Happy Camper

 I hope all had a great week! Just got back from a little camping trip to Monck Park in beautiful British Columbia. I went with 3 of my sisters, Mom and a couple of nephews. Hot, feral and heaps of fun....even without a campfire. Lots of forest fires here in B.C. so there is a ban on campfires for a bit. I bring you bits of B.C.....

 

 Liam, pine cones, the perfect camping breakfast, and a little washing up.

Various views of our campsite at Monck Park, one of B.C.'s many provincial parks.

Beautiful Nicola Lake.

A lonely looking little red house, in Merritt.

Merritt, B.C.

Allison Lake, B.C. This lake is stunning! The colour of the water was beautiful.

I leave you with a very happy pink house located in Princeton, BC.

Have a good weekend! Back on Monday for a little baking.

Baked on Monday - Nanaimo Bars

Well, not really "baked", just cooked a little then refrigerated.

My family has made Nanaimo bars forever. They are named after the city in which they were created, decades ago. Nanaimo is located on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. I thought these bars would be the perfect BC Day Baked on Monday. Hope you like them!

Nanaimo Bars

bottom layer:                                                         
1/2 cup unsalted butter
5 tblsp sugar
5 tblsp cocoa
1 large egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 cup coconut
1/2 cup walnuts finely chopped

Middle layer:
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3 tblsp milk
2 tblsp custard powder
2 cups icing sugar (powdered sugar)

Top layer:
4 oz semi sweet chocolate, chopped
1 tblsp unsalted butter

Bottom layer: In a saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Stir in the cocoa powder and sugar, then gradually whisk in the beaten egg. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens (1-2 mins). Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla, graham cracker crumbs, coconut, and chopped walnuts. Press mixture evenly onto the bottom of a 9x9 non-stick pan. Cover and refrigerate for about an hour.

Middle layer: Beat the butter until creamy, with an electric or hand mixer.  Add the remaining ingredients and beat until mixture is smooth. Spread the filling over the bottom layer, cover, and refrigerate until firm (about an hour).

Top layer: In a heatproof bowl, melt chocolate and butter over a saucepan of simmering water. Spread the melted chocolate, evenly, over the filling and refrigerate until set. Wait until room temperature before cutting, as it could crack. Actually, who cares if it cracks? It will still be delicious.

Happy B.C. Day! I'm off camping for the next few days. It'll be nice just to be all feral, and hang around Nicola Lake.  Have a great week everyone!

I Heart Long Weekends

After shooting back to back shoots all this week, I will keep this post short because I feel kinda drunk with fatigue. To take a break from looking at interiors (lovely ones though!) in photoshop, I took a few portraits of some of my Kokeshi. They were lovely and didn't talk back at all, or blink. Sweet wooden creatures.

Have a fabulous weekend! It's a civic holiday here in Canada, so we have a long weekend. What about you?  I'll be back on Monday with a special B.C. Day Baked on Monday.

Baked on Monday - Coffee Cake

Good Morning everyone! Hope you all had great weekends.

I'm in a rush this morning, as I have a shoot to go to. Today I offer up Coffee Cake, as it was pretty easy and fast.  For this particular morning, I also call it "breakfast".

Coffee Cake

Batter:
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/4 melted butter
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk

Filling:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon melted butter
1/4 chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350f/180c.  Grease and flour a 20cm round cake tin.
To make batter, beat eggs until light in colour. Add sugar slowly, one tablespoon at a time, and beat well. Stir in melted butter.
In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Add 1/3 to the batter mix. Continue adding dry ingredients and milk alternately until all ingredients are combined.

For filling, combine brown sugar, sifted flour, cinnamon, melted butter and chopped walnuts.
Pour half the batter in cake tin, then sprinkle half the filling over the top. Pour remaining half of batter on top, followed by the remaining filling. Bake for about 40 minutes. Serve warm!

 It went quite nicely with an iced coffee this morning.

Have a lovely day!

Happy Ending

When I first starting blogging, I thought it'd be a snap to work, live and fit in blogging at least 3 times a week. No such luck. As a freelance photographer, I take the projects as they come in, and it's been busy. I did manage to add a few new prints to my shop, but that was about it. I really admire all of you that can blog daily, work, be a parent....how do you do it?  Do tell!

This week has wrapped up with a whole bunch of happy.....

 The purple potatoes I planted with my niece, Annika, actually produced heaps of purple potatoes!

My Washi paper adhesive tape arrived from Little Happy Things. I love this tape. It's perfect for taping kids art work, notes, pictures, to the wall and peels off easily. Plus, it comes in fabulous colours. Check out Erika's etsy shop - it's so cute.

 Finishing off the week was a shoot with Gwyn, one half of the dynamic girl power duo of Gallant & Jones. They design and make these beautiful beach and garden deck chairs. I have one, and it's so well made and comfortable. Love it.

Have a lovely weekend! Back on Monday.

Baked on Monday - Lemon Pistachio cookies

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend. Thanks for a the great comments on my last post. Seems you're all pretty passionate about preserving old homes, though it can be tough!

Today I bring you lemon pistachio cookies (Donna Hay or Martha Stewart, I think). Melt. In. Mouth. I think I've eaten the equivalent to 4 cookies in raw cookie dough alone. I should put the brakes on that. 

Lemon Pistachio Cookies - makes about 30

10 1/2 oz (300g) butter, softened
3 tblsp berry/caster sugar (ultra fine)
5 1/4 oz (150g) roughly chopped pistachios
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tblsp lemon rind
icing sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350f/180c. Place butter and sugar in bowl and beat with an electric mixer for about 3 minutes, until light and creamy. Add pistachios and beat for 2 more minutes. Fold in flour and lemon rind until well combined (try not to eat dough at this point!). Roll spoonfuls of dough into balls, place on baking sheet lined with baking paper, and flatten slightly. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Cool on wire rack then dust with icing sugar. Eat up!

 Because I can't be trusted with these, I will give a jar to my sister.

Have a lovely day!

To preserve or not to preserve

I came across this sign pinned to a power pole near our house.  Our neighbourhood is pretty good for keeping old homes intact but not always, apparently. I can understand, but sometimes you just don't have a choice. Some old homes are rotting, the electrical is dangerous, and then there is asbestos to mull over. I'm definitely all for salvaging an old home versus tearing down, if you can. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this!

This couple is all for preserving, reusing and recycling. I shot this home, and the homeowner's many animals, a couple of years ago. I don't think they ever bought anything new, and their home was lovely. Todd built the garden table and chairs with reclaimed wood, and created the "chandelier" in their dining room. Pretty clever guy.

I'm a big believer in reusing and recycling as well, so when I spotted these old wood boxes at Stepback, I picked them up for all my back up dvds. They hold hundreds! Apparently these boxes were used to house fire extinguishers. I'm trying to sort out my office, so these will help as well as look kinda happy.

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend! Back on Monday with a cookie.