Friday Favourites: Foods

I love to cook, and also love to eat, so here are my favourite foods!

1. Spaghetti and meatballs – I make an amazing Sicilian Sunday Gravy and it is perfect with Sicilian meatballs and spaghetti
2. Lobster – Unadulterated except maybe a little garlic butter
3. Shrimp – Shrimp anything, but especially with garlic and butter
4. Bruschetta – So simple and yummy
5. Steak – Grilled medium-rare with lots of mushrooms
6. Mashed potatoes – With garlic, with skins, with gravy or with butter…yum!
7. Pancakes – I eat a lot of pancakes. I have them at least once a week
8. Atlantic Salmon – It does taste different than Pacific salmon; its better! With lemon and tomatoes and garlic.
9. Couscous – Made with chicken broth, some ground cumin and turmeric and mixed with sautéed fresh veggies
10. Sweet potato fries
11. Fish and chips! I was in heaven getting to eat fish and chips with a beer in a pub in the UK

So, what are your favourite foods?

Friday Favourites: Books...again

Ok, so I think I got wrapped up in a whirlwind of Twilight, Edward Cullen frenzy, and the last time I wrote a list of my favourite books was during that time period. I've almost kept up with my goal of finishing one book per week this year and I think it is time for me to list my favourite reads so far...These are in no particular order of "favouriteness"

1. The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall - This is a fantastically imaginative and abstract book.
2. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman - NG really is a rock star author. While I found this book to be a little too bard for children and it is found in the children's section of libraries and book stores, it is a great story and I loved it!
3. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
4. City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
5. City of Glass by Cassandra Clare - Obviously, I loved the Mortal Instruments series. Though these are YA books, they were very well-written, the characters were interesting, and the story just kept getting better and better until it ended. BUT, the great news is, she has decided to write a fourth book and I hope she'll write even more
6. Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix - there was just so much action in this part of the Harry Potter story
7. Harry Potter & the Half-blood Prince - My favourite of all the HP books. I was really disappointed with the movie this summer
8. Some Girls Bite by Chloe Neill - Surprisingly the only vampire book that remains on my list. Very well-written, strong characters and a story that I can't wait to read more of when Friday Night Bites comes out next month
9. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley - Believe it or not, I had never read Frankenstein. What was I thinking?! It is creepy and I love it.
10. The Doomsday Key by James Rollins - I love Rollins' Sigma characters and the action in his stories is fantastic. Plus I always learn something due to the thorough research he does for his stories. Read this book to find out what is happening to all the bees!

I'm sure I'll post another list of my favourite books again before the year is over, or at least, at the end of the year. I'll be spending time catching up to make sure I read my 52 books, so, what should I read next? What have been your favourite reads so far this year?

Friday Favourites: Funny Women

My favourite genre of movie is comedy. I just love to laugh. So here is a list of the women who make me laugh the most.

1. Tina Fey - From Weekend Update to Thirty Rock and her always funny photos shoots. She's the best.

2. Sarah Silverman - Sometimes I am baffled by how politically incorrect she can be, but she is hilarious none-the-less.

3. Amy Poehler - Great teammate with Tina, but also funny on her own. She has a very interesting comedic timing...she sometimes reminds me of William Shatner...and her facial expressions are priceless.

4. Anna Faris - She hasn't done as much as the other ladies no this list, but she knows how to play to her strengths and she plays the dumb, ditzy girl in a way that always makes me laugh. I like that she isn't afraid to look foolish.

5. Elizabeth Banks - She had the line in $0 Year Old Virgin about "putting it in her trunk", she was very funny in Scrubs and she was in a Kevin Smith movie about making a porn and she was on Role Models, which is one of my favourite comedies from the last year...love her.

6. Ellen Page - She is witty and sarcastic and CANADIAN!

So, who are your favourite funny women?

Friday Favourites: Favourite Summer Activities

The weather is finally hot, and summer is finally here! These are my favourite all-time summer activities.

1. Swimming
2. Hiking
3. Blowing bubbles
4. Barbecues
5. Watching fireworks
6. Attending small-town festivals
7. Looking for fireflies
8. Picking wildflowers
9. Eating ice cream
10. Reading in a park

Not that many of these can't be done during other seasons, but there is something extra-special about them in the summer.

What are your favourite summer activities?

Friday Favourites: Favourite Fruits

As summer approaches (in date, not in temperature since it is mighty cold still in Ontario), I am day dreaming about fresh fruits and vegetables from farmer's markets. As such, here is a list of my favourite fruits:

1. Watermelon
2. Mango
3. Strawberries
4. Blueberries
5. Bananas
6. Pineapple
7. Fuji Apples

Yum, yum, yum. What are your favourite fruits?

Friday Favourites: Bands with "the" in their name

Okay, a musically-themed list for today. These are my favourite bands with the word "the" in their band name.

1. The Roots
2. The Pogues
3. The Donnas
4. The Cranberries
5. The Tragically Hip
6. The Pretenders
7. The Arcade Fire
8. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs
9. The New Pornographers
10. The Flaming Lips
11. The Ramones
12. The Raconteurs
13. The Shins
14. The Philosopher Kings
15. The Cardigans

So, what bands with "the" in their name do you love?

Friday Favourites

Hmm, I’ve been thinking that one way to get more lists out of myself is to start some themes…so here is my first shot at one: Friday Favourites!

I’ve been spending A LOT of time reading the last couple months and I have been very pleased with my rekindled relationship with books. In celebration of this fact, here are some of my favourite books:

1. American Gods – Neil Gaiman
2. Ender’s Game – Orson Scott Card
3. A Long Way Down – Nick Hornby
4. Microserfs – Douglas Coupland
5. Snow Crash – Neal Stephenson
6. All of the Sigma Force Series – James Rollins
7. The Pendergast books – Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
8. Evernight & Stargazer – Claudia Gray
9. Some Girls Bite – Chloe Neill
10. The God Delusion – Richard Dawkins
11. The Twilight Series – Stephenie Meyer (yeah, I know, but I really did like them)

So, anything on here you love too?

What are your favourite books?