Mom

This has been a crazy week, and now I feel like I've been shot out of a cannon. Ahh, the weekend is here though.

My mom, Edna (we call her Fast Eddie), is currently on a cruise somewhere around the Hawaiian islands, so she won't be here on Mother's Day. She's all by herself so I hope she meets a dashing, sexy, older gentleman! This post is dedicated to her.

Mom as a teen. A teen. I so did not take after her.

Mom has 7 of us, and had to raise us on her own when the youngest was only 1 year old. 5 girls, two boys. Yikes. I thought I had my hands full with a dog. She bravely took the entire lot of us camping every summer, and always helped out with school events. I can't imagine how many field trips she went on. One really only needs to "pan for gold" once, tops. One of my many childhood highlights was a "sex" talk using a book about how cats have their kittens. My poor mom! I'm still clueless.

Now mom works at one of our restaurants, Habit, and makes all the bloody delicious desserts. I think the job can be tough for her, but I know she loves all the staff and loves to be busy.

Mom, if you're reading this on board, Happy Mother's Day! We'll see you next week. Hope you like the caterpillar. Like all the pink glitter? What about those pipe cleaners? I made it today, just for you.  Remember those days when you loved our egg carton caterpillars? By the way, I have a 'real' present for you ;)

This picture is for all the moms out there. Happy Mother's Day!!

See you Monday for a new Baked On Monday. Have a good weekend everyone!

Baked on Monday

Did you all have a nice weekend? What did you get up to? Hope it was stress free and relaxing!

For this edition of Baked On Monday, I thought I'd introduce you to Orange Chocolate Chip cookies. The orange/chocolate combo is pretty hard to beat. Cannot leave them alone. You'll see for yourself.

Orange Chocolate Chip Cookies
(makes about 32)

2 cups of flour (self raising/all purpose)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup (or 4 oz) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 ricotta, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 tsp finely grated orange zest
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 large egg at room temperature
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together, in a medium bowl, until well blended.
With a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat the butter and ricotta on medium high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar, orange zest, and vanilla and beat until well blended, about 3 minutes. Scrape down sides of the bowl. On medium speed, add the egg and beat until blended. Pour in the chocolate chips and mix until just incorporated. Cover bowl and refrigerate until a little firmer, about 30 minutes.
Heat the oven to 350F/180C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or non-stick baking liner. Drop rounded tablespoons of batter on the baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake until a light golden colour, about 15 minutes. Let cookies cool on sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Enjoy!

These cookies never last long, but while they're around they hang out in this cute vintage Planters peanuts jar.

Not sure what next week's Baked on Monday will be. Maybe I'll try out a bar of some sort. Hmm.
Have a nice Monday!

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.

What's Your Garden Style?

Mine is a little controlled chaos, I think. We have a small back yard that is in plain view of our living area. It has undergone 4 complete transformations over the 10 years we've lived here. My poor husband. It's hard shooting beautiful gardens all the time, let's just say.

I'm trying to work out plants for our back yard. We want to have an edible garden and a little more privacy. Thought I'd take a look at a few small, urban gardens I've shot for some inspiration. Would love to hear what your garden style is. Any of these gardens fit the bill? I like bits of all of them.

This garden was shot for Garden Design. I love all the privacy, and the lushness of plants. Designed by Kari Renaud.

 You really could make use of this garden for a good portion of the year. Shot for Style At Home, designed by Ron Rule. Heather Cameron propped and primped.

A Japanese inspired garden. The magnolia was so pretty, along with all the Japanese maples and mosses. Shot for Gardening Life, designed by Donna Chomichuk.

Perfect garden for entertaining and the homeowners, Mark and Daryl, do a lot of that! Again, this garden has heaps of privacy and lots of lush plantings. Love the succulents. Shot for Canadian Gardening, designed by the homeowners. 

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on gardens!

On a final note, a huge thank you to Sarah at Flourish Design + Style for the little Q & A she did with me. I'm usually more comfortable being "behind the scenes", but Sarah made it all so easy and fun. Her blog is beautiful - check it out!

Baked on Monday

Hello Monday! Can't believe it's already been a week since I posted my very first "Baked On Monday". Hope you all had a great weekend.

It was Anzac Day in Australia and New Zealand this past weekend, so in honour of that I've made Anzac biscuits for my Australian husband (Ok. They're for me. He doesn't care for biscuits that much.). As I baked, Robert watched Gallipoli (great old film with Mel Gibson, when he was still beautiful).

Anzac Biscuits

120g of unsalted butter
2 tbsp golden syrup
2 tbsp boiling water
1 tsp baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
1 cup flour sifted
1 cup brown sugar (I had to use dark brown sugar for these, as my golden brown sugar was in a 'petrified' state)
1 cup rolled oats

Preheat oven to 180c/350f.
Melt butter in a saucepan, then add syrup. Mix baking soda in the 2 tablespoons boiling water and add to syrup mixture. In a mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix well.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place teaspoons of batter on tray and flatten with a fork.
Bake for 13-15 minutes, checking for colour. Biscuits are ready when lightly golden. You want the biscuits to be a little more chewy rather than crunchy. Mmmm. Perfect with tea.
Makes about 24 biscuits.

I think I know what I'm going to make for my next "Baked On Monday". Do you like orange?

The art of collecting

The other day I was asked if I had ever photographed a homeowner that collected a variety of things and, if so, how were they displayed. I have shot a number of "collectors", but Patty Redford was one the best in terms of displaying her treasures. Thought I'd share Patty's collections with you.

This story was originally shot for Canadian Home and Country magazine, and her kitchen nook ended up on the cover. Sadly, the magazine is no longer published.

 McCoy pottery

Grindley and McCoy pottery

Vintage globes. Love these!

More McCoy in pretty turquoise, in a relaxing reading nook.

Vintage tin trucks.

Custom shelf built to showcase tin cars and trucks.

Patty also collects children's readers and vintage mirrors.

A vintage tin milk truck in her minimal white kitchen. Take note of the glass pitchers over the window.

What do you collect? Hate clutter? I'd love to know!

Happy Friday everyone! Have a lovely weekend. See you on Monday with a new addition to my "Baked On Monday"!

I love games

I've been tagged by the lovely Sarah of Flourish Design + Style. Thanks Sarah! This is an easy game. All you have to do is post the 6th picture you ever posted. Done. Here she is. The Europe Hotel in the Gastown area of Vancouver. I love an easy game.

If you'd like to take part, I'm tagging:

Felix Wears Frames
Little Blue Deer
something white
small acorns
Hope you can all play along!

Thought I'd add a new pic to the post. Dogwoods are in bloom all over the city. It's our Provincial flower. I love it.