Alas, alas

The school work rush has kicked in. The first month back at school was lovely and relatively leisurely--now it's getting to be quite the opposite. However, it is significantly less stressful than my last semester. For that I am quite thankful! But wow, it is going by quick. Didn't I just get back here last week?

One other thing to be thankful about is reading week, which is coming up next week. Meaning I'll be jetting back to Toronto for some chill time (maybe) and some fine home cooked dining. I'll probably even find myself spending my evenings (and maybe free afternoons) plugging away on my history essay, which is due the week afterwards... Ugh. Therefore this week I shall do as much as can to get a good start on it.

Having said that, the Olympics are finally here! Yahoo! If you watched the opening ceremonies, I dare say they were pretty spectacular, weren't they? So exciting. Although it's thrilling to watch practically everything that goes on, I'd say my favourite sport to watch would be figure skating. Ok ok, being the Canadian I am, hockey is too, but on a different level.

But of course, it was so so sad to learn of the death of the Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili during his training. To think that he was readying himself for so long to get to the Olympics, only to have a fatal accident on the eve of the opening ceremonies. How sad that life has to work out like that sometimes. My condolences go out to his family and his teammates, and I wish them the best of luck in these games.

I haven't really made anything of great significance these past few weeks--although I found a great recipe for making roasted carrots and onions, which you can find here, and I made a pizza meatloaf recipe. It turned out quite good! Although when I was draining the juices from the pan, part of it fell into the sink. Oops. I'll be posting the recipe in a few days, and I'll add a little note about that.

One of the many, many delicious recipes I came across. Photo credit goes to Les Gourmandises d'Isa

I did, however, come across Tastespotting this weekend. Oh my goodness, how can I have gone without looking at this for so long??? Since it was Valentines Day weekend, there were so many good looking things on there. Like these (which I've never tried, in fact), these, and THIS.

Hope you had a great weekend! Mine was spent doing research, sport-watching, and celebrating (albeit quietly) in singlehood.

And just to conclude, I present to you one of the loveliest, most touching scenes out there ever.

Holy Moses it's cold!

Now I've commented about the cold weather here before, but this is cold. I had soup for lunch and I'm still cold.

And the wind chill factor certainly doesn't help! I have come to the conclusion that the only thing better than a cup (or more) of tea on a cold day is a cup of cocoa. Although I do love a good (real!) hot chocolate every once in a while, I'm a bigger fan of hot cocoa. I particularly like that it's not as heavy and sweet as the former, and that it has that deeper dark chocolatey (sp.?) taste. Plus, it's good for you! Full of antioxidants. I found a recipe for it a couple years ago, but I can't remember where from--it's not really necessary, anyway, it's dead easy:

1 tbsp. cocoa

2 tsp. sugar

A bit of milk

Mix together the cocoa, sugar and milk until well mixed in your mug. Add your hot water and stir well (I have to say I love the foam that collects on top once you start stirring). Then add your desired toppings :)

Also, the measurements of the milk/sugar don't have to be approximate; just go by your taste.

Photo taken by aso2008.