recipe #9

hello blog

i have missed you.

I love baking for my friends for their birthdays or just plain ole hangouts. I've been wanting to try this recipe for ages. I present to you, Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes.

I cheated and used box mixes for this. I always end up doctoring them anyways. My tip is to use White chocolate pudding mix along with the rest of the ingredients they suggest on the back of the box.

Ingredients:
2 Boxes Cake Mix (i did both chocolate and vanilla)
1 box of white chocolate pudding
eggs, oil and water as per the box instructions
1 container of icing (i also cheated with store-made)

i was way too excited for the trio colours from this box

place cones in muffin tray (i wrapped tin foil around the cones to keep in place during baking)

Action Shot of batter

Fill 1/3rd into cones as to not overflow (I learned the hard way with the vanilla ones)

Bake as per the box instructions

The chocolate ones turned out perfect

finished ice cream cone cupcake

I would love if I could find sugar cones that had a flat bottom for the next time I make them

current song obsession
lcd soundsystem - release

recipe #8

happy victoria day blogosphere

i am happily blogging from my balcony on this lovely monday

i love my balcony

I am about to share my favourite recipe at the moment for roasted cauliflower. It is adapted from here.

ingredients:
-1 cauliflower, broken into medium florets
-1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil*(the original recipe calls for 3 but i find it too much, you can play around with it*)
-1 tablespoon curry*(last time i added a bunch of different spices)

instructions

1. preheat the oven to 425°f.

 2. cut and place the cauliflower florets in a roasting pan

3. in a small bowl mix olive oil and spices 

4. Drizzle the mixture overtop

5. Place the cauliflower in the oven and roast, stirring occasionally for about 30 to 35 minutes.

Be prepared to enjoy the best caramelized dish ever. Here's what it looks likes like when it comes out of the over!!

One last shot if your still not convinced

glorified food porn! i could eat this every day

final hours of staycation week

I accomplished nearly everything I set out to do. I took photographs for a future project , baked tonnes, played dj for the night and even went to Montreal.

I am ending my vacation by baking what could possibly be my new favourite cake recipe,  Cinnamon-Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Cake from smitten kitchen.

dj mix # 1 - laura's birthday
lykke li - i follow rivers
the pixies - la la love you
broken social scene - major label debut (fast)
the clash - death or glory
tears for fears - head over heels
the knife - heartbeats
talking heads - this must be the place
dead mans bones - lose your soul
underworld - born slippy
jonsi - time to pretend (mgmt cover)
billy bragg - a new england
the national - abel 
ritchie valence - tell laura i love her
iggy pop - the passenger
future heads - hounds of love
justin timberlake - pose
the strokes - gratisfaction
black kids - i'm not going to teach your boyfriend to dance like you
lykke li - love out of lust
cut copy - feel the love
new order - temptation
santigold f. karen o - go
marvin gaye and tammi terrell - ain't no mountain high enough
bruce springsteen - dancing in the dark
erasure - a little respect
phantom planet - do the panic
bedouin soundclash featuring coeur de pirate - brutal hearts
beastie boys - make some noise
devendra barnhart - 16th & valencia roxy music
the strokes f. regina spektor - modern girls and old fashioned men
atmosphere - you
the strokes - under cover of darkness
pomplamoose - telephone (lady gaga cover)
the cure - inbetween days
kate nash - foundations
cults - go outside
cold war kids - hang me up to dry
penny & the quarters - you and me
iggy pop - lust for life
pomplamoose - single ladies (beyonce cover)
lcd soundsystem - dance yrself clean *my #1 jam*
tom petty - american girl
beck - modern guilt
weed and foxes in fiction - teenage dream (katy perry cover)
david bowie - it ain't easy
the pixies - here comes your man
the national - think you can wait
the kills - M.E.X.I.C.O
the streets - i love you more (than you like me)
joy division - love will tear us apart
the strokes -love is simple in the moonlight
best coast - happy
foo fighters - everlong (acoustic)
michael jackson - rock with you
kanye west f. bon iver - lost in the world
the drums - skipping town
zombies - this will be our year
no doubt - sunday morning
the xx - heart skipped a beat

staycation week

I've taken the week off work; instead of going somewhere I decided to stay home and work on the things I always say I'm going to do but don't.  It's my artist week.  Yesterday I took my Bronica out for a walk around Hull with a friend to capture anything that caught my eye for a calendar I want to make.  I'm really trying my darndest this year for christmas to give mostly homemade gifts and this would be one of them. I will try to post my crafts for said project, but I may have to do it after the fact of people opening. We'll see how it goes.

