Sunday Observations

Hello everyone! Here are a few things I've taken notice of today....

I hope I haven't jinxed this series now. Gulp. Go Canucks! Click here, for the pretzel recipe. Bags were just printed on my home printer. Easy.

I also checked out Marisa Seguin's Print Shop on Etsy. This girl is good. I love her city posters.

Click here, to check out her beautiful shop. 

Those are a few of the things I observed today. Oh, and Blogger still hasn't restored my missing comments. ;) What did you get up to? Let me know!

Back soon!

janis

Baked

Hello Monday! I'm trying to be a little peppier on Mondays. Hmm. Still think we should have a 3 day weekend. Hope your week is off to a good start!

This weekend I made a batch of cupcakes to take to our friend Daniel, co-owner of the shop Walrus. He had a special birthday, so he deserved some sparkly cupcakes. Sparkly cupcakes need sparkly wine to go with them. It was a fun way to wrap up the weekend. Oh, and the Canucks won too!

Vanilla Cupcakes with Pistachio Praline Whipped Icing - makes about 36 mini cupcakes (this is a Donna Hay recipe)
4 1/2oz/125g softened unsalted butter
3/4 cup berry/caster sugar
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup milk

Pistachio Praline:
5 1/4oz unsalted pistachios
1 cup berry/caster sugar
1/2 cup water

Whipped Icing:
1 cup berry/caster sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3 egg whites

To make the pistachio praline, place the nuts on a parchment paper covered baking sheet. Place the sugar and water in a saucepan over low heat and stir, until dissolved. Increase the heat and bring to a boil. Cook for about 8 minutes or until dark golden brown. Remove from heat, allow the bubbles to subside and pour mixture over nuts. Allow to cool completely. Break praline up into small pieces, place in a food processor and process to a coarse consistency. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 320f/160c. Place the butter, sugar and vanilla in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually add the eggs, and beat well. Sift over the flour and baking powder and beat until combined. Fold through the milk, then spoon into mini muffin tins lined with muffin papers. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until a skewer, inserted in centre, comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

For the whipped icing, place the sugar, water and cream of tartar in a saucepan over high heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 3 minutes. Place the egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add the sugar mixture and beat until thick and glossy. Spread the icing over the cupcakes with a palette knife and top with the pistachio praline. Eat and enjoy. These are incredibly good.

 

These are really simple and fun to make. Would be great for Easter brunch too. 

Have a good day! Back soon.

janis

Sweet May

Happy 1st day of May! I picked up the phrase above from my mom-in-law, Norma. Thought I should funktify (new word) it with some Japanese paper.

The start of May here in Vancouver, is sunny. Isn't that supposed to mean summer is right around the corner? Hope so.

Hope you all have a lovely and lazy weekend!

See you Monday for a new recipe. Hint: it contains a mix of chocolate and orange. Mmmm.

Thankful

We're heading into a long weekend here in Canada. It's Thanksgiving. I love this time of year. Nothing but heaps of stuffing, cranberries, stuffing, sweet potatoes (soaked in maple syrup), and stuffing.  A true carb delight. 

My post purchase doubts have kicked in a bit this week (thanks to blasted Ebay!), so I have felt like a greedy guts. I'd like to remedy it a bit, by declaring my thankfulness for a few things in my life. I'll try not to be deeply mushy, or too wordy!

I'm very thankful for....

My husband, friends and family here in Vancouver and Australia.  

Having 13 years with our fabulous dog Plugger.  He passed away this summer. We really miss him.

Plugger

The lovely people that have purchased some of my prints over the last week. Pictured below is the Chinatown series and a couple of Fallen Ladies.

Having a roof over my head is pretty good too.

Speaking of having a roof over my head...

 

If you live in Vancouver, check out gratitudeweek.org and please donate. Their slogan is "Give a dollar. Give a damn". If you live here, you know we have an unacceptable homeless problem. For a rich city like Vancouver, this should not be happening. It's bunk. With the Olympics coming, it can only get worse.

Another fabulous organization, you all might like to check out, is kiva.org. 

As a wedding gift, for my brother and his wife, my family lent money to a lovely woman, in Honduras, so she could open up a beauty salon.  The money was repaid in just a few months. It's a fascinating site to go through. Please take a look. I'm about to donate to a man that simply needs a couple of goats. 

Have a great weekend! Happy Thanksgiving Canada!