hira: truffle honey, aged cheese, and breathtaking landscapes--alba.

location: back at pane e amore, my blogging station and armed with a foamy cappaccino.

a day-trip to Alba spanned out over my Saturday morning and afternoon, taking us along winding country roads to a small town with big goods--the famous white truffles. people come from all over to bid on these prized beauties; the intensity of the flavor used for a variety of things--honey, pasta dishes, jams, spreads, etc.

a quick stroll through the markets, paninis and morning caffe in tow, and we headed to the main event: the truffle fair! it featured wines (piemonte is known for its famous reds), whole truffles, and products using the truffle (honey, cheeses, jams, meats etc) as well as local entrepreneurs showcasing their handmade goods.

it was a pleasant way to spend the afternoon, tasting my way through the fair with sarah and valeria. of course, i didn't emerge empty-handed either...

local. always.

two angels.

my mom's birthday (same day as katelyn :) ) is today, and one of her gifts came from this man and his wife--a hand-made cutting board. dark wood, earthy fragrances, and personally engraved.

and lastly. we meandered over to a castle, renovated to host tours and teach us even more about the inner workings of wine making and use of truffles. it was everything a castle should be, i guess--cold and dusty with narrow staircases. sitting atop a hill overlooking a beautiful landscape.

and this one is for you, daniele, love of my life ;)

looking forward to cooking dinner in my apartment tonight. it's the simple things.

elyssa: a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils

location: on the commuter bus (toronto to hamilton)

week in review:

it was quite the week. school finally started rolling - and the boy and i happily celebrated our 3 year anniversary. having been prone to anniversary meltdowns in the past, this year went entirely unplanned, except for the meal. i planned that in meticulous detail. i had my heart set on butternut squash soup, bison burgers, and homemade creme caramel. i dragged my non-morning person self out of bed at 6 am for circuit training and a stop over at whole foods for the dinner ingredients. by 9 am, i was extremely proud of myself - but exhausted. ergo, why i don't do mornings. i lack the stamina. never again.

note: there are no pictures of the above mentioned meal because it didn't happen. fine by me. the bison went into the freezer, and the boy and i set out for a fancy soirée to which he had been invited. in the midst of toronto's rich and skinny (i won't say famous - because we're talking canada here) - i devoured skewer after skewer of caprese tomatoes, braised lamb, roasted eggplant, and fresh figs. picture me - sitting in the corner marveling over the quality of high society food (that nobody was eating!) - while the boy did his best to mingle and do his thing. hilarity ensued. we came home to a shared creme caramel from whole foods with a side of you've got mail (a timeless classic). greatest movie quote ever? 'if i knew your name and address, i would send you a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils'. all in all, the strangest, perfect day.

apart from our galavanting, this week saw more fall soup frenzy. this time -

chickpeas, tomatoes, onions, carrots, cabbage and bell pepper. paprika. mmm. frozen and stored for those busy december days.

also, with the return of school, i'm always in need of portable snacks. this prompted me to try my hand at angela's salt and vinegar roasted chickpeas (leftover from the huge batch i made for the soup).

boiled in vinegar. tossed with olive oil and sea salt. roast.

dinners have been fast and easy. quick chili being a new fave.

scrambled tofu. tomato. beans. cumin. paprika. cocoa.

spinach tossed in at the end.

and of course, orange pumpkin bread to take to the boy. i made up the recipe - so i won't tell you it, because i can't remember it.

another triumph for ad hoc baking.

new challenges:

the general theme of last week was exercise hard, eat moderately. it worked. the one time i forgot my gym shoes, i switched over to yoga - no guilt in sight. i worked hard, but not too hard - and that is key. i found myself pondering: why do i exercise? the answer came to me quickly: because i love it. it has been 4 years since i first embraced the gym - and i'm finally reaching the place where i go simply because it makes me feel good.

