

3.2.1230

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The Rocky Mountain Wine & Food Festival is returning to the Fairmont Banff Springs this Friday, May 10 and Saturday, May 11. I know the Calgary event is very popular and well-attended, and what better excuse to make the trip out to the Rockies than being able to sample some food from the best restaurants that Banff has to offer, paired with international, world class wines. As proof, the Saturday evening session is already sold out!

I must admit I’ve never been to any of the Rocky Mountain Wine & Food Festivals – I’m always put off by the fact that I have to pay to get in, and then pay again for sampling tickets. Briefly scrolling through the menu, I’m already salivating at the thought of Dark Mole Pulled Pork Spring Rolls and Nanaimo Bar Cheesecakes.

If you’re cheap like me, then you can enter here for a chance to win some tickets for you and a friend to attend the Friday evening session (7-10 PM) of the festival. Contest closes at 11:59 PM on Wednesday, May 8.

If you generally aren’t very lucky (also like me), then there are still tickets available to purchase for the Friday evening and Saturday afternoon sessions. They’re $27 each online, or $32 at the door. ($24 if you can wrangle a group of 10+ together!) Sampling tickets are $0.50 each at the festival.

Good luck and hope to see you there!

Update (May 9, 2013 @ 10:12 AM): The contest is closed. Congratulations to Juliane F., who has won the two tickets to the Friday evening session of the Rocky Mountain Wine & Food Fest. Have fun!

Fine print: The two tickets being offered are for Friday, May 10 from 7-10 p.m. When presented at the door, these tickets will allow for complimentary access into the Grand Tasting Hall. Tickets are not transferable to Saturday’s session. This is an adult only event. All attendees must be 18 years or older. Minors (including infants) are not permitted to attend. Sampling coupons can be purchased separately.

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This month, I snuck off for a weekend with some of my friends and fellow bloggers, Dan, Steph A and Steph E to the GTA (specifically, Hockley Valley) to experience the first-ever Food Bloggers of Canada conference!

Dana McCauley says that what would set Canadian food bloggers apart is to “Choose to be different”, so unlike every other blogger who has written a recap, I’m not writing one. Maybe I’ll write one in the future, but only when I’m sure that it’ll be different… and still relevant.

So, let’s talk goals.

My 2013 New Year’s Resolutions

Be Happier

This month, my goal for this resolution was to continue with freeing up one of my days off every week, keeping my happy moments log and reading The Happiness Project.

Looking back at my calendar, I would say I was never completely successful with freeing up one of my “work from home” days except today where I’m writing this to you at home in my jammies with no plans to leave the house. Though if I were being kind to myself, there were a lot of lighter days versus jam-packed days, as well as days where I was travelling, so not too bad from a stress standpoint.

The happy moments log is quite sporadic. I feel like I’m letting a lot of days in a row pile up before I finally remember to sit down and write in it, and of course the minor stuff (and even some of the major stuff) is gone. I’m also starting to treat it more like a “one-sentence journal” and have let one or two negative thoughts trickle in… I think I want to keep it predominantly a “happy moments” log though. This month, my goal is to be more diligent about doing it every night. (B. welcomes the excuse to stay up for a few extra minutes before lights out.)

I did finish reading The Happiness Project. I enjoyed how it wasn’t preachy, and author Gretchen Rubin was very honest about what worked and what didn’t work in her quest for happiness. In later chapters she included comments that she received on her blog, and it was nice to get perspective from other people as well. I will be mentioning her again later on in the post (see: Get organized), but I just wanted to mention her definition of “goals” versus “resolutions”. According to Rubin, “…you achieve a goal. You keep a resolution.” In other words, whereas a goal is a one-time thing, a resolution is something you need to do, or at least think about, every day.

I would say in the way I’ve approached my goal/resolution posts I would disagree – I’ve always defined “goals” in the SMART goal sense: that they’re specific, action-oriented objectives which can be one-time achievements or ongoing, whereas resolutions are broader outcomes. I feel like if we tell people that resolutions are things to be kept every day, then that makes new year’s resolutions even more daunting. What do you think?

One of the bonuses to finishing The Happiness Project was that it was an excuse to meet up with my friend Krista (see: Reconnect), who’d lent me the book, as well as lend her my advance copy of Corey Mintz‘s new book, How to Host a Dinner Party – just one of the examples of the sweet swag I picked up at FBC 2013. I’d read it from start to finish on my flight back from Toronto and it’s an easy yet entertaining read with surprisingly useful tips and delicious-sounding recipes.

