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Birthmeh

For most of my life I have gotten really excited about my birthday. I would sometimes have expectations that were too big to fill but for the most part I’ve always had a great time. As I got older, I started to feel that it was decidedly uncool to love your birthday like a child, so I learned to hide my excitement. I’m sure I didn’t do a very good job. My late 20′s have changed that. I’ve stopped caring about doing anything special and it felt like just another day, but at least another day with guaranteed chocolate cake.  I still don’t hate or fear my birthday. I think I’ve done a pretty good job of dealing with aging. Maybe it’s because I look a lot younger than I am – something that used to bother me when I was younger but of course now is something I treasure.  Maybe it’s also partially because of my child-like behaviour… Either way, I’m not sweating birthdays… yet.

I remember when I was a teenager I’d prepare the birthday wish list no less than 1 month in advance. Having a mid November birthday meant that all unfulfilled birthday wishlist items automatically became the Christmas wishlist. It was just efficient, I thought! Then I got to that point where I could buy myself whatever I wanted, and all the things I really wanted were way too expensive to ask of anyone.  This never stops my mom for asking me what I want.  It’s an interesting thing. As a kid I’d ask my mom what she wanted for mother’s day, birthday and Christmas and I’d rarely get a real answer. Every couple of years she would run down her old slippers or run out of perfume and those were easy… but other than that she mostly wanted nothing. How frustrating! Surely there’s something you’d want! Well, now I find myself in that position.

Last year when I turned 30 she bought me and Baron a return flight to NYC as our combined birthday gifts. It was perfect. I’d always wanted to go, flying is very convenient and this way I could force Baron to come with me. I loved it. I decided at that point that every birthday in my 30′s will yield a trip. Lavish, indulgent and maybe a bit much but that’s what is happening… Though I can save up and take these little weekend trips myself, and I could never ask someone to buy me that… so it doesn’t quite solve the problem of what my mother wants to give me.

Since I am taking myself to Chicago (my kinda town), I started to think of things I would want.

So far I have come up with this:

A chocolate covered caramel apple.

Birthday Yum

Failing that, I will gladly take an edible arrangement:

More Birthday Yums

There are a few other things I want like a cusinart food processor, a better blender and perhaps slight more fun, cooking classes. Those things can still get pretty pricey.

So apparently I want either: fruit dipped in chocolate, or things that will allow me to cook. Hrm. Can we say one-track-mind?  I wouldn’t mind getting a wacom tablet, but it’s not a necessity. When I was younger it was so easy to make a list of things I wanted… now even the things I want seem slightly silly. Perhaps I’ve actually succeeded in becoming less materialistic. I’m totally fine to not buy things, to wait it out or at least save up for it.

All I really want on my birthday is this: to spend time with people I love and to have chocolate. Taking a trip to somewhere is really just the chocolate on the fruit.

Tags: birthday, chicago, chocolate, cooking, fruit, travelling, trips, vacation

Cooky Wooky Club – Tex-Mex Dinner Party

I had a dinner party this past weekend and was inspired by a recent pub appetizer to create a Tex-Mex menu. At the pub (C’est What, Front St. E, Toronto) I had what they called “antojitos”. They were chipotle cream cheese filled tortillas that were wrapped up and baked. Fairly simple, but very delicious. I tried to look up a recipe for these but learned through wikipedia that an antojito is not really a dish, but rather a classification of different appetizers.

Regardless, I decided these needed to be on the menu. I also made the “Macho Nacho Dip” from Eat, Shrink & Be Merry. This is a staple dip that I make for parties, and was very fitting for the theme menu. I halved the recipe successfully.

layer Macho Nacho Dip from the top

layers from the side.

