Archive for February, 2011

best of {take 4}

best of {take 4}

I’m quite excited about this “best of” post for two reasons.  Well, more reasons than that, but I’m only going to post two of them.

First: It’s “take 4″ — i.e., this blog has been going for a month — and I’m really excited about how things are shaping up!   I spent several hours today tweaking my format, so if you don’t see a script font in the menu, press option+refresh and check out the updates!

Second: I waited until the very end of the day to do my “best of post” today.   On its face, that doesn’t sound all that exciting.  But what if you knew that two of the four blog entries (and the bonus entry) would not have been on the list if I had written this post this morning.  You would have been in for a very short round-up.  And you would have been missing out on some serious awesomeness.  Because really, what are the chances of me remembering these two posts next week?  I’m good, but I’m not that good.

So, without further ado, my favourite posts from blogland this week!

Jenny’s post from this afternoon is awesome2.  The amazing thrifting deal is awesome.  The subsequent update is so clever, and so very awesome.  And we all know that awesome x awesome = awesome2.  So head on over to frecklewonder and check out the awesome2.  Stat.

 

I skimmed over Amy’s post for chocolate chip cookies earlier this week.  The pictures made them look amazing, but I wasn’t in the mood for cookies, so I just let it pass me by.  Tonight, I was about to make another batch of my delicious peanut butter coconut cookies when the hubs gave me puppy dog eyes and said “I don’t know if you know, but my favourite cookies are chocolate chip”.  At which point I remembered the mouth-watering images in this post and I tracked it down using the un-surprisingly (because it is google) but somehow still surprisingly good search function in google reader.  These cookies are delicious, and extra delicious today because the hubs helped me bake!  Bonus points!

 

This picture took my breath away.  It made me pretty sure that we are going to stay in Montmartre when we go to Paris this summer.  Then maybe I can be that pretty girl in red.  (You’ll have to click through to the post to see who I’m talking about!)

 

I appreciate the irony of featuring a “why top ten lists suck” post in my weekly round up of “best ofs” but hey, it is my blog, so here I go anyway!  Don’t worry, Michael’s post goes into more detail in an awesomely tongue-in-cheek manner of why my kind of list is ok, but a top ten list is just horribly wrong.

[Begin rant] I really really really hate when I come across top ten lists in the travel blogosphere. They are such a cop out. I’m pretty sure that you don’t know the top ten beaches in the world, the top ten western toilets in China, or even the top ten restaurants in Toronto.  And even if you really truly actually think you do, it’s only your opinion!   Top ten lists imply some sort of objectivity when they are inherently subjective.  It just bugs my lawyerly senses.   So kudos to Michael and his very best top ten list ever. [End rant]

Bonus Post!

And finally, a bonus post!  Sally posted another amazing post over at her site unbrave girl.  I know, I know, I’ve featured her before (in my very first “best of” ever).  And I know, I’ve only been blogging (on this blog at least) for a month.  But she is just so funny.  And she is in love with China.  And I’m in love with China.  So if you are looking for some good reading, head on over and check it out! And P.S. I’m probably going to feature her again.

February 27, 2011 4 comments Read More
steak + bacon

steak + bacon

My sister in law Debbie is a fabulous cook; her salads are seriously amazing. She is also a wonderful person. Shortly after the hubs and I announced we were getting married, Debbie started on a project, which resulted in what was far and away our most thoughtful wedding present.*

*Thoughtful wedding presents can be great… provided 1) you know the couple will love them (a la giraffe that wasn’t — a story for another day) or 2) they aren’t an item “for the home”… save those for the showers. People register for a reason. No one needs two toasters.

Debbie spent the better part of the year creating a cookbook for us, and “Fabulous Favourites: A Selection of Deb’s Favourite Recipes” was born. The cookbook is amazing, it includes drinks, appetizers, soups, salads and deserts. Debbie didn’t just create a cookbook. She also prepared and photographed* almost every recipe in the book. Delicious.

*Photographs actually taken by my brother-in-law and nephew (I think).

Throughout the last 13 months, I have had the opportunity to make several recipes from the cookbook. And it is the gift that just keeps on giving, there are still several more to try, but I have found the best one.

The first time I made it, the hubs looked at me with wide eyes upon his first bite and muttered “why have we ever eaten anything else”. It’s that good.

