Crabby- and I ain't talkin about the soup!

How I'm feeling these days:

Proceed with caution

I swear everything and anything can set me off these days. My mood is off the charts and I'm not talking about in a good way! Where are those lovey dovey pregnancy hormones I sometimes read about? You know, where you get all nesty and comfy.. Psh.. All I feel these days is annoyed at mostly anything and everyone as if nothing is going right. Isn't it supposed to be THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!! Grrr..

Proceed with caution: Raging, temperamental Pregnant Woman on the loose!!

Back to blogging- T and I headed out to Angel on Saturday, mainly because I had to pick up some graph paper for Chemistry assignment, but secondly because we were hungry and I specifically wanted pizza for lunch. I change my mind on everything I’ve said in the past: all I’ve been craving this pregnancy is pizza, pizza, pizza!

We had a really great lunch at Made in Italy, a chain that does tasty, fresh, and fast Italian food 

We started with a salad so I wouldn't feel so guilty about what came next :-). The salad was perfectly dressed and seasoned with a generous portion of veggies (besides the standard leaves).

We ordered 1/2 mushroom and 1/2 buffalo pizza.

Fugetaboutit! I went ahead and enjoyed a slice with the delicious buffalo mozzarella cheese. Seriously, is there anything better than cold, fresh milky cheese?

this half was dressed w. mushrooms, truffle oil, and rocket leaves- YUM!!! The pizza was perfectly crisp on the bottom and chewy on the inside.

After lunch, we went in search of an ice cream dessert but ended up walking around the neighbourhood before getting cold and deciding to head back. BUT! Not before, we stopped by our local Chapel market fishmonger to pick up some things for dinner. Poor T- I had this weird craving for a crab stew my mom used to make and the best I could do to describe it was red, spicy, and really flavourful with crab soaked into the broth. After picking up our ingredients, I called my momma and she gave me a brief run down on what goes in the stew and somehow he managed to make it, almost how I remembered it! Bravo.

Some ingredients that went in (but not all)

• Korean spicy paste (gochujang)
• red miso paste
• garlic
• green onions
• red pepper flakes
• sesame oil
• mushrooms
• soft tofu
• and best of all CRAB!

making sure the crab is soaked in and gets in all the juices of the broth. We bought the crab cooked before realizing later that it was best to buy it uncooked to really get the flavor of the soup in it.

We started with a cooked scallop roll and nigiri piece. This definitely hit the spot for my sushi fix except that it wasn't quite enough!! :-)

More puhlease!

our second course was equally as amazing: langoustines cooked in parsley garlic butter. Get past the freakiness of the claws and eyes because OMG it was delicious.. Drool..

 

Last but not least, we had our crab stew for the main dish. 

This guy was very hard to eat, but so good that I was willing to get my hands a little dirty. I think I got a good chunk of the crab meat because Poor T kept saving all the difficult pieces for himself and letting me snag all the easily freed meat claws.

What a memorable dinner!

On Sunday, I spent most of the day lounging in bed and finishing the last book of the Hunger Games series. After less than a week, I'm done with the series, Whoop Whoop! After reading, I watched the Bears get trounced on a bit and saw our playoff hopes go slowly down the toilet... sigh.. Bring on Monday!

Young Turks

I had a huge appetite after class yesterday and was really craving something healthy, salty, and delicious so I put together a salad with pre-packaged salad mix, added in some sliced avocado, and black olives. Yum!

Hit.the.spot.

I also ate this on top of my salad :-). I prepped the salmon with evoo, sea salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and a generous pour of maple syrup. It came out perfect!

I loved the sweetness the maple syrup imparted with the spiciness of the cayenne pepper. Mmm! Some asparagus and brown rice on the side.

After reading for about 2 hours and napping for 3, I headed out to meet T and some friends at a pop up dinner at Ten Bells pub.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/oct/28/young-turks-10-bells-review

A bit of scary history on the pub:
http://wiki.casebook.org/index.php/Ten_Bells

stairs leading to the bathrooms

After climbing a few flights of stairs, we were led into our own private dining area.