this past week, a gust of honesty seemed to sweep over the blog world. there were posts on budget problems, weight gain, and a whole variety of 'imperfections'. it is the awareness of the shared struggle for healthy living - more than the success stories - that helps me through my day. it's that feeling that i'm not alone when i spend $11.99 on chia seeds or wake up at 6 am to hit the gym.

i had a bit of a revelation on calorie counting. the absolute worst thing i can do to myself - and the reason for many of my downfalls - is count obsessively. natural moderation is clearly the goal here. however; because i am intensely physically active, i need to have some sort of ongoing count of my protein/carb/fat ratio and my overall intake. for this reason, my new goal is to eat without counting during the day to cultivate this natural sense. at night, i plan on adding up a quick tally (i remember what i ate anyways) in order to see how i did and to plan accordingly for the next day.

blog moment: the sprouted kitchen explains why we bother to eat well

current obsessions: peanut butter (more than ever).

raw organic food bar. my indoor herb garden. gossip girl!

elyssa: last first day of school..

location: toronto, in and out of the law school

midweek check-in:

..until culinary school, that is. after 7 years as a full-time university student, it feels good to be heading into the final stretch. i love the idea of this blog serving as an accompaniment - a conversation between best friends - tackling life in very different places, in very similar ways. it's that tangible bit of friendship and support that i need to make it through these next 8 months - healthy and happy.


so i finally mailed this. wow.

school is back in session. the air is cool, and the wind is blowing with a strength that only comes with the ushering in of a new season. sweaters, and plaids, and pumpkins. oh my. in canada, you never have to wait long for fall. i honored the season by taking on fall soup frenzy. 6 hours. my tiny kitchen. 4 homemade, protein-laden soups. all fresh ingredients.
after a trip to the dollar store for tons of tupperwares, the soups were portioned off to be split with the boy.

first, coconut red lentil soup from angela. i made mine with leeks (instead of scallions) - and some coconut butter thrown into a cup of almond milk (instead of coconut milk), and the results were delicious. the lemony, gingergy, cilantroishness is going to make me really happy on a cold night when i'm hitting the books. next up, something for the boy - classic (organic) turkey chili with kidney beans. slow slow cooked. served in a hollowed out baked tomato avec nutritional yeast when he came over for an unexpected dinner. oh, and the secret ingredient? cocoa powder. third, green soup! from food network's laura calder. peas. spinach. substitute almond milk for cream. delish. fourth, traditional cuban frijoles negros (black bean soup). start with a sofrito of slow cooked onions, green bell pepper, and olives. add to the beans (organic - so much better, rinsed over night) and cook for hours on low. cumin gives it that cuban flavor. i made a huge batch of this soup - a massive container for the boy and for myself. today, i mixed a cup of the beans with pumpkin and topped with cayenne and cinnamon. the rest i'm planning on turning into black bean burgers sometime this week.

pumpkin+beans

ps the breakfast soufflé, pumpkin edition - has been coconuttified. sub some of the pb for coconut butter. top with coco flakes. aaaeeeeeeeeeeeaaah.



current challenges:

clean week is going well when i'm on my own. i've slowed down to enjoy some easy cardio sessions on the spin bike, and i'm really appreciating my yoga practices. i'm feeling the soreness in my body slowly disappear. i'm naturally less hungry. i'm resisting the urge to pick up the weights or jump on the treadmill like a maniac, but its going to feel so good to get back to it next week. in one of my calmer moments, i found myself dwelling on the thought that 'the best i can do is my best'. i don't know if i made this up myself, or if this is a common mantra - but in this little, clichéd moment - i gained so much peace and insight.

when i'm not on my own, it's a bit harder to stay clean. example: the boy and i pop in a movie (the very depressing the white ribbon - little german children that torture each other pre-WWI). we pretend we're content just sipping our tea. lame. boy suggests peanut butter. i suggest popcorn. the result? popcorn coated with loads of pb (melted in a pan with a bit of agave and earth balance). yum. we ate the entire bowl transfixed. sticky hands. dirty faces. there was no way we would have stopped even for a photo moment. after, instead of crying for my ruined clean week, i laughed and wiped my face.

