Saturday, June 28, 2008

Lift your head and look out the window, stay that way for the rest of the day and watch the time go.

10pm and I am exhausted. What a beautiful day!!! Sure I spent the entire day hung over and had to move at a sloth pace in order to not throw up but it was fantastic none the less.

Last night, Maja, Pam, Darla and I got together for... well what was meant to be massage, food and wine. It would have been a fantastic opportunity to catch up on what's been going on in each others lives and also to practice our hands on training. We give each other honest feedback which is something that we don't often get. Sure we're all great... but we need to be nit picky sometimes. Being it was so beautiful, we ended up just sitting on the deck, having drinks (fresh purred raspberry/blueberry juice, crushed mint, crushed ice and amaretto... so yummy!) and chatting. At one point we made a salad, portobello burgers and BBQed baby potatoes. We also graduated to wine. More drinking and talking. I had the brilliant idea of making this interesting recipe that I had never tried before (and that was quite complicated)... of course by this time I was properly drunk. I kept having to tell myself out loud that "Oven is hot, hot means oven mitts" because many times I tried to grab the pan without oven mitts. Oops :) A couple of bottles down and I way laying outside trying desperately to stop the spins. While laying on the porch I ended up text messaging the ex. I didn't find this out until morning... Damn! The spins stop (fresh air is amazing!) and we continue the festivities. Pam eventually leaves, Darla, Maja and I pass out in my bed. 3 hours later I am awake and cleaning. If I move too fast I feel nauseated. By 8 Maja is out the door and going to school, by 9 I am out the door and headed to work.
Work was great! It has been all week. I am super happy with my new job. I quite enjoy it... the people are really fantastic. There are also so many people from all over the world. Quite a few women in the pharmacy are from India and they all decided to wear their Saris. It was so pretty and colourful.
After work it was off to Gourmet Warehouse. Oh this place is dangerous! I was so excited in this store! They have everything a cook could ever wish for! I was good though, I made a list of everything I wanted and needed for the grad cake and I am going to price it out at other places and take it from there. A wise shopper I am :)
Finally it was time to eat... I hadn't eaten anything because my tummy was angry. Now it was angry and hungry so I walked to Uprising Bread and had an amazing lunch on their little patio. I sat in the sunshine and smiled at the beauty and wonderfulness of my life. Everything has been so perfect!
This evening I've been spending it with my cousin Nadine who is home for a short while before heading out to the Yukon to test the C02 in the ice fields (she's so cool! :D). I love this girl :) She's so awesome! I wish we lived closer together. She was supposed to move back this summer but she's got a sweetie in Ottawa so she won't be moving back quite yet. As long as she is happy, I am happy :)
I might have a tough time going back to school... I've had such a wonderful week. Work is so chill... at work I get to review quite a bit of what I know. I am constantly searching my brain for information and calling it up. I am amazed as to how much I remember! I am going to bring muscle charts to work so I can glance over at them. After school I've been enjoying going out with friends. I have a social life! Matteo and I have also started to shoot together. I even put together an album where we both upload our photos. I used to think I was quite good at photography but then I look at his photos and I realize that I have A LOT to learn still. I am getting better though... he's been gracious enough to give me pointers and I soak them up like a sponge. It'll be tough to go back to school... but I think I might also find a new inspiration and drive with this time off! I am so happy!

Monday, June 23, 2008

der!

