Summer Cocktails for a Poolside Day

Happy weekend, and a happy long weekend to my fellow Canadians!

Thought I'd share some fantastic cocktail recipes with you. I shot this story at Fairmont Pacific Rim, here in Vancouver, for Style At Home magazine. I've put up the entire story, and all the recipes, here, so take a look!

The beautiful pool at Fairmont Pacific Rim in Vancouver BC. 

Once again, if you'd like to see the entire story, and get the recipes, click here. They're so good! 

Have a great weekend!

janis

x

Baked

Happy Tuesday!  Hope your week's off to a good start.

Life has been pretty busy, and maybe just a little chaotic, so I took out a moment to bake. Something I haven't been doing that much these days, but when I do it's quite calming.  I'm also trying to eat healthier...not always easy ;) These tarts definitely have a little dose of fat, but only a sprinkle of added sugar. I try ;)

The crust is made from almond meal, and I like to have these ready to fill with anything. This time I roasted some peaches and sprinkled the tops with almonds. Easy and pretty delicious. Click here for a savoury tart with an almond crust.

Peach Tarts with Almond Crust - makes about 24 mini tarts

3 cups almond meal
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons water

Peach filling:
4 large peaches, cut into slices
1-2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1-2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
sliced almonds to top
icing sugar to sprinkle on top

For the crust:
Preheat oven to 350f/180c. Spray a little oil in mini muffin tin and set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together almond meal, baking soda and salt. Add oil and water and stir until dough forms (I use my hands for this part. Add to that calming experience!). Press about a tablespoon of dough into each mini muffin cup to form a cup. Bake for about 10-12 minutes, until just slightly golden on sides. Allow to cool completely before adding a filling or place in an airtight container to store for a few days.

For filling:
Preheat oven to 350f/180c. Spread out sliced peaches on a baking sheet. Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle over top. Cut small pieces of butter and place on top of peach mixture. Bake for about 15 minutes. Fill almond crust cups with peach mixture, top with sliced almonds, and bake for another 10-12 minutes, until tops just start to turn golden brown. Allow to cool completely then sprinkle with a little icing sugar. Enjoy!

Have a great day!

janis

Weekend Observations and Links

Hope you had a great weekend!

It's absolutely pouring rain here at the moment, but we did manage to usher in summer with a little sunshine on the weekend. Good thing, as I had a shoot with the talented team of Gallant and Jones. Nothing says summer like a beach chair on the beach...

A little link love too...

Noodle Bar party at Poppytalk. So flipping cute. 

Beach House in Brazil at Design Elements. I can dream...

Flower Power at SF Girl by Bay

Have a good day! Back soon.

janis

Happy Friday

Have a fun, first weekend of summer! 

janis

Jet Lagging, Gently

Slowly getting into the swing of things in Kyneton (Australia). I love it here so much. Such a fantastic country town. Great to just slowing unwind from the frenzy of life back in Vancouver. 

A few quiet images from my first couple of days...

My niece's chicken. I still can't really warm up to chickens. I like taking pics of them, but couldn't quite get into cuddle mode ;) 

Have no idea what kind of bird this is (it's tiny), but it was a pretty cute moment as she nestled back on top of her eggs. 

Curb-side daisies against a corrugated tin fence. Very Australian. 

Heading into Melbourne tomorrow.  Can't wait to check out the alleys!

Hope all is well and festive out there! 

janis

Baked

I picked up some of the last of the summer fruits out there, and threw them together to make a quick and easy crumble. If it weren't for my addiction to orange zest whipped cream it would have, almost, been on the healthy heart side!

Cherry Blackberry & Blueberry Crumble - makes one 8x8 pan or 4 small ramekins

Filling:
3 cups mixed berries (if using cherries, make sure to remove the pits)
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch or arrowroot powder
1/2 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
Crumble Topping:
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
3 oz unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup almonds or walnuts, chopped (I used almonds this time)

If you would like to add the whipped cream...
Whip up 250 ml of whipping cream with 1 tablespoon sugar, then stir in the zest of one orange. Yum.

Preheat heat oven to 375f. Apply a light spray of oil in pan or ramekins and set aside.
For the filling, mix together the berries and cherries, sugar, cornstarch, vanilla and orange juice. Try not to smash up berries.

In another bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar and cold butter. I used my hands to mix together until a crumbly mixture forms. Fold in the rolled oats and almonds.
Pour filling into ramekins and top with crumble topping. Bake for about 25 minutes until top is golden colour and filling is bubbling. Allow to cool before eating or, take my word for it, you will burn your tongue ;) Top with orange whipped cream, and enjoy!

What fruit combos do you lean towards? Let me know!

Have a great day. Back soon.
janis

Weekend Observations

That weekend was a bit of a blur. How was yours? Hope it was a fun one!

Along with spotting this sweet flower stand, here's a few more observations and a little project from the weekend....

Sewed up some cardboard pouches to ship my prints to some lovely etsy shoppers.  

A fun guest bedroom designed by Angela Robinson. 

I set aside some time to check out some blogs as well. Here are some lovely links...

Colour coded work spaces at Creative Living.

A fun and tiny space over at Emma's Design Blogg. 

A little paint-by-number action at Poppytalk.

