Puddin'

I absolutely love pudding. Any kind, I'll eat it! I am always trying out different recipes to find the

Pudding Whisk-er Extraordinaire  

'perfect' one...well, I think I finally did! I always look for a pudding recipe that has eggs in it, because I find they are richer, smoother, and all around yummier. This recipe has eggs and you don't have to temper them or be afraid of  scrambling them, it is a simple recipe that can be made in minutes. You can doctor it up any way you want or just have straight up chocolate pudding. You won't be disappointed!
The pudding needs to be whisked constantly so its handy to have someone in your home who likes to stir, Annie Rose filled in for the trial run of the recipe, but I should mention that Zoe is also a fantastic whisk-er.

Basic Pudding
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups milk
4 egg yolks
2 tbsp butter, cubed
1 tsp vanilla extract
In a medium size pot, off heat, stir together the sugar, cornstarch and salt. Very gradually whisk in the milk. Whisk in the egg yolks.
Cook the mixture over medium heat until the first big bubble forms and the splatters (think lava). Turn the heat down and cook for 1 minute.
Off heat whisk in the butter and vanilla.
Pour into one big bowl or 6 little bowls. Cover with plastic wrap and chill till cool.

Notes:
- We have been known to eat this pudding when it's not cool, but still quite hot, it is delicious.
-For chocolate pudding, mix in 1/3 cup cocoa powder with the cornstarch and sugar.
-For butterscotch pudding, instead of the white sugar use 1/2 cup brown sugar. And splash in a bit of scotch or rum at the end. Or use 1 tsp rum extract.

Spring spotting

"Spring drew on...and a greenness grew over those brown beds, which, freshening daily, suggested the thought that Hope traversed them at night, and left each morning brighter traces of her steps."

-Charlotte Brontë

More quilting...

I have said many times about how much I love making baby quilts and the same could be said for knitting baby clothes. I chose to do both for the newest baby in my life and I am so happy about how they turned out.
The sweater is SO teeny, it's made for just the first 6 weeks of a baby's life and this baby is a preemie so it will probably fit for longer!
I can't wait to deliver this little gifts to Baby Gus!

You win, Anonymous

Hello! I wasn't sure when/if I would get the pull to start blogging again but a well-timed comment from one of you turned out to be just what I needed. So you can thank that Anonymous person! I've thought about the comment for the past couple days and then suddenly found myself picking up my camera and actually taking pictures (yes, since I stopped blogging I also stopped taking pictures!) and then I thought about sharing them here. And so I thought I'd better just do it. So, here we go!

The above photo is a perfect still of what our apartment currently looks like. Zoe is almost finished exams and we are both working on quilts. Some days there is fabric, thread, patterns and pins (if I'm sewing!) everywhere. It's quite the scene. A rare few have seen the apartment in its natural 'quilting' state and it can be quite frightening. Zach has said to us before "HOW can you live like this??" We manage but we desperately need a quilting room!

I hope you are all doing well and I have a feeling that you'll be seeing a little more action around here now!

M.I.A again...

Hey guys, I am not back on schedule with my frequent posting...I got hit with another cold this weekend. I am on the mend (again) and hope to be back to my regular posts very soon!

Flat Quinn

Today I got the biggest treat in the mail ever...FLAT QUINN! Most of you probably are thinking I've gone bananas but alas, not yet. Flat Quinn is a squished version of my cousin Quinn from Florida. It's an activity some classrooms do, it's based of a book called Flat Stanley, where a boy gets squished by a bulletin board and his family mails him to California for a vacation. You can check out this link for more information if you want! So, each student makes a flat version of themselves and they get mailed to other people to have an adventure. I am honoured to be Flat Quinn's host for a month...it is going to be a lot of fun!! Thank you Quinn!!

Not a recipe, more of a ramble

I have been busy lately, all good things and all things that I love, but full days just the same. I don't have a recipe for you today, but you are all reasonable people and so, I think you'll understand. I do have two pictures to share though!
The first is a classic winter photo. I took it a few weeks ago, on a warm-ish day when we went walking by the river. Spring still felt years away.

Now, with March just around the corner I am starting to get a tingle in my toes and a spring in my step. And like it has for the past 3 years when spring is near, my mind turns to Italy. It will be 4 years this April that I had my adventure over there and I found myself going over pictures this evening. I thought I'd share this one with you...

