12 Days til Christmas! And Banana Gingerbread Cake House

Countdown photos courtesy of the 12 days of christmas ornaments on my tree.

 

 

 And your festive song of the day is a long time favourite.

 

 

After a night and morning of absolute agony thanks to that troublesome tooth (even Tylenol 3 didn't provide any relief) my wonderful sister took me to my appointment to have my last two wisdom teeth extracted.

After waiting and holding back tears for almost an hour, the surgeon agreed to put me under and to remove both wisdom teeth and I didn't even have to argue for either. He was wonderful.

Also, he might have been Santa, granting me my ultimate Christmas wish: pain relief.

 

I woke up in the recovery room with no recollection of how I got there (and no recollection of hanging my head down, tongue out when my sister came in then saying, "I was pretending to be dead!") (I'm a great comedian when not in my right mind).

 

The best news of all?

I haven't even had a glimmer of pain since.

Not when the freezing wore off, not when I took my amoxicillin in delicious chocolate pudding, not when I had hot soup, not when I accidently touched the gaping hole in my mouth with my tongue.

 

How is this possible!?

 

I suspect it doesn't hurt because they pulled both teeth rather than dug around in the gum to remove them, and also they didn't need to stitch the area up.

 

No one really needed to nurse me.

Robin was kind enough to go and pick up all of my perscription meds (ibuprofen which I already have and should have told her not to bother with, percocet, a chlorhexidine mouth rinse, and the amox) so I snuck in a quick nap while she was gone.

Then John came home and I was up baking.

 

I finally used my new pan!

 

 

*I doubled the recipe to ensure I'd have enough batter to fill the pan.

I also used 1 cup all purpose flour and 3 cups rice flour because I ran out of flour.*

 

Banana Gingerbread

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon (sub for 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice)
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
pinch freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup banana, mashed (about 2 large)
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup buttermilk
4 tbsp vegetable oil

 

 

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices.In a medium bowl, whisk together brown sugar, banana, molasses, buttermilk and vegetable oil.
3. Pour into dry ingredients and stir until just ombined. Pour into prepared pan and sprinkle with coarse sugar, if desired.
4. Bake for about 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

* I also brushed the roof with milk and then dusted with silve-white sprinkles to look like snow.

 

Tomorrow won't be spent on the couch - I'm going to go out on the town and finish up my christmas shopping (hopefully!)

 

Mint Double Chocolate Cookies

About a month, maybe two months, ago I chipped my wisdom tooth.

My bottom 2 were extracted when I was 14 and my top 2 grew in a few years ago.

I ignored it until little by little more of my tooth started to chip away.

A week or so ago a huge chunk of it fell off and I've been covering it with wax to keep the jagged edges from cutting up my cheek. It wasn't sore, so I made an appointment with my dentist for the 17th.

On Sunday night at work it started to ache a bit, but nothing that an extra strength tylenol couldn't fix.

It was sore again yesterday and got worse as the day wore on.

Last night at work I was so overcome with pain I thought I was going to throw up. The pain radiated all across my jaw and up into my ears.

Tylenol didn't work, so I ended up taking 1500 mg (bad, I know but there were no other painkillers on hand and no lidocaine or numbing agents anywhere!) of tylenol within about 3 hours.

The 2 tabs brought the pain down to an acceptable level but I was in agony.

 

This morning I hopped into bed to sleep off a terrible night, only to wake at 11 in agony again.

I popped a motrin (worked MUCH better) and called my dentist.

He saw me today and now I have an appointment to extract this troublesome wisdom tooth tomorrow at noon!

I'm going to push for 2 things to happen:

1. Get both of those wisdom teeth out in one go. I don't want to have to deal with the same thing again in a few months or years.

2. Put me under. Put me in a pleasant state of unconscious nothingness. Then when I wake up, pump me full of T3s or percs.

Please.

 

I'm a big baby and don't like painful things.

Although I was awake for my dental implant surgery and it wasn't so bad.

But in my twisted mind, drilling into the jawbone and putting something IN isn't as bad as yanking and cutting something out.

 

Anyway, I'll be a chipmunk this week.

All swollen and bruised and sore.

 

Which leads me to today's christmas song.

(even though everyone knows the best chipmunk song involves wanting a hulla hoop)

 

 

 

 

Yesterday I got busy in the kitchen in what I hope is the start to a week of cookies and cakes.

