So you’ve got a butternut squash…

I love butternut squash. They’re plentiful in the fall and winter months, so I’ll usually roast one up for a meal at least once a week. This vegetable is so versatile, and chock full of fibre so it fills you up. Who doesn’t love a filling, (usually) healthy meal? I thought I’d share my favourite recipes here so you can cook up some butternut squash yourself.

First thing you gotta do with most of these recipes is roast your butternut squash so you can decimate it, as seen above. To do this, you just have to cut the top and bottom off your squash, the cut down the middle. Then scoop out the seeds using a spoon. Once your squash is seed-free put the squash so the cut side is down on a baking sheet that’s covered in parchment paper. Another way is to put it cut side down in a baking dish and fill with a few inches of water. With both these methods you then bake in a 400 degree oven for 30-40 minutes (depending on the size of your squash). You’ll know when it’s done because the skin is a bit brown. Once your squash has cooled down, you can start scooping out the insides.

If I know I’ll be cooking with squash and I’ve got my shit together, I’ll typically bake it the night before so it’s ready to be used when I get home from work the next day.

Alternatively, if you don’t have the time to bake your squash or want to be lazy I found that Superstore started selling diced squash in their frozen foods section (Costco’s been selling diced fresh squash for a while too).

Now that you know how to get your squash, here’s my favourite uses for it. Since I don’t like reposting another site’s recipe and pretending it’s my own, I’ve got the links below as well.

Chipotle Butternut Squash Alfredo

Let’s start with the least healthy recipe, I made this a week ago and had a lot of leftover sauce so I froze the rest and hope it’s just as delicious when I defrost it in the future.

I looked and looked and couldn’t find chipotle noodle, so I used regular ones and added chipotle spice to my sauce. I added pomegranate seeds because they’re another fall favourite, as well as chopped up pancetta because it’s fancy Italian bacon. Such a simple recipe but makes you feel like you’ve really accomplished something with your pasta.

If you figure out where to find chipotle noodles in Vancouver, let me know.

Butternut Squash Risotto

I’ve talked about this one before in my risotto post, it’s from Skinnytaste and a great intro to the world of making risotto at home.

Butternut Squash and Apple Bisque

I made this one on Sunday night and have plenty of leftovers for lunch this week. It’s been freezing all week and there’s nothing like a bowl of soup, this one is like a warm hug from inside. The squash and apples make this bad boy so thick, also slightly sweet. Don’t forget to add the candied pecans, they’re a great added crunch.

Bacon Wrapped Squash

Oh god, these are amazing. But you probably figured that out when you saw it was bacon plus butternut squash. With this recipe, you don’t need to roast the squash beforehand. Instead you peel the squash (not an easy task, actually one of the worst vegetables to peel) and dice it up. I haven’t tried this with the frozen, pre-cut squash, but I imagine it might be a bit too soggy to do. The pre-cut Costco stuff is probably best since it’s already peeled and chopped, but not frozen.

These one of my favourite things to bring to a potluck or serve as an appetizer.

Give these a try and let me know which you like, while you’re at it you can leave your favourite butternut squash recipe in the comments. 

How to make pierogis: Lessons from a real Polish person

Here’s a few things you might not know about me: I’m not a food photographer… I’m also half Polish. For real guys, I know the food photographs you’ve seen thus far on the blog and in this post may convince you otherwise, but I have legit no photography background.

Also, I’m half Polish. My mom was born there and immigrated to Canada when she was young. For some reason people always stereotype me as Italian, I suspect it may be due to my last name but also because I think people know more about Italian stereotypes than Polish ones. I think I’ve been influenced much more by my Italian side as well, since my Polish grandparents died while I was in my teens and my mom cooks more Italian food than Polish. She is an excellent Italian cook, even better than my Italian Nonna.

I did not make these, nor took this actually good photo

So anyways, I’ve mastered a few Italian recipes but haven’t really tried a Polish recipe. My Babcha (Polish grandma) used to make pierogis, but I never really ate them because I was a pickier eater than I am now (I’m still a picky eater).  But in recent years I’ve started to enjoy them and always wanted to try to make them on my own, but for some reason I felt like they took all day to make. So this past weekend it was pouring and cold, a perfect day to stay in and try to make something new.

I was pleasantly surprised that this only whole thing took only two hours, from making the dough to frying them up.

So here’s my method to making delicious pierogis, you can trust me since I’m an actual Polish person.

