It was snowing this morning and I decided that I needed a real breakfast.

I bought cake pans. I have wanted a couple of round cake pans to make a red velvet layer cake for some time now. But occations to make layer cakes really don't come around that often.

Anyway, last weekend while I was out buying light bulbs I happened to find the pans that I had been eyeing on sale. I really couldn't pass them up. So I bought them, brought them home and spent the rest of week trying to think of a realistic way to use them. Two people really do not need to eat a whole cake!

The only thing to do was to have a dinner party! So guests were invited  and I made my cake: Marie-Helene's Apple Cake!

Pancake are a lovely weekend treat and I may have found one of the best recipes around. These pancakes are a tiny bit sweet, a little vanillaie,  fluffy, and always turnout perfectly! Even when I make adjustments to the recipe. I found the original recipe in Bon Appétit one Sunday morning when I had a serious hankering for pancakes and a little extra whole wheat flour that I wanted to use up. I have since adjust my version of the recipe to not include whole wheat flour because when I make pancakes I want them to be a treat not a reminder that I should be eating something more nutritious. (recipe after the jump)

What better way is there to spend Valentines day than in the best of company and eating yummy food? This year featured dinner at the newly open Stack House Burger Bar and chewy chocolate cookies of awesomeness.

I have been planning on posting pictures of my house for a while now but I have been held back by two things. Firstly, the house really needed a good cleaning. And secondly, you may find this hard to believe but I wasn't sure how to go about taking the photos! Yes it's true how does a girl with about six camera have this type if problem? Well I'll tell you, I have six cameras and only one is a digital camera and it is my cellphone.

So this weekend I cleaned house and decided to throw quality to the wind and used my cellphone to take pictures. Here is a sneak peak, I promise more are to come.

Today is a cleaning day. A couple of weeks ago I decided that I was going to turn a new leave and become a "clean as you go" type person. However, that really hasn't panned out to well for me. So here I am knee deep in laundry and surrounded by things that need to get done.

But first I'm just going to sit here at my desk and stare at my inspirational clipboards and drink some tea. The clipboards are looking rather lovely and organized and clean if I do say so myself!

I bet you have been dying to know what I got up to this weekend. Well today is your lucky day! This weekend was spent dreaming of cleaning and revitalizing the whole house. In reality I only got around to organizing one cupboard and only the top half of it. What I lack in motivation I totally make up of in imagination. And organizing that top cupboard was an amazing improvement! All the random bags of rice, pasta, and baking type things are now grouped and put into containers together. And I bought stackable airtight containers to store things like flour, sugar dried fruit and all those types of things! It is a dream come true!!

Afterwards I decided to tested out my handy work by doing a little baking. And reorganization was a success!!

Grapefruit! I like'm a lot but never seem to buy them. Unless I'm really craving one of course. But if a craving strikes I usually just buy one, bring it home and then spend the next hour or so eating it kind of like an orange while on the couch. Usually I'm also watching some sort of reality TV.

However thanks to Smitten Kitchen I have something new to add to my repertoire, Grapefruit Yogurt Cake!

Charlie is destined for fame and fortune! At least that is what I have been telling him. On Monday Charlie was lucky enough to be featured on Desire to Inspire's Monday's Pets on Furniture post. Charlie was soooo thrill about it that he just sat on the computer hoping that someone would open up the page and show him his picture. I think fame has gone to his head a little.


Charlie and I will have to try to take another picture that actually has more of a furniture focus for next time.

Titles are for sissies and brightly coloured links are for people who have fallen off the potato trunk. I banish you both!

For the last four months I have been working on a sketchbook for The Sketchbook Project. Yesterday I finished my book. On my way home from work I popped into the post office and placed it into the loving hands of CanadaPost. Four months worth of work, delicately wrapped in bubble wrap and slathered in AirMail stickers. Hopefully it arrives in one piece.

Do You Deliver?

I'm toying with the notion of having groceries delivered. What can I say I'm a little lazy.

But I'm also picky. I don't want cans with dents, apples with bruises or wilty lettuce. Nor am I thrill the idea of a stranger randomly grabbing produce and throwing into bags for me. But what a time suck groceries can be. I would rather not waste my own time wandering around the store searching for things.

However, considered this: personal grocery shoppers! I would be totally down with that. This is how it would work. You would go to the store, meet your personal shopper, shop together a few times until they gets the hang of what you like and your standards. And then all of the sudden he just does all your shopping for you! Maybe he calls you every monday and says "We just had a few new shipments come in and I have have put aside a few things for you." Then on your way home from work you would stop by the store and buy it! Easy.

I think this would work really well for me! I need to tell someone about this ideal. Unless I win the lotto max this week and move to France. Then I would be happy enough to do my own shopping.

In The Bowl

For Christmas I ask for kitchen things and boy did Santa deliver! I probably should have made some sort of New Years resolution about cooking instead of winning the Lotto Max. Although winning the Lotto Max would likely afford me a lot more time for cooking.

