You know that moment when you realize that it is almost time for dinner and you haven't thought about dinner all day?  That terrible feeling when you thought the day was winding down but now you have to assess your pantry and fridge in the age old dilemma of What To Make For Dinner?  Let me tell you how it went down at our house last night. 

First of all, you need to know a little bit about my husband.  Josh is passionate about food.  He has read countless cookbooks and articles on ingredients and techniques.  I think he has seen every episode of Anthony Bourdain's  No Reservations and The Layover, and most episodes of every serious cooking show out there.  He makes incredible homemade pasta, bar-b-cues the best Tri-tip you will ever have and if you try to season something he is cooking you best leave the house.  He has been known to halt the cooking process mid-way and storm out of the kitchen because his sous chef disobeyed him.  (Yes, he assigns family members as sous chefs when making pancakes, bacon and eggs.)   He holds himself to very high standards and thinks everyone else should too.  This greatly affects our food situation.  

Now that you have a little background, let me move on to last night's episode of Dinner At The Hamel House.

I wasn't hungry but after realizing that it was time for dinner and I had nothing planned I opened the fridge to scan for possibilities.  No fresh meat and no other proteins other than egg which we had already eaten at breakfast meant moving on to the freezer section.  Josh does not approve of frozen food, especially frozen meats, but unless you want to go to the market every other day, frozen meat has to fill in the gaps sometimes.    There was no time to thaw anything other than fish or a chicken breast.  Fish it was.  

1. I threw a Basa fillet, still in it's sealed packet, under cold running water until thawed.   
   
2. Seasoned it with salt & pepper.  
   
3. Put a frying pan on the burner and turned it on high.  
   
4. Gave it a couple of minutes to heat up poured in a swig of olive oil and a dash of butter. 
   
5. When butter was bubbling in the oil I laid the fish in and got a nice golden crisp on it. 
   
6. Flipped the fish and turned the heat way down so it would finish cooking but not overcook.  

Meanwhile I had steamed some frozen brussel sprouts and heated up leftover frozen rice. 

Oh, the things my husband said while eating this dinner! Some women would have hit him over the head with the frying pan! I could not quit laughing as he ate it with a pathetic face like a 6 year old being forced to eat cold, soggy spinach.  

He said with a curled up lip, "This is a frozen dinner, isn't it?" 
He asked about the brussels sprout, "Why did you make these green water balls?" 
He said, "I gotta go and get some real food somewhere now but that was real exciting." 

At least he is honest and when he does compliment my cooking (which he does quite often since I am a good cook when I try) I know I have really put out a great meal.  Because I know my husband and I knew this was not the best meal I've ever made, I laughed. Someday, I may hit him over the head with a frying pan! I'll be laughing then too, maybe. 

I shared part of this on my personal Facebook page last night and had some friends respond with some pretty funny cooking stories of their own.  Have you ever been insulted about your cooking?  Did you take it with a grain of salt?  I would love to hear your stories!

I was recently tagged by Leslie over at Ruff Ruminations in her Eleven Things About Me post.  I say recently but it's been a couple of weeks and I have been totally putting this off!  So, here goes, and I might as well tell you I am a party pooper so I will be breaking rules #4 and #5.  Sorry.  :)

1) Do you consider yourself a blogger, mom-blogger or hobby blogger? Do you wish you were more (or less one of those?)  I don't really think about this but, if pressed, I would say a mom-blogger.

2) Do you enjoy crafts or DIY? What is your favorite?  I only enjoy looking at projects and thinking "I could totally do that!"  One I actually start something I realize I am not that talented and it's a rude awakening.

3) If you had $50 million what would you do with it?  I would hire full-time help, buy a home in the community of my choice and a pied-a-terre in another, and I would travel.  Is that enough to do that?  It would be a start at least!

4) What are you reading right now?  The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt.  Some of my online friends and I recently started a Facebook Group book club called The Social Readers and this is our first selection.  (The group is open if you would like to join.)

5)   Leslie left this question blank so... yay!!!

6) What is your favorite thing the kids in your life do? (Be you a Mom, Aunt etc)  When my son wakes up in the morning he gathers up his two pillows, hands them to me, then hands me his blanket and says, "Bed!"  We go to my room and snuggle in my bed for a while.  It is definitely one of my favorite things!

