Africa Bound!

Sorry for the inactivity on the blog.

It's been a busy month of working (a lot) and getting stuff ready for the big trip!

Our bags are packed, we're ready to go...

 

Our flight leaves at 6:30 tonight so we're just counting down the hours now until we head to the airport.

 

We have a full 2 days in Moshi, Tanzania before we start the trek up Kilimanjaro.

I'll hopefully be able to utilize the hotel's computer to send a quick message to people letting them know we're okay and have arrived safe and sound.

 

On Tuesday we start our climb.

On Saturday morning I hope to see this:

 

Then once we descend (and I finish my 3 hour shower/bath) we'll have a bit of time before we start looking for the big five.

 

Hopefully I can post a picture or two before we return on the 18th but if not - keep your eyes peeled for a lot of pictures after the 18th!

 

 

Happy Birthday (on Sunday) to my mom!

Please wait to open your gift til then :)

 

Happy Valentines day to everyone!

 

Back on the 18th!

 

 For my dad ;)

                          

 

 

1 Day Til Christmas: Gingerbread Cake Pops

Merry Christmas Eve!

My favourite night of the year, hands down.

Spending the night with my family, engaging in traditions we've followed for years, and the anticipation of the morning to come.

Last night at work was a bit busy (a patient fell out of bed and broke his leg. I heard it snap) and I was tired but I didn't want to sleep in too late this morning.

I had Christmas things to do!

I fell asleep watching Home Alone, then woke up, showered, and got started on some Gingerbread Cake Pops.

Step one is to make the Gingerbread cake.

(recipe from Martha Stewart)

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 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour, 1 cup whole wheat flour, 3/4 cup turbinado sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp salt; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup molasses, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup canola oil, and 1/2 cup buttermilk.
4. Dissolve 2 tsp baking soda in 1 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.

The next step is to make Cream Cheese Icing

1. Mix together 1 pkg cream cheese and 3/4 cup icing sugar. 

2. Crumble the gingerbread cake into pieces and mix into the icing, then roll the mixture into bite sized balls.

3. Melt molding chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and dip each ball into the chocolate. Allow the chocolate shell to harden, a few minutes. Decorate as desired if you want to before the chocolate hardens.

That's it!

Easy & delicious!

I hope everyone sleeps well tonight and wakes up to a beautiful Christmas morning!

Merry Christmas!

2 Days Til Christmas: Gift Ideas for Any Occasion

 

My good (and multi-talented) friend Danielle over at the Sweet & Splendid Bakeshop has a new hobby: soap making.

 

She seems to have found a perfect way to expand her desert empire.

 

When I saw these soaps for the first time my initial reaction was to want to lick them.

Not only do they look exactly like the real thing, but they smell pretty darn delectable as well.

 

Wanting to share these incredible soaps, I purchased a nice variety of them.

 

 

Currently, they are packaged up in Martha Stewart Cupcake gift boxes that I bought from Winners, ready to be given to their intended giftees (who shall all remain nameless for the time being).

 

Check out her Bakeshop here

And check out her incredible soap shop on Etsy here

 

*The Strawberry Shortcake soap and the Sweethearts Valentine soaps are brand spanking new and I want like 25 of them.

 

3 Days Til Christmas: Sugar Cookies Galore!

 

THREE DAYS!

It's a bit ridiculous how quickly Christmas has snuck up on us this year. For me anyway it feels like just yesterday I was walking down the aisle in the hot humid August air.

 

But here we are!

It's been raining for most of the week in Toronto but there was some hail coming down this evening on my drive into work.

Perhaps we'll have at least a white pre-Christmas.

 

The holidays are going to be a busy time - especially since I'm working every night this wekeend, off for the 24th, then back for nights on the 25th and 26th, then driving (correction: John is driving while I pass out in the passenger seat) to the Ottawa area on the morning of the 27th to visit with my family for a few days.

I was scheduled to work the night of the 28th which was going to make for a lot of driving in 2 days but one of my wonderful co-workers agreed to work for me so I have a whole bunch of days off which excites me to no end.

I'm off from the 26th until Jan 2nd!

Glorious.

 

I'm giving away a lot here - apologies to those involved.

Every year we do a secret Santa-esque gift exchange among my cousins.

For part of my gift I'm going to get busy in the kitchen as this person is a big fan of a particular type of cookie.

