christmas spirit

its amazing how the christmas spirit creeps in 

developing christmas-y urges of all sorts

i've been itching to bake something all week

im also in the sort of mood to eat all things baked-- but am sick right now  

eating any flour or sugar will really knock me out just in time for the holidays

 resisting my urges, i reflected a lot on the act of holiday baking...

when karl made the tiniest of gingerbread men this week

i finally realized, that my instincts are less about baking

& more about the annual use of cookie cutters

one of my oldest baking memories 

is getting out my moms collection of cookie cutters at christmas time

& making the sugar cookie recipe that i have perfected over the years

 

 

 

 

 

 

im excited to visit my parents place 

to dig out that cookie cutter collection

that i haven't seen in years

 

& also to expand my cookie cutter collection

which consists of a star, a hand, a stegosaurus, 

 & a set of the alphabet

 

ps. here is a cookie cutter DIY for the brave!

three .. four .. five .. six .. seven

lucy eldridge

tonite i had a few cooked prawns for dinner

which inspired me to finally post about 

the fantastic watercolours of UK artist lucy eldridge

be sure to check out more of her illustrated recipes in detail!

edible glitter

1/2 c. coarse salt or granulated sugar

2-10 drops food colouring 

(adjusted for desired colour)

preheat oven to 350 degrees

spread mixture evenly on foil lined pan

bake for 10 minutes 

spread in thin layer to cool for an hour

paste food colouring can result in smoking

you can store it in an air tight container for several months

  

via planet pals

  

photo one .. photo two

 

tinas pie

tina asked for an apple birthday pie even though she can't have gluten 

i cooked some of the filling separately so she could have some

and inserted it into the pie in a tinfoil package

street shots

here are some wonderful things i have found
on the streets of toronto

 flowers for sale

pyramid of barbie

pretty construction

gin is my name too

cake

 

dream car

 

 

 

elusive white milk crate

(please trade me one of these if you have one)

paska attempt no. 1

i had hoped to go home for easter these next few days 

just in time for my moms famous paska

 but my awful sickness wrecked my travel plans,  

after sleeping about 30 hours the past two days, 

i called my mom up for the recipe for the paska 

i had pretty low expectations considering that 

this was my first attempt at paska

and i ran out of regular flour and had to throw in 

some whole wheat... but they turned out beautifully!

 

 mom did a great job of including her special tricks 

when she told me the recipe

and years of observing must have helped me as well

this is a secret recipe that i will not be sharing

but i will bring you a paska if you want one!

quick cookie

the other night i tried out a cookie recipe that karl's mom karen made for us once!

i had company coming and i wanted to bake something, 

but saw that we were out of flour...

the magical cookie recipe is simply: 

1 c. natural peanut butter

1 c. sugar

1 egg

mix & bake at 350 for about 10 minutes

i didn't tell them at first that there wasn't any flour

...when it came into conversation they didn't believe me!

photo source

solstice cake

i made a cake the other day, and had friends over to eat it. 

 we did crafts and drank lemonade

fresh strawberries+ angel food + cool whip

muffins A+

i have been making banana muffins once a week for the past 4 weeks, 

using up the nanas I stashed in the freezer

today was my last time adjusting the recipe

i am satisfied

all it takes is two lucky bananas

as well as...

1 egg

1/4 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. unsweetened apple sauce

1/4 c. whole wheat flour

1/4 c, unbleached all purpose flour

1/4 t. bakingsoda

1 t. bakingpowder

pinch of salt

1/2 T. cinnamon 

1/2 c. oats

chocolate chips

1. preheat oven to 350F

2. egg + banana + brown sugar + apple sauce 

it will look psychedelic

2. flour + b.soda + b.powder + salt + cinnamon

3. mix the dry and wet mixtures together

4. add oats + chips

5. lightly grease a muffin tin for six (no cupcake liners!!!)

6. bake 15-20 minutes 

7. cool on rack

voila!