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I am a lazy home cook.

No, really. It’s true. And sure, you’re rolling your eyes because you’ve just scrolled by some photos of fresh gnocchi I made this weekend, but I still need to confess that truly, I’m a lazy home cook. 

I decided in early December that 2013 would be the year I attempted to make gnocchi (and depending on its success, perhaps a ravioli or some other pasta). Fate - and my mother - helped this along by putting a gnocchi paddle in my stocking this Christmas. And so on a cold and wintery 2012 evening, I went forth and attempted to make these little potato mongrels. 

Turns out making gnocchi is….ridiculously easy. A friend tipped me off to look up Jamie Oliver’s recipe as he bakes to potatoes instead of boiling them. This makes the potatoes drier and means you’ll require less flour. I took my cues from this recipe, making various adjustments along the way (for starters, I’d only purchased 4 potatoes). If you’re looking for step-by-step exact measurements, you’re not going to love this recipe as it’s more of a “handful of this” and “splash more of liquid.” Regardless, I recommend it. 

I popped a handful of the gnocchi in boiling salt water and less than 2 minutes later they’d floated to the top and were ready to be pulled out with a slotted spoon. With a little store-bought rose sauce (see! LAZY!) and sprinkling of parm, I settled in for the night with a lovely glass of shiraz and a lot of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. 

(And since I squished this gnocchi attempt into 2012, I’m granting myself another year to give homemade marshmallows a try.)

Filed under my life food cooking gnocchi pasta

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TIFF12 in review: stats, stars and superlatives

      

In an effort to actually write about my life on a more consistent basis, I decided it’s time to reflect back on my sleep-deprived TIFF. Every year the party invites received are a little more A-list, the bonds forged with publicists are a little stronger and the tales I come home become a little wilder (and sometimes weirder).  While the official party recaps go up on MSN Canada, there are always a few details to preserve here for posterity. (Or just so my friends can read it, thus saving my voice a little.)

Dietary staples: tuna tartare, Burrata cheese (oft consumed with figs and/or prosciutto, or topping a beat salad), asparagus salad (props to Loblaws for putting green veggies in our MSN interview lounge), mushroom risotto, mini grilled cheeses, & macaroons.

Furniture that’s out to get me most: Wobbly tables. Seriously. Put me in a room with hundreds of them and ask me to pick a table to sit down at, I guarantee I’ll find the only one with a wobble. 

Friendship forged in the trenches: There were a lot of familiar faces this year as I oft circulated plus one-less through any night’s events. Many people get cynical about the publicist-journalist relationship, but my stance is fairly simple: we’re in the same boat when it comes to TIFF. Yes, we’re hustling for invites and they’re hustling for coverage; BUT at 3 am, we’re all scrambling to write copy, recall famous faces and party details, all while trying to soothe our aching tootsies and hoping that we survive the next day with 2 hours of sleep. I’m so thankful that all these amazing PR women are in my life every year and I really do consider them friends - not just people I work with.

Best photo-op: Getty photog George Pimentel snapped me and Flare’s Ryan Michael Cheung with Zac Efron at the dinner for the cast of The Paperboy on Friday, Sept. 14. Amazing. (Look, I can act cool and collected and normal for about 97% of the time when it comes to my job. The 3% is normally me calling/texting/bbm’ing a friend with a lot of “!!!!!!!!!!!!!” in the message - see note on Pacey/Joshua Jackson below.) 

Best celebrity flirt: Travis Milne. The Rookie Blue star is unquestionably good-looking (especially in his tailored suits), earnest and very approachable. Most of the show’s cast can be spotted out during TIFF - regardless of an early call time - and Milne’s no exception. The charmer is always up for a conversation with a fan, friend or member of the press. Sure, he’s most likely telling all the girls what they want to hear, but it’s still fun! Everyone needs a cute flirting buddy. 

