HOW TO BAKE THE BEST COOKIE

I am infamous for my cookies.

Okay. Maybe not. But I'd like to be.

Baking has always been something I enjoy. My parents have a photo of the first time I made cookies all by myself - no help from mom. During my teenage years I prided myself on the fact that my cookies were better than my mom's (HI MOM) - and she agrees. :)

Here is how to make better cookies than your mom.

1. Chill the dough. The more patient you are (when I'm trying to make a really impressive batch I keep the dough in the refrigerator for 36 hours) the better they will be. I discovered this by accident in high school when I started a batch late at night and realized if I kept going I'd be taking cookies out of the oven at 2 am. I swear by it.

2. Use bread flour and cake flour. All purpose flour is the enemy of "best ever" cookies. I stumbled upon this tip in this blog post from For Me For You. (And by the way, her recipe is literally the bomb.)

3. Stoneware is the only way to go. We have one piece of Pampered Chef stoneware we received as a wedding present and it so great. I really need to ask for more. The thing is...you don't use any nonstick spray. You cook something greasy on it the first time and presto! Nonstick for life, yo.

3. Don't overcook. I have discovered there is no tried and true temperature or time in the oven that works every time. Ovens are like relationships. Or fingerprints. Each one is different. My oven gets hotter the longer it's on so after the first batch I have to decrease the temperature. And always err on the undercooked side of life.

4. Leave them on the pan for a few minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack. If your cookies are slightly undercooked (remember - that's the goal), they need to sit on the pan a few minutes longer. After that, put them on a cooling rack so the air circulates around them and they cool evenly.

Take your cookies seriously, folks. This is a science.

HOW TO: PHOTO BOOKS

Have you ever attempted to make a photo book? Let me tell you it is one frustrating process. I have tried at least three times and always end on the verge of tears with nothing to show for it. These websites are not easy to use! But doesn't it sound like such a nice idea to make these photo books from your vacation or family photos? I have this vision of one book per vacation starting with Switzerland...sigh... Scrapbooks of the future.

Tonight I had my FIRST successful photo book experience and thought I would share the tips I have learned through my failed attemps. I used Shutterfly and they have a sale on until Jan 27th if you also have two year old photos to print.

Here are my tips:

1. Save immediately and save often. Is it silly to save your file every thirty seconds you ask? No. No it is not. In fact it is prudent. PRUDENT, I say.

2. Choose your photos in advance. This will save you precious time online pulling your hair out. This is a get in, get out mission.

3. Upload photos one or two at a time. Anything more and these websites seem to implode. It's like Y2K predictions on these sites, people.

4. Upload ALL your photos before you begin formatting the pages and adding your pics to the template. I cannot say this enough. One time my photos were "uploading" for hours and hours and then days and days. They are likely still "uploading" in cyberspace this very day.

5. Shutterfly often has sales so there is no need to buy a photo book at full price. Absolutely no need.

6. If all else fails there is an option for the folks at Shutterfly to place your photos in the book themselves. My friend J has done this and she was satisfied with the result. You lose the freedom to micromanage this terrible project, but on the upside you don't need to consume a tub of ice cream at the end of the day.

I hope these tips help someone out there. Learn from my mistakes. Godspeed.

LEROY IN A BOOK

Shout out to my best friend T who sparked the most hilarious idea.

Her little guy is our godson (cue the aaaaw's) and a few months ago I bought him this book at Wal Mart of all places. It is a really adorable book that is very interactive and slightly hilarious with fuzzy puppies, crinkly paper, and scratch and sniffs. So cute.

When I told T about this book she asked if there were pictures of border collies like Leroy. She said when she reads dog books to her little guy she points out "There's Leroy!" and "There's Maddie!" for all the border collies and golden doodles. Well having Leroy spotted in a book just seemed like the best idea.

So clearly I had to alter this book in some way. I took a photo of Leroy, cut around it and taped him onto a grey dog whose proportions suited Leroy's head. I like to think when we pulled this out at our godson's baptism it was a hit all around. Haha! Can't wait to read it with him and point out our favourite furry man.