1st off, you need to make some mashed potatoes for the filling. Most recipes suggest adding some fried onions to your filling, but I’m not a big fan of onions so I skipped that. In order to bring more flavour to the filling, I added some bacon because it’s bacon. I started boiling my peeled potatoes as I worked on the dough and fried up some bacon.

I used 3 potatoes, entirely too much potatoes for the amount of pierogis I made.

To make the dough, I mixed 3 cups of flour with some salt (about a teaspoon), then added a mixture of 3/4 cup water, an egg and 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil (add more water if your flour is still dry). Once you’ve got that mixed up, knead the dough on your floured countertop until it’s smooth, about 15-20 times (don’t over-knead!). Wrap your dough up in Saran Wrap (or whatever off brand you might use) and let it sit for 20 minutes.

While you’re waiting for your dough to rest you can make your filling/mashed potatoes. Smash those taters however you like (I prefer my handheld mixer) and then add some cheddar cheese (about 3/4 cup). Make your bacon into bits (I use my mini food processor). Add some salt and pepper to taste, you could probably add your fried onions at this point as well. Then let that mix cool off a bit as you wait for your dough.

(Sidenote: As I mentioned in my caption, I had entirely too much potato filling using three russet potatoes. I would recommend for this dough recipe – which I got 41 pierogis from – one large potato and maybe 1/2 a cup of cheese or less, depending on your cheese needs)

Once your dough is ready, split it in two pieces so it’s easier to work with and start rolling out your dough on a floured countertop with a floured rolling pin. Once you’ve got the dough relatively thin (5mm thick) start cutting out your pierogis. If you’re fancy, use a circular cookie cutter… I just used a glass from Ikea.

My nesting dolls salt and pepper shakers made the shot because they add some Eastern European authenticity.

Next you can start filling your circles with filling, I like mine chock full of potato-y goodness

Next fold in half and make sure your edges are pinched closed. For reals, make sure those bad boys are pinched tight and your filling is not coming out.

Once you’ve got your pierogi formed place it on a floured tea towel (flour is important for pierogi recipe if this wasn’t obvious already) and then cover them with another tea towel. Keep on keeping on until you got all your dough rolled out and made into pierogis (also, that leftover dough after you cut out the initial dough you can make a new ball and roll back out until you can’t possibly get anymore). Like I said, I got 41 pierogis from this.

Next up, boil yourself a pot of water. Once your water is boiling, add your pierogis to the water to cook them. I cooked them in batches of 10, basically you add them to the water and cook them for about 3-5 minutes. They’re ready once they float to the top, just take them out with a slotted spoon and continue cooking the rest.

Next, I let them cool down on some parchment paper. I then cooked some of them up for dinner and the rest I froze for future meals.

This time nesting doll measuring cups gave their blessing to the finished pierogi product.

My favourite way to make pierogis is to fry them up in an inappropriate amount of butter. I don’t like onions or sour cream so I basically eat them without anything but their buttery goodness.

After all that’s said and done, I definitely recommend trying to make pierogis at home. Sure, the frozen ones are pretty cheap, decent tasting and easy to buy at your local grocery store, but these were actually much better. Plus, creating your own food from scratch is always a good way to learn more about making your own recipes and makes you feel accomplished.

Have you ever made your own pierogis? What’s your favourite pierogi filling? 

Stuff I need to stop buying

This may come as a surprise to you guys, but I’m not a millionaire. I don’t have a lot of money, yet I like to buy shit I absolutely do not need. For example, a lot of the clothes I’ve previously mentioned on this site.

But this post isn’t about dumb purchases I made. Well, not exactly. This post is mostly here so I remember not to buy this stuff in the future because I hate it. I’ve bought these items at least one time and ended up tossing it for various reasons and then bought it again.

This list may not be for you guys, it’s a list of stuff that I can pull up at the grocery store or mall before I make a purchase I don’t need again.

Rose Petal Toner

I bought rosewater toner a few years ago and it wrecked havoc on my face. I read it helped with dry skin and was a good anti-aging product, but it did not work that way. Instead my face got super dry. So the bottle sat in my bathroom for a long while until I moved once and threw it away. Cut to a few years later and I was in Whole Foods and in the mood to make an impulse purchase and bought Thayers Rose Petal Witch Hazel Toner (with Aloe Vera!). Apparently I thought that the addition of witch hazel and aloe vera would make it different, but no. Once again, my face went dry. So I kept it in my medicine cabinet until last weekend when I tried it out again. Not only did I get my dry face, but my eye puffed up and got swollen (as it tends to do when my face dries out).

