We did it!
We threw ourselves a fabulous engagement party! Everything turned out amazingly well – the food was delicious, the apartment looked great, all our friends showed up, everyone had enough space to hang out, and I think we all had a great time (I know I did!).
I’ll be posting all the recipes from the night shortly (by overwhelming request, actually – totally the sign of a good spread!).
In the meantime, you can take a look at our pictures from the big night.
Just for fun, you can also take a look at this Flickr set of an amazing kids birthday party by Andrea of Hula Seventy – which was totally the inspiration for this party (adults should get to have that much fun too!). I, of course, added a lot of my own interpretation, and made things a little more grown-up (singapore slings and Tsingtao beer for example), but we wouldn’t have had impetus to go all out – like we did – without her inspiration.
Thanks to everyone who came – and to everyone who couldn’t, but wished us well anyways, too!
Today is the second incarnation of a new holiday here in Ontario: Family day. Which is actually a pretty nice reason to have a holiday. And we have kinda needed a holiday around here. Turns out getting engaged makes you a hot commodity. We haven’t had a weekend to ourselves since before Christmas!
It was my birthday this week, so we actually had a family day yesterday – my mom, dad, brother, sister and her boyfriend came over and we all had delicious exotic takeout (Pakistani curries, kebabs, nan, and handmade kulfi!). Living next to Little India is pretty awesome.
As a birthday present they also did a bit of a revamp to my bathroom – my dad built some much needed shelving (we actually have a place to put towels now!) and replaced a broken light fixture. I sewed up a cute, stripey shower curtain earlier in the week, so it’s starting to get pretty nice in there. Pretty soon I’ll be able to show it off, I think.
This week is going to be a bit of a whirlwind too. We’re throwing ourselves an engagement party, and all our nearest and dearest friends (who happen to live nearby) are going to be showing up on Saturday night – so everything’s gotta be ready for 20-30 people cramming into our little apartment (hence the home-improvement).
We’re also trying to get our “wedsite” up and running – but all we’ve been running into are technical difficulties, unfortunately.
So, in the meantime, I’m posting my little invitation graphic.
It’s going to have a Chinese theme. Fried rice, barbeque pork and dumplings, nomnomnom!
I originally made this over Christmas for my family – but it’s so pretty, and pink, I think it’s equally appropriate for a Valentines day treat, if you’re so inclined.
And since I’m on my wedding kick, I should mention that I think it’s pretty and special enough that it could even make a wonderful wedding favour!
The secret ingredient here, that makes this really special is the pink peppercorns. If you’ve never had them before, they’re only very mildly peppery, and not really spicy at all. In fact, they have a sort of floral flavour. I think they’re so pretty, and lovely – I need to find more ways to integrate them into my cooking!
Of course, the addition of salt to a chocolate recipe is pretty special too, and adds a unexpected punch. If you wanted to make these even more special – and, more importantly, pink – you could hunt down some pink Himalayan salt. You should be able to find it at most health food stores.
I wouldn’t swap out the dark chocolate for pink or white chocolate though. While it would certainly look pretty, I think the strong flavours of this combination – nutty almonds, sweet and tangy crasins, peppery and floral peppercorns – work best with the rich, earthy flavour of dark chocolate.
pink chocolate bark
- 1 1/4 cups dark chocolate disks
- 3/4 cup crasins
- 3/4 cup almonds (toasted and chopped – I used raw almonds and did both myself)
- 1 tsp pink peppercorns
- 1/2 tsp sea (or pink) salt
- Melt chocolate in double boiler. Line 9×13 pan with tin foil.
- Pour chocolate into pan, spread with spatula, shake and gently tap to evenly distribute chocolate.
- Mix almonds, crasins and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Sprinkle mix evenly over chocolate. Shake and tap again to evenly distribute nuts and fruit (you can press down any stray bits if necessary). Sprinkle with peppercorns and salt. Let cool at room temperature.
- Break into bite size pieces, and enjoy!
I wasn’t sure I’d want, or need a traditional wedding registry.
We’ve been together 6 years, and have accumulated and inherited pretty much everything we need in that time, and it just seemed like an unnecessary extravagance.
But then, after six years things start to get a bit creaky and precarious, you realize the cheap stuff you got from Ikea as a student should more accurately be looked at as a placeholders, than anything with permanence.
In other words: our dishes are chipped, our towels are mismatched and faded, and our cutlery is bent and tarnished.
It’s time to invest in things that don’t come out of a boxed set for under 20 bucks. Things that, ideally weren’t mass-produced in China or for Ikea.
Being able to register for things now is a god-send – I’m old enough and wise enough know what I really need this time around, and what’s actually going to last me. I’ve already done all the research.
I just blow past the “bridal checklists” and overly-helpful, commission-getting salespeople and march right towards what I actually need, zap it with the gun thingy, and onto the registry it goes.
This time, I’m getting white bone china, 18/10 stainless flatware, and Egyptian cotton sheets.
And I don’t feel weird about it. We’ve been together, struggling for so long, it’s going to feel so nice to finally come home to nice things, things we’ll get to use for the rest of our lives together.
I’m happiest that Crate and Barrel has finally come to Canada. I know in the States that registering there is kinda cliche – but man alive! There’s a pretty good reason for that! They have the most awesome, well designed things! They have picked out all the very best, sturdiest, sexiest stuff – OXO gadgets, Marimeko tablecloths, Wustoff Knives, All Clad cookware.
You don’t know what the registry landscape was like before they arrived (just in the nick of time for me, I might add): here in Canada we have one department store (the Bay) with a very staid, very old fashioned selection of items – and that’s pretty much it. Although, I may still register there for sheets and towels, as C&B has a limited selection – and I might like a Hudson’s Bay Point Blanket – which is lovely, and a traditional item for Canadian brides (my own parents have one they received 30 years ago when they were married – and it’s still kicking around in great condition).
Interested in what I registered for? Well, I’m getting dishes called “Halo”, flatware called “Dune”, and a kitchen knife made to Samurai Sword standards.
What? Nerdy? Us? Never…
the Sis on 