Episode 52 - P is for Peameal

You know those days where you feel like you could just sleep all day?  Those days when lazy doesn't even seem to describe the way your body feels?  Those days when after attending a weekend-long wedding/party extravaganza you wake up wondering where you left your shoes and what on earth you did you your head last night to make it so angry at you?  Yeah, today is one of those days.   P.S. Don't worry mom, your shoes are intact and accounted for - they looked cute with my dress btw.  Check me out:

Sometimes we dress up like Barbie and Bond. 

This pea soup is exactly what the doctor ordered for these kinds of days.  It's warm, comforting and takes almost no effort to make.  Perfect.

Peameal and Split Pea Soup

Photographing a bowl of soup is awkward. 

1 tbsp olive oil
4 or 5 slices peameal bacon
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 small onion. diced
2 cups split yellow peas
~5-6 cups low sodium chicken broth
 1 tsp thyme
salt
pepper

Start by heating a heavy bottomed pot over medium high heat.  Add the olive oil and coat the bottom of the pot.  Next, add the garlic, onions and peameal and cook for about 5 minutes or until the peameal is cooked through.  Next, add your peas and broth.  Bring to pot to a boil, then cover and reduce to a simmer for about 25-30 minutes or until the peas are soft and your soup has a nice creamy consistency. You can add more broth during the cooking if you find the soup getting a little too thick. Season with salt, pepper and thyme.  

To serve, dress yourself in your comfiest pjs, ladle soup into deep bowls and curl up on the couch with a mindless movie.  Lazy Sunday perfection.

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Episode 43 - In which Kristy gets fat.

Its a bad thing when your boyfriend goes away from the weekend and you use it as an excuse not to cook and to eat take-out from the Vietnamese place down the street.  It is also probably a bad idea to spend your entire night after work curled up like a house cat in your giant empty bed reading rather than taking the poor dog out for a run.  Lastly, just because he's not around doesn't mean you should sleep in every morning thinking that since you won't have to orchestrate your morning "make myself look human again" routine around his "brush my teeth and voila, I'm gorgeous" routine that you can afford to hit the snooze a few more times.  This will only make you late for work and eliminate any chance that you'll go into the kitchen to pack a lunch to avoid having to dine in the *gasp* mall food court.  All of these things are bad because they will cause you to gain 5 pounds in 1 weekend.  Hopefully Dawson still recognizes me with this newly explanded bum I am now sporting.  Ugghhhhhh.

On another note, when your boyfriend goes camping with his buddies and one of them posts a Facebook status pertaining to their trip so far and how it's "like 911 X 100" it's ok to worry, right?

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Episode 42 - Wine and Cheese...and Ice Cream

We moved this weekend.  Moving pretty much sucks.  You cram your possessions into old cardboard boxes, lug them upstairs, downstairs and around the city (on the hottest day of the summer if you’re us) and then have to unpack everything before you can start functioning like a normal human again.  “Where did you pack my toothbrush?”, “Have you seen the screwdriver?”, “Where are my socks?”.  It’s all very confusing.  Don’t even get me started on the disassembly/assembly of furniture!  Ugh.   Have I mentioned that I have moved 9 times in the last 9 years?  Yeah.  That’s a lot.

In any case, moving does kinda force you to do some fun things food-wise.   When all of your dishes ,utensils and pots and pans are packed and you have no hope of cooking anything you get to do what we did last night: buy yourself a baguette, some fancy cheeses (Camembert and 2-year aged cheddar for us!), a cured meat (chorizo) and feast.  A bottle or two of wine is also a nice addition.  It also makes the unpacking/assembly process a little more fun! 

Finally, when you’re about to call it quits for the night you can plop yourselves down on your newly assembled bed and gorge yourselves on ice cream...straight out of the container...with a fork (it was the only non-knife utensil we could find).   If you just dragged a queen size mattress and 3 dressers out of one house and into another you can afford (and have earned!) the extra calories.  While I’m discussing the ice cream – OHMYGODBESTEVER – President’s Choice Pink Lemonade Ice Cream.  You need to try it.  NEED to.  It just might be my favourite ice cream ever.   Try it... you'll love it!

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