7) What was your biggest fashion mistake ever? (post a pic if you have one)  Does trying to cut my own bangs count?   It was an epic fail!  (I was 34 when I did this so you would think I would have known better.)

8) If honesty was always appreciated what would you say to strangers?  I'm more of an observer of strangers and enjoy watching uniqueness in others so this is hard for me to say.  If the question had ended with what would you say to someone that I know that would be a whole different story because I tend to be quiet rather than ruin relationships most of the time.  Honesty is NOT always appreciated.  LOL  To strangers???  Maybe, "Don't touch my kids hands, you look like a very nice old lady but it doesn't mean your hands are clean."

9) If you could spend unlimited money on only one room in your house which would it be and what would you do?  A sound-proof basement where the kids could play during the day, (hooked up to a video feed so I could see that they were okay) and where grown-ups could hang out after the kids were in bed without waking them up.  Perfect set-up!  Wait, did I just say that I never want to be around kids???  NO! I just want the option for some safe separation time!  LOL

10) What is your favorite part of yourself? What do you envy in other people?  This is like an awkward interview question where you want to be just honest enough that they admire your transparency and just witty enough that you distract them enough they don't realize you are BSing.  Right?  My favorite part of myself would be that I am adaptable to almost any environment.  Put me in a room full of strangers and I could find something to like and relate to with each one.  What do I envy in other people?  I envy people who are graceful and poised at all times because I can be a little klutzy at times.  OK, most of the time.

11) Owls are really "in" right now, what do you think should be the next "it" animal and why?  In Calgary, the new "in" animal will be the penguin because of our new exhibit at the Calgary Zoo!

That's it for my eleven (ten) things.  If you would like to link up and repair the chain that I have broken, feel free.  Here are the rules:

She told me I was going to get a spanking and then walked around the right side of her desk.  I got up from my desk and I ran to the left.  She switched directions and started back towards me.  Again I ran to the other side.  Back and forth we went until I saw my exit and darted up the stairs that were behind her desk.  I raced up one floor and then another and banged at the door of my dad's office.  Her footsteps were close behind but dad's door opened just in time!   Rescued! (Or so I thought.)

It was a private Christian school and it was the young teachers first time in a classroom.  It was also one of my first times in a classroom.  I was five years old.  I don't remember what I did wrong but I do remember that Dad spanked me and sent me back downstairs where my teacher spanked me.   

Through the years this teacher and I became great friends and this story was told and retold to the amusement of many listening ears.  I was always quite proud of myself that I made it past the teacher! 

When I was fourteen years old I had an odd relationship with my brothers.  Matt was eight, Mark was five and I loved them fiercely, still do.  Anyway, most of the time they played together and I bossed them around.  I was the mature one.  One day, however, my maturity slipped and I started jumping on the bed with them.  All three of us started laughing hysterically.  You know how it is when kids start laughing?  There is a special bond with siblings when they make each other laugh and that bond is very hard to break.  

Well, my dad was on an important call and he came in to ask us to be quiet.  But oh, that bond, it would not be broken.  I think we received a few more warnings until finally he said we were all going to get spanked when he was finished with his call.  I couldn't remember the last time I had got a spanking and I was scared.  I stopped laughing hysterically immediately and went into overdrive worrying about how bad this spanking was going to hurt.  I was so worked up that when Dad walked in the room I burst into tears.  I felt five years old again.  

The first swat came and along with it my fear turned to confusion.  The second swat came and confusion turned to hysterical laughing.  It didn't hurt!  I barely felt it!  I couldn't stop laughing.  Dad stood looking at me with a bewildered look on his face and then left the room.  I sat and laughed and felt free and very powerful!  

Dad and I have remembered that day together and laughed at ourselves many times.  It was the last spanking I ever got.

Last night I looked at the cute little heart-shaped cookie cutter and thought about making heart shaped cookies for Max and Josh to wake up to, but I put that cute little heart-shaped cookie cutter right back in the drawer unused.  This morning I thought about making some paper hearts for Max to color but I let him color in his coloring book instead.  Yep, pretty lame.  Finally at the end of the day I had to assuage my guilt by buying some Valentine's cookies from Glamorgan Bakery and some helium-filled heart-shaped balloons.  Max LOVED them.  We had hugs and kisses and much more sugar than normal.  Happy Valentine's Day!