Can you guess what I did with the bottle of toner? That’s right, it’s still sitting in the medicine cabinet. So I guess I won’t buy this again because I still have a pretty full bottle at home.

Beats By Dre

I’m ashamed to say I’ve purchase more than one pair of Beats By Dre. Ok, not purchased. I bought one and then got a second pair as a warranty replacement. They’re not a bad earbud, it’s just that I am so rough on my headphones. After I use them I just throw them in my purse, haphazardly wrapped around my iPod or phone. The wires always become loose inside and the sound always cuts out in one side and I can only hear the music if I hold the wires in a very specific way. I’ve bought other headphones that I paid too much for and the sound was a bit better, but I’m not a dj or know anything really about the sound of songs. So I should stick to cheaper ones because it won’t hurt me so much to replace them.

Baby Spinach

It’s not the spinach that I need to stop buying, it’s the huge tub. I’m only one person, I have no idea why I buy this much spinach because I can’t eat all of it before it goes bad. I tell myself every time that it’s only $1 more than the smaller sizes.

Moscato

I can palate sweet wines more than the average person, but Moscatos are too sweet for human consumption. But I forget this at least once a year, so I end up buying a bottle only to use it for cooking after one sip.

What about you, what items do you buy repeatedly only to always be disappointed? 

Eating ethically on a budget

As a relatively freshly minted “adult” I have been struggling to figure out how to live within my means, and not overspend. I have trouble staying within my food budget especially. I am quite careful about what I eat, trying to go organic, which can get pretty pricey (especially if you head to your local Whole Foods!). I am especially careful about buying meat, making sure that the animals are raised in conditions where they have access to the outside.

Who knew that the best place to find a product that meet my criteria would be Costco! I have previously gone there and perused the meat section, finding only whole chickens which are organic, but this time, I found chicken breasts, thighs and more, all available in organic. The price is certainly a bit more than non organic, but ever since taking a class in animal welfare this summer, I would rather not eat meat than eat non organic meat. The price for five HUGE organic chicken breasts was $30, and for 12 thighs $25. One way that I have found to make meat go a little further is to cut the chicken breasts in half. When you are paying about $6 each for them (or more in a typical grocery store!) you need to make it last!

Those are some happy looking chickens

With the chicken breasts, I divided them up and froze them with different marinades, and with the thighs, I made Chicken Marbella (which I will share the recipe for later, total heaven).

Now as far as animal welfare is concerned, organic is not the final answer, it definitely ensures that the animals have access to the outdoors, and are given feed which does not contain any animal byproducts, and are not given antibiotics.

I also was able to find lots of other things including organic milk (four litres for $8!) and organic eggs, which I keep going back to Costco for! $12 for two dozen eggs. I used some of these to make egg salad to put in sandwiches this week. This is one of my favourite things to eat, and ill share the super simple recipe below!

3 hardboiled eggs

1 large stock of celery

1-2 green onions

2 tbsp mayonaise

1 tsp lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

All you have to do is mush up the eggs with your fingers, dice the celery and the green onions super small, toss in the rest and mix it around. I love it in wraps and sandwiches with some tomato and lettuce. One huge plus of egg salad sandwiches, is you feel like royalty at high tea enjoying it with some crumpets and scones. How decadent!

On my Costco adventure I also saw organic beef, lots of veggie options, and snacks. I didn’t have the budget for the boeuf today, but alas another time! The one thing I have been struggling to find is good organic, or free range pork. I am on the lookout and will update when I have a winner!

How do you feel about eating the way you desire to eat, even when your budget is limited? 

Fall

FINALLY. WE MADE IT.

Today marks the first day of autumn, and I for one am pretty damn happy about it. I’ve made no secret about it on this blog, I am not a fan of the summer months so this change of season is welcomed with open arms.

To celebrate, I want to share a love list specifically geared towards fall. Love lists are something I do from time to time to celebrate the little things in life that I love and make me happy. They help remind you to stop stressing about stupid stuff and focus on the awesome. Since fall is one of my great loves, why not celebrate what’s to love?

