My great meal I just made

I just made a great meal!

Carmella is cooking on Monday and Wednesday, and I'm Tuesday and Thursday.  We're very progressive.

I wanted to make something fun, and I found a recipe that looked pretty easy and had a high rating on allrecipes.com .

It was going to be rack of lamb! 

I went to Safeway to get the meat, knowing that I only needed some breadcrumbs because we had everything else already.  They didn't have any lamb at all, so I walked a few blocks up to another grocery store, who only had frozen racks.  I needed to make a quality meal, and frozen just wouldn't do.

I then went to Choices, a Canadian chain of organic stores.  They had what I was looking for!  I purchased a rack, and brought it home.  Carmella was working out at the gym, and would be home at 8.  I started cooking and preparing around 7pm.

I seared the lamb in olive oil first, then coated it in a bread crumb mixture that had rosemary and garlic in it.  I put a layer of dijon mustard on the meat to get the bread crumbs to stick.

It was excellent!  I was very happy it was successful, and Carmella really enjoyed it too.  Our oven is gas powered, and it's hard to get an accurate reading on the temperature because the knob is all scratched off.  But, we have an oven thermometer and I used that, and preheated the oven to 450F.

Here it is!  The meat was so tender and great, and I think it's one of the best meals I've made.  I used a new steamer insert we got to steam the asparagi.  The meat may look pink, but that's the way it's supposed to be.

Yum!

An excellent pizza cutter, and other pictures.

It's Saturday night, and I'm sitting in a Blenz Coffee on Broadway and Bayswater, in Vancouver.  I'm two thirds of my way through an over-priced hot chocolate ($4.50!  For a small!) that comes in an underwhelming glass mug.

As Carmella is doing bridesmaid things and our house doesn't have internet yet, I figured it'd be a good idea to come here, log on and post.  Possibly I can win back some readers that I have lost recently, due to my sporadic posting.

It's been quite a long time since I posted anything, so I think I'll just post some pictures from the last little while.

Here are three from a few weeks ago in Whistler.  The lines were pretty long, because there was lots of snow, and it was a Saturday.  Carmella and I enjoyed the Blackcomb Glacier, and then some glades.

The next day, Carmella and I drove up to Pemberton to investigate some wedding details.  It turned out to be the last day of the Pemberton Winter Festival, and the annual Polar Bear Dip was the marquee event of the day.  The kids got to go timidly first, before the attention-seeking adults were allowed to show off.

Last, Carmella stands facing the dipping pool, with her back to the rest of the very-frozen lake.  The lake is a shortcut for residents, a hockey rink, and xc skiing circuit.

Next, it was on to wedding research.  We tried to visit our caterers, but they were skiing for the day.  We were successful in visiting the church.  It's full of character, and surprisingly we are the first couple to want to get married in it!  I guess all the other couples were nervous it would collapse on them mid-ceremony.  Where was their sense of adventure?  It's so small and quaint.  We'll dress up the outside somehow, with flowers likely.  It even has a wedding bell, which we hope to ring a lot.

Flashback to New Year's at Capilano Suspension Bridge!  They had it all lit up with special lights, and activities for kids.  Carmella and I asked if we could get in on the gingerbread men decorating, and we were accepted. Carmella was very proud of her gingerwoman, and the scarf she added.

Late Christmas present from Carolyn!  Mom tried to bring a deluxe pizza cutter onto the plane with her (at Carol's suggestion) when travelling from Australia back to Canada, and it ended up being confiscated.  It was later replaced with a Canadian model, which preforms most excellently.  It has a great handle and removable circular blade, which allow easy cutting and simple cleaning. 

Today was the St Patrick's Day 5K in Stanley Park.  This is the third year I've run it, and the third year that I've been disappointed with my time.  This is also the third year I've run it Off The Couch, so that could be a major factor in my disappointment.  Carmella came to watch, and we met some friends (well, our friend Jenn (on the right) and two of hers) near the start.  I'm quite a bit bigger than them!  I wear my trusty racing shirt.  It's polyester and is probably 7 years old, and I'm glad it's not showing signs of slowing down!

The race was a motivator, and I have pledged to get out the door and run more often.  I've struggled with knee problems this year, but was happy to find that I didn't feel anything after the first kilometer of this run.  I think I'm on my way back.

My probable race calendar has me running a half-marathon on April 3rd, and then possibly the Vancouver Marathon on May 1st.  It's $100 to enter the Marathon, which is silly.  It's not only houses that are expensive in this town!

I'll try and post more often, but we'll see.  The internet man is coming to hook us up next Saturday, so until then I still have an excuse!