Be stronger/healthier

Because of travelling – and admittedly, being lazy – on average I only went to the gym twice per week this month, instead of meeting my goal of three times per week. I did bring a bathing suit (but not runners) to Toronto with me and didn’t follow through; the days were just so tight!

I do have some good news – I was cleared by physio last Wednesday! I went for my first kickboxing class on Friday (which wasn’t too hard, as there were only two of us) and it was also just in time for the Step Out for Lupus Walk/Run. One of my friends has lupus, and every year she organizes a big team to do the walk. This year I was determined to do the run – I’ve done 9K training runs before, so 5K should be easy-peasy, right?

I was a little worried that my knee didn’t feel like it was 100%, but I pressed on anyway and was very happy with my time of 27:36, considering that it was my first race, I essentially hadn’t done any running for about two months, and usually 5K takes me about half an hour.

I think this month I’m not going to really set a goal, especially since I will be away for the last two weeks and I’d like to make my blogging more of a priority again. (See: Get organized.) Just want to get back into the swing of things in terms of kickboxing and stay as active as I can while I’m away!

Reconnect

I don’t think I’d set a specific goal for April, although I wanted to continue to work on seeing people that I hadn’t seen for a while. I definitely achieved this – as mentioned before I caught up with Krista, for one. I also went for lunch with my perennial brunchmate Tiffany, lunch with another friend whom I hadn’t seen in a while, organized Chinese food/board game night with some of my high school friends, saw many people at Step Out for Lupus (but didn’t get to catch up as much as I would’ve liked as I chose to run!) and of course, there was the monthly dinner with the cousins too. Since I will be away for the last two weeks of May I’m not sure if I’m going to be making tons of plans here, but I will be reconnecting with lots of family in Hong Kong (and meeting a first-cousin-once-removed for the first time!) so that counts, right?

Get Organized

My goal for this month was to do my taxes and perhaps organize the documents on my computer. I did do my taxes (and after freaking out that I might owe money this year, I entered in the fact that I maxed out my RRSP contributions and learned that I am actually getting a generous return), but there are still invoices all over my hard drive (and I should probably mention, papers all over my desk.)

For this month’s goal, I’d like to preamble with another Happiness Project reference. Rubin talks about “Splendid Truths” – statements that she uses to define happiness and how to achieve it. Her first Splendid Truth is “Being happier requires you to think about feeling good, feeling bad, and feeling right, in an atmosphere of growth.” I can tackle this in a lot more detail, but for now I just want to say I’ve been great at doing things that make me feel good, like going out, reconnecting with old friends, splurging on new glasses, etc, but not so good at tackling the things that make me feel bad. Specifically, it’s very easy for me to end a busy day feeling like I’ve “done nothing”, when really it’s just that I haven’t done everything. Now I know a lot of this has to do with self-talk and more realistic expectations of myself, blahblahblah, but when I went out for lunch with my friend, he mentioned that his girlfriend (Hi, Jen!) noticed that I haven’t been posting as often. That was a wake-up call. I mean, I have photos of recipes from last August that haven’t made it to this blog yet! I know I always lean on “being busy” as an excuse, so recently I got another wake-up call from Sean McCabe, a talented hand-letterer that I follow on Instagram.

This was part of his slide set from a talk that he just did at Creative South. I have yet to watch the entire 44+ minute video, but I read one of his blog post that expands on this idea and flipped through some of the slides, and though it’s a little preachy and a little it’s-all-your-fault, it’s also true – I have been lacking focus.

So this month, I’m being more conscious of spending less time playing games on my phone and not stressing about spending lots of time at the gym so I can spend more time on blogging. Calgary is Awesome recently implemented a two-week editorial calendar, so I will be posting every second Sunday. That is on my calendar. I’m also hoping to post the resolutions post as close to the 1st of every month as possible (done!), and one recipe post. That’ll be at least four posts a month. I also want to post more on my work site as well. I have so many ideas and so many responses to misleading studies brewing that I need to make time and sit down and get it out there while they’re all still timely.

And of course, I should tackle organizing my hard drive this month. Maybe.

How are you doing on your new year’s resolutions, or life goals in general? What do you want to see in this space?

