done well

Houndstooth baby quilt

2012-02-07T23:58:00.001-05:00

Vanessa Chistenson has a wonderful blog filled with tutorials and patterns (like the fabric ornaments I made in December). When I saw her houndstooth quilt pattern, I was in love. I had promised Dustin not too much pink for baby's room, so I thought a chic dark-brown and beige houndstooth quilt would be perfect: a simple design to complement the "houses!" baby comforter.

This is the first quilt that I've made that has required only two fabrics. I could have easily picked two Kona Solids and called it a day, but what's the fun in that? For the dark brown, I chose a Kona Solid in espresso, but for the beige, I chose a mostly cream fabric with tiny little stars (Scandinavian Christmas collection by Lynette Anderson). The stars are subtle, but if you look closely, they're there! There was a lot of repetitive cutting and piecing. It's sometimes refreshing to be on autopilot and just go, go, go: I never had to stop and decide what fabric to use next.

When it came time to pick a fabric for the backing, the workroom had just received the Karavan collection by Valori Wells, including the beautiful elephant fabric Marrakech in Blossom pink. The print is quite large and worked incredibly well as the quilt backing. I also decided to do some more free-motion machine quilting since it went quite well on The Hunger Games quilt. I did a meandering pattern in cream thread (beginner's tip: always match your bobbin thread to your top thread in case your tension isn't the same!)

I really love how this quilt turned out. It will be perfect for play time on the floor, learning to roll over, tummy time, something to throw up on... Lots of memories await!

Handmade baby gifts

2012-01-31T22:31:00.002-05:00

We're so fortunate to have such generous friends. Since we've announced our baby-on-the-way, our friends and family have been offering their used items (we're ALL about the hand-me-downs!), showering us with amazing gifts, contributing to our reusable diaper fund, and taking the time to give us invaluable advice. Thanks everyone!

I'm especially impressed by our friends who have taken the time to make a gift by hand. I know how time consuming it is to hand-make gifts, so the least I could do is highlight the talent in a blog post!

Our friend Ange used to live with us, and when her friend was expecting a baby girl last year I saw her spend countless nights in front of the tv crocheting a beautiful blanket for the baby. I was thrilled to receive a crocheted blanket of my own, in beautiful shades of raspberry and pale pink.

Our Ottawa friend, and fellow blogger, Krystle is also a crochet genius. Her previous works of art include a baby bunny rattle, and little baby booties. I was floored when I saw the intricate baby blanket that she crocheted for me with alternating squares of bears and flowers. (Read more about her creation here.) I love that I received two crocheted blankets that are so different and complementary.

And of course, dear friend Jenn also crafted me something for baby. She sewed me the cutest little baby bibs (so cute and chic that they are in fact "baby aprons").

Thanks to everyone for all your generosity (handmade or otherwise!) I only hope to be able to return the favour one day!

Houses! baby comforter

2012-01-27T22:10:00.000-05:00

When I first saw the machine paper foundation piecing class at the workroom, I was in awe. Karyn blogged about her beautiful houses that they learned to make in the class; she also shared this flickr link for other cool patterns using this technique. There are some tutorials online that teach you how to do machine paper foundation piecing, but I know how much better I learn from face-to-face instruction, especially from Johanna, Karyn's go-to quilting instructor for classes at the workroom.

I was SO pleased with the class. Johanna is all about smart shortcuts that make life easier. I even think her technique is more accurate. I couldn't imagine tackling The Hunger Games quilt using a different technique. I would have pulled out all my hair (even the extra luscious hair I'm currently sporting thanks to this pregnancy).

The class we took was for the "Houses!" pattern, a Johanna original. Houses and trees are perfect candidates for this machine paper foundation piecing technique. Lots of sharp, precise edges. Some patterns are just too curvy to showcase the precision of this technique (I thought the birds from The Hunger Games quilt were perfect candidates, too.)

I used mostly scraps for this project, and with Johanna's help, we designed it to be slightly bigger, suitable for a baby comforter with a high loft batting. I struggled to find some good quality wool or cotton batting and had to settle for polyester... I'm hoping I won't regret that decision, but worse case scenario, I'll undo the quilt and replace the batting. The quilt top is just too beautiful to be ruined by sub-par, man-made filling.

There are essentially four rows of houses and trees. I added an extra column of tree-fabric (Farmyard by Sentimental Studios) to widen the quilt top. The backing is an ultra-soft chocolate brown chenille, and the border is a beautiful postcard fabric (Curio by BasicGrey) with notes of brown, light-pink, grey, and cream.

At Dustin's request, we kept our nursery colour scheme simple. We agreed to a cream wall, white furniture, big brown leather chair, and some pink/cream/brown strewn about. The comforter fits well in the room. It won't be used for a while as baby will likely be swaddled for the first few months. But I'm working displaying it on the wall next to the crib. I also threw together a small quilted mat and matching cushion to give the room a little bit of accent.

My nephew has already made use of the super soft comforter when he and my sister came to visit in December. I'm excited for baby-Dunwell to be old enough to enjoy such craftsmanship!

Yummy Yogurt

2012-01-22T22:54:00.000-05:00

Today I am 37 weeks pregnant! Full term. and very large. I feel like I'm in the last leg of a marathon (not that I've run a marathon... perhaps it feels like the last 3 hours of our Garabaldi Mountain hike...)

During my pregnancy, I've been trying to eat lots of yogurt. It's supposed to be a great thing to eat when pregnant (calcium for growing bones, bacteria for digestion, the fact that it's not chips...)

I don't tend to get flavoured yogurt because I find it too sweet. If I buy the kind that is "fruit on the bottom" I'll purposely leave some of the fruit at the bottom. I also never buy the fat free stuff because it's thickened with corn starch... And that's weird to me. My preferred yogurt is just plain 2% yogurt.

My favourite way to eat it is with a spoonful of maple syrup, or a dollop of delicious jam.

For Christmas, my brother and his fiancée bought me an AMAZING local jam from Ottawa. The brand is michaelsdolce and they pride themselves on using local ingredients for maximum flavour. The lime and kiwi flavour I got was divine.

Besides eating yogurt as a healthy snack, I think it's fabulous in baking. Here are some of my favourite recipes:

1. Ina's Lemon Yogurt Cake. The last time I made it, I baked it into a layered cake with lemon curd filling and vanilla buttercream icing.

2. Janet and Greta's CopaBanana Cake. I make this recipe all the time, substituting the low fat sour cream for yogurt. Whenever I want to make up my own banana cake/muffin recipe (like when I made the red fife blueberry banana muffins), I always start with this recipe and adjust from there.

3. Most recently I made a carrot pound cake. I found a recipe that called for sour cream and then adjusted for yogurt. It's amazing how tic-tac orange the batter becomes. Quite bright and cheerful for a bitter cold January.

Carrot cakes always tend to be quite moist; this one is especially so because of the yogurt. The recipe makes two small loaves but I saved some of the batter to make some mini cupcakes, sprinkling them with cinnamon and sugar. Usually I will take cakes out of the oven as soon as an inserted skewer comes out clean. For this recipe, I would make sure the edges and top are a nice golden brown, which is several (maybe even 10 mins) after the skewer comes out clean. About 60 minutes total.

Enjoy!!!

Carrot Yogurt Pound Cake

1 cup butter, room temperature

2 cups sugar

6 eggs

1 cup yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups flour

½ teaspoon each baking powder, baking soda, and salt

3 cups shredded carrots

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees farenheit.
2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and set aside.
4. Add eggs to butter sugar mixture one at a time, beating after each addition.
5. Add yogurt and vanilla. Mix until smooth.
6. With mixer on low, add flour mixture 1/3 at a time.
7. Add carrots and mix until just blended.
8. Fill two small loaf pans that have been lined with parchment paper.
9. Bake for 60 minutes or until skewer comes out clean and the top is a nice golden brown.

Kensington sweethearts

2012-01-15T22:57:00.000-05:00

Jenn was my Kengsington sweetheart yesterday as we perused Toronto's Kensington market in search of desserts and other baked goods to satisfy our sweet-tooth.

I never used to be big on sweets. I always preferred a bowl of chips over a double chocolate brownie with double churned French vanilla ice cream. But this pregnancy has definitely heightened my sugar cravings. I will actually pass on the calamari appetizer to try and save room for some dessert now.

Jenn and I created our own little tour of dessert stops in the Kensington Market, sneaking in a little savoury refreshment here and there.

It's amazing how quickly we filled up on baked goods.

We started at the Moonbeam Coffee Company and started with a savoury light and flaky spinach and feta pastry called a boreka, coffee and mini chocolate croissant to finish. All of their pastries looked divine, and there was that lovely homey Kensington Market feel that made me wish I lived nearby.

Our second stop was probably my favourite. Much smaller than Moonbeam Coffee Company, Miss Cora's Kitchen was filled with baked goods made from local market ingredients. There were options for any vegan, gluten-free, or all-the-works patron; we definitely had trouble narrowing down our choice selections for this leg of our sweets tour. Although Miss Cora was not present that day, Miss Carmel made some suggestions and we settled on a flourless chocolate cupcake, a vegan peanut butter cupcake, and my favourite: a jam-filled strawberry cupcake. All fantastic.

Stop number three was at Panchos Bakery where we, naturally, ordered churros and hot chocolate. The churros were a little heavier than expected, perhaps even a little bland although covered in sugar. I would recommend asking for extra caramel sauce.

We made a quick stop at the Chocolate Addict and chose 6 truffles to bring with us to our last stop: Krepesz. The Chocolate Addict is a tiny shop with a decent selection of truffle flavours. We settled on (clockwise from top left) jasmine, green tea, pomegranate, caramel sea salt, chili, and chai. The chocolates were delicious, but I'm not sure if it was my tired palate or perhaps my under-appreciation for simple chocolate bonbons, I didn't think the chocolates were anything extraordinary.

Krepesz was our last stop. The sit-down area was quite a bit more upscale than the average Kensington Market venue, so it was nice way to end the afternoon. Krepesz is a Hungarian crepe shop; they also have on their menu a "chimney cake" that looked rather interesting. The afternoon of sweets (and the heavy churro) left us with little appetite, but we decided to share a savoury crepe filled with spinach, tomatoes and feta. A friend joined us and ordered a strawberry and nutella crepe. The crepe itself was delightfully light (thank goodness.) I would definitely return and order one of the heavier dessert crepes next time (and save room for a chimney cake).

Our tour of sweet shops in Kensington Market was great. We knew there were official tours you could sign up to take with a group of people and an official guide, but doing it ourselves, and in a small party of 2, let us go at our own pace and not feel rushed (or too cramped.) I'm not sure if my sweet-tooth will remain after my pregnancy, so the timing for this sugary adventure was perfect.

I hope you've enjoyed the vicarious sweets tour of Kensington Market. Let me know if you have any Kensington Market sweet secrets you'd like to share!

The Hunger Games quilt

2012-01-14T21:53:00.000-05:00

I have been so excited to tell you about this quilt!!!

I had always planned to sew a quilt for Dustin. Something to keep him warm in the winter days when he works from home and braves the "away" temperature settings of our thermostat (what a eco-friendly guy.) The difficulty? I am drawn to girly, whimsical fabrics and patterns. I just love the flowers, paisly, hearts, polka dots, pinks, violets, and hedgehogs: none of which are particularly Dustin's style.

In November, I finally took the machine foundation paper piecing class at the workroom. I enjoyed the class so much (and will tell you soon about the baby blanket that I made in the class!) that I scoured the internet for other paper piecing templates that I could make.

I stumbled upon these templates for The Hunger Games, one Mockingjay for each (fantastic) book, and I knew these were the perfect quilt blocks for Dustin. I stuck to solid coloured fabrics (all Kona solids), and let the birds be the star of the quilt, then chose a brick border and triangle backing.

I managed to finish the quilt-top by Christmas, gave it to Dustin, and then finished the quilt (backing, batting, binding and quilting) over the last couple weeks. I'm SO impressed with how the quilt turned out, especially since I decided to free-motion quilt all the layers together using swirling pattern of flames.

If you haven't read The Hunger Games yet, I definitely recommend the books. Yes, they are teen books, but it's definitely a mature storyline.

The final detail for Dustin's fantastic quilt: "May the odds be ever in your favour." Seriously. Go get the books and read them.

Pillowcase Dress Tutorial

2012-01-01T23:07:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!And with the new year, I've decided to take care of some unfinished business. I had promised a Pillowcase Dress tutorial, and here it is! I finally finished it and am really excited to share it with you. Hopefully you'll be inspired to sew one of your own, maybe even get some friends together and have a sewing party!

This pillowcase dress tutorial was originally designed for the Little Dresses for Africa event that was hosted by Emily from Mothers, Daughters. This is a very basic tutorial for the beginner sewer!

You only really need buy two things: a pillowcase, and two yards of double fold bias tape!

click HERE for a pdf of the tutorial. Thank you wordpress for supporting pdf uploads.

THE PILLOWCASE DRESS TUTORIAL
Materials:

1 pillowcase

2 yards double bias tape

All-purpose thread

Fabric Scissors

Armhole Template (courtesy of Nancy’s Notions)

Straight pins

Steps:

1. On the pillowcase, there will be a sewn end, and an open, hemmed, end. Cut off 2.5” at the sewn end. Reserve the scrap.

2. Measure the length of the pillowcase and make note of the size you are making: Small = 16”-22”, Medium = 24”-28”, Large = 30” - 34”

3. Fold the pillowcase in half lengthwise, lining up the long edges. Pin the armhole template (using the correct size) to your pillowcase, lining up the “fold line” with the long edges of the pillowcase. Cut. Unfold to have armholes cut on both sides.

4. Choose one side to be your “front”. Set your stitch length to the longest setting and sew across the “front” top edge using a ½” seam allowance. Sew another row 1/8” below that. Do not backstitch at either end.

5. Grab the two bottom threads and gently pull to gather the fabric. Adjust to the length you need: 6” for small, 7” for medium, 8” for large.

6. Press the ruffles with the iron so it’s flat and easier to work with.

7. Cut the 2.5” scrap into two equal lengths.

8. Pin the scrap to the wrong side of the ruffle edge, raw edges lining up.

9. Reset your stitch length. Stitch the scrap to the dress using a 1/2” seam allowance. Back stitch at each end. Trim the excess scrap fabric.

10. Flip the scrap piece to the front of the dress. Pin, ensuring you are covering any stitching from the ruffles.

11. Edgestitch the scrap to the dress.

12. Repeat on the top “back” edge.
13. Cut two 1 yard pieces of double fold bias tape. Optional: open the tape, and turn the ends under ¼” on each end; press or pin closed.
14. Open the bias tape and mark the ½ yard point on the bias tape with a pin. Pin to the armpit fold of the dress. Wrap the bias tape around the raw edge of the armhole and repin to hold in place.

