I'm going to be a Mrs!

Hey-ohhh! We're facebook official! I'd love to sing and dance and do a jig (which I may have done when he asked and might be doing now too...you just can't see it ;) )

The Mister and I are so excited to start the next chapter in our lives with little Jasper.  This new chapter brings new challenges too.  The first is that I was offered a job in New York (yay!), but the Mister will be staying in Toronto for a bit (not so yay).  But we have faith that it will all work out for the best and our life together will be full of grace and love.

Buuuttt! I LOVE MY RING! I mean, I love the Mister, but man oh man, do I love my ring! We (as I'm sure you all know) are deal finders and get super excited when we get a good one.  My ring was a great deal.  We checked out the jewellery stores, but they all seemed too generic and wanted too much money for what they were offering.

I'm a fan of Etsy and had been perusing the site for engagement rings.  I knew I wanted something that was a bit more vintage and delicate.  So, I found a fantastic designer, RareEarth on Etsy.  She does AMAZING work! She was fantastic to deal with and was able to create the ring I had been dreaming of.  Seeing as she has very little overhead, her prices are fantastic!! We went and got the piece appraised to ensure everything was as she said it was because we were worried about such a large purchase and being had, but the jeweller was super impressed with her work and confirmed we hadn't over paid and even made a little money on it! (Once again, not important, but it's key to make sound investments...I'm starting to sound like the Mister here).  So check her out, fall in love and treat yourself to a piece of jewellery!

So, here is my ring (gah, I'm so in love with it...I keep staring at it) I know it's a bit vain, but...eeee! Plus, RareEarth's work is just that good!

The first four photos are property of Lemony Love:

 

This one is probably my favourite because of the toy van in the back.  It was the Mister's from when he was a wee one! 

My dear friend from Beautifully Contained took this one! Don't mind the claw hand.

Anyway, we are SO EXCITED! The Mister is the truly the love of my life and I couldn't think of anyone else I'd want to spend my days with.

Homemade Chicken Broth-Individual Style

We made chicken drumsticks last night on the grill (with green beans! so tasty!!) and had the bones left over. I decided to make chicken broth with the left overs.  I use chicken broth in soups, gravies, mashed potatoes and sauces.

We pulled off the meat from the bones (which we used for sammys!) and then I tossed the bones in a pot with some water and a chicken bullion cube! You can add in celery, carrots, onion and other spices/herbs if you want, but because I use mine for a bunch of different things, I opted to keep it plain and simple. (Check out TasteofHome for their recipe) Once you've got everything in your pot, just let those little guys boil away.  The longer it boils, the more "chicken-y" it gets!

I usually put it in one big container, but realised that was pretty silly! So I saw (on Pinterest, of course) from theKitchn and she froze chicken broth in ice cube trays! GENIUS! Just let your chicken broth cool, pour it in the cubes and freeze! Bingo-bango-donezo!!!

Do make sure to wash your trays after you've used them or else your next drink will taste like chicken! Eeek!


PS: These little babies make a fantastic dog treat in the heat! Jasper loves them and ate it so fast I couldn't get a picture of his happy doggie face!

Gnarly Nails No More!

Okay-so...if you're like me, I often look down at my finger nails and go "ooo...those are a HOT mess" I blame it one having to clean and do dishes. I try to use this as a legitimate reason to get a maid, but the Mister doesn't agree.  ;)

I don't usually spend money on going to get a manicure, but thankfully my Momma taught me how to paint my nails :) I actually have the time today to do my nails because Jasper is at the vet getting to ol' snip-snip.  It broke my heart to leave him there and we've only had him a week!!!

But onto the nails!  Also-please note that I am not a licensed beauty stylist-just a lady who does her own thing.

Here is a great video on Youtube from fictionwriter04: How to give yourself a manicure. She uses a couple tools that I don't have on hand, but I just used clippers and a cutical pusher/hoof stick. To maintain super soft nails I will use vitamin E (you can also use Vaseline) once a week over night (all other nights I make sure to moisturise!!!).  Just put it on your hands (and feet!!!), then put socks/gloves on your puppies and sleep the night away.  You'll wake up with soft hands/feet!


Look at those hangnails! Eeekkk!!

My fingers are saying "aaahhhh-so nice!"

Woo-pink! I love pinks and reds on my fingers and toes.

Remember to love your hands and feet, they are so important to daily life and deserve an extra hug every once in a while!