Have a great day! 

janis

Hawaiian Observations

I'm back. That was one relaxing holiday! We did a lot of swimming and snorkelling, and even made a new friend (see above pic). Thanks for all your emails and comments with your tips and suggestions for what to do in Maui. Who else finds it hard to get back into the swing of things after a vacation? 

Here's a bit of what we got up to. It's kind of long, hope that's ok.....

We stayed in Kihei, just across from Kamaole Beach Park III. Kihei Caffe is a great place for breakfast. I loved their very organized chaos. Shave ice from Local Boys is a must as well!

Fruit stands are everywhere. This was my favourite. Such a sweet couple, and I loved the machete action.

Ho'okipa Beach is near the town of Paia (home of Mana, best grocery store). 

Lahaina is a very touristy spot, but fun. Really, I suppose most of Maui is pretty "touristy". A very pretty place. Spotted these dancers preparing for a luau near where we were having dinner. Heaps of shops and restaurants. Didn't really do much shopping, but did spend a fair bit of time in ABC. ;)

Maui is all about beaches, but I really loved the up country too. These pics are of Makawao. Cowboy country. We didn't have much time to spend there (it was a packed day), but we managed to try out Komodo Bakery. Please go there if you find yourself in Maui. It's a family run business that's been around for about 100 years. We loved the donut kabobs and cream puffs.  We also had lunch at Polli's, a Mexican restaurant which was also pretty great and good value too. 

The road to Hana, is a stunning drive, though a slightly daunting. You really do have to start out early, as it's a long jaunt, narrow, twisty roads, and lots to check out. The rainiest part of the island, and so lush. Loved it (even though I felt a touch car sick).

This was one of my favourite spots, and beaches, along the road to Hana. Black Sand Beach is amazing. The bright blue water against the black sand looked so beautiful. I have to say, I was happy to have my "native" shoes (a Vancouver company) on this trip. They're so comfy!

Ahh, Makena Beach. I have new respect for the ocean after I was smashed and dragged by the shore break (note sign). I was happy that, when I emerged, my bathing suit was still on me. Definitely one of the best beaches, in my books. I'd also have to add Slaughter House beach to the list too. Small, quiet and an fantastic spot to snorkel.  

Whew. That is just a tiny portion of the pics I took ;) Now I've got some catching up to do. So many blogs to read! 

Have a great day! 

janis

TGIF

I'll be away for the next week and I may not be able to post. I hope to, though.  If you have any tips for what to do in Maui, I would love to know.  All I have so far is mai tai's by the beach. ;)

Have a great weekend, everyone!
Take care,
janis

Lemonade for Wednesday

How's your week going, so far? I've been trying wrap things up before we leave for Maui this weekend. Can't wait.
I thought today would be a good day to share a little funktified (made up word) lemonade with you. This is a snippet of a story I shot for BC Home and Garden, and it's on the cover of their current issue. With the help of Arthur Wynne and Nick Devine (who came up with the recipes) of El Camino's and The Cascade Room, Felice, Heather and I put together a grown-up lemonade story. So, so, delicious.  Check out the July/August issue for more recipes....I've given you one of them.

Rosemary Honey Lemonade, The "Nick Faldo", New Orleans Lemonade.

Pineapple and Basil Lemonade. The chicken is one of Heather's brood. 

Limonada Caliente with 100% agave tequila (this was our favourite!)

fill an empty wine bottle with still water, de-seed and slice a whole jalapeno, drop it in the bottle, seal and leave in fridge for at least 24 hours.
in a cocktail shaker:
add 1oz fresh pressed lemon juice,
add 1oz simple syrup (boil 1/2 water to 1/2 sugar, leave to cool)
add 4oz of your jalapeno water,
add ice and shake vigorously,
fine strain into tall ice filled glass.
to make this alcoholic, add an ounce or two of 100% agave tequila.

If you try out any of these, let me know which one is your fave.

Have a happy Wednesday!

janis

Weekend Observations

I can't tell you how happy I am that the sun is shining today. Ahh, I love it. Hope you all had a good weekend.

This post is a little about "baby steps", it seems. Baby steps with the weather inching towards being summery, getting organized, working on my sewing "skills" (ha!), and eating frozen yogurt pops instead of ice cream.....

My husband helped with finding a rod and hooks that would work with this cabinet. Merci, Rob. 

That was a bit of my weekend. What did you get up to? 

Back soon!

janis

Pretending It's Summer

Happy Friday! Did you have a good week? Plans for the weekend?

Thought I'd play a game and pretend that it's warm and sunshiny.  The rain has been pretty relentless (I still love you Vancouver).  Here are summers past in Melbourne, Hawaii, Naramata BC and, yes, even Vancouver....

A Perfect Edible Garden

Wow, this week has been busy. How has yours been?

I wanted to share some images of one of the best little urban gardens I've shot. So many clever ideas. The homeowners, Caitlin and Owen, are the talented landscape designers of Aloe Designs. I can't believe how much food they grow in a small urban garden. It can be done!

As the message states, it is friggin' adorable in there. Love the shed. 

They grow edibles in anything and everything. Large tin cans, vintage buckets, and an inset in their dining table. 

 The talented duo designed the beautiful dining table and the bench seating lifts up for storage. 

Just a small sample of some of the organic food they grow. 

Aloe Designs are putting on some great workshops, so if you're in the Vancouver area, check them out. I took the seed bomb workshop awhile back. Click here for workshop info. 

Back soon!

janis