15. Continue encasing the bias tape over the raw edge of your armhole. Ensure you’ve pinned through all layers: both sides of the bias tape as well as the pillowcase.

16. Stitch the entire length of the bias tape closed.

17. Repeat on the other armhole using the remaining 1 yard of bias tape.

18. Your pillowcase dress is complete! Feel free to add any embellishment to the dress!

Shirt and tie

2011-12-27T16:02:00.000-05:00

This Christmas, my sister asked us specifically to avoid buying toys for her two sons. They were overflowing with toys (I stayed in their guest bedroom, which resembled much more of a Toys R Us warehouse than a bedroom.)

I stumbled upon this tie tee-shirt on omi creates and decided it was the perfect blend of "crafty" without overcommitting myself to a homemade Christmas present that may not ever get completed...

I bought some basic long sleeve (Ottawa in the winter is coooold!) t-shirts from Old Navy and machine appliquéd a tie directly on the front of two shirts: one for my 2-year old nephew, Max, and one for a my 6-month old nephew, Ryker. I also decided to make some bow-tie shirts with a little pleat in the bow.

Without the monkey-suit-feel of a tux, Max was able to add a little pizazz to his outfit!

Christmas Reindeer Pops

2011-12-24T23:35:00.000-05:00

Just a quick post to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and to share about these fabulous reindeer pops that my friend Magda made. Aren't they adorable?

The head is made with an Oreo truffle, which is just a simple blend of Oreos and cream cheese.

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas filled with love and chocolate!

Fabric ornaments

2011-12-13T23:09:00.000-05:00

December is always filled with mixed emotions of exciting holiday celebration and oh-my-goodness-I'm-too-busy!

I love the idea of making Christmas gifts. After I took the snap coin purse class, I had originally thought to make a few as gifts for friends. Unfortunately, the workroom ran out of purse frames... So I went on a hunt for another easy Christmas project.

Vanessa Christenson posted a great tutorial on her blog for fabric ornaments and I was sold. I picked four different print fabrics and decided to mix it up with some Kona solids.

The project is super easy. I got really good at sewing curves on the machine, and eventually got used to the hot glue gun and stopped burning myself...

Some lucky friends and family will be getting a fabric ornament for Christmas depending on how many I manage to make! I just dropped off my first batch at the workroom for the awesome pretty ladies that work there! In exchange, I stuffed my face with baked brie at this month's Stitch and Bitch. I think it was fair tradeoff!

There are less than two weeks left until Christmas and I've still got a couple projects to finish! Hope you're all having a great December, whether you're rushing to get some crafty projects done or braving the shopping malls!

Pillowcase Dresses

2011-12-05T20:45:00.001-05:00

Those of you who know me well, know of my intense love for jokes -- the terrible ones.

So here's a great one to kick-start this post:

"Corduroy Pillowcases Make Headlines!"

This past weekend was the Little Dresses for Africa event. Emily (and hubby) did a fantastic job of organizing the event, with close to 30 participants sewing dresses from pillowcases! Jenn and I were so glad to be helping out. We taught several newbie sewers the ins and outs of the basic sewing machine and then they each created a beautiful dress from a basic pillowcase!

It took a little while to get the hang of things, but a super-size thank-you to all the great ladies that came out! Your patience, enthusiasm and dedication were most appreciated!

The room was beautifully decorated with tissue paper pom poms and the cutest little "trim station" with multicoloured ribbons, thread, trim etc. The snack station was overflowing with delicious treats: cookies, rum cake, cream puffs, mini muffins.

Emily made the cutest little "button" shortbread cookies as thank you favours.

I'm going to clean up the tutorial that I developed for the class and make a link available on the site! You can sew your own pillowcase dress and send it to Little Dresses For Africa, and maybe even use the tutorial to sew a summery tank top for yourself ;)

Little dresses for Africa

2011-11-17T17:33:00.000-05:00

My dear friend, Emily, is hosting a wonderful event: Little Dresses for Africa.

It's a sewing event where you can learn some basic sewing techniques, sew a super cute little girl's dress using a pillowcase, bedazzle it to your liking, and then donate it to Africa. Did I mention there will be delicious baked goods?

Jenn and I will be teaching the sewing workshops! For more information, click on the image below. No sewing experience necessary!

The chewiest cookies in the world

2011-11-16T20:00:00.000-05:00

In my last post, I raved about Elizabeth Hartman from the blog Oh, Fransson!

This post gives a shout-out to Joy, from the food blog Joy the Baker. Joy's blog is full of great recipes accompanied by great photos of her food. She's got a great quirky personality that shines through in her posts, always really fun reading. Plus, she has freckles. Freckles are cool.

I've had Joy's Chewy Molasses Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe bookmarked for a while now. I'm not usually on the hunt for a cookie recipe, since my usual recipe is so tasty, and probably the healthiest you can get given that it's a chocolate chip cookie. But when my good friends Tammy and Trev were so kind as to lend us a whole whack of baby stuff, it called for an extra special cookie recipe. The healthy whole wheat ones just wouldn't cut it.

The best thing about this cookie recipe is that you don't have to remember to soften the butter to room temperature. It calls for melted butter. (You don't have to keep the pot on the stove until the entire cup of butter is melted. Once it's about 2/3 melted, turn the heat off and swirl the melted butter around until the last 1/3 melts.)

The next best thing about the recipe is that it uses molasses. And although I don't always have molasses in my house, buying a small carton for this recipe guarantees that I will make this recipe another 3 or 4 times. The molasses stays good in the cupboard for... well, for a very long time.

I've made a couple really tiny tweaks to Joy's recipe. I don't have bread flour in the house, so I used all-purpose flour. Use 2 1/4 cups of all purpose flour. Instead of 1 egg and 1 egg yolk, I just use two eggs. Why waste the egg white? I also find that 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips is plenty. Finally, I skip the sea salt, but I bet that would be a tasty addition if you're not planning on bringing them to an office potluck where the sea salt will likely go unappreciated.

The result is a truly magical cookie. Like the kind you get from a gourmet cookie shop. Leave lots of room between the balls of cookie dough because it really spreads out to a thin, chewy cookie. I highly recommend the use of a small ice cream scoop (I have this one). If you don't own one (or two), add it to your Christmas list! It's a huge time-saver, not to mention an integral part of portion control...

Kitchen window quilt

2011-11-06T21:41:00.000-05:00

If you love quilt blogs, Oh, Fransson! is a must-read. Elizabeth Hartman does such a great job keeping her blog clean and crisp, with lots of inspiration and step-by-step tutorials (like the one I used for the laptop cozy.) I bought her first book "The Practical Guide to Patchwork" and recently found out she is writing a second quilting book called "Modern Patchwork".

This is the only quilt book I've purchased to date. Usually, I would take a quilting class at the workroom, use an online tutorial, or figure it out on my own. But classes don't always work with my schedule, and they can get a bit pricey. Online tutorials are not always complete, and having to figure out all the math (how much fabric, how big to cut each piece, how big is my seam allowance again?) is quite a chore, so I ended up buying Elizabeth's book whilst searching for a good modern quilt design to make for my mother in law. My mother in law is a great supporter of my quilting hobby; every year since I've found the workroom, she has given me a giftcard in my stocking. It never takes long for me to spend the gift cards...

When I saw the "kitchen window" quilt design in Elizabeth's book, I knew it would be the perfect quilt for me to make. I didn't want to fuss too much about matching fabrics, making sure there's enough contrast and coordination, so this pattern works perfectly. Each chosen fabric is framed (like a kitchen window) so I was able to pick a loose colour palette and just go nuts buying really pretty fabric.

The feature fabrics I chose were generally things you'd see outside your window: birds, bugs, leaves, flowers.

I used:

Cut Out & Keep by Heather Moore
June Bug: Songbirds by Alexander Henry
June Bug: Malt Bugs and Birds by Alexander Henry
La Petite Ecole in Faded Red Word by French General for Moda
Martinique: Bisque in Brown Floral by 3 Sisters
Westminster Navy Patterned Floral by Fabric Freedom

I framed them with deep-brown Evening Mist by Sentimental Studios and then kept the borders clean with a cream Kona Solid.

This quilt came together relatively quickly; I mostly stitched-in-the-ditch to machine quilt it together with a little bit of artistic stitching inside each frame. I did a bit of a scrappy back and then bound it with a blue and gold star fabric.

I gave the quilt to my mother in law in October for her birthday. She loved it. It's definitely a quilt pattern that I would try again!

Japanese Snap coin purse

2011-10-30T20:21:00.003-04:00

For my birthday back in July, one of my most stylish friends, Mel, gave me a stash of beautiful Japanese fabrics. Last year, I made a bunch of zippered pouches for the craft sale at my church. Mel had mentioned that this fabric would make super cute change purses.

I decided it would be perfect to take the snap coin purse class at the workroom and learn how to make these change purses properly. I always do a better job when I take a class. The pattern that Reva designed for the class has a pretty little ruche to give the purse a little body.

I chose the gorgeous teal Japanese fabric and fussy cut it so that there were cherry blossoms showing on both sides. For the lining, I used leftover fabric from my pleated marble dress. Now I just need to do what Karyn did a couple years ago and assembly-line the whole process to make a whole bunch as Christmas gifts! Or hope that there's another craft sale at my church again!

Multi-tasker Tote for baby

2011-10-26T22:09:00.000-04:00

My friend, Julie, showed me her fabulous Multi-tasker tote by Anna Maria Horner and noted how perfect it was as a baby bag.

My favourite bag to sew is usually the Birdie Sling by Amy Butler, but it's not a great pattern for a baby bag.

This Multi-tasker has nice big pockets on the outside (perfect for bottles?) and the opening to the bag is nice and wide. The biggest downside of the Birdie Sling is probably its small opening: I find myself digging around for stuff, unable to open the bag wide enough to find my smaller items.

I had just enough nani iro oil cloth left over from my rain jacket expansion to use as the exterior fabric. I added some bright yellow piping to make the pockets really stand out, and then added an extra zippered pocket to the inside of the bag. I also wanted the straps to be extra comfy so I widened it slightly and added a thick interfacing.

I'm so proud of this bag. There are so many options for customizing; I think the next time I make this I will also add an exterior pocket. If I ever get to set up shop teaching some sewing classes, this is definitely my first pick: it's loaded with easy basics as well as lots of room for creative additions!

Clothing expansion

2011-10-19T20:07:00.001-04:00

When women talk about expanding their wardrobe, we are usually talking about the exciting prospect of adding the latest and greatest new fashions to our closet.

I am expanding my clothes. But not as described above. Dustin and I are expecting a baby girl in February (yay!) and I am literally expanding my clothes. I've altered several pants already (super easy with all the tutorials out there) and after a crazy drop in temperature in mid September, I set out to alter my fall rain jacket.

Last Christmas, my brothers cleaned out my wishlist from the workroom. One of the items was a meter of nani iro oilcloth. I'm so glad I asked them for it. The workroom no longer has it in stock, and I had it all saved up for a perfect project like this. (I recently used the rest of it on a beautiful Anna Maria bag, but that's another post!)

I cut out a section much wider than I needed and then sewed pleats into it to allow for additional expansion (especially in the midsection.) I lined it with some leftover fabric from my paisley sampler quilt and then finished the neckline with some fuzzy hounds-tooth fabric: gotta have something fuzzy by your chin.

To get a compatible zipper, I went to the Leather and Sewing Supply Depot on Queen West (amazing store for zippers) and asked the lady to find the perfect match.

The best part about this alteration is that I can undo the expansion and eventually use the jacket in its original size again (Oh how I long to be a size small again...)

The downside? The jacket hides the baby bump quite well, and I have noticed a significant reduction in seat-offerings on the subway...

Laptop cozy

2011-10-15T12:09:00.001-04:00

I've had the wonderful pleasure of enjoying the life with a macbook pro for a little over a year. I've now graciously donated it to Dustin, as we decided he would make better use of it in his last year of his phd studies and especially now that he's teaching a lecture at the University of Toronto. I'm nice that way.

The laptop now sees much more of the world; Dustin brings it everywhere with him. It made sense that I make it a nice laptop travelling case.

I used Elizabeth Hartman's tutorial. Her tutorials are always among my favourites. I have her quilting book and love reading her blog "Oh, Fransson!"

It's tough for me to use fabrics that aren't super girly, vibrant, or whimsical. But I couldn't have Dustin's students laughing at his laptop cozy. I dug out some cute dog-bone fabric and fuzzy red and black hound's tooth fabric. Masculine-cute.

I finished it off with a little personalized stitch.

Harvesting basil seeds

2011-10-07T16:30:00.000-04:00

As the chilly weather consumes Toronto, our balcony garden is coming to an end. The green tomatoes seem to have given up their quest to reach redness. The little cucumbers and zucchinis have settled as miniatures. But oh, the basil plants are now perfect for harvesting seeds.

We stopped pinching off the basil flowers back in August. The flowers eventually grew to be spiky stalks with pods of seeds.

It's so satisfying to be able to harvest your own seeds! And now that it's getting chilly out, we're hoping to have some indoor basil plants.

It's really amazing how many seeds you get from one tiny pod. And then how many pods are on a stalk. And then how many stalks sprout from one basil plant. We're going to have enough basil seeds for eternity. Or, we share!

If you'd like some basil seeds to plant indoors this season (or to hang onto for spring) leave me a comment sharing how you like to use basil! I'll mail out 3 pouches of basil seeds! Happy Thanksgiving!

Basic beets

2011-10-05T23:01:00.000-04:00

It's really quite amazing to remember my struggling beet days. When Dustin and I first signed up for the CSA box a couple years ago, we were thrust into a world of root vegetables: oftentimes, beets.

I am now a full blown beet fan. It's a regular favourite of mine to order at a restaurant. (The salted baked beets at Bannock are fantastic.)

This year, two beet plants survived in our garden. The seeds are cute little clusters. Somehow I thought each cluster would yield a few beets... No, one seed cluster equals one beet. Hence, two beets from our garden this year.

At home, I keep it simple: boiled and seasoned. It always turns out great and leaves so many options for adding extra flavours.

I start by boiling the washed, unpeeled beets. Depending on the size, it takes 30 or 40 minutes. When fork tender, drain and peel when they are cool enough to handle. Dice/chop to desired size.

While the beets are still warm, add a generous splash of seasoned rice vinegar (also known as sushi rice vinegar). I like to use Marukan brand.

Serve chilled or at room temperature.

That's it! This basic recipe is how I usually eat my beets at home. I've added tarragon, thyme, cashews, and even sour cream. I bet some horseradish would be delicious.

