silly in the kitchen (mostly)

weather has not been conducive to long walks lately - the farthest i go is obviously to some school when i get a school day, but this week even that was in outremont, close enough to walk to mile end after and jump on my familiar 55 bus. otherwise, it's just pre-natal class, grocery, plaza st-hubert / market and the "let's get out while it's sunny" efforts which unavoidably end up in darkness and too much wind for my sensitive head. so yes, most of my waking hours (even some naps on the futon) are currently spent in the kitchen, which results in being the occasional sous-chef and in pics of baked goods, see below:

31 weeks! grey on grey on more grey. this past week i feel i've become really huge. here wearing my "elephant dress" and no coat (at 3 degrees) strictly for photo purposes, because the coat apparently "wasn't doing me any favours". dude, there are very few things right now that are doing me favours! also, i was laughing because a gust of wind had just ballooned up my skirt in a previous photo (too goofy to be included). also this outfit finally prompted my landlady to ask me whether i was pregnant, though in all fairness they only see me once a month for 5 minutes, so alright.

rare sunshine coffee moment, when the mug and the vest were all matchy-matchy

st nicholas' day party with raspberry+ pistachio+ amaretto: the most colorful cake i could find at Mlles Gateaux

ambitious burger project: patties on the grill part 1

patties part 2; b. is pretty proud of this new grilling pan

assembling the burgers - though i gave up and ended up taking alternate bites of each half. looks fancy though, doesn't it? and taste-wise it was a clear success.

it was high time for an apron, considering how much time he spends cooking!

new project: making bread with italian flour, from the new italian grocery on the next corner (more and more fancy stuff coming to villeray!); also, with yeast that had been frozen for weeks, prompting a bet on whether or not it would rise.

it took a day to rise, but b. won the bet, so here's this plump loaf

the proof is in the slice - featuring new star knife of our kitchen, which i'm still a bit afraid to use

it was getting so gloomy so early in the afternoon, we put up the lights to jazz up the room. it's been working so far, but hey there's a long way ahead.

and tonight/this morning, finally, the first decent snow. it looked pretty but now it's stopped - the big one (10+ cm) is expected for tuesday. nevermind, to honor the winter spirit i made some chili and banana bread - real hibernation food...so we're as ready as it gets:)