Deep & Delish

February is the worst, but I had a bunch of fun things to get me through it this month:

  • For the Oscars this year, I made the customary winter feast of Beef Bourguignon, Mashed Potatoes and Kale Salad. I also tried to replicate a Sweet Potato & Goat Cheese Tart from Café Plenty as an app, but it was kind of a bust (will try again next year!). For dessert Kristine & Nicole had these Lemon Almond Meringue Tarts, while I had one bite of Nicole’s and promptly remembered why I hate tart/creamy things.
  • We all know my Galentine loves Nutella (see here and here), but she also loves Deep & Delicious cake. This idea has been percolating for a few years now, and I finally made it happen: Mini Nutella Deep & Delicious Cakes! I used this recipe for Chocolate Sheet Cake and divided it into four mini foil pans. I had to pop them out and level them so the lids would fit on, and then I used an open star tip to pipe on Nutella Cloud Frosting. I finished them with a drizzle of Nutella and a sprinkle of chopped, toasted hazelnuts. I kept one for myself and J got the rest! I see many more batches of these in my future.
  • In a wonderful turn of events, Jen was home from Zurich for her birthday this year! I told her she could have any treat she wanted for her birthday, and after much deliberation and perusal of the Planet Byn archives, she selected the Chocolate Blackout Sheet Cake. Such a good choice.
  • I finally went to a Raptors 905 game! It’s really too bad it took me so long, since they basically play in my backyard. However, I have one complaint. The arena they play in is called the Paramount Fine Foods Centre. I was looking forward to eating a gigantic shawarma box or wrap while I watched the game and I’m here to report that neither of these items are available at the arena! Instead there’s the usual game snacks (nachos, pizza, fries) and a shawarma poutine. This is truly unacceptable! Such a missed opportunity!
  • Back in December, Nicole took me to see Alison Roman, and I’ve been obsessed ever since. Nicole came over for dinner and I cooked up an AR feast from a variety of her sources. From Nothing Fancy, I made The Dip, which is lemony Greek yogurt, swirled with sizzled chili flakes, cilantro and green onions. From her NY Times column, we made Caramelized Shallot Pasta (which has a whole jar of anchovies in it! I made Nicole buy those and add them to the pot!), with a fresh parsley, raw garlic and flaky sea salt garnish. Finally, from her first book Dining In, I made The Cookies, which are shortbread cookies with chocolate chunks and a raw sugar crust, if you will. I’m not sure I’ll ever purchase anchovies again, but I’m happy to be initiated into the Roman Hive.

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

  • I was 100% obsessed (like everyone else this month) with Love is Blind on Netflix. It’s total trash, but perfect for people like me who love The Bachelor. I also watched Cheer and loved that too.
  • Once again, I only read one book this month, which was Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino. It’s a book of short essays, which I enjoyed, but it just takes me forever to read non-fiction.
  • I was pretty disappointed in the To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before sequel; it just didn’t have the sparkle of the first one.

Flashback!