Tapas Madness

Last night was Midnight Madness, an annual street festival in Downtown Oakville where all of the stores open late, the main street closes down and all of the restaurants set up patios.  

Josh and I had dinner with my sister and her husband at Corks, Oakville’s first Tapas style restaurant and one of my favourites. I love Tapas because it allows you to sample a bunch of different menu items instead of committing to one massive entrée. What can I say, I’m a promiscuous eater.

Here’s Eleanor with Chris pretending to enjoy a glass of wine (she’s four months’ pregnant). In a show of sisterly solidarity, I split a bottle of sparkling water with her instead of getting the glass of wine I kinda wanted. I figured I’m going out for dinner again tonight and I can get my drink on then.

For our first round, we ordered duck-stuffed empanadas and chickpea, almond and roasted red pepper dip. The empanadas were okay – maybe a step up from something you’d get from a box of frozen appetizers – but the dip was delicious. I was worried it would taste like run of the mill hummus but it had a very distinct flavour and texture. Loved it!

Next up - veal and sausage skewers and beer braised meatballs.

The meat was done perfectly but what really stood out for me was the heavenly avocado mixture underneath.

The meatballs were served with what can only be described as onion rings on steroids. I didn’t have any (I’m not generally an onion fan) but I enjoyed a meatball.

Next up – cocas (pastries topped with red pepper, onion and pancetta) and fried shrimp and calamari. Both good but we were getting a little full by this point (they also brought us over a small order of complimentary fries).

And last but not least – an order of mussels for the boys and peppers stuffed with lamb, olives and peppers and topped with cheese.

After dinner, we walked along Lakeshore Road.

I love me a good street festival.

The Week in Workouts

It’s Saturday morning, which means time for my weekly workout recap:

Sunday	Body Step
Monday	NROL4W 2A + 20 min. treadmill intervals
Tuesday	Body Flow
Wednesday	8 km run
Thursday	NROL4W 2B
Friday	Rest
Saturday	10 km run

I would’ve liked to get in an extra strength workout but other than that I’d say this was a good week. I breezed through Sunday to Wednesday without encountering any post-workout soreness but on Thursday my hip flexor began to act up. I was fine in the morning but as the day progressed I started to feel pain. Delayed onset muscle soreness or just the perils of sitting at a desk for eight hours?

I sucked it up and went to the gym anyway for my New Rules of Lifting for Women workout but I skipped the cardio intervals at the end. The workout went pretty well considering – I was able to increase the weights for every exercise. I then took a full day of rest on Friday.

I finished the week with my scheduled long run this morning. Last time I ran 10km was in September of last year and that’s the farthest I’ve ever run to date. I’m excited to tackle 11 km in two weeks.

That’s it for me for now. I’m just finishing my first cup of tea for the morning (!) and then I’m gonna make lunch.

Have you ever tried tapas? If so, did you like it or do you prefer eating one large serving of something you really enjoy?