What a strange, yet thrilling concept to be able to leave the house in January! Seriously, after the past two Januarys in lockdown, I was so happy to be able to go into the office, have some visits with friends and go out for tasty dinners:

  • Alexis and her kids came over for a swim and I made a batch of My Favourite Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins for a post-swim snack! The ultimate nostalgic treat.
  • Lydia and I finally met up at Por Vida for many margaritas and tacos after talking/dreaming about it since the depths of the pandemic. We shared the Guacamole Flight and Queso with Chorizo to start, and then the Cochinita, Pollo and Pescado Tacos.
  • The Golden Globes are BACK baby, although they were on a Tuesday night, which was very weird and annoying. Kristine still came over, and I made our traditional feast, plus this Baked Brie with Balsamic Red Onions for an app, and the Apple Butterscotch Crisp from Smitten Kitchen Keepers for dessert.
  • I journeyed up to Uxbridge to spend the day with Erin and her new baby Matthew! We went out for lunch to Fig Kitchen & Market, where we both had a delicious falafel bowl (pictured above), and then to Nexus for my favourite Vanilla Latte of life! I also brought her batches of the Cookie Dough Oat Bars and Banana Bread Muffin Tops I mention below.
  • Before we get to my recipe round-up for the month, I just need to rant for a minute. I took so many Ls in the kitchen this month! I was just totally off my game! I thought I’d like the Simple Black Bean Chili from Smitten Kitchen Keepers, but sadly most of it got composted as it was like eating salsa soup or hot gazpacho with beans. Not for me. I also bought the wrong kind of ground chicken to make these and they were almost inedible. Sad face. Finally, I tried a recipe for a chickpea buddha bowl with peanut sauce and it was just all kinds of wrong. Definitely sticking to some tried and true recipes next month.
  • Stuff I made from the archives: Butternut Squash & Caramelized Onion Galette (one of my all-time faves), Cheesy Butternut Squash Rigatoni, Panko Crusted Baked Haddock, Chicken Shawarma Hummus Bowls
  • Some of my favourite go-to dishes: Dutch Baby (I make this all the time and yet have never posted it here! Will do that soon)
  • New things that I tried and liked: Sticky Garlic Butter Salmon
  • Recipes from Smitten Kitchen Keepers (listing them here instead of blogging about them all separately): Simple Black Bean Chili, Apple Butterscotch Crisp, Peanut Butter, Oat & Jam Bars, Sour Cream & Flaky Cheddar Biscuits
  • Homemade Snacks: Chocolate Brownie Bites (note to self: add 3 tbsp maple syrup or honey), Cookie Dough Oat Bars (from Molly Yeh’s new cookbook), Banana Bread Muffin Tops

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

  • NOT MUCH since I was on my annual social media detox for January, which is basically like living in a black hole. Real dumb bitch energy over here, no clue what’s happening in the world!
  • Instead I made it my mission to power through the last few seasons of ER, which I started re-watching LAST January! I’ve made good progress, just one more season to go.
  • This month I read Prince Harry’s book Spare, which I don’t necessarily recommend. There’s not too much new gossip that wasn’t revealed in the Netflix doc, so just watch that. I also read The House in the Cerulean Sea for my book club at work, and it took me forever to get into it, and I kind of thought I hated it halfway through, but by the end I was in TEARS and ending up thinking it was really sweet.

Flashback!