Sunday Observations

Another long weekend comes to a close. It's been so nice. Hope you've all had a nice weekend!

A few things I spotted today....

Museum of Anthropology is located at U.B.C. This beautiful building was designed by the late 

Arthur Erickson. 

Check out their shop online, where you can find this fabulous blanket and heaps more.

Well, that was my world today. What did you do? To those of you in the U.S. I hope you have a fantastic, firework filled, 4th of July!

Back soon.

janis

Canada

I hope you're all having a fantastic day! If you're in Vancouver, quick, head outside, I see a ray of sun ;)

Have a great weekend everyone! Back soon.
janis

City Living

I'm so happy it's a long weekend here. I don't even care if the weather continues to bite!

I thought I'd share another small space with you. I shot it for the lovely people at the Cross.  Have you been to the Cross? If you live in the Vancouver area, I have no doubt you have. ;)

This space is pretty tiny, but it manages to feel roomy. I quite liked the red chair (very comfy) and the bed side sconces. What do you think about this space? Could you live in it? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

I'll be back tomorrow for a little Canada Day post. Have a great day!
janis

Baked

Did you have a good weekend? Hope so! If you are in the Vancouver area, did you thoroughly enjoy our little blip of summer? I'm sure there is more to come ;)

I baked some healthy muffins over the weekend. I just call them "Morning Muffins", as I don't want to call them Raspberry, Brown Rice, Almond, and Orange muffins. When I first tried these out, I thought they might have a have real rice flavour, which I didn't want, but they don't. The orange flavour comes through the most - they're really delicious, especially warm.

Morning Muffins - makes one dozen

1 cup cake and pastry flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup toasted, finely ground almonds
1 cup short grain brown rice
1 1/2 tablespoons orange zest
1 cup plain yogurt, at room temperature
1 egg, at room temperature
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup raspberries, fresh or frozen

Preheat oven to 375f.
Whisk together the ground almonds, flours, baking powder, baking soda, rice, salt and orange zest. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, egg, butter, sugar and vanilla. Pour over the dry ingredients, and stir just to combine. Do not over mix. Fold in raspberries.

Line a 12 hole cupcake tin with paper cups, and fill to 3/4 full with batter. Bake in centre of oven for 15-18 minutes, or until golden on top and a skewer, inserted in centre, comes out clean.
Transfer muffins to a wire rack and serve warm.

Sunday Observations

Oh Sunday, you always seem to appear out of nowhere. We had a bit of summer today, so we took advantage of it. It was a great day! These are a few of my observations for today...

VanDusen Botanical Garden has been around since the 70's, but is now in the middle of a huge rejuvenation project. The image at bottom left, is a model of the new Visitor Centre. Apparently it will be 

Canada's first certified "living building". It's quite an amazing project. Click here, for more info.   

The Found and The Freed, is a fantastic "pop-up" shop here in Vancouver. It's in Gastown, and will be there until July 16th. If you're in the area, I highly recommend it! Lots of great stuff. I found a really well used, "hovis" bread tin so, naturally, I had to buy it. They've sold heaps, but will be adding more great "found and freed" stuff over the next week. See you there?

At the end of the day, we popped by our favourite neighbourhood shop, Walrus, to visit with our friends, 

Caroline and Daniel. Couldn't go empty handed, so we shared a bottle of Prosecco with them. Nice way to wrap up the weekend! While there, I noticed they have a great selection of "plants in a bag, bottle or box". Love the hydroponic herbs (top right), in a recycled wine bottle, and would love the "gingko tree-to-be". Any of these would make a perfect hostess gift...or any kind of gift for that matter ;)

One last thing: I did a post for Poppytalk today. A little long weekend travel inspiration for this summer. Check it out, if you have a moment. Have you been to Tofino BC? Let me know!

It was so nice to just hang out this weekend and relax. What did you guys get up to? Fill me in!

Back soon!

Janis

Ah, the weekend

I hope you all had a great week. I don't have quite as many shoots scheduled for next week, so I have lots of blog posts in mind. Working on one for Poppytalk as well! Keep you posted. Looking forward to catching up with your blogs over the weekend. It's going to be sooo nice.

Back soon!
janis

Baked

Hello Monday! Hope you all had a great weekend. Mine's kind of a blur, as it involved a lot of post production.

I baked something a little on the healthier side this weekend. It's a chewy snack bar, perfect for hiking, camping or a sporty day. I like them way more than any store bought bar.

Snack Bar - makes one 9"x9" square

3 cups puffed cereal (I used puffed Kamut)
1/4 cup pitted dates, chopped
1/2 cup dried tart cherries, chopped
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
1/4 cup toasted pumpkin seeds
2 tablespoons ground flaxseeds
1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup mashed ripe banana (1 small)

Preheat oven to 350f/180c. Spray a 9"x9" square baking tin/pan with a little non-stick vegetable oil spray. In a large bowl, mix together cereal, dates, cherries, pecans, pumpkin seeds, and ground flaxseeds. In a small saucepan, whisk together the peanut butter, maple syrup and banana over medium heat. Keep whisking until it starts to bubble (watch that it doesn't burn, and do keep whisking). Pour this mixture over cereal mixture and stir with a greased wooden spoon, to combine ingredients. Transfer mixture to greased baking tin and press down hard to compact. It's easier to do this using parchment paper, by the way, otherwise you'll end up eating half of it off your hands. ;)

Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the edges turn a golden brown. After it's cooled a little press down again, to avoid crumbling when cutting. Cool completely and cut into squares, or whatever shape you like. Enjoy!

I feel so healthy now ;) Let me know if you try these out, as I'm curious if you'll prefer them over store bought!

Have a great day! Back soon.
Janis