CHRISTMAS SUGAR COOKIES

After I discovered Teeny Tiny Bakery on instagram I became a little obsessed with the idea of using royal icing. It's something that seems really difficult to try and I've always been intimidated by it. After watching a bunch of her instagram videos I decided I can do it. I really can. Mind over matter.

Hubby ventured out on a Saturday in December (yikes) to find meringue powder and finally found it at the Bulk Barn (they also have almond flour if you want to bake macarons someday). So I followed this recipe to the letter and was surprised there is no butter in royal icing! If you're not a big baker and aren't familiar with it, royal icing is a special icing that hardens on the cookie so you can stack cookies on top of each other. It requires either egg whites or meringue powder (much easier), water, and icing sugar. It has to be the correct consistency to spread on your cookie without being a gigantic mess. I found the proportions in this recipe were just right.

My mom has a shortbread cookie recipe I always use and I wanted to try something different so I made these sugar cookies. They required a whopping load of butter. I tried not to think about it. And as expected they were really delicious. Way more delicious than shortbread cookies. Although for this purpose I didn't like that they puffed up in the oven and lost a little bit of their shape.

A friend and I spent the afternoon decorating! These were my best ones and they turned out much better than I expected! It was both more and less difficult than I pictured. Straight lines were more difficult than I thought but getting the right consistency was easier than expected. I'm excited to try these again someday soon (Valentine's Day anyone?) with hopefully even better results. And if you like baking (or even art!) check out Teeny Tiny Bakery on instagram. It is literally amazing. But have hope you can do it too!! I mean, have realistic expectations...(ha!)...but you might be better than you think!

FOR HIM: POST ONE

 Christmas presents for him by amy-claire-russell on Polyvore

The way I see it the year is divided in two: the 6 months we're moving away from Christmas and the 6 months we're moving toward Christmas!! Guess which I prefer. ;)

Last year I posted my favourite children's books for gift inspiration - posts here and here and here. I thought I'd focus on gifts for "him" this year since I've had lots of practice buying gifts for boys. (I have a brother and two brothers in law.)

First off - here are some gifts for guys who like the outdoors! In our house "nice" underwear is a hit - I usually buy Lululemon but I've heard great things about the Saxx brand. Hubby keeps talking about this Yeti brand fancy beer coozie and Oakley ski goggles. A Bose mini soundlink? Pure gold. And all camping related - pots and pans, sporks, and The US Army Survival Guide (a fun book for outdoorsy guys to browse even if they're not readers).

Trust me, people. You can't go wrong with any of this stuff (and they're all in different price ranges)! If you're trying to think of last minute gifts for hard to shop for guys I hope this helps!

COSTUMES: FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF

You know it. You love it. I get it. It's a classic.

When I made this collage all I could imagine was the scene with Ferris dancing in the parade to Twist and Shout. Maybe it's just us but we quote this movie fairly regularly. Mostly, "Bueller.....Bueller....."

This might take some extra effort (unless you happen to already own a fringe suede/leather jacket, or a men's leather sweater vest). Otherwise they're fairly easy costumes. His: white tshirt, gray dress pants (preferrably with front crease), white shoes, Ray Ban Wayfarers. Hers: blue sweater, beige or grey skirt (she actually wore floppy dress shorts in the movie but um...yeah), and tall boots.

Well, friends, this was my last Halloween idea - other than our own costumes of course. And you don't get to see that until Halloween! Stay tuned.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

COSTUMES: SCOOBY DOO

Hopefully you didn't notice the premature posting from a couple of nights ago. When I make these polyvore collages sometimes things go a little wonky and they're posted immediately. So if you already saw this post, here it is again - with text!

Scooby Doo was definitely a favourite childhood show. My brother and I watched a lot of it. We had a Christmas special on VHS that holds a special place in my heart. :) Dressing up as Fred and Daphne would be so cute. And if you have a doggie like us they would obviously be Scooby or Scrappy Doo. I love when the doggies are involved.