Vegetarians and vegans, run away in fear, as this salad contains steak. It also contains bacon. It also has mushrooms that are sautéed in bacon grease.

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The result is nothing short of amazing.

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And it couples really well with a couple of pieces of fresh beer bread on the side!

warm steak salad 008

I’ll publish Deb’s recipe (and my modifications) here, but if you are dying for more of Deb’s delicious recipes, you can order your very own copy of “Fabulous Favourites: A Selection of Deb’s Favourite Recipes” right here.

Warm Steak Salad with Cashews

From: Fabulous Favourites: A Selection of Deb’s Favourite Recipes

Ingredients
For the salad:

  • 1 bunch of greens [I generally use arugula.]
  • 8 to 10 mushrooms, sliced
  • 8 to 10 slices of bacon
  • 3 tbsp cashews
  • 3 tbsp Jarlsberg cheese, grated [After lots of experimentation, I prefer swiss, I find Jarlsbeg a little intense, this salad already packs a lot of punch]
  • 1 lb [or less] beef tenderloin
  • 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 3 tbsp coarsely ground black pepper [I just serve with a pepper grinder on the table]

For the dressing:

  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 shallots, minced
  • 1/2 tsp fresh black pepper [or to taste]
  • 2 tsp sea salt [or to taste]
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Directions
Combine garlic, shallots, black pepper, salt, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and vinegar into a bowl.

Whisk thoroughly to mix and continue to whisk while slowly adding oil. Alternatively, use a food processor.

Allow dressing to stand at room temperature 3 to 4 hours [I always forget this, and it ends up standing for about 1/2 hour] in order to let flavours develop.

Wash and dry the greens and place into a large salad bowl.

In frying pan, cook the bacon, add the mushrooms, and briefly sauté with the peppercorns. [I fry the bacon in strips, then I remove from heat and blot it with paper towel to get the excess grease off. Meanwhile, I drain all the grease from the frying pan and sauté the mushrooms in the thin layer of bacon fat remaining. Once the bacon is cool enough to touch, I use kitchen scissors to cut into bite sized pieces and add them back to the pan. ]

Add cashews to bacon/mushroom mixture and cook for 30 seconds. Remove from heat.

Grill or fry the beef to taste (quite rare if desired). Cut the beef into strips.

Add the beef, mushroom and bacon mixture, and tomatoes to the greens. Add the dressing. Toss to mix thoroughly.

Garnish with grated cheese [I mix my cheese in in the previous step] and serve immediately.

Serves four. [Hmm... I've never noticed this before. We eat this as an entire meal, no appies or deserts, and it serves two.]


February 27, 2011 2 comments Read More
jasmine wallace

jasmine wallace

I learned this morning that my beautiful friend Jasmine Wallace (nee Jasmine Styles) lost her courageous battle with cancer yesterday.  All my love goes out to her husband Jeff, her family, and her friends, near and far on this day of sorrow.

 

Jasmine Wallace

February 19, 1982 to February 24, 2011




February 25, 2011 0 comments Read More
beer bread

beer bread

beer-bread-grilled-cheese 002

I discovered Gabrielle of Honest Fare’s recipe for Beer Bread in a roundabout way through pinterest.   (Yet another reason why I love pinterest).

I’ve never made bread before, unless standing around while my best friend’s mom made bread with her bread maker counts… At the best of times, I’m not much of a baker so I really didn’t foresee myself EVER making bread. Until this delicious looking bread and this little quote caught my eye:

Bread scares me. Not eating it. It’s the making of it that I’m terrified of. Floored with fear, I tell you. The whole yeast thing gets me. It seems too temperamental and unforgiving. Then there’s the kneading and waiting… Au contraire—there’s beer bread.

Hmm. Me too! And if she could do it, maybe I could do it after all. And the recipe is dead simple. Grab a beer, some flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, butter, and a loaf pan then pre-heat your oven and you are good to go. And this is your result.

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Tasty delicious beer bread. Bread that makes your husband swoon. Bread that is so easy and so delicious that I even made a second loaf as a hostess gift for a dinner party that night.

