Miss Ifi - on knitting, life and CAKE

Cipollini giggles

2010-06-09T00:26:00.004-04:00

Okie, so I am in Mexico visiting my parents and I have been taking some photos of the food I've been eating... unfortunately for you I haven't uploaded any because I am still playing with them on Lightroom and Photoshop (yes.. I've become quite addicted to these new toys)

In any case.. this post is called Cipollini... *giggles* and is has nothing to do with the photos of Mexican food I've been taking for you. Last week my parents and I went to visit Palenque, Chiapas and it was extremely hot.. trust me REALLY REALLY HOT!!! it felt like sauna or a really moist oven, so around 2pm when my mom and I didn't want to be in the direct sunlight we hid in our nice air conditioned room and watched Everyday Italian with Giada De Laurentiis. I had never had the change to watch the show and I thoroughly enjoyed some of her ideas.

Now.. to the point, on the show Giada mentioned several times the little Cipollini onions, I have never seen them or use them in my cooking but I thought their little UFO shape and their name were hilarious.. so now obviously every time I hear the name I giggle a bit, come on.. you know you want to laugh with me too!!! Cipollini ^_^

Oh well.. now they seem to pop out in every food blog I read, doesn't it happen to you that when you hear about a new ingredient suddenly you find it everywhere!!! and it was like it had been right in front of you.. you just didn't noticed it before?? Since I can't find any Cipollini around here I'll have to wait until I go back to Ottawa to know what they taste like.. but I look forward to that moment, if you have any favourite recipes with Cipollini please send them in.. I would love to try them.

oh.. Cipollini *giggles*

Sales for the week of Feb 26-Mar4

2010-02-26T16:50:00.002-05:00

I love Thursdays because I get to see the sales for the following week, unfortunately I don't get all the flyers (usually only Loblaws and Independent post their flyers online on Thursday) and I have to wait until Friday for the Metro flyer and until Saturday for the Farm Boy flyer... it used to be that the Thursday newspaper included all the flyers but not anymore (that makes me angry), but this week is different thanks to my friend Carrie I got to see all the flyers yesterday and I can tell you about the awesome sales that are on this week.

For all of you in the Ottawa area....
METRO is offering:
-seedless cucumbers, celery and tomatoes for 99cents each... can you say SALAD?
-a bag of 4 sweet red peppers for 2.99 (perfect as snacks with some dip)
-Campbell's broth for 1.97 (good for risotto, which I'll make this week)

YOUR INDEPENDENT (as well as LOBLAWS) has on sale:
-Mushrooms and tomatoes for 99 cents a pound (great for pasta dishes)
-Salmon portions 2.49 (great with some brown rice and zucchini)
-D'Italiano bread for 1.49 (great for some sammiches.. yum yum)
-Large Broccoli for 1.29 each
-PC Air Chilled whole chicken 2.49lb (do yourself a favour and get a chicken, roast it with some potatoes the leftovers can be had with some salad and then make some broth for a wonderful soup)
-Chocolate Milk 99 cents per litre (for those of you out there who enjoy this type of thing)

FARMBOY
-Sweet red peppers 1.99 lb (these are usually bigger than the ones you get in a bag at Metro.. so you have an option)
-English muffins 1.29 pack of 6
... yeah not that many things at Farmboy

You might be wondering WHY DO I LOVE FLYERS SO MUCH?? well.. I love looking at the flyers because that way I can plan a lot of my meals around sale items and I can save (who doesn't like to save money??) I am pretty sure that many of you out there have this same love for flyer day.. do you??

Regarding food

2010-02-17T15:10:00.003-05:00

Just WHAT IS IT ABOUT FOOD....?

We are so related and at the same time so separate from it, we NEED it to survive but most of us seem to busy to cook and actually enjoy our food.. still when we do take the time to enjoy something delicious our spirits lift, we feel happier.. there is no denying that we have fond memories that relate to food, for example memories of grandma's cooking.

If food is SO important and when we eat something good we feel better, perhaps it is worth it to spend a little bit of time everyday to prepare and enjoy our nourishment.

Have you been looking for me?

2010-02-16T17:03:00.003-05:00

Probably not.. but I have been away reading and learning more about food, I really thought I wasn't going to post on the blog anymore but I have a new purpose!!!

YES you heard right, a new purpose, I am starting a new phase in my cooking life in which I am eager to learn more about where our food comes from, what exactly we are putting in our mouths and about food policy so I think this is worthy of blogging again!!... I am also trying to eat better and live a healthier life (not that I'll stop eating butter of beef anytime soon.. I don't think I could live without either of those things) and exercise more which up to a few months ago I HATED so you'll hear about these things too ....I guess as always I'll also be talking about a whole bunch of silly things and another of my new obsessions (food in the movies) so stay tuned.

Numbers that will blow your mind!!!!

2009-09-22T17:42:00.004-04:00

So.. I am taking an Introduction to International Relations and Global Politics. The other day we get into talking about the U.S. National Debt and here are some things I discovered.

The current national debt is about 11 trillion (can you picture how many zeros that is?? cause I certainly couldn't visualize it.. I had to sit there with my pen and go .. thousands.. millions.. billions.. wow... trillions).

Now...if you had gone into business on the day Jesus was born, and your business lost a million dollars a day, 365 days a year, it would have taken you until October 2737 to lose a trillion dollars.. just ONE trillion.. now the United States debt is 11 of those.

At the rate of loosing a million dollars a day it would take until the year 32,369 to loose the 11 trillion dollars.

WOW... head explode right?!

Adieu Patrick!

2009-09-14T22:45:00.002-04:00

I hope you are better wherever you are.... I will always love Dirty Dancing

WHAT did I do this summer?

2009-09-03T16:58:00.005-04:00

Well let me tell you about it!!! I went to visit my parents in Mexico and I had various activities planned in order to combat my sadness and boredom from being again from my friends and my kitchen. I HAD to get my wisdom teeth out while I was there, but after that I was going to ENJOY my summer.
Among the activities there was dancing at an old friend's wedding, learning how to drive (I've learned how to drive standard, but geesh it is really complicated and I get petrified of thinking about the road AND the gear shifts)going to the beach and taking yoga classes.
Was any of this possible you might ask? Did you have a wonderful summer? Was it even better than what you expected? well.. I am sad to tell you NO.. it was even MORE awful than I expected.
Not in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that after 2 days of being there something worse than getting my wisdom teeth out would happen. The day that I got my wisdom teeth pulled out (a Friday barely 2 days after I arrived) I got a muscle relaxant which had to be delivered intramuscular (I hate shots.. really I hate them) then when I got to the doctor's he couldn't find a good connection to put the anesthesia for the right side of my mouth.. yep that's when things began to go down. After he finally got my left wisdom teeth out he worked on the right side which wasn't completely numb.. it hurt quite a bit but I sucked it up. In the afternoon I had to call him because the pain meds that he recommended were not strong enough, so he gave me something else. I was getting ready to go to bed.. and THEN it happened... I DISLOCATED MY KNEE.. oh yeah it was awful, I've felt the pain before (I've dislocated that knee before) my mom had to call a doctor to our house so he could put it back in it's place.. luckily for me he was really nice and he did it quickly and it was over before I thought much about it.
But.. the damage was done and I got to wear this really cool accessory for the following 4 weeks...

During that time... I wasn't really allowed much walking so I had to stay at home on bed rest... all of my awesome summer plans out the window. When the cast finally came off, I was faced with the fact that all the muscle that used to reside on my left leg was completely gone and that I could not bend my knee at ALL. I was also told by my doctor that I have something called "patella alta" on both my knees which means that they are in a position that is really susceptible to dislocation and this means that if it should happen again to my left knee (for the third time) I would have to have surgery in which they would remove part of bone and realign my patella.. not my idea of fun.

But I am back now in Ottawa and doing the best I can to protect my knee, also doing physiotherapy so I can bend it more and get the muscle back. And you might ask what fun things did I end up doing while I was on house arrest? Well I did read Wuthering Heights, I made some pretty place mats for my friend who got married and learned how how to do some pretty kusudama paper flowers.

Finally I leave you with a picture of the sky on my flight back to Ottawa.

Celebrating the 4th of July in style

2009-07-05T14:30:00.000-04:00

At the American Ambassador's residence

the food was excellent and I tried for the first time grits with shrimp, truly delicious!!
What an honour was to be invited ^_^

Enjoying the 1st of July

2009-07-02T14:17:00.001-04:00

Oh Canada!!!
mmm Canada day this year was relaxing and yummy with some nice peach margaritas courtesy of Martha Stewart, we mixed a little bit strawberries in with the peaches and they seemed even more delicious. You can find the recipe here, they are perfect for summer.

Trying not to skip breakfast

2009-06-27T16:08:00.003-04:00

So.. I have a problem I almost always skip breakfast and why?? well because I LOVE breakfast but I hate it when I have to have it on the run and I can't sit down and enjoy some eggs and some nice toast or some kind of pastry.
I have never been good at eating cereal, usually the 3rd day that I have cereal I get sick of it so usually I just get some tea or coffee and forget about breakfast if I am on the run and if I am at home and I don't feel like cooking I just skip it and wait for lunch.. all of these BAD HABITS!!! our body needs fuel to do things in the morning so skipping breakfast is not good.
In trying to redeem my wicked ways I've been trying to eat fruit every morning (I am also trying to loose some weight and eat healthier), so I've been making some delicious fruit salad (you know apples, peaches, cantaloupe, pineapple, grapes and some pecans all thrown together) and this morning I made some nice blueberry oat scones from bon appétit, you can find the recipe here.... they are good but I feel like there is something missing and I think next time I might try raspberries instead of blueberries.

My breakfast today

so.. do any of you have any recommendations on other breakfast foods that I should try in order to redeem my wicked ways?? (just no oatmeal please.. can't deal with the texture)

Farewell Michael

2009-06-26T15:25:00.002-04:00

I can't believe he is dead... I grew up with his music, Thriller is my favourite video ever and I definitely owe him some of my best dance moves!!