That was my short and sweet post for today but I am dragging out a post  from  2/14/06 and dusting it off for memory's sake.

Funny Valentine

'Home Chicken' was one of the first things he called me. I should have known how things would progress from there. I have threatened to write a list of all the different names he has called me over the past five years. FIVE YEARS!!! One year of dating and almost four years of marriage. Wow! Back to the name-calling...

Chicken Ears

Chicken Eyes (what's with the chicken???)

Goonie (sigh, it's so romantic!)

Many of them I can't even put to paper, they don't make sense, since they are words that he made up. Really, I can't carry through with my threat, but maybe someday I'll work up the nerve to do it. (Be warned, oh husband of mine!)

How I love him though! He turned out to be more sensitive, more giving, more compassionate, more snuggly, more intelligent, more fascinating, more frustrating, (oops, I forgot I was on the positive things), more patient, more loving, more romantic than I thought he was! What more can a woman ask for?

A recent study published in The Canadian Medical Association Journal has brought the hot topic of spanking to our news stations, Facebook, and Twitter.  There are polls asking if spanking should be illegal in Canada.  There are quotes and facts being passed around and opinions given freely.  So, I am jumping in to The Spank Debate today and I'm going to tell you why I used to be pro-spank and how I became anti-spank.  More importantly I am going to lay out the desperate need for parental education as opposed to legislation.

I was born the first child of a young couple in their early 20's.  Although I have a lot of memories that involve spanking I grew up very confident of my parents love.   My dad was most often the disciplinarian of the family and he would always sit with us after a spanking and tell us that he loved us.  By the time my brothers came around, six and nine years after I was born, Dad had matured in his parenting and discipline beliefs and switched from using a belt to using a soft-sided ping pong paddle.  He also set a limit of 3 swats and always on the butt.   

So, I grew up thinking that in order for kids to be well-behaved they needed to be spanked.   It's how good parenting was done.

In 2010, at the age of 35, a tiny human was laid naked in my arms.  His blue eyes gazed up at me and my heart was forever knit with his.  As my husband and I spent the next few months getting to know our new son we started talking about how we, who had always been Pro-Spank people, were suddenly feeling like we never wanted to hit our kid.   I started seeking out information on effective discipline for each stage of life.  Of course, the only discipline needed in the first year was self-discipline and as long as I kept a simple schedule of sleep, eat and play all was well in our world.  Meanwhile, my Anti-Spank ideas were becoming more concrete.  It was a combination of educating myself about the possible negative long-term effects, common sense and this intense love for my child.

Then my tiny human became a little monster and I was blindsided by feelings of frustration that were just as intense as my feelings of love.  Parenting is not the romantic picture that I thought it was.   Not that I thought it would be easy, I just didn't think that it would be a nightmare.  I had over 5 years of experience as a Nanny and I knew that there would be rough days. I didn't know that those days could last for weeks.  I knew that my child wouldn't be an angel and would need consistent discipline of some sort.  I didn't know that I would feel like I just might lose my mind.  

I didn't know that sometimes I would really want to spank him.  This is what has firmly put me on the Anti-Spank side of The Spank Debate.  I have realized that spanking, for me, would be the easy way out, and it would always stem from me being angry that I couldn't control someone who I thought should be controlled.  

Education Vs. Legislation 

Last week after a really tough morning of mothering a toddler I threw up my hands and said, "I am not equipped for this!" Then I got in the shower and cried.  It is easy to be firm in my stance as an Anti-Spanker but it is not so easy to figure out what works instead.   There are no easy answers!   This is why I think education and support networks for parents is what we really need to be looking at and discussing.  

I don't think the question should be about making spanking illegal.  The question should be how can we encourage intentional parenting.  We should be pushing education about why spanking is detrimental.  We should be talking about the 80 studies that show violence and bullying being linked to spanking.  We should be talking about stress, anxiety and other long-term effects that spanking has on children.  And most importantly we should be equipping parents with other tools.  We should be talking about how to develop support networks for parents who feel like they are at the end of their rope.  It is not enough to legislate, we need to educate or parents will continue to spank.