so it's what? 1 am? And I am still up. I have work tomorrow but fuck! Funny story. I went to a burlesque show tonight and had the brilliant idea of pre drinks with my lovely Vicki, of course it always starts with pre drinks. I had a hunch that predrinks would be a bad idea esp being a lightweight like I am. So yeah anyways we drank, pam joined us, we dran more. I was drunk. hooray. This dude that I met... well no that kinda sorta knew me off POF (plenty of fish for you non serial dater out there... and yeas I have accepted the fact... I AM a serial dater) was at the burlesque show too! He had my number and texted me that I looked pirdy. Cuz I did ;) anywho and ya dee ya de ya da... anyways we meet up with the three guys after the show and I am with three ckickies and we go to a strip club.. or we get in the car to go to a strip club anyways. So we make it to downtown, pass cops and then weeeeooooo we get pulled over. I am shaking in my panties cuz I have never been pulled over. hell I am usually not up past 10pm lol kidding (sorta) anyways we get pulled over and they give dudder guy a ticket for having too many people not enough seat belts (he let us off with the illegal left turn... thank you nice police man) so we go for fries at Fritz.
Anyways guys then say they wanna go home to North Van cuz it's late and they don't want to go to the strip club anymore. Again boo! i have never been to a strip club and again I didn't go! Fark! Anyways vicki goes home, Pam and I get a cab to where we live (only 8 blocks away from each other youpii)... Now I am here writing the blog. Drrunk. Trying reely hard to make sense but its not working. I have to be up at 6 to go to work for my 3 and a 1/2 day. I will get it together by then by now I am awake. Not sleepy.
Anyways dude form POF was cute and better interetesting then i thought! Will have to wait until I sober up and meet him in person though. Afterall he might not be that interesting when I am sober.

Friday, June 20, 2008

RIP hand held mixer

Tonight is baking night for test cake #2: Chocolate and Lavender cake.
I'm quite tired from work but in good spirits so I figure that baking won't be too difficult despite a full 9 hours at work today. Because of my laziness, I decide not to half the recipe (because that would require converting cups into milliliters and then dividing it by two. Der!). To start I need to blend the sugar and butter. I look in the fridge... no butter, only margarine. It works but it's an insult to my baking. Butter tastes so much better... margarine is just... not as good.
With that dealt with I am happily singing and dancing while I cook until I realize that I need 6 egg whites... and I have 4 eggs. Oops! After a quick venture to the several corner stores, I realize everything is closed. Shucks! Anything that would be open later is a bus ride away and I am too lazy for that. So I figure I'd improvise. 4 egg whites and 2 egg yolks. It's not as if I have to whip it into a meringue (which you can not to do with yolks) so it should work. I've got my dry and wet ingredients ready to blend into my margarine (blasphemy!) and sugar mixture.
I start to blend my mixture with the hand held mixer when POW! There's a gun shot like sound in the kitchen. After peeling myself off the ceiling, I give a quick glance around the kitchen and everything looks fine. No smoke, no fire, no explosion. WTF! After finishing my blending, I turn off the mixer, add more dry and wet ingredient and start the mixer up again. It pops and crackles and an other POW! Then it dies. OH NOOO!!! I finish mixing by hand.
Well the cake is done and despite all of the mishaps, the batter tastes amazing! This is good news because that usually means the cake will be stellar as well! Youpii! The exploding mixer may also be a blessing in disguise... Maybe this means I can finally buy the KitchenAid Mixer that I've wanted so badly for the past couple of years... I get giddy just thinking about it!
Anyways I think this is a clear sign that I should go to bed early and leave the ganache and buttercream for tomorrow morning. Not too sure how I am going to make buttercream without a mixer... I have a whisk... and redbulls... that should work :)

Thursday, June 19, 2008

I can has job?

Actually I have a job :) Hooray for me! I am no longer an unemployed bum!
I went for the interview yesterday, got the job and started an hour later. Of course I worked today as well and it's been fantastic. The people who I am working with are great and the company seems to be great as well. I am working at Finlandia Pharmacy in the office, dealing mostly with Internet orders (not customer service though). It's a lot like my ADT job, however it's also completely different at the same time. I enjoy it very much.
The perks of the job are also great. We've got a gym that we can use, a infrared sauna and other things within the facilities (I am still learning about all of these machines and what they do... it all has to do with alternative/holistic health). I am looking forward to being able to go to the gym after work. My hours are relatively flexible and it's Monday through Friday (which means I get the weekends to play! YAY PLAY!).
The dress code is relatively relaxed which is great. However I've decided to be on the dressier side of things because I believe that many people have lost the interest in dressing professionally. This is just part of business to me and should come with every job. So I also like dressing up :) there's nothing wrong with that.
Anyways time to be reasonable and go to sleep. I need enough energy for tomorrow to make it through the day then come home and bake test cake 2. Tomorrow: Lavender dark chocolate cake with dark chocolate ganache and buttercream (maybe chocolate buttercream) icing. I can't wait!