For all those beet skeptics, I really think this is the way to eat beets. The tang in the vinegar really balances the earthy beet flavour. If you don't have seasoned rice vinegar, use apple cider vinegar. It's equally tasty and would pair well with some diced apples!

Bannock: Canadian comfort food

2011-09-28T21:50:00.000-04:00

I love trying new restaurants. One of my many pretend jobs is food critiquing. I drag Dustin to a new restaurant, convince him to get what I want him to get, and then I judge the food as if it's my job.

I've shared some of my past restaurant experiences, but there are so many more that I don't post about. It's usually because I don't have nice pictures to accompany the gastronomic experience. And what's a food post without pictures of the food?!

Last week, we celebrated a coworker's upcoming wedding at the new O&B restaurant: Bannock. We've been eagerly awaiting its opening as it boasts a menu of Canadian comfort food: poutine, tourtiere, pea soup, PEI mussels, pot pie, lobster roll, and of course, the deliciously simple, native bannock bread. Are you drooling yet???

I ordered the steamed PEI mussels with fennel and celery root. The flavours were divine. Tasty and light, a touch of the sea. I'm a fennel fanatic, and I think it pairs so well with shellfish.

My lucky coworker (lucky because he was sitting across from me and was therefore obligated to share some of his meal with me...) ordered the roasted duck poutine pizza. It's exactly what it sounds like. Crispy french fries smothered in a roasted duck gravy, all atop a thin slab of bannock bread.

It's always great when coworkers have happy moments to celebrate, especially when you're looking for a reason to try the great new restaurant on the corner!

Under there. Underwear?

2011-09-24T08:41:00.001-04:00

Remember when Jenn and I went lace shopping on a beautiful Saturday morning? We had signed up for a class at the workroom to learn to sew our own underwear. The class was great. We learned to make two different types of underwear: a Brazilian Hipster (shown below my post) and a Low Rise Bikini.

I hadn't shared with you the end product of the class because, well, although I had fun, my sewing wasn't great and I knew I could do better. The plan was to go home, try it all again, and share about the really great underwear I learned how to sew.

That's exactly what Jenn did. She immediately went home, sewed a few more pairs and posted about it. Both classes.

I wasn't so studious. It wasn't until a month ago when I realized that I desperately needed to go underwear shopping and remembered my vow that I would sew my own underwear.

I'm so glad I did.

Here are a couple things I did to make the process a little easier.

1. I focused on the Low Rise Bikini: no need to find stretch lace material, and no need to figure out sizing adjustments because the fit wasn't perfect.

2. Reduce the amount of decorate trim: that was the hardest part in the class, learning how to sew the stretch trim to the underwear. I stuck to a top trim and nixed the trim around the thigh. Bonus: I had smooth, panty-line-free underwear.

Once I reminded myself of the sewing steps, the cutting, sewing, and applying of trim took a total of maybe an hour.

It's actually a really great on-going project to have hanging around. When I need a break from a large quilting project (I've been working on one for several months now...) I just pick up the stretch jersey, cut out the three pieces and sew them together. In ~~one meter~~ correction: 1/2 meter of fabric, I can get at least 4 pairs of underwear. And they fit perfectly!

Camping meals

2011-09-21T21:44:00.000-04:00

Dustin and I love to camp. It's our preferred vacation when factoring cost, proximity to home, peace and quiet, and a little challenge. (Sometimes a little too much challenge...)

This past Labour Day weekend, we made our second trip to Massasauga Provincial Park. The Massasagua is where we go when we have limited time to hike or canoe deep into the back country. From Pete's Place access point, a short 20 minute paddle gets you to some decent interior camp sites. There are still motor boats that frequent the area, but in general, the sites are quite isolated and the lack of portages allows us to bring more equipment with us despite the two-person trip (Mackenzie has yet to prove useful in anything other than squirrel/chipmunk chasing.)

One of the (many) things Dustin and I look forward to is camping food. It gives us the excuse to be a little junky, indulging in all those "convenience foods" justifying that while camping, we just don't have the space to bring raw ingredients, spices, and cooking tools. We have one camping stove, a small pot set, a swiss army knife, and usually a spatula.

Planning camping meals is always a little tricky -- that is, if you don't resort to the dehydrated packaged food from the outdoor stores. Any meat that we bring starts off completely frozen, then over the course of the camping trip, the bacon, ground meat, or spaghetti sauce slowly melts. When picking foods, we pick things that are dense or flat so we don't have to worry about squashing it. Things like bagels, tortilla wraps, rye bread or pasta work really well. (And crunchy cheetos...) Our favourite lunch and dinner meals include spaghetti, shepherd's pie, fajitas, or BLTs.

Our first lunch meal, grilled cheese. Made with Kraft Singles. Two slices each. Mmmmmm.

One of our dinners was a beef fajita made with stir fried beef that we froze with the marinade. As the beef defrosts, it soaks up the delicious marinade and helps make a little bit of a sauce. A little ziplock bag of premixed sour cream and salsa adds a little fajita tang.

Breakfasts are always a little easier. Bacon keeps well, and the fat doubles as cooking oil (don't judge. We're being resourceful here.) Oatmeal packages take up next to no space in the pack. Pancake mix (the just-add-water kind) is ever so easy. If you don't want to risk bringing maple syrup (no one likes sticky leaks) we add chocolate chips to the pancake mix. If you're extra lucky and have some Ah Caramels leftover from snacktime, throw that on top of the pancakes. Double mmmmm.

This year's Labour Day weekend boasted rain, wind, and plenty of cloud cover. There were short breaks of sunshine where we did a little fishing off the rocks and out in the canoe.

No fish for us, but nothing beats that peaceful whir of each cast (if I don't tangle my hook on nearby vegetation.)

The Massasauga has a knack for giving us troublesome camping trips. Our first trip 4 years ago included an encounter with a bear and a small incident with a nest of wasps. This year, Mackenzie cut open her foot and the wind and rain gave us a scary paddle back to the access point. Like I said, a little peace and quiet with a dash of challenge.

Garden kohlrabi risotto

2011-08-18T21:37:00.000-04:00

It seems like forever ago when Dustin was planting kohlrabi seeds. The kohlrabi is a german turnip, but I had always thought it was an asian vegetable. My mom has cooked the peculiar-looking bulb in stews and stir fries. Apparently it can be quite tasty in a salad or a coleslaw. or "Kohl"slaw. haha.

Whenever Dustin is skeptical about a vegetable (which was often the case when we got our mystery produce in our CSA box) he suggests a risotto. "Cut it up in really tiny pieces and make a risotto." We've done this with squash, kale, even beets. Always with success. It's a really great way to ease the flavour of any vegetable into a creamy, starchy rice.

Our garden is also overflowing with vibrant red cherry and roma tomatoes, so I decided to do a tomato risotto with basil, and substitute the celery for a double dose of finely diced kohlrabi.

To prep the kohlrabi, I peeled off the outer layer, much like you would a brocolli stem, and then finely sliced to matchsticks before making an even finer dice.

I cooked the kohlrabi, onions, and garlic a little longer at the beginning, ensuring the kohlrabi was nice and tender. Then I continued with a usual risotto recipe adding the tomatoes in the middle, and the basil and parmesan at the very end.

In a recent episode of Top Chef, Tom Clicchio said that risotto should "fall" rather than keep its shape after being scooped onto a plate. My risotto tends to stay in a mound, so this time I made it a little soupier. I don't think the consistency changed the experience; it eventually thickened anyway, so I may not bother next time.

The kohlrabi flavour was deliciously subtle. Similar to when you add a couple parsnips to a stew. There's an added depth to the dish that you can't get from herbs and seasoning. The kohlrabi holds its shape and texture quite well; there's still a bite to it that pairs really well with the al dente rice.

I guess my husband was right (again) and a kohrabi risotto is a wonderful way to eat yet another strange vegetable.

Pleated Marble Dress

2011-07-13T20:21:00.000-04:00

Another wedding season means more dresses! I was determined to sew at least one new dress this year, especially since I had such success with my first party dress.

I still feel most confident sewing with cotton, so I made a quick trip to the workroom and picked up a beautiful pale sage marbled print by Princess Mirah Batiks.

I was inspired by this beautiful pleated strapless dress by BCBG and decided to modify the Mary Adams pattern to have a fitted pleated dress.

Modifying dress patterns is hard! There's a lot of math to get everything to fit just right. I knew I wanted to create the pleated detail, add pockets, and even try to mimic the peekaboo lining.

I think I was quite successful in achieving all three details. The difficulty with a cotton dress is that it tends to wrinkle, and doesn't fall or drape as nicely as a more silky fabric. I think I should have made the lining out of a different fabric so it didn't stick to the cotton dress as much.

In the end, dress number 2 from Mary Adam's dress book was still great. It's such a great pattern that can be used over and over with slight modifications (but not without a little headache)!

Bumbleberry Jam

2011-07-10T12:21:00.000-04:00

A couple weeks ago, Dustin and I went to Downey's Farm to do some strawberry picking. I wasn't planning on blogging about our berry picking, or the first batch of strawberry jam I made using Ina's recipe, but after a little twist of fate, here is a blog post about jam.

I was first going to name this post "Freezer Jam" but that would be misleading. The term "Freezer Jam" refers to jams that are stored in containers that weren't sterilized for shelf life; you just keep the jam in the freezer.

The jam I want to share about involves all the berries in my freezer. The ones that I had been saving for a pie, maybe another batch of jam, maybe a milkshake. But as it turns out, Dustin and I left our freezer door just a teensy bit ajar and then left for a week of vacation.

We returned home to a melted freezer. Some items were beyond saving, but the soggy mess of berries were still a little chilled.

It was time to make jam.

In total, I had about 6 cups of strawberries, three cups of Saskatoon berries, and about two cups of cranberries. I added a finely diced apple for pectin, a squirt of lemon juice and about 4 cups of sugar. A low rolling boil until 220 degrees Fahrenheit and voila! Jam!

I guess that makes this a bumbleberry jam. I've only heard the term (meaning "mixed berry") used for pies, but I don't see why we can't use it for jam.

The jam was quite delicious. Deliciously tart. Perhaps it would be a good mix for a tart. With whipped cream. I bet this would be a delicious topping for a cheesecake as well.

So that's my story of leaving the freezer door ajar, and making a jar of jam.

Amy Butler's Weekender Bag

2011-06-22T21:42:00.000-04:00

It's a good thing when friends motivate you. When we're in a slump, or simply don't believe we're capable, a little motivation from a good friend is usually all it takes.

I never used to think I could do distance running. In an effort to "keep up with my super cool friends" I've run 5km, 8km, and 10km races. (I just ran a personal best 5km in 28 minutes!)

So, when my friend Julie asked if I was interested in tackling a notoriously difficult sewing project: Amy Butler's Weekender Bag, I was oddly motivated by her eagerness. I read blog after blog where talented, competent sewers tackled this bag. Each review emphasized the importance of patience, and that the patience would definitely pay off.

It was difficult. 5 hours of cutting, approximately 15 hours of sewing, broken needles, broken pins.

Let's take a minute and go back to the race talk.

Every race I run, I find myself questioning why I decided to run the race to begin with. Oh, right, my friends were all doing it. About 15 minutes into the race, I vow never to sign up for a race again. But, and there is a but, by the time I get to the finish line, I'm overwhelmed with pride and can't wait to sign up for the next race.

I kept hoping that this weekender bag would follow a similar trend.

The final product really was shockingly impressive. The bags that Julie and I produced were fantastic. Fabric choices were so different, but great. Julie chose a red damask with polka dot piping; I used a graphic birdcage print with grey piping. All the difficult parts that we laboured over (some parts took me 4 tries to sew correctly) were barely noticeable.

But I probably won't sew another one again. :( It's the most difficult project I've tackled to date. I wanted to forget all the hardship and remember just the final product. I think I need more time...

Perhaps I need another friend to motivate me again one day!

As a side note, our other friend Kelly tackled a different Amy Butler bag and finished it in just one day. Isn't it just the cutest? Her choice of "patchwork-like" fabric added the perfect touch to bring the bag to another level.

Gingerbread Engagement Cookies

2011-06-18T12:28:00.001-04:00

Hello friends! Long time... I know. So much to tell you about!

First, let me share about one of my best friends, Paula. She is my Italian-other-half. She is responsible for my love for risotto, homemade lasagna, gnocchi, tiramisu, the list goes on.

Paula recently got engaged to her beau, Blair! So exciting! As (two of) her honoured bridesmaids, Alison and I threw her a super casual engagement party with a few Toronto friends and family.

As a party favour, I made ginger bread cookies (perhaps inspired by Blair... who knows).

I don't think gingerbread is among the list of all-time-favourite-cookies. People tend to prefer the chocolate chip, the double chocolate chip, the oatmeal raisin, the macadamia white chocolate, my favourite whole wheat oatmeal chocolate chip. But those don't work well with cookie cutters.

So I went on a hunt for a good gingerbread recipe, a good icing recipe, and cute little cookie cutters.

I found the cookie cutters at St Lawrence Market. There's a little gold mine of cooking/baking supplies at a place called Placewares. They have everything. Even the cookie bags and silver twist ties.

The gingerbread recipe was adapted from thejoyofbaking.com and the icing recipe was from this site.

The cookies were such a hit! I think the secret to gingerbread is making sure it's still soft and chewy. This recipe wasn't too sweet or overpowering with spices. Most recipes call for nutmeg and cloves. I just used cinnamon. The other change I made to the recipe was the ginger. I used fresh finely grated ginger rather than the ground stuff. Enjoy!

Congrats, Paula and Blair!

Chicken wing stuffed with pork dumpling

2011-05-29T23:07:00.000-04:00

Although my sewing projects are moving along too slowly to be an interesting blog post, I seem to have plenty of food experiences to share.

Today we celebrated a friend's birthday at her favourite Japanese restaurant, Izakaya Ju. Described as a "Japanese bar and grill", it is similar to the better-known Guu Restaurant. (That's darling Caleb eating shredded nori with his hands.)

Different than the typical sushi-Japanese restaurant, the menu had things like soba noodles, grilled meats on rice, grilled skewers of pork belly, black cod, pork cheek, etc. The most amazing of all: chicken wing stuffed with pork dumpling.

At first, we thought it was a typo. "Chicken wing" was on the first line and "stuffed with pork dumpling" was on the second. Perhaps these were two separate menu items?

Nope. It was actually a chicken wing where the bones were removed from the middle wing and then stuffed with a pork and chive dumpling. It was fantastic.

I also ordered a hot soba noodle dish with grilled duck breast and leek...

... which I split with Jess who ordered a garlic soy marinated tuna sashimi on rice. Both were fantastic.

