GONE FOR THE HOLIDAYS

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

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

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

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?!

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!!!

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

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

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

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!!

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......

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

at 4:30am today....

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!!!

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!

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!!!

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

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

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??

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

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

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