[Side note: That all being said... I attempted take 2 using a Coronoa while in La Quinta last weekend. Miserable failure. It just didn't really cook through, and after over an hour, I gave up and pulled it out of the oven. Unfortunately, I'm not enough of a baker to know quite what went wrong; was it the altitude? the amount of beer? different hoppiness? the dryness of being in the desert? I don't really know. And I was on vacation so I wasn't about to try it a second time. However, my advice remains: if loaf # 1 doesn't work... try again with a different beer. It's totally worth it. ]

We used said beer bread to make the world’s most delicious grilled cheese sandwiches. Once more, inspired by Honest Fare.

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My grilled cheese differed from Gabrielle’s in that I didn’t add mustard (not a fan), I fried (but did not caramelize) my onions, and I added some spinach for a little bit of green! These were one of the best Saturday lunches we have ever had.

 

Beer Bread Recipe

From Honest Fare


Ingredients:

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 Tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 ½ teaspoons salt
  • 4 1 ½ Tablespoons sugar
  • One 12oz can or bottle of beer. (any beer)
  • 3 tablespoons butter

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Sift well with fork. Pour in beer, stir until a stiff batter is formed, but don’t over mix (best to just use your hands). Scrape dough into prepared loaf pan. [I found this dough really really sticky in Toronto when it worked and not so sticky in La Quinta when it didn't. Maybe add a little more flour if it isn't really really sticky?]

Melt butter and brush across top of dough. This is optional (if you’re vegan), BUT it really adds to the crust. Makes it golden and crusty! [The butter makes it delicious. Period.]

Bake for about 40 or so minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean.Bake time will vary with beer type. [This is where I bid you good luck. 42 minutes was perfect for Singha Beer Bread!]

 

February 24, 2011 0 comments Read More
closet makeover

closet makeover

We have a teensy tiny little closet in our teensy tiny bedroom.   The closet is so teensy tiny, in fact, that the hubs’ clothes live in our front hall closet; furthermore, its folding mirrored closet door is too big and makes it very hard to get into the back of the closet.   Plus, the configuration of our bedroom (as of right now, the only workable configuration) makes both the mirror and the closet somewhat useless.

Here is a visual representation of all of the problems going on with the closet.

closet redo 001

This is me, and more evidence of just how teensy tiny the space is.

closet redo 002

Needless to say, this closet has irritated me for awhile. But its only been in the last couple of weeks that I have really been thinking about what to do about it. My first thought was that our landlord shouldn’t have built in a closet and instead should have installed some low profile ikea wardrobes.

This would have been ideal. However, this is a rental condo and I’m not about to knock down the walls and spend the big bucks on a wardrobe. It’s just not going to happen. Also, I’m pretty sure my landlord is quite fond of her built in closet that transforms what is technically a studio apartment into a one bedroom.

Then, a couple of weekends ago, I woke up and knew what to do. All it took was grabbing a screwdriver, unscrewing two screws.

closet redo 003

And removing the closet door.

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It’s amazing.  Even my steamer fits better in this configuration.  The last two updates are to add a super cool fabric curtain (a la YHL) and update my hangers to those fancy slim ones for a more polished effect.

closet redo 006

And the mirrored closet door? It now lives on the bedroom wall and is super useful!  Excuse the not-so-goodness of the following picture.

closet redo 005

Check back soon to see the final closet reveal, complete with fancy fabric!

February 23, 2011 2 comments Read More
best of {take 3}

best of {take 3}

Ready for this week’s round up of stuff I love on the web?

This week, a “find” of a “find”. Meghan of mustard and sage posted these sweet succulents from Etsy seller Tortoise Loves Donkey and they are amazing! All week I’ve had my eye on various succulents and these are just perfect. Wouldn’t those little planters be so cute on a white shelf!

As you may already know, Antarctica is right at the top of my list of places to visit. For the last several weeks (months?) I’ve been following along as Pam prepares to go to Antarctica. The tone of this post captures all those things I know I will be feeling as the day draws near!

Usually I chooses posts that have beautiful images as my “best of” photography for the week. This week I’ve decided to share Wes’ (of Johnny Vagabond) post on some simple lightroom tips that will make your photos pop! It’s a great tutorial and highly recommended, even if you don’t have lightroom!

Last but not least, this recipe for cream of mushroom soup. I haven’t tried it yet, but when we are back in cold, wintery toronto it is going to be very much enjoyed! And that mushroom soup bowl? Oh so cute.

And that is all for this week, folks!

February 20, 2011 4 comments Read More