A lifestyle blog featuring things:
-that I get up to
-that I enjoy
-that I am inspired by
-that I ate
-that I made
....a little bit of everything!!!
Thanks for stopping by!
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collage thing i made for my background
(mostly just an excuse to fuel my compulsion to tear up old issues of home & garden and cut out flowers)
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Hey! We just had a long weekend here and it was super great! I was off work for three days in a row and it was just lovely. Before the weekend I had a random day off on Tuesday and my sister, Lydia and I played around in the kitchen!
We made Chicken Pot Pie “cupcakes” (individual c.p.p.s). My friend Jordan found the recipe on Pinterest and his looked so good that I just had to try my hand at them. They were super easy to make and turned out to be delicious! I was thoroughly happy with this recipe and would definitely recommend it! So good!
We also got a Betty Crocker Cherry Chip cake mix and made a double layer! We played around with food colouring (super healthy, I know!); dyed the cakes a light pink shade and made the icing a light blue. It was delicious and cute!
Hope you all had a great weekend! Happy Wednesday!
Another Duchess Date!
Alex and I went for another Duchess date last week! This place is becoming a regular spot for me on my days off! We had lunch this time and I’ve never had their lunch yet so it was a new experience! Lunch was really good and they had tons of delicious looking baked goods in stock too! I got macarons AGAIN (the usual order for me). I got my sister and roommate to try them when I got home and they said they tasted “too buttery”…. I hadn’t noticed before but now that is all I can taste! So although macarons are absolutely cute and cool looking – the taste is definitely acquired!
I got the “Tartine” for lunch! Fresh bread, toasted with cheese, tomatoes, pastrami, and pickles! It was delicious and I would definitely get it again! My sandwich was $7 but you can get a lunch combo: sandwich, soup, and salad for $13 (great deal for fresh ingredients!). Also, the Fentiman’s Victorian Lemonade was awesome! It hit the spot and was little bit bubbly, perfect warm weather beverage!
If you are in the Edmonton area, have you tried Duchess Bake Shop yet? Opinions?! I would love to hear what you think about it and what you have tried!
Photos: Clockwise from top Left: Alex, enjoying lunch & avoiding pics!, “Jardin de Fruits” ( I love the way this looks-must try!!!), “Saskatoon Berry Brioche” – looks lovely, my lunch with Victorian Lemonade, the tartine, “Fraisier Verrine”, looks pretty and petite!
I hope that you are all having a great week so far! It’s almost the long weekend here and I can’t wait!! Any big plans for your weekend?
On my day off last week, my friend and I spent some time together. We went to a book store and looked at (and possibly purchased a few) rocks and gemstones. After that we went for a snack at Duchess Bake Shop on 124th Street. I had a sampling of each of the macarons that they had (not all at once). My friend got a delicious marmalade-pastry thing that I just can’t remember the name, and she got us both madelaines.
The macarons were delicious and each one was unique. The five flavours I tried were: salted caramel, rose, cherry, lemon, and coconut. They were all so good but I think my favourite were the lemon and the coconut ones. So far I have tried macarons twice and these were the better of the ones I’ve tried.
It was a relaxing afternoon spent with a friend and I couldn’t have asked for a better day off!
We are headed to the mountains this weekend and I can’t wait! We are on our way to Jasper for another snowboarding trip :). Hope you have a great weekend! ox
Mario & Luigi Platters
I came across the idea for these the other day when I was looking for “Mario Party” ideas. Craig and Nick’s birthdays were coming up and I had a random idea to make it have a little “Mario” theme. I want to say this was a lofty goal for a keg party and had to remind myself that they were turning 27 and 21, respectively, and I probably didn’t need to go all out with the decorations (and I definitely didn’t).
I still did some searching for party ideas and turned to Pinterest for the inspiration (or as I like to say “Pinspiration”!). I came across this awesome mini cupcake display of Mario. This girl used 134 mini cupcakes! What n awesome idea. That was my starting point. I thought for sure this could be duplicated but on a smaller scale! I used cookie sheets for the base, and for the bodies I used: blueberries, raspberries, cantaloupe, chocolate rosebuds, and peach rings (for the buttons on the overalls). The hard part was the assembly. I referenced the mini cupcake display for proper proportions and then drew them out on paper. This was definitely the key to success!