The post 2013 Resolutions Check-Up: Apr/May appeared first on Ceci n'est pas un food blog.

Disclosure: Several Calgary is Awesome editors were invited by Muse to a free media showcase dinner. We were not obligated or compensated to write this post. Opinions are 100% our own.

Last month, a few of the editors from the Calgary is Awesome team were invited to Muse to see how the restaurant has changed since new co-owners Stephen Deere and Heather Wighton and executive chef JP Pedhirney (formerly of Rouge) took over earlier this year.

The decor at Muse has largely remained the same, though Wighton states that the space did get a bit of a “facelift” with a few minor changes and a fresh coat of paint. All of the guests chatted in the airy upstairs area over champagne, oysters and cheese as the chefs finished creating our meal in the kitchen.

It wasn’t too long before we were ushered to the more formal, dimly lit dining area downstairs. I couldn’t help but notice all the wine glasses that were set before me – I was a little disappointed that I’d driven! Immediately I was impressed by the high-end service – for each course, the servers walked out together, dishes in hand, stopping only briefly behind us before setting the plates down in unison in front of every second person, then in unison again for the remaining people.

For the amuse-bouche, we enjoyed a rutabaga soup with pickled pearl onion, Asian pear and crispy chicken skin.

The rutabaga soup was creamy, but light. The tiny balls of onion and pear helped to give it some sweetness and texture, but overall the soup was savoury and umami, thanks to the chicken glacé and crispy chicken skin.

[CIA managing editor] Irene: The soup was a great start to the meal; a nice light way to get your taste buds going. I’m not usually a rutabuga fan, but enjoyed how it was incorporated into soup form.

Our first course was thinly sliced raw hamachi (yellowtail), slightly flavoured with coriander and lime vin, red chilies and togarashi (Japanese spice mixture usually served with noodles), and garnished with microgreens and different coloured radishes.

For many, the hamachi was their favourite dish as the fish was very fresh. I personally would’ve preferred just a touch more spice, but I think many people preferred the fact that it was very mild and highlighted the flavour of the fish.

Irene: I’m a big sushi fan so the hamachi was great. I really like fresh, FRESH fish and that’s exactly what this dish was. I also like that the seafood is sustainably-farmed and shipped in fresh.

I usually don’t mention wine in my posts, but I really enjoyed the pairing with the Joie Farm Noble Blend Aromatic White VQA 2011. There are a lot of Joie fans in Calgary and with a taste of this I could see why – the wine was quite floral and easy to drink; it reminded me of one of my favourite white blends, Tapestry from Little Straw in Kelowna.

The next course, Potato, was a play on risotto, using brunoise (finely diced) potato instead of rice. Green peas were scattered throughout the potato mixture, which was topped with shaved truffle, sous-vide egg and a generous block of crispy pork belly with a dollop each of bacon gel and Brassica mustard on top.

The potato “risotto” had an interesting texture, and I loved the additional flavour from the pork belly, bacon gel and mustard. A few at the table agreed that more mustard would’ve been nice in this dish to cut through some of its richness. I personally like my eggs more on the “medium” side so the runny yolk put me off a bit in terms of taste and texture.

Irene: I LOVED the potato egg risotto mix. I love a good runny egg, and this dish had tons of delicious, complementary flavors. It reminded me of a twist on brunch, but for dinner.

The next dish was a caraway-crusted grilled sturgeon served with beet ribbons, squid ink crostini, a touch of caviar crème fraîche and Brussels sprout leaves. A server came by to each of us to pour borscht consommé over the entire dish after it was served.

I’d never tried sturgeon before so was surprised to find such a dense, meaty fish. Neither the beet ribbons nor borscht consomme had the sweetness that I usually associate with beets, but they added an earthiness to the dish.

My favourite course was the lamb two ways – a round of grilled saddle was propped up by a small piece of farinata (chickpea cake) topped with crispy lamb belly. Tiny, caramelized cippolini onion dotted the plate, which was finished with a swipe of black olive emulsion and rosemary dust.

The saddle of lamb was done perfectly to medium-rare; the meat was moist and flavourful. The chickpea farinata provided some interesting flavour and texture to contrast the crispy lamb belly. The rosemary dust was a fun addition to the dish, but I thought the flavour was a little overpowering.

Irene: The lamb course made me a fan of lamb. Usually I would never choose a lamb course, but it was really well done and succulent. All of the flavours on the plate worked well together.