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Mesmerized

Ever since I was a little girl, Cirque du Soleil has always mesmerized me. I've always loved it... I often dreamt of running away with the circus, joining these amazing performers on their travels around the world, captivating audiences everywhere. I've been to many of their shows (they have 17 shows, I've seen 7) and every time I go to a Cirque du Soleil show, I can't help but wonder... will this be the show where I will finally feel that I've seen it all. With that feeling, will my passion and intrigue dwindle?
Those questions lingered in my mind yesterday as Maggie, my parents and I walked up to the familiar yellow and blue tents. With every step, I grew more and more excited. Once we'd crossed the gates, Maggie and I were so excited... we were like giggly school girls. That familiar excitement was back, the questions remained faint in my mind, but they were still there. Once seated in the theatre, I looked at this new decor in awe. It was stunning!
Shortly after, the show began. I found myself, like during all other Cirque du Soleil shows, sitting at the edge of my seat, my eyes wide open so to not miss a graceful twist or turn, my head followed every artists perfectly executioned leap and jump... All that mattered was this moment and this moment only. Sense of time and space disappeared and I was absorbed.
I was captured during the entire show. All I could keep thinking was that this show, Corteo, was the most beautiful show of all of the Cirque du Soleil shows that I've seen to date. The way that it was put together and presented flowed so beautifully and was so magical that it just captured you and held you within it's dream. It was unreal.
Sure it didn't have as much acrobatics as some of the other shows but I didn't miss it. Still now, I can't believe it. It seems like it was all a dream (which is great because that was what it was all about). The only thought that I remember going through my mind during the performance was of a certain someone and how I thought that they would really like this show and the way that they presented certain ideas and beliefs. It even managed to turn off my therapeutic mind. I didn't try to analyze their bodies or imagine how they rehabbed, stretched or warmed up. That didn't stop me from turning on the therapeutic mind back on once the show was over and asking a couple of people who worked there how to get in contact with the physiotherapists or trainers that worked with the artists.
I am so glad I was able to share this with Maggie. She'd never been to a Cirque du Soleil performance. It was also great to go with Mom and Dad because they've been to so many of the shows with me. What's awesome about the trio too was that they had the patience to wait for me while I tracked people down to see if I could get backstage and talk to the artists and they also waited for me while I took pictures of the sexy infinity that was at the entrance. What can I say, it was a hot car... in my favorite colour :)

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Welcoming home mom and dad

Mom and Dad are home from their month long trip to France. I didn't miss them at the airport (I was afraid I would because they didn't know I was coming) so that was good. They look relaxed and it sounds like they've enjoyed their trip. I had forgotten about the outstanding Belgian chocolates by Leonidas that my family was most likely enjoying in Europe... and it wasn't until my brother blogged about these delicacies that I was reminded. It has been tradition to bring back one or more kilos of this stunning chocolate to ease yourself back into work mode after you've come back from Europe. Of course, Mom and Dad brought back some chocolates... they are sitting on the kitchen counter, unopened, I haven't gotten the go ahead to eat some and Mom and Dad are at work. This is painfully torturous. Maybe I should go for a walk or something... for 7 hours!

Monday, June 16, 2008

Shucks!

I was afraid of that. I just got a phone call from the Drs office saying that I need to make an appointment with the gyno. Damn. I am not surprised but ya know. Sure I don't know what the results are but they wouldn't be calling me if everything had resolved itself. It'll be interesting to see how this unfolds.