I'm going to give him/her a selection of sugar cookies!

 

Here are the recipes I plan to use:

(all pictures and recipes are from Marthastewart.com)

 

 

 

1. Basic Sugar Cookies

2. Simple Sugar Cookies

3. Giant Sugar Cookies

4. Basic Vanilla Sugar Cookies (followed up with instructions here)

5. Citrus Sugar Cookies

 

 

I also still have some of the poppyseed sugar cookies I made previously so if those are still good I'll put some of those into the mix!

 



 

4 Days Til Christmas: (Super Easy) Marshmallow Fudge

We're in the home stretch now!

Christmas is literally only sleeps away now. 

I work tonight, tomorrow and Sunday then wake up ready to celebrate on Monday!

To add to my cookie assortment I made some super easy (and almost foolproof) fudge.

I made 2 batche: one wit regular chocolate and one itch orange chocolate. 

I used Martha's recipe for Peppermint fudge, just omitted the peppermint.

You'll need:

Nonstick spray, for baking pan

2 1/4 cups (16 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup round peppermint candies, plus 18 for garnish

3/4 cup heavy cream

3 1/2 cups mini marshmallows

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 teaspoon coarse salt

1. Lightly coat a 9-inch square baking pan with nonstick spray. Line pan with two pieces parchment paper in both directions, leaving 2 inches of overhang on all sides; spray parchment. Place chocolate in a bowl. In a food processor, pulse candies until finely chopped. In a medium saucepan, combine candies, cream, marshmallows, butter, sugar, and salt over medium-high. Whisk until smooth, 5 minutes.
2. Pour mixture through a strainer into bowl with chocolate; let stand 1 minute, then stir until smooth.

3. Pour into baking pan and refrigerate until set, 3 hours. Cut fudge into 1 1/2-inch squares. With a sharp knife, cut 18 candies in half; press a candy half into each square before serving or packing.

5 Days Til Christmas: Cheesy Cornread

 

It's practically here.

5 days?

They're going to fly by.

I'm starting to feel like an excited kid.

 

 

I love cornbread.

I love snacking on it and I love using it to dip into soups or to sandwich pulled pork in between.

This recipe is my favourite so far.

(From Allrecipes)

 

1 cupcornmeal

3 cupsall-purpose flour

1 1/3 cupswhite sugar

2 tablespoonsbaking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2/3 cupvegetable oil

1/3 cupmelted butter

2 tablespoonshoney

4eggs, beaten

2 1/2 cupswhole milk

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. Stir together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl. Pour in the vegetable oil, melted butter, honey, beaten eggs, and milk, and stir just to moisten.
3. Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, until the top of the cornbread starts to brown and show cracks.
4. *I added this step - about 5-10 minutes before it's done, sprinkle shredded cheese over the top for a delicious cheesy crust.

 Hope everyone's gotten their Christmas shopping done!

 

6 Days Til Christmas: Ricotta Cookies

Less than a week to go!

It really feels like time has sped up this month.

 

 

Today's recipe is another one for a cookie that I found in the Toronto Star.

Having eaten one (or two) earlier, I can attest that these are very good (soft in the middle with a slightly crunchy outer shell depending on how long you bake them for) and their different shape makes them a nice addition to any gift of assorted cookies.

 

 

1-2/3 cup (410 mL) ricotta cheese

2 large eggs

1 cup (250 mL) granulated sugar

1 cup (250 mL) unsalted butter, melted, cooled

1 tbsp (15 mL) pure vanilla extract

4 cups (1L) all-purpose flour

4 tsp (20 mL) baking powder

1. In large bowl using wooden spoon, mix ricotta, eggs, granulated sugar and vanilla until well-blended. Stir in butter. Gradually mix in flour and baking powder to form dough. Separate dough into 4 balls.
2. On lightly floured surface, roll each ball into 10-inch (25-cm) circle. Cut each circle into 8 triangular wedges. From the thicker, outer edge to the thinner, inner edge, roll each triangle into a mini croissant.

 

3. Place 1 inch (2.5-cm) apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake in preheated 350F (180C) oven until cookies are firm and just hinting at golden, about 15 to 20 minutes. Cool 5 minutes on sheets. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Using fine-mesh sieve, dust with icing sugar.
Store in airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week or freeze up to 1 month.