Goodbye

Welcome to the world little Gabriel Roderick!

2009-06-09T12:34:00.002-04:00

I am so happy for my best friend Carrie because she just had her first baby, little baby boy Gabriel Roderick.

He was born today June 09 at 12:20 at 7lb 12oz!!!!

Congratulations CARRIE AND MIKE!!!!

Yay!!! I am an aunt ^_^ *twirls and spins*

What happens when you mistake 3/4 teaspoon for 3/4 cup?

2009-06-03T15:42:00.003-04:00

I didn't know what to title this post, because I also wanted to call it "You should never make cake when you are extremely desperate to eat cake and you can't wait another minute" why? well.. that's what was going on when I decided to make this lemon poppy seed cake from COOK with Jamie.

I couldn't wait.. I just wanted a cake fix fast.. and so I rushed through the recipe and I didn't read the instructions well. I was also halving the recipe so.. trying to think straight while having the intense craving for cake not the best idea in the world.. that is how I ended up adding 3/4 cup of poppy seeds to a cake that only required 3/4 teaspoon.. geesh.. yes, you are probably wondering HOW could I've made that mistake?? well let me just tell you that I couldn't wait to put that cake in my mouth.

this is how it looked..

it didn't taste bad though.. it was just very poppy seedy.. oh well, I've learned my lesson.

Back to the blogging world

2009-05-28T12:37:00.002-04:00

I've been gone for sooo long I hope you have not forgotten me... I was so busy with my internship at the U.S. Embassy that I had not time for anything else, well mostly it was that I really didn't have any energy for anything else. There were also some health issues that kept me away but I am learning how to deal with those so I can be a healthier, happier person.

The internship was an enjoyable experience.. I learned a lot of things and hey.. I GOT TO MEET OBAMA!!! which was definitely a highlight!! Here is a picture of my co-workers the intern farewell lunch.

And now.. I am back!! ready for some more blogging on knitting, life and CAKE!!! is good to be back ^_^

I am BACK!!!

2009-01-20T19:00:00.003-05:00

Indeed I am back, well to be truthful I've been back for about a week and a half however my new Internship at the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa has kept me quite busy.
My holidays were really nice!! I got lots of clothes and shoes and I got to go to the beach which was such a treat... I loved the sun and the sand on my feet, the waves of the ocean just crashing on my legs... oh I wish for that instead of the pile of snow that I have to battle everyday.
I hope you holidays were amazing!!! and although I might not be posting regularly I hope to see you around.

GONE FOR THE HOLIDAYS

2008-12-11T16:39:00.001-05:00

I won't be around from the 12th of December until the 6th of January of the NEW YEAR (wow.. a new year) so ENJOY the holidays!!! have a Merry Christmas and a wonderful new year!!

Daring Bakers November challenge- a very sugary month

2008-11-29T19:01:00.000-05:00

I've been quite sick for quite a few days so I apologize for my delay in posting this challenge.. however I am extremely happy to post this.

This month dear Dolores decided we should get all hyped up in sugar and make a Caramel Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting oh.. and hyped up we did!!! also helping her were Alex , Jenny of Foray into Food , and Natalie of Gluten-a-Go-Go . The recipe came from Shuna Fish Lydon of Eggbeater and you can find the recipe here.

I must admit that at the beginning I was not so excited about this challenge since I don't really like caramel flavours (shhh.. please don't tell anyone.. I already have enough heat coming from Bad Monsieur Josh about it) but I thought that I could do something in order to make it more to my liking. When it came time to do this cake.. I was sooo sick I couldn't really deal with any changes I just wanted to get it done.. but oh!!! I was sooo glad.. the cake is absolutely delicious.. I didn't cook my sugar too long so it wasn't burnt caramel but just nicely light caramelly.. the cake is just soo spongy and moist and incredible I am thinking about making it again this week. The icing was not so much of my liking.. but I think I might use the basis of this icing to make a variation of it next time.. cause I love its texture.

THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU for picking this challenge this month it opened my taste to caramel cake.. (perhaps only this cake.. but still) mmm yummy in my tummy cake ^_^ oh.. if you want to see other creations please visit the Daring Bakers

Supper last night

2008-11-24T18:19:00.003-05:00

I've been wanting to try and make potato leek soup for a while and yesterday I finally decided to do it... I wasn't sure that Bad Monsieur Josh would like leeks, but he had to try them sometime. We found this amazing recipe (trust me it renders a deliciously creamy and fine tasting soup) and the soup was a hit... before pureeing I actually separated some of the leeks and potatoes so I could leave the soup a little bit chunky and I was really glad I did.

I also wanted to try making souffle and so I did... some goat cheese souffle, it wasn't hard to make at all, however I don't think that it is a dish I like a lot... I think I'll try to make chocolate souffle next time.

Feliz Dia de los Muertos

2008-11-02T09:45:00.000-05:00

Happy Day of the Dead to all of you, this is one of my favourite holidays from back home (Mexico) and every year I wish I could go back home just to be there on that day, because it is sooo much fun and there are so many yummy things to eat like "Bread of the Dead" which I decided to make this year.. it wasn't as good as I would have hoped but next year I am looking for a much better recipe...

For those of you who don't really know what Day of the Dead is all about it is a bit like Halloween, we believe that in that day the veil between the world of the living and the world of the dead is really thin and actually our dead relatives can come back from the dead to visit us. So people make altars and in them they put the favourite food of the deceased to whom the altar is dedicated and they'll come back and enjoy it. The living on the other hand, enjoy sugar skulls, candied fruits, little candies called "Alfeñiques" and bread of the dead..... oh so many memories.. I love this holiday so enjoy it!

Where has all the Halloween candy gone?!

2008-11-01T20:58:00.000-04:00

So... I am upset, I am sad.. I am starting to get depreseed.....

Usually on Nov 1st, Bad Monsieur Josh and I go out and hunt some left over halloween candy that is now on clearance because no one has any use for it then, and we are happy to eat tons and tons of candy.. we don't get any trick or treat candy so this is the next best thing..... however we went out on our hung for CANDY and no store would have any.. not Wal-Mart.. not Zellers...not Loblaws... nor the Pharma Plus... where did it all go??!! not to mention now everything is Christmasy and I hate when they do that.. they just make you get tired of Christmas before it even begins..
seriously.. WHERE DID ALL THE CANDY GO??!!! who took it??!! why did they do this to us??!! WHYYYY!!!

/sigh.. I had to rant

Happy Halloween!!!

2008-10-31T18:51:00.001-04:00

Yes.. Happy Halloween from moi et Bad Monsieur Josh ^_^
I hope you get lots of candy and have lots of fun!!!

Daring Bakers October Challenge in memory of Sherry “Sher” Cermak

2008-10-29T22:06:00.005-04:00

This month's challenge has a little bit of sadness attached to it... we lost a Daring Baker... but wherever you are Sher, thank you so much for leaving us with this amazing challenge and thank you Rosa for making everything possible, this has been an amazing challenge!!

By now... you are probably asking yourself well.. what is this challenge you keep talking about?!!... WELL... BAKE YOUR PIZZA LIKE A REAL PIZZAIOLO.. and I did like a real pizzaiolo!!!

The dough is not hard at all to make, you can visit Rosa's Yummy Yums for the recipe... you start it one day ahead and then you get this amazing wonderfully malleable dough, I had no trouble with it whatsoever it was just delightful to work with ( I did make a little adjustment though, I traded one cup of all purpose flour for 1 cup of whole wheat flour).

When the time came to stretch the pizza... I was a little bit nervous but got the hang of it pretty quickly and had a lot of fun with it ^_^ ... although I might have ended with a lot of flour over me

One pizza was a bruschettta pizza with pesto as a base, tomatoes, red onions, fresh basil, oregano, feta cheese and mozzarella and the second one was pesto base, prosciutto, red onion, tomatoes, feta, fontina and mozzarella cheese.. they were both incredibly gooood!!!

Oh once again... belonging to the Daring Bakers pays off.. looove making my own pizza like a real pizzaiolo... maybe I missed my calling have you? you can visit all the other Daring Bakers and find out what they did

Weekend in Toronto/Midland

2008-10-27T21:29:00.001-04:00

On Wednesday of last week, Bad Monsieur Josh and I took a bus and arrived in Toronto and after an extremely crowded subway ride

(I wish our subway ride would have been this pleasant)

we arrived to our friend Shane's... we had homemade pizza that night.. it was AMAZING!!!
Next Morning we went out for some really yummy breakfast at a place called eggstasy and did a little bit of shopping, we visited 2 amazing comic book shops

(hiiii Shane!!!! )

(sooo much food I couldn't finish it.. but it was yummy ^_^ )

(scariest looking place.. but suuuch a good comic book shop)

Thursday night we headed to Midland and on Friday we went out for a nice walk to downtown and the lovely park... everything looks so pretty in the fall

(yes.. EVERYTHING looks prettry in the fall)

(hiii there GEESE)

Saturday we had delayed Thanksgiving and Sunday we had to head back to Ottawa.. however I was extremely please with our nice little weekend vacation ^_^

Birthday Week

2008-10-20T08:52:00.001-04:00

I had an amazing birthday week, with nice little presents from my darling Bad Monsieur Josh everyday during that week and I ended up celebrating with 2 wonderful cakes!!! (thanks Sarah)

I received some amazing gifts too ^_^
extremely excited about this one... looove Jamie

mmmm wine.. and int that mysterious looking bag there is a wonderful Riesling

Yay!!!! funky cookie cutters, everyone needs some of those

oh I love Birthday Week!!! and sparklers too ^_^

Let the celebration begin!!

2008-10-14T08:49:00.000-04:00

For a couple of years now I've been planning my 25th birthday party..