Here comes the sun doo doo doo doo

Could this be the beginning of summer? I sure hope so! Mind you if the weather is like this, I won't be all that interested in looking for a job! So far I've managed to discipline myself a little. I job search for a couple of hours in the morning and then go for walks or cook in the afternoon. It's fantastic.
I've found that I am much pickier looking for jobs now. Last time I was searching, I said that I didn't particularly care how much I was getting paid. I am sure I'd forgotten how crappy it was to work for $9 an hour. I am worth so much more then that! So this time around, I want to find something that I enjoy(ish) doing and that pays relatively well. Yeah, I know I was dead set on working with Landscaping/Gardening, however I am going to school for massage therapy, therefore if I can get something in the health care field that might be best. There's this new spa that's opening up in Surrey and I would love to work there. The only hitch... it's a two hour commute to get there (and two hours back). It might be worth it if I can kick start my career at this place... who knows once I am an RMT I might work there too (they have both body workers and RMTs). But in case that doesn't work, I've applied at a chiropractors office for reception work, as a live in nanny for a new born baby, as a pastry assistant and more reception work at various wellness centers.
I am pretty stoked about the first test cake for the Grasshoppa class. It turned out to be stunning! Now I am a bit nervous about the next flavors because I set the bar really high for myself. This is really exciting though, I keep surprising myself with my baking abilities. I even managed to make fondant (which is quite difficult to make... I didn't make the European/original fondant though cuz boiling sugar without a candy thermometer makes me quite nervous) and that turned out alright. It sure requires a lot of patience though so I might have to nap half way though making the grad cake (with all of the flavors and such). Oh... I also found out that this cake should be for about 130 people! I am not too sure how big that would make the cake so I am going to go to some places where they sell wedding cakes and I am going to scope it out.
Anyways all of this is quite fun :) The best part is... I don't particularly miss school. Maybe that's because I am reviewing (surprised? Yeah, me too) and I'm there once a week but it's kinda fun! Mum and Dad are home tonight and I think I am going to surprise them by meeting them at the airport. It'll be nice to have them home. Well time to finish tidying up!

Get High Naturally, Climb A Tree!

Car Free Day - Commercial Drive!
As with many other events, I got this invite on facebook. I figured, hey, why not... could be fun! So after a delicious breakfast and some lazing around in the sun, Andrew and I set off to check out this Car Free Day on Commercial Drive. I'd never heard of it but apparently it was all over the city. There were celebrations on Main street, some in Kits but I've always loved Commercial Drive so that's where we went.
The sights, sounds and smells of this festival was enough to excite the senses. The vibe was amazing! It's always fantastic to see little kids and parents running around having fun. There was so much music, dancing, food and celebration. I was thrilled to see that they had a section called the Healing Garden where all of these health professionals had tents set up. Most of it was alternative health practitioners such as energy healers, meditation, yoga, massage and other modalities that I didn't even know about. I picked up a few business cards and am looking forward to trying out some of these different forms of therapy. What intrigued me the most was this tent where they were doing AcroYoga! Apparently they have practices on Tuesday nights at Jerrico Beach so I am going to check that out.
There's something about dancing in the streets that always makes me smile and lifts my spirits. The people that were at the festival were amazing. They all were so earthy and compassionate it was refreshing to be surrounded by such like minded people. What I found quite interesting was the contrast between the people on Commercial Drive and those at Metrotown. Being the 20 bus was being rerouted because of the festival and most people were leaving the festival, Andrew and I decided to take the skytrain to Metrotown then catch a bus from there to go home. Once we got to Metrotown, I found it strange. We'd come from a place of happiness, celebration, natural beauty, sharing and community and now, here we were back in a type of rat race where fake beauty, consumerism and machoism reigned supreme. Polar opposites. The energy was definitely different and I certainly preferred the one of Commerical Drive. This made me realize that when I move, I'd like to live somewhere where there's a sense of community and respect for the earth (more of a "hippy" area, less... yaletown/coal harbour).

