Happy Monday Morning! I hope that everyone had a wonderful weekend and that you all got to relax a little bit. I definitely did! I decided to take some time to myself this weekend as I was recovering from a week of little sleep. As I mentioned last week, I wasn’t feeling great, so when I felt awful Thursday night I decided I would take a sick day on Friday to recover. I did, and it was the best decision I could have made. I slept in (sleeping in for me is until 8AM) and spent most of the day in bed. Saturday morning I had a visit, but not until 11 so I had my coffee and relaxed for the first half of the morning before taking off to show a condo. Unfortunately, I was not aware that it was the Santa Clause Parade on Saturday which turned my 10 minute drive into a 40 minute drive. Needless to say this caused me quite a bit of stress, a stress that only increased with my afternoon visit to IKEA. I know, I know… never go to IKEA when you’re already in a bad mood, but E needed a coffee table and there is something about that place that keeps sucking me back in. I don’t know if it’s the inviting staged bedrooms, or the cheap chocolate bars, but IKEA and I are officially in a destructive relationship. Every time I go I get angry, but then there I am, two weeks later, back in the IKEA parking lot, heading towards the doors. It’s like I keep telling myself it will change; I keep hoping that THIS time will be different, THIS time they won’t be out of stock on the only item E and I came to get. But, alas, once again I leave with 5 items, none of them the thing I came to get. I have been to IKEA 5 times in the past couple of months and, as E can tell you, I never leave in a good mood. He keeps saying ‘why do you keep coming back when you know you are only going to get upset?’ I never have an answer, and I know in my heart that I will be back. See? Destructive relationship.
On top of all of that, I had promised E that we would go see Immortals on Saturday but with all the chaos caused by the parade, I was in no mood to venture downtown. So on top of all of my anger, now E was also upset that we wouldn’t be seeing the movie I had been promising to see with him for weeks. I decided to make it up to him in the only way I know; with food. When I got home I decided to whip up a few delicious loaves of Challah bread. Though I had never made it before, I was in the mood for a challenge and got out my cookbook (ok, iphone with cooking app) and started making my bread. Despite the fact that the dough was quite sticky and hard to kneed, it was a relatively easy bread to make. I imagine if you had a standing mixer it would be a snap, but I like a challenge ;)
Then you wait… and wait. The ideal rising time is an hour and a half and, even though I thought I wouldn’t be able to wait, I did. I checked on the dough halfway through the required time and it looked like this:
It was coming along quite nicely, so I punched it down and flipped it over (recommended for best results) and let it do its thing. When I came back however, the thing was taking over the kitchen! It looked like something out of a Ghostbusters movie.
I decided at this point that it was ready. There was enough for 3 large loaves, so I separated the batch into 3 and then each batch into six. I then rolled them out to make 6 long pieces and attached them at one end. You then braid 3 and 3 and put them together at each end. It was my first time making Challah so it definitely wasn’t perfect, but I have to say I am pretty proud of how well it turned out. It didn’t only look pretty, but it was delicious. Tasted almost identical to the Challah you find in stores. E liked it too :)
Saturday night we stayed in to watch a movie and have dinner just the two of us. We settled on steak frites and the movie ‘Ned Kelly’ which is a story I love.
For anyone who doesn’t know the story, I would recommend seeing the movie. It stars some hotties and a lot of fight scenes, so it’s perfect for a date night. The saying I have tattooed on my rip cage also happens to be a famous quote from the real Ned Kelly. Speaking of hotties, E and I did end up seeing Immortals this weekend, and even though I don’t think it comes close to 300, it is definitely worth seeing. The blood and goriness are not for everyone, but the story is good and the actors are… well… think 300.
We woke up Sunday morning and relaxed a little more and then I decided to make some hazelnut chocolate pancakes and espresso.
It was the perfect wake up and shortly after finishing we headed off to the movie. Afterwards, we went to get some stuff at Loblaws for dinner, where we ran into T and B, who were there getting ingredients for their chilly. We had another quiet night that was a great end to a great weekend. It was EXACTLY the kind of weekend I needed. I got to relax and take the time I needed to feel better. This morning I woke up feeling healthy and rejuvenated, ready for another week of work. Speaking of which, I better get back. So happy Monday and happy week!
With Love,
S
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