Pervy-iest (but still humorous) propositioning: Literally being bumped into by Misfits actor Robert Sheehan has definitely become my favourite story of TIFF 2012. (It rivals last year’s slightly insane run-in with Juliette Lewis.)  We collided as he came out of the men’s room at Soho House – it would have been minor except that he just went with the collision and followed it up with “I think we were just in a sexual position; should we try that again?” One dramatic slo-mo reenaction later, he was still full of bon mots and sexy suggestions (many to do with going off to have a threesome in a dark corner of Soho) and continued to be a source of entertainment and sexual commentary for many many women.

Read more …

Filed under TIFF12 my life joshua jackson zac efron Toronto jennifer lawrence Travis Milne Rookie Blue Misfits food

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With two award shows last week, I had Friday off of work making this another long weekend for me. Now with three days free of my desk, you’d think I would be mega productive, finally dealing with the mess that was my apartment post-upfronts. And yes, I did sweep all the floors, deal with many loads of laundry, even paint my nails and watch a couple more pilots. But I probably only checked off 63% of my To Do list. Shaaaame, Joan. Shame.

Now that I’ve ‘fessed up to the lack of chores accomplished, I can say I did do some delightfully neat things. On Friday, I hit the road to America (or “Amurrrica” as I prefer to call it) in search of mascara (Maybelline, why oh why have you forsaken Ontario with your Lash Discovery mascara!?), marshmallow fluff (stay tuned for when I tackle a homemade Snickers bars recipe from Pinterest this month), and a couple summer dresses. It was a harried and rushed trip as my friend/co-pilot decided at the last minute to join her boyfriend and his friends up at the cottage and therefore had to catch a ride out of town at 7pm. Even in with the time crunch, I successfully found the mascara and fluff I so desired AND picked up a pair of earrings for an event I have later this week (more on that on Thursday). 

Saturday started with a successful dress shopping (for the aforementioned event) trip to Fashion Crimes and then an evening of FOOD. I finally got myself (or rather hitched a ride with some friends) to the Evergreen Brick Works for TUM. One of the wonderful friends I went with had hit the same event last month and had great wisdom to share with us for a successful food bonanza:

  • Go EARLY (especially if you want a parking spot) - it should go without saying but certain (popular) food vendors will run out of food before the event ends. If you want root beer glazed ribs, line up and shut up.
  • Bring water. 
  • Split the work/lines by splitting up. As soon as we got into the venue, we broke up and just went to town picking food for one another. As the evening progressed we got a little selective and could then afford to line up together. 
  • Bring tupperware. After gorging on smoked marlin tacos, dumplings, ribs, pulled pork sandwiches and more, we took dessert to go. It was the best for all parties involved, namely my tummy. 

I’m not going to lie after all that deliciously succulent grub - some of which is pictured above - I spent from 9pm to 11:30pm in a food coma on the couch watching terrible movies (sorry Bridewars, you know you’re awful) until rolling into bed. 

Today’s been about chores and just vegging out reading “Messy” by the gals behind the website gofugyourself.com. And now the Tony Awards! My favourite award show of them all. Shhh, don’t tell the Golden Globes!

Filed under Toronto my life food weekend TUM Fashion Crimes shopping Tony Awards award shows

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I bake a lot of cupcakes, in search of the perfect vanilla cupcake recipe (and frosting). Much to the dismay of my co-workers (and close friends), I’m taking a baking hiatus for March-April while I pack up my life and move to a new apartment - the first that will be mine all mine. It may be a little small, but it will be 100% me (as much as my budget will allow). 

I bake a lot of cupcakes, in search of the perfect vanilla cupcake recipe (and frosting).

Much to the dismay of my co-workers (and close friends), I’m taking a baking hiatus for March-April while I pack up my life and move to a new apartment - the first that will be mine all mine. It may be a little small, but it will be 100% me (as much as my budget will allow). 

(via somniloquy)

Filed under food cupcakes