...a asparagus tip making it's way out the ground.
We are still months from asparagus but this photo reminded me that the warm weather is coming, the fresh vegetables are not as far away now as they were in December and that no matter where we are in life there are always things to look forward to.
Now I am going to curl up with some hot chocolate and a quilt and try to enjoy these last few moments of winter!

My current project

My mom asked me to knit a bunch of slippers for her new house/office, I accepted and got right to it! Zach likes to joke that I'm like a Grandma with Alzheimer's, but we'll see who he comes running to when his feet get cold one day!

Everytime I go to visit my Mom I bring her another pair to add to the bowl...

Hopefully by Spring the bowl will be full!

A Nana recipe

I tried a recipe from my Nana's recipe box yesterday and thought I would share it here today! I picked one of the more worn and spotty cards, thinking the most used recipe would probably be delicious! The recipe came together so quickly, it was probably in the oven in 10 minutes and as it baked smelled SO good.
In case you can't read the card here is the recipe as it is written.

Date Pudding (in its own sauce)
1 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tsp baking powder, sifted together. 1/2 cup sweet milk, 1 cup chopped dates. Pour into a deep baking pan and pour over this 1 cup brown sugar, 2 cups hot water, 1 tbls. butter, and a little vanilla. Bake in a moderate oven about 40 min.

I really appreciate a simple recipe with just the basics.
Here is a bit of filler information:
1. Sweet milk, upon investigation, means fresh/not sour milk. The internet says to use whole milk. I didn't have any, so I just used regular 2%.
2. A moderate oven to me is 350F.
3. For those of you who have never made a 'in it's own sauce' cake, where you pour boiling water over batter, warning...it looks really gross. But proceed and you will be rewarded with a delicious caramel sauce.

Anniversary!

Sorry for the lack of posts this week! I have caught a bit of a cold, here is a pathetic picture to prove it:

That was last Saturday and today I am still on the couch. It probably didn't help that I still worked all week! But I am slowly recovering!
This weekend Zoe and I are headed to her parents for some crafting, game-playing and some good old fashioned time in the country. We are celebrating our one year anniversary with our apartment this weekend! Yes, we celebrate things like that.

Just under a year ago

I haven't had people ask me in a while, but friends that know both Zoe and I have asked me over the year "so, are you two still friends?" We are both stubborn creatures but a 21 year long friendship is not worth messing with just because we can't agree if tropical fruits are treats or not or whether the car we saw by that church was a hearse or not (yes, these are the arguments we have). I can say that, without a doubt, one year later we are still friends and most definitely closer then ever. Here's to another year, Zoe!

Pancakes

Lately Zoe and I have been having pancakes Sunday morning, it is lovely tradition that is echoed in many homes of my past. Pancakes/waffles were something that was always eaten on Sunday's when I lived with my family in Florida and also at the Curle-Hodgsons. It makes Sunday more special. They also make great leftovers for the week's breakfasts. Usually we use a gluten-free pancake mix (Only Oats mix is the preferred) but today's were full on gluten, but with a Zoe-reccomended recipe. I wanted to make up my own mix to have in the cupboard for future Sundays (or any days!).
It is a delicious mix to have on hand, and super easy, you could have pancakes on the table in 10 minutes.
As you can see from the picture, my favorite topping for pancakes (and waffles) is yogurt and fruit. I would take that combination over maple syrup on pancakes any day.  I am quite passionate about yogurt on pancakes, I think it is delicious and I think everyone should try it once. So, next time there are pancakes on the table bring out a container of yogurt and prepare to be amazed.

Pancake Mix
From More with Less

6 cups flour
1 tablespoon salt
6 tablespoons baking powder
6 tablespoons sugar
2 cups powdered milk

Mix well.

Options:
-use half whole wheat flour
-replace 1 cup of flour with 1 cup cornmeal
-add 1 cup of wheat germ
-add anything! flax, hemp, oatmeal.

To make a batch of pancakes
Serves 3

1 egg, beaten
1 cup water
2 tablespoons melted butter or oil
1 1/2 cups pancake mix

Combine all ingredients, mix just until not streaks of flour remain. Cook, using your favorite pan!

I recommend with two thumbs up...