I don't think it will turn out as fabulous as I had planned and expected, it won't have a Marie Antoinette's theme... there won't be at least 3 cakes and champagne drinking until dawn .. but I might do that for my 30th birthday

..this year I've decided to extend my birthday celebration over a week!!! and make fabulous with a coconut cake ... oh this is going to be an exciting week ^_^

sick......

2008-10-08T18:25:00.002-04:00

Yes.. I am SICK.. I have cold >_<

Bad Monsieur Josh got sick on Friday and I took care of him during the weekend and I thought I had dodge the bullet that I would not get sick.. but NOOOO yesterday I woke up and my throat was all scratchy and my head wanted to explode and I felt sooo weak so I am SICK.

I've been trying to drink lots of liquids and sleep a lot and had some chicken noodle soup and garlic bread.. however if you have any other remedies that you would like to throw my way pleeease feel free because I don't want to be sick anymore /cough

I feel like a little twig and at any moment I am going to break, I hate being sick and all vulnerable and I despise it when my throat hurts and I can't even swallow... that's the worse, however having time to cuddle and sleep is good... bah I need to go get myself some chamomile tea, I hope you are all HEALTHY and HAPPY!

September Daring Bakers challenge - Lavash Crackers

2008-09-27T11:37:00.001-04:00

HELLO DARING BAKERS!!!!
Okie.. so people that read this blog often enough know that this was not posted exactly on the day it was supposed to however it is here now and I am really glad to be posting this challenge!

The first time I read the challenge I had no idea what Lavash crackers were or what were they supposed to look like, after a week I saw them in the supermarket the following week every single food store that I went to had them.. it was like they were following me and trying to inspire me to do my challenge, so finally I did. And what can I tell you?

LAVASH CRACKERS ARE AWESOME!!! you don't need tons of complicated ingredients to make them.. nope.. you just need flour, salt, sugar, instant yeast, vegetable oil, water and your pretty hands to knead the dough. The dough is definitely a challenge to knead at the beginning it seems pretty hard and it doesn't take form easily but after like 5 minutes it turns into this wonderful incredibly velvety dough. The recipe said that after rising I might have some trouble shaping it into sheets and that I should wait 5 minutes between rolls of my rolling pin so it would be easier but let me tell you.. I had NO trouble it handled like a dream and it went really thin right away.

To top my crackers I used sesame seeds, paprika, sugar and kosher salt, my favourite ones were the paprika ones (maybe next time I'll try paprika and cheddar cheese) and the sugar ones which were delish. Even though I should have made some sort of dip I ate hem with goat cheese I thought that was the best dip for them besides me having an incredible craving for goat cheese.

And now.. a picture for your visual enjoyment!!!

I bet you.. you can't wait to see what we bake up next month, so please visit all of the other Daring Bakers to see their results.

Carlos Prieto and Me

2008-09-24T18:10:00.002-04:00

Today I was fortunate enough to meet the Mexican cellist and virtuoso Carlos Prieto and his Stradivarius. Since I used to play cello long time ago this was extremely exciting for me and a complete honour...

Here I am with THE MAN

and he also signed my copy of his book "The Adventures of a cello" which narrates the story of his cello and it's masters since it was born.

Yay!!! I am so happy!! *twirls around*

First day of Fall

2008-09-21T18:33:00.002-04:00

Wow... I haven't posted in sooo long and perhaps that is because in the past few weeks things have spun a bit out of control... I've had so many things to worry about and I have not been able to sleep well AT ALL.. I also blame it on the construction that is going on in my apartment building.

Having my darling Monsieur Josh by my side has been GREAT it has also required a bit of adjusting.. go figure that living with a boy is not as easy as one would imagine .. heh.. but still I love it, I finally have someone to take out the trash .. among other things.

Oh.. but I miss posting I miss it dearly!!! and I've thought about a bunch of posts while I've been busy and they just never make it to the blog is kinda sad really..

And now is the beginning of fall... spring took sooo long to get here and summer was never really there it was always rainy and cold and now it feels like it is the end of October.. something really weird is happening with the weather.. is worrying me a bit... although it might have good things if we have a really long fall cause I love fall.

I should go now.. meatloaf is almost done .. yeah I thought that meatloaf would be a fine choice of first fall meal, I'll see you all really soon as I resume posting as usual ^_^

Daring Baker's August Challenge - Pate Choux Eclairs

2008-08-31T22:07:00.001-04:00

I was sooo happy when this month's challenge was announced.. finally a chance for me to try PATE CHOUX... sure I was kind of scared but excited at the same time...if I could master this I could make profiteroles for the rest of my life!!!

This month's challenge is also really especial for me because my Bad Monsieur Josh helped and he made the eclairs taste THAT much better!!! He made the chocolate sauce and glaze... oh quick note about that amazing chocolate sauce is GREAT on ice cream.

The pate choux wasn't that hard to make and it handled like a dream, the only hard part was seeing the little eclairs deflating when they came out of the oven.. I made them twice and twice it happened, but now I know thanks to the amazing Daring Bakers out there that I should take them out with care and cool them little by little. I made one other little adjustment to the eclairs and that was to include some coffee in the pastry cream and some pecans on top of the eclairs after glazing them.

Well... what else can I say I LOVED this challenge and now I leave you with some pictures to convince you to make them one day.. you'll love the result and you'll love playing with the pate choux.

This is the choux paste

And the eclairs... yuuum

08.08.08

2008-08-08T20:00:00.002-04:00

Let the games BEGIN!!!!

I watched the inauguration today and it was amazing!!! the fireworks were incredible and I am excited for all the athletes.
I appreciate the Olympics so much because they give the opportunity to athletes every 4 years to come together in peace with all the other countries and compete at what they are best in... show what is inside them and become gods among men. GOOD LUCK to all athletes out there!!!

I'll sure be watching female and male gymnastics and male swimming (seriously... my favourite event.. *blush* I wonder why) so... what are YOUR favourite events?!!

Miss Ifi's Sing-Along blog

2008-08-06T21:23:00.004-04:00

Seriously you must!!! it is hilarious and it will have you singing all day ^_^

trust me.. you won't regret watching it.. besides how could you object to Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion??!!

ENJOY

Hooked on French Onion soup

2008-08-05T22:46:00.004-04:00

A few weeks back at an awesome weekend retreat at Sarah's house (thank you Sarah for hosting that awesome weekend again!) dedicated to watch the Tudor's, I was fortunate to try homemade French Onion Soup.

After some hesitation I decided to try my hand at French Onion Soup... ooooh!!! it's soo good, the fact that this dish takes SHERRY .. well let me just tell you it is definitely for ME. I highly recommend that you take your JOY of cooking book and give it a go *winks*
I love making French Onion soup if only the onions didn't make me cry so much, I usually cut them in half and put them in fridge for a while so they are not so bad.. but this time it didn't seem to work so well do any of you know any good tricks so onions don't make me sob?!

now.. you can't tell me you wouldn't like a bowl of this

yum right??!! you are all welcome to drop by next time I make it, just give me a heads up

Oh!!!.. and could this be??!! a knitting project all finished and blocking?! I fear that you'll have to wait a few more days to see the how the whole thing looks but enjoy the sneak peak ^_^

This Daring Baker apologizes

2008-08-02T22:45:00.000-04:00

Dearest Daring Bakers that stopped by, I am sorry to inform you that I was unable to complete July's challenge, but I hope to join you in next month's awesome challenge.

Thanks again for stopping by!!

This Daring Baker is late

2008-07-30T15:15:00.002-04:00

I know!!! SHAME ON ME...
but that is the way life is... the July Daring Bakers challenge will be a few days late.. however it WILL BE posted.

So.. if you stopped by to check out what I did, I apologize but please come by at a later date

THANKS

my new TOY

2008-07-28T13:06:00.002-04:00

My printer had a stroke last week and decided it did not want to print anymore... I couldn't figure out what was wrong with it.. and to this day I do not know, perhaps it was old age.

So... I had to get a new printer, at first I was very skeptic about it, because I've had my hp printer for so long and we've been such good friends. However I could go no longer without a printer... what about my recipes and my resumes and all other printable stuff??!!!

I searched the printer world and finally I found this beauty... and it was on sale.. what else could you ask for??!!!

and I love it!!! it prints really nicely (it is quite nice to have colour printing again that does not cost you an arm and a leg) and it also scans beautifully!!!
Oh I <3 you EPS!! (you know.. short for epson)

ADDICTED

2008-07-26T21:31:00.001-04:00

.....seriously best Cheezies on the face of the planet!!!

at 4:30am today....

2008-07-25T17:14:00.003-04:00

I fell asleep last night without much trouble and I was quite happy that it was windy outside and quite cool, this would allow me to have a good rest and wake up refreshed.. there is nothing worse than waking up feeling all sticky and tired...

Around 4:30am I woke up and I heard the trees outside bustling and I could feel the cool draft coming from my window.. I opened my door to go to the washroom and as soon as I did I heard voices... two women's voices quite clearly... quite close and then a man's voice.. my heart began racing...

the voices I realize were not coming from the hallway .. no they were much closer... they were not in my balcony.. THE VOICES WERE COMING FROM MY LIVING ROOM.. I stood at my bedroom door frozen without knowing what to do.. who could be IN my apartment and then I saw a light flicker.. I realized then that it was the TV.. the voices were coming from the TV... but, how could they.. I didn't leave the TV on last night... my heart wanted to get out of my chest as I looked at the TV

I searched the kitchen.. no one there, the closets and the bathroom

... I turned off the TV and went back to sleep

mmmmm pineapple pie you are my favourite!!!

2008-07-17T17:28:00.000-04:00

While my mom was visiting we bought a very nice pineapple, the objective was that my mom would show me how to make a really nice pie...

I waited patiently for the pineapple to ripen and then things got hectic during my mom's last week of her visit... so we didn't really have time to do anything with the pineapple ... I was very sad because I really wanted to learn how to make the pie..