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Feeling like mother goose

The cake making has begun!
Yesterday I made the cake, simple syrup and custard for the cake... that leaves the buttercream and the fondant to make this morning. After a last minute change of plans (making the earl grey cake into an Orange Dulce cake - which is a flavor of orange, jasmine, bergamot and vanilla black tea, it's amazing!) I started baking. Though I haven't had the opportunity to taste the cooked cake, the fragrances while making the cake were stunning and unique. It made me giddy :P
The simple syrup is delicious too (I was able to try that without there being a giant chomp mark in it). However I think instead of keeping the tea in the pot while making the syrup, I am going to make tea, then make the syrup out of the tea. It'll make for a subtler flavor and it'll taste more like orange dulce and less like black tea.
The custard took forever! I'd never made custard before and I just about fell asleep while making it. You see, you have to stir it constantly while it's over the double boiler or else it turns into this lumpy goo (or I could imagine it would so I stirred like mad! I didn't want to have to restart). The end product was a velvety taste explosion!!! I had to try not to eat it all. It's flavor is vanilla (flavored with vanilla bean) and orange. It tastes like cream cicle!!!
This morning I sit here, with two eggs nestled in my sweatshirt pockets... why are they there? Well I am trying to speed up the "2 large egg whites at room temperature for 30 minutes" process. I feel like mama goose. This cake being my baby. I am so excited about all of this it makes me sleepless at night. Thinking up different combinations, trying to improve on the flavors that I've already created...
All of this has made me wonder. Why AM I taking massage therapy? Apparently I have a huge passion for baking and I have the patience too! I'm good at what I do. So why not? Bah! Well maybe I'll be the baking massage therapist. Do both part time. If I worked as a pastry chef, I'd miss interacting with people, if I worked as a massage therapist (full time), I'd miss having some alone time. It's kinda strange when you're an introvert extrovert.
See I am definitely an extrovert that grew up in an introverted family. Mum, Dad and Stephy and all introverts so I definitely have some introverted traits. I guess this is a good thing because I can get along with pretty much anyone. The down side, introverts can sometimes be too quiet and extroverts can be too loud. Ah well :)
Anyways I've gotten distracted! I've got to get back to the task at hand! 3 hours to whip up these two recipes and finish the cake off! I'll post pics if I remember to take some.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Watch!

Tonight at 6pm or 10:30 check out channel 4 (shaw)! Yesterday they came by our school and filmed our class. I, of course, am wearing the least amount of cloths possible in a public situation and am being worked on by the beautiful and oh so talented Maja :)
And yeah, I was in class yesterday. We were doing a class on breast care and I wanted to sit in on that section. It's such an important part of women's health and it requires a special approach with both the therapist/client relationship and the level of energy/vibe that you're sending out that I wanted to redo that section. It just so happened that our class was being filmed during this class. The segment has nothing to do about breast care but instead it's about massage therapy in general.
It's all about educating the public. Unfortunately massage therapy still has a certain social stigma that is slowly being shaken. However it's still apparent that it's there. As a student I've noticed it a lot. I've stopped telling people that I am going to school for massage therapy and tell them instead that I go to school for health care. When I told people that I went to school for massage therapy, they would ask things like "Do you have a class where they teach you about happy endings?" "Can I get one *wink wink*" and so many silly comments that I can't even remember them all. At first it's funny and you shoot back some smart ass comment that keeps them in check... but even that starts to get tiring. So I save myself the trouble.
Heck even the camera guy made a comment that had us all shaking our head. When he came in to introduce himself, we were doing a demo, therefore one of the students was on the massage table, but was fully covered by the top sheet. We'd discussed that we wouldn't be doing breast massage during the segment that they were filming and I forget how this comment came up but he said "Don't worry I've worked in the porn industry." We laughed it off because most of us thought we'd heard wrong. Apparently we didn't. Kinda shocking, yet unsurprising.
Again, with this interview, they didn't elaborate (or really explain for that matter) that massage therapy plays a medical role in society now. Again, it's more about the fluff and the relaxation, less about the therapy. Still, Annette, the instructor who was interviewed, did a fantastic job at answering the questions and steering the conversation in that direction. Unfortunately, the questions were scripted so there was no wiggle room. Maybe next time when they come by we can introduce the idea of massage therapy also having a medical side to it. After all since I've been in the program, camera crews have been by at least 3 times.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Cake geekery :)

While researching how to make decadent cakes, I've discovered something really quite cool. If you want flavored sugar, we'll use vanilla as an example, take a jar, sugar, a vanilla bean, split the vanilla bean to expose the little seeds, close the jar, and wait a week or so. The flavor of the vanilla will infuse with the sugar and you have vanilla sugar! Brilliant!
Also, I was looking up how to make fondant (what covers wedding cakes and gives it that smooth appearance), being this is apparently quite difficult to make and can be a real pain in the ass. Good old wikipedia was my first resource and I had to laugh when it gave me this:

Fondant is formed by supersaturating sucrose in water. More sugar will dissolve in water with a higher temperature.

