Another great weekend...

I woke up today and the rain has returned. That being said we had a beautiful weekend. I think it was around 21 degrees and sunny! We spent some time down in White Rock on Sunday. We got an ice cream cone and went for a walk on the beach. The tide was out (for some reason every time we go, it's in...) so we had to walk about half a mile out to the ocean, but once we got there, I dipped my feet in for a few minutes. It was a really nice way to spend the afternoon. Nice to feel some sand between my toes!

In other news, my brother got a car over the weekend. It's a '99 VW Golf (I think.) I must say that it is a major step up from our first collective "ride." Ah good old Blue. Duck tape and all. I have a special place in my heart for Blue and all the adventures it took us on. A little scary for my little brother to be driving though....

Congrats to Julie and John who moved into their new place over the weekend! I can not wait to see it! Also a big "way to go" to Julie who landed herself a job to keep her busy over the summer. Apparently all it takes in a quick round of 4 interviews!

During my cooking adventures this weekend I made the BEST roast chicken of my life. Honestly.

It was Cinnamon Curry Roasted Chicken with Tomato Yogurt Sauce from The Oprah Magazine Cookbook. Served it with Cumin roasted Carrots and some Couscous.

For the chicken:
1 small roasting chicken
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp coriander
1 tsp cardamom
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp curry powder
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 head of garlic (6 cloves peeled and 6 unpeeled)
2 tbsp grated ginger
1 tbsp Olive Oil
2 tsp salt
2 shallots (unpeeled and quartered)
3 cinnamon sticks
1 cup chicken stock
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Rinse and pat dry chicken.
Put first 7 spices in a frying pan and "toast" spices for 45 seconds.

Finely chop 6 cloves of garlic. Mix with grated ginger and olive oil. Rub generously over chicken.
Sprinkle chicken with salt. Rub spice blend all over chicken.

Put shallots, 6 cloves unpeeled garlic and cinnamon sticks in chicken cavity.

Roast for 30 min. Baste with 1/2 cup chicken stock. Roast another 20 min. Baste with rest of chicken stock. Continue to roast for about 1 more hour, or until chicken is done.

For the Sauce:
Drippings from roasted chicken
1 cup low-fat plain yogurt
2 tomatoes, chopped
3 tbsp chopped cilantro

Transfer roast drippings to a sauce pan. Bring to simmer. Remove from heat. Add yogurt slowly, whisking constantly. Add tomatoes and cilantro. Serve with chicken.


I know that the chicken looks burnt. It's not. That's the color of all those glorious spices after a good baking in the oven. Fear not.



Tomato Yogurt Sauce. Yummy!And a little Chocolate Torte I made this weekend as well. To die for. Needless to say I will be bringing some of this to work. All things in moderation.