The CNE was a huge disappointment. Basically, you should only go there if you like hemorrhaging money and looking at morbidly obese people in wheelchairs. I wish I was kidding, but I'm not.

D is teaching me how to use illustrator. I have to say it's pretty neat once you understand how things work. Much better then trying to make things in Photoshop that's for sure! I am always saying that I wish I could draw and D's response is always you can draw but I find that only happens when I am in a complete zone and have been scribbling crap for at least 30 minutes. I couldn't just draw you a goat if you came up to me and told me to draw a goat. I only draw by accident. Anyways I happened to have a scanned doodle that resembled a bear and so this is how it looked when I was done.
Not nearly as awesome as the one D did in less then 10 minutes last night, but I feel I might be on to something.

I've been a semi-busy bee. At least in my head anyways. I visited my friend Angie's site (who is the sweetest girl ever!) the other day and reading all about how well she's doing and how she scored a publishing deal really lit a fire under both D and I.

Well, mostly D. He managed to get a brand new site up as well as complete a set of mini moo cards (which we LOVE!) for it last night. I'm still feeling in limbo about what I want to do. Redesigning my website is on the list for one and I spent all day trying to fix coding problems with the online store with no luck. I initially paid someone to install and design it but it turned out like absolute crap and is part of the reason it sat stagnant for over a year. But even if I were to get that done all my studio equipment is in London and is pretty useless without studio space to put it in, which I definitely cannot afford any time soon.

I also re-sparked my love for Etsy. Why I didn't milk that thing when I had the chance I do not know, because I recommend it to just about every artist/creator I meet who is struggling with how to market themselves. It really is an amazing resource (and a good place for online shopping!)

When I figure out what to do with myself I will let you know.

1. There is a coffee machine that makes 6 different types of beverages in 3 different roasts for 3 cup sizes. Oh yeah, and it's free. (Hot chocolate is my favourite.)

2. I have my own bathroom. With a toilet that flushes with rainwater.

3. The lunchroom is stocked with nice dishes and a dishwasher, only we never have to load it, they have 'people' to do it for us. This includes removing the 500 coffee mugs from your desk at night too.

4. We have a fully loaded gym. In the office.

5. The elevator tells you what floor you are on in a pleasant British accent.

6. The phone hardly rings.

7. My boss looks and acts exactly like my step-mom, who is the coolest.

8. The only time anyone bothers me for something is if they need something mailed, in which I just tell the mail guy to come get it.

9. It takes me 6 minutes to get there by bus and only 20 minutes to walk home.

10. There is a Sobey's around the corner.

And the best thing about Sobey's is...........turkey pepperoni!


Seriously, I had never been inside a Sobey's before this week and I have to say, it may just have become my new favourite grocery store. Any store that sells a product that resembles a meat I don't eat made out of a meat I do eat is awesome to the max. Tonight I am eating pepperoni pizza for the first time in 10 years.

Guess who got Goldfrapp tickets today?

I proved victorious today during our practice hand to hand combat fight to the death that no matter what, I would ultimately win by either A. Poking, jabbing, biting, slapping, punching, kicking or pinching Dave in the junk or by B. Screaming bloody murder.

Girlfriend 1 Boyfriend 0

I was having a wicked craving for something sweet last night and there was a bag of Skor Toffee Bits in the cupboard calling out my name. I tweaked an old chocolate chip cookie recipe I had lying around and came up with these. They are sweet, salty, crispy and chewy all at the same time. In other words, perfect.



Chocolate Chip Toffee Bit Cookies

Yields 3 dozen

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 bag Chipits Skor Toffee Bits

1. Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs and vanilla extract until combined.

2. In a separate bowl, mix flour, salt and baking soda. Add to the butter mixture at low speed until just combined. Beat on medium speed, scraping bowl down, until blended. Stir in chocolate chips and toffee bits until thoroughly combined.

3. Drop heaping spoonfuls of batter 2 inches apart onto lined baking sheets and bake until golden brown around edges approx. 10-12 minutes.

Labels: cooking, food, recipes

The pictures from yesterday's Pyrex bomb look a lot less worse then it actually was. It took forever to clean up and I am still finding shards of glass in the strangest of places. Like the bottom of my foot. Serious.

I know it's still mid-summer and we have a few weeks left to go, but I am so rooting for fall. Mostly because fall equals THE best shopping season! (For me anyway.) At this point of the year, I am beyond sick of looking at flimsy, skimpy bits of fabric in colours that make me look like a corpse. The best part about this time of year though is that all the fall collections are slowly starting to creep into stores, allowing me to molest all the fantastically soft and fluffy sweaters and get first choice on the good stuff while everyone else is too busy combing the summer clearance racks. This week has been no exception, I am a shopping MACHINE!

