Sunday, April 3, 2011
Who should I vote for?
Yet another grown-up thing to do... vote in the federal election. When people ask me my opinion about politics I usually say I'm not informed enough to respond appropriately. SO if I'm going to vote (which everyone should) I should know what's going on. I had no idea where to get started but my mum found this questionnaire on cbc.ca called the vote compass. You go through a few questions about defence, economy, environment, government programs, immigration and multiculturalism, law and order, moral values, parlimentary reform, Quebec, and taxes. It ends up being 30 questions, you find out which party you line up with the best, the worst, and everything in between. It's neat because you can see how each one of the parties would answer the same questions you did. Check it out @ http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadavotes2011/votecompass/
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Pies!!!
Baking pie was a bit intimidating but it ended up being a lot of fun! As you know it was recently my friend Steff's bday. For her present I decided to buy ingredients for pie and then have some gals over for wine and pie making, such a lovely evening!Originally this pie was called cranberry struzzle pie, but we opted for mixed berries instead. We made two, one with and one without nuts. We got quite creative!
Ring Ching!
Apple Pudding (Birthday) Cake!
Well it was my birthday and I decided I wanted to make my own birthday cake. It's very similar to the first apple cake I made for my mum's bday but this one has grated (not chopped) apples ( i gave this task to my sister which she so grately appreciated hahaha). Needles to say it was delicious so nice and moist! I put some of the sauce on top of the cake right away, set it in the fridge for a bit, then I was able to write on it in icing (pink of course), and I saved most of the sauce to warm up when it was served to drizzle on each piece! Very good with ice cream :) YUM!
Ring Ching!
Ring Ching!
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Carrot (dream filled) Cupcakes!
So it's my lovely friend's (Steff) 23rd birthday and she's having a pot luck brunch. I decided cup cakes would be more fitting for a birthday than muffins right? haha, anyhooo at least there's carrots in them! wow let me tell you grating carrots is a mega workout, i may have pulled an arm muscle ;). For these cupcakes you put a dollop of cream cheese icing in the middle before you bake them, but there was a lot of it left over so i decided to put a layer on top of the cupcakes so it would be easier to write in icing on top. These are my most favorite things I have ever made EVER!
My Co-worker was also moving away and a group of us got together for some thai take-out and what better to go with thai food than carrot cupcakes ;) mmm so good they would go with anything!
Ring Ching!
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
SNOW in Victoria (weird)
Grown up thing #2 - Take care of dog (and myself) for two weeks
So my mum went to Scotland for a couple of weeks (I'm 1/2 Scottish), I unfortunately couldn't go because I still have school and work :( Anyways I'm looking after her dog Isla and of course it was at the worst time because there was a snow storm (if you're not from Vic. this is quite rare) and Isla isn't much for cold weather (such a princess)!
I'm quite an independent gal but I'm living at home right now and some of the things that my mum does for me when I'm in a rush is lovely. She'll voluntarily scrape my windshield if there's ice or she'll toast me a bagel! So not having her there plus the dog plus the snow was interesting...hahaha, lets just say I was in more of a rush than usual to get to practicum in the morning. I couldn't find a shovel and ended up sweeping my stairs!!!
Here's the princess quickly enjoying the snow
after the initial shock she'd just make a yellow spot on the snow on the porch ( I don't blame her it was cold!)
So my mum went to Scotland for a couple of weeks (I'm 1/2 Scottish), I unfortunately couldn't go because I still have school and work :( Anyways I'm looking after her dog Isla and of course it was at the worst time because there was a snow storm (if you're not from Vic. this is quite rare) and Isla isn't much for cold weather (such a princess)!
I'm quite an independent gal but I'm living at home right now and some of the things that my mum does for me when I'm in a rush is lovely. She'll voluntarily scrape my windshield if there's ice or she'll toast me a bagel! So not having her there plus the dog plus the snow was interesting...hahaha, lets just say I was in more of a rush than usual to get to practicum in the morning. I couldn't find a shovel and ended up sweeping my stairs!!!
Here's the princess quickly enjoying the snow
after the initial shock she'd just make a yellow spot on the snow on the porch ( I don't blame her it was cold!)
but i did take her on walks too, here's proof mum!
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Banana Bread
Well who doesn't love banana bread!?! It's a classic not to be messed with! There were a few recipes to choose from however (whole wheat, nut vs. no nuts etc...). I'm not the biggest fan of nuts in my bread but I do love chocolate chips soooo good when they're melted mmmmm! Loaves are perfect because you can quickly just cut a slice and run off to work and still have a satisfied tummy :) It was delicious!
Ring Ching!
Ring Ching!
Saturday, February 5, 2011
I Got A New Car!!!
Grown up thing #1 - Buy my own car!
So I used to drive my grandpa's old 92 Mazda MPV...it was doing its job, getting me from A to B, but since January my driving has tripled because im doing my practicum for school which I go to almost everyday, then home, then work, then home again, plus the trips I do to socialize (not as often as one would like). Needles to say the MPV wasn't so reliable so I decided to buy a new car. How does a "starving student" afford a new car!?! 0% financing for 7 years. At first I thought this was impossible...there must be some trick or hidden fine print, but NOPE! So I got one of the least expensive cars on the market (Kia Rio5) so I was expecting it to be a very basic car...BUT NO! There's heated seats, blue tooth, and not to mention a functioning sound system :) My favorite part is that it warms up instantly without fogging up my windows...I've had it for two weeks now, it's a dream...alright so here it is...
