Holt Renfrew

Montreal & A Recipe from the MM Mama

August 22nd, 2010 |

Author: Steph

Kalinihta my dears!
I can’t believe just how much I’ve had to catch up on <3 First let me say that I was SO thrilled to read about the ways that you wonderful ladies influenced the lives of the people around you. You are such inspirations to your families and friends, as well as to me!!!!

Tonight’s post is a little less intense, and may seem empty considering that it spans about a week’s worth of time. As you know, though, I was planted right on my couch/bed/floor for most of it, so I kind of skimmed over the lazy napping recovery days in favor of the few events that were slightly more exciting. I’m going to launch right into it, but feel free to skip down for the recipe that seriously makes this post ^~

If you’re reading faithfully along, though, come join my mom and I on our traditional lunchtime date. We always go to this wonderful little cafe in downtown Montreal that boasts of such delicacies as “Salmon Tartar with Grapefruit and Avocado salsa,” the special that made me put my menu aside before I even bothered to open it:

Expect a recipe for this as soon as I can get my hands on some sushi-grade salmon <3

As is tradition, we headed to Godiva after lunch for a dessert of champagne truffles. My mom got me hooked on these; I just can’t resist them. They are the perfect little treat. I buy them for myself as little celebration presents whenever something good/exciting happens to me (ahaha, lame.) I love them so much!

Godiva champage truffles: the surefire way to this Miss' heart. Cheers!

Question: What do you do to reward/treat yourself? What is your favorite indulgence?
Question: Do you and your mom have a special tradition?

After dessert, we went on a lazy walk through the streets of beautiful Montreal. I’m not going to go into much detail, as it’s late and I’m going to be up until two just thinking about it, but we picked up another little treat on our way. Blogloves, there are no words:

<3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If that weren’t darling enough, just brace yourself for this next set of pictures. A couple of days later the fam and I went to this enormous pet store that’s pretty famous here for its ingenious layout. It’s almost like going to a zoo as the place is complete with an enormous pirate ship that you can wander through. I of course headed for the doggy section of the store, which was typically crowded. One of the smaller cages was getting less attention, though, so I headed over to see why. A full-grown little poodle was sitting in the far corner of his pen. I went over and placed my hand on the window and – check this out – he moved over to me and rested his cheek on the glass!!!

<3!!

And then this picture happened:

TOO cute.

Ugh, man on man. It was so hard to leave without him!! Logic prevailed, however; Andrew and I are taking a big trip to Europe next summer (!!) and I’m going to wait to get a little pup until after I’ve returned – that way I’ll have all summer to train her, and I won’t be getting a dog with the promise of leaving her alone for a month next June. Anyway, all talk and speculation for now :3 More food pictures please?

Oh alright Feast your eyes on one of my favorite meals -ever,- inspired by Jamie Oliver and brought to you by the MM Mom.

A cute country spread <3

Mom made this on one of my first nights home. It’s one of my favorites: loaded with simple flavors and colors. It’s light, but very satisfying and importantly: very easy for me to digest!

MM Mom’s Chicken & Tomato Bake

Ingredients

1-2 pounds small red potatoes, scrubbed
12 boned chicken thighs
Olive oil
S&P
1-2 packages cherry tomatoes
Fresh oregano
Extra-virgin olive oil
Red wine vinegar

Method:

Boil potatoes in salted water until fork-tender
Preheat over to 400 degrees.
Cut chicken thighs into three pieces and coat with olive oil, salt and pepper.
Place coated thighs into a large saucepan and cook them over high heat for about 10 minutes or until *almost* done. Note, if you don’t have a big pan, you may have to do this in two batches Remove and place meat in an oven-safe dish.
Drain potatoes and crush them slightly. (You aren’t making mash!) Add to dish with chicken.
Combine oregano, salt, olive oil and red wine vinegar and combine, being sure to mush the oregano leaves to release that awesome flavor.
Add dressing to the chicken and potatoes, then add your tomatoes and more oregano leaves to the oven-safe dish.
Bake at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes

Enjoy!

Probably the most amazing thing about my weekend home was Cavalia. Have any of you heard of it? Think of it as an Equestrian version of “Cirque du Soleil.” Beautiful acrobatics and absolutely stunning horses. I started sniffling at the very beginning, bahahah. I’m a rider myself, and it was spectacular to watch these horses (often unbridled) perform and play with their trainers. It was a beautiful, beautiful show. I can’t recommend it highly enough!