Today I'm going to go to Deserres and buy some painting supplies. I hope to paint on my balcony today and/or tomorrow.

I'm going to make one of these this week. I've also been asked to be dj this weekend at a friends birthday, so I've been compiling my playlist. I'm also going to keep with the tradition of baking my friends birthday cakes and I will be making this and this because I cannot just choose one.

A little preview of my playlist for Laura's Birthday

best coast - happy
the kills - M.E.X.I.C.O
billy bragg - a new england
the pixies - la la love you
ritchie valance - tell laura i love her
santigold featuring karen o - go

cookbook love

With new cookbooks coming out daily and the internet, there are two cookbooks that I could not live without.

1.  Jamie's Ministry of Food:

Seriously this cookbook is amazing! Just tonight I made 'Crunch Garlic Chicken' which could be described as an adult version of chicken fingers. I'm doing my best to get through a recipe from each chapter. It's the reason I started making my own salad dressings.

 The other cookbook I cannot live without is Joy of Cooking:

This is my go-to cookbook. It has any and every recipe you would ever need. Everything I have ever made from this cookbook has been amazing!

recipe #7 - shortbread cookies

This is one of my favourite recipes for cookies. I stole it from a friends mom.

Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies

1 cup butter; unsalted, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup brown sugar; packed
2 cups flour
1 cup of semisweet chocolate chips; i actually used 1/2 cup chocolate chips and 1/2 skor bits

1. Measure Butter, sugar, vanilla and flour into a bowl
2. Combine until dough forms a ball
3. Add chocolate chips and work into dough
4. Roll into 1 inch balls; place on ungreased cookie sheet
5. Press with fork
6. Bake at 325 degrees for 10-15 minutes

dough

ready for the oven

*I didn't really take that many photos because I did this spur of the moment and my camera was dying.

weekend playlist:
zombies - this will be our year
phantom planet - do the panic
lykke li - love out of lust
beach boys - i wasn't made for these times

recipe#6

This winter I've been trying my hand at homemade soups. This one is a take off of one from Mamma Grazzi's. Some friends and I went Friday for dinner and I forgot how much I love their Minestrone soup. It's really the pesto that stands out for me. I decided I could make something similar.

ingredients:

-1 tbsp olive oil

-3 cloves of garlic; minced

-1 tsp of cornstarch (not sure if it really made a difference in thickness)

-1 can of red beans

-3 tbsp pesto (i cheated and used frozen pesto, but I would like to make my own next time)

-1 onion; diced

-1 stalk of celery; chopped

-1 carrot; diced

-1 box of stock (i happened to use chicken because it was on sale, i usually stick to vegetable stock but could not find any at my local grocery store)

ingredient fail - I forgot to include the stock and olive oil but there is a orange monkey peeler

instructions:

1. Add olive oil to large pot, saute onions, carrots and celery.
2. Once onions are slightly transparent add in garlic, beans, pesto and stock (this is also when I added the cornstarch).
3. Bring to a boil and than turn down stove and simmer for 20 minutes or so.
4. Optional - This is when I made my grilled cheese to go along with my soup for a perfect pairing.

dinner is served

soup!

amazing grilled cheese with olives, feta, kraft single on onion bread with garlic powder and red pepper flakes

There you have it my dinner from tonight.

Current playlist:
1.  LCD Soundsystem - Dance Yrself Clean
2.  The Clash - Death or Glory
3.  LL Cool J - Mama Said Knock you Out
4.  Matt and Kim - Cut Down
5.  The Strokes - Gratisfaction

I promise my next update will not be a month and a half away