Bye Bye Snowmen

I brought in the New Year with a couple of friends last night.

Diet coke and vodka .

And of course my bf :) He did not make it until midnight just as he did not make it to midnight last year. However he would like you all to know that he has lofty goals of making it next year. Sure, sure

I also had some company from the above movies. We're going to watch the third one tonight, District 9. I do not think it is my kind of movie.

I went cleaning and organizing crazy today and dealt with all the piles of books I had about the apartment. I didn't take before pictures but I should have. My kitchen chairs could not be sat on due to books. I had no idea where to put them but I removed the dvds from the bookcase and replaced them with books.

Some of them are fun reads I've grabbed and lusted over at Chapters. Others are textbooks and schoolbooks. Unfortunately a lot of the text books I am still using and will continue to use for the next few months , otherwise I would have gotten rid of a lot of them

I also said good bye to these cute snow games and the super awesome Father Christmas. It was my bf's Bobbi's ( grandmother) . It is heavy and I love it.

We also said good bye to this lovely Santa container set . I got it as a gift from the newborn baby girl downstairs. I had given her a Pea in A Pod and Good Night Moon for her 1st Christmas and this is what she gifted me back with :) It's filled with candy and caramel corn .

The sparkly card in front is our paper girl . To the side you can see my fav Christmas decoration, Spongebob Snow Globe. I am always sad to pack it up.

What do you hate the most about the holiday season ? Are ou happy when it ends ?

Pretty Pictures

hey :)


I've just returned from an incredibly beautiful and relaxing couple of days at the cottage. It was such a relief because Christmas was pretty stressful for me.
I recieved so many amazing Christmas presents that I'm sure I'll talk about to death in the coming days but today I'll let the pictures do the talking.


Yup best bf got me a nikon :)

I hope to return to regular blogging activities shortly. Not a recording :D
Have a tonne of blogs to catch up on ( thankfully google reader has NOT stopped counting yet which is always a good sign ) and I want to try to put in place in some more specific goals for 2010.

Do you have any goals or resolutions for the new year?
Get anything good for Christmas?

-A

Presents and Luna Bars

Hi :)


I can't beileve it's been almost a week since I lasted blogged. I can happily say that I have no class until January 4th :D I also have little to no homework which is an awesome Christmas bonus.

I got all my shopping done . My purchases included a super amazing cookbook by this lovely lady. Seriously buy one. So many yummy recipes and a-mazing pictures. I will defintely be borrowing this one from the gift-ee.


I got a lot of other less interesting presents too, mostly clothes. But my favorite present is one that was given to me , of course.


My incredible bf got me an HP Mini . I love it. It's so cute . Best bf ever.


Luna Bars Review

First Impression:

It looked delicious . Very similar in appearance to a Dipp 'granola bar'. I thought the size was pretty average and was intrigued that it was marketed towards women .

After Eating /Overall:

The chocolate tasted funny. It was an odd flavor that I neither liked or disliked. I didn't think it tasted anything like smores as I didn't detect even a hint of marshmellow. Definately not one of my favorite bars. It was just like an odd chocolate "bar".

First Impression:

I was persuaded to buy this one because of the name. Nuts over Choclate just sounds decadent.

Appearance wise it looked beautiful. Like a decadent treat or brownie.

After Eating:

I liked this bar better than the Smores bar but still felt the chocolate tasted off. I would likely try this bar again though. The Smores one is a definate no though.

Well, that`s all I`ve got for right now. Making what I hope will be a delicious dinner of chicken parmesan with a sauce that has been simmering all day . I used a base of PC Spinach and Cheese Pasta sauce, added up 4 tomatoes , garlic , onions and a handful of spinach. Hope it turns out !

-A

Cookies and To Do Lists

Hi ! :)

This picture although it represents the current status of my kitchen table , it also represents the status of my to do list.

I've been baking !

A lot.

Christmas oranges , as I call them have been a mainstay since the crates started appearing at Loblaws/Superstore. I don't eat them but the bf devours them . He's picky though. He prefers half the crate in the fridge crisper and half at room temperature. I don't mind . They look cute.
Please to be ignoring the random papers on my kitchen table. I am running out of space for my textbooks/work from previous courses and have yet to figure out a plan of attack.

Williams Sonoma Berry Muffins

2 cups flour
1/2 cup white sugar ( i used splenda for baking but use what you're comfortable with)
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup milk ( I used 2 % for the bf's sake but I've used skim and it's fine)
1/2 cup "butter" ( I used PC celeb aka light becel )
2 large eggs
1 cup berries of your choice. ( i used mixed frozen berries that i had defrosted)

Preheat oven to 400 . Whisk together milk , butter and egg. Add flour , sugar and baking powder and soda, salt and cinnamon . Add berries. Bake 15-20 minutes.

Shortbread Cookies

These cookies are typically cut into slices or just in simple rounds. I rolled mine out and used cutters.

1 1/3 cup butter
2/3 cup white sugar
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp vanilla
3 1/3 cups flour

Preheat oven to 275.
Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add salt and vanilla. Beat to combine. Add flour one cup at a time.
Press into pan OR roll out and cut.
Bake until pale golden brown . 70-85 minutes .

I topped these with a simple cream cheese frosting. Dangerous I know . Basiclly took half of a small container of philidelphia cream cheese, added a splash of milk and about 1/2 cup of icing sugar. I added the icing sugar gradually. You may find you don't need as much . I took half of the finished product and put it in a sandwich bag for "piping" and used the rest to be spread with a spatula.
Top it off with sprinkles or whatever decorations you choose. If you want the icing to be festive, drop in a bit of food coloring when mixing up the icing . Let the icing set for a bit before packing up the cookies.

*

One thing is almost off of my to do list. I have two more items to bake for my Christmas baking and then that is crossed off the list. I have about 4 more presents to buy and my shopping is done.

TO DO THIS WEEK:

• Buy some festive plates and colored cellophane wrap to wrap up Baked Goodies.
• Finish Christmas Shopping. Would like to get some done prior but on Friday morning me and a friend are going to trample the mall. I'm thinking of it as getting all the last minute stuff. I do NOT want to be shopping the week of Christmas!!
  
• Finish wrapping
  
• Find a recipe for Artichoke and Asiago Dip ( cold ) . Anyone know of a good one?
• Homework and school work. I managed to get my homework done incredibly early today and even managed to get a day ahead. Hopefully I can keep this momentum up until Thursday which is my last day before Christmas break. YEY for 2 weeks off !

• Hair cut and dye on Thursday. Need it. Desperately. I've been putting it off because I wanted as little "roots" as possible for Christmas pics. Hate Christmas paparazzi family members.

What's on your Christmas to-do list?

What are you baking or bringing to Holiday get togethers?

-A