I included some real boots for Daphne because don't you remember wearing your snowsuit under your Halloween costume?! That was the worst. The end of October is always freezing (like today!) and Mom always ruined my costume by making me wear fifteen layers of clothes to stay warm. The year I was around eleven or twelve I was the chubbiest vampire ever.

The more I look at this collage the more I like it. It is definitely on my list for next year. Stay tuned later this week for another costume idea!

Scooby Doo

COSTUMES: THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL

Usually I keep my Halloween costume ideas to myself and don't post until trick or treaters are arriving at the door. This year I thought I'd be a little more forthcoming with my ideas and hopefully provide you with some inspiration!

I would love to use this idea for costumes - The Grand Budapest Hotel. We won't be doing it this year because we would have to buy too many things but if you have a beige dress and peach sweater on hand you should totally do it. This was one of our favourite Oscar nominated movies last year and I keep meaning to watch Moonrise Kingdom which had the same director.

To be Agatha you have to do a fancy braid on top of your head including a piece of wheat or grain, and the brown lipstick is to draw a "birthmark" the shape of Mexico on your cheek! Zero's costume is fairly simple. You'll probably have to buy a purple blazer but the pill box hat would be easy enough to make. And the liquid eyeliner is to draw in a thin moustache. I thought Zero was the most adorable character.

There you go!

The Grand Budapest Hotel

HEATING A HOUSE

Happy 2015!

We had a lovely Christmas and New Years and now it's back to real life while I start 2015 with 19 straight days of work. Yippee! ;) I like to think of it as character building. Moving on.

I'm also starting off the new year with a riveting blog post (totally kidding). Segue. Are you cold? Because I am. (Especially today - pretty much all of Canada is at least 30 below right now with that blasted wind chill.) In our little old house - built in the 1950s or 1960s - we are constantly trying to come up with ways to make it warmer. Our house is heated by a forced air electric furnace and because hubby and I both grew up in homes with wood stoves, it just doesn't cut it for us. We fully insulated the attic a couple of years ago which has cut down on heating costs but doesn't change the fact that electric heat isn't cozy. During the day we're ok but to save money hubby turns the heat down at night and I freeze a little in bed. Correction. I freeze a lot. When I'm there (remember - 19 straight days).

We were thinking of buying a space heater until he found the Eco Heater on the Home Depot website last week. It's only $99 and after reading the reviews we figured why not try it? I like to think of it as a big, magical heat square. (Really. I'm not kidding. Totally accurate name.) I truly find this the strangest little contraption. It's a convection heater so there is a little (and I mean little - like size of a deck of cards) 400 watt heater on the back of this ceramic (?) tile. You mount the whole thing to the wall and it plugs into an outlet. This little heater warms the air trapped behind the magical heat square, the warm air gradually rises, pulling cold air in behind, which then is heated, etc.

Now - if you are looking for a way to warm your bedroom at night I have to tell you. We are impressed that this strange $99 contraption works because I seriously had my doubts. I might have even laughed. The accurately named "magical heat square" might have come to be because I was...making fun. The wall, the floor nearby, and even the bed is warmer than before. Full disclosure - I find if the bedroom door is open it isn't very effective. Even with the door closed it certainly doesn't make the room hot by any stretch of the imagination, but you can feel a noticeable difference between the hallway and entering the bedroom. From the online reviews, people who had no additional heat source in a room didn't like this product, but for those who are just looking for a little additional warmth, it's pretty good. No doubt about it - I am warmer in bed now with the door closed. The instructions say you can paint the square the colour of your wall, but we find it actually gets quite hot to the touch so I wouldn't try to paint it. And I would never leave it on when I'm not home.

That was the only addition to our house over the holidays so I thought I would share! We are slowly trying to update our spare bedroom so hopefully soon I will have some photos. Happy New Year!

CHRISTMAS SHOPPING TIPS

I mentioned earlier we were determined to finish our Christmas shopping before December first this year. We felt so accomplished to achieve that goal and I am still so excited that the shopping is behind us. I thought I would put together a list of some of my shopping tips that help make the holidays more enjoyable. (Consumerism is not the reason for the season but I do enjoy choosing gifts from my friends and family that I think they'll like. So sue me.)