Last night Zoe and I went to the Whitehorse concert at the Cummings theatre, to put it simply the concert was FREAKIN' FANTASTIC. Whitehorse is a wife-husband duo, made up of Luke Doucet (Manitoban!) and Melissa McClelland, they have beautiful voices and to see them live is amazing.  As soon as I was out of the concert I wanted to head back in and do it all over again. Seriously. The concert was an awesome example of great Canadian musicians and I have say it made me feel quite patriotic. There were two openers, first Daniel Romano and then Del Barber (also Manitoban!). They were both amazing, and I bought both of their CDs, which is big for me. I thought I would share a song from each of the artists in case any of you are looking for some new music!
This is Daniel Romano and his song Time Forgot

And here is Del Barber and his song Home to Manitoba (favorite of mine)

And last, but not least, this is Whitehorse and their song Emerald Isle

Hope you enjoy!
Does you have any favorite Canadian musicians you want to recommend?

Crafty Wednesday

I have a good friend that I met up north who shares my love of all things sewing related. Last year we decided we would pick a sewing project that we would complete each month, and share in finding new techniques and trouble shooting projects together. This month (as in January, we always run a bit over the deadline) the project was hexagons, we could do any project that involved paper-piecing hexagons, paper-pieced hexagons is what I did for Zoe's quilt. We ended up both deciding to do table toppers for Valentine's day. Mine is not quite finished, but Crafty Wednesday's include works in progress!
I really enjoy hand sewing and this project is all about hand sewing!

I also wanted to share this neat video I found, its short and sweet and all about quilts dancing in the breeze. It made me long for summer, warm breezes and fresh smelling quilts!

Not quite a recipe

This weekend I helped my Momma move into a new house (very exciting) and therefore uncovered a lot of treasures that had been stored away for the last 4 years. Lots of pictures, a few items of loved clothing, quilts my Nana made for me and also a collection of recipes from my Nana. I knew that the recipes were some where in storage, but I often thought of them and was elated to uncover them on Friday. These are well used recipes and each card is weathered and worn. Some recipes are written on receipts and some on old envelopes. I plan on cooking my way through a few of the recipes in the next little while, I'll keep you posted on my adventures of cooking my Nana's life.
Until then, here is a photo that was dug up this weekend. I thought it was appropriate to show on Recipe Monday, because it's of me cooking in the kitchen with my Mom.

I thinks its very important for kids to be in the kitchen and would like to thank my Mom and Dad for allowing me to be, I know it made things messier and more chaotic but it payed off! Thank you!

Crafts and a new blog!

Hey Everyone! I missed a few posts this week...oops. It was a busy fun-filled week that left me pretty tired in the evenings and with little energy for posting. But I'm here now to play catch up!
This week I finished one of my most favorite knitting projects so far. A sock yarn slouchy hat! The yarn I used was a treat from Nathalie when she went on an East coast adventure last year. It is special yarn and therefore it was destined for a special project!

I have been wearing this hat everyday since I finished it, I love it.
Another crafty update...Zoe and I have quite the collection of quilts, and its growing. Some are on beds, some in closets and there are usually about 4 on the couch at once. Well, we solved the problem with a quilt ladder!

Zoe found the ladder at an antique store and after a bit of scrubbing it was ready for quilts.
Speaking of Zoe, she's started a crafty and bug-y blog! She has been up to lots of creating these days! Here's the link. Enjoy!

Banana Bread

As you can maybe tell from some of my recipes I love adding 'extras' to recipes. I love going through the cupboard when I'm cooking or baking and just tossing things into the mix. I find banana bread the perfect base to add 'extras' to, not only is it fun but it usually turns out really good. This morning I whipped up a batch of basic banana bread batter and tossed in chopped up dates, chocolate chips and coconut. And a little rum extract, too. I think bananas and rum have a relationship quite like macaroni and cheese or peanut butter and jelly, they just go together.
Banana bread is also a great way to use up that stash of over a dozen frozen bananas in the freezer...oh, or is that just our freezer? Zoe and I only like bananas at a certain stage, and once their past that point they are bound for the freezer.
So, I thought I'd post my base recipe for banana bread and maybe you'll be inspired to make your own banana bread a la you!

Banana Bread
Makes 1 loaf

3-4 ripe bananas, mashed
1/3 cup melted butter
3/4 cup to 1 cup brown sugar (depending on how sweet you want it)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups flour

Preheat the oven to 350F.
Grease a 4x8" loaf pan, or any baking vessel you want. I've done it in square pans, round pans, and even glass tupperware containers.
In a large bowl mix together the bananas and butter with a wooden spoon. Stir in the the sugar, egg, vanilla and spices.
Sprinkle the baking soda over the mixture and stir.
Add the flour last, and mix just until there are no white clumps.
Now add in your extras, the sky is the limit. Here is some 5 second brainstorming of possible ideas:

• swirl in some peanut butter
• coconut
• dried fruit
• pineapple
• chocolate chips
• peanut butter chips
• flax, ground or whole
• rum extract, heck even a few tablespoons of actual rum!