After being served two meat courses, we were treated to a palate cleanser of crabapple soda. Everyone cooed over the tiny bottles that they were served in.

Hearing “crabapples”, I’d expected the soda to be tart, so I was surprised to find that it was quite sweet. Still, the small dose of fruity flavour was the perfect interlude between the main courses and dessert.

Dessert was another highlight for me. A wedge of chocolate crémeux was served with a scoop of sweet potato sorbet, dollops of toasted meringue, lemon gel and coriander-chocolate dust.

The chocolate crémeux was dark, creamy and smooth, but not too rich. I loved how the chocolate was paired with a variety of flavours, like the marshmallowy meringue, bright lemon and I particularly liked the pairing with the savoury and herby coriander. I wasn’t a big fan of the sweet potato sorbet – I think the starchiness of the sweet potato would’ve worked better in something richer, like an ice cream or even a gelato. I found the lightness of the sorbet a bit confusing.

Irene: I thought dessert was awesome! It gave you a taste of everything with chocolate, meringue and lemon gel.

Shortly after dessert was served, the entire team paraded out to thunderous applause. Chef Pedhirney spoke of how he was inspired to be a chef at age 18 by a meal at Muse by then-executive chef Cam Dobranski (now of Brasserie Kensington and Winebar Kensington), and how thrilled he was to now be holding the reins. Chef Pedhirney also mentioned how much he enjoyed creating multi-course meals and taking his guests through the progression of each course.

In addition to the delicious meal and fantastic service, we were spoiled even further with gift bags as we left. I’m looking forward to what Wighton, Deere and Chef Pedhirney have to offer as they continue to breathe new life to this classic space.

Muse
107 10A St NW
Calgary AB T2N 4M7
(403) 670-6873
Open Tues-Sun 5 PM-Close. Closed Mondays.

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While most restaurants participating in The Big Taste offered simple prix-fixe menus with maybe one or two options, Ox & Angela went all out, offering multiple dishes per course – no decisions needed! B. and I dropped by on the last day of the festival for Sunday brunch, so we got a few breakfast items as well.

Although Ox & Angela has only been around for a couple of years, I’ve only been there once (and I haven’t been to its sister restaurant, Una, either – I know, right?) The one time I was at Ox, we were just meeting a bunch of chefs after the Candela media/industry preview party, so I didn’t really eat very much and didn’t really know what I was eating. The Big Taste menu was the perfect opportunity to catch up on what I’d been missing.

I was quite impressed by the service we received at Ox & Angela – the servers were friendly, prompt and professional; they hung up my jacket for me and seemed to know the menu quite well.

The $25-per-person brunch was split into two courses. For the first course, we started with Fritters, Tortilla de Espana and Ensalada.

The Fritters were made of Cod and Potato, served with creamy, garlicky aioli.

We were expecting a crab cake-like texture, so were surprised to find that the centres were softer and mushier. B. didn’t really like these, but I liked them… especially with the aioli.

Unlike the Mexican flatbread, a Spanish tortilla is essentially a potato omelette. In Ox & Angela’s version, the potatoes are layered carefully and the egg mixture is dotted with red peppers. Thick wedges of the omelette are served with a dollop of aioli and sprinkling of green onion and paprika.

I really liked the soft texture of this – the thick egg reminded me of the Japanese omelettes that they use in sushi, except without the sweetness. Unfortunately B. and I were a little slow in getting to this dish and it was cold by the time we ate it.

The Ensalada was a small fresh salad with baby gem lettuce, green apple, sherry vinegar, shaved manchego cheese and toasted walnuts.

The Ensalada was probably my least favourite dish of the first course. While I liked the crisp texture of the lettuce and green apple, the salad was quite tart; even the apple didn’t provide enough sweetness to act as a foil. I think I would’ve liked it more if the walnuts were candied, or if there was some other sweet ingredient in the salad.

Our second course had two regular menu items, Kale and Patatas Bravas, and two breakfast items, Pancakes and Eggs Benedict.

“Kale” was a wilted purple kale salad with fried breadcrumbs and Turkish olives.

B. and I definitely preferred this salad over the Ensalada. The kale still had a touch of crispness and they weren’t overly dressed, so still had their distinct bittersweet flavour. They must’ve known that I don’t like olives as there were only four in the dish.