Sometimes it's nice to get some authentic Japanese cuisine and to try something different than sushi. Even the wasabi was a real grating of fresh japanese horseradish, not the stuff in a powder or tube!

I will have to work up the motivation this summer to brave the long lines for Guu so I can compare Japanese Izakaya food!

Cake pops and eclairs

2011-05-23T23:29:00.002-04:00

I hope everyone enjoyed the May long weekend, sunshine-rain-thunder-lightning and all!

Before the start of the weekend, my coworker, Jelena, baked the most delicious goodies for the office as it was her last day with the department. She spent her Thursday night baking up a storm, and I canNOT believe how amazing the hazelnut eclairs were. That's right: HAZELNUT eclairs. If I manage to get her mom's recipe, I'll share. Maybe.

Saturday was spent in Hamilton with the usual group of friends plus 4 babies and 3 dogs.

A couple changes this year: instead of an entire cottage weekend, an afternoon bbq. Instead of the usual gloomy, damp weather, gorgeous sunshine with just the right amount of cloud cover.

Things that stayed the same: great company, and a spectacular Frisbeer Tournament.

Our version of frisbeer involves a frisbee, some beer cups on sticks, and a drink in hand. Our friend, Katie, designs amazing cake pops. She crafted some beer cups on sticks just for the event. Super cute and super delicious.

Thank you long weekend! May you come again soon!

Racer-back tunic

2011-05-19T18:58:00.003-04:00

About a month before my trip to Mexico, I had big sewing plans. I was going to sew myself a new dress for the wedding I was attending; I wanted to sew a new toiletry bag; I dreamed about how great Amy Butler's Blue Sky Hat would be for the trip. Perhaps a tunic to double as a bathing suit cover up?

I started and ended with the tunic.

But: I created my first original pattern! I knew I wanted a racer-back design, so I used some skills that I learned from the "knock it off" class at the workroom to shape the back of the tunic.

As with my last "dress b", I used fabric from a bolt sale put on by Textile Museum of Canada (there's another sale happening on May 27th!) I made sure to match up the horizontal lines, and by sheer luck, the zigzags lined up to be exactly in the front-center and back-center.

The tunic was great for a beach cover-up in Mexico. For every-day wear, I can pair it with some leggings, or wear it like a blouse.

Now that I'm back and well rested, maybe I'll try and tackle some of those other projects...

Back and ready to blog!

2011-05-17T20:59:00.000-04:00

I'm back from my amazing trip to Los Cabos, Mexico!

I've missed you and can't wait to catch up!!!

Double Wedding Ring Quilt

2011-04-23T21:23:00.001-04:00

From sewing

Happy Easter!

I wasn't able to go home to visit my family in Ottawa this Easter, but I did manage to send a finished quilt home with my brother.

Back in February, I started working on a double wedding ring quilt for my mom and dad. The original plan was to take the class at the workroom taught by Johanna Masko (who taught the sampler quilt class as well.) I didn't manage to take the class due to schedule conflicts and decided to go it alone. I missed Johanna dearly, and probably took twice as long as normal.

I'm still thrilled with the end product (don't look too closely...) The colours were inspired by a piano concert hall and I think it really suits my parents' decor. Next time I'm there, I'll take a picture of the quilt in its new home.

Variations on a Japanese Dress 'B'

2011-04-17T20:33:00.001-04:00

When I first got my serger, I took out one of my Japanese Dress Books (Stylish Dress Book) and whipped up two shirts from the Dress 'B' pattern.

It's a really great pattern, and definitely the one I recommend you start with if you've been itching to try one of these crazy patterns. I had been following some of Karyn's blog posts about these Japanese books, and then I took one of her classes at the workroom. I think everyone in the class tried to pick a complicated pattern so we could learn as much as we could from Karyn. Having gone through that, I actually recommend just picking a simple pattern that you can take your time with, love it, and want to make over and over.

Dress 'B' is great. Karyn has also made it twice. There are 4 pattern pieces: front, back, and two parts of the sleeve. But I messed up and didn't understand the part about the two sections of the sleeve (to get a bit of a puff) so I just made it one sleeve pattern with no puff. This latest version doesn't even have a sleeve. I just finished the armhole with bias tape. One part lazy, one part hope-for-warmer-weather.

I also decided to deepen the neckline. This fabric was purchased at a bolt sale in Toronto. I want to say it's pure silk. But it cost me $3 for over 2m of fabric. So I'm going to go ahead and say that it's a "silk polyester blend."

When I went lace shopping with Jenn, I purchased some peachy lace to finish the hemline of this shirt.

One day, when I own a gorgeous sewing studio with my partner in crime, I definitely plan on teaching a class for this Dress 'B' pattern. Here's to many more variations!

Idiot Laughing on the Subway

2011-04-13T22:18:00.000-04:00

I just started listening to the podcast Spilled Milk. One of the cohosts is the lovely Molly Wizenberg, author of the book A Homemade Life and fabulous food blog Orangette.

All of which I highly recommend.

But I have a dilemma.

The podcast is funny, and it does not take much for me to lose control and laugh with my entire body. Even when I'm on the subway.

I was the idiot laughing on the subway today. I'm not talking about a smile and a chuckle. I'm talking about a grin from ear to ear, gasps of air as I attempt to regain composure before my abs quit on me, and uncontrollable shaking. My shoulders and chest do the laughing shake that you think only a cartoon-grandpa would do on tv.

It doesn't help that I'm staring at nothing. It's not like I'm laughing at what I'm reading, or even a movie on my ipod. I don't know where to look when I have these laugh-attacks. I just stare at my feet and hope that people see that I'm wearing headphones.

Do I care? Should I care? I've seen worse things on the subway. but usually late at night. Not during rush hour surrounded by men in suits, and women with perfect hair and makeup.

So far, I've listened to episodes on Ramen, Parships, Hot Dogs, and Spouseless Eating. I love it. And need to figure something out. Perhaps I need to start perfecting my hair and makeup and sporting a smart-looking-suit?

Sunbonnet Stella

2011-04-12T20:59:00.003-04:00

When I signed up for the Sampler Quilt class at the workroom, I learned 6 different quilting patterns. My favourite was the appliqué. It was so nice to do some handsewing: in front of the tv, at home with my mommy, at a beautiful cottage getaway.

My next project of choice was the Sunbonnet Sue, a popular pattern from the 1930s. When I found out that my good friends Gianni and Shawna were having a baby girl, I abandoned the original (gender neutral) quilt I was working on, and started up a super cute, pink-and-violet sunbonnet sue quilt.

I used a pattern from quilter's cache, picked 4 different fabrics for the bonnets and the dresses, and then used some of the leftover fabric to make some offset squares to add to the quilt.

Besides the machine-piecing of the 12 blocks, the rest of the quilt was done by hand. Four sewing needles later, I had perfected my technique (which I learned mostly from this youtube video). I stitched around every sunbonnet sue, every offset square, all the sashing, and even quilted circles into the border. My finishing touch was to personalize the back with a personalized appliqué just for baby Stella.

She's totally worth it. TOTALLY.

Enjoying a lacy Saturday

2011-04-09T22:23:00.000-04:00

The weather today was amazing. The perfect spring day to go lace shopping with Jenn.

We both signed up for a class at the workroom to learn how to sew our own underwear. Exciting, isn't it??? We needed to purchase some stretch lace to bring to our first class. There were just too many beautiful colours and patterns to select only one. I decided to choose two. Jenn chose three. I changed my mind and got three.

We also went hunting for elastic trim. There were even more colours and styles of trim. Sussman's (420 Queen St West) has an entire wall of elastic trim! I chose a mint green, lace-like trim and a ruffly pinkish-violet trim. They will be used to fancy up my super-soft olive green bamboo cotton.To celebrate our successful shop, we had brunch at the Bellevue Diner in Kensington Market. The weather was superb, the food was delicious, and company (as always) was top notch. Here's to many more perfect Saturdays.

If I had my little way, I'd eat peaches everyday

2011-03-28T10:14:00.000-04:00

The variety of fresh fruit in our CSA food box is limited. Obviously, because it's a *local* food box, and there's only so much that is grown indoors. We get a handful of fresh apples or pears every so often.

The Culinarium (from whom we receive our local food goodies) will occasionally give us frozen fruit, which is great. Especially when we get peaches. Peaches freeze so well. They keep their shape, colour, and flavour beautifully.

But what else can you bake besides peach cobbler? Or crisp?

Ina's newest cookbook How Easy Is That? has a recipe for Fresh Peach Cake. In the margin, there's a little note that frozen peaches work just as well (just thaw the fruit before using.)

It's a delicious coffee cake with layers of peaches and a cinnamon-sugary top. I didn't quite have enough peaches, so I might half the recipe next time and opt for far too many peaches. Or make sure to have at least a pound of frozen peaches.

I did find that it took far too long for the centre to bake. Next time I might try separating into two smaller baking dishes. Maybe two small loaf pans. But maybe you prefer a very crusty edge? Just keep baking until a toothpick (or a raw spaghetti noodle in my case) comes out clean when inserted into the very centre.

The cake was delicious. Although the edges were crispy, it was still moist. A perfect not-so-sweet dessert (perfect for the Chinese pallet) that works for breakfast, too.

I might actually look into freezing some peaches this summer so I can have enough frozen peaches to get me through next winter!

Welcome, Seedlings

2011-03-26T09:13:00.004-04:00

It's that time of year again. We're thinking ahead to our balcony garden and growing some seedlings indoors.

We still don't really know what we're doing, but we've got some help from Jamie Oliver (Jamie at Home) and Gayla Trail (Grow Great Grub). Jamie's book has some great pictures, descriptions, and recipe ideas, but sometimes you have to wonder whether it's going to work in Canadian climate. Gayla's book is great because she's from right here in Toronto, Ontario.

Last year we joined Gayla with a community greenhouse. Hopefully we've learned a thing or two and can get some stuff growing at home.

So far, we've started some seedlings of apple cucumbers (AC), cucumbers (C), zucchini (Z), beets (B), kohlrabi (K), chilli peppers (mini chilli pepper), cherry tomatoes (CT), and roma tomatoes (T). We've already had to repot some of the mini jiffy pots, so things are looking good!

If only the weather would start behaving itself and stop this snow-madness!

(As usual, the beets have to be the prettiest...)

Barley Refrigerator Salad

2011-03-17T23:27:00.000-04:00

I haven't been sharing too much about our CSA food box this year. Mostly because it's same ol', same ol'.

Sometimes it's the exact same thing that we still have from last year... Like our pearl barley. I made one recipe last year when we first received a bag of pearl barley as our pantry item. It was a not-so-great barley risotto. I'm not sure why anyone would mess with a classic, delicious risotto made with arborio rice (like my usual tomato and thyme risotto) so I decided not to write a post about the barley risotto. Didn't want to give anyone any ideas. Maybe I should dig up the pictures and write a post to file under "yucky".

Another recipe I had been meaning to try was this Ontario Winter Barley Salad. But I kept putting it off because I never had the right ingredients.

When that second bag of pearl barley came in our food box, I decided right-ingredients or not, I need to get cracking on eating some barley! Time to pull out that recipe and do some substitutions.

Instead of butternut squash, I used beets. Actually just one beet. Because it was HUGE. Instead of green beans, I used shelled edamame; the spinach was replaced with young baby kale. I added a tomato that needed to be eaten.

Basically, I added whatever I had in the refrigerator. Hence, Barley Refrigerator Salad.

Here is the "recipe" that ensued from this week's refrigerator ingredients:

Barley Refrigerator Salad from March 13, 2011

1 cup pearl barley
1 giant beet (about the size of a softball; for those that don't play softball, it was the size of a large florida orange)
1 cup frozen corn
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced
handful of young baby kale
1 super ripe tomato (that my housemate left behind before leaving for Korea for March break), diced
1/2 cup frozen edamame, steamed/microwaved and shelled
1 large shallot, finely diced

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste (about 1/4 tsp each)

The original recipe instructs to boil the barley in vegetable stock and then eventually drain: what a waste. So I just boiled the barley in salted water along with the beet (which I scrubbed and cut in half). When the barley was about done (about 30 mins of boiling, you can test by taking a nibble) I added the frozen corn to blanch it, about 1 minute. Drain everything. If the beet is fork tender before everything else is ready, then you can remove it from the pot beforehand.

While the beets, barley, and corn are cooling, whisk together the apple cider vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, dijon mustard, and salt and pepper to form a vinaigrette.

Peel and dice the beet when it's cool enough to handle. Put the beets in a large bowl and pour half of the vinaigrette over top. Beets always taste better when you season them while warm, especially if there's a tangy vinaigrette involved.

I usually need a little more time to finish dicing my veggies or to add another refrigerator ingredient. Getting those beets dressed means you can now take all the time in the world.

When ready, mix all the rest of the salad ingredients with the beets, adding as much vinaigrette as you like.

Enjoy!!!

Family Ties

2011-02-27T16:00:00.002-05:00

From sewing

I just googled about the 80s show Family Ties hoping that it would ring some bells and I would start this blog post with a witty line. I have to admit, besides the fact that Michael J Fox was in it, I remember nothing else.

From the pictures and clips I saw, only Michael J Fox's character was sporting the occasional tie.

Let's talk about ties.

About a month ago, I took a class at the workroom with Emily and learned how to sew a tie. A tie that Dustin wore to his conference in San Francisco this past week. (Funny story: while Dustin was humbly boasting about the tie I made him, his colleague Mike was humbly showing off the cufflinks that his wife, Danielle, made him. Both Danielle and I are engineers in jobs that are a means to an end...)

The class was really so much fun. It's one of the easier things to sew, once you have a pattern and some quick instruction from Karyn. And although a cotton tie doesn't sound like it could be formal enough to wear at formal functions, I think it's all in the choice of fabric pattern.

I chose a sunny yellow with fine blue and green lines.

Coocookiekie

2011-02-26T23:12:00.001-05:00

Jenn wrote a blog post about a cookie. A super awesome cookie. Because it was stuffed with another cookie. A cookie within a cookie. A coocookiekie. It's like the sequel to Inception where we have to try and do a third layer of cookie to plant the fat and calories so we don't actually think that we consumed it.

I decided to make these coocookiekies for Paula's birthday. They were a huge hit; we wished we had a video camera to capture everyone's reaction upon discovering an oreo cookie inside of the chocolate chip cookie.

Jenn's originally recipe came from this blog post. But I decided to wing it and use my usual whole wheat oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe. Next time, I will cut back on the chocolate chips in the cookie recipe since the Oreo adds so much extra sweetness anyway.

Tuscany on a cloudy day

2011-02-26T09:04:00.000-05:00

I'm so behind on my blog posts. I'm hoping to do some catch-up this week, so remember to check back often!