• Sweaters. There’s nothing better than being cozy and warm in a sweater.
• Boots. I bought two pairs of booties so far this past month, lets see how many more I can add to my collection.
• Honeycrisp apples. If you’ve never had one, this is your only mission this autumn. Life. Changing.
• Butternut squash. So I said this before, but I love it. I try to find new recipes weekly to explore with this ingredient.
• Rain. Spoken like a true Vancouverite, I love the rain. Sure it gets annoying when it’s been raining 30 days straight and your hair is constantly frizzy, but something about the sound of rain and the sight of it out my windows makes me feel at peace.

• Books. I don’t know why, I feel so guilty staying in and reading in the summer. But oh man, is there anything better than a good book and a cup of tea as it pours outside?
• New clothes. I never grew out of the idea that you get new clothes in the fall, you then have to wait the first few weeks of September for it to cool down so you can break them out. I bought this poncho at The Gap a few weeks back and I’m so excited to break it out.
•  The fact that I have never had a Pumpkin Spice Latte. It’s my own personal protest against the man or something (when in reality I love Starbucks).
• Soups. I made this lasagna soup from Skinnytaste yesterday, it’s legit the best comfort food that’s pretty low in calories and you make so much that you have leftovers for multiple work lunches.

• Fall colours. From the leaves and their beautiful changing colours to the jewel tones in clothing.
• Dark nail polish. I can’t wear dark polishes in the summer, I don’t know why. Ruby reds, black, dark purples and navy blue are permanent fixtures on my nails in the fall/winter.
• The chill in the air. I can say for a fact that there is absolutely nothing better than a crisp sunny fall morning, your breath hangs in the air and it smells like halloween is coming. Just add a park full of fallen leaves to kick your feet in and you’ve described heaven, my friend.

What would you add to your own fall love list?

Chicken soup for the soul/cold

I am, as I am sure many other are, fighting the first cold war of fall. We all know what its like to have your head feel like it is full of cotton, your nose full of goo, and your throat being swollen and sad. It sucks. The only thing that I want to eat when I am sick with a cold is soup. Or pasta. Or ice cream. But soup is best. Over the years I have worked on how to make a yummy chicken soup that doesn’t break the bank. All you need is a rotisserie chicken, noodles of your choosing, celery, onion, carrot, and any other veggies you like. The rest you should have kicking around.

What is seen here is the chicken, olive oil, butter, onions, a lemon, celery, carrots, cabbage and some pasta.

First of all you are going to want to separate the meat from the bones on the chicken. Once this is done, put the bones in a large pot with about 6-8 cups of water and simmer for at least a couple of hours to make a stock.

While this is simmering, cut up the veggies. I dice the celery, carrots and onions quite small, first cutting into strips and then into little cubes, see below.

I used the full head of celery, about six carrots and two little yellow onions. YUM! These guys make the traditional mirepoix, which adds flavour and aroma to the soup. My favourite part of the soup making process is cooking these three ingredients slowly in a bit of butter. By a bit, I mean like 1/4 cup. Lets say 1/8. It was a big batch! One of the most important parts of the soup is having the right tools, and by this, I mean a dutch oven. I got this Cuisinart one for Christmas a couple of years ago and it is amazing. I use it all the time in the winter!

You can find the Cuisinart 7 Quart Covered Casserole in Provencal Blue here. Seriously, it changes everything about how you cook in the fall and winter.

So once all the veggies are chopped, heat the dutch oven to about medium heat and put in the butter. Let it warm, but don’t let it cook. In order to get all the mirepoix goodness, you need to cook it slowly and let it sweat. I swear, it will smell like Thanksgiving in your house!

Once these are cooked down a bit, add in the other veggies you want to use. I added cabbage, because it adds a bit of heft to the soup. If you are not a cabbage fan, you can add anything else!

Next dice up the chicken and add it to the pot as well. Let all those flavours mix and start thinking about what spices you want to add in.

Once your stock has been cooked, you can strain it and add it into the pot. If you want, you can pick the bones for any remaining meat, but I find that there isn’t much flavour left in the meat on the bones, so I toss whatever is left over.

Now that the stock is strained and ready to go, add it in with everything else and let it simmer on low for a little while. This is the best time to add spices. I added in about a teaspoon of Herbs de Provence that I picked up from Penzey’s Spices when I was in Seattle last week. It is the most heavenly blend and a go to of mine for pretty much everything. I also added in salt to taste. I only recently realized how important it is to properly salt dishes. It has made such a different in my food! Now let the flavours meld together for about a half hour and then turn off the heat. I then add in the juice of a whole lemon and call it a day!

