Happy Easter!

"What are these fun things?"

"Look mom, a blue egg!"

"Tastes pretty good"

"Just kidding...I'm so funny...hahaha"

"Don't I just crack you up? Crack...hahaha"

"What do you think, should I dump all these eggs on floor?"

"Hugs for bunny - Happy Easter everyone!"

First attempt at the birthday cake

Creative save for our Easter cake

1st Birthday Party Planning

Picking the theme for Madelyn's first birthday party was pretty easy. Consistently, her favorite thing over the past few months is anything Rubber Ducky. Actually, she just said her 6th word this week: "duck" [I'm trying really hard to get it on video to share. It's extremely high pitch and super cute].

Lucky for me it's Easter season so there are duck things everywhere. We were at Bulk Barn last week [amazing if you haven't been], and stumbled across this 3D ducky cake pan. It looks easy enough and I was able to find numerous images on google of other bakers finished products so I'm giving it a shot.  Here's some examples of what it may look like:

 

I also came across these - rubber ducky candles and icing decorations. Cute, huh? My dear friend Corinne showed me how to use the icing decorations in the center of flowers at my baby shower last year. I think I'll copy that for the birthday party.

Then, this weekend, I was waiting in line at Michaels Craft store and browsed this cook book:

It says you can use a timbit (sorry, "munchkin" or "donut hole" for my American friends) and a marshmallow to transform your ordinary cupcake into a rubber ducky. Fun! If that doesn't work, It looks like I could also use rolled fondant to make rubber ducky toppers:

   

I think my biggest challenge with these plans will be perfecting my icing. Every buttercream icing recipe that I've tried has turned out on the soft side. If you have an awesome recipe please send to me so I can give yours a try!

Aside from the food, Madelyn and I spent an afternoon at a few toy stores and good old Dollarama picking out some awesome goodie bag treats and door prizes for best dressed in Yellow. Time to get excited!

Excited about Food

Don't you wish you could always be this excited about the food you're eating?

Well, here's a recipe that is sure to melt your heart. These cookies are sooo quick and easy to make. Put them together with some hot dogs and chips and you've created the perfect Valentines Dinner for a man. Thanks Katie for the recipe!

Katie's Chocolate Crunch Cookies

• 1 1/2 cups butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups oats
• 2 cups Rice Krispies cereal
• 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup diced pecan halves

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Mix together butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla in a large bowl until well blended.
3. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, oats, Rice Krispies, chocolate chips and pecans and stir together.
4. Drop batter on baking sheet in mounds of about 3 tbsp and flatten with hand. Bake for 8-9 minutes or until pale gold.

Lemon filled Cupcakes

Yum. I have made variations of this Lemon cake recipe from Gourmet on Epicurious three times in the past month and it has been a hit each time. Yesterday, I brought a cupcake version to my breastfeeding cafe group and one of the mom's asked me if I was a professional baker. What a huge compliment!

So, if you happen to be stuck indoors on one of these snowy winter days, and your baby is sleeping, and your husband is away or preoccupied, and you have 4 hours to kill, try giving this recipe a try. Bonus: it's made with gluten free flour (which helps balance out the many cups of sugar involved) :)

For cupcakes, use a pastry bag to fill cupcakes with Lemon Curd after cooled. Top with icing, sprinkles and leftover Lemon Curd. Delicious.

(not sure why this is sideways...oh computers...)

Proof I finished my baking this Christmas

This post is a little late, but, since I'm the type that likes to cross things off my list, here is proof that I actually got around to doing my Christmas baking this year. Thank you Epicurious for all of the easy to make recipes.

double butter pie crust

Apple Berry Pie (thanks for the filling Steff)

Gingerbread People (made with Nona for extra love)

Banana Nut Chocolate Chip Muffins

4 Layer Lemon Cake (Happy Birthday Aunt Teresa)

Thinking about...Gingerbread Cookies

It's Sunday night and another year at the NOTL Christmas parade has come and gone. What a fun weekend. I was looking forward to for so long, but, now it's over and the Sunday blues are kicking in :(.  I was reading up on some of my favorite blogs and everyone is buzzing about holiday baking. Two weeks ago I stocked up on all of my baking supplies but my kitchen has yet to produce anything sweet. If it continues to rain tomorrow I am going to stay in doors and get started with some Gingerbread Cookies in attempt to reignite my holiday cheer.

ps. I will post some pictures of the NOTL parade weekend later this week.

Rainy Day Dinners

So I finally get better after almost 5 weeks of cold bugs and now my poor hubby is sick. On top of that, it's a cold rainy day and we had to trek out for immunizations and my flu shot. Boo hoo.

Luckily, I have lots of Turkey leftovers in the fridge from Thanksgiving. Tonight I'm going to try this super yummy looking recipe for Chicken PotPie (but with Turkey) from my friend Jessica's blog: http://shadesofsunshine.blogspot.com/.

Since J's post was for a recipe exchange, I thought I'd mention one of my favorite rainy day go-to's in return.

Ground Turkey Shepherd's Pie from Rachel Ray

I usually make the following changes to the recipe to make it my own:

- Skip the bacon part (too messy to clean up)
- Add diced mushrooms to onions & carrots
- Substitute Curry & Chili Powder for Poultry Seasoning
- Substitute Milk for Cream in the Mashed Potatos (but make sure to add the egg)
- Create three layers in a baking dish:
1. Onions/Ground Turkey
2. Canned Corn & Frozen Peas
3. Mashed Potatos

Bon Appetit!

Word of the Day: LOCAVORE

I was at my friend Katie's yesterday and her savvy MIL introduced me to a really cool word I hadn't heard before: Locavore. "What does that mean?", I asked. "It's a person who eats only locally", she said. Got it - Herbivore, Omnivore, Locavore. Cool.

This guy is definitely a Locavore!

Wiki doesn't have a specific page dedicated to Locavore (yet). The search engine will redirect you to "Local Food" which pretty much sums it up:

Local food (also regional food or food patriotism) or the local food movement is a "collaborative effort to build more locally based, self-reliant food economies - one in which sustainable food production, processing, distribution, and consumption is integrated to enhance the economic, environmental and social health of a particular place"^[1] and is considered to be a part of the broader sustainability movement. It is part of the concept of local purchasing and local economies, a preference to buy locally produced goods and services. Those who prefer to eat locally grown/produced food sometimes call themselves locavores or localvores.^[2]

Since Madelyn was born I have been putting a small effort into this myself, though it probably deserves more. Here's what I'm trying to do to be more Locavore:

1. Shop local Toronto farmers markets: We go regularly to the Sherway Market and it's pretty rad.
2. Shop local butchers: I like to go to Rowe farms on Roncesvalles but there are tons in the city.
3. frontdoororganics.com: My neighbour, Rika, introduced me to this cool delivery service. They have a discounted option if you go local with your delivery.
4. Read Labels: This one is the easiest. Of course there are items that absolutely need to be imported (Italian Olive Oil, Kiwi, Mangoes) but a lot of essential cooking supplies can be sourced from our wonderful Province of Ontario.
5. Plant a Backyard Garden: This is one of my projects for next summer (tips & ideas welcome). For now I just steal stuff at night from my neighbours amazing garden.