I spent no less then FOUR HOURS in my favourite store yesterday which my mom was nice enough to drive me to Etobicoke for, since it doesn't exist in the downtown core anywhere. The sales girls were the absolute best ever, constantly bringing me new things to try just because they hadn't 'seen anyone wear it yet.' My new wardrobe now consists of: 2 pairs of dressy pants - 1 olive, 1 brown, 1 brown leather belt, 1 pair of brown suede ballet flats, 1 short sleeved brown blouse, 1 white pinstripe 3/4 length blouse, 1 teal satin blouse, 1 burgundy sleeveless top and 1 teal scarf. Also with a recommendation from D that we go back when his trip is over to see if the matching jacket to my pants 'is still there.' Spoiled rotten? Pffft.......no....

Something actually rotten: I've been craving a good turkey sandwich for just about forever now and bought some fresh rolls to make some the other day. Well I guess I waited a day too long because they were so stale I could barely cut through them. I thought about popping out to the store to get some more but then felt guilty when I realized I had half a batch of bread dough still sitting in my fridge. I decided to bake it all and have a sandwich on fresh delicious bread. Now to get a crispy crust you need steam, which you do by heating a pan in the oven and pouring water into alongside your bread. I have always used a 8x8 cake pan. For some reason, all I own at our new place is Pyrex dishes which I thought would work just as well. I don't know what provoked me to act so retardedly...I studied glassblowing for God's sake...but I poured water--hot water, mind you, I know way better then to use cold--into my 425F pan and low and behold it EXPLODED LIKE A BOMB.

Shit.

I managed to slam the door shut and shield my eyeballs from being sliced to ribbons but I am far too scared to go survey the damage to my oven and I am still sandwich-less as my dough is surely embedded with shrapnel. It is a sad day on the lunch front.

Labels: accidents, cooking, food, ridiculous

Over a month ago when I said I would attempt NaBloPoMo yet again, mainly because it was about food (and I am serious about food!) I made a list of things I wanted to make by month's end, but with the exception of pizza dough I more or less failed miserably. I did manage to cook quite a bit, documenting it though, was another story. First off I do not own a proper camera so getting decent shots are always few and far between. Secondly, I am horrible at remembering to take photos before diving into dinner. Remembering after yes, but never before.

But today I had to share what I made, even though I am resenting not having a decent camera to get a good quality shot. It's one of the things I had on my previous list: Dulce De Leche.


Dulce De Leche is practically effortless, with the exception of devoting time to babysit it while it boils away in the pan. There are various methods of making it but I went with the easiest and supposedly more 'dangerous' version of simply covering a can of sweetened condensed milk with water and boiling it for hours on end--I say dangerous because there are apparent rumours of cans exploding. I did not have this problem but I was sure to keep my cans covered with water at all times and let them cool before I opened them. (Actually, I dumped half a bag of ice in the pot to help speed up the cooling because I was too impatient to see if it had worked, so the whole cooling part is only a half-truth. The caramel did sort of spurt out the top when I pierced the can, but nothing close to what I would call an explosion. Regardless, just make sure they aren't HOT and things should be fine.)

I wanted to make thick spreadable dulce de leche so I boiled my cans for 4 hours turning them upside down halfway through. (And I use the term 'boiled' loosely, I don't think the water ever broke a simmer.) Less time is said to give you a more syrupy like consistency but I wouldn't recommend anything less then 2 hours because you want the sugars in the milk to caramelize and turn golden.

Dulce De Leche - The 'Danger' Method

1. Place a can or cans (you may as well do a bunch) of sweetened condensed milk in sauce pan or stockpot deep enough to cover tops with at least an inch of water.

2. Bring water to a low boil and continue to simmer for 3-4 hours depending on desired consistency, making sure to add boiling water to pot in order to keep tops of cans covered.

3. Allow cans to cool before opening. Empty into a bowl or dish and whisk until smooth. Store unused dulce de leche in a covered container in the refrigerator.

Labels: cooking, food, recipes

D left for the states today to go visit his family, leaving me beeb-less and home alone for the next 10 days. Yours truly would have joined him if the blatant fact didn't stand that she still hasn't completed the passport application she started 6 months ago.

Apparently for two people who wake up at the slightest of noises we still like to sleep through alarms. Alarms that go off for a solid 45 minutes before I wake up to the phone ringing because the airport driver is wondering where the hell D is, which results in total panic, throwing last minute things into the suitcase and running out the door without getting to say goodbye. Try going back to sleep after that or functioning like a normal human after being slapped awake by your girlfriend. (Sorry Boo)

Brandi's coming by to drink wine, watch movies and make thank-you cards, which is just about the most awesome combination ever. Although I can't really think of anything involving wine that wouldn't be the most awesome combination ever. Except that time D decided drinking El Burro and Guinness in excess on the same night. I'll tell you right now that that combination is all negative awesome and positive suck.

(Side Note: D was mentioned in an article on BlogTo a few weeks ago regarding music production and circuit bending. I think that's pretty neat. )