I came across this recipe in the Toronto Star and, being a lover of the combination of mint and chocolate, knew I had to make these.

If you like the mint girl guide cookies you will LOVE these.

The mint isn't overwhelming, it just adds such a nice kick to the cookie.

 

 

1 cup (250 mL) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup (185 mL) dark brown sugar
1/2 cup (125 mL) granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp (5 mL) mint and peppermint extract
1-2/3 (410 mL) cup all-purpose white flour
1/2 (125 mL) cup cocoa
1 tsp (5 mL) baking soda
1/2 tsp (2 mL) table salt
1 cup (250 mL) package Hershey's mini kisses chocolate chips (*what I used)

 

 

• In a large bowl using an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugars until fluffy, about two minutes. Beat in egg and extract.
• In another bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Using spatula, add to sugar mixture in several batches. Stir in chocolate chips.
• Bake in preheated 375F (190C) oven until puffed but firm, about 8 to 10 minutes.
• Cool 5 minutes on baking sheets. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Store in airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week or freeze up to 1 month.

Christmas: 15 days to go!

First things first, here's your christmas song for the day.

 

 

We made the journey to Ikea yesterday to (finally!) pick up our tree.

2 things:

 

1. We literally just missed THIS. Seeing this made me the most disappointed I've been in a long time. You may have seen this on the news. If only I'd parked in the upper parking lot.

 

2. I think this might be the best tree we've ever picked. It's so full and green and smells like the stuff that dreams are made of.

 

 

I compiled a few cookie recipes last night that I will be baking up this week.

Most of them are classics or takes on the classics but....

one of them sounds a bit ...different.

 

Tomorrow: Mint double chocolate cookies

 

A Different Spin On Gingerbread Houses

I love the countdown to Christmas. Almost more than I love Christmas.

I wake up on December 1st almost as excited as when I wake up on the morning of the 25th.

This year was extra exciting as I went to the Bieber concert on the 1st.

But I digress.

Last year I counted down the final days by sharing some of my favourite scenes from holiday movies.

This year I thought I'd start the Christmas Countdown with some of my favourite Christmas songs.

 

Enjoy some Buble while you read the rest of this post.

 

 

 I did some Christmas shopping today and, as is wont to happen, I bought a few little trinkets for myself.

One being a new cake pan!

 

 

I went a little crazy editing it with picmonkey's holiday themed overlays.

I plan to make a gingerbread CAKE house rather than the cookie houses I attempt only to have the walls or roof inevitably collapse in on themselves.

 

Here's a recipe for Gingerbread from Martha that I plan to use:

 

INGREDIENTS 

Nonstick cooking spray

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan

1 cup whole-wheat flour

3/4 cup turbinado sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup light molasses

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 cup boiling water

1/2 cup firmly packed minced fresh ginger

Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in the lower third of oven. Spray a 9-inch square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Line the bottom of the pan with waxed paper, then spray the paper. Dust the entire pan with flour and shake out the excess.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, turbinado sugar, cinnamon, and salt; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together molasses, eggs, oil, and buttermilk.
4. Dissolve baking soda in the cup of boiling water. Fold the baking soda and molasses mixtures into dry ingredients until combined. (Do not overmix.) Fold in the minced ginger.
5. Scrape batter into the prepared baking pan; bake until cake is set around edges and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool 10 minutes in the pan, then invert onto a cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature, dusted with confectioners' sugar.

2 Ideas for Cupcakes

I think I would be well suited to being everyone's bridesmaid. Partially because I'm just all-around awesome.

Mostly, however, it's because I really enjoy planning things and think I'm getting pretty good at it.

My best friend and her fiance are hosting their Stag & Doe this Saturday and I've jumped in with both feet.

I tried to grab a bunch of Dollarama items this past weekend (108 plates, 150 plastic shot glasses) but then had to take my party to Costco to pick up 360 assorted utensils and 240 red party cups.

Sorry, red solo cups.

Proceed to party.

Anyway, aside from buying more party cups than we will use, I've also started to put together a gift basket to be auctioned off to help the bride and groom -to-be raise wedding funds. So far I have a design your own coffee tumbler, an iced coffee tumbler, a mini cupcake pan, a spatula and whisk, and Martha Stewart's Cupcakes recipe book.

I obviously looked through the book and will likely scan some images before I wrap this gift up.