Then, after the sucrose is dissolved, the solution is left to cool and the sugar will remain dissolved in the supersaturated solution until nucleation occurs.

  • If, while the solution is supersaturated, a seed crystal (undissolved sucrose) falls into the mix, or the solution is agitated the dissolved sucrose will crystallize to form large, crunchy crystals.
  • If, however, the solution is allowed to cool and then stirred furiously, violently mixing the entire mixture, it will form many tiny crystals and result in a smooth texture.


You know... just in case you're a geek AND a baker :)

A new obsession?

I can see how this new project may become a healthy obsession!
After 4 hour of job searching and resume sending, I decided to take a break and get started on researching things for the Grasshoppa grad cake. Grasshoppa is the name of the class that I was initially in... and the one I was going to grad with had I not taken a term off a while ago. They've asked me to make a cake for their graduation. Having only baked for small groups and... well normal sized cakes I figured this would be a fantastic opportunity to do something bigger. Now their grad is coming up so I've decided to do some research and start baking test cakes.
The girls are all really busy with school work and what not so they haven't really given me any clues as to what they'll want. This means that for now I have artistic and creative power over this little project. I want to make something delicious and unique. Maybe a triple layer cake with a white chocolate matcha layer, a lavender dark chocolate layer and a earl grey vanilla layer. They're all unique flavors... they are also very natural and earthy which is very much like the girls of the group.
My creative mind has taken off and I am totally stoked about this. I've designed what I want the cake to look like and I've found the recipes that I want to try out. Now it's just a matter of putting all of this together. This is definitely harder then anything I've done before (baking wise), however I am sure that I can do it. I will most likely be blogging about this as I go about it so everyone can see my progress (or not :P ).
This week I'll be looking around for the unique ingredients such as matcha powder, dried lavender and floral earl grey tea. I will also be trying one of the recipes and getting the girls to taste test it. This is too much fun! :)

Go Apple GO!

YAY! Apple is regaining my confidence in their technical support competence! I got a case number in record time! 11 minutes and 36 seconds :) The problem this time... the clicker is losing it's sensitivity and won't click sometimes! It's getting worse too!
Last time I was on hold for a REALLY long time and I was afraid that today I would have the same problem. I decided to call in the morning, hoping that people would be too busy at work, school, having fun in the sun (somewhere else in Canada, not here) or really doing anything other then calling apple. After calling once, I got through immediately! No hold time! The only problem was, the person on the other end couldn't hear me. Mark probably thinks I am right crazy cuz if he was awake, he'd have heard me say my full name twice then having a Hello Hello yelling match with the guy on phone. Why do people raise their voices when talking on the phone? If it doesn't work, yelling into the phone won't make it work. Ha ha anyways... I called back and I wasn't even on hold for a minute until I got to talk to Aaron. In no time, I had a case number! YAY!
Sure that's only step 1... I still have to bring it to Simply computing, see if they can fix it, then get it fixed by them. Mind you, after talking to Andrew (a friend of mine), it sounds like my computer needs to be reformatted so maybe that'll help. I doubt it though, I am pretty sure it's a hard wear problem. I wish I had some Mac savy friends that could help me with this stuff instead of paying and arm and a leg to get strangers to do it. Ah well!
Anyways time to go sort through the Hawaii pics that Frank sent me, dick around on the old PC to see if I can find my resume (still haven't started looking for jobs) and apply for jobs. If that fails I might just go swimming instead. Much more fun and I figure Kits pool will be empty cuz it's such a shitty day. The water will be just a warm though... I'll just have to run from the pool to the change room... and keep my head under water.
Gotta keep in shape! Just bought a boustier yesterday and it's a hint too small... but it was on sale! Reg $250 for $50. And no, it doesn't even look like it's worth that much, it's just from a local designer. Will post pics later... maybe.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Two pretty killer recipes

The first one is one that I dum dee dummed last night. It was amazing! I am definitely going to do it again!

