Mr. Oh Goes to Toronto

And Mr. Oh returns with food treasures!

There were goodies from the Ohs - sundried cherry tomatoes (one of my favourites), high-end pastas, olives, Sicilian Sea Salt, more almonds than I can eat in a year, my favourite "nice light snack", Coffee Crisp, and fresh-from-the-olive-farm olive oil!

From Mamma, we received an excessive sampling of her new batch of homemade salamis and sopresattas!! The quantity should last me through to the Fall, but will likely disappear within a few short weeks! So tastey, so spicy!

And to top it off, Mr. Oh shopped victoriously at Loblaws (I'm a loyal President's Choice (PC) foodie) and our pantry is now well stocked with PC products from crackers, cookies (PC Decadent, no less), flax tortialla chips and nuts. He also snuck in an assortment of cheeses from my fav deli (Grande Cheese), a couple of bags of arborio rice and a jumbo box of Canadian-made Special K!

I was bummed that I couldn't get back to visit my fam and friends this past weekend, but the food we received brought a little bit of home to me!

Grazie tante!!!

What Did You Eat?

This is the question that starts every conversation I have with my mother and father. Even if I speak to both of them on the same night, they will both ask the question and I must - must, I tell you - answer them.

Unlike other questions of curiosity like, "How's the weather?", "What did you eat?" is my parents' thermometer on the state of my life. When you're happy you eat well; when you aren't you don't. Simple as that.

My brother, Rob, and I joke that this question is sometimes the only reason they call us. That they really don't want to or need to know anything else. That is, unless they don't like the answer.

Yes, this little phrase of four one-syllable words tells them all they need to know about my mood, temperament and overall health (both mental and physical). It is their gauge of my true level of happiness - at home, at work, in my relationships and in life.

So, tonight as I settled onto the sofa to eat and watch a rerun of Ugly Betty, I thought of my parents and hoped they wouldn't call tonight. It's not that I didn't want to chat, not at all. The truth is, I just didn't want to cause them any unnecessary concern.

Concern? Yes. Because tonight's dinner consisted of chips and salsa for Mr. Oh and a bowl of Special K for me. As you can tell from the pic, I import my Kellogg's cereal from Canada. There is a significant difference in taste, texture, colour and most importantly, the ability to stay crispy longer in milk.

Had my parents called and I reported tonight's menu, they'd pepper me with questions to understand what was wrong because snacking isn't dinner. And no dinner means something so much more.