Fish and Greens

Last night I whipped up a tasty new marinade thanks to some help from some foodie friends on Twitter.  I sent out a tweet asking what fresh herb I should use with halibut and I had a handful of people suggest...cilantro!

Jessica actually went so far as to say Cilantro Pesto...and while I didn't really want to go quite that heavy handed with the herb...I took the idea and created a Cilantro Marinade instead.

• bigass handful of fresh cilantro (1/3 cup?)
• 1 small garlic clove
• coarse salt
• juice of half a lime
• 1/4 tsp minced green chili (jalapeno)
• 1/8 cup canola oil (maybe a drizzle more to get things moving)

Whirl it all up in food processor, taste and re-season if necessary.  Consistency should be thinner than a paste but thicker than a liquid.  Should be viscous enough to hold onto the fish.

Scoop out of the processor into a large bowl and press fish into the marinade flesh side first.  Schmear around until the filet is totally covered.  (This batch could have covered two filets but I only did one...so went a little heavy handed with the marinade.)

Let sit to marinade if you have time.  I didn't, so into the foil packet my fishie went.

Poke the foil once with a fork, then pop into the oven at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. 

Fish is cooked when it feels slightly spring to the touch.  Let stand for a couple of minutes before serving. 

I opted to serve my fish with some of that fabulous rainbow chard I picked up last week.  This time I pan-steamed it with diced onion, minced garlic and a bit of butter.  Covered with a lid to get the wilting going.  

Served the fish atop those tasty wilted greens (make sure to drizzle over any tasty juice left in the foil!) and topped with that Mango Salsa that keeps showing up around here.

    I probably never would have thought to use cilantro as the main herb for this dish and I'm so grateful for the suggestions.  I turned out pretty fabulous!  If I do say so myself. :)

What’s Up Cupcake?

By now you are all probably wondering what the heck was up with all of those fabulous cupcakes you’ve been seeing around here!  :) 

Back in December, TJ at Susie’s Shortbreads did a 12 Days of Christmas giveaway on Twitter.  She gave away a dozen of her freaking adorable cupcakes every day for twelve days to a random entrant.  I won!!  I think I was Day 11. 

Bummer was that I was leaving town like two days later to go home to visit, so I asked her if I could retrieve my gift when I returned.  She was very obliging!  I did try to grab them for our New Years get together, but we missed each other via email so it didn’t work out.

So this past week I thought I should probably claim them because it would be rude to continue dragging it out toooo long.  Again, TJ was very obliging.  She promised to have the dozen all ready for me with labels in the box so I would know what they all were.  What a girl! 

I arrived in the SUPER CUTE shop on Dresden Row mid-afternoon on Saturday.  It’s gorgeous inside.  Retro and pink and lovely.  I honestly felt like I had walked inside a giant hot pink cupcake.  Loved it.  I cannot believe we have been here two years and I had never been to Susie’s. 

Not only do they carry the amazing cupcakes…all displayed behind glass for you to oogle and drool at, but also several varieties of cookies, fudge, buttons, and treats galore.  I will have to really have a look around the next time I go in.

[photo borrowed from Susie’s website]

Anyway…on with the good stuff!  TJ put together one of each of the flavors of the day for me.  Some are everyday favorites, others rotate on and off the menu.

  

As you saw, I choose the Caramallow for my first cupcake.  It had marshmallow fluff in the middle!  And a Caramilk square on top! It was a seriously difficult decision, trust me!  Every.single.cupcake looked absolutely deeeeelish. 

FH chose the Death by Chocolate for his first venture into the cupcake box.  When asked for his review, he gave a resounding “YUMMY”.

(It must have been good, I don’t have an individual pic of it!)

Wisely, I opted to share half the box with friends.

As you saw, this morning we brought the Red Velvet, Black & White, and Root Beer Float to Mark, Coco, and Camille…

We also gave three to Frank, Joanne and their daughter Danika…Toasted Coconut, Peanut Butter Cup (that was a tough one to let go of!) and Birthday Cake…

FH opted to keep Twice Baked…

…and S’Mores (I called this as possibly the best in the box, and I can now say that after stealing a bite I think it was!!)

And I saved Suzie’s Classic and the Mint Chocolate…I was trying for variety…

I adore the Classic!!  My favorite simple vanilla cupcake base, topped with lovely light pink buttercream.  O.M.G.

All of the cupcakes are dense and delicious, with large stiff peaks of frosting.  Perfectly swirled and slightly hardened, they were all just as fun to look at as they were to eat.  FH and I both agree that we’ll be heading in and trying out EVERYTHING Suzie’s has to offer.

Thanks so much TJ!! 

(Let me just say how fun it was to photograph the cupcakes too!!)

…and now back to our regularly scheduled healthy lifestyle programming…  ;)

Double Date

The day flew by…somewhat like this post is about to!

For lunch I was going to make a salad, but we are getting quite a collection of leftovers in the fridge so I decided I’d better use a few things up.  Most important (ie: nearing it’s last legs) was the homemade corn chowder…

Topped with 1/2 oz grated light cheddar…

Served with crackers and lemon-dill hummus…and a few grape tomatoes just so I felt like fresh veggies were involved.  :)

Picking FH up from work this afternoon seemed to take forever and when we got back I still had work to do and had to get ready to go out tonight.  Poor planning on my part I guess.  Anyway,  I needed a snack to tide me through til dinner. 