blog moment:

finding comfort in elina's discussion on food anxiety.

current obsessions:

planning fall soup frenzy II. making exercise communal (tomorrow, i'm sharing a yoga class with a friend). trying more vega products. the chia seeds i finally bought!

off to enjoy a cup of tea. miss you.

elyssa: starting clean week

current location: hamilton (the boy's new house)

week in review:

bonjourno, lovely! hope italia is treating you well. i am in a less romantic location - hamilton (aka steel city), ontario. the boy finally fled the parental nest and has moved in with his friends. the transition has been umm..interesting..but i've stuck around to get him all settled in. i arrived friday night after 3 hours on public transit (one of his self-imposed conditions for leaving the house was giving up his car..oh my). i brought this cranberry coconut pumpkin banana loaf as a housewarming gift:



i adapted it from angela's cherry banana coconut butter bread. minus 1 banana for the added pumpkin. a bit ad hoc (can you tell i'm not a baker?), but it came out perfectly. i'm so excited for this new boy's house thing. they're absolutely uninspired when it comes to eating - giving me the opportunity to make and bake absolutely anything i want, freeze it, and send it over for emergency meals. yay, i have guinea pigs!

my weekend here has been blissfully free from calorie counting, but full of healthy choices. a salad instead of a particularly dense wrap. a shared dark chocolate bar instead of a starbucks carbtastrophe. ohh and we made our own fro-yo! what started as a tragic reaction to our inability to drive up the hill to get some yogen fruz from the movie theater, ended in one of the more triumphant moments of our relationship. 1 tub greek yogurt + a bit of raw sugar + dark chocolate chips + some frenzied whipping action and into the freezer for a couple hours. remove every 30 mins and whip some more and you get delicious, legitimate, crave-worthy frozen yogurt. see david lebovitz for details.

one of our less triumphant moments? boy asks what i want for dinner. i (stupidly) say: 'make whatever you want, honey. i want to see what you can do' (assuming he knows the no red meat deal still holds). boy enters cheapo grocery store. boy returns with veal. i grimace. boy cooks veal, promises to makes side of black beans for girlfriend. boy gets flustered cooking and inserts black beans into veal hodgepodge. with hot sauce. i dont do veal. i dont do hot sauce. i starve. canned green beans to the rescue.

need to get back home asap for some green monster action. i miss them so. in the meantime, i continue to take as many free starbucks and poor-man's fro yo as the boy can give.

new challenges:

this past week i suffered from binges, insomnia - you name it. around wednesday night last week it hit me - my body is exhausted. while i am always careful to integrate rest days into my workout regimen, i think i need a rest week. then i remembered my plans for clean week, and i figured it would be good to integrate the two. without the break, exercising becomes tedious..it no longer stimulates me mentally..and my body is in a permanent state of soreness. like the boy said: 'we exercise to feel good. why do we keep doing it when it makes us feel bad?' ergo, the exercise hiatus. the goal is to exercise less, and eat less - and to get everything readjusted to more balanced levels in preparation for the new school year.

- replace intense circuit/interval training with long, relaxing, slower spin bike sessions (avec a magazine or book) - just to keep the sweat in my daily routine
- go to as many yoga classes as possible, and keep yogaing at home
- eat clean:
no dairy (not even the beloved espresso con panna)
no refined anything (sugar, wheat etc)
actually, no sweeteners (no agave, stevia, honey..any of that. i find it's the only way to reset the palette to appreciate true sweetness)
no eating out

i dont intend for this week to be one of restrictions. for every no comes a gazillion yesses. i'm going to cook a lot. eat a wide variety of whole foods. keep the intake down, but nutrients maximized (and make sure i'm getting lots of protein to retain muscle development!)

blog moment:

discovering teri's words on relationship eating

current obsessions:

artisana coconut butter. getting my hands on some glo bars. zac efron. lentils.