SO I DID!!! I decided to make up my own little recipe.. I got all of the pulp out of the pineapple by inserting a knife repeatedly around the heart of the pineapple and scooping the insides... then I heated up a little butter in a pan, dropped all of the pulp and added a bit of sugar and cinnamon.. let it cook for a bit and I proceeded to add a bit of corn starch to thicken the juice. I pour the mixture into a prepared pie shell and VOILA!!! the result is amazing... trust me you have to TRY IT!!!

My XP with freezer jam!

2008-07-08T17:08:00.001-04:00

I was extremely excited to try and make freezer jam for the very first time after reading about many bloggers experiences....

so I got my little jars and the pectin

and the fruit of course... I decided I would very much like to try Strawberry and Rhubarb

and I made my jam... the result you ask?! well not as I would have expected, I thought I was being smart and I didn't want to make the jam too sweet so I skipped some of the sugar VERY BAD MISTAKE because it didn't really make jam but rather syroupy mess... it still tastes really good, but I think I need to try again and this time I shall REALLY follow instructions

Happy Birthday CANADA!!!

2008-07-01T23:20:00.006-04:00

Wow.. you look very good at 141 years old!!!

the changing of the guard was quite interesting

the RCMP musical ride was extremely entertaining!!!!

I <3 CANADA!!!

Daring Bakers June challenge - a very fragant one

2008-06-29T22:14:00.007-04:00

This month's Daring Bakers challenge is Danish Braid.. the challenge here really is the danish pastry.. but trust me this CHALLENGE is worth challenging yourself because oh!! the results are sooo good ....ooooh soo good!!!

I would like to thank Kelly and Ben for this month's challenge because I learned a lot and I got to use cardamom (something I've always wanted to use.. but I've never had the chance and it is awesome!!) and I would like to thank them also because this challenge has left my hands smelling like orange, vanilla and cardamom.

I thought I was going to have a lot of trouble with the dough.. but it handled like a beauty and when it came to do the turns.. it was quite exciting and fun!!! and let me tell you that when I was cooking the filling the smell was also DIVINE!!! this whole thing is amazing.. trust me.. you want to make it or at least eat lots of it.

Here are the braids after they've been proofed, I added some pecans to the filling and also put some on top of one of the braids.. it made them even yummier!! I should also mention that I added some pears to the filling .. I enjoy so much the grainy feel that pears have mmm

And they looked like this after being in the oven!

With some of the dough I also made some croissants that had goat cheese in them... yummy right??

Are you drooling yet?? well if you haven't decided whether or not you would like to make a Danish Braid visit the other Daring Bakers blogs for more convincing proof... in the meantime I'll enjoy a piece of mine *winks*

Little Herbs

2008-06-29T16:33:00.006-04:00

I began grown some herbs at the beginning of May and the first picture that I took of them is here, now they are bigger and I've grown very fond of them.. some of them died along the way and that made me extremely sad.. but this is update on their situation

pretty much all of the Oregano decided to die, but this one survived.. I am hoping nothing happens to it

the Basil has behaved wonderfully and I am hoping they'll get stronger and taller, I like how they look with their little bows

will you guess??

2008-06-28T18:26:00.000-04:00

I <3 this song.. but can you guess who is it by and what's the name?

"So we meet again!" and I offer my hand
All dry and English slow
And you look at me and I understand
Yeah it's a look I used to know
"Three long years... and your favourite man...
Is that any way to say hello?"
And you hold me... like you'll never let me go

"Oh c'mon and have a drink with me
Sit down and talk a while..."
"Oh I wish I could... and I will!
But now I just don't have the time..."
And over my shoulder as I walk away
I see you give that look goodbye...
I still see that look in your eye...

So dizzy Mr. Busy - Too much rush to talk to Billy
All the silly frilly things have to first get done
In a minute - sometime soon - maybe next time - make it June
Until later... doesn't always come

It's so hard to think "It ends sometime
And this could be the last
I should really hear you sing again
And I should really watch you dance"
Because it's hard to think
"I'll never get another chance
To hold you... to hold you... "

But chilly Mr. Dilly - Too much rush to talk to Billy
All the tizzy fizzy idiot things must get done
In a second - just hang on - all in good time - wont be long
Until later...

I should've stopped to think - I should've made the time
I could've had that drink - I could've talked a while
I would've done it right - I would've moved us on
But I didn't - now it's all too late
It's over... over
And you're gone..

I miss you I miss you I miss you
I miss you I miss you I miss you so much

But how many times can I walk away and wish "If only..."
But how many times can I talk this way and wish "If only..."
Keep on making the same mistake
Keep on aching the same heartbreak
I wish "If only..."

But "If only...."
Is a wish too late...

Everyone should wear silly pink hats once in a while

2008-06-25T23:03:00.003-04:00

Daring Bakers May challenge- why you should never leave your challenge for the last day

2008-05-28T22:19:00.003-04:00

First I would like to say that this month's challenge is dedicated to Barbara of WinosandFoodies.

Okie so let's start at the beginning... it came as a shock to me the fact that we could not use chocolate or coffee... you heard me... when I saw we were making L'Opera cake I dreamt of chocolate and lots of coffee.. however my dreams had to be redirected to visions of fluffy vanilla buttercream and strawberry mousse and glaze.

YES!.. I had a vision, but it was just that, and I slacked off ALL month long.. I KNOW!! how could I do that??!!! (trust me I'll never do it again) I left the making of the cake until TODAY.. the posting day of the challenge.. oh I know I've been bad

and... what happens when you leave your challenge for the LAST day?? well.. YOU ANGRY THE BAKING GODS!!! that is what happens.. trust me Daring Bakers out there.. never do it, the wrath of the gods is mighty and to be feared I've experienced it first hand... and I nearly wanted to cry. My buttercream curdled.. I tried it a second time.. it nearly curdled again, I made my mousse and it did not work as expected ....it did not set and I ended up not being able to do my glaze (which was what I had look forward to the most).. OH!! what I would give to go back in time in order to do my cake waaay in advance.

Here are the pictures..

My variations to the original recipe: I used pecans instead of almonds for the joconde and I used strawberries on the bottom layer as well as an strawberry mouse on the top.

And now I cordially invite you to look at all of the other Daring Bakers wonderful creations

Going to the Ottawa Tulip Festival

2008-05-19T21:49:00.000-04:00

I haven't been updating that much.. truth be told I have been busy doing stuff with my mom like... going to the tulip festival!!!

My favourite ones

My MUM posing!!

Each one unique and beautiful!!

Working out

2008-05-14T22:45:00.003-04:00

4km today!!!! and found these pretty pretty wild flowers

mmMMmmm Cheesecake

2008-05-07T00:40:00.003-04:00

My first cheesecake and I must say it is sinfully delicious!!! the recipe was take from Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. It is a really nice and easy recipe, and I loved Dorie's suggestion of using a hair dryer to remove the cheesecake from the mold. I only added some lemon juice to the mixture.. I kinda wish I would have added some more

come on over.. I am willing to share!

Growing herbs

2008-05-05T00:34:00.001-04:00

So.. I am growing some herbs to have for the summer and here are the first signs of life

I am sooo proud!! it feels so great to see something grow

OH NOES!!!

2008-04-19T00:06:00.001-04:00

Today I fell in the middle of the road.... I didn't know what happened and I twisted my left foot and then scraped my knee.. that hasn't happened in years... and I had forgotten how much it stings when you clean up the wound >_<

Monsieur Josh visits

2008-04-14T23:24:00.000-04:00

So what did Monsieur Josh and I cooked while he was visiting??

Our first whole chicken!!! with this recipe and believe me.. it tasted soooo good it was amazingly moist, PERFECT!!!

Some really nice spaghetti and meatballs from America's Test Kitchen, the sauce was delicious!!!

Blackout cake, from America's Test Kitchen and trust me it was incredible... the pudding is such a nice substitute for icing and my idea to add pecans made it even better ^_^

Daring Bakers march challenge - because every party needs a cake!

2008-03-30T22:55:00.006-04:00

This month's challenge was courtesy of Morven from Food Art and Random Thoughts, and I got to do what I love most... CAKE!!!!!

I loved this month's challenge because we had quite a bit of freedom to do as we pleased with the cake and put our personal stamp on it.. not that we are not allowed to do that often.. but I guess this time I just had a field trip with the recipe.

Anyway.... it all began with the basic recipe for Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake from her book "Baking from my home to yours" and while I was reading the recipe my imagination began going wild...thinking about raspberry sauce between the layers and some lemony icing besides adding some pecans to it as well!!!...

But every good baker has to assemble the basic ingredients first.. so I did

I added pecans to the batter of the cake, and I must say that it came out beautifully.. it is just such a perfect cake.. so moist! Once the cake cooled down I cut the layers and I put raspberry sauce (some mashed raspberries with lemon and sugar) between them, when the cake was assembled.. it was time for the icing.

I decided to do some 7 minute icing (because I've never made icing before) instead of the butter cream, and I also added some lemon to the icing so make it tart (I really like lemony stuff.. so my cake was all fruity and lemony) the icing was good.. however not what I expected.... I was hoping that the 7 minute icing tasted more like the icing that the cakes that I ate when I was little had.. that sort of cheap icing (well maybe not cheap .. I dunno) but that it was mostly icing sugar and it had a lemony taste and it was a bit hard.. hopefully one day I'll find the recipe for that icing "the cheapo icing that the wedding cakes that I had when I was little had"

Well the cake was finished.. all covered in icing and looking pretty nice!!! I must say it was a really yummy tasting cake and I highly recommend making it sometime.. or you know.. whenever you need a cake for a party!!

And now.. please go visit some other Daring Bakers blogs to see their wonderful creations ... see you soon!!!

Come in Spring... would you like some Brioche?

2008-03-20T17:05:00.004-04:00

How am I celebrating the arrival of spring??
home.. bundled up and drinking tons of echinacea tea.. that is RIGHT.. I am sick.. sniffling and coughing, and I wish that I could just disconnect from school and some of the stupid people in my groups would just let me rest and get better!!