When I had my fantastic crafty cottage weekend, I worked on a birdie sling for my friend, Helen. She loves to travel; she even blogs about it. So when I asked her about colour or style of fabric for the bag, she told me "Tuscany".

The original thought was maybe some rusty browns and earthy greens. But after staring at the beautiful fabric wall at the workroom, I was drawn to a slightly different colour scheme.

Here's a beautiful picture of Sorano (Tuscany, Italy) taken by Roland Gerth.

The buildings are just so beautifully aged, with a splash of rusty rooftop. I decided to forgo the earthy landscape and stick with the darker feel of the houses. Tuscany on a cloudy day.

(And a cute little surprise wine bottle fabric for the lining!)

From sewing

Simply Mad

2011-02-21T11:10:00.000-05:00

I mentioned in a previous post about an event I was attending that supports microfinancing. The money went towards financial services (i.e. microloans) for people in Ecuador to alleviate poverty. Very similar to Kiva.

I think it's such a great concept; Dustin and I have a loan through Kiva to help someone in Nicaragua buy new tires for his taxi. He's already started repaying the loan, so we can now lend that money to someone else.

The other great thing about this event was the theme: Mad Men. Dressing up is always fun. Dressing up in 1960s clothing? Super extra fun! What a great fashion era.

Let's pretend for a little bit that I didn't have a full time job.

I would have ordered this pattern:

and purchased this fabric:

and then sewn myself a super cute dress for the occasion so I could humbly boast about how I made it myself.

But I had zero time to do all those things. I was destined for this: (which I would have copied, printed, and ironed onto an old tshirt.)

Thanks to my housemate, I had a pretty dress to wear because she picked up an extra dress from Kensington Market. Ain't she sweet?!

The event was so much fun! Thanks to Jenn and friends for organizing!

A quilted concerto

2011-02-16T20:00:00.000-05:00

I play the piano. Not as well as I used to, but I still manage a song every now and then.

One early November morning, on the opening day of the 7th Harry Potter movie, I hammered out a butchered, although recognizable, version of Harry's Wondrous World on the piano.

I was rusty. I was half asleep (it was 6:30am). But I had a huge grin on my face because I knew I was waking Dustin up with a rush of excitement at the thought of watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows later that night. Nothing sends a chill through your body like hearing a faint melody of awesomeness, although riddled with mistakes.

I have my mother to thank. I was never great at the piano. I lacked skill, and discipline. I lacked the ability to keep my finger nails short. But I still love the piano. My mother is a beautiful pianist. Her love of the piano encouraged me to practice, and although she probably doesn't know who Harry Potter is, I hope that story made her proud.

I thought it would be appropriate to sew her a quilt inspired by the concert piano. I love the colours of a piano concert hall: red velvet chairs, a jet black piano, a shimmery chandelier, deep brown walls. This picture even has a punch of tangerine in the flooring (I found the picture on the internet but there was not credit! Thank you Anonymous Piano Artist).

This week I will be in Ottawa babysitting my nephew, Max. My sister and brother-in-law are enjoying a well deserved vacation in Florida. Between diaper changes, I hope to be working on a double wedding ring quilt for my parents.

The double wedding ring pattern is a classic, and looks truly, truly gorgeous. Here are some of my faves (all from a class at the workroom):

The colours I chose were pulled from the piano concert hall picture. The border fabric is a light brown, with small leaves of red and dark browns. The rings will be made up of some black fabrics, dark browns, reds, shimmery gold, and a punch of tangerine. You like?

And the winner is...

2011-02-14T20:07:00.004-05:00

Thanks everyone for sharing about all your favourite charities and good-causes.

We've got some sponsor children, Kiva, Power to Change, Opportunity International Canada, local churches, Canadian Blood Services, WWF, retirement homes, the homeless: you guys are awesome!!!

And the winner is:

Comment #6 is Mrs Niles!!!! My brother, Kirk, played witness.

Thanks so much for all the great comments! Hope you like the bag, Mrs Niles. You sound like someone who would like crafty bags!

Shoot me an email at donewellblog[at]gmail.com and I'll mail you your brand new quilted make up bag!

Using your noodle

2011-02-13T14:00:00.000-05:00

My friend, Paula, and I love to cook up a storm. And Storm with be the appropriate word because it's always a little organized chaos. We don't like to follow recipes, we like to multitask as much as possible to get the impossible done in minimal time, and, let's face it, the kitchen looks like a natural disaster has struck.

The end result, however, is rarely a disaster. Our Chinese-Italian culinary training has always pulled through to give us delicious results every time.

Last weekend, we decided to make lasagna. From scratch. We started at around 1pm, and by 7pm, we were sitting down to a delicious freshly made lasagna dinner with lots of extra lasagnas for our freezer. Lasagna freezes so well; some would argue that it tastes even better the 2nd time around.

From Food

We started with the dough. We used Paula's mom's recipe. Which, of course, is not a recipe. "Just add enough until it feels right" is probably what she would say. (See below for a list of suggested recipes.)

Kneading the dough was quite the workout. Paula was a prostar; I was a prostar after we made 6 balls of dough.

Apparently the "resting" step for pasta dough is essential. Do not skip this step!

The sheets of pasta were soft and silky by the time we cranked it through 3 or 4 times to our desired thickness. You can always opt to buy fresh lasagna sheets. Or even use the dried kind. After I lived with Paula for 2 years, this "made from scratch" kind holds a special place in my heart.

The tomato sauce we made is a lot like Jamie Oliver's recipe from his "Jamie at Home" cookbook (thanks Rebecca!) When Paula makes it, we call it "lip gloss sauce" cuz there's so much delicious olive oil that it leaves you with a nice coating of lip gloss. Delicious.

Each ball of dough got us about 2 big lasagnas or 5 small lasagnas; after 4 balls of dough, we ran out of cheese, sauce and heart. We turned the remaining two balls of dough into spaghetti, which we froze for a rainy day.

Assembly was definitely organized chaos. Since we didn't have room in my kitchen to lay out more than one dough's worth of noodles, we had to go back and forth between boiling the noodles (my job), assembling the layers of lasagna (Paula's job), and then hand cranking more dough (whoever was done their job first.)

I really love how simple this lasagna is. Noodles, tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese (we used the kind you buy in a ball, no more than 15% MF). I'm sure you can add whatever meat, veggies, other cheeses you like, but the simplicity of this lasagna really lets the pasta shine. Bottom layer is sauce, then: noodle, sauce, cheese; noodle sauce cheese; noodle sauce cheese... etc. The sauce and cheese is added sparingly since there are so many layers. You can always adjust to you liking.

Bake at 375 degrees F until the top is golden and sauce is bubbly (about 45 mins).

Making lasagna from scratch will always take a few hours. It's quite time consuming. Paula and I decided that if we were going to dedicate our Saturday afternoon to making a fresh lasagna, we might as well make lots. "Lots" turned into 13 lasagnas: 10 small and 3 large. One large for dinner, and the rest for our freezer! We cooked them through and popped them in our freezer after they cooled. Now, if we have a craving for delicious lasagna, we can pop one in our oven and bake until warmed through! So simple! That's called using your noodle!

If you'd like to try making lasagna from scratch, I recommend the following recipes:

Dough: Mario Batali's recipe, Martha Stewart's recipe

Sauce: Jamie Oliver (plain tomato), Massimo Capra (bolognese),

Assembly: Martha Stewart has a simple explanation of assembly.

Give it up!

2011-02-08T17:34:00.007-05:00

Happy Tuesday! How's your day so far? My day started terribly: it took me one hour to travel 5 km of HWY 401. Not fun. So now I'm blogging to brighten my day, and maybe yours, too!!!

Today I will host my very first giveaway! I know, there are maybe 5 of you that read this blog on a regular basis, but you're the ones that I want to win anyway ;)

Let me start by telling you about my most recent birdie sling. While I was at the crafty cottage getaway, Isabelle asked if I would be interested in donating one of my birdie slings for a silent auction fundraiser. Most of you know that I have a special place in my heart for theatre (especially musical theatre), so when I found out that this was a fundraiser to support Theatre Smash (a Toronto-based independent theatre company) I was thrilled to be a part of it.

Picking the fabrics for this bag was especially exciting because I had zero criteria. I just waited for something to catch my eye and went from there! the workroom had just received a bunch of new fabric, including Sew Chick! for Bernartex. I paired it with Alexander Henry's Haunted House in green, and a funky coffee cups pattern by Suzy Ultman for the lining.

I can't attend the event, but if you're looking for something to do on Sunday evening, the Theatre Smash Bash is happening in downtown Toronto. You can bid on my birdie sling!

Now the exciting part. With the leftover fabric, I made a cute little makeup bag and will give it away to one of my readers! (That's you!)

The contest is simple. Leave me a comment about a good cause that you've supported recently, in the near future, or something that's ongoing. I've already blogged about a few things I'm involved with: The Hair Dare, my community church, Canadian Blood Services, and now Theatre Smash. I'm also attending another fundraiser this Friday to support a microfinance charity (more on that later!).

What kinds of things do you support? I'll select a winner at random and then announce it on Monday, February 14th [contest closed: see winner here].

Just a small thank you to acknowledge nice things that people do. And boys: Valentine's Day is coming, so don't think this isn't a great prize for you, too!

So Long, Farewell

2011-02-06T00:02:00.007-05:00

It's winter. It's cold and dry. I wear a scarf. I wear lipgloss.

My hair has gotten so long, it strangles me when I try to put on a scarf.

My hair has gotten so long, some of it always manages to stick to my lipgloss.

My winter mornings leave me strangled, with a mouthful of hair for breakfast.

Do not fret! (I remind myself.) It is for a good cause! I have taken The Hair Dare.

On March 14th, I will donate at least 10 inches of hair to be made into wigs for children. It's sad when kids have conditions that cause hair loss (some or all) and it would make me so happy to say farewell to my long, long hair, knowing it will go to such a great cause.

My friend, Grace, is organizing this wonderful event; she's even secured a location for the after-party where friends and family can come and see the reveal!

What 'do will I sport? I'll probably go back to my early years. circa 1983. Barrettes are making a comeback.

If you are interested in being a fellow Hair Dare Devil please contact Grace via the website!

Crafter by weekend

2011-01-29T22:55:00.005-05:00

For those of you who don't know, I only moonlight as a crafty girl. Most of my day is spent doing Engineering related work. With other Engineers. Mostly men. We make jokes like "that guy is team mu" (mu is the static coefficient of friction. being on team friction refers to causing trouble. team mu is a surprisingly large team.) We're geeks. Root 3s, so to speak.

My crafty cottage getaway last weekend was such a breath of fresh air. (We didn't craft the entiiiiire weekend. There were breaks to catch up on the latest Bieber gossip, double dream hands, and this romantic music video; we found our Mr Darcy; we even spent some time with Harry Potter. I digress.)

My last post was the "thank you" post. This post is about the amazing crafting that was happening.

After Jenn finished the "where my heart belongs" embroidery, she worked on a quilt. Her fabric choices are just fabulous, separated by simple, natural beige to let the colours really pop.

Isabelle is slowly working away on an amazing crochet blanket, inspired by Jenn's find on this blog.

Laura worked on a super cute embroidered wall hanging. It was mostly done after the cottage weekend. Those are two mugs. "Filled with love." So cute.

I worked on a birdie sling (yup! the factory is reopening!) and also a baby quilt. But I can't share yet. Don't want to ruin the surprise. I did have fun sewing opposite Jenn in a "duelling sewing machine"-like setup.

It's so inspiring to spend a weekend with fellow crafters. Engineer by day, crafter by weekend!

Crafty Cottage Getaway

2011-01-25T16:51:00.005-05:00

How was everyone's weekend? I hope you had as lovely a weekend as I did.

I spent the weekend in a gorgeous cottage on Joseph Lake in the Muskoka region, thanks to Jenn and her generous friend Steve (and family!). It has been a dream of mine and Jenn's to devote an entire weekend to crafting, and this venue was a super wicked bonus.

From Crafty

To say our thanks, we ensured a gourmet menu for Steve. For his family, we adorned the cottaged with a couple crafts.

The menu for the weekend included fruit and granola crepes, winter root vegetable soup, quinoa salad, made-to-order eggs, and delicious snacks to boot... But my favourite meal was our dinner on Saturday night. Jenn whipped up an amazing cheese fondue made with gruyere and oka, and served it with an assortment of steamed veggies, nutty bread, cured meats, and crisp fruit. So delish!

For the crafty thank-you gifts, Jenn spent a good chunk of her weekend perfecting this beautifully embroidered wall hanging.

We also whipped up a set of four coasters. Jenn had a log cabin block lying around (don't we all?) so I cut it into four, much like a disappearing nine patch, and zigzag stitched it to layers of muslin. A little stitch-in-the-ditch, and tada! Gorgeous coasters for a gorgeous cottage.

Wedding cards: I do

2011-01-11T20:12:00.007-05:00

I've just returned from a weekend of crafting. I can't wait to tell you all about it. Here's a little crafty appetizer that I've been meaning to post for a while.

I love to keep things. Dustin likes to declutter. Regarding the subject of whether or not it was important to keep all the wedding cards from our friends and family, we were at an impasse. I thought it was a no-brainer. Of course we needed to keep the cards so we could read them over and over until we were old and grey. Dustin felt that we had already read them, enjoyed them, and should then recycle them because they will likely sit in a box in the closet forever.

Our compromise was to re-craft them to become new weddings cards! They're a perfect "personal touch" for the happy couple.

Most of the time, I craft the cards in a mad rush because the wedding is the next (sometimes same) day. I don't usually remember to take a picture to share on my blog.

After about 3 years of these re-crafted cards, I have a few pictures. So now I will share.

So many things are great about making wedding cards from old cards.

Reason #1. I have read and reread the cards so many times. When I'm looking for a card with a good design, I will always pick a few to read through; some of which I can't quite bear to cut up quite yet. My good friend Jenn gave us a beautiful black and white card that was perfect for re-crafting. I've finally brought myself to cut it up.

Reason #2. I can steal the captions. Most of the time, I don't have a page-full of congratulatory remarks for the bride and groom. It's nice when the card says some of it for you, takes up a little space, and gives the inside a punch of colour.

Reason 3. I also love that I can play around with matching colours and patterns. It took me a while to realize that I was a terrible scrapbooker. I bought all the supplies, oooo'ed and ah'ed at all my friends' scrapbooks, and then struggled to finish anything. Making these wedding cards is like micro-scrapbooking. They are small contained projects with all the creative options of scrapbooking.