As far as the pasta goes, I cook and add it in separately so that the noodles don’t overcook. Also this way you know exactly how much you are getting, instead of sneaking all the extra pasta in ;).

After a couple of days of this soup, I am feeling quite a bit better! The other tools in my arsenal are these gems.

Anytime that I say I am feeling a bit sick my roommate throws one of these at me and shrieks “DRINK THIS”. It must work, this is as sick as I have been in the last year, and I was able to dodge it pretty efficiently! Good luck fighting the cold war!

What kinds of things to you like to make/eat when you are sick or on the way to getting sick? Let us know!

You should be making risotto at home

Not my photo, I found it on Pinterest because I’m a bad food photog. But I can help you make risotto look this good.

Despite what Gordon Ramsey wants you to believe, making risotto is super simple. I know, I know… the “chefs” on Hell’s Kitchen can’t seem to make a risotto for the life of them (or scallops, wtf?) and they’re professionals, so why would you even try? Well, you should try. Not only because the “chefs” on Hell’s Kitchen are usually a sous chef from some roadside diner in Middle America, but because it’s so delicious. And pretty simple once you get the hang of it.

Also, people think you’re fancy as fuck when you pull it off.

I’m not about to lay out a recipe for you here, I would basically just be giving you the same recipe I follow from other blogs, instead I’ll give you some tips for making a great risotto.

My absolute favourite risotto recipe is from Skinnytaste, Gina’s Butternut Squash Risotto is one of the hundred different ways I love to incorporate butternut squash into my food in the fall. Seriously, get ready, I’m about to wax poetically on this blog about butternut squash and Honeycrisp apples for the next couple of months.

(Side note: Skinnytaste is a fabulous blog for healthy meals and snacks, she’s taken a lot of higher fat/calorie foods and made them deliciously healthy)

Making risotto is a labour of love, but mostly for the love of risotto. It is a bit time consuming because you’re working on the risotto for almost an hour, but so worth it. Also, the supplies aren’t any more expensive than most other rice or pasta dishes. They just seem fancier, I guess.

Here’s my top risotto tips that you need to know in order to get a perfect dish every time. You can trust me, I’m an actual Italian:

• First off, it takes a few attempts to get this right. The first couple of tries you might make it too mushy or maybe the grains will be too hard. Patience, you’ll get this.
• Get everything ready before you start cooking. Chop your shallots, mince your garlic and measure out your rice, once you start cooking everything starts happening pretty quick and you won’t really have time to grate your cheese between steps.

• Once you start, you’re that risotto’s bitch. When you read the instructions that says you need to stir constantly, you really do need to stir constantly. There’s no bathroom breaks or time to dance around the kitchen to that awesome Beyoncé remix. The only exception is refilling your wine glass, because that’s a damn necessity.

The risotto owns you now. You’ll get revenge later when you eat it up.

• You’ll notice the Skinnytaste recipe is built to be low fat/calorie, which is good! But I’ve found for the rice to have the optimal texture you need a bit more oil or butter at the beginning. I also cook the shallots and garlic a bit in the oil before adding the rice.
• You need this rice. I’ve tried a few brands and this one is the best. I find it at Safeway.

I guarantee nothing if you buy a different brand.

• Add the liquid to the rice slowly and make sure it’s all incorporated before adding more. Trust me, I’m one of the most impatient people on this planet but it’s important.
• If you’re not serving the full dish right away, don’t add all the cheese right away. I just add the cheese I want in the portions I’m serving and then refrigerate the remainder of the risotto, when you’re heating it up add the cheese to whatever you’re eating. Adding all the cheese right away can ruin the consistency and taste when you’re reheating.
• About that reheating… you can’t just toss this in your microwave and go. To make sure you don’t dry it out and ruin everything, you’ll need to get your pan out again and reheat it in there. You can either heat up some chicken stock, olive oil or butter in the pan, I prefer butter for the reheating process (and olive oil for the initial cooking). Once you have the butter warmed (medium heat) put your risotto in there and stir it up until it’s hot, it may dry out so I like to add a bit more wine if this happens to avoid over-buttering the dish.
• And this isn’t necessarily risotto-related so much as related to cooking like a damn Italian, but always have a gross wine at the ready for your cooking. It happens where you open a wine that you don’t necessarily like and probably bought due to a cute label (I’m looking at you Cupcake Red Velvet), instead of wasting it by pouring it down the drain or trying to make guests choke it down, save it for your cooking. I keep a chardonnay in my fridge and I’ve had that damn Cupcake Red Velvet in my cupboard for this purpose.