Enough complaining I made brioche the other day.. and what do I think?? BRIOCHE is the greatest thing ever!!! I swear... heaven must smell like Brioche yum..

I leave you with some pictures while I go flop on the couch

Lemon Sabayon Nests

2008-03-18T00:42:00.004-04:00

Friday March 14th was PIE day (also known as PI day as in 3.1416), unfortunately I didn't get to make any pies that day, but on Saturday I made lemon meringue tartlets for Miss Martha and her Josh.. it is really nice to use a recipe from the Daring Bakers over and over, the recipe has proven very delicious so that is WHY I keep going back to it.
I knew that I would have leftover curd from the tartlets, so I decided to adventure and do something from the LCBO's Food & Drink magazine for the Spring 2008 LEMON SABAYON NESTS *giggles* I love saying sabayon... sabayon.. sabayon.. *clears throat* anway, I made the nests for which you need:
* a muffin tin (greased)
* a preheated oven at 350F
* a few sheets of phyllo dough
* melted unsalted butter
* granulated sugar
the way to prepare the nests is: roll the dough and cut little strips like pasta, then separate them, put little piles of the dough in the muffin tins, gently hollowing out the centre to make a nest shape, you then proceed to brush them with butter and sprinkle them with sugar and bake them for 6-8 minutes.
Once the nests were done I only had to fill them with the same curd that the tarts had, but I wanted to make them prettier so I mashed some raspberries and mixed them with a little bit of sugar and pour that mixture over the filled curd nests ........ and this was the result!

I am sad to report that the nests did not survive the trip to Miss Martha's house, they were too fragile, however the tartlets were enjoyed and I was happy... I love making people happy with my baking!

That is all for now, may you have wonderful dreams of spring desserts!

Can't stand winter anymore

2008-03-13T19:26:00.002-04:00

Lately I've been feeling blue, just feeling sad and moping around... the stress from school has taken a toll on me and this loooong winter isn't really helping at all, right now it is actually snowing out there... just what we need MORE SNOW!!!..

Maybe I just need to eat some cake with loooots of chocolate, or maybe I need to MAKE a spring cake to entice spring to come over.. or maybe I need a new apron (having a new apron would be great) that is flowery and that I can wear around the house to make me feel pretty and springy and in a good mood.

Luckily Miss Martha tried to help me out with this mood and brought me a present (yay for presents!!!) meet Miss Gretta

There is one more thing that has been putting a stress on me, and that is the fact that I am graduating soon and I need to find and job, and this search is driving me INSANE!!! I went to this job interview yesterday and the guy asked me at the end of the interview whether I had a car or not, when I answered NO.. he looked at me like I was a leper.. and proceeded to tell me that I would probably need to get one. Yeah.. cause what the world needs right now is MORE cars on the road, I bet he hasn't been on the public tranpo in.... well he has probably never been on a bus who am I kidding .. /sigh

I'll go back to my knitting for now, I hope your lives are going much better than mine!!! and if you are making me... could I come over?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

2008-03-10T23:51:00.005-04:00

*throws some confetti around*
*sings Happy Birthday*

YES... Happy Birthday to Bad Monsieur Josh this year you are 25 years old, but I thought you should remember how you looked not so long ago

I hope this year brings lots of excitement and good things, may all of your dreams come true. I hope to have you in my life for many years to come.
Thank you for being my friend and lover, for being my shoulder to cry on and the person who loves me as strange as I am!
*huuugs* Happy Birthday!!!

<3

Say Hello

2008-03-05T22:57:00.004-05:00

Yes Say Hello to a new member of the family
Miss DAPHNE

isn't she pretty? I've been wanting to get a Daffodil for a really long time, now I am really happy.
And.. one more thing this is the toque that I just finished knitting, it was my first time making a pompom and I must say it was very successful it is very full and it is a fun pompom.. I like my new hat!!

February's Daring Bakers challenge

2008-03-03T10:30:00.005-05:00

Finally I get to post the results of February's challenge.. yay!!!! I've just been so busy with school that I didn't have time to do it at the appropiate time, and that made me feel really sad, however I am a DARING baker so I made time this weekend to do my challenge and I was really happy.
When I first learned how to make bread my objective was to one day be able to make baguettes without a problem, well this is the beginning of that... so I was really excited when they announced that the challenge for February was FRENCH BREAD!!!! Thanks Mary and Sara

As always, I assembled all the ingredients

And then the adventure began, it was challenging this time... I had to go over the instructions a couple of times, and waiting for the bread to rise was torturous (but not as torturous as waiting for the bread to cool so I could take a bite) because I just wanted to taste the end result and I really wanted to try my hand at slashing the dough. It was challenging to make this bread, but then again that is WHY I am a daring baker, however I enjoyed every single bit of it... and...
THIS IS THE END RESULT!!!

Will I try this recipe again? DEFINITELY... I'll keep trying it until I perfect it for sure.... I love the taste of French bread, if I had it my way I would eat it everyday, so I'll keep trying this recipe and eating some awesome bread!!!
THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU DARING BAKERS OUT THERE, who can make amazing bread out of FOUR ingredients!!! YOU ARE MY HEROES!!!

The adventures of the traveling PIE

2008-03-01T00:17:00.007-05:00

To all of my fellow Daring Bakers, my apologies for not posting my challenge on time this month, but school has been absolutely crazy, I'll make my bread this weekend and do the official February challenge post then.

However, I'll leave you with the adventures of the traveling PIE!

Bad Monsieur Josh and myself made a pie for Valentine's day... a peach pie with ground pecans on the crust...
But we couldn't finish the pie and we had to travel to Midland, ON on Saturday so we took the pie with us.. a TRAVELING PIE!

The pie waited patiently in line to get on the bus

The pie took the Toronto subway and had to be particularly careful of the GAP...

The pie arrived to it's final destination, and it was a happy pie because it had seen some of the world!!!

ME tagged?

2008-02-20T10:07:00.002-05:00

First, I would like to Apologize to Bev for taking so long for this post, and I would really like to thank her for tagging me.

And now.. the dreaded RULES (as the echo of RULES... RULES.. RULES.. goes on)

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 5 facts about yourself
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment at their Blogs.

Please.. a drum roll for the 5 interesting things about myself (well sort of interesting)

1.- Both my names Euridice and Ifigenia come from the Greek mythology, and they are both tragedies.. I guess my parents had a sense for the dramatic, they are both very interesting stories but my favourite one is Euridice's story. Hopefully one day I'll find my Orpheus who will be ready to go get me back from the Underworld.

2.- I am obsessed with dessert, I MUST eat something sweet after my main meal otherwise I just feel like there is something missing and I don't feel satisfied. Right now.. I need some cake with some ice cream.. mmm spongecake with ice cream yuuum.

3.- My favourite kind of wine is Riesling is just refreshing and fruity .. I love it, and just last week I got my first recipe to cook with Riesling so stay tuned for Chicken cooked in Riesling.

4.- I am a really slow reader, specially with Fiction books because I don't want them to be over, I feel that once I read the last page of the book I'll loose the story and will be out of my mind, however if I read it really slowly I can think about different endings and keep the world of the book in my head. I know it sounds really weird, but I love keeping all of the world of fiction close to me.

5.- I collect and LOVE (and I mean LOVE) bags and boxes, just ask Miss Martha... I have so many bags, but seriously.. I don't think you can ever have enough bags.. I loves them loves them.. LOVES them. Functional ART!

And now for the people that I've chose to TAG!! mwahahahaha!! (I am changing the rules for myself cause they are meant to be bent.. I am only tagging 3 people)

1) Miss Martha aka Carrie
2) Miss Carolyn
3) Kristin who I just meet but is a really nice gal

Valentine's week photostory

2008-02-18T13:07:00.004-05:00

geesh... I haven't updated this for a while, I'll try and keep posting more soon, but for now... here are some photos...

Miss Martha and PHO

My PHO

Valentine's day Breakfast

phone rings in the middle of the night

2008-02-07T00:29:00.000-05:00

FOR A SECOND THERE.... I THOUGHT I DIDN'T LOVE YOU ANYMORE

.....
...
........
.....

but it turns out it was just heartburn

phat lewt

2008-02-03T18:57:00.000-05:00

Since I saw Bev's post about Naan bread and little Ollie nibbling at that delicious bread... I've been dying to make some, of course the challenge of making this bread is I don't own a tandoor oven, but oh well... I wanted to nibble on some of that delicious bread myself.

The recipe was easy and I love using yogurt instead of milk, the dough was a BEAUTY to work with, seriously... it is a pleasure to work with.. it is sooo smooth and easy to manage.. I loved it! ... and...

I loved the bread too.. doesn't it look pretty? trust me, it also tasted yuuummy!!! yay for Naan, thanks sooo much Bev!!

Last Sunday I went out with my dearest Miss Martha and we went on a fabric buying expedition.. and this is the phat lewt that I got

pretty eh?? 4 of those fabrics are destined for bags, and I am unsure about what to to do with the other still, perhaps more bags, perhaps more stuffed monsters, we will see what my imagination cooks up, but I am sooo happy with my fabric.. ^_^

what I am not so happy about right now is this killer headache that I've had since yesterday and I don't know what to do with it.. it is sooo bad.. anyone knows about a recipe to get rid of this kind of headache? *dies*
x_X

A snow storm and some matcha mini cakes

2008-02-02T18:34:00.000-05:00

On Friday, I was supposed to go out with Miss Carolyn to knitnite... we were supposed to have have supper at her place (I would provide the dessert) and then go...

I had my knitting ready!

I had dessert ready!

Matcha and chocolate mini cakes for which you can find the recipe here

but the weather had completely different plans for us.... there was a snow storm so our plans were shattered, hopefully when we meet this coming week there won't be a snow storm!
On the plus side the Matcha cakes are reeeeally good, seriously is super fun to cook with matcha tea ^_^ ... who wants to come over for some tea and mini cakes??!!!

