a good meal {giveaway}

“The pleasures of the table belong to all times and ages, to every country and every day; they go hand in hand with all our other pleasures, outlast them, and remain to console us for their loss.”

- Jean Anthelme Brillat Savarin, The Physiology of Taste

Over the past week, I've really enjoyed those moments of being at the table with people I care about, enjoying a meal and reflecting on life. In a world of such hustle and bustle, it can seem almost a chore to sit everyone down at your dinner table - and, I'll admit, a good 3 out of 5 dinners with my parents involve us looking through separate newspapers or reading books instead of actually conversing.

This quote stood out to me because it doesn't necessarily say the pleasure of food, but rather the pleasures of the table. Dinner can be used as a cause for a birthday celebration, a job promotion, an engagement party (congrats Mel!), a catch-up afternoon after a long time of not seeing someone, or an intimate getaway for two. It's those memories that linger, and while a bad meal can tarnish that memory, it's the people I'm with that certainly make it worthwhile. 

The two days off thanks to 'Family Day' in Ontario and an extra day off from my teachers college for the president of the university (so random) inspired me to explore my kitchen. I honestly would love to cook and bake any moment I can, if only my kitchen was bigger and I had more spare time.

During those days off I made apple cinnamon streudel muffins, which was my first attempt at ever making muffins and I gotta say, they turned out pretty good! On Pancake Tuesday I made pancakes for the first time in forever (making me wish I was more like Bree), and then made some dinner for me and my tata while my mom was at work. It felt nice, even though the worse part of making food is definitely the cleaning up (no matter how hard I scrub, I swear there's pieces of food that just magically appear on a bowl once I clean it). 

Recipe adapted from here with slight changes: 

chopping two apples and grating one, and putting a half-cup white sugar and half-cup brown sugar into the batter. 

Last weekend provided yummy bubble tea and moments to catch up with my closest friends that I unfortunately don't get to see that often. Our go-to place has become that bubble tea restaurant with its $1.00 dine-in special where we always get french fries and fish balls (which tastes way better than it sounds).  And while we usually take advantage of all the board games there, from Jenga to cards to checkers, the last few times have been spent just talking and laughing, and I enjoy it just the same. 

Valentine's Day combined great company with delicious food. We had bruschetta with goat cheese and two separate pastas along with amazing Caesar salad (and of course, chewy gummy candy for dessert). The Boy and I hit up an Italian eatery and talked about life, love, and a little white box that popped up on the dinner table midway through the meal (a necklace from him that I adore!). 

I'm definitely thankful for the moments where I can sit down with the people I love and care about and enjoy the pleasure of being in their company (and the pleasure of food, too). To celebrate that - and to celebrate three years of blogging - I'm going to have little giveaways each Sunday for the next few weeks so that you can indulge in a good meal, too. First up:

A Starbucks gift card ($15) along with a few of my favourite teabags.

There's nothing like good conversation over a warm drink and a cake pop.

To Enter:

(1) Be a follower of this blog!

(2) Write in the comments "Enter me!"

Open to local and international bloggers alike!
Next Sunday's giveaway (teaser alert) is about a good meal at home.

And since this whole post has been about food (a first!), I have to ask:

What's your go-to meal? 

What's a dinner you'd have every week if you could?

Hope you've had an amazing weekend!