Sunday Observations

Hope you all had a nice weekend. It was pretty quiet for us, just lots of clean-up from my camping trip.

Here's a little bit of my Sunday....

If you're in the Vancouver area, I hope you'll check out this shop. They are at the corner of East 10th Avenue and Kingsway, and they'll be there until the end of August. They carry handmade creations by Henderson Dry Goods, Herriott Grace, Megan Hubert, to name a few, and the owners themselves, Hanahlie and Caleb, are the talents behind the grizzly bears, sofa and calendars.

What did you do today? Hope it was a good one! 

Back soon!

janis

Happy Camping

Happy Friday everyone! Hope you had a great week. I just got back from my camping trip, and I'm finding it hard to get back into the swing of things. Do you ever feel like that after a relaxing get away?

I absolutely heart Nicola Lake, located near Merritt BC. It's hot, dry, smells of pine, and there are pinecones everywhere. This is why I named my blog Pinecone Camp. Conjures up the best memories, and I'm always completely relaxed there.

View from our campsite. So pretty. 

A ranch on the way into town.

Hedley, BC is an old gold mining town. Tiny, friendly, and on this particular day, wildly hot. 

Bromley Rock is just east of Princeton BC. Breathtakingly beautiful. 

That's a small sample of this beautiful province. Have a lovely weekend! 

Back soon.

janis

Baked

Hello Monday! It's B.C. Day, so it's a holiday Monday. Sweet. How was your weekend?

I'm leaving for a camping trip, so I'll have zero access to internet. Feels strange, but it will be a nice break. Made heaps of food to take on the trip, and these biscuits are part of the hamper. They're really easy to make, and delicious. Love the kick of chili, but you could really put anything in these.

Cheddar Chili Spelt Biscuits - makes about 14

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole spelt flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon dried chili flakes
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup cheddar cheese, grated

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, spelt flour, baking powder, sugar, chili flakes and salt. With a pastry blender, cut in butter until crumbly. Pour all but 1 tablespoon of the milk over top of mixture, then sprinkle the cheddar cheese. Stir with a fork until a soft ragged dough forms.

On a lightly floured surface, knead dough gently to come together. Pat out dough to about 1 cm (1/2 inch) thickness. With a floured 6 cm (2.5 inch) biscuit cutter, cut out biscuits, gathering and pressing dough together until finished. Place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Brush tops with remaining milk. Bake in a 400f/200c oven until golden, about 18 minutes. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

Happy BC Day to my fellow British Columbians! Have a great week everyone. Back later this week!

janis
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Sunday Observations

Hope you've had a lovely weekend! It continues for some of us, here in Canada...yeah!

This is what went on around here today. Once again, niece Annika was in our care. Poor child. I had to get heaps ready to go on a little camping trip, hence all the taffy (coming up). Anything to keep her entertained.

That's about that. Have to get back to making camp food. What did you get up to today?

Back soon!
janis

Croquet on a Friday

This is what we did while waiting for the sun to get a little lower, for our shoot today. Ah, fun.

Have a great weekend, and a long one if you're here in BC!  Back soon.
janis

Concrete and Orange

Ah, mid-week and a long weekend ahead. Hope your week is going smoothly so far!

Just wanted to share a few pics of a house I shot for Evoke International Design (my husband and brother's company). My love of concrete continues...

The landscaping was designed by the talented duo at Considered Design. 

That's it for today! I've got to head out to shoot a garden, for Style At Home, while we have some perky light. Tried this morning, but had to abort the mission. Please don't rain, please don't rain. 

Back soon.

janis

Baked

Hope you're all having a lovely Monday! Did you have a nice weekend? For all my fellow Vancouverites, wasn't that sun, well, summery? So nice.

I tried out a recipe that is based on one that I saw in Alive magazine, this weekend. The recipe called for pineapple, but I thought I'd try cherries and pecans.  The cake itself is really moist, and I love the cherries!

Upside Down Cherry & Pecan Quinoa Cake - makes one 8x8 inch cake

Topping: (I just made this up, not the original recipe)
1 lb of cherries, pitted and halved
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Cake:
1 cup cooked white quinoa
2 large eggs, separated into yolks and whites
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup plain, low fat yogurt
1/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

To make topping: Place pitted and halved cherries in a baking dish, with pecans, maple syrup and lemon. Mix together and roast for about 15 minutes in a 375F oven. Watch that the mixture doesn't burn. Place cherry mixture in an 8x8 inch pan (spray pan with a little oil), and set aside.

To make cake: In a food processor, process cooked quinoa, egg yolks, sugar, yogurt, apple sauce, and vanilla until very smooth. About 2 minutes.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Add quinoa mixture to flour mixture and stir until no flour streaks remain. With a spatula, gently fold egg whites into quinoa batter until just incorporated. Gently spoon batter over cherries.

Bake in centre of oven for about 35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in cake comes out clean. Allow cake to cool in pan, for about 10 minutes, before running a thin knife around edges and inverting cake onto a plate. Top with a little maple syrup whipped cream if you like.

This cake is actually pretty good for you (minus the whipped cream that I added!), so I hope you give it a whirl. There are so many options with this one!

Back soon!
janis