Daring Bakers + lemons + meringue = lemon meringue PIE challenge

2008-01-28T23:11:00.000-05:00

This month's DB challenge ... LEMON MERINGUE PIE or Free-style LEMON TARTLETS

When I first heard about the challenge I must admit I did not get too excited, but after thinking about it for a while and discussing it with my Bad Monsieur Josh (a.k.a The Pie Maker)

I decided to give it a go and make it the BEST Lemon Meringue Pie, I've ever had... (secret confession.. I am not a lemon meringue pie connoisseur), I began to think what could I do with the recipe and I prepared all of my ingredients

On Saturday afternoon the neighbours of the 9th floor were unsuspecting of the fact that they would wake up to a sea of Lemon Curd, seriously.. this was MY favourite part of the challenge, mixing in the corn starch and the sugar and waiting for it to thicken.. you get this goooey fun to work with and watch lemony curd, I just wanted to keep making more and more, but the more I thought about my plan of flooding the 9th floor of my building with lemon curd.. I realized that perhaps my neighbours would not appreciate it as much as my fellow Daring Bakers would.. so /sigh .. no lemon curd flood.

The only change that I made to the recipe was that I added some lemon zest to my pastry dough, you really couldn't feel it but I liked the idea of hiding something in the crust mwahahahaha!!! And.. I decided to make tartlets instead of ONE BIG pie, I really liked them.. mmmm sooo yummy ^_^

and for your delight.. a lovely picture of the tarts .. oh and thank you to Jenn from The Canadian Baker for this month's challenge

2 new things and some CAKE!

2008-01-24T21:28:00.000-05:00

OH JOY!!! to finally own a digital camera and be able to take pictures of EVERYTHING, I hope you don't get tired of the pictures y'all.. I am a firm believer in the more pictures.. the BETTER!!!

Since my camera needed a home to stay protected, warm and cozy when I take it out on the town... I armed myself with my scissors, lots of patience and the sewing machine.. and after one failed design I was finally able to finish a temporary home for my camera (temporary.. because I think I can make improvements to the pattern, but for now it will do..) and I am happy with it ^-^

The second new thing is.. A FOOD SCALE!!! yay!!! finally I have a food scale.. I am quite happy with it and I think is pretty.. now I'll never be fooled about grams or ounces.. I can measure them, tee hee!!!

AND WHAT ABOUT THE CAKE??? you might ask.. well that is the best part, I've been craving some chocolate cake for the past few days, actually since I saw this post on Eat Drink Live .. so I whipped it up and made some mini cakes and let me tell you that it is FABULOUS!!! in half of the mini cakes I hid raspberries and the combo of flavours is amazing!!! I need to find more recipes of chocolate cake with raspberries.. mmm ... here.. have some

The day Heath Ledger died

2008-01-22T22:20:00.000-05:00

It is sad, very sad.... he is dead or so they say, I still can't believe it.. I am hoping it is all a publicity stunt and that he'll be back for the premiere of The Dark Knight .. you know?? like he dies and comes back as the Joker... I am hoping, and wishing it isn't true, what they say about his death.

He was only 2 years and a few months older than I am right now, and he is gone..... he will be certainly missed because he had great talent, he made us laugh, cry and believe in love (I certainly loved him in 10 things I hate about you)

... I still wish and hope it is all a joke

My Christmas in January

2008-01-20T21:31:00.000-05:00

Since I went to HOooOME to spend Christmas with my parents, Bad Monsieur Josh and Miss Martha (aka Carrie) agreed to celebrate Christmas in January with ME!!!

The plan for Christmas in January was set in motion back in December 2007, we agreed there would be no presents until our especial weekend in January and no Christmas cards, nothing Christmasy until that weekend, which worked out perfectly... because this way we had time to think about presents and I had time to make an especial stocking for Bad Monsieur Josh (well didn't really have much time.. but he got his nice embroidered stocking of which I forgot to take a pictures >_<) and had time to design Miss Martha's card.

After my crazy holiday season it was nice to come back to Ottawa and celebrate Christmas in January, it is a really nice tradition actually... on Sunday, January 13th Bad Monsieur Josh and I woke up to give each other our Christmas presents and made a very nice breakfast and later on that night we went over to Miss Martha's for Christmas dinner!!! it was awesome... what can I say I love Christmas in January ^-^

and what did I get for Christmas presents you might ask??? well... Miss Martha got me some really nice fabric to embroider and a Stuart McLean book *jumps around* and my pie maker Bad Monsieur Josh got me some seasons of Sex and the City and... *drum roll please*..... a DIGITAL CAMERA!!!! I looove my presents !!!

And.. this is one of the first pictures I took with my awesome new camera

cute eh?

... and that was Christmas in January.. I like this idea of having 2 Christmases.. it just makes me happy ^_^

Back after the holidays craze...

2008-01-19T17:18:00.000-05:00

To begin with, here are some more pictures of my Yule Log...

And how were my holidays you might ask??? (well Christmas and New Year's because there is another set of holidays called Christmas in January but that story will be told tomorrow)... well they had good and BAAAAD parts.

I left Ottawa on Friday the 21st of December to go home and visit my parents in Aguascalientes Mexico. I arrived to the airport knowing that it would be a long day, but that around 9:30 I would be home with my parents... oh I was sooo wrong! The flight from Ottawa to Chicago got delayed because there was fog in the Chicago airport (unluckily for me, my connections were very tight), well with about a 2 hour delay we made it to Chicago and the flight to Dallas had also been delayed so I was able to take that flight, but when I got to Dallas to take my flight to Aguascalientes (the only flight a day) they had just left, as in if I would have arrived 2 minutes earlier I would have made it.

I thought that it wouldn't be so bad, I mean I would get accommodations for the night from American Airlines and the next day I would go home.. well I was wrooong about that too. I went to the ticket counter from American Airlines where they told me they would not provide accommodations because it was due to weather and I would not be able to get home until Sunday (this was Friday) because all flights were full. I didn't have communication with my parents until I finally was able to call them using a 20 dollar phone card that gave me 4 minutes. I stayed in Dallas that night in a discount hotel that American Airlines got for me because I was a "distress passenger" and the next day I flew from Dallas to Acapulco and from Acapulco to Mexico city (both of the flights were delayed so it was a VERY looong day). When I finally got to Mexico City, I had to go to the ticket counter from American Airlines and try and get my tickets for the next day and a discount hotel, well the ticket counter was closed so I had to go to an obscure office to get all of that, but blessed them, they gave me the hotel and some food money... FINALLY they were nice (seriously the people that work for American Airlines in the United States need to be a little bit nicer).

On Sunday I finally got to Aguascalientes, but I was sooo tired and I had been through so much, I just wanted to sleep through the holidays. Christmas was nice and for New Year's we went to Palenque, Chiapas and we has lots of fun and it was a really good trip. My parents got me some really nice clothes as a Christmas present and I also got some really nice fabric.

When I had to return to Ottawa (a Monday), I was nervous because I didn't want to have any problems, oh well... you don't always get what you ask for. My plane left from Aguascalientes without any problems, we got to Dallas fine, and from Dallas the flight was delayed to Chicago because there were crazy winds, finally after a 2 hour delay we get on the plane and we arrive to Chicago just in time to run to my flight to Ottawa, and when I get there they tell me that the flight to Ottawa has been canceled because of fog in Ottawa, and at this point my only chance to get back to Ottawa is not until Wednesday, OH DEAR!!! I couldn't wait until Wednesday I just wanted to get home to Ottawa, I just wanted to get out of Airports so what I did was stay the night in Chicago and fly to Montreal the following day and from Montreal take a bus to Ottawa.. oh and of course I forgot to mention, they lost my luggage and I didn't get it back until Friday (well at least I got it back)

I seriously needed holidays to get over my holidays... I am scared of the whole traveling thing now.. I don't think I'll flight with American Airlines ever again!. And.. when I got to Ottawa and it was all over I got sick.. so yeah.. those were my "holidays" .... but stay tuned I'll tell you about my Christmas in January tomorrow.. that was NIIIICE!

--glad to be back!

Christmas Challenge -- a YULE log??!!!!

2007-12-21T00:52:00.000-05:00

It was the night before Christmas (actually it was around the 14th of December) and the Aluxes (some people call them elves) were busy trying to bake a Yule Log that Miss Ifi could present for the Daring Bakers' December challenge....

The finally assembled ALL of the ingredients.... they kept dusting each other with the icing sugar, followed by the cocoa powder.. they were also extremely amused by the espresso powder, they kept dissolving the granules in the water just to make sure that all the granules dissolved at the same speed... and YES they drank some of the Rum as well

They baked the Meringue Mushrooms and right after they played with them in what they called "the mushroom forest"... after a while they baked the Genoise and they had so much fun rolling it up, they wanted to bake 4 more of those, but they knew they still had to make the Butter cream and so they did... but something happened and butter cream curdled. The Aluxes were so sad they did not know what to do but to douse the Genoise in liquor fill it with the curdled butter cream and some pecans, yet they knew they could not use the curdled butter cream to decorate the Yule Log.

The following day, they asked for help and the butter cream turned out PERFECT!! they were soooo happy they danced and wiggled their bums... Miss Ifi took photographs of the Yule Log and it looked something like this

Merry Christmas to everyone!!!! and a Happy New Year!!

let's play... guess the movie!

2007-12-19T20:43:00.000-05:00

Which movie is this from?