I think the most time consuming part about making these cards is deciding on matching paper. Since the realization of my failed scrapbooking career, I had a large stack of paper with no future; when I make these cards, I only use paper that I've already got. It was incredibly easy at the beginning, but as the pickings got slim, it was harder to find a nice match. Challenge accepted! I spent one evening earlier this month pairing cards with paper. Hopefully this speeds up the process when I (inevitably) forget about the card until the day before (or of) the wedding.

I have one friend who donated a stack of her wedding cards to us. In return, I gave the couple some of the cards that came from their stack. Hopefully they didn't mind me reading all the lovely congratulatory comments in their cards, too! If you're ever at an impasse about keeping cards, try re-crafting them! Or give them to me and I'll re-craft them for you!

done well: now in a book!

2011-01-11T20:10:00.008-05:00

Dustin totally won the "best Christmas present" award this year.

The judging system consists of up to 10 points for taste, 5 points for presentation, and 5 points for originality. Yes, this is the judging system used by Iron Chef.

My Christmas present to Dustin was a new wallet.

3 points for taste (100% leather plain black-brown non-designer wallet), 4 points for presentation (I wrapped it in a cute green and blue paper with a matching blue bow; bonus marks for double sided tape), 1 point for originality (I bought him a wallet 8 years ago; that wallet was falling apart, so I bought him another one).

Total: 8 points.

Dustin's present to me: MY BLOG IN A BOOK!

Let's break it down.

Taste: 9 points. He chose a hard cover 7"x7" cute, small size; it was printed on high quality paper by Blurb, and he kept the jacket cover simple.

Presentation: 1 point. It didn't arrive in the mail until after Christmas. Packaging was FedEX. 1 point for the easy-open-rip-tab.

Originality: 5 points. I was so surprised and soooo excited about this gift. I've mentioned in passing about backing up my blog in case something happened to blogger.com and perhaps to make it into a book. Super extra bonus marks for doing all the layout designs and personalized dedication on the jacket sleeve.

Total: 15 points. Destroyed me.

I love writing this blog. I wish I had more time to make my posts creative, but flipping through the book brought back so many great memories of adventurous and creative things that have happened in this short time.

Here are some pictures of how great the book turned out:

1. In Honour of my Grandma / My Grandma Initiative: the post that started it all. I had to wipe my tears when writing this post because I could no longer see what I was typing. I miss my grandma.

2. Tomato and Thyme Risotto: I got to write so many great things about my balcony garden and all the fruit and veggies that I made into delicious dishes!

3. Boy, am I ever beet! I went through quite the ordeal trying to find recipes for all those beets that came in our CSA box.

4. My Birdie Sling Factory: the Amy Butler Birdie Sling will always be one of my favourite things to sew.

5. Beautiful BC: my amazing trip to Garibaldi Park and the crazy hike up to the Black Tusk!

6. That's my girl: the back cover of the book was the original picture I used for my blog. My beautiful doggie (with a real knack for making you feel guilty leaving her alone at home).

Thanks so much to all of you for reading my blog! It's so motivating to hear from you through comments and emails. Here's to many more great memories and many more great blog books!

Bah Hamburger

2011-01-09T00:37:00.004-05:00

Happy New Year!!! I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday season. My Christmas was filled with the usual too-much-delicious-food.

Most of our meals were the usual yummy Christmas foods: turkey, stuffing, roast beef, lobster... We were also spoiled with my parents' amazing home cooking. But this Christmas, the hamburger -- yes: hamburger -- made not one, but two appearances.

In Ottawa, we had lunch with my sister at The Works, a gourmet burger joint with a touch of workshop pizazz. Milkshakes are served in pyrex measuring cups; the salt and pepper shaker are incandescent lightbulbs. And the burgers are huge. Dustin ordered the Hamburger Mary (real mayo, fried egg, ripe red tomato, cheddar cheese & crisp bacon strips) and I ordered the Big Ben Plus (montreal smoked meat, sauerkraut, & swiss...a la Kravitz with mustard) but with a portobello mushroom instead of a beef patty. I ate maybe half of my burger.

In Toronto, we went for a nice dinner at Mildred's Temple Kitchen. From the name, you'd think it was a cozy little rustic restaurant, but it was quite the chic little lofty restaurant. I ordered a seared tuna with grilled eggplant on polenta. Dustin: the hamburger. Usually I would try a nibble or two of burger. This burger was so delicious I took 3 bites.

For dessert we ordered profiteroles. If you wanted to order a "mini dessert burger", the profiterole would be it. The puff pastry "bun" was light and crisp, the ice cream "patty" was sodarn tasty. It's been a good burger holiday. I don't think we'll be making a habit of it, but I just found out that Mildred's Temple Kitchen is participating in Winterlicious. And the burger is on the menu...

Ornaments with sentiments

2010-12-11T22:25:00.003-05:00

When I was 7 years old, my family moved to England for a year and half. I have amazing memories of my time there: a little foggy (both in clarity and weather), but great. (Funny fact: the town we lived in was called Crapstone. No joke. Here is where we lived.)

Every December, I remember our one Christmas spent there. We sat around the dining room table and cut out felt stockings and bells. We stuffed them with cotton balls and stitched them shut using a blanket stitch. The top of the stockings were further detailed with cotton, and the bells got a pretty little bow. Dustin has a similar story with popcorn garland.

The reason I remember this particular Christmas craft session in England is because we still have the ornaments. When I moved to Toronto, I inherited all the old Christmas ornaments, including the (very old) Christmas tree (with built-in tinsel!)

Every year when we put up the tree (and listen to 98 degrees Christmas album) we have a laugh at all the old Christmas ornaments, contemplate replacing them with nicer, newer ornaments and then decide that there are just too many memories to be replaced.

Here are some of my other favourites:

1. Ziggy (does anyone remember Ziggy?!)

2. Sequin Snowman/Clown (I think this looks more like a clown, but a Christmas clown just doesn't make sense, so it must actually be a snowman, non? but snowmen don't wear clothes or a party hat... thoughts?)

3. Indian Canoe Boy (who just chopped down his own tree and is bringing it home to decorate with homemade stockings and bells.)

We also went to my in-laws to decorate their Christmas tree. Quite a bit more sophisticated, with several really beautiful ornaments such as this hand-painted ornament from Budapest:

But every tree has its less beautiful ornaments that share an equal spot on the tree due to years of sentimental value. These are my two favourites:

1. Elf-headed Pine Cone

2. ...??... I dont even know how to describe this one. But I love putting him/her on the tree every year.

I dedicate this post to all the less-beautiful ornaments out there that still hang with pride next to the newer, dazzling ornaments. May they teach the New Ornaments a thing or two about fostering Christmas memories so that one day, when the new become old, they, too, will hang with pride and remind us of all the great memories during this wonderful time of year!

The Party Dress Book

2010-12-05T20:00:00.005-05:00

Over the past three years, we've attended 19 weddings. (Probably over 25 if you count the year before that, but my memory doesn't go that far.) What can I say? I love weddings, and if I can make it, I'm there!

The difficult part about attending so many weddings is figuring out my attire. It's an opportunity to get beautiful and buy a fancy new dress, but since it's completely illogical to buy a new dress for every occasion, I am faced with a complex riddle to figure out the minimum number of dresses I will allow myself to buy so that (almost) no one will see me wear a dress twice.

A woman's life is tough. Dustin just changes out his tie or his dress shirt. The permutations are almost endless.

For this year's office-Christmas-Gala, I promised myself that I would not buy another dress. Surely, I would figure something out with my wardrobe of dresses, right? No. But a promise is a promise. So instead of buying a new dress, I made one!!!

I didn't know I had it in me! (Which is why I had told very few people about this project in the likely event that I had to abandon ship...)

The secret to my success? Mary Adams' new book: The Party Dress Book, how to sew the best dress in the room. The book is incredible. It not only had full size patterns, detailed instructions on fitting, and tips and techniques, but the majority of the book was page after page of inspiration in colours, details, shapes, and fabric. There are sewing instructions for three types of dresses, but most of the dresses in the book are based on the same silhouette.

As I was pressed for time (and lack the skill to sew with silk) I opted to sew a cotton dress using a piecing technique with French seams.

One of the first images in this book is Mary's "Bo Peep" dress. The vertical piecing in the skirt was just so cute!

I chose some beautiful charcoal cotton fabric from the workroom and decided to "fancy up" the dress with some plum organza.

And without further ado, I unveil to you my plum party dress!

(And since none of Dustin's friends from U of T attended the Christmas Gala, I can wear this dress to our last wedding of the 2010 season on New Year's Eve! Hooray!)

Zippidy Doo Dah!

2010-12-04T15:35:00.005-05:00

The zippered pouch: a great way to use up some leftover fabric scraps!

Our church had a craft sale last week and I decided that I should try and use some of the scraps leftover from birdie sling bags and other projects.

There are so many tutorials online for making zippered pouches; I started with this one and then made my own adjustments (like a small rounded gusset so the pouches weren't so flat.) They turn out so great and take under and hour from start to finish!

Restaurant Beets

2010-11-10T21:36:00.004-05:00

Dustin and I finally celebrated our 3rd year anniversary! Better late than never!

I can't believe it was over 3 years ago that I got to wear a pretty dress and walk around in crunchy autumn leaves. That was a nice day. A really nice day.

Tonight we had dinner at Cowbell, a super cute restaurant in the Parkdale area that celebrates local farmers. When I found out that our absolute favourite Toronto restaurant (Superior) closed a few months ago, I began a hunt for a new favourite.

Cowbell focuses on naturally raised, organic meat and produce sourced by local farmers. The menu changes daily so I just had to cross my fingers that duck was on the menu -- which it was!!! Excellent. What should I order as my appetizer?

That was easy.

Ever since we signed up for our next CSA box with Culinarium I've been working on a new game plan for our beets. We received plenty of beets in our food boxes last year, and we knew that this year would be no different. Although I found some recipes (like pickled beets) that I admittedly enjoyed, I still did not have a proper appreciation for beets.

I decided that the problem was psychological. I didn't have any amazing beet experiences to reminisce on. I did not have delicious beet salads to dream about when I smelled the beet aroma as they were cooking. I did not strive towards that je-ne-sais-quoi that I loved in a particular beet dish that I was served.

And so: Operation Restaurant Beets began. Two weeks ago, I tried a delicious beet root salad at O&B Canteen (a new Oliver & Bonacini restaurant in the Toronto Entertainment District.)

image from oliverbonacini.com

With my new quest, it was easy for me to decide what to eat at Cowbell (ah yes. remember? I went on a HUGE tangent to talk about beets? now I'm back to talking about what I ordered at Cowbell... I do that sometimes.)

On the menu was a roasted beet and fennel salad that was equally divine. It was a mixture of pickled beets and raw golden beets that was lightly dressed and served with a thin layer of roasted fennel. It was fabulous. I didn't even remember to take my camera out, embarrass Dustin, and take a gorgeous picture for this blog -- sorry. The lighting was so romantic, my poor little camera wouldn't have done it justice anyway.

I think I can safely say that I love beets! I'm 2 for 2 when ordering beets at a restaurant. It's only a matter of time before I can perfect my own recipes to taste just as good. I just need to keep ordering the beets!

My very own sampler quilt

2010-11-02T20:59:00.006-04:00

From sewing

After 7 quilting classes, 9 fat quarters, a gajillion safety pins, hours and hours of perusing the quilt shelves for that perfect border fabric, I have finally finished my first quilt.

The final steps for my quilt involved adding a vibrant red sashing to separate the 6 quilt blocks. It adds some nice framing to the blocks, but more importantly, it hides the fact that my 6 blocks are slightly different sizes...

From sewing

The beautiful paisley fabric is finally added as the border, a gajillion safety pins are used to baste together the backing, batting, and quilt top, and then lots and lots of machine quilting.

And I'm addicted. This one is likely going to make its home on our brown leather armchairs downstairs, which means I need to make another one for Dustin. A quilt for each chair. I have quite a bit of leftover fabric from the 9 fat quarters, so it seems logical to make a matching quilt for Dustin using all the same fabrics. I'm leaning towards a log cabin quilt... I'll keep you posted.

From sewing

Autumn Leaves

2010-10-26T21:46:00.000-04:00

From Out and About

Why do boys need to play "school-yard football" during thanksgiving? My friends in Ottawa call it the Turkey Bowl. Dustin's friends in Guelph call it the Fall Classic. I don't get it.

But it gave me the opportunity to go for a nice hike in Guelph with Mackenzie.

The day was gorgeous. Crisp autumn air, vibrant shades of red and orange leaves, and just enough sun to warrant my Michael Kors aviator sunglasses. Dustin lost his football game. But the day was gorgeous.

From Out and About

Avoca Poshness

2010-10-25T21:29:00.005-04:00

My dear friend (and loyal blog reader) Rebecca currently lives in Ireland. I have been able to sneak a peek at the Irish culture through her many pictures, FB posts, and gifts/packages that she mails or brings back for me (like the big box of skips!!!)

From Food

A couple of years ago, she mailed me a package containing super cute cookbooks (as well as a mug that says "I'd rather be eating cake": so true.)

They were Avoca cookbooks. I can't believe I had never heard of Avoca!!! Their website shows an endless world of all things beautiful. I can't explain in words. Here are some pictures from their website:

At first glance, I see Anthropologie with an extra sprinkle of whimsical, plus an entire world of cafés and gardens!!! Where Anthropologie is Bohemian Chic, I get the impression that Avoca is Whimsical Posh. But I digress.

My intention was merely to acquaint you with Avoca, and the poshness that it exudes. And then to surprise my readers with a blog post about Rice Krispies Squares. No joke. Let me explain.

I had a potluck at work last week and needed a simple recipe that could be made a couple days in advance. (The night before the potluck was my quilting class. Nothing gets in the way of my quilting class. Not even my 3 year anniversary. My husband is still waiting to take me out for a belated dinner celebration... oops.)

I turned to my trusty (and posh) Avoca Tea Time cookbook from Rebecca.

This book has all sorts of posh tea time treats (ideal for a 9am coffee-break-pot-luck):

Hazelnut Praline Mousse Cake

From Food

Jam Tarts

From Food

Cheese and Sundried Tomato Scones

From Food

And then this:

From Food

Yes. Mars bar biscuits. No picture. From the ingredients list, it looks an awful lot like a recipe for Rice Krispies Squares. But with Mars Bars. Mmmm.

We start with 200g butter and 9 mars bars (45g bars).

From Food

The instructions say to melt with a balloon whisk. Ridiculous. It all gets stuck in the whisk!!! Note to self: use a wooden spoon or a heat proof spatula next time.

From Food

Mix into 200g of Rice Krispies and then press into a pan. I used a cookie sheet.

