These are the first photos I post from 2022 and I confess that seeing them grouped like this in the post it makes me feel a little better. I usually say that you can assess our quality of life by the photos we collect. If a week was good, we’ll have nice photos as a result.
I started this year with mixed feelings. A lot of places are closed here in Ontario again, including restaurants, cafes and gyms. In other words, basically, the places I go to the most and that I like to be at the most.
And the news came just before my birthday. By the way, the new restrictions started on January 5th, exactly the day of my birthday. I had already given up traveling a few weeks ago for fear the situation would change drastically while I was away, but I still had plans to enjoy the date locally.
Cris had booked breakfast at a hotel here in Toronto. Then, according to his surprise plans, we would spend the day at a spa and end the day with dinner at a restaurant that I really want to visit.
But none of that could be done.
I refuse to surrender. As long as I can, I will adapt to continue maintaining my quality of life even in these crazy times. The first thing we did when they announced that the gyms were going to close was to buy a spin bike.
We spent the entire last winter running on the street. Not even the cold of sometimes -15ºC made us throw in the towel. Staying at home simply complaining was not an option. And it won’t be now.
But then came my birthday. And I couldn’t do what I love most in life – travel – nor the second thing I love most – eat in good restaurants. We decided the only way to cope was with an audacious plan: making our own pasta dish (from scratch!) at home.
Challenge accepted. We went out to buy a pasta press and came back with the press and a little more. We made the dough, the filling, the sauce… everything. And it was fun.
And not to say that there was no celebration, there was a cake and macarons that Cris bought for me.
By the way, it’s been fun cooking. It’s basically everything we’ve been doing here at home. I got a Kitchenaid mixer for Christmas (dream come true ✅) and we’ve become best friends ever since.
In addition to the ravioli for my birthday, I also made spinach fettuccine for lunch on Saturday and – as if everything I’ve been preparing wasn’t enough – I made beef bourguignon for the first time last Sunday. Yes, I spent my Sunday cooking a dish that takes hours! hehe
And to end our week, we resumed our Sunday night pizza tradition. I made an amazing combination of prociuto, arugula and burrata. No worries, I’m gonna post the recipe here soon ?.