I really liked the result and they were a big hit! They disassembled all too easily but that was definitely the point (after i took enough pics lol). What do you think? Would you try this or what would you try instead?
My First Macaron Experience
I have seen these little delicacies all over the internet: blogs, Facebook albums, and Pinterest of course. I think it’s fair to say that they are the latest “trendy” dessert. Cupcakes, cookies, and squares are all still cool but look how pretty macarons are (and can be)!!
I couldn’t fly to Paris to try the official macarons from a French pastry shop but seeking them out in Edmonton was the closest I got. I got them from the Tin Box in the High Street area around 124 Street. They were super tasty and cute to eat. I would definitely like to try some more flavours but for now I just went for classic vanilla and chocolate (accompanied with a huge mug of tea). I’ve looked into possibly making them from home and the amount of work involved doesn’t seem like my style. Yes, I like to bake and make sweet treats but I’m not too sure if I am into all of the work required to make these. They seem easy enough, just a little finicky… Maybe one day I will try to make some. For now, I am just fine with sampling the different flavour that I can find around Edmonton.
Have you ever tried Macarons?
Do you know of any places to find them in Edmonton?
Would you ever consider baking some yourself, or have you?
I would love to know! Hope everyone is having a great week so far!!
Birthday Recap!
I was spoiled to the max on my birthday. (and the three days leading up to my birthday as well!) I was wise to book a couple of extra days off for my birthday and it was the best gift I could possibly give myself! There is nothing like taking a mini vacation to ease into going over the “quarter life hump” (aka going from 25 to 26). Actually, taking a vacation at any time is pretty awesome.
Aside from indulging in FAR too many sweet treats and delicious foods, I spent most of my time relaxing on the couch and catching up on random movies. Had a couple of Skype dates with my bestie and spoke with some family members over the phone! Not only was I spoiled by Craig (my handsome boyfriend), I also received wonderful gifts and cards from family and loved ones!
Over the span of four days some of the food highlights included: breakfast at Cora’s (my fave), cheese fondue at dinner, slow cooked roast beef, Bailey’s & ho cho, and a dozen cupcakes from Flirt Cupcakes (another fave).
It was a relaxing and wonderful birthday! Isn’t your birthday, like, the best reason for having Facebook? I love getting all the sweet birthday posts from everybody! Everyone was so sweet and kind this year and it really completed this year’s birthday.
Do you like to make a big deal out of your birthday? What is your best birthday memory so far?
Pics from L to R: spread of gifts from Sarah, breakfast @ Cora’s (looks like dessert), cards&flowers&a sweet plant, Bailey’s&hot chocolate, awesome camera from Craig
Mint Oreo Brownies
These are decadent! A small slice of this will fulfill your chocolate mint craving, at least it did for me!! I had a few ladies over on Saturday night and we put this recipe together.
We came up with a super easy recipe:
Instant brownie mix with broken up Oreos baked right in, topped with a mint buttercream frosting with more crushed Oreos on top! Delicious.
I got the mint buttercream recipe from here: http://sistersstuff.blogspot.ca/2011/02/mint-brownies.html
(We added an extra teaspoon of peppermint extract for more mint flavour)
Make sure to load up on Oreos! Bake them into the brownies and sprinkle them on top of the icing!
Chocolate and mint is my favourite chocolate combo for sure! A close second would be chocolate and peanut butter… What is your favourite chocolate combo?
So I guess it’s pretty obvious by now that I have a strong appreciation for cheese! When I tried Thornloe cheese curds for the first time last week, I was impressed. I love to support local businesses also so it seemed pretty necessary to stop in to the Thornloe cheese store on our travels today. (admittedly I bought a large bag of curds in Cochrane to bring to Barrie with us but I definitely forgot them in Cindy’s fridge!!) She texted to me to let me know that I left them behind but was quick to give us other options to get our cheese fix on the way! So we stopped in at the cheese store and got some mini bags of curds which was probably a more realistic size for us anyways!!! This delicious cheese is sold all over Ontario and you can even order online (I wonder if they ship to Edmonton?!). Check out their site www.thornloecheese.ca !
Cheese curds with BBQ seasoning….northern Ontario doesn’t mess around #yum (Taken with Instagram)
COOLEST Popsicles ever! The name stealth rocket alone had me sold but I like how they are white, it’s like a mystery! #yum (Taken with instagram)