Patatas Bravas are a traditional Spanish tapas dish. In this case, the fried potatoes were dressed in a smoked paprika ketchup and served with some more aioli.

The potatoes had soaked in all the smoked paprika ketchup, so the dish wasn’t very saucy and was full of smoky, sweet and tart flavour. While it was mostly big chunks of potato, there were also these little nubbins that were charred and crisp. Yum.

For our breakfast items, we started with the Chocolate Chip Pancakes (“Tortitas”) drenched in Dulce de Leche and topped with a dollop of whipped cream and a tiny mint leaf.

The pancakes unfortunately were not as good as they sounded. They were soggy and the chocolate chips were few and far in between.

Fortunately, they were redeemed by the excellent Eggs Benedict with Blood Orange Hollandaise.

The Hollandaise sauce was rich and creamy, and flecked with blood orange zest. The thin, salty serrano ham contrasted nicely with the slightly citrusy sauce.

I loved trying all these little bites and can’t wait to go back to try more. I would definitely be in for going there for brunch again – although parking on/around 17th can sometimes be a nightmare, the fact that there’s no lineup (yet) makes it worth it!

Ox & Angela
528 17 Ave SW
Calgary AB T2S 0A9
(403) 457-1432
Open Sun-Thu 11:30 AM-Midnight; Fri-Sat 11:30 AM-2 AM.

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B. and I are just coming back from a long weekend in Nelson, where I visited some of his family and met his grandparents for the first time. I feel like I ate way too much this weekend, and it was all home cooking! Nelson, I will definitely be back to try your hippie restaurants… and hike and ski to burn all those calories.

I know I just did a reflection two weeks and one entry ago, but I should probably get back to posting these as close to the 1st as possible! Here’s what I’ve been up to the past two weeks…

My 2013 New Year’s Resolutions

Be Happier

This month, my goal for this resolution was to keep one of my two days off commitment-free on my calendar. Looking at my calendar, I wouldn’t say my days are commitment-free, but I definitely try to do it so that for one day I’m out and about doing all my errands, while another day I might have just one commitment outside the home, if any. I don’t know whether this is really helping with productivity, because some days I feel like I have so much time so I’m slower to get out of bed and get going, but on the flip side when I reflect on the happy moments in the day, I’ve written a few times that I liked that I allowed myself to take a nap or read stuff on Google Reader instead of diving right into work.

Speaking of happiness, I’ve been moving through The Happiness Project quicker now that I read it while I have breakfast. It’s funny – I remember reading books at the breakfast table since I was a kid. As I grew older, that became the newspaper, but ever since I moved in with B. and we don’t have a newspaper subscription, a lot of days I would bring my laptop down and try to send some emails out or get some work done but inevitably waste time on Facebook or open up a few articles from Twitter. Recently I realized I eat breakfast a lot quicker without the laptop in front of me, but I still like the bit of distraction. For a few mornings in a row I went through some of my cookbooks and tabbed the recipes I wanted to make. When I was done with that, I decided to go to reading. I think I’ll continue this habit.

Anyway, a few things I’ve been thinking about from The Happiness Project:

I wasn’t really interested in Gretchen Rubin’s “sequel” to The Happiness Project, Happier at Home, because it’s supposed to be more about families and relationships – she even had a “21 Day Relationship Challenge” on her blog! I’m quite happy in my relationship with B., so didn’t think it’d apply to me, but in the chapter of her book where she talks about the month that she focused on her relationships, some of the stuff – especially the language you use when you communicate – is definitely stuff I should probably work on.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately: “You can choose what you do; you can’t choose what you like to do.” Also can be phrased as, “I can do anything I want, but I can’t do everything I want.”

In one of her resolutions, “Go Off the Path”, Gretchen talks about keeping an “Interest Log” where she wrote down the subject of articles that seemed to catch her interest when she was browsing, so she could get an idea of what her outside interests were. I feel like my “happy moment log” had a similar idea in terms of keeping track of what seems to make me happy. I did a quick flip through and while I did expect a lot of it to be about achieving stuff, connecting with people and food (true), I was surprised by the number of times I mentioned new experiences, material stuff and getting compliments from people. Interesting.

For April, I think I will continue with freeing up one of my days off/working from home days, keeping my happy moments log and reading The Happiness Project.