Make a cream sauce with melting 1 tbs butter, adding and browning (? not too sure if
this is the term) 2 cloves chopped garlic adding 1/2 cup cream and 3/4 cup milk,
warming milk/cream until bubbly, adding 1/4 cup grated swiss cheese and 1/4 cup dry
parmesan.
In an other pan, while making the sauce, saute 3 cups of mushrooms with lots of
pepper and 2 tsp (or more) of dry chilli flakes.
While cooking the mushrooms and making the sauce, start cooking pasta (I used fresh
herb pasta from Granville... but I am sure any other kind would work fantastically)
and unthaw (or prepare) 1/2 cup or more of shrimp (do not warm them or else they'll
be over cooked, let the sauce, mushrooms and pasta warm the shrimp).
When pasta is cooked, add sauce, shrimp and mushrooms and mix together.
Garnish with fresh grated parmesan and enjoy :)
For breakfast this morning I made banana pancakes. I had never made banana pancakes before but we had some really yummy ones in Oahu so I figured I'd try to make some. Sure it was missing the banana mac nut sauce but I didn't have any mac nuts so I figured I'd try that later. Here's the recipe for the pancakes:

1/2 cup mashed banana (I used 1 cup, the pancakes were a little more fragile but they were yummy none the less)
1 egg

3 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. In large bowl, combine banana and egg; beat at medium speed 2 minutes or until fluffy. Beat in milk, oil and vanilla. In large bowl, stir together all remaining ingredients. Slowly add to banana mixture, beating at low speed just until combined. Batter will be slightly lumpy. (For thinner pancakes, add additional milk.)

2. Spray griddle or large skillet with nonstick cooking spray. Heat over medium heat until hot. For each pancake, pour scant 1/4 cup batter onto hot griddle. Cook 1 1/2 to 2 minutes or until puffed on edges and bubbles begin to break on surface. Turn; cook an additional 1 to 2 minutes. Makes 8 pancakes (actually it made 4).

Saturday, June 7, 2008

A chef in the making...

Being Mum and Dad aren't here I've got the run of the kitchen... and being I am not home alone, Mark and I have been cooking quite a bit. Usually it sucks to cook for one so it helps to have company. It's also a form of mild competition too :)
Over the past couple of days we've managed to cook up a storm. Though yesterday I impressed myself. We were going to make the usual (usual for me) garlic butter prawns until Mark suggested that we cook em Cajun. I'd never done that so I figured why not. After finding the Cajun magic spices in the cupboard, we started to debate the best way to make a Cajun sauce. Mark tried to make a sauce by mixing mayo, garlic and Cajun spice. The results... not so good. I gave it a try by reducing some milk and Cajun spice (to infuse the milk with the spice flavor), thicken it all with a bit of corn starch, a couple chunks of butter, add a bit of salt and 3/4 of a lime and... hot damn that's one nice Cajun sauce! It was even better once we let the shrimp (which were cooked with lots of garlic and olive oil) chill in the sauce for a bit. What was even better was that there was some sauce left over so we dipped some bread in it and it was amazing! Hooray me!
So far, I've discovered the wonders of cooking a fantastic Channa Masala, putting together a great portobello burger with "killer guacamole" (courtesy of Mark), making cinnamon buns from scratch (and without the bread maker) and making Cajun shrimp. I love having the run of the kitchen! It's great. It's also quite fun to cook as opposed to bake. I'm also learning to cook without a measuring cup. Being with baking you have to measure almost everything, it takes a while to figure out that with cooking, that's not the case. It's more of a "dum dee dum", as Dad calls it.
Anyways neither of us have plans for tonight so we'll see what kind of delicacies we can come up with tonight.

Friday, June 6, 2008

It's gonna be a productive day!