From Food

Wait for it to set, and Tada! A super delicious "biscuit". And it's posh because it's from the Avoca cookbook. The only thing I will change for next time is the quantity of butter. I think I'll try and cut it in half... The recipe also finishes the "biscuit" with a spread of melted chocolate. I like it without.

From Food

Enjoy with morning, afternoon, or evening tea, with or without your pinky finger in the air.

Dutchman's Puzzle

2010-10-13T18:03:00.004-04:00

From sewing

Another crazy name for a quilt block: Dutchman's Puzzle. I'll have to ask my brother in law if he can figure it out.

This one seems to be a favourite with the people I've "show and tell"ed my quilt blocks to. Probably because it just looks so intricate. Oddly enough, this block turned out to be the most accurate in size. Most of the other blocks I had to adjust by trimming here and there.

I've actually finished the entire top of my quilt. That means the sashing fabric has been sewn to frame all 6 blocks, and the border fabric has been sewn all the way around. Tomorrow we layer with batting and then actually get to what the term "quilting" actually refers to!

Almost done my very first quilt!

From sewing

Chic ruler caddy

2010-10-06T20:04:00.000-04:00

From sewing

I'm definitely a bargain shopper. It might be the Chinese in me, but Dustin does it too sometimes. That's why we buy a pack of 20 bars of soap because it's such a better deal than than the two bars that we really need.

And that's why I bought a 24 inch quilting ruler instead of the 12 inch. For an extra few bucks, the ruler is twice as big!!! TWICE!

But then I started my quilting class and realized that my commute on the TTC became an exercise in "don't poke that scary lawyer in the eye with the ruler!!!" I got lots of dirty looks. They all questioned whether or not I should have a 2 foot ruler sticking out of my bag on the TTC during rush hour. I bet someone was ready to add an amendment to the rush hour rules on the TTC, right next to no bikes and no pets.

It was time I engineered something.

After a lot of thought (and I mean a LOT of thought... making patterns is hard!) I decided to make a carrying case that was similar to a yoga bag. It would protect innocent TTC business folk from the 2 feet of sharp edges and all four acrylic corners. In addition, it would have extra little pockets for my scissors, rotary cutter, and other quilting supplies.

And it's chic!

From sewing

Log Cabin, Drunkard's Path, Applique, and Nine Patch

2010-10-05T18:06:00.003-04:00

The last few quilt classes have been spent working away at more quilt blocks. There's a crazy name for every quilt block out there. Sometimes even several names.

From sewing

The log cabin is self explanatory: you build from the inside out, like a log cabin being built from bottom to top (listen to me talk like I've built a log cabin before...) Traditionally, the centre is a red fabric and then you make one side with light fabrics and the other side with dark fabrics. If you make an entire quilt with this block, you get some really cool patterns.

Here's a quilt from a silent auction donated by ALA Biblioquiters:

Drunkard's path is the only quilt block we made that involved curves. Not one of my favourites. Quilting has so much to do with precision that the curve made it just that much harder to be exact. My quilt block turned out to be almost 1/2 inch bigger than my other blocks. I'll have to figure out what to do when we sew all the blocks together... To keep the theme of the "path" I decided to make the outer part of each curve from a brick-like fabric.

From sewing

My favourite block so far is the applique. We learned how to hand-sew shapes onto the quilt block and make the thread almost invisible. So simple once you learn the right technique! I've decided that my next quilt is going to made entirely of appliqued birdies. You like my birdie fabric? See what I did there? Birdie background for the birdies?

From sewing

Lastly, the nine patch. You can make the entire block with nine patches, or make mini nine patches and match it with solid fabric like we did. Again: a little too much precision work for me.

From sewing

Only one more quilt block to show you then then we're sewing them all together!

Oopsie the Octopus

2010-09-22T20:35:00.003-04:00

Since the birth of my super cute nephew, Maximus, 8 of my friends have had, or are expecting, a baby. Eight. I kid you not. Congrats to all my new mommy and daddy friends! So many babies!!!

With all the baby hoopla, I'm drawn to all sorts of beautiful children's fabric and sewing patterns that are available now. Rarely do I actually sit down and make something cute for a little one.

Oopsie the Octopus was just too cute. I found the tutorial on the Moda Bake Shop and finally found some time to make a simplified version of the toy. No yoyos, and I only gave it eyeballs.

From sewing

It really was (almost) as easy as the tutorial implies. I made lots of mistakes, but hardly noticeable. The most surprising part was how much filling you have to stuff into the toy to get a nice round shape. Don't be stingy!

Some other cute things that I've seen recently:

Big Butt Baby Pants:

Knotty Jumper with Ruffled Leggings:

Everything Olivery + S

And check out this super awesome fabric that just arrived at the workroom!

From lizzyhouse.typepad.com

So many great kids patterns and fabrics out there!!! I guess I won't have a shortage of babies to sew for!

Happy Birthday Mackenzie!

2010-09-11T09:15:00.003-04:00

Today, our beloved canine daughter turns 7.

Last week she had an early celebration with our roadtrip to Ottawa where my parents live in an area of dense squirrel population. There was lots of chasing. Ottawa is also where my handsome nephew Max resides. He is in the early stages of walking, he just needs something to hoist himself up and hang onto. Mackenzie was often the object of choice.

From Family

Today we are planning a trip to the Bronte Creek Leash-free-path. She'll get her pick of picnic snacks and then head home for a well deserved nap on our king-sized bed!

Churn Dash

2010-09-10T19:02:00.003-04:00

Last night was my first quilt class. I spent forever picking some coordinating fabric to go with my initial border fabric.

From sewing

Although I struggled to stay away from the whimsical (a little polka dot got in there) I think it was successfully balanced with some masculine plaid (thanks Jerisse!)

From sewing

The darkest fabric I picked is a deep chocolate brown that has slight fades in it. Upon closer examination, there are cursive words dispersed throughout: "Good" "first" "Spring" "Beauty" ...

And now the reveal of my very first quilt block: the Churn Dash! Can't remember why it's called the churn dash, but something about churning and dashing...

From sewing

Quilty Pleasures

2010-09-01T20:51:00.003-04:00

Next week I fulfil one of my longtime old-lady dreams: I start a quilting class!!!

I signed up for the Sampler Quilt class at the workroom (where else?!). Our task before the first class is to pick the border fabric from which we will build the rest of the quilt. A multi coloured pattern that is medium to large size print.

This is the fabric that I chose:

From sewing

This fabric is from the Gypsy Glitter collection by Art Gallery Fabrics. It's a mixture of paisley and floral but I think it's not too girly with the more neutral colours and only a subtle splash of pinks.

I've been scouring Karyn's flickr page to get ideas of what the sampler quilts will looks like. Here are some of my favourites:

Doris' Sampler Quilt

Jen's Quilt Top

Alison's Quilt

The first quilting class will be spent talking about fabric selection. I think I'll probably try to pick fabrics that have finer prints so that from far away, they look mostly solid. Although I love, love, love prints, I think I was drawn to these three quilts because the 6 quilt designs pop out. They aren't lost in crazy quilt prints. We'll see how it goes... I really love crazy prints!

Skips: the flower shaped chip

2010-08-26T18:24:00.005-04:00

For my birthday not too long ago, my good friends Jess and Rebecca sent me a package from Ireland: it was filled to the brim with Skips!

From me

Since I was a little girl living in England, I fell in LOVE with prawn cocktail chips: the ones that looked like little flowers. I think we used to be able to buy them from Marks and Spencers, but I haven't seen them in Canada for a very, very long time. Growing up, my sister and I would reminisce on those prawn flower chip days, never expecting anyone to ever bring them back into our lives. That is, until my friend Rebecca moved to Ireland.

From me

My birthday package came with maybe 12 bags of these "fizzibly melty" chips (I say "maybe" because I wolfed down so many bags already that I have no idea how many I started with...) I've tried to make them last, but just today, I noticed the "best before" date:

From me

Horrifying!!! Starting today, they are no longer at their best!

What do I do? Eat them ALL? But I haven't even shared with my sister yet!

I compromised. During the course of this blog writing, I finished three bags (Hey, every day I save them, they are 1 more day away from having been their "best.") That leaves... 3. I will now save the rest for my sister. I see her this weekend, and she'll just have to settle for "best minus 3 days."

At least I'm sharing. And since I'm doing so much sharing, here's the amazing birthday card that my lovely ladies sent with the chips. Thanks so much!!!

From me

Adventures in Whistler

2010-08-20T09:42:00.003-04:00

From British Columbia

We spent a few days relaxing in Whistler, BC before embarking on the camping trip. We stayed at the luxurious Fairmont Hotel (yay friends and family rate!) and signed up for ziplining and horseback riding.

The ziplining was done with Ziptrek Ecotours -- part adventure, part education. Highly recommended.

From British Columbia

The horseback riding was also fantasic. Some horses weren't as well behaved as we had hoped, but the view as we reached the lake portion of the trail was phenomenal.

From British Columbia

We also had some adventures in food while up in Whistler: Tappanyaki! Meet "Jeff the Chef" (no joke.)

From British Columbia

Jeff the Chef cooked our food right in front of us: onion ring volcanos, flying shrimp tails, soaring lemon wedges, flambe steak! And although the tofu just sat there as the rest of the cast did all the tricks, it was absolutely delicious.

From British Columbia

Beautiful BC

2010-08-18T09:30:00.009-04:00

After a computer crash and losing some of my pictures (only the ones that I didn't back up since my trip to BC...) I'm back on track with my new macbook pro! My friend's motto for the macbook: "it just works", so hopefully no more blue screens...

I revisited some of my posts about my trip to France and I think there might be too many of them... thoughts? Maybe I'll cut back on the BC stories.

I definitely need to share about the craziest part of my trip: our camping trip to Garabaldi Provincial Park where we wanted to climb The Black Tusk.

From Kalisto at NSMB.com

Let me paint the picture. The Black Tusk is visible from the highway between Vancouver and Whistler. Dustin wants to climb it. Although it's late June, the temperatures up there drop to single digits and maybe even below zero at night. We're going to hike about 5 hours to where we set up our tent and then spend the next day hiking up to the Tusk (another 4 hours?). We might visit some glaciers, maybe Lake Garabaldi. But our focus is the Tusk: at 2316m elevation. Campfires are prohibited in Garabaldi Provincial Park.

From British Columbia

The trip started off pretty well. Not terribly hot or cold, although there was a really light drizzle. Here we are in the parking lot all happy and ready to climb!

From British Columbia

The rain gets really bad, and I have lost all interested in pretty trees and waterfalls.

From British Columbia

After about 4 of 5 kms the road splits and I see some snow!!! There was still some snow up there! In late June! And then I see more snow. and more snow. and I realize, that the entire rest of our hike up is going to be in snow. I've lost all interest in snow.

From British Columbia

We get to our campgrounds and are not really sure we're in the right spot. There are supposed to be 40+ tent spots, but all we see is snow. The sign assures us we're in the right spot. (The sign is supposed to say "Taylor Campgrounds")

From British Columbia

We explore the area and find a shelter (thank God!) and we find a couple tent spots that have been previously cleared of snow.

From British Columbia

I had one small meltdown (haha, if only it actually melt something...) but that was it! Dustin was beyond surprised. A couple laugh attacks at how ridiculous our situation was, but we carried on. "Who is this girl? Why isn't she freaking out? No yelling? No crying?" Dustin kept all of his thoughts to himself.

The hike to the Black Tusk was insane. Usually, trails are marked with orange or yellow ribbons so you know that you're still going the right way and when you reach a fork in the road, you go in the direction of the ribbons. Because we had no "road" or trail of any kind, these ribbons were all we had to tell us where we should go. They are space about 20-30 feet apart and several of them had fallen off the trees. We got lost several times and had to split up and yell when we found a ribbon. It felt a lot like the Amazing Race but with no other competitors...

From British Columbia

We got about an hour into the hike and thought we had to turn back, until Dustin saw a plank of wood off in the distance. Perhaps it was a bench? Nope! It was a map! The top portion of the 7 foot tall map was sticking out of the snow! And where there's a map, there should be a wooden post with arrows telling us which direction to head. We eventually dug up the post, figured out where to go next, and then took a break with the Canada Jays. The map did turn into a very handy bench. If you ever visit this area of BC, the Canada Jays are incredible. They eat right out of your hand!

From British Columbia

Our hike up to Black Tusk was probably the hardest thing I've ever done. And we were pretty darn close to making it to the top. Here are some videos and picture of the rest of the hike up.

From British Columbia

The third day we packed up our gear and made a detour to Garabaldi Lake on our way out of the park. The hike to the Lake was treacherous. We were never quite sure where the bridges were to cross the streams of water. One wrong step and it would be a soaking wet boot for the 6 km hike back to the car.

From British Columbia

The lake turned out to be frozen. (We had to break the bad news to the hikers that we passed on the way back to the parking lot: they were all geared up for some fishing.)

We didn't even get to see the whole lake. The boardwalk was not entirely visible, and we didn't want to finish our trip with a swim in the water. We sat by the edge of an inlet to the lake, and enjoyed the company of more Jays; we watched a Mommy Jay fill her beak with pita bread to fly back to her nest of babies. Amazing.

From British Columbia

Dustin wants to come back and do the trip again (when there is no snow). You'd think that June 28th was late enough in the year that the snow would be melted. Apparently not. We even woke up to new snowfall on the last morning. Next time we come back, I think we're waiting until late August. Maybe bring some friends to help carry some of the weight. A couple friends of mine made this trip only a couple weeks ago. The snow was melted enough that they followed the real path up to Black Tusk. Apparently we took the wrong way up (highly likely...) and hence had a much steeper climb to the base of the Tusk.

I tried to make this story concise. (I swear!) So here are some more beautiful pictures of the camping trip. Those who live in BC are so lucky to have this right in their backyard!

From British Columbia

"I'm Kelly Dunwell! Bon Appetit!"

2010-07-21T19:42:00.008-04:00

When planning for this trip, I knew there was one thing I had to do: take a cooking class in France.

From France

The recommendation from Chateau Les Roches was to try L'atelier des Chefs in Dijon. The problem? The classes were only offered in french!!! We were left to our broken french and hand gestures.

On the menu was a Duck Terrine (duck!!!), a Green Tomato Chutney, and ... drumroll... raspberry macarons!

The green tomato chutney was a great recipe to practice our chopping, dicing, and mincing. Chutneys are so delicious and simple to make: you just need to be patient when reducing all the ingredients to a tasty mush. We froze the chutney and brought it back to Toronto where we ate it with some maple glazed ham. mmmm.

From France

The terrine was much like a pâté, but more chunky. We had finely diced some sweet orange and yellow bell peppers to mix in with a fish mixture. It was all whizzed up in the blender with some cream and then alternately layered with the smoked duck breast. If only we knew there would only be two layers of duck breast, I would have (quietly) asked Dustin to load on the duck.