Johnathan Trager, prominent television producer for ESPN, died last night from complications of losing his soul mate and his fiancee. He was 35 years old. Soft-spoken and obsessive, Trager never looked the part of a hopeless romantic. But, in the final days of his life, he revealed an unknown side of his psyche. This hidden quasi-Jungian persona surfaced during the Agatha Christie-like pursuit of his long reputed soul mate, a woman whom he only spent a few precious hours with. Sadly, the protracted search ended late Saturday night in complete and utter failure. Yet even in certain defeat, the courageous Trager secretly clung to the belief that life is not merely a series of meaningless accidents or coincidences. Uh-uh. But rather, its a tapestry of events that culminate in an exquisite, sublime plan. Asked about the loss of his dear friend, Dean Kansky, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author and executive editor of the New York Times, described Jonathan as a changed man in the last days of his life. "Things were clearer for him," Kansky noted. Ultimately Johnathan concluded that if we are to live life in harmony with the universe, we must all possess a powerful faith in what the ancients used to call "fatum", what we currently refer to as destiny.

ForgetfulMissIfi Mcgee

2007-12-10T23:00:00.000-05:00

Yeah.. that is ME!!!
you see.. I had soooo many things to post about and now I've probably forgotten half of them, I must learn from my mistakes and next time just do a whole bunch of posts instead of trying to do a big one.
What happened this weekend:
-I bough a box of Mandarin oranges.. you know you are out doing some grocery shopping and suddenly you just feel like buying a whole box of mandarin oranges for yourself, well that happened to me on Friday.
-On Saturday Miss Martha (a.k.a Carrie) came over to my place and we made to Christmas cards and I gave her the Harry Potter scarf she's been waiting for.
-Because Miss Martha was coming on Saturday I decided to make some Yogurt Cake which turned out delicious, seriously... everyone should try this recipe is SO easy.. but sooo tasty I made mine with raspberries and blackberries and instead of almonds I used pecans, oh geesh was it ever yummy!!!

-Oh on saturday too I found this awesome thingie to wash the dishes with, it is SOO cool I <3 it

... so basically that was it, tell me.. how was YOUR weekend?

Meow!!!

2007-12-05T22:02:00.000-05:00

hello!!! meeooooooow

*puuuurrrr*

Find the pattern here

On Christmas cards

2007-12-02T21:57:00.000-05:00

I love Christmas cards! not only do I love making them but I also love receiving them. Unfortunately I don't usually receive that many Christmas cards, so I don't really display them, but I am hoping this Christmas a miracle occurs and I get tons and tons of cards *keeps fingers crossed and keeps believing in Christmas miracles*.

The reason that I love making Christmas cards is because I get to be creative and making something that will make people smile and be all like "oh!! would you look at that it is handmade... AWESOME!!! " and this year the cards are going to be soooo pretty!!! here is a sneak peak at what they are going to look like

December is HERE!!

2007-12-01T21:53:00.001-05:00

That is right, December is here and it was an AMAZING day today (because of all the yummy things I made and ate)

as you can see by the picture I made some pumpkin pie (it was my first time making pie crust, it turned out okie.. but I need more practice). And inside the dutch oven there is some amazing Mexican style meatloaf, which I can't show you because you would begin salivating and is just not right, besides it is the secret family recipe so if I showed it to you I would probably have to kill you, but it is amazingly moist and spicy just ask Miss Martha a.k.a Carrie ^_^

And after all the cooking I put up my Christmas lights.. yay!!! *sings* is the most wonderful time of the year!!! can't wait for more holiday baking!!!

Tender Potatoe Bread!

2007-11-26T14:12:00.001-05:00

This month's challenge for the Daring Bakers was a beautiful Potato Bread for which you need:

Making the Dough (Directions will be for making by hand):

Put the potatoes and 4 cups water in a sauce pan and bring to boil. Add 1 teaspoon salt and cook, half covered, until the potatoes are very tender.

Drain the potatoes, SAVE THE POTATO WATER, and mash the potatoes well. Tanna Note: I have a food mill I will run my potatoes through to mash them.

Measure out 3 cups(750ml) of the reserved potato water. Add extra water if needed to make 3 cups. Place the water and mashed potatoes in the bowl you plan to mix the bread dough in. Let cool to lukewarm (70-80°F/21 - 29°C) – stir well before testing the temperature – it should feel barely warm to your hand. You should be able to submerge you hand in the mix and not be uncomfortable.

Add yeast to 2 cups all-purpose flour and whisk. Add yeast and flour to the cooled mashed potatoes & water and mix well. Allow to rest/sit 5 minutes.

Note about Adding Yeast: If using Active Dry Yeast or Fresh yeast, mix & stir yeast into cooled water and mashed potatoes & water and let stand 5 minutes. Then add 2 cups of flour to the yeast mix and allow to rest several minutes. If using Instant Dry Yeast, add yeast to 2 cups all-purpose flour and whisk. Add yeast and flour to the cooled mashed potatoes & water and mix well. Allow to rest/sit 5 minutes.

Sprinkle in the remaining 1 tablespoon salt and the softened butter; mix well. Add the 1 cup whole wheat flour, stir briefly.

Add 2 cups of the unbleached all-purpose flour and stir until all the flour has been incorporated.
Tanna Note: At this point you have used 4 cups of the possible 8 ½ cups suggested by the recipe.

Turn the dough out onto a generously floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes, incorporating flour as needed to prevent sticking. The dough will be very sticky to begin with, but as it takes up more flour from the kneading surface, it will become easier to handle; use a dough scraper to keep your surface clean. The kneaded dough will still be very soft. Place the dough in a large clean bowl or your rising container of choice, cover with plastic wrap or lid, and let rise about 2 hours or until doubled in volume.

Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and knead gently several minutes. It will be moist and a little sticky.

Forming the Bread:
Since I made rolls, I divided the dough into 16 parts, and then I put cubes of cream cheese (or feta cheese) inside the rolls and wrap the cheese with the dough.
I let the rolls rest for another 35 minutes.
Finally I brushed the tops with butter and I sprinkled some sesame seeds on top of each roll.

Baking the bread:
I preheated the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit and then I put the rolls in for 10 minutes after which I lowered the heat to 375 degrees for another 20 minutes.

AND VOILA! you have amazing rolls filled with cheese!!
I am so glad I joined the daring bakers and now that I've finished my first challenge I must go and enjoy my reward.. AWESOME BREAD yay!!!

New boots?!

2007-11-23T23:36:00.000-05:00

That is RIGHT! a new winter calls for new boots. I am sooo happy with my new boots, they are sooo warm thanks to their merino wool lining, is like walking on a cloud.
he he... I had so much fun making the Polaroid look old, but now I must go back to knit myself some mittens ^_^

It is that time of the year again... /sigh

2007-11-22T20:50:00.000-05:00

I woke up yesterday morning to discover that it had snowed all night, oh yeah winter is here!!

Nigglethor - ghouls part III

2007-11-15T18:20:00.000-05:00

Tag line: "I AM NIGGLETHOR fear me!!!!"

Nigglethor's favourite food is cheese
any kind, he also loves to play with
the oven for some reason, I actually
think that he is into baking.

Nigglethor was specifically designed
to haunt nightmares, so whenever you
have nightmares a good Nigglethor
squeeshand the nightmares will
vanish!!

Nightmares FEAR the power of
NIGGLETHOR!!

Grunt - ghouls part II

2007-11-08T18:10:00.000-05:00

Tag line: "Candy?... where??!!!"

His favourite food is cotton candy
but this is a secret, he wouldn't
like anyone to know he is such a
sucker for candy.

He has such a sweet appearance and
he looks so incredibly cuddly with
that arm made of flowery fabric, but
watch out for those sharp teeth!!

Boogalor! - ghouls part I

2007-10-30T14:24:00.000-04:00

Tag line: "Boogalor was born to Boogie"

His favourite food is black beans
he lives to hang out by the phone
in case any of his friend call him.

His spaghetti like arms allow him
to grab on tightly to anything,
specially to you

Sniffles & Coughs

2007-10-28T16:04:00.000-04:00

That is right, that is what I am doing right now.. sniffling and coughing ... I had planned to do so many entries this week, because well it is Halloween and there's just soooo much crafty stuff to do, but NOOOOOO.. every time I sat down to write I just felt without energy and sad and just SICK! *grumbles* stupid cold

But I'll soon start posting the crafty Halloween stuff.. SOON!!!

I <3 October

2007-10-19T18:25:00.001-04:00

The Addams Family
Originally uploaded by Miss Ifi

I've always liked October, not because it is my birthday, but because it is the FALL month and also because there is Halloween followed by Day of the Death.
Since I am from Mexico, I've always celebrated Day of the Death, and it is still my favourite day of the year, is just so special, the weather is different and there is this mysticism in the air, and we have special bread and candies.
Now, I celebrate Halloween AND Day of the Death, and I love it!!!
What I also love about October is the fact that there is so many good movies on, I love the old creepy movies... they are just soo gooood, and my favourite of course, The Addams Family. I wanted to be just like Wednesday when I was little, and maybe one day be just like Morticia.
Why can't there be more Halloweens in the year??!!! we need moooore, more creepy.. more unusal!!!

Happy birthday to ME.. happy birthday to me!

2007-10-16T21:13:00.001-04:00

b-day cake
Originally uploaded by Miss Ifi

On October 14, my 24th birthday occurred , and this is the cake I decided to make!
a Ricotta cheesecake with a chocolate crust, which tastes delicious chilled, the recipe was found in the Falling Cloudberries book.
The cheesecake was too small for the 24 candles, which is why it only has one, but I didn't want to set the fire alarm!!!
well.. happy birthday to me! looking forward to next year .. the big 25!!! wheee!!!! I'll start planning the party next year, all of you welcome to come!

Thanksgiving PIE... I mean.. weekend!

2007-10-07T16:34:00.001-04:00

Well Thanksgiving weekend hasn't gone the way I expected, as I had hoped I could spent it with MY Monsieur Josh, but I did get lots of treasures from my old land lady's garage sale and I'll take lovely pictures for ALL of you!!!!

Also.. I'll get to eat PUMPKIN PIE tonight!!! yay for pumpkin pie!!!! I love pumpkin pie... have I mentioned how MUCH do I love pumpkin pie???