Car Shopping Made Easy: Buying or Leasing, New or Used: How to Get the Car You Want at the Price You Want to Pay (Money, America's Financial Advisor Series)
So I used to drive my grandpa's old 92 Mazda MPV...it was doing its job, getting me from A to B, but since January my driving has tripled because im doing my practicum for school which I go to almost everyday, then home, then work, then home again, plus the trips I do to socialize (not as often as one would like). Needles to say the MPV wasn't so reliable so I decided to buy a new car. How does a "starving student" afford a new car!?! 0% financing for 7 years. At first I thought this was impossible...there must be some trick or hidden fine print, but NOPE! So I got one of the least expensive cars on the market (Kia Rio5) so I was expecting it to be a very basic car...BUT NO! There's heated seats, blue tooth, and not to mention a functioning sound system :) My favorite part is that it warms up instantly without fogging up my windows...I've had it for two weeks now, it's a dream...alright so here it is...
Sunday, January 30, 2011
(not so) Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies!
Who doesn't love chocolate chip cookies!? Especially home made, right out of the oven ones...irresistible... literally these ones lasted a day at my house! The recipe calls these delicious treats "giant cookies" (makes approx 12-15), I stretched the batter to make 17 normal sized ones (at least in my opinion)... not sure how "giant" they would really be if I made only a few less, but normal sized to me might be humongous to others ;)
Eating some of the cookie doe could also have had something do to with the cookies' not so giant size.
Next I should probably do a recipe that doesn't involve sweets, seeing as how lately these are the 3 kinds of meals prepared in my house...haha.
Here's my 16 1/2 finished cookies I made (my brother was too impatient for me to take pictures of the finished product, hence the 1/2 cookie).
Ring Ching!
Eating some of the cookie doe could also have had something do to with the cookies' not so giant size.
Next I should probably do a recipe that doesn't involve sweets, seeing as how lately these are the 3 kinds of meals prepared in my house...haha.
Here's my 16 1/2 finished cookies I made (my brother was too impatient for me to take pictures of the finished product, hence the 1/2 cookie).
Ring Ching!
Saturday, January 15, 2011
The Wonderful World of PUMPKIN (Loaf)!
One of my favourite new flavours is Pumpkin! Most of my pumpkin experience has either to do with craving them at Halloween or pumpkin pie (not the biggest fan). However over the holidays I found this pumpkin tea (made by Stash I believe) which is delish. I started warming up milk in the microwave and putting the tea bag in it for a few minutes...it's great for my early mornings when I'm not that hungry and in a rush (much more substantial that tea)...it's basically a chai tea latte! I think it pretty much has the same ingredients like nutmeg, cinnamon etc... Anyways I made some pumpkin loaf which I also found to be delish, so if you're not the biggest fan of pumpkin pie like me but do enjoy the chai flavours then you'll love it too! Now I didn't thoroughly go through the directions (something I should work on) and didn't realize that the recipe made multiple loafs and I only had one loaf pan... I didn't want to be baking all day long so I decided to also make muffins! It was quite nice to have so much because then I was able to bring muffins over to my family members' houses, who doesn't love free already made food!?
Ring Ching!
Ring Ching!
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Caramel Apple (Birthday) Cake!
I haven't always been a big fan of cake...I blame it on all those gross store bought cakes that are way too dry and have an abundance of nauseating custard and tasteless icing that every kid in elementary school had at their birthday parties. So when it came to my birthday I would usually opt for ice cream cake or cheese cake (YUM!). Getting older I've been trying new things and my palate has grown (although I have yet to try sushi) so I'm going to bake and cook everything in my two new cookbooks! First I tackled my fear of cake. For my mother's birthday I decided to make a cake, a caramel apple cake! The cakey part had your usually ingredients in it like flour and sugar, but I also chopped up a couple of peeled granny smith apples into it! Then I made the sauce to go on top which really made the cake because I put the sauce on the cake almost immediately after making it instead of drizzling it on top of every individual piece when serving it like the recipe said. It made it soooooooooooo MOIST. BEST CAKE EXPERIENCE EVER! Everyone loved it and scraped the dish clean, every last crumb! I hope you like my creative use of tea light candles!? ;)
Ring Ching!
Ring Ching!
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Just * Pure * Lovely
Arrow, wine carnation, that’s fraternity,
No longer a student at college πβΦ still means so much to me…
For health, for food, for friendships tried and true.
~I am a 2010 Ontario Gamma Alumna. I have moved back home to Victoria, B.C and am missing my Chapter while finding my way as an Alumna in the adult world. My mother bought be the two Pi Phi cookbooks for Christmas and I decided to do a “Julie & Julia” inspired blog and cook/bake these recipes and blog about them and my new Alumna Life!
ENJOY!
PPL & Mine!
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