For the Antojtos themselves I had to wing it. I ended up using this combination and I was very happy with the results:

1/2 package light cream cheese
1-2 tbsp light sour cream (5%)
1tbs chilli power
1-2 tsp of tabasco brand chipotle sauce
1tbsp diced green chiles

I combined all of these in a bowl and mixed together with my hand mixer.  I spread this mixture in a thin yet even coat on warmed up tortilla shells. To some of them I added diced black olives – this was just a whim, and you could really add anything you wanted. The rest just had the spread. I rolled them up, and put them in to an oven preheated to 350 degrees F, and baked for 10 minutes.  They actually just hung out in the oven for a while and got a little warm up before they were ready to serve. The last step is to just cut the tortilla rolls in to bite size pieces and serve with sour cream and salsa.

I found them to be really delicious. My above measurements are not exact and anything could be added for taste. This amount yielded 8 medium tortilla shells rolled up.

I will definitely be making these again. You guys should try them out and let me know what you think!

Antojitos (before being cut) and taco beef

For the main dish, the straight-up beef tacos, I didn’t have to wing it as I called on the expert help of my Texan friend Anthony. He gave me a recipe for tacos that was a) different from the “Old El Paso” method I’ve used and b) hilarious to read.  It’s posted below. They were delicious! We served them up with a bunch of different cheeses, lettuce, salsa, black olives and more green chiles. I only had 2 because I was so full from the layer dip and antojitos.

Since I had such a great time with my guests, I didn’t capture many pictures. Next time!
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Tags: antojitos, layer dip, tacos, tex-mex

Summery Summary

The first week of September fills me with glee. Fall is my favourite season. Even though it is still technically summer for 3 weeks, and even though the weather can feel like summer for longer, I feel assured knowing that summer will soon be gone.

I feel like summer is the favourite season of most people and therefore I feel like a weirdo for not liking it. I don’t hate it. I love summer evenings and some of the things I get to do in summer that I can’t in other seasons… but I do hate humidity and excessive heat. I hate the feeling of the sun beating down on me, and sweating all the time. So it’s with open sweater-clad arms that I welcome autumn.

Before it comes, though I’ll look fondly back at my summer instead of being an old complainy-bot.

Some highlights:

I got to go to my 3rd ever cottage!

Cottage

I had my first banana split! OMG DELICIOUS!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream with whipped cream, hot fudge & cherries.

We finally decorated our balcony! It went from this:

Balcony Before - Random bike and chair storage

Balcony After - Mini Oasis!

to that! I’ll post better pictures in a post dedicated to decorating (coming soon!).

I went to 2 fun weddings!

We marked 2 years at our Condo. The place keeps getting nicer and nicer.

All in all, I think last summer was a little better. There is no particular reason, perhaps I got out to more patios or spent more time outdoors… or even did more summer like things. Not to say this one was bad.

I wonder what I’d look like bald…

For a very long time, I’ve wanted to shave my head. I’ve never had the guts to do this though. Being a girl without hair is still a bit challenging to society.

Many women I know are very attached to their hair, finding even cutting it short to be traumatic and horribly unnecessary. I’ve had males tell me that girls look better with long hair period, and that’s the way it should be. I personally love short hair on myself, and other women. I love cutting my hair. I love not having a whole lot of it (perhaps due to the combination of thick, unwieldy hair and my own laziness, I find it easier to manage when I don’t have to).

A friend of mine who has Alopecia recently shaved her head, and quite frankly it think it’s awesome. It’s awesome that she’s got this freedom that she didn’t have before. There’s a certain amount of liberation one must feel without hair.

One of the main reasons I’m not sure I could do this is mostly to do with looks. I think some women look great with bald heads. My friend. Sinead O’Connor, Natalie Portman – they all rocked it. They also, all have delicate features. I’m more of a round clump of clay… with a big dent in it. I have a giant dent at the top of my head. I have no idea what it would look like if I shaved my head and I’m a bit afraid to find out.

I decided I should photo shop a picture of myself with a bald head but I made this instead:

Bald Anitabot

According to this I would still be cute. I think it’s pretty accurate.

In Hinduism, shaving ones head is a part of many rituals. It is usually done for infants after a few months of life, and can also be done during important pilgrimages. As I am planning a trip next year with my “new” husband to meet my family – I think that’s a pretty good time. I get the sweet cultural excuse too!
We’ll see.

Tags: anitabot, culture, hair, hindu, society