Be Stronger/Healthier

I was a little nervous about my goal of going to the gym three times per week because it was pushing the boundaries as to what I thought would be realistic to achieve, but I found that with that goal, it really pushed me to squeeze in those gym sessions. As I mentioned in my last entry, my injury/schedule change/most people from my gym being in Thailand all mean workouts that are less than an hour versus over two hours, so it’s easier to get to the gym. I’m still a little bummed that I can’t do everything that I want to do, and it turns out I’ve been working a little too hard on the exercise bike (What, you mean my knee isn’t supposed to throb when I get off that thing?) so my knee is taking longer to heal than it should I’ll try to be better about turning the resistance down the next couple of weeks, but will still try to squeeze in three days a week at the gym!

Reconnect

I’m continuing to work on organizing meetups with people I didn’t see in January. I always knew Yelp Calgary Community Manager/Cocktail Enthusiast & Blogger/Fellow Calgary is Awesome editor Wendy lived close, but I didn’t realize how close until I plugged in her address from her birthday party invitation into Google Maps – 270 m! It was a quick walk even though the night was chilly and I enjoyed mixing a few random cocktails. I also emailed a friend and asked him out to lunch downtown on one of my days off… I need to remember to use those days off for downtown lunches more often.

Get Organized

This month, my goal was to tackle the pile of papers on my desk that I lovingly call “the avalanche”. I did start filing some papers away, which was a great feeling, but more great was shredding credit card statements that dated back to 2006 (!) My desk isn’t completely open yet, so there’s a bit more filing I still need to do, but once I’m done that, for this month I’m hoping to do my taxes and perhaps organize the documents on my computer – I have invoices all over my hard drive!

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As I mentioned in my last review, B. and I checked out two places during Big Taste. For the first place, it was my day off/work from home day on his birthday, so I headed downtown and took him out to Wine-Ohs, located in what used to be Piq Niq/Beat Niq on 1st Street SW.

Wine-Ohs kept most of the decor the same – the small 30-seat Bistro looks like it came straight out of the 1920′s, with lots of wood and other vintage accents. Wine-Ohs lives up to its name with an extensive wine list for dinner, but for lunch, they were able to pare it down to a one-pager. Unfortunately since B. still had to go back to work that day we couldn’t partake… even though it was his birthday.

For The Big Taste, they only offered one set menu, so our plan was to have one of us order the Big Taste menu and the other order à la carte. The selection was pretty small, with a few repeating items – for example, there was wild mushrooms on toast and butternut squash and wild mushroom ravioli, and there was already wild mushroom risotto on the set menu! So we just ended up ordering the $25 lunch and the wild mushrooms on toast (called “Wild Mushroom Fondue“) as an appy, and that was a perfect portion for us.

We started with the creamy Parsnip Pear Soup, garnished with crispy carrot chips.

At first B. said it just tasted sweet, like my parsnip and pear soup, but then he had a mouthful with the blue cheese and that changed everything. The blue cheese added savouriness, depth and a bit of tanginess to the soup. Usually I don’t like blue cheese, but it really worked here and I would totally add it to my sweeter soups next time.

For our second appetizer, we had the Wild Mushroom “Fondue”, which wasn’t really fondue because they’d done the dipping for us! A variety of cooked local, wild mushrooms were drizzled in a rich Manchego cheese sauce.

We were definitely happy that we ordered this – we loved the flavour and texture of the different mushrooms, and B. liked the Manchego cheese so much that we picked up some of our own.

For our main course, we shared the Wild Mushroom Risotto.

The risotto was OK – it seemed to rely more on cream for its texture as opposed to the starches from the rice. It also had the same flavour profile as the Fondue, with the mushrooms and Manchego cheese. Presentation-wise, I’d say it wasn’t the most appealing looking dish; even a few sprigs of parsley could’ve brightened stuff up a bit.

Finally, for dessert, we had Coconut Panna Cotta served with strawberries and vanilla tuile.

The panna cotta tasted quite light and was not too sweet, a nice way to end a lunch meal where you don’t want to feel stuffed back at your desk at work.

The service was friendly, but a little odd – we were never offered sharing plates except for the Wild Mushroom Fondue, so for most of the lunch, we were eating off of the same plate, which made me feel “punished” for only ordering “one” meal. (I would’ve said something, but I didn’t realize why it felt weird until after we’d left.) I also wished that there was a little more variety on their menu so that I would’ve been motivated to try more, but like I said, I’m glad we ordered the amount we did because it was perfect for lunch. I’d be interested in going back on a regular day for some live music, wine and classic French bistro fare.

