Baked on Monday - Blondies

Happy Labour Day to you lovely bloggers in Canada and the U.S. It's a rainy day here in Vancouver, so it's perfect for staying indoors baking, eating and watching "Bell Book and Candle" (though I really should be working).

Today's treat is a good old fashioned Blondie. Perfect with coffee, which we'll drink lots of today.

Blondies - makes one 8"x8" pan (about 16 squares)

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1/2 cup chocolate pieces (optional, but why would you not opt for chocolate?)

Preheat oven to 350f/180c. Grease an 8x8 baking pan.

In a large bowl, cream softened butter with an electric mixer, or wooden spoon, then beat in the brown sugar. Add the egg and vanilla, and beat until fluffy.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir the flour mixture into the creamed mixture, then stir in walnuts. Spread the batter in the greased pan. Sprinkle the chocolate bits (if you opted for chocolate, but again, why wouldn't you?), evenly over the dough and press down slightly with a spatula.

Bake the blondies in the centre of the oven for about 25 minutes, or until they have started to pull, very slightly, away from the edges of the pan. Cool in the pan, on a wire rack, before devouring.

These will keep, at room temperature, for several days or several weeks in the refrigerator. But they probably won't be around for that long ;)

Have a lovely day! Back again soon.

An End of Summer Ritual

Hope you're all enjoying the weekend....and a long one at that, if you're in Canada or the U.S.!

Do you have an end of summer ritual? One of mine is hitting up the Pacific National Exhibition (P.N.E.), with nieces and nephews. Every year it's the same: Eat mini donuts, pergogies, and other fatty foods, then hit up the rides, where I promptly get motion sick and have to sit out the rest the "ride" portion of the ritual. Ahh, tradition.

 Back tomorrow with a pretty tasty treat for Baked On Monday!

Mid-Century Modern Love

It's been a week of cleaning the house and photoshop.....how quickly the week flew by. Eep. It's September!

In an interview earlier this week, I was asked about some of homes I've photographed, and what were some of my faves.  I have to say it's the ones that are a mid-century modern style, mixed with anything and everything. I personally have some mid-century pieces mixed with new and some flea market junk tossed in for good measure (I say 'junk' in a very loving way).

The following homes all had a nice mix of style, that perfectly suited the homeowners. I'm a little less "minimal" than these though ;) (that would be less "tidy").

This home was reno'd by Andrea Mclean for her very modern parents.

Ahh, Bertoia chairs. Love them.

I've been trying to find side tables like this here in Vancouver. Not an easy task. Cushion is from Ouno Design. 

An impossibly tidy home office. I want the Saarinen "womb" chair. Dream. 

I loved the deck off the kitchen. The happy yellow chairs are vintage 70's Solair chair, designed and made in Canada. I have a couple of green ones, but I would love the yellow. They were known as "motel" chairs, and never taken too seriously, until recently. They've been relaunched, but I still prefer the old ones with a touch of rust ;)  

This next home is a beautiful reno of a 75 year old home. The designer (also the homeowner) is Catherine Radcliffe of Riesco & Lapres.

Catherine's office is on the left, and the upstairs hallway office is generally used by her two sons. Great use of extra space.

Catherine in her comfy Eames chair. Love the orange Eames bucket chair mixed with her country style dining table.

One of Catherine's sons rooms. So cute.

Her youngest son's bedroom. I love his secret closet where he can just play his guitar. My husband needs a secret closet. 

On a final note for Friday, I did a little DIY project for Poppytalk...it was posted yesterday. Oops. Check it out if you can. Maybe a fun project to do with kids on this long labour day weekend (if you're in North America).

Baked on Monday - Chocolate Peppermint Sandwich

Did you all have a nice weekend? Hope so! I'm just catching up on all your fantastic comments on my last post. It seems we have a clear winner ;)

Today I bring you Chocolate Peppermint Sandwiches. They're like a more zippy Oreo...yum. This recipe is from a vintage (is 1983 considered vintage?), book by Helen Witty. I stole this book from my sister's house the other day. Not sure when I'm going to return it.

Chocolate Peppermint Sandwiches - makes about 18 sandwiches/36 wafers

For this recipe you will need 2-3 clean, small tins to use as 'molds'. I used 3 small tomato paste tins. Cut off tops and bottoms, and make sure the edges are smooth. I then used a tiny lid from a tiny jar of vegemite to 'push' the dough through.

3 squares (3 ounces) of semi sweet baking chocolate, chopped up
6 tablespoons (3/4 of a stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg, well beaten
3 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

 Place a small bowl over a small pot of simmering water, and melt the chocolate and 2 tablespoons of the butter. Stir constantly. Set aside to cool.