Two that particularly caught my eye were these ones:

Tres leches cupcakes and lemon-yogurt cupcakes with raspberry jam.

Neither recipe is available on her website so I may post the recipes to both when I make them... hopefully sometime this week.

I still don't have flour or butter.

But I did buy toilet paper!

And rainbow trout (ew) for John for dinner - he went fishing yesterday and caught two but let them go because he wasn't sure if he was legally allowed to be fishing where he was fishing. Shhhh.

In other news I finished ONCE AND FOR ALL today with school!

My BScN is complete - just need to worry about passing the RN exam and then finding myself a job.

Now I must learn how to cook fish.

Smelly, disgusting fish.

It's what's for dinner.

Running Playlist

For your exercising pleasure, may I present:

Jamie's 10 K Running Playlist

* Denotes a slower song.

• Foo Fighters - The Pretender
• Sam Roberts - Them Kids
• Britney Spears - Toxic
• *Sufjan Stevens - Casimir Pulaski Day
• Metric - Gold, Guns, Girls
• Rihanna - S & M
• Drake - Forever
• *John Mayer - 3x5
• Rage Against the Machine - How I Could Just Kill a Man
• Adele - Set Fire to the Rain
• Kanye West - All of the Lights
• Kelly Rowland - Commander
• Foo Fighters - Let it Die

This should last you through 10 k and hopefully through a nice cool down walk.

And this is also just a sampling of the many many songs I listen to!

Let me know if you have any good ones you like to run to - I need to make a biiiiiig one for the half marathon I'm doing at the end of May!

OMG, Shoes!

In case the title of this post doesn't make sense to you....click here.

So...I don't want to brag or anything...but I was finally able to wear big heels! My feet/ankles generally don't want to cooperate but I think the trick is to have a few glasses of wine right before hand.

Oh man these shoes... they made my legs look so long!

They cost $40 but they look like they cost a lot more.

I'm in love with them.

My baby toe may or may not have been throbbing and covered in dried blood this morning but I could have been from being stepped on by people. My best friend was trampled and had the top of her foot shanked by another woman's heels.

Fashion and dancing are dangerous.

I kind of want to try these Alexander McQueen shoes on....just once. Then I can prance around pretending to be Lady Gaga.

I had my first exam yesterday and my last exam tomorrow!

Every assignment is finished and handed in, now it's just one more day of studying!

This time tomorrow I will be a free woman!

Last weekend I bought the new Adele CD (21) and I'm officially obsessed with it. It's the only thing I've been listening to for the past week. It's so good.

If you're looking for some new music GO GET THIS CD.

Here are some choice songs from the CD for your snowy Sunday (if you're in Toronto).

Also - why is it snowing!? It's now mid April. This is nonsense.

I don't want to have to write Mother Nature another letter....

I'LL BE WAITING: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeN_zMDm5bk&feature=related

SOMEONE LIKE YOU: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qemWRToNYJY

And the one I sing at the top of my lungs with the volume cranked as loud as I can get it: SET FIRE TO THE RAIN http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlsBObg-1BQ

Raspberry Coulis

Last day of work - then tonight the big cottage dinner grocery shop and tomorrow the rest of the errand-running - including, but not limited to: finding my fantastic wolf sweater, looking for birthday running shoes, and picking up more than I need from Dollarama.

I have a new list of things to get from the much beloved dollar store as John's brother is leaving for La-La Land for the month of August!

I think it's wonderful that he's heading to the West Coast (love this song by Jason Schwartzman''s coconut records) to get his name out there in the music biz. What an adventure!

So I have to put together a little L.A. survival package for him, obviously. Things he will find within said package may include a disguise, a guide to the paparazzi hotspots, an US Weekly, madeleines (made fresh this morning with lime instead of lemon), an autograph book.....other items will depend on what the dollar store has to offer.

In other news, I needed to find a basic recipe for raspberry coulis so that John and I can make it for our grilled peaches with vanilla yogurt desert.

Martha never let's me down. Simple and elegant.

Raspberry Coulis

• In a small saucepan over medium heat, boil 12 ounces of raspberries and 3/4 cup of sugar for 10 minutes, or until mixture thickens. Strain through a fine sieve, add water, a tablespoon at a time, until mixture resembles a sauce. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Doesn't get any easier than that!

Don't know if you've seen this yet but THIS VIDEO is great.