Wine-Ohs
811 1 St SW
Calgary AB T2P 7N2
(403) 263-1650
Bistro open Mon 11:30 AM-2 PM; Tues-Fri 11:30 AM-2 PM & 4 PM-Close; Sat 5 PM-Close. Closed Sundays. Cellar open Mon-Fri 4 PM-Close; Sat 7 PM-Close; Sun 6 PM-Close. Happy Hour specials 4-6 PM daily.

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I’ve been swamped so this update comes a little late. Let’s see how I’m doing with my goals…

My 2013 New Year’s Resolutions

Be happier

This month, my goal for this resolution was to write at least one happy moment that happened during the day every day, with a focus on the “small stuff”. I must admit I wasn’t the most consistent at this – while I was away in Banff for a week when my friend was visiting from Ottawa, I didn’t write anything at all, even though I brought my notebook with the full intention to! However, I have gotten better over the past few weeks, only skipping a day here or there.

More importantly, I’m not sure this has actually been helping me be happier. I’m usually pretty good about putting on a happy face during the day, but once I get tired I get really cranky and whiny, so obviously B. has been getting the brunt of it because he is really the only person who sees me at night. Earlier this month, he actually said to me, “I’m tired of you being stressed and unhappy all the time.” This sort of shook me up because I didn’t realize how stressed I was being. On separate occasions, both him and my coworker were talking about overstretching ourselves, and the idea that even though there are hours free in my calendar, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s free time that I can fill with commitments – I don’t schedule in time to blog, read, go to the gym and some of the other things that I enjoy, so when that time gets filled up, I have less time to do those things or unwind. So while I will keep up with writing the happy moments, my goal is to keep one of my two days off commitment-free on my calendar. I have really appreciated those days where I can just stay home for a good stretch of time and get some work done. When I started this goal there was one day where I really made an effort to stay home as much as possible (i.e. changed an in-person interview to a phone interview) and that felt very nice.

Be stronger/healthier

This month, my goal for this resolution was to stick to the weight training program my cousin gave me. I did pretty good in February – when my friend was visiting I knew that I wouldn’t be able to hit the gym, and I was fine with that. Unfortunately, while I was away, the schedule for my kickboxing classes changed so that now it’s difficult for me to make them, and on top of that I pulled my MCL while skiing so I’ve been out so far for the month of March. (My physio expects the healing will take 6-8 weeks and I am currently on week 4.) My physio said I can do the exercise bike, which is cool, and in terms of my cousin’s weight training program I’ve sort of modified it so that I only do the exercises that don’t require my legs, then add in some push-ups and ab exercises. It still feels like a bit of a downer to only be spending just under an hour at the gym versus the two hours that I’m used to, but at least it’s something. In some ways, it’s actually better because I can just do a quick workout at the gym instead of committing hours to it in my day. So my goal for this month is to go to the gym three times per week. I was originally just going to do two because it feels more realistic, but I did three consistently before when I was kickboxing, and I just looked at my calendar and can totally squeeze three days a week in. Let’s see how this goes.

Reconnect

My goal for this resolution this month was to start organizing meetups with people I didn’t see in January. I did meet up with my friend who is now in Victoria, but other than that I would say I was pretty unsuccessful at this, though I did spend a good chunk of time with my friend from Ottawa! So I would say for the next month I would like to put a little more effort in this goal.

Get organized

This month, my goal for this resolution was to clear the guest room. I would say B. was really successful in doing this (in my defense, the bulk of it was his stuff!)

This month, I would finally like to tackle the pile of papers on my desk that I lovingly call “the avalanche”, and put it in the as-yet-empty filing cabinet that we bought off Kijiji months ago. I did start organizing a little bit by putting the papers in piles on the bookshelf, (OK, I must admit I was in a way forced to do this because I couldn’t find a paper I needed!) but a huge part of it is the fact that I’m keeping things that probably don’t need to be kept, for example, I have unopened credit card and mutual fund statements (I read all of that stuff online – why doesn’t my bank do 100% e-statements?), physio receipts that have already been submitted to Alberta Blue Cross by them, etc. etc. I feel like it’s probably OK to throw some (read: most) of this stuff away but part of me is a little nervous. What do you keep around?

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