Cupp-Wow!!!

How brilliant is this?? The Cuppow turns a mason jar into a portable, slurpable, adult sippy cup. I am always making sun tea in the summer, leaving my herbal teabags to steep in the sun in a mason jar. Now I don't have to transfer it to another carrying cup. Just pop on the lid and you are good to go. Cuppow!

Genius.

Spicy Chickpea Salad

Here are a few of things I am absolutely certain about:

1. I love chickpeas.
2. I love chickpea salads and can never have enough variations of them.
3. I love Joy the Baker, she of the wonderful food blog and now author of a new cookbook that is on my wishlist.I really think that she and I should be friends.

Knowing these things it is a given that I had to make Joy the Baker's spicy chickpea salad. It is also a given that it was delicious. It would be nice to have a photo of the heavenly salad but I made it and packed it up to take with me to Hot Docs and managed to eat it all with my doc buddy.

Tiny Food Art

It is probably apparent by now that I am fond of food: cooking it, eating it, thinking of fun captions about food and cooking to put on my aprons. Basically anything involving food is guaranteed to make me happy. Imagine my joy then, when I saw these remarkable tiny food sculptures by artist Shay Aaron (found here). They fit on the tip of your finger! So brilliant, so painstakingly delicate and detailed. This is obviously an artist after my own foodie heart.

Life Lesson Cookies

It was one of those glum kind of days. I had boring paperwork to do and it was raw and miserable outside. I decided that as a reward for slogging through the tedium I would bake cookies (my classic, never fail, oatmeal chocolate chip faves) and have a night of cookies and TV in my pajamas. Somehow, although I have made this recipe a gazillion times, I overdid it with the oats and flour. They were dry and wouldn't stick together. I was suspicious about adding an egg and I wasn't sure about adding more butter at the end so I added a dollop of peanut butter. When I added walnuts I realized I had miscalculated there too, making the dough even drier and unmanageable. I was tempted to just dump the whole thing and run out for ice cream. Instead I decided to use the kitchen as my lab and see if things can be salvaged and become even better in the process. First I added more peanut butter.Things seemed to stick a little better. Then I threw in some raisins. If they weren't going to be my classic chocolate chip cookies why stop at the chocolate chips? They still felt too dry so I added a generous scoop of almond butter. I rolled things in my hands and started to feel better, tedious day and kitchen mishap notwithstanding. Sometimes you have to step back and look at what you are stressing over. It is rarely worth deep sighs and foot stamping. Usually you just need to take a deep breath and decide to enjoy the ride, even if the results seem to be going downhill fast. It is the act of doing that should really matter. If we just allow things to happen and not sweat it, our mistakes can end up being happy accidents and surprise victories.

This was not one of those times.

My cookies were a crumbly, hockey puck textured mess but I am still came away feeling rather Zen and like I had learned something (like read a recipe every now and then even if you think you know it like the back of your hand...).

Eggpress Sample Sale

I said it before, I'll say it again. I am a shameless card trollop. I am a firm believer that you can never have enough. You never know when there will be an occasion that pops up and you don't want to be caught unprepared. These days I have been a tad forgetful so I feel like I should have a good stash of cards at my disposal for when I inevitably gasp in the middle of the day and realize that it is my bestie's birthday. Thanks to the charming letterpress wizards at Eggpress, I will be able to build my emergency stash. April 23rd – April 27th they will be having an online sample sale. I am going to load up and never be caught cardless again.

Happy Earth Day!

Hope you are all getting outside today and celebrating the ultimate Yummy Mummy, our Mother Earth!

Aluminum Can Flowers

( photo The House That Lars Built)

I just saw this D.I.Y for aluminum can flowers to trick out a bike basket. How perfect with Earth Day just around the corner! What a way to recycle, create something beautiful and snazzy up your bike all at the same time. I love it. My bike basket is presently decorated with a lovely bouquet of dollar store flowers but I may have to take it up a notch and get my crafting gears in order. Green and gorgeous.

Bit of Everything Salad

I am not usually a throw stuff together and wing it kind of cook. I may dabble a little bit but I tend to need a recipe. I am amazed when people just grab things from their cupboards and create something delicious. Well, today I threw caution to the wind and threw together a salad. It came about because I started to worry about the state of some of my veggies. I had a couple of sweet potatoes that were looking a little forlorn and two peppers that were starting to look like they were up to something. I also had a bag of frozen corn fall on my foot when I opened the freezer door. I decided it was a sign to throw them all toegther and see what happened. The result was a scrumptious bowl of deliciousness and some bragging rights on my part:

Bit of Everything Salad:
First, I diced and roasted my sweet potatoes. I tossed them in a bit of olive oil, balsamic vinegar and salt and roasted until they were soft.

Then I drained a can of black beans, defrosted some of my attacking frozen corn, diced up my red and green suspicious peppers, diced a bit of red onion and threw them in as well.

I made a dressing of olive oil, lemon, minced garlic and a bit of chili powder and voila! I am a wing it kind of salad gal, after all.

Bicycle Trench

Just when I thought I couldn't love Smoking Lily any more than I already do, they create another act of love that sends me over the moon. How can I resist you Smoking Lily, how? They already had me with their Cape of Good Hope that I had to buy the last time I was in B.C. I just had to. Surely you must understand. I have been lusting after their t-shirt with the sweet ants all over it, just in time for picnic season. This latest creation, however - it is just too much. A gorgeous trench coat covered with silk screeaned bikes? Did they sneak into my brain and draw out the ultimate fantasy coat for me? Yes. Yes they did.

Egg-squisite Eggs

(Embroidered eggs?! Are you kidding me? Design Sponge)

(I may have more of a chance with a sharpie over embroidery floss, but they still wouldn't be as fantastic as these eggs by Alisa Burke)

Wow. I thought I'd feel really accomplished if I managed to colour some Easter eggs using my rapidly rotting cabbage but then I stumbled across a line up of truly egg-straodinary eggs here. How on earth do people manage to create something so beautiful on a common delicate egg? I am amazed.

Naturally Dyed Eggs

(photo courtesy of The Kitchn)

I am dying to try this!

I saw this post about dying eggs naturally on The Kitchn and I was instantly inspired. They look so beautiful. I happen to have an excessive amount of tumeric and this would be a marvelous way to use my stash. For a while I kept thinking I was in need of tumeric and would buy more every time I was at the spice store in Kensington Market. Eventually I discovered baggies of tumeric littered around various cupboards. I had no idea I was a tumeric hoarder (I really need to reorganize my kitchen shelves). I also have a head of purple cabbage that has been giving me the stink-eye because the leaves are starting to wither and I have yet to do anything with it. What a great, guilt-free way to use up excessive stuff in the kitchen and make something beautiful at the same time.

I Need to Learn How to Crochet

I am already a part of a knitting group where instead of actually knitting we eat, chat and watch movies. I love my fake knitting nights but maybe I need to start a real group for some serious crocheting. I saw this gorgeous garland on Etsy and I almost passed out. So sweet and dreamy and perfect! I would love to have these lovely garlands strung from every room in my house. I had better suggest doing some crocheting to the fake knitting group - stat!

Or we can just eat a lot of snacks and order some garlands on Etsy...