In a mixing bowl, using a spoon or electric mixer, cream the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter and the shortening together. Beat in the sugar, then add, one ingredient at a time, the egg, water, melted chocolate, and the vanilla. Beat until well blended.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir the flour mixture thoroughly into the creamed mixture.

Use a can opener that makes a completely smooth cut, you may be able to use the one of the discs to push the dough through, depending on the type of can opener you use. If not, find a lid of a jar that fits the tin. Pack the dough firmly in the tin cans. Cover the end of each can with plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough for several hours, until it's very firm.

Preheat oven to 350f/180c, with oven rack in centre position.  Take one of your tin molds from the fridge, and slowly push through the tin (with tin bottom or lid) and slice off with a thin, sharp knife. I made my slices about 1/4 inch thick. I found this process thoroughly enjoyable.  I'm a baking nerd, it seems. Place each slice, on an ungreased baking sheet and bake for about 10-12 minutes, or until they are barely firm when touched lightly in the centre. Place on a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

Peppermint buttercream filling:

1/4 cup unsalted butter
2 cups sifted icing sugar
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract

Beat butter until soft and creamy. Add sifted sugar, and beat until fluffy, then peppermint extract. I found I had to add 1 tablespoon of milk as well, as the mixture was crumbly. Icing should be thick and not runny.

Lay out half the cookies, bottom side up. Spread a generous amount of filling on each half.  Press gently to force the filling just to the edge. Start eating them right away, at this point (that's just my thought). If you must save them, let the filling set, then keep them in a covered container. They'll be fine for a few days at room temperature, or a few weeks if kept in the refrigerator. 

 At this point, you should test one to make sure it worked out. 

Yep. It did.

Back on Wednesday! Have a good day!

French Provincial vs Canadian Olympian

It sounds strange, I know, but these are the "themes" of these two condos. I shot these spaces a couple of months ago, and they're in the current House and Home Condos issue.

These condos were part of the Millennium Water's Avenue of the Worlds project, here in Vancouver. There were many designers involved and each one was given a theme. The Cross had to do "French Provincial" and Kodu Design had to create a space that says "Canadian Olympian". I'd love to know which style you prefer, and if you think the designers hit the mark.

 The numbers used for the art piece, are marathon runner's numbers. Hockey sticks used for dining table, and coach's game plan white boards.

What's a Canadian kitchen without Kraft dinner?

The bedroom features an over head projector with sporty, Canadian images, and a wall of trophies.

Peter Wild, designer for the Cross, used Marie Antoinette as inspiration.

They couldn't be more different, so I'm looking forward to reading your thoughts on these condos!

Baked on Monday - Chocolate Cupcakes with Cherry Jam

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend! The power has been off all morning, so I'm just now wrapping up Baked on Monday. Ouch.

These cupcakes were made with my fabulous assistant, Annika, who stayed over for a crafty weekend. You can really use any jam, but this morello cherry jam really tastes incredible with chocolate. Drool.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Cherry Jam - makes 12

3 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Icing:
1 cup icing sugar (powdered sugar)
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
3 tablespoons melted butter
1 tablespoon milk

Preheat oven to 350f/180c. You can either lightly grease a 12 cup muffin tin, or use cupcake papers. 

Melt butter over low heat in a small saucepan. Combine all other ingredients in a mixing bowl, then add melted butter. Beat mixture for 2-3 minutes.

Place a good spoonful of batter into each cup, then add about 1 teaspoon of jam. Fill cups with remaining batter, to cover jam. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.
Cool on wire rack.  When completely cool, top with chocolate icing. Enjoy!

Beach balls and Kokeshi

Ahh, Merry Christmas. I've been shooting a Christmas story for the last couple of days, and was it ever hot. Nothing like shooting a roaring fire on a 29 degree day! I'll try to post a bit of a sneak peek later ;)

I've just posted some new images on etsy. I've actually just sold a set of the kokeshi for a girl's bedroom (they were 10"x10" each) and one of the beach balls prints, so I thought I should finally put them up on etsy. I'm kind of slow on these things.  I'll get it together one of these days!

I took this shot while camping at Monck Park. This image is just a sample of my hazy memories of camping there as a child. 

I have a small collection of Kokeshi and decided to shoot a few of them. They look especially happy in a bedroom or a powder room. 

Now that Christmas is wrapped up, I hope to be able to take a couple of hours to check out some of your fab blogs today. Have a lovely day!