I would love to hear your thoughts!  Comment here, add your blog to the Blog Hop, and join the conversation on Twitter.  #TheSpankDebate 

So this conversation just happened.

My husband - "We need a new morning ritual.  I'm not enjoying ours."
Me - "Remember in our first apartment when I would turn on Bloomberg  News and bring you coffee in bed?  You liked that ritual."
My husband - "Misty, you did it twice."

Ritual, schmitual.  To my credit I do think I did it more than twice but I know the ritual didn't last long enough to be properly labelled as a ritual.  

This is our ritual now:  

I get up first and make a fresh fruit salad and a big pot of stone ground oatmeal.   The coffee gets started and fresh orange juice squeezed.  Then while the oatmeal is cooking I have a time of prayer and meditation.  My husband walks into the kitchen with our sweet, sleepy-faced son just as everything is set nicely on the table and  they greet me with a smile and a kiss.

Yeah, right!  

1.  My husband gets up early enough to take calls from his clients in NY.  Early.  
2.  I get up when Max wakes up and we stumble to the kitchen to make coffee.  
3.  Max helps by smelling the coffee beans and turning the coffee pot on  after I put in the grounds and water.  
4.  I heat up two cups in preparation for the coffee and Max eats his first breakfast, oatmeal.  
5.  We take Josh a cup of coffee and I sit with Max to drink mine while we read books.  
6.  Then I make 3 fried eggs, 3 pieces of toast and refill the coffee cups.  
7.  Josh and I eat our first breakfast and Max eats his second.  Woohoo! Isn't that inspiring.

Today however, before my husband insulted me with the ritual conversation, I was contemplating how much better my day would go if I purposed to get up and get dressed before Max wakes up.  I would actually be ready to walk out the door at any time of the day!  I might even make it to some of those mommy groups and play dates that always start way too early in the morning for me.  Well, that is a stretch but maybe.  

Do you have morning rituals?  Do any of you stay-at-home-moms or work-at-home-moms end up staying in your p.j.s way longer than you care to admit?

 Since reading about Justin Leboe and the opening of his new restaurant in July's issue of Avenue, I have been dying to go to Model Milk.  I think the tipping point for me was when I read that he had worked at The French Laundry.  Let me back-up.

In 2001, GQ magazine published a list of the Top 10 Places To Fly And Eat. 

In 2002, I married a foodie who had read that article and he determined that we should go to as many of these places as possible.

On our honeymoon, we crossed one of these off the list by staying at Sooke Harbour House and eating at their  restaurant twice.  We promised ourselves that we would return.  It was wonderful!

In 2004 my parents took us to The French Laundry for our anniversary and we crossed the second place off of the list.  No words can describe this experience.

Please understand, the reason I am not elaborating on The French Laundry and Sooke Harbour House is because they each deserve an entire post.  And this post is about Model Milk.  No really, it is.

In the summer of 2005 while visiting family in Cleburne, TX (yes, I did just admit that out loud) we jumped in the car and drove 3 and a half hours to Hunstville, TX to eat at the New Zion Missionary Baptist Church BBQ.  This would have been the third place crossed off the list if it hadn't been closed for renovation.  So we ate at Sonic and drove 3 and a half hours back to Cleburne.

All that to say we are serious about our food.  Chef Leboe's resume is impressive and Model Milk's website let me know that this was a restaurant that we had to check out.  

We ate at the food bar which overlooks the open kitchen, our favorite place to eat in any restaurant if it's available. The action in Model Milk's kitchen didn't disappoint.  Compact and sparkling clean, everyone quietly putting out works of art on a plate.  

The Radicchio Caesar Salad although not a classic Caesar was a very satisfying Caesar.  It felt like comfort food, which is an odd thing to say about a salad.  Everything was chopped evenly making it easy to get all components in one bite and the portion was large enough that Josh and I both had our fill with one order.  Warning, there are whole anchovies in this dish.

Then came Smoked Veal on Toast which was wonderful, and again a surprising blend of comfort food and freshness at the same time.  This veal will melt in your mouth!

Josh ordered the B.C. Ling Cod and was very pleased.  I think his exact description was "delightful"!  The broth is packed with flavour and the cod is cooked to perfection.  Once again the portion was large, so large that Josh didn't finish even though he wanted to.