Sweet as Sugar-Twice as nice!

So, I made a cake today...mainly because I didn't really want to work on my thesis.  (oops!) I just used a plain ol' chocolate cake box mix, but added a box of chocolate pudding to make it extra moist! To do this, just add the pudding mix to the cake mix, stir it together and then follow the directions on the box. I had to add a little bit of water (about 1/4 cup) extra to get it the normal consistency of a typical cake batter, but you don't have to do that.  Just be prepared it'll be a little thicker.

Okay...That little sucker is right out of the oven and I realise I don't have any frosting. I can handle that I think, I will just make some with powered sugar and milk.  Uh...CRISIS! We are currently out of BOTH powered sugar AND milk! EPIC fail as a house wife! What to do, what to do?!

We are on a no-spend week, so I didn't want to go out and spend money on those things (especially the powered sugar-total non-essential!) So I put on my thinking cap and it dawned on me I could make my own powered sugar!

I "googled" how to make powdered sugar and it was super-de-duper simple! You can check it out on Wikihow.  There are even photos...but I took some of my own! :)

1cup of sugar, 2tablespoons of corn starch, a blender and a little bit of patience. 

Ohhhh-aaahhhh, watch the smoke billow out! SUPER COOL!  I may or may not have done this a couple of times to see the sugar dust come out...leaning more towards the may. ha!

Anywho! Blend the sugar and corn starch up until it becomes the desired consistency.

So after I had the powered sugar, I needed to make he actual frosting.  Easy Vanilla Butter cream here I come! This super easy recipe is from Taste of Home.

However, I still had this tricky little issue of no milk.  But then I remembered we had Non-fat French Vanilla coffee creamer! WOO! That'll work!

Whip up your butter, whip it real good. And yes...I have a hand mixer and a stand mixer-don't judge me!

Add your powered sugar, coffee creamer (or milk) and a splash of vanilla.  Mix it all up and you've got yourself a nice easy-peasey frosting!

The Mister is lucky I need to wait until the cake is cool to frost that sucker...or else it'd be in my belly.

Jasper the Dog

Meet our Jasper:

He is a 2yr (birthday is July 14) labradoodle, more lab than doodle! We got him off of kijiji (Canada's version of Craigslist!) and is the best thing we've ever gotten off of the Internet.  A family couldn't give him the attention he required and she was starting to feel guilty.  Lucky for us, we happened to be on kijiji as soon as she posted the ad and he became ours!

I had dogs growing up (Zeus-a golden, Spuds-a mutt and Angel-a golden) and I've been missing having a little love around the house.  The Mister had a dog growing up (Cody-a mutt) and loved him too.  We've been talking about getting a dog for ages and even made up a fake dog (which we named Jasper!) and would often talk about him. We wanted a larger dog because both of us are not fond of little dogs and the labradoodle is hypoallergenic.  My dear friend from Beautifully Contained and her hubster have two goldendoodles and she has pretty bad allergies and they are pretty well controlled (the allergies and the dogs!).  So, when we found this love, we knew it was meant to be!

He is the sweetest thing in the entire world and we are so glad we were able to re-home him.  While there are some things that we are adjusting to such as waking up earlier, the dog hair and the drool, there is nothing more satisfying and worthwhile then waking up in the morning or when the Mister gets home from work and Jasper is just so happy to see us. <3 <3 <3

Dresser Re-Do Part Two!

At last!!! It has been a crazy time for us recently (we got a dog!!! eee!!!!!) and our dressers have been sitting, filled with clothes, waiting for their debut! 

When I left off on my Dresser Re-Do Project, I had only finished stripping and sanding one dresser.  I got the Mister to help me strip and sand the second one!  We used a sander from our neighbour which made life so much easier! Handsome little devil hard at work!

 

So, we sanded them all down and then wiped them clean with a damp cloth to get all of the dust off. Then we applied the stain. I forgot to take picture when I was doing this (I blame the fumes!).  Anyway, we used sponge brushes, then waited 15 minutes and dabbed off the extra with a clean lint free towel.  Then you have to wait a couple of hours and you can apply another layer of stain if you want it to be darker.  I think we ended up doing...3 layers? Each time you have to wait the appropriate amount of time between coats.

Then we applied a coat of polyurethane, let it dry and called it a day!  We found some inexpensive knobs to use while I look for one that fit the dressers perfectly!

