Cabin fever comfort food

I'm done with the winter, really. There was a glorious sunshine today, but accompanied with harsh winds and chilling cold, it's not helping much. I'm totally ready for spring and that was made evident when I identified my cravings and came up with the following lunch:

Pan grilled cod with orange glaze and cucumber salad with vinaigrette.
(I think the name of the dish says it all)

Take 2 cod fillets and thaw them if they're frozen. While they're thawing, cut the cucumber in small cubes and put them in a small ziplock bag with a vinaigrette of your preference (mine is 1 oz balsamic vinegar, a splash of oil and a teaspoon of sugar per serving) and forget about them till serving time. Put them in the fridge if you feel like it.

Since that was fast, and the fish is still thawing, start the glaze. Heat a splash of olive oil over medium heat, and when it heats up add 2 Tbs of orange marmalade and the juice of one lemon. Let it reduce and then add a pinch of salt and a good sprinkle of chives. Turn off the heat but let it stay on the stove to remain some warm.

Ok, the fish is now thawed. Yay! In a pan that you can put a lid on, heat some olive oil over medium heat, then toss the fish in there and close the lid. Let it be till it's cooked and flaky.

If you have any greens, put a bunch in a plate, then add the cucumbers around it. Then add the fish on top of the greens (I love it when they warm up and slightly wilt) and top with the glaze. If you prefer more salt, add it now.

It was delicious. And I even took a pic of it. Not with the good camera though, cause somehow the memory card was missing (read: was forgotten inside hubby's laptop and taken to work with him..)

It snowed again.

Again. I hope we're seeing the last of it, though I highly doubt it. At least, it made for a couple of pictures opportunities:





No idea what those berries are, but they have managed to stay nice and red throughout the season. That's brave!

This bridge connects our apartment parking lot with a park with basketball courts , a bike trail and a playground. I played it safe and decided not to cross it.


And here's a tree with the obligatory shoveled snow around it!



I had planned to go straight to the gym afterward, which is why I'm wearing sneakers with this weather.

I'm a happy snapper.

I'm trying to figure out some of the features of the new camera, so here are a couple of pictures I took. The salad (spring mix, beets, almonds, chives and blue cheese dressing), I shot with the "Food" scene option, which is pretty awesome for any still life type picture taken inside during day light.



The glasses now, I can't recall what I used. I snapped a bunch with a lot of different options, and just kept the one that was best focused. I thought of processing it to warm the color some, but I like it this way also.




I think I'm very happy with it. Now, to replace the point-and-shoot so that I can have a nice camera that can fit the purse!

Happy belated Valentine's Day!

I was away for the weekend with a bunch of girlfriends, with the plan to return home sometime Sunday afternoon to spend Valentine's day with hubby.

I did manage to get home on time and was delighted to find standard Val Day fare on the dining table: roses, a nice card and Lindt stracciatela truffles. Which I hadn't had for a while and they were soo preferable from normal chocolate truffles!

Unfortunately I returned home with a pretty bad cold, so we spent the night playing video games and checking my temperature. Oh well!

The other major thing that occured this weekend was that we finally purchased a good camera! Hubby found a great deal for a Nikon D5000 and I'm really excited about taking pics with it!

We watched the features DVD last night and I am hoping we can get out and around for some pics when I'm feeling better. I'd use it for this post, but I think hubby took it to work to shoot around his workplace.