1. Start early.
This might mean asking your family members for their Christmas lists in October (like we did) but if you're going to be finished early...you have to start early. When you do it this way you can look for sales all year long on items you plan on purchasing, rather than pay full price in December.

2. Then stop.
When you start your shopping a few months in advance it's easy to spend too much if you're not careful. If you've finished shopping for someone cross them off your list and stop looking! Otherwise you're going to end up spending twice as much as usual...or wish you had bought them something else.

3. Take notes.
It's August and you're visiting your parents. Your mom mentions that she has never had a salad spinner and would really like one someday. Write it down! Hubby is the best at this. He keeps a list of things I mention all year and then decides if they're worth buying. These are some of the best presents because it's something you want but then you forget. And you feel like someone out there actually listens to you.

4. Online shopping is your friend.
Seriously. I don't buy everything on line but it gives you way more variety than the mall. Embrace it. I'm talking to you, Mom. Places like Etsy have super cool stuff that no one else will have. I like that for certain items.

5. Buy what people want.
Some of my most frustrating shopping experiences have been years when no one wanted anything. I think it's pointless to blindly purchase things that people may not like or use. If you have a list I buy something from it. The exception - my husband. I know him well enough to buy things he didn't ask for. Otherwise I have to reeeeally know my brother will love what I chose for him before I stray from "the list".

7. Keep a few small gifts on hand year round.
If amazing lip gloss goes on sale at Sephora I buy a few. Then I have a simple and small gift that I know my friends will love and I don't have to specifically find them something when I'm out shopping.

6. Wrap all at once.
It takes too much time to get out the wrapping paper, tags, cards, etc to do it at more than one sitting. Devote an evening to wrapping and just get it done, people.

7. Be a joyful giver.
Hopefully you're buying presents because you love the people you are buying them for and want to make them happy. So have fun finding them the perfect gift!

HALLOWEEN 2014 - INSPECTOR GADGET

Happy Halloween!

We were pretty excited to announce our Halloween costumes on facebook last night. This year we were: Inspector Gadget, Penny, and Brain. I had the theme song stuck in my head all day today!

This took some serious DIY effort to make Gadget's hat and took a ton of fiddling tonight to get it to stay on hubby's head tonight. In the end we had to take one of the "go go Gadget arms" off the hat so everything would stand upright. Penny's costume is incredibly easy - a red shirt (with a white stripe if you are domestically inclined unlike myself), green pants, sneakers, pigtails, her watch to correspond with Brain (Leroy) and a grey messenger bag. And Brain - well, Leroy told me he likes years when he doesn't have to wear a costume to be part of the trio. He also helped the team remotely...from his kennel. Let's just say trick or treaters definitely weren't going to sneak up on us with Leroy/Brain around.

We had 56 trick or treaters tonight (down from >70 a couple of years ago) and a few definitely knew who we were. And some definitely didn't. My favourite costumes besides our own? A dead Hawaiian girl and a homemade Stitch costume. Poor homemade Stitch. He told us I was the only one to recognize his costume. It's hard not being appreciated in your own time. I'd give anything not to be appreciated in my own time. ;)

So here it is - Inspector Gadget, Penny, and Brain 2014!

BANANA BREAD THREE WAYS

It's no secret I love to bake.

Special breads are one of my favourite things to bake and recently I have been making a cream cheese banana bread I found on pinterest. Then I started to think about comparing new banana bread recipes to find a favourite. So I tried out my current fave - Cream Cheese Banana Bread - and compared it with a Coconut Banana Bread and Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread. My mom has a classic recipe she has always made but it's kind of nice to add a twist.

Now, I have to warn you. Hubby was very evasive and wouldn't tell me which one he liked best. He was all, "Why do I have to pick a favourite?" "Why do you always make me pick a favourite?"