Dresser 1: 

Dresser 2:

Before: 

Not bad for the first go! Have you re-done any furniture?

Dollar Store Art

So, I'm a fan of the dollar store for certain things.  You can usually get a pretty good deal  on stuff verses buying them elsewhere.  I will usually get certain spices (pepper, oregano, paprika), flower pots (terracotta pots), candles and art supplies.  I mean, sure they aren't the name brand stuff (usually) but for a buck, you can't beat it!

My most recent dollar store trip lead me down the path of art work. It is a bit of a combination of this neat-o idea from Peace, Love, Yoga, Cupcakes (check out her blog: it's truly inspirational!) Pinterest Board (check that out here).  The glue I had on hand was a bit too runny to do this, but I liked the idea.  Then I saw this idea from Domestic Imperfection (another great blog) and really liked THAT idea too.  So I merged the two! Paisley print on canvas!

The dollar store near us sells canvas, paint, brushes and stencils! WOOP! So all in all...the project cost me $7 (two canvases, 2 paints, stencils and brushes), which is not too bad!

So I painted each canvas (green and grey).  They were a little streaky (a downfall to dollar store products), so I painted the back of the canvas and that fixed the problem! Let them dry completely!

Then just lay out your stencil and dab the paint on.  Don't use a lot of pain, or else it will bleed! I alternated the colour (so green on the grey background and viceversa). 

I used two different stencils...and this is how they turned out! I like the silver one better! I think I'll put them in the washroom!

Quick Chocolate Fix

Okay, so I love chocolate. I'd like to say that I could live without it, but I know that would be a lie.  I like darker chocolate (around 70%) and the mister loves the hard stuff (90%-99%), he's hard core.

So I stumbled across Chocolate Covered Katie's blog and couldn't WAIT to try some of her recipes. The mister is a huge fan of Reese's Pieces (and peanut butter in general), so when I saw her Reese's Pieces Fudge Frosting, I knew I had to make it. You can find the recipe here.  It is delicious! Like, lick off the batter, the spatula, the bowl, your fingers good.

I did tweak it a little bit...I used chocolate milk and added a touch of powdered sugar.  I also used my little hand blender to mix it all together as I don't have a magic bullet and didn't feel like lugging out my blender!

So just measure out all the ingredients (start with 4tsp of maple syrup and add it one tsp at a time so it isn't too sweet).  Then whip it up!

 Within a few minutes you have a lovely frosting...make sure you taste it before you put away the blender and add more milk or syrup depending on the texture and sweetness you are going for!

So now that I had this lovely frosting, I needed something to put it on! I didn't want to make a whole cake so I decided to give her One-Minute Chocolate Cake a bash (check it out here) Oh heavens! for 45 seconds...THIS IS AMAZING. I put it on a pretty little plate (do make sure you let it cool before taking it out of the dish), put some of that delicious frosting on it and dug in! A perfect and simple chocolate dessert!

Crusty Bread

I have a love of bread, any kind of bread, that might surpass my love of sweets.  I actually blame it on where I grew up because there was a bread factory on a major road we often drove down and the aroma wafting from the building was intoxicating.

I always look for bakery's and check to see what kind of breads they have to offer.  However, I usually (I have my moments of weakness though!) don't bring myself to pay $6 or more for a loaf of beautiful artisan bread. I've always had this idea that those delicious breads were so difficult to make until I found this recipe. My word, hold onto your hats because this is SO EASY! I found this recipe on Pinterest and followed it to Simply So Good.  You can find it here.

She gives fantastic step by step instructions, so I didn't bother to take too many photos as hers are great! I decided to try an olive and oregano loaf (ahhh-mazing!). This little guy is straight out of the oven: Hellloooo Dolly!

So, I didn't have sliced olives on hand, but I do have a handy dandy egg slicer (Thanks Mom!).  I use my egg slicer for anything that is soft (like an egg): mushrooms, olives, pickles, strawberries...you get the idea. It saves a lot of time and usually a bit of money, as pre-sliced things cost more. I put the olives through twice so the pieces would be a bit smaller.

I had to add a little bit (about 1/4 cup) more water (she calls for 1 1/2 cups).  I'm pretty sure it was because of the olives, but you want the dough to look like a sloppy mess. Cover that guy with plastic wrap and let sit overnight, this way you have a special treat for you when you wake up!