We were the first ones to arrive so I got to enjoy the view from the windows in a little peace and quiet.

We were a group of 11 and had our own servers for the night. I was very impressed with the service and the attention we got which wasn't too stuffy, and did things like fill our water glasses very 10 minutes which is a rarity in London!

Our menu

mackerel

The fish was excellently cooked and paired wonderfully with the tart radishes.

stinking bishop with potatoes and onions

I had no idea what stinking bishop cheese what and I know those sitting next to me didn't either. It was pungent and strong in taste as you would assume by the name, but it was smooth in texture and tasty, especially with the potatoes, onions, and a crunchy topping that reminded me of eating cornflakes.

fallow deer

This was my favorite dish since my piece of deer was super flavorful. I don't remember ever eating deer this good. T on the other hand felt his piece wasn't as flavorful so I wonder if my taste buds were playing tricks on me (doubtful!). The accompaniment of barley and short rib like pieces of deer meat underneath were a hit as well.

yogurt and beetroot with meringue

I felt bad leaving most of the dish even after managing a few tasty bites. The consensus at the table was that this unusual pairing was a hit. It definitely reminded me of the dessert I had at Viajante (shhh the one at Vijante was slightly better). I really love the use of beetroot in dessert dishes these days; it's such a wacky but amazing tasting combo.

I didn’t take a picture of the last dish, which was a chocolate malted ice cream with coffee crumbles. I swear the ice cream tasted like coffee as well but it could have just been from the surrounding cookie like crumbles. It was good but must not have been too memorable if I forgot to take a picture of it! After dinner, we promptly rushed home (at almost midnight) and I curled in bed for the night. Even going out to dinner takes a lot out of me these days. :(

My head seemed so much clearer this morning as I woke up to a delicious breakfast of eggs topped with cinnamon and all spice with a side of avocado.

Ever tried this combo? Eggs-avocado-whole wheat toast. It's a healthy one too!

Someone got a little bit dirty on her walk this morning...

Time for a bath!

her reward for getting clean :)

 

her new trick is to be able to stand while taking a treat from this can. T swears he doesn't squeeze that much into her mouth!

What a waste!

hummus and eggs are back!

one of the greatest combos I've discovered for a filling breakfast.

Lunch after school- Pret A Manger tuna salad. I only have 2 more weeks left of school before Christmas break. Hallejuler!!

 

Yum- this definitely satisfies my craving for tuna!

I also got a spicy bean chili soup but was surprised when there weren't any beans; it's actually soup made with ground up beans- DUH!!

It was still pretty satisfying on a cold day.

soup and salad- another favorite combo!

more salad for dinner- T made us his first ever cobb salad since I had mentioned in my previous blog that this was what I was craving. Yum! It was delicious.

He substituted blue cheese for haloumi and bacon for panchetta.

This was a great way to finish off our chicken/turkey leftovers. I can't believe we're finally done with all our leftovers! Makes me kinda sad but also glad that our fridge isn't stuffed to the brim.

leftover turkey gratin for lunch and a simple ranch salad with beets

veggie platter with edamame

I ordered a crap load of food last night from an online delivery system called HungryHouse. The restaurant was http://www.yuzu-restaurants.com/. My eyes were definitely bigger than my stomach when ordering my food.

miso soup and seaweed salad

soba noodle soup w. veggie tempura on the side

The food was good, but for some reason didn't sit well in my stomach AT ALL. Sadly to say I might have had to make a trip to the toilet to throw up. TMI!! All I could think was damn; what a waste of food! :-)

Breakfast this morning: eggs, hummus, and sauteed mushrooms.

Book I'm currently reading: Catching Fire- the second of the Hunger Games series. I finished the first book in 1 and 1/2 days. They are SO good!! I can't wait for the movie coming out next year!!