Plain yogurt with some of yesterday’s granola bar crumbled in.

Holy moly, this was sooooo good!!  Chocolate, pecans and dried cranberries in that bar.  Yum!

Running late, as per usual, we headed off to meet Lynn and her hubby for dinner before the symphony.  We chose Il Mercato.

So many yummy things on the menu, it was difficult to choose…but I eventually settled on the Lasagna with Chicken and Sweet Potato.  OMG…soooooo good!  I wasn’t sure what to expect but it was delicious and a generous but not ridiculous portion. 

 

Rose sauce is my favorite!  The best of both sauce worlds.  :)

I brought home mucho leftovers. Yay!

Lynn and I also shared the Risotto Croquettes.  Drool.  I generally love anything with risotto, but can’t resist when it is rolled into a ball, stuffed with cheese, and fried up to tasty goodness.  Super yum.

Lynn only wanted one, so I gladly ate two!  ha!

After dinner, we quickly made our way over to Symphony Nova Scotia.  I won tickets on Twitter again!  :)  I’m glad that FH is home this time since he’s the real classical lover. 

Tonight’s concert brought a guest conductor and violinist all the way from the Buffalo Philharmonic.  Death and the Maiden, conducted by JoAnn Falletta.

I don’t know the first thing about symphony music, but I know I liked this.  :)  The first piece was quite happy, which I love. 

All in all a fun night! Thanks to @SymphonyNS!

Oh, and look at this way fun box that arrived at my door from FedEx today…

What’s in the box?!

Salad, Sushi, Symphony

After my appointment this afternoon I was about ready to gnaw my arm off, but rather than try to peel an orange while driving I waited til I got home and put together a bigass spinach salad.

In the big bowl: baby spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms, carrots, red onion, shredded cheddar, and Ranch dressing…

Topped with a hard boiled egg…

Eaten straight from the bowl.  It was huge!

A sweet treat afternoon pick-me-up… betcha didn’t know that I kept 6 pieces of Halloween chocolate for moments like these ;)

Then it was time to curl my hair and meet Angie and Lynn for sushi and the symphony. 

You know we went to Doraku!!  No other sushi places even exist anymore.

Green tea (teapot photo for you Sarah!!)…

Edamame, miso soup…

Spicy tuna roll, philly roll… *drooooool*

  

I’m excited to report that the restaurant lived up to all the hype I created and both girls said it was great!  :)

Lynn and I both won a re-tweeting contest by Symphony Nova Scotia the other day.  We each received a pair of tickets to tonight’s concert…so we recruited Angie and made a night of it.  Too bad FH isn’t here…he’s a true classical music lover and he would have loved to go.  Timing!  It’s the story of our lives.

Because we won separately our seats weren’t actually together…but after a little chit-chat the nice folks at the ticket counter did a little rearranging and were able to find us seats together!  Yaaieeeee. 

I don’t know anything about classical music, but I really enjoyed this.  There were three performances of work by three composers.  The first was light, airy, and fun.  The second was a contemporary piece by a Canadian composer, featuring a violin soloist…and while I respect the fabulousness of the music I didn’t enjoy it as much.  Quite dark and dramatic and too much like music for a scary or suspenseful movie.  The closing performance was Shubert…more traditional classical music…fluctuating between light & melodic and strong & bold.  Loved it. FH would have loved it too! :(

 

The weather turned yucky while we were indoors, so it was wet and chilly walk back to the car.  Once home I dove immediately into my jammies and a big cup of tea with Late July cookies.  Was anticipating a Canucks date with Cat, but it seems as though the game isn’t being shown here…boooo.

So instead some Grey’s and a cuddle with the kitty.  Time for bed!

OMG…how could I forget?!!  We totally met two other Halifax tweeps tonight!!  Tammi and AliceinParis!  Now we’ll know some people when we attend a #halifaxchicks tweet-up!  :)

Mid-Week Comfort

What better way to start hump-day than with a massage and a creamy good latte?

I don’t think there is one!

After yet another week of pinching pain I sucked it up and budgeted in another massage therapy session.  Honestly, I have no idea if the massage helps…but after about 8 sessions last year at least the stabbing pain went away and I was able to carry on with my day-to-day life and workouts.  So it can’t hurt, right?!

(I do have an appt with my regular doctor this week to get a new xray prescription so we can try to figure out a more permanent solution.)

Since I was going to be out of the house this morning already I planned for a latte in my life.  It’s been a while since I had a latte (as opposed to a misto) and since the Starbucks seasonal red cups are out, it seemed like a good excuse to stop in.

  

The social media lured me in again, just like it did with the Pumpkin Spice lattes.  Starbucks has really harnessed the power of the internet for their viral marketing!  Twitter has been all abuzz with talk of the much beloved #redcups.

I’m not quite ready for Christmas flavors yet though, so I stuck with a non-fat, half-sweet Pumpkin Spice Latte.  Must enjoy them while they last!  I try not to do anything Christmas-y before my birthday…which is fast approaching!

The to-do list is relatively short today because I lost some time this morning because of my appointment and you all know how Wednesdays are my crazy-long conference call days.  Let’s hope for two hours or less!!