Last night, I watched "Must love dogs", it is a funny movie.. specially the part where they mention " If you happy and you know it clap your hands" *claps* come on now.. everybody clap your hands!!

Well... I must go for now, I have to do some handy work around the apartment and then.. to have some pumpkin pie YAY!!!!

and a Happy Thanksgiving to all of ya!

October -- Chapter I

2007-10-01T22:20:00.000-04:00

October is a dangerous month.. well maybe dangerous is not the word, but still. And WHY you may ask is it dangerous? well, it is the month that I turn one year older and it can go 3 ways
a) Very well, I'll be very happy
b) I'll hate my birthday, hide and refuse to be one year older
c) Go about my business and make a seamless transition into my new age

Fall has settled, during the weekend we had a few quite chilly days, I am a fan of fall, but it seems it has arrived too soon. Just last week we were still wearing t-shirts and on Sunday we had to wear coats and cuddle (wishing a certain someone would be here so I could cuddle... where are you Monsieur Josh?).

We might not know what to wear with the changing climate but the trees do, they are changing into their orange and red colours. When I went out during the weekend, it seemed like they had given up being summer trees and transform, they are tired of holding their leaves and will now gives us a month of leaf carpets and fairy tale colours before they go to sleep for the winter.

And for now I must say goodbye, while the fall moon rises behind me.

Au revoir Monsieur Marceau

2007-09-23T16:37:00.000-04:00

When I was little, my mom took me too see this wonderful gentleman.

I loved it, the way he could convey ANYTHING with his gestures was amazing to me, and now he is gone... all I have to say is THANK YOU Monsieur Marceau for making me deliriously happy on that day of my childhood.

My dad has always said that great ones leave in threes, first it was Luciano, now is Marceau... who is next?

wherever you are Marcel Marceau, I'll never forget you!

want to come and have tea with me?

2007-09-18T21:17:00.000-04:00

My day did NOT turn out the way I had expected or hoped, I was supposed to buy a rolling pin and also make some elephant ears.. AND some rolls with spinach and feta, and well... none of those things happened. That's life I suppose, it throws things at you unexpectedly just to see how you'll react. However, the day was worth it because of books and some experiment baking.

I went to pick up books from the Public Library oh yeah!!! there's so much I have to cook now, I have:
>Falling Cloudberries by Tessa Kiros
>Favourite Comfort Food from Martha Stewart
>Everyday Food from Martha Stewart as well

The experiment baking was a loaf of whole wheat bread.. which did not turn out quite like a loaf.. I think the temperature of the water was a bit too hot and the yeasties got mad at me (I am so sorry yeast, I'll be nicer to you next time). What did turn out amazing are these beautiful chocolate Madeleines (which have also some coffee in them yuuuum!!!)

so... who wants to come and have tea with me and eat some of these lovelies??

Me and my BIG broccoli

2007-09-14T20:06:00.001-04:00

broccoli
Originally uploaded by Miss Ifi

While I was in class yesterday morning, I decided that as soon as class would stop I would go to the market and look around, and buy some much needed zucchini so I could make perhaps some zucchini fritters, or zucchini quesadillas.
When I got to the market, all the nice looking vegetables were calling me .. saying things like "pick me" and it was then, when I saw this HUGE broccoli, and I had to take it home.... would you look at the size of that one!!!
It was only 75cents, so I am lucky, and so I am making some more soup.. oh yeah!!!! it's going to be GREAT!!! but seriously.. the thing is HUUUUGE!
yay for my big broccoli!!!

Miss Ifi goes French!

2007-09-12T21:27:00.000-04:00

This semester, I decided to take some French, I mean I've taken French before, but really I should put a lot of effort in it if it's going to benefit my career and my hopefully staying in Canada.

Well I registered on the beginners French (F1) and had my first class on Monday, and the teacher recommended that I take the placement test, since I am not an F1, well.. I do.. and the placement takes .. well it takes me all the way to F4!!! imagine that.. I was like.. WHAT?? yeah.. I know I understand a lot of things and come on... it is a multiple choice placement test, but I don't think I belong in F4. I panic a bit and I go see the people at the languages thingie, they say go to talk to another language person, I do.. she says okie.. you belong in F3, and proceeds to let me know there might not be room, I panic and then she says okie let's go to the main office, we go, they say no.. maybe I'll have to have classes on Friday afternoon (I panic even MORE), finally my schedule stays the same and I take F3.. well now I can say Bonsoir!!!

I've been finding lucky pennies lately, the one I found this morning helped me with the French, but I wish the other pennies could have helped in other aspects of my life, in the words of my wise mother: "You should eat cake", yeah.. with the way I feel I should be eating cake and LOTS of it.. unfortunately I don't feel like making cake nor do I feel like buying cake. I tried today an alternative to cake.. ice cream I ate almost a pint of it and it didn't help at all ... I better find me some cake soon... anyone willing to share some cake with me?

Farmer's market sunday

2007-09-09T20:41:00.000-04:00

I enjoy so much going to the Ottawa Farmer's Market on Sundays (though I am mad there is not a cheese vendor) all of the people seem happy picking up their vegetables and flowers and the colours are amazing!!!

The two treasures that I brought today from the market are peaches and cream corn and some ball yellow squash, and then when I went to the supermarket I found some broccoli on sale, which meant it was time to make some broccoli cream soup yuuuuum!! so I did I made some yummy soup and whole wheat bread.. mmmmm love whole wheat bread!!

Yesterday I went to Value Village and I found some awesome stuff, like this really cute apron (the one on the picture) and some beautiful plates (also shown in the picture) among other things, it always makes me so happy to find beautiful stuff for my kitchen, and I always have to think what are the stories behind these objects, perhaps the apron belonged to a cake baker or to a Canadian Martha Stewart *giggles*

I know.. I need to get a decent camera.... I better ask for it for my birthday /sigh

Monsieur Josh cooks a Turkey - Part I

2007-09-07T20:38:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, after my first day of class and after my delicious supper (which was lamb with sautéed zucchini on the side, my first time cooking lamb), I was on the phone with Monsieur Josh and we got talking about thanksgiving and the most exciting/disturbing/I don't know how to describe it piece of news was delivered:

"This year I am cooking the thanksgiving turkey, and YOU are helping me"

the echo of "and YOU are helping me" lingered for a bit....

when the echo was gone the first thought in my mind was OH NOES! It will just be like the tale : Dave cooks a Turkey by Stuart McLean

I tried to put my fear aside and be supportive of Monsieur Josh, but the truth is I am terrified of cooking a turkey, YES... terrified, specially for thanksgiving and specially for his family. I must begin the research, and if YOU (yes you reading this) have any stories or tips that you would like to share... PLEASE DO!!!

..... "and YOU are helping me"

To Luciano

2007-09-06T18:19:00.000-04:00

Is a sad day, one of three great tenors has died.

Thank YOU Monsieur Pavarotti!
for delighting us with your voice

My longest relationship

2007-09-04T20:13:00.000-04:00

The longest love relationship that I've ever had is with FOOD, that is right! I LOVE food!! I am addicted to it and I admit it. I've probably loved food since I was born, I was always a hungry kid (which would explain why I've always been a bit chubby) and I just love everything about food.

Why you may wonder? well I recently found a few words in the Joy of Cooking that explain it:
"Food is a central part of our lives. It provides the body with fuel and raw materials for maintenance, growth and repair. It draws together family and friends, anchors celebrations and rites of passage, and sometimes soothes the soul. It has the power to heal and also to harm"

When I moved my mom said: "Whenever you feel sad, EAT CAKE" and you know what? it helps, if I feel really sad a good piece of good cake will lift my spirit and help me go on, so food does have the power to heal. Nothing in this world can compare to eating a good meal, having some fresh salad with some smoked salmon, cream of celery, a steak so tender that almost melts in your mouth and a cake that makes you feel in heaven, all accompanied by glass of red wine.

I have to thank my parents for teaching me the pleasure of eating, and eating right, they always made me try EVERYTHING (and really I mean everything, I've eaten tongue, brains among other stuff) so I learned good eating habits and I never felt bad for being a bit chubby, it always meant that I was eating right and enjoying my food. As I get older I get more conscious about what I eat, and I try to eat healthier, but still a good balance is always the key, there is always room for cake, but not for junk food (I do fall into the temptation sometimes, but I try to cook healthy stuff and foods I can savor).

Well that is all I have to say about food for know "I <3 FOOD", I am going to go eat some of those cookies I made ^_^

Chapter I - Introductions

2007-09-02T18:18:00.000-04:00

You might be wondering and WHO? is this so called Miss Ifi who loves cake so much? well, allow me to introduce myself *curtseys* my full name shall remain a mystery for now but let me tell you a bit more about myself. I became a knitter in February 2007 and a proud cake lover in October 2006 and I am living in an apartment for the first time in my life, so this blog shall include tips on taming first apartments.
Now that you know a bit about myself (I don't really want to bore you, you will get to know me more later on) I shall introduce the main characters of my life.
First I shall mention my lover and cuddler (without forgetting personal chef) Monsieur Josh *applause*
I shall also introduce my partner in crime for the Knitting Mesdemoiselles, Miss Carolyn with whom I've been friends for.. well a long time ago, since we started university, probably 5-6 years ago.
My dearest friend Miss Martha a.k.a Carrie, to whom I owe more than I can say, she has saved me in countless occasions and feed me cake in others.
And last but not least, Lady Amelia a.k.a the "cake lady", I try to steal cake from her on regular basis.
As this blog develops I shall introduce more characters, but for now, I shall leave you to wonder what will happen to these characters, if they will soon feast on cake or be faced with the most important question of all "What to make for supper?"
Au revoir

happy NEW blog!

2007-08-31T23:14:00.001-04:00

CAKE
Originally uploaded by Miss Ifi

Every new blog, deserves CAKE!!
I invite all of you to come and share this cake with me, and read this blog, leave comments and enjoy!! mmmm cake!!