A Week of Celebrations!

The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate Oprah Winfrey


To say that I have had my hands full this past week would be a huge understatement.  In the short span of seven days, we celebrated Shrove Tuesday, Valentine's Day, Family Day, and a few other things in between! 

It all started with our pancake dinner party on Shrove Tuesday...

My nieces Emily and Chloe joined us for our pancake dinner, in pajamas, of course!

We had pancakes, scrambled eggs and bacon for dinner!

For Valentine's day, I baked my first ever heart-shaped cheesecake...

with a cinnamon graham cracker crust.  I baked it in a water bath - a fool-proof method to prevent cracking and sinking.  I topped it with cherries. It looked so pretty and was so delicious! 

This is the gorgeous bouquet of flowers my husband surprised me with on Valentine's day!

And...he cooked a special dinner for us too...

Is there anything more romantic than a man who can cook?

Here's Anita, having a little fun...

One of the best things we celebrated this week, was my father-in-law's last day of chemo and radiation therapy.  We are all thrilled with his progress.  To see him doing so well after everything he has been through these past six weeks, is a blessing!  Our family got together on the weekend, as we do every weekend, and shared a delicious meal lovingly made my mother-in-law.  We are keeping our fingers and toes crossed for good news next month when he follows up with the doctor.  Please keep him in your thoughts.  

Yesterday, we celebrated Family Day - a statutory holiday celebrated in parts of Canada.  We went out for breakfast in the morning and spent the rest of the day indoors, tucked away from the cold.  We relaxed, watched TV, enjoyed a fire and made a yummy mixed seafood platter for dinner.

Crab, shrimp, squid, scallops and clams

before...

...and after

All in all, it was a joyous week filled with happy occasions and many reasons to celebrate.
 How was your week?  Was it busy for you too?  Did you celebrate anything?

Wishing you all a happy week with many little reasons to celebrate!  xoxo

The Ultimate Lobster Lover's Pasta

Two weeks ago, I stumbled upon a lobster & ricotta filled agnolotti  at the Whole Foods Market in downtown Toronto.  For those of you who have never been toWhole Foods, it is a food store specializing in high quality natural and organic products.  They sell locally grown produce, which in turn supports our local farmers, which is awesome in itself!  I just love peeking in when I am in the neighborhood.  I can find many specialty items there, that I wouldn't be able to find anywhere else, such as clotted cream, rosewater, etc.  An afternoon at Whole Foods is like bliss for any foodie.  So, like I said, I found lobster & ricotta filled agnolotti (a kind of ravioli type pasta) in the frozen aisle section, as I knew this could be inspiration for a delicious meal. Last week, I decided to cook something special for Nuno (my husband) and I and this is what I came up with:

Sliced bella mushrooms, heavy cream, butter, garlic, lobster meat (you can buy frozen, canned lobster meat, all the work is done for you - all you have to do is thaw and drain the liquid) 

Melt butter over medium heat, saute garlic for 2 minutes.  Add sliced mushrooms, saute for 2-3 minutes.

In the meantime, cook your pasta according to directions on the package.  By the way, any plain pasta will work just as well here.  I try to time it so the pasta is done at the same time as the sauce.

Add cream, salt, pepper, and half a cup of shredded Gruyere cheese.  And finally, stir in your lobster meat just until heated through. 

And finally, garnish with fresh, finely chopped parsley!

The ultimate lobster lover's pasta!

I love how a simple box of frozen agnolotti inspired such a delicious and romantic meal.  This recipe can serve four, but since my girls haven't appreciated the taste of lobster yet, we had leftovers!!  The wonderful thing about this meal is that it tastes just as good, if not better, when it is reheated, which is usually the case with pasta.

I do hope you enjoyed this post.  I'm wondering if everyone is a lobster lover out there?  I just love seafood, but lobster has to be one of my favorites.  What about you?  I would love to hear your feedback.  Thanks for stopping in and enjoy the rest of your day! xo