I ordered the Maple Hill Fried Chicken and I think being born in Texas gives me a unique perspective on all things fried.  This was excellent fried chicken!  The texture of the meat was perfect, juicy and flavourful.  The accompanying greens and their slightly vinegary sauce were a great match for the  mushrooms and gravy.  I was happy to say the least, and full. 

Did I mention that Josh and I were so full we couldn't finish our entree's, or large plates as Model Milk's menu calls them?  Well, let me tell you what happened next.  The couple next to us ordered dessert, we saw them eating it, we lusted after it, we ordered it.  Oh yeah, baby, we ate it!  Lemon Thyme Pot de Creme.  It. Was. Good.  

I am looking forward to returning for one of their Sunday Suppers which are served family style.  How cool is that?

We are awarding Model Milk the Hamelstein Award!  Great food, great atmosphere, great service.  

By the way, concerning the Top 10 Places To Fly and Eat, El Bulli was one of the places and they closed this year so my husband is despondant regarding his list.  Also, I can't find this list anywhere online so if you happen to have a copy or a link and wouldn't mind sharing I would really like to get my hands on it again.

Merrily left a comment concerning vegetarian options at Model Milk so I asked them via twitter and received the following response:

26 JanModel Milk @ModelMilkBistro
@MrsHamel there are always options available. We leave it to the guest to decide what they feel like eating and then cook to their tastes.

This morning Calgary looks foggy but it is actually a layer of steam rising up from the houses and buildings.  I opened the door to take a picture of it and captured my breath instead.  Cold and mornings are both things that I have major issues with.  I don't like either one!  Sometimes I hate them.  Today is one of those days.  Frigid cold here in Calgary.  Negative 30 degrees Celsius (negative 22 degrees Fahrenheit).  Oh yeah, and Max had no mercy this morning even though, or maybe because, I was extra grumpy and could barely see out of my eyes when he woke us up.  

Is anyone else wondering what SOPA is all about?  I tend to be one of those who remain uninformed on most issues until the day something is actually happening.  So this morning I did a quick search and found this helpful infographic that breaks it down simply and effectively.  I am still not informed enough to comment intelligently but I will be paying more attention to the issue now.

When 2012 crept up on me and slapped me in the face, I along with countless other people reflected on the past year and wondered how 2011 could already be over.  I have never been a successful resolution keeper, so last year I didn't make any resolutions.  As a matter of fact, the beginning of last year was not a great time of my life to say the least.  If I had to describe what 2011 was in a single word it would probably be 'overwhelmed'.   I spent this past year treading water.  There were times when I managed to grab a life vest and float, soaking in the warmth of the moment only to have a ferocious wave knock me back under the sea of life.  

Some of the things that helped me float last year:

January 16 - started this blog which has for the most part been very therapeutic for me. 

Two visits to New York.  Once to see my brother, Matt, graduate from The Academy of Dramatic Arts.  You can read the blog here and see more pics here.  The second visit was a three-week stint in July/August in which I determined to get my groove back.

June - Auditioned for a role in Storybook Theatre's production of Anne of Green Gables.  Was cast as Mrs. Minnie Pye!  Thanks Jacqueline for taking a chance on me!  Rehearsing and performing breathed creative life into me and I met some great friends in the process!  If you enjoy singing and don't mind performing in front of an audience I would highly recommend community theatre.   I still haven't done a wrap-up post on my experience because I have been super busy since the play ended. 

More than all of this  was love of great friends and family and most of all was the reminder I was given at the beginning of the year when a friend told me about Tim Chester's 4 G's of the Gospel. 

• God is great – so we don’t have to be in control
• God is glorious – so we don’t have to fear others
• God is good – so we don’t have to look elsewhere
• God is gracious – so we don’t have to prove ourselves
  

This year a lot of bloggers are using one word to focus themselves on how they want the year to turn out.  I like how Robin at Farewell Stranger describes how one word (or an idea) can impact how you view things.  I think my word for this year is Navigate.  I have been thinking about how each day and situation calls for a focused reorientation of purpose and directon in order for there to be consistent progress.  If I can set a course and then navigate through this sea instead of treading water then 2012 will be a better year.


Have you made a determination for this new year?  

I have a guest post up at Family Fun Calgary.  Please head on over and check it out!