Scrambled Eggs Gordon Ramsay style

The sun is out! Well the sun is out and I am now a little sick. I’m totally muddy in the head, have a sore throat, and feel totally rough. Ooph, not the way I wanted to start the heat of summer! I took a bunch of oregano oil, and drank an insane amount of water, and alternated between overheating and freezing. So here’s hoping this ritual will kick this cold’s butt before it truly settles in. For breakfast I made a super easy batch of Gordon Ramsay’s scrambled eggs.

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Blueberry Muffins, a birthday treat

This past week I had my 26th birthday and it was nothing short of lovely. For a birthday on a Wednesday (middle-of-the-week celebrating is never fun) I had a wonderful day. At work, my lovely co-workers took me for lunch and then I received four chocolate bars in the days following my birthday, who doesn’t love birthday boxing days!

I am also proud to say that I finally submitted our passport stuff so soon I can be as international as I want! I’ve aways had a passport, though this time I let it deeply expire. In the future I wont let it expire and I can do the simple renewal process! Thank goodness for the increasing fees that encouraged me to get on top of this before July 1st! Speaking of which, I hope everyone in Canada has great Canada Day plans, and all you readers in the states, well you still have some planning time for your big day!

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Applesauce Oatmeal Cookies — Toffee Apple option!

What a strange start to summer. I am having a hard time believing that my birthday is in just three days and that Canada Day is in just over a week. This summer has already started to fly by. Last week as I was climbing the stairs to my office I scoffed at the grocery store’s Canada Day window paintings. I thought to myself, “Fools! Canada Day is months away! There are holidays between now and then, what a strange thing to do!” It was only when I reached the second floor that I realized that we were already deep into June. Ooph that hit like a ton of bricks.

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Peanut Butter Cookies

I am certain I drove my colleagues crazy on Friday as I tirelessly watched and relayed the details of the Calgary/Southern Alberta floods. I watched as my old apartment building was surrounded, feeling relieved to know that our dear friends had finally evacuated. I saw the river waters swallow up some of my favourite areas of the city that I called home for 6 years and I thought of the incredible loss those communities are suffering. I hope that Calgary is able to recover quickly, together. I truly hope that they are able to host Stampede, in whatever form, to combat the already overwhelming loss of spirit and money resulting from this tragedy.

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Beer Bread Revisited

I’ve corrected the error on the original cover page. Get Beer Breading!

As I sit here sipping on a glass of wine (thanks Uncle Jim and Auntie Karen!) I begin to think about all the things I appreciate in my life. It was my parents’ 30th anniversary yesterday. I thought about it all day, as I sat on the plane from Toronto and when I got home late at night, getting ready for bed. I am glad my parents had almost thirty years together, but know that them and their love deserved another thirty. I appreciate the time I had with my dad, though I too would’ve appreciated at least another thirty. This last week has been both wonderful and very sad in this way. I received the Kenneth Le M. Carter graduate award at a board of directors dinner in Toronto on Monday night. As I took to the stage to accept my award, I thought of how important my parents were in my success, but also how proud my father would’ve been. Similarly, whenever I get a new job or internship, or at a new university, my dad was always the first person I sent an email to with my new address. These little moments that I would like to share with my dad have been whisked away. Now I stop and think of him, bringing both joy in memory and utter sadness in realization of the fact that he is gone.

I muscled through Father’s Day without much trouble as I was busy tooling around Toronto with two wonderful friends. The next day was my awards dinner, and then my parents’ anniversary on the following day. All moments of happiness and sadness rolled up into the neat little package that is my life. Speaking to my mom the day after their anniversary, it was clear that she felt the same roller coaster of emotions. I am so happy that my sister and nieces can be there with her through this first summer without dad. Yesterday, they left for the first camping trip of the season. An event that my dad eagerly awaited, I know that this first trip would be hard and was thankful that it would be made easier for all by the presence of my sweet and funny nieces and my sister.

Anyway, I had an absolutely incredible time in Toronto with my beautiful friends Heidi and Lauren. The R.Kelly sing-a-long was magical (a fairytale some may say… I may or may not have lost a shoe for part of the show). The girls took me around town, we drank great beer, enjoyed the sun, and I really loved getting to know their city. Another highlight, on my last day Heidi toured me around the Coach House coach house and Lauren gave me a thorough tour of her beloved Trinity campus, I certainly better understand the magic.

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