pie-making: take one

I’ve always wanted to try making a traditional apple pie from scratch, crust and all, and when I recently purchased an apple peeler/corer/cutter I knew I was ready. The machine is awesome. I swear all I want to do is eat apples, and trust me, that’s a big deal. You’ve got to have the right kind though. The bag of Gala’s I bought for the pie are definitely not the kind you want to use with this machine if you want to eat them afterwards. Most of the Gala’s were too soft so they broke apart rather than were sliced apart, but they were still perfect for pie filling.

My all-time favourite kind of apples are BC’s own Ambrosia variety. They are seriously delicious! Anyways, I got up this morning determined to fulfil my desire to bake a pie. I made the crust, mixed up the filling, and as I was about to make more crust because I didn’t think I had quite enough for the top layer, I realized I didn’t have enough shortening, My amazing husband threw on this shoes and raincoat and ran to pick me up some more. The fact that the pie turned out is actually less surprising than my husband jumping up at the mere mention of my ingredient miscalculation to rectify the problem. He saved the pie – and my sanity.

st. valentine’s

This year I decided to make a little something for my coworkers for Valentine’s Day. I made individual embossed stamp gift tags that I attached to some mini Lemon Cranberry Nut Loafs (found the recipe online…can’t remember where). There’s not much to explain for this craft, however I thought I would share it anyways.

Lemon Cranberry Nut Loaf

beer + chocolate

When you’re as big of a chocolate lover as I am you too will be looking for new and interesting things to mix with and add to it. In the debut edition of Foodie Crush, the same magazine that my Baked Pear French Toast recipe came from, I found a recipe for Guinness Brownies! How amazing does that sound? I knew I had to try them. This past weekend I spent a couple days with my Mom and Grandparents. We were expecting the arrival of my Aunt Mieke and other grandparents, I call Oma and Opa for a visit. I decided that this would be a great time to try out this recipe. Mostly I need an occasion to bake something. If I make something super yummy, but definitely not something my bootcamp instructor would approve of, it needs to be “for” someone or else my finance and I will consume it all ourselves. I apologize for the not so great quality photos. My phone was the nearest camera to me, and I’m still trying to make myself remember to photograph the stages.

I’m no foodie, but…

Debut Issue

Today I tried out a new recipe. Not something I do a lot of, but once in awhile I have the urge and the confidence to try something new in the kitchen. I received a link to a brand new online foodie magazine before Christmas from a friend. There were so many delicious looking recipes inside I could not wait to cook one of them up for friends and family during the holiday break. Alas… I’ve just now gotten to it. The Magazine is called Foodie Crush, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for some new baking, cooking and drink ideas. The recipe I decided to try was one, “Baked Pear Vanilla French Toast”.

cheers to the blog

As a recent graduate and bride-to-be living on the west coast, I find myself making, baking and picture taking a lot in my spare time. Working in the tourism industry has fostered my creativity and the urgency of planning a wedding that is now only a year and a half away has got me constantly hunting for new and interesting DIY blogs all over the internet. As I seem to be spending more and more time making crafts, baking and cooking, photographing my life and hunting for antiques, I have decided to record my triumphs and tribulations for you to learn from and laugh at.

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Cheers, and enjoy!