I could go on all day!

Stir in your extras, gently and spread the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 50 minutes. Check it, and bake for longer is needed. Banana bread sometimes takes forever to bake. Be patient, but don't burn it. 

Have a great Monday!

2 in 1

I feel like my 'Good Thing' each week keeps ending up getting posted on Saturday instead of Friday, but I'm just going with it, better late then never!
This week I have two things to recommend...
1. If you haven't checked it out already head over to my cousin Nathalie's blog, she is in Switzerland on a grand adventure. The photos are beautiful, the kids are cute and it makes her feel not so far away. I have really been enjoying following it! 
2. This one is kinda weird but I'm sharing it because it might become your new favorite breakfast too! For this to work you have to like both oatmeal and peanut butter (if you don't just skip this part). Next time you make oatmeal stir in a spoonful of peanut butter, as well as a drizzle of maple syrup and voila! you've got a strange but very delicious concoction! I've eaten it two days in a row...and I foresee it being made again in my near future! What do you like on your oatmeal? I've been known to put on tons of things all at once (think yogurt/granola/fruit/milk/syrup/raisins), the more the merrier right?
Hope you all have a great weekend!

Crafts and Cockroaches

The little girls that I take care of LOVE doing crafts. As soon as they see me their first question is "Revanna, do you have a craft for us to do today?" We do crafts every afternoon, but I am not complaining because I also LOVE doing crafts!
Today I brought them over to the apartment and Zoe and I had a crafty afternoon with them. We made these neat little tote bags with them.
They turned out so cute!

 That is a princess with very long hair and a butterfly with a very long tail. Kids make the best art!
They also got to visit the cockroaches. These two are not only not grossed out by these creatures but the  aren't scared of them either. They both held one with big smiles on their faces!

 I guess you've got to get them young!
If you have any crafty ideas for 4 year olds I am always looking for suggestions!

Something to make Monday a little more delicious

All weekend I had been planning making chocolate truffles, three times I pulled out the ingredients and three times I put them away a few hours later. Well, this morning it really happened. It was a good way to start the week, a little sweetness to help fight the chill (-44 with a windchill today!).

Now, these aren't 'real' truffles, actual truffles contain just chocolate and cream, but these are still fun and delicious. And they whip up very quickly!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffles

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
10 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped (or chocolate chips)
1/2 cup peanut butter
icing sugar and/or cocoa

Cream the cream cheese in a mixer on medium speed.
Melt the chocolate using the double boiler method (a bowl on top of a pot of boiling water) or in the microwave. Stir the peanut butter into the chocolate.
Now mix together the chocolate and cream cheese. I did this by turning the mixer on low and drizzling the chocolate mixture in. But you could also just stir it in. Mix until there are no streaks of white cream cheese.
Spread into a 8x8 pan and place in the fridge to chill for a couple of hours (it only took about an hour for me).
Scoop teaspoon sized pieces of truffle out of the pan and quickly roll them into balls between your palms, work quickly because the chocolate will start to melt. Place the truffles back into the fridge while  you get the coatings.
Put some icing sugar and/or cocoa into separate bowls. Take a truffle and give it a tumble in the coating of your choice, remove it to a clean plate and continue till they are all coated.
Keep the truffles in the fridge/freezer.

They are pretty rich, or so I told Zoe, but then I proceeded to eat three in a row...peanut butter and chocolate is one of my favorites.

On a completely other note, it was light when I left work today!! It looks a little dark in the picture, but I assure you it was quite light. It was definitely a highlight on this very cold day.

Hope you stayed warm where ever you were today!

Brrr

It is cold here. The wind is blowing to -35C and it is sunny without a cloud in sight.
The morning started out snowy and grey and the day begged to be spent inside wearing elastic waisted pants and keeping warm with hot drinks. Then suddenly the sun appeared and despite the cold the day switched, and I felt the urge to go outside and play in the sun!
So I did.

The stinging cheeks were so worth it.

I hope whether your weekend is about cuddling up inside or playing outside, you are having fun while doing it!