one damn minute, admiral
birthday eats: vegan ramen, rosemary cake, and tapas
Was it one of those weeks for anyone else? I won’t get into too much of my workload woes in here, but let me just say that if you placed an order with a small business over Black Friday/Cyber Monday, kindly give it at least a week before you start asking when your package will ship, for crying out loud.
I did have a wonderful time celebrating my birthday, always a time to rejoice in the act of treating yourself (or letting other people treat you). Jeff and I went out for dinner with my mom and stepdad on Sunday night in Mount Pleasant, starting with a shared carafe of wine and some cheese at Fabrique St-George (the urban winery we also went to on Amanda’s birthday). There was live piano music which was surprisingly nice, and they’ve got all their cosy holiday decor up too.
After that we walked the couple of blocks in the freezing cold up to Como, a tapas bar I’ve been meaning to try but which was always too busy whenever I’d attempted to go there in the past. The relative quiet of a Sunday evening got us seated immediately, and the restaurant was pleasantly full with music that we all remarked created a ~vibe~ without being so loud you had to yell across the table at each other. Four people, in my opinion, is the perfect number for a tapas dinner, because you get to try a bunch of different things without getting only a single bite of each one. I think my favourites were the clams with white beans, and the always-addictive Marcona almonds.
On Monday, my actual birthday, Iain was just arriving in town from Ottawa, so Jeff and I met up with him for a late evening drink and snack at The Magnet after he made his way downtown from the airport. The brussels sprouts with white bean miso sauce and agrodolce are my favourite thing on the menu there, and I tried some great beers as well (the Spruce Ale from Tofino brewing is a subtle seasonal fave). It was such a treat to be able to celebrate with one of my closest friends, who I get to see maybe twice a year if I’m lucky. But we always easily pick up where we left off, as if he never left, and I’m so blessed to have friendships like that in my life.
Speaking of friendship, the birthday party I had with my friends was also a delightful treat. I spent the afternoon making food in preparation— people who don’t love to cook in the way that I do are always surprised I would spend my birthday cooking for other people, but it makes me happy! Food brings people together and I love feeding the people I adore most. Because it’s physically torture to watch Tampopo and not eat ramen immediately afterwards, I of course made the vegan tantanmen (ramen in a lightly spicy sesame-based broth) that I love so much. This is. the best. broth. It’s not hard to make and the flavour is unreal. A few people went back for seconds, and no one left any broth behind.
Instead of doing pan-fried tofu like usual I bought tofu puffs to save time; I think I prefer the thin slices of fried tofu overall but these did soak up the broth really nicely. And they look cute in the bowl, too. We made eggs for the people who eat eggs, but I have it on good authority that it’s still delicious without. I’ve got some notes on making this for the first time here. If you need access to the recipe (reminder that some library cards will allow you to log in that way), reply to this email so I can help you out!
After dinner we watched Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (aka the one with the whales, aka the space romcom), which quite a few people in attendance hadn’t seen before! It was a joy to watch them experience it for the first time, as I did earlier this year— my face actually hurt from laughing and smiling so much. Following sweet with sweet, I served the birthday cake: I didn’t have time or desire to get fancy with it, and luckily there was a brand-new Alicia Kennedy recipe for lemon-rosemary olive oil cake that was perfect. I love that many of Alicia’s recipes are simple enough to make on the fly with things you probably already have around (I was not the only subscriber who made the cake the same weekend!) and they are always delicious.
The flavour of this cake is sublime: perfectly balanced, not overly sweet nor too herbal or lemony. The olive oil gives it a great texture, too. I made a quick lemon glaze for the top to make it a little more celebratory, but a dusting of powdered sugar would be easy and lovely for an everyday cake. (By the way the final movie, Dazed and Confused, was accompanied by passing a joint around and picking at the leftovers of a bowl of salt & vinegar chips, as is appropriate.)
Other than that, I did not do too much cooking this week, since we had lots of leftover ramen broth and ate out on other nights! We bought a pack of bacon on the weekend for emergency lunch BLTs while cooking the ramen and cake, and then of course the week becomes a quest to use the rest of the bacon before it gets gross. On my birthday I made carbonara, because it’s fast, tasty, and still feels a little elegant.
I also made BLTs a couple more times, because Jeff was on the island for work for a few days, and I basically revert to being a weird gross bachelor as soon as he leaves, eating in front of the tv in my sweatpants and falling asleep on the couch (this is further compounded because I’ve been so busy with work). No shame, no regrets.
This is a brief newsletter because I am writing it as I’m about to go hang out some more with Iain at a local brewery or two! I’ve got cookies in the oven (there was dough in the freezer left over from when I made these) because bringing baked goods to the bar is my brand. Life is short and we must cherish the time we have with the ones we love!
Thanks for reading— if you enjoyed this newsletter, please share it with someone new! I like providing this to you for free, but it does still involve time and effort, so donations I can use towards cookbooks or future treats are much appreciated. I leave you with something that isn’t food related but that I desperately needed to see this week: a puppy deciding to go to sleep on Ethan Peck.