Abstract Random

Arun got Thomas Keller's new cookbook, Ad Hoc at Home, for christmas and we've been wanting to make something from it ever since. Even though it's supposed to be full of "recipes that you can make any or every day," most of them are far from what I would consider weeknight recipes.

We decided to try his recipe for short ribs, which you have to make at least a day in advance. So we spent our Saturday night making the red wine reduction sauce and cooking the short ribs. The plan was originally to grab a quick dinner at Imperial before heading to Hartman's for groceries but we ran into some neighbours on our way out and they kind of invited themselves along to dinner with us, which was fine but delayed things somewhat. We didn't get started until 10 and were up cooking till 1:30.

We spent about another hour on Sunday making celeriac with caramelized onions to go along with the short ribs. It all turned out to be well worth the wait, though. Everything was deee-licious.

We also had a nice brunch with friends on Sunday. Back in the fall we established a standing date for brunch with friends on the third Sunday of each month. We try a different place each month, this time we were at Fresco on Elgin. It's a great way to get everyone together more regularly, I really enjoy it—and not just because of the eggs benedict.

I realize eating like this isn't congruous with my plan of getting in kick ass shape for my birthday. I have, however, been working out regularly the past couple of weeks and will be upping my workout intensity this week (and every week from here on out). Long cardio sessions, negative reps and intervals, here I come.