Don’t let the cute name fool you.

• Do yourself a favour and buy a chunk of Parmigiano-Reggiano, do not disrespect your risotto or pasta dishes or your body with pre-shredded stuff (or that Kraft stuff in the green shaker *vomit*). The sticker price will shock you, but you know what, this stuff lasts forever and it’s well worth it. Seriously, if you let it stick around long enough in the fridge that you start noticing mold on the rind, just wipe it off with a damp paper towel. The cheese is still fine. I promise. I haven’t died yet.

If anyone attempts to serve this to you run away and never talk to them again.

Please promise me you’ll give making risotto a chance. I swear, restaurants charge ridiculous prices for this because people think it’s so hard to make and only something to get in a restaurant. But they’re wrong.

Here’s a few more recipes for risotto that should be pretty good (I haven’t tried them all, but it’s risotto man. As long as you follow these steps it’s pretty hard to screw up):

• This basic recipe from Chatelaine is a great base for being creative with your risotto. Mushrooms are a big thing for risottos, but you can also mix it up and add your preferred veggies.
• Oh man, Martha Stewart added bacon to her risotto. Get Martha’s leek, bacon and pea risotto here.
• Maybe you’re a seafood person (myself, not so much). Here’s a seafood risotto that looks pretty simple, from Epicurious.
• Ina Garten has a different method for a simple risotto, involving a dutch oven and less stirring. If I ever get my hands on a dutch oven, I’d be curious to give this a go. Let me know if you’ve tried this and how it turned out!
• If you insist on being lazy, here’s a crock pot version. I’ve used this recipe/crock pot method, it’s ok, but definitely not as good as the stove top versions.

Your turn: Have you ever made risotto at home, was anything missed on this list? Do you have any tips and tricks for risotto making? Let us know what you think!

How to have the bestie night ever

So Jen and I had an epic night last night. It was epic on our level, so we didn’t meet the queen, or make out with Ed Sheeran (god I wish…) but it was one of our most fun nights ever and thinking back, I feel that there are a few tips we can throw your way to make an epic eve.

Step 1 – Pasta and wine

So in Vancouver, there is a restaurant called Trattoria, and they have this amazing thing, called Trat Tuesdays. All pasta is $11. And their house wine is $5 a glass. I won’t lie, we do this a lot. Secret fun fact, we used to go for $11 pasta after our Weight Watchers meetings. Whoops! Anyways, we usually get the same thing, their spaghetti and meatballs, because they are incredible. I would seriously recommend this to anyone. The only issue is that there is often a pretty significant wait time, but not a worry! Just find a nearby bench and gab until they text you telling you to come on in!

Not my picture. Mine would have had slightly more drool. And a large dent in a meatball.

You can check out Trattoria here.

Step 2 – Teasing

Gently make fun of the group sitting next to you (preferably under your breath, it is far less fun if they know what is happening). If an approximately 50 year old man has a dye job and haircut similar to Barry Manilow, they are simply asking for it.

The resemblance was uncanny.

Step 3 – Impulsiveness

One of the topics up for discussion at dinner was the fact that I am going to my Dad’s wedding on Saturday and have yet to find a pair of shoes. So after we were finished our scrumptious dinner, Jen suggested that we hit Metrotown (the mall across the street) as there were 30 minutes until closing! We got there in 4 minutes and were shopping in 5.

Step 4 – Decisiveness

We went to three shoe stores, selected 5 shoes, one came in my size, and were purchased within 15 minutes.

These are alarmingly comfortable

I am actually super happy with what I purchased and ended up changing them into the car on the way to step 6. I got the Clarks Palmdale Sands Wedges in Nude, and you can find them on sale at Soft Moc.

Step 5 – Old Navy

It has become increasingly clear that neither Jen or I are very good at stepping out of the shopping box, mostly because of Old Navy. It is the favourite and standby for both of us, and as we had an additional 15 minutes to kill before we were physically removed from the mall, we had time to kill. So we spend 10 minutes shopping, and basically ended up purchasing the exact same thing.

We each got a white t-shirt and some epic leggings, and we were both going to get another top, that I did end up getting but Jen did not. Because she has self restraint, and I do not.

These make me infinitely more excited for fall

You can find the Old Navy Patterned Leggings here. The top I got does not seem to exist online, but I will update