 I didn't take an after photo because I was too excited! It was HUGE! Oh the magic of fermentation!!!

Anyway, throw your pot in the oven: make sure to use an enamel covered cast iron pot.  Mine is one by Kitchenaid that I picked up last year when it was 50% off! But I'm sure you can find a great deal on them second hand because they can get pretty pricey. Just follow Simply So Good's directions and wait another hour your bread comes out and be prepared to be amazed.

I think tonight I'll make a chocolate chip and some sort of nut (toasted almond?)! Let me know if you try this bread and what you make!!

Homemade Gnocchi

Gnocchi is one of my favourite pasta dishes...ever.  I mean, come on, potatoes AND pasta all in one?! They are just a little bit of heaven. However, I never actually eat them because I don't like to buy them and we rarely go out for Italian.  So I decided to make them and they aren't as hard as I thought!!

I was taking a gander at recipes and found Gastronical Sovereignty's recipe for gnocchi.  After reading her post, I really felt connected (especially her bit about being a grown-up...there are few things I can do, but gnocchi is now on the list!).  Check her out here. She has a great blog!

Back to the pasta at hand!! Her recipe calls for floury potatoes (russet), I used Yukon gold potatoes because I love the way they taste and that's what I had on hand.  It ended up being about 7 decent sized potatoes. I also cooked mine in the microwave because it is easier (and faster) than the oven.  You can also throw them in your crock pot if your at work all day!
 

Slice open your potatoes and scoop out the meat of the potato.  Be careful because the insides will be pretty warm (don't want to burn your little fingers!) Lightly fluff your potatoes and add in the egg yolk (remember, save those egg whites! Waste not-want not).  Then you mix in your flour and spice mixture in gradually.  Make sure you season with salt and pepper heavily.  You don't want to have bland gnocchi!

You're going to have to get a little messy here and use your hands (hence no pictures).  Once the dough comes together, turn it out onto the floured work surface and knead away!  Here is a great video on how to knead (It's for bread, but it gives you a good idea on how to properly knead!)

Once you've kneaded your dough, take a piece off and roll it out into a long strip. Then cut off pieces into smaller pieces. Put them on a baking sheet and let them hang out until you're ready to cook!

Boil your water to cook the little guys in.  Add salt to the water because it will give it that extra little flavour! Once the water it at a boil, add your pillow-ey pasta by the handful and wait until they start to float. Pull them out and let them wait for the rest of the pasta is done.

Once all of your guys are done, I put them in a frying pan and added a little bit of sauce and some of the pasta water and gave it a quick toss to coat the gnocchi evenly. Add your sauce (I did a tomato and hot sausage sauce last night) to the top and enjoy!

Lemon and Strawberry Tart

So these past couple of weeks have been crazy busy!!  I've been finishing up exam papers and trying to re-organise our life *phew it's been tiring*! So sadly Lemony Love has been neglected, but I've been doing lovely treats and crafts the whole while! :)

Okay, so onto the fantastic Lemon and Strawberry tart I made last night! I've been in the mood for something that isn't chocolate (I think  I might be sick) and decided to give this little treat a try!

I found the recipe on Pillsbury's site.  It was pretty simple, but make sure you have everything ready to go because you can't leave the sugar/flour/cornstarch slurry alone (or else it will burn!)

So first, mix your sugar/flour/cornstarch in the sauce pan and have your water on hand.  Use cold water, adding it slowly, as it ensures your mixture won't clump.  Cornstarch is a little bugger for that! Bring the mix to a boil, stirring the entire time.

 

Then you beat your egg yolks (save the whites because you can make an angel food cake with them!!) Temper your egg yolks by adding a little bit of the slurry to the yolks slowly to bring everything up to the same temperature.  The recipe says to add about half of the mixture to the eggs, I didn't do that.  Just add enough to make sure your eggs aren't going to scramble. The mixture will turn a lovely shade of yellow!

After you've added the eggs, you can add your lemon zest and juice.  Whisk away! Then once it has boiled, bring it off the heat, add your butter, mix it in so it melts and let stand for ten minutes. After it has cooled, add your mixture to your pre-cooked pie shell.  I was feeling adventurous yesterday so I made my own! Simply Recipes offers some great advice on making crusts, check it out!