So I'm just going on one opinion here (my own). Maybe if you try them you can let me know what you think. :)

1. Coconut Banana Bread. The clear loser. It is a healthy version so it really wasn't sweet at all. I really like coconut but we both agreed it didn't add anything. However, if you're into the healthy version of things, it's definitely the one for you. Personally, I won't be making it again. It just doesn't feel like the treat that banana bread is. I know that isn't exactly a ringing endorsement, but if you're looking for something healthy to bake, here's the recipe - LINK HERE.

2. Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread. We haven't eaten the whole loaf yet (because as you can see we were in banana bread overload so this one went to the freezer) but it was delicious. I would consider this one more of a dessert with its sugary cinnamon topping. In all honesty, I would cut the amount of cinnamon "swirl" in half because it was a bit excessive and didn't all bake into the bread. If I was trying to have a relatively simple dessert at a dinner party, this would be on my list. If you like sweet, this is your option - LINK HERE.

3. Cream Cheese Banana Bread. This is the one I've been making for the last year or so. It takes a stick of cream cheese and it is really so delicious. It is moist and thick and just perfect, really. This is definitely my favourite (although jury's still out on hubby's choice). You can add pecans (which I've done before) or leave them out (which I mostly do). And when you lick the batter off the bowl at the end - someone else must do that too - it is AH-mazing. Since I recommend this one so highly I know you'll go make it this weekend so...you're welcome - LINK HERE.

I hope you enjoyed this! It really is fun to compare recipes and see if you can find one you like best. (One of my best friends spent a summer trying to find "the perfect chocolate cake" and "the perfect chocolate chip cookie" with her mom!) Happy baking.

CURB APPEAL - POST THREE

Now that God has shipped us back to our first home, we have some work to do!

Our house has cedar shingles which I am conflicted about.  On the one hand I'm not a fan of the look of vinyl siding.  On the other hand vinyl siding has zero maintenance which is kind of awesome.  Hubby and I had been complaining to each other because a previous owner had painted the shingles rather than leaving them stained.  We were worried that was going to make upkeep a far bigger job than necessary.

And back to having work to do.

Those shingles needed to be painted, people.  Or the house needed new siding.  Cost wise painting is the better option and once we decided to do it - go big or go home, right?  We chose a different colour.  A waaaay different colour.

You may remember old red/brown before?

We never felt strongly one way or the other about this colour.  Mainly we felt strongly we didn't want to paint.  You know how it is.  But when you're going to be painting it anyway and the world is your oyster?  Let's make a dramatic change to the neighbourhood!!

My advice when you're changing the exterior of your home?  Drive around your neighbourhood!  We took a drive and paid attention to the colours we did and didn't like, as well as the colours directly around our house.  There are a lot of gray homes within direct sight line of ours so although we liked gray, we had to eliminate it.  As we did the neighbourhood tour we realized we liked muted colours best - muted blues, greens, yellows, creams, etc.  Then we went to Home Depot and below was our jumping off point.  We painstakingly selected a bunch of colours and then went to the kitchen section where we could put them on a counter (that wasn't surrounded by thousands of other distracting paint colours) and analyze them in peace.

Hubby wasn't feeling any kind of blue, which as you can see above, eliminated more than half of the colours we had chosen.  Neither of us was feeling the cream.  That left us with a few gray/green options.  And then choosing darker vs lighter was a challenge.  

We are planning on replacing our front door next year (one thing at a time) so I thought we should head to the door section and compare with wood tones.  I was happy with either of the greens against "Caramel" or "Medium Oak" pretend wood.  (Don't you just hate pretend wood, though.  I know the fiberglass doors must be more efficient but really.  Pretend.  Wood.)  And maybe I am the only person who has ever taken paint samples to compare against doors because we were asked my multiple employees if they could help us.  They seemed confused when I said, "Nope!  Just checking out this paint colour against the door colours!"  I dunno.  It seemed logical to me.

Stay tuned for the finished product.  Spoiler alert - we chose urban nature.  One side of the house is done but I want to wait until we finish the front before I share!

