Thursday 30 June 2011

Yummy Canada Day and Fourth of July Cupcakes

Picked a strawberry,
Picked a strawberry,
That was growing in the sun,
Then I washed it,
And I ate it,
And I picked another one.


I want to share with you what we did today.  My four year old son Will and I made yummy chocolate cupcakes for Canada Day.  I used a recipe from one of my favorite cook books, "Deceptively Delicious", by Jessica Seinfeld.  Her recipes are wonderfully sneaky as she incorporates a wide variety of fruits and vegetables into her recipes.   A few of my favorites are her Mac and Cheese with squash puree and Chicken Nuggets with broccoli puree.  Today we made her Chocolate Cupcakes with avocado puree and Cream Cheese Frosting with cauliflower puree and to top them off I made Mini Strawberry Cupcake Toppers to decorate them while Will was busy making a strawberry garland.





Wishing you a yummy holiday weekend!



Monday 27 June 2011

Girl of my Heart...

JE T"ADORE
Whether you are here or yonder,
Whether you are false or true,
Whether you remain or wander,
I'm growing fonder of you...
More than you know,more than you know,
Girl of my heart,
I love you so...
Blossom Dearie

 I title this entry Je t'adore as it is a love letter to all of my girlfriends near or far.

    On Sunday, I had a small brunch with a few of my closest girlfriends who may or may not live nearby.  The sun came out and poured a delicious light onto my dining room table, bathing all of the miniature fuschia roses in summer warmth.  I love entertaining, especially for my girlfriends.  Having moved around a fair bit over the past seven years to San Francisco, then to New Jersey and now back to Vancouver I have small groups of close girlfriends in several places.  Some have moved away but we all try our best to stay in touch amidst all of our busy lives.  So for this Sunday affair I felt it necessary to create a peaceful, romantic space where we could restore ourselves and just have fun.  Thanks girls for the lovely aromatic pink peonies!  
Enter a comment below and include your favorite Party Decoration Set from my Etsy shop and be entered to win the one of your choice. A Winner will be chosen by Random Number Generator and announced here Sunday, July 3, 2011. Comments are closed, thank you to those who left a comment.  Carrie you are the winner!







Thou swell, thou witty,thou sweet, thou grand...  Blossom Dearie




Sunday 19 June 2011

A-Tisket, A-Tasket, Let's pack a picnic basket!

 Happy Father's Day!

Walk a little slower, Daddy,
Said a little child so small.
I'm following in your footsteps
and I don't want to fall...
author unknown

  For my first blog entry I wanted to share with you a special celebration that my family had last night in honor of Father's Day.  Celebrations for my family have always been a time of coming together and truly focusing on one another, distractions aside.  They have also been a time to celebrate beauty.  My mum always created the most wonderful decorative table settings and delicious foods that guided my imagination into a world of beautiful magical adventures. My dad always knew how to complement that with great conversation around the dinner table.
  Today I share with you what I have learned from my mum and dad and hope to pass on to my son, my deep passion for creating beautiful family celebrations.  So in honor of my father, husband, brother, son, grandmother and mum I present to you my picnic style Father's Day dinner setting. What followed in our home was a delicious picnic feast of sweet and spicy coleslaw, blue cheese and bacon potato salad, green bean and arugula pasta salad, BBQ ribs, BBQ duck, fresh berries, strawberry lemonade, buttermilk biscuit strawberry shortcake, a mixed berry pie and many memorable conversations to make this a celebration I will always remember... 

...and I would want to lead just right, 
And know that I was true;
So walk a little slower, Daddy, 
for I must follow you. author unknown







Happy Father's Day to you all!