I can't believe it! Almost two weeks have gone by since I've come back from Hawaii... and what have I done? Well not much really and it's been fantastic!
Mark, the cute Scottish boy, got here on Tuesday and will be living here until... well until I kick him out or he starts work sometime in July (which ever comes first). Mark and I met in Hawaii and though he worked in Whistler all winter and will be working there during the summer time, he's got some down time and with that down time, he's travelled to Hawaii (yes, a vacation from a vacation... life's tough) and is now living in Vancouver, hoping to get a job that'll keep him out of mischief until July. It's been good having him here. The house is less lonely and he's great company. He's not too gung ho on the whole being a veggie shtick but he's adapting pretty well :) So far he's learnt that fiber is great, but too much is not and that protobello burgers (aka mushburgers) are a delicious alternative to hamburgers. We also made cinnamon buns last night which was a hoot to make... and great to eat. Kinda fun to be living with someone who loves to cook just about as much as I do. We've been eating well.
But the fun has got to end eventually and eventually is coming up pretty quick. Though I haven't started job searching quite yet, there are a few possibilities floating around... it's just a matter of sending out resumes. I'll be applying for Cirque Du Soleil today for sure! Hopefully it's not too late. As for the landscaping... I am not too sure what to do about that. It doesn't look like we'll get much of a summer this year and I hate being cold so maybe I'll hermit indoors. We'll see. So finding a job is definitely on the agenda.
But so is starting the fundraising effort for the 2008 Underwear Affair! So far I've raised 60 out of $1 000. Better get on that :) So far a facebook group has been created, e-mails to the team have been sent out and soon e-mails to family and friends will be sent out as well. This years team goal is $8 000 or more! I am sure we can make it! Donations for the cause can be made here!
While searching Fbook for the Vancouver event, I found an event that used our team photo as their main photo! It was strange... check out the event Underwear Affair town Edmonton by Sarah Subchuck. Bizzare! But cool :)
Anyways I better get going... washrooms don't clean themselves! Resumes aren't updated and sent out on good intentions either.

Sunday, June 1, 2008

A map for Saturday

I just watched the documentary: A map for Saturday. I am sure glad I stumbled upon this documentary because not only did it take me travelling for two hours but it also explain how I feel about travel. It also explain long term travel very well. Most people who haven't travelled just don't understand... no matter how much I try to explain to them how it feels it just doesn't compare to being there and living it.
When I leave to visit family in Winnipeg or even on my latest trip to Hawaii, I bring my backpack, the same one that I travelled around Australia with when I was 18 (4 years ago!!) and a familiar sense of comfort and calm falls over me. I know that no matter what happens, everything will be alright because my backpack and I have made it through lots, have covered a lot of ground and seen many things. Where ever my backpack is, is my home.
Brook, the guy who did the documentary, explained why he travelled and though I wasn't able to quote him, this is basically what he said:
I travelled to get something out of my system... but that didn't work. Instead going back to a normal life, having a normal job, doesn't seem like something I want to do.
I feel that same way. I really do. No matter what I do now it doesn't seem to be the same as travelling. You're always looking to get your next fix, dreaming of your next destination.
Hawaii tickled the itch for travel. Now it burns and since I've come back, I've been feeling like something is missing. I want to travel so badly because when I am at home I feel like I am tethered down and I am struggling to stay grounded. I want to travel, stay in hostels, meet strangers, see so many breath taking sights that eventually I become immune to them and don't find them that amazing any more, I want to be away, get lost in an other country where I cannot speak the language. But that'll have to wait. At least until I graduate and become registered. Then I can travel for a year or I can move to a foreign country and live in their lifestyle for a while or maybe I can do both.
In the mean time, I am going to go make Channa Masala (for real this time, I won't be distracted by awesome documentaries) and pretend that I am cooking in India... ha ha well no, no pretending... I will most likely blast my music, sing and dance while I cook... cuz really, that's what I do.

In fifty or sixty years I am dead. I want to say, "I had a good life."

Jens: 27, Germany

Hooray!!!


I got my marks back and I passed EVERYTHING!!! HOORAY!!! Time to celebrate! Wait... I already celebrated, time to make some Channa Masala from scratch. Yum yum!
The best part about all of this... is that I have FOUR months off!!! FOUR! I am looking forward to what the next four months will bring.