SPARE ROOM: POST ONE

This year hubby and I decided to organize some of our bigger messes.  I love organizing, categorizing, filing, etc but just haven't taken the time to do it since we moved into our home in December 2010.  (One time at the doctor's office when I was about 7 or 8 I spent our time in the waiting room organizing and cleaning the children's play area.  I kid you not.  That says a lot about a person.)

At the end of Christmas vacation I organized our toiletry bins and medicine cabinet in the bathroom.  Disastrous, it was. (Yoda voice.)  I threw out bottles of moisturizer and shower gel that had separated into its water component and cream component.  Didn't know that could happen, did you?

In November we bought filing cabinets for the spare room and I made hubby throw away his grocery receipts from 2009 as we filed all our important documents away.  (And why do appliances come with sooo many manuals?  Will I ever actually look at them?  Should I really save them? FYI - I did.)

My most recent project was hubby's closet.  Our bedroom has a tiny closet that (barely) holds my clothing.  Hubby has been banished to the spare room where he has his own closet and dresser.  Now, before you feel too sorry for him, in our old apartment my clothing was in the spare room and his was in the master.  Hubby has a fear when I say I want to organize his closet that I am going to donate all of his most prized Vince Carter jerseys and holey underwear to the less fortunate.  This may or may not be because a few years ago he came home to find garbage bags full of his old clothes sitting by the door to our apartment...

You might remember our spare room is our "dirty little secret".  Here are the before photos of hubby's closet.  I kid you not; those piles existed.  (And, side note, I can't blame hubby for those hideous door handles.  They were there when we moved in.)

                                                                             
You may have noticed the closet is built up off the floor.  Yes, it is very weird.  No, I don't know why it is like that.  There is nothing below it and from the mudroom closet you can see that there is just an empty space underneath.

After a coat of paint on the closet doors, new cabinet pulls from Kent (and the old holes filled in with wood filler), a floor shoe rack, and two shelves (also from Kent), the closet is much more functional.  Even without the piles.  How he ever found anything in there is beyond me.  Surprisingly, even hubby admits it is an improvement.

            




                                              
A sigh of relief was heard throughout the house.  And don't worry - no Vince Carter jerseys or cowboy hats were harmed in the making of this project.  (Truth be told, the jersey and hat were once worn together.  But not since I've been around.  I don't stand for that kind of nonsense.)

It also might be worth mentioning that I just got twitter!  I posted a link on the right below my profile if you want to check it out.  Happy Monday!

CHRISTMAS WRAPPING

This year I decided to do something a little different.  The last two Christmases I bought wrapping paper at Costco and boy, was it inexpensive.  Not only that, it was pretty good quality, too.  Nice and thick so it didn't tear easily while you were wrapping.  I wanted to do something a bit more pretty and creative this time around so I bought a few items on Etsy including:

1. Aspen Frost patterned paint roller and applicator from NotWallpaper
2. Medium white scalloped gift tags from Catch Some Raes
3. Large red scalloped gift tags from Catch Some Raes
4. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas stamp from Creatiate
5. White poinsettia on red Christmas washi tape from LaZoie
6. Light gold glitter washi tape from LaZoie
7. Black ribbon on sale from Michaels
8. Stamp pad and paint from Michaels
9. Craft paper from Wal Mart or the like
Also loving this washi tape and this washi tape

You could call it "variations of a theme", really.  I used those basic staples for all of the presents and no two are exactly alike.  Some are completely printed with the Aspen Frost roller, some just have a strip.  Some have black ribbon, some red, some none.  Multicolour washi tape and one of two tags, you get the idea.  I think they're pretty exciting because they're unique, fun, and a little bit creative.  Hubby was a bit horrified that I bought a paint roller for $50 with shipping and handling.  He can't quite seem to get past that to enjoy the spirit of Christmas wrapping... Frivolous, he says.  Men. ;)

And in case you're wondering, our tree skirt is actually two fur "rugs" from Wal Mart.  You can find them in the section with bathroom things and rugs.  They come in all different colours (lots of neon, actually) and I have two wrapped around the bottom of my tree.

Merry Christmas!