Nov on PB

What did I even do in November? It’s all a blur of CNN, election anxiety/relief and a bunch of extra time on my hands that would have usually been spent preparing for Champagne & Cookies. I couldn’t even find one good picture of something I made, so instead, please enjoy MBJ among my groceries. Let me try to remember what was happening:

  • I made this No-Bake Peanut Butter Pie with Chocolate Whipped Cream for my friend Jen and her family because I had almost a full litre of whipping cream that was about to expire. I also made a little mini one for myself so I could try it, and it was almost crazy how good it was.
  • Jen (different Jen than above!), Krishna and I had a Sunday morning FaceTime Brunch Date where we drank mimosas for a few hours, followed by me making myself My Favourite Buttermilk Pancakes which are SO GOOD.
  • I made a dozen Cookies & Cream Cupcakes for my little friend Harrison’s 6th Birthday. He’s inexplicably obsessed with Oreos (his mom says he’s never had one), so these were his dream birthday treats!
  • There was another special project I started working on towards the end of the month, but I’m going to write about that separately, so just wait!
  • And now the regular recap of what I was cooking this month, broken down into three categories:
  • Stuff I made from the archives: Red Bean Chili (I really need a better picture of this), Broccoli Cheddar Soup (which is now documented!) and Mushroom Stroganoff (haven’t made this in YEARS! It’s so good).
  • Some of my favourite go-to dishes: I made these Peanut Noodles with Roasted Broccoli again, but something is off with the sauce. I have a lot of other peanut sauces that I like, so I need to tweak this and then I’ll try to post it. I also made a streamlined version of this Pizza with Butternut Squash, Caramelized Onions, Bacon and Apple on this whole wheat crust and remembered how good it was. The Brown Sugar & Chili Rubbed Salmon Sheet Pan Dinner from Oven to Table is becoming almost a weekly occurrence around here.
  • New things that I tried and liked: Loved this Honey Garlic Sauce which I ate on these meatballs with rice and broccoli, as well as the Oven-baked Balsamic Beef and Vegetable Stew (again) from Oven to Table.
  • Take-out: I’ve been ordering the same sandwich at Stoney’s for about 15 years, but I finally tried something new! At my hairstylist (and friend) Kim’s suggestion, I got their Pulled Pork Sandwich and a Roasted Garlic Caesar, and they were both incredible. I don’t know if I’m going to forgo my usual Balsamic Chicken Sandwich every time now, but perhaps I should try even more things on the menu.

Other non-foodie things I was obsessed with this month:

  • Tayshia has come to save us all! She truly rescued us from such a horrible season of The Bachelorette. Love her.
  • I somehow stumbled across an episode of The Hills on TV and realized that the whole series is on Crave. I binged the whole thing (I realized I only ever watched the first 3 seasons), and it’s just all the headbands, low-rise jeans and flat-ironed hair you can handle. Brought back so many memories of trying to copy Lauren Conrad’s looks in the mid-2000s.
  • Ever since the Harry Potter Binge Mode Podcast came out in 2018, I wanted to re-read the series in tandem with listening to it, but I thought I’d just never have the time. Well who has time now, baby?! There’s a podcast episode for every four chapters of the book, and then another one for each movie, plus bonus episodes with mail-bags and various deep dives. I’ve only done HP1 so far, and it will probably take me most of 2021 to do the whole series, but it’s so enjoyable. The podcast takes the entire series into account, so there’s lots of notes on foreshadowing and recurring themes, and things I never thought about before. I know JKR is pretty problematic right now, so I feel a little weird about doing this, but the joy is outweighing the guilt for me.
  • The Planet Byn Bookclub™ needed an easy read after last month, so we read They Wish They Were Us. Everyone agreed it was fairly predictable (except for me, who never reads murder mysteries). We’re taking a break for December and will reconvene at the end of January with Obama’s book A Promised Land.

Flashback!