From France

The finale of the day was the raspberry macarons! I want to say that it was so easy to make, and I think I could make them at home, but the hardest parts were taken care of by the chef...

The outer part of the macaron was essentially a meringue with almond powder.

We all took turns sifting the almond powder and folding the powder into the perfectly prepared meringue (We observed as the master chef carefully heated the simple syrup to 119 degrees Celsius, adding it to perfectly whipped egg whites producing the "eagle's beak" to show that the meringue was at the desired consistency.)

From France

We got a quick piping lesson and Dustin decided it was a contest to pipe the biggest macarons. It just made for a difficult situation trying to fit them into our take-home containers in the end.

From France

The "garniture" (filling?) was a raspberry jelly slowly reduced in a pan, and additionally solidified with agar agar (a natural gelatin).

From France

I think the hardest part about macarons is baking it to the perfect doneness. Too much, and they look a little burnt; too little and they collapse and don't come off the pan. The chef took care of that part.

Our job was to find matching sides to pair together, then add the filling, and voila: the almost perfect macaron!

From France

They really are as delicious as they say. Crispy light outer crust, delicious jammy filling... Mmmmm.

And thus ends the quest for the french macaron, and the travel section on France. [Exeunt]

Burgundy?

2010-07-19T15:31:00.007-04:00

My favourite part about our trip to France was the side-trip out to the Burgundy region. We drove out approximately 3 hours to Mont Saint Jean, where an enchanting "country residence" awaited our arrival.

Chateau Les Roches came highly recommended by my good friends who had honeymooned there 4 years ago. It is run by two english-speaking gentlemen, Marcus and Tobias. They offered delicious food cooked in-house by Marcus and they were most helpful in planning our time in the area.

The chateau itself was amazing. My reaction was much like that of Frauline Maria's, when she first spotted the Von Trapp's residence -- minus the dread. and the singing.

From France

Our room had a gorgeous view of the back gardens, where we climbed for a spectacular view of the Chateau.

From France

Breakfast (with freshly baked croissants!) was on the terrace.

From France

The detail to finish the fantasy: a real key. The big clunky kind. With a tassel!

From France

Although it was difficult to tear ourselves away from Les Roches, there was plenty more to marvel at. I will save my favourite adventure to share as my final France post: ultimate best for last. (I promise not to keep you in suspense for too long.)

The rest of our time in the Burgundy region was spent seeing Dijon, Beaune, and all the breathtaking countryside in between. We took in everything: goats, markets, castles, cobblestone roads and artistic roofs, and not to mention the endless views of spectacular farmland, gardens, vineyards, and untouched greenery. All this in Burgundy, just a few hours drive from the hustle and bustle of Paris.

From France

As a preview/clue to my final post on France: I had alluded to another encounter with the elusive macaron. Here we are in front of the Châteauneauf-en-Auxois with raspberry macarons. If we couldn't get into the fancy shop to buy them, then why not just make them?! ...To be continued...

From France

A new park of smells

2010-07-17T14:17:00.004-04:00

Mackenzie loves walks. What dog doesn't? But I was getting the impression that she was outgrowing her neighbourhood. Same smells everywhere. And it didn't help that there was a serious lack of squirrels.

Today I decided to take her on a new adventure. We took the bus (the TTC allows dogs on the bus/subway system!) to Dufferin Grove park and had a nice morning in the sun.

From Mackenzie

Mackenzie even made an appearance at a one year old's birthday party! She usually isn't very good at staying still for kids to pet her; this abnormal politeness may have had something to do with the croissant that one of the kids was carrying.

From Mackenzie

I've been blogging for a couple hours now, and Mackenzie has been sleeping at my feet snoring louder than my brother, Kirk. She must have had a marvelous time!

From Mackenzie

Duck, Duck, Goose!

2010-07-14T19:10:00.007-04:00

[A friendly warning to my beloved vegetarian readers: you might want to skip this one.]

Duck is one of my favourite meats. Odd, because chicken is one of my least favourite meats and you'd think they'd taste similar...

In Toronto, my favourite restaurant is Superior, mostly because of the duck breast seared rare with pommes anna topped with concorde grape jus but also because we stumbled upon the restaurant by sheer luck after a disastrous start to the evening at Tom Jones Steak House involving a creepy piano guy... Good times.

In Paris, I think duck is their chicken. (Or maybe I had tunnel vision when I looked at menus...) After the seared duck breast at Chez Papa, I had two more mouth-watering duck dishes.

Saturday afternoon was mostly spent in line waiting for "evening tickets" to the French Open. But that's another story: no duck at the tennis match. Following the (amazing) tennis matches, we were famished. We stayed out in the 16th arrondissement and just randomly picked a restaurant based on its menu and ambiance.

At Le Beaujolais d'Auteuil (chosen random restaurant) I ordered the duck confit: a leg of duck preserved, and then slowly cooked in its own fat. Delicious. It was accompanied by a very simple salad with a flavourful house vinaigrette. The french fry was stolen from Dustin's meal.

From France

Sunday was spent in Monmartre in the north end of Paris. A spectacular view after a hefty climb. We even spotted a space invader graffiti art!

From France

It was also here in Monmartre where I had the duck salad of my life. Yes: salad. Sounds healthy! ... not so much.

The salad began with a generous base of crispy greens and tomatoes, (wait for it,) slices of smoked duck breast layered throughout, (WAIT for it...) a chunk of goose foie gras nestled in the middle, (AND the kicker:) a mountain of herb and garlic fried potatoes topping the whole dish off.

A - MA - ZING.

From France

Avenue des Champs Elysées

2010-07-13T21:46:00.003-04:00

How's that for a normal title?

This post is about our stroll down the luxurious Avenue des Champs Elysées, famous for being the most beautiful street in the world. It definitely had beautiful stores that silently told me to "look, but don't go in."

Everything from Hermes, Chanel, Prada, Dior, Luis Vuitton, Yves Rocher... I was happy to just look from the outside.

From France

We also stopped at the famous Ladurée to check out what all the macaron fuss was about. After reading about macarons in Karyn's blog (different from the coconutty macaroon) I knew my trip to France would not be complete without a taste.

From France

I made it about 1 meter in, and after being told "pas de photo" (no photos!) I decided the lineup was not worth it. Not to fret: this is not the last you will hear about the macaron.

From France

The end of the famous avenue is home to the equally famous Arc de Triomphe. Like the Eiffel Tower, we did not climb to the top. No lineups to blame this time. We were satisfied by the view, and a little intimidated by the traffic. I feel like in some way, it was my personal symbol of triumph for having not purchased anything along the way!

From France

Crêpes sucrées et crêpes salées

2010-07-12T21:59:00.004-04:00

I've shared about my love of crepes once before, and in Paris, they did not disappoint. In Paris, you can get crepes as street food, or you can sit in a café and order them on a plate.

From France

Our first night in Paris, we stopped at Crêperie de Cluny on our way back to the hotel. We were overwhelmed. You can get a crepe with anything you want: nutella, jam, booze, fruit, chocolate, cheese, ham, EGGS! Thank goodness restaurants are open so late in Paris... We decided on a nutella crepe with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Heavenly.

From France

Our second day in Paris was spent by the Louvre. I say "by" the Louvre because we did not go inside. Dustin and I decided we'd rather see more of the city, than spend most of one day inside a museum; also, I had already been to the Louvre and did not remember it being a very "Dustin" place.

We took our pictures, and then went for a nice stroll through the gardens.

From France

We eventually caved to one of the many crepe vendors along the way, and decided to try a savoury crepe: une crêpe salée. The ham and cheese crepe was even better than the nutella crepe from the night before. And not just because I prefer salty foods over sweet. This one was made with a cheese that was full of flavour (no mozzarella here!) and it was warmed until the crepe was just a little crispy...

From France

Later in our trip, I had tried one more crêpe salée and it just wasn't the same. There was too much cheese (there is such a thing) and there was no crispy crust. Instead of delicately placing it on a (paper) plate already cut in half, this crepe was rolled up into a cone shape and left to soggify in its own grease. Okay -- it wasn't that bad. Still tasty, but I fear that no crepe in the world will ever live up to my first crêpe salée experience.

From France

Two tours of the Tour Eiffel

2010-07-11T22:01:00.005-04:00

I've been contemplating the order in which I share my travel adventures, and it makes sense that I go chronologically. Now having made that decision, I will break the rule this one time because we ended up revisiting the Eiffel Tower in the middle of our trip.

From France

The first day we were in Paris, we did the touristy cruise along the Seine River. We took the cruise at night because we were told that the Eiffel Tower is lit with beautiful lights. I had trouble getting my camera to take a nice picture (I blame the moving boat) but we did enjoy an amazing cruise. There were so many people just sitting along the river with (several) bottles of wine, laughing, chatting, and embracing.

After the 3 days at Dustin's conference we returned to the heart of Pairs for one last day of the beautiful city; we decided that since the weather had greatly improved, we should visit the Eiffel Tower again, up close. The lineups to climb the Eiffel Tower (by foot or elevator) were horrendous, so we settled for a nap on the grass not far from the base. With exception to the non-stop sales people offering 4 miniature Eiffel Tower key rings for 5 euros, we passed almost the entire afternoon peacefully napping and people watching with one of the world's best views.

From France

Oh! The places I've gone!

2010-07-10T17:11:00.006-04:00

Hello Toronto Heat! What a humid "welcome home" from mother nature... Some of you already know that we recently travelled to France and British Columbia. I'm hoping to focus my next few posts on our trips -- a "travel series", if you will.

To start, I would like to invite you "Chez Papa". This was our first restaurant after landing in Paris. My friend Shiva had recommended it as one of her "usuals" and we happened to stumble on one of the locations en route to the hotel.

The cuisine is Southern French, which I think is more hearty and rich. I ordered an amazing duck breast with a creamy pepper sauce (magret de canard sauce au poivre) and a HUGE serving of fried potatoes. Yes, you guessed it; I enjoyed the meal so much, there was no picture :( My espresso to finish off the lunch (yes, it was a hearty lunch) was my only photo evidence of my Chez Papa experience. It was accompanied by a palette cleansing square of dark chocolate.

From France

Our trip to Paris was slightly unexpected. Dustin's research paper was accepted to a conference that was being held at Euro Disney in Paris: naturally, I *had* to go. Our plan was to spend 3 days in Paris, the 3 days of conference at Euro Disney, and then 3 days to explore a little of the French countryside.

Paris was just the beginning of our adventures; 2010 was an unplanned year for excessive travel (at least for the Dunwells who rarely venture away from the province of Ontario...)

In the words of Dr Seuss:

"...And when things start to happen, don’t worry. Don’t stew. Just go right along. You’ll start happening too.

Oh! The Places You’ll Go!

You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!
You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights..."

All decked out

2010-06-15T12:29:00.000-04:00

I have sad news. Dustin is leaving for 3 months. Yes, I have to learn to take out the garbage. Luckily, Dustin had taken advantage of some good weather in May and refinished the deck. One less thing I have to learn to do this summer. It is now clean and recharged with a sleek waterproof layer!

From garden

This picture was taken last month, just after we brought back our veggies from the greenhouse. It's amazing how much they've grown since then.

We planted the zucchini, cucumber, and tomatoes in the long planter giving them lots of room to grow.

From garden

And did they ever grow!

From garden

The basil has tripled in size. We've been enjoying lots of basil-tomato pasta and Margarita pizza.

From garden

Even the peas are nice and fat as they tangle their way up the trellis.

From garden

When we first planted the chinese veggies (菜心 -- choi sum) they looked so cute all bunched together in the hanging planter. Big mistake. They had no room to grow and before long, they were skinny and tough.

From garden

We tried one more time; spaced them out and offered them lots of fertilizer. Now it resembles something I can enjoy with a drizzle of oyster sauce. Mmmm.

From garden

It's really too bad Dustin won't be around to enjoy all the garden veggies. He'll be in North Carolina eatin' grits and fried chicken, saying "y'all" all the time. Anyone up for a roadtrip? We can bring dustin his 菜心!

The Anna Tunic

2010-06-14T20:20:00.000-04:00

I've been meaning to try one of Amy Butler's clothing patterns for some time now. I've had my eye on the Liverpool Dress pattern, but as fate would have it, the workroom sold out of that pattern when I finally got around to doing it. (I've just found out that the workroom is doing a daytime class series on the Liverpool dress! If only I could quit my day job...)

From sewing

I settled for the Anna Tunic. Still fabulous, and a perfect pattern for the rest of my Amy Butler fabric used in Debbie's Spring Birdie Sling.

I have to admit, the end-to-end project time on this tunic was catastrophic. I cut out the paper patten during the days of the Vancouver Olympics. I pinned and cut the fabric during the first round of NHL playoffs (almost two months later). It wasn't until the Ottawa Senators lost in the first round of NHL playoffs that I decided to finally hunker down and sew this beauty! And now, over a month later, I am finally showing off my glorious work.

From sewing

My favourite part is the buttons! (Of course...)

From sewing

Beets that will pickle your fancy

2010-05-19T22:58:00.001-04:00

With our CSA boxes coming to an end, there is a light at the end of the "beet tunnel".

I made more of the delicious beet soup, and with the remaining beets I decided to try pickling them.

From Food

I used Alton's recipe as a starting point, made some minor changes (when do I ever have all the right ingredients?) and waited a patient 2 weeks before trying them. Verdict? Not bad! Not bad at all! There's still a mild beet taste accompanied with a lovely sweet and tangy pickle.

Here is Alton's full recipe for pickled beets. To roast the beets, I just scrubbed the beets and doused them in olive oil before roasting for about 35 minutes. The actual pickling liquid called for:

* 1 large red onion, frenched
* 1 cup tarragon wine vinegar
* 1 1/2 teaspoons Kosher salt
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1 cup water

I replaced the red onion with a regular onion, and the tarragon wine vinegar with mostly white vinegar and a big splash of red wine vinegar. I also didn't read the recipe correctly (go figure) and dumped the onions into the pot of boiling pickling liquid. I fished them out with chopsticks. I think I made them better ;)

From Food

When the roasted beets are slightly cooled, remove the skin and slice. If the beet is really big, cut it in half before slicing. Fill your jars with alternating layers of beets and onions. When full, pour in the hot pickling liquid. Tightly lid the jars and wait 3 to 7 days before eating. When eating picked beets, do not wear white, especially if you like to eat the beets straight from the jar with your fingers. Enjoy!

From Food

Tomorrow is our very last CSA box. So sad. Just as I mastered some beet recipes. We did not sign up for the summer because we're vacationing (yay!) and also hopefully growing our very own local organic food! Double Yay! Stay tuned for an update on our greenhouse veggies.