Then you stick the lemony goodness in the fridge for two hours, pull it out and put strawberries on top.  The recipe calls for three cups, but I didn't have that many so I just lined the outside! :)

Put it back in the fridge for another two hours (Oh the waiting game!!!).  Then slice it up and enjoy the little tart! :) 

A slice of summer: Strawberry Pie

The weather has been amazing here in Toronto and I've been in the mood for berries.  All sorts, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, you get the idea.  I love them and the warm weather has really been pushing me into summer mode.

I saw a great post on Pinterest ages ago for Strawberry pie: it looked amazing! But when I went to get the recipe today, the site was asking for money to view the site...meep! So I went on a hunt for a new recipe.

I found this recipe called Makeover Grandma's Strawberry Pie on TasteofHome and it looked great! It just so happened that I was talking with my dear friend Cassie and she is a fantastic baker (and cook!).  She made this ahhhhmazing pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving and I ate more than I wish to admit. Anyway, Cassie has made a strawberry pie before and I mentioned to her that I was going to make one. She gave me some great advice: COOK EVERYTHING SLOW AND LOW! It's true. Make sure when you are cooking to have patience, the end result will be well worth it.

So, the recipe doesn't have any photos and I am a visual person, so, here we go!

It's a pretty simple recipe and doesn't call for too much! The only thing missing from this photo is the pie shell.  I cheated and had a frozen one! You need to pre-cook the pies shell so it can cool before putting in the lovely strawberry mixture.

So first off, mix the sugar and the corn starch in the pan.  Make sure you mix it all together before adding the water.  The water needs to be cold (so the corn starch doesn't clump).  Add the water in slowly and and keep on whisking.  It will look a bit like watered down milk, but keep on whisking with your heat on low!

Eventually the mixture will start to thicken up and clear up.  Let it boil (while stirring your little heart out: it's a great workout for your arm muscles!!!).  Remember Cassie's advice and keep the heat low!  It'll be a thick consistency.

After it has boiled for about two minutes, take it off the heat and add the gel.  This is where I got a little crazy and added about 1tbs of homemade strawberry jam (from my cousin Heidi, so tasty!) for a little extra strawberry taste.  Just mix it all in until of the gelatin is dissolved and it will turn a lovely red colour.

So while you are waiting for the gelatin mixture to cool (15 minutes), slice up your berries. I used two containers (including the few I ate.  They were just too tempting not to eat!)  Once you've let your gelatin cool, pour it over the berries and make sure everything is nicely coated. 

After it's all coated, add it your lovely little pie shell. And then the waiting game begins.  You have to wait for FOUR HOURS for everything to set.

But me oh my is it worth the wait....It is amazing and tastes just like summer should.  Add a little homemade whipped cream on top and be prepared to fall in love.

Pizza Pie!

The Mister's favourite food is pizza.  He could eat it everyday if I let him, truly.  I'm sure he's like most other men who would much rather order pizza  and build forts from the left over boxes.  So, being the loving Lady I am, I give into his pizza addiction and we make it home!

We've tried a couple of different recipes for pizza dough and it's been quite the evolution.  The first pizza we ever made was a hot mess...HOT mess.  So, it's been a process of love and health! It's been important for us to try to find healthier versions of take away.

So, a recipe that we usually use is from All Recipes.  It is truly An Amazing Whole Wheat Pizza! I add in an extra cup of whole wheat flour (2 1/2 cups)  instead of white flour (1 cup).  I also use our bread machine to make the dough.  When we first started out, I used to make it from scratch (such a process!).  But having a bread machine makes life SO much easier. Start with the ingredients, add the oil (butter), then salt/sugar, flour and yeast.  Then you set it dough on the machine.  It is pretty easy-peasy!

The most recent dough recipe we've found is from Robbie's Recipe.  The Mister was after an incredibly thin and crispy pizza. This recipe is just that!  I doubled the recipe so we could have left overs.  It doubles wonderfully!  Once again, we made the dough in the bread machine.  After the machine does the hard work, I turn the oven on (full whack!), and split the dough in two even balls, put some olive oil (less than 1tbs) in each bowl and flipped the dough around (covering it in the oil so it doesn't stick to the bowl) and let it rest on top of the hot oven while I fix all of the toppings.

Anyway! This pizza turned out beautifully!!!! Check it out!

 The Mister had to get a picture cutting it!

A sign of a good pizza is that it can hold up under the great weight of the toppings you put on it... this one passed the test with flying colours!

What's your favourite topping to have on pizza?