This week I made my second meal out of my new Melissa Clark cookbook, In the Kitchen with A Good Appetite. I must say that I have enjoyed this cookbook even though I haven't cooked much out of it yet. The cookbook is a good read, the recipes are fairly easy and quick and don't make enough to feed an army. Which I am happy about, because sometimes you want leftovers but you never want THAT many leftovers.

I made Red Lentil Soup With Lemon, which did not disappoint. In fact Scott, who agree to having soup for dinner only because I wanted it, announced that the soup was 100% better than expected. And this announcement brings me to the second dinner surprise, the sunflower encrusted soda bread which was pretty controversial. Who knew that seeds on bread could turn into roasty, crunchy, yummyness!

Decanted

I have a notion stuck in my head that in order to fully become an adult I need to begin following a few simple rules.

The rules:

1. Buy wine by the case. There really is no need to be messing around buying a bottle here and a bottle here. If you find something you like buy a case of it.
2. Set up a home bar. Something simple is all I really want. Maybe a tray with a couple of nice tumblers and a few decanters filled with brandy and gin. I'm just a simple girl after all.

I am fairly certain that once I start living my life by the aforementioned guidelines I will become an adult.

But as I'm sure you know the transition isn't an easy one. And due to my current storage realities the first step towards becoming an adult is really not an option for me. However, I really have forged ahead with the whole bar notion. Luck for me I have trays galore and a set of lovely iittala aarne tumblers. The whole bar project was half finished before it even began!

And on Friday with the purchase of two terrific decanters I officially (at least by my standards) became half adult!

Fancy Pants

Charlie is a very fancy jumper. He is also a bit or a risk taker, he really prefers to land his jumps as close to the edge of the counter as possible. As you can see from the above photo his little front paws are barely hitting the edge!

The flip side to his "living on the edge" tendencies is that he often crashes. With claws drawn and paws flying he tries to hang on to the granite. Knocking over glasses and bringing everything in his reach crashing to the ground. Poor guy. But, it is all very funny for me to watch.

Winter Panzanella

Winter Panzanella

adapted from Panettone Panzanella with Pancetta and Brussels Sprouts

Bread salad, sounds delightful don't you think? It is something that has been in the back of my mind for a few years now, I just haven't gotten around to making it happen. Until two nights ago that is. Here we are in the middle of winter, (if you can call it that) and all I really want is a panzanella salad!! So I made one, a winter one, without a single slice of tomato. I will warn you, this may be the most delicious salad you have EVER had and, it may take you 2 hours to make.

My salad deviated a little from the recipe. I had half of a french country loaf that I used in place of the Panettone, I added a few dried cranberries to make up for the missing fruit. Boiled brussels sprouts have never really appealed to me but I do love them roasted, so mine were roasted. And finally I used mixes spring greens instead of the radicchio. Oh and also I think I changed my proportions a little. Mine was a little more salady and less bready.

The salad ate like a meal and I'm totally making it for dinner again tonight.

Weekend Mornings

There really is nothing like a weekend morning. Sleeping in, coffee in bed, some snuggles from Charlie, a yummy breakfast!

Breakfast One: Buttermilk Biscuits

Breakfast Two: Pumpkin Rolls with Brown Sugar Glaze

And Charlie, the bringer of cuddles

Things that make you say Mmmmm!

My Parents stopped by this past weekend to drop of my bike. One of my mom's favorite things about Vancouver if the food. We really are lucky to have so many great places to eat!

While my parents were here we stopped for lunch at one of my favourite lunch spots Nuba and we also tried out a new place Cafeteria which very quickly became a new favourite!

Maybe you can relate to this. You go out to dinner to that chains just down the street. You know, some place like Earls, or Joe's. And you choose it because it is close and easy. But as you are leaving think to yourself "Hmmm, I could have made something that tasted better then that." All and all a disappointing experience.

For those of us who feel this way there is Cafeteria. Everything on the menu is under 20$ (something you can't say about the chains). And more importantly the food is basically to die for. Seriously. My dinner reminded me of why I actually liked going out to eat. Because I can't make food that good at home. And dessert! OMG.

Just go.

The Pie

So Canadian Thanksgiving has long past and I'm just getting this post up now! Good work Tina. Anyway, back to the point.

This year my contribution to dinner was dessert. This was a hard one for me as I love making dessert and I had just about a million ideas. Also adding to the confusion was an ongoing discussion about homemade vs. store bought pie. I will not name names, but apparently some people believe that a store bought pie is just at delicious as a homemade pie! I beg to differ. So to prove a point I made a pie.

And I won with this ever so delicious Citrus Pumpkin Pie with Grand Marnier Cream.

Crust ingredients ready.

Ice water for a super flakey crust.

I think I still need a little work of my pie shaping skills.

Filling ready.

And mix.

Out of the oven and waiting for dinner to be eaten.

It's like a concert tour but with sketchbooks.

This year I have decided to join The Sketchbook Project. I chose my theme and my sketchbook colour and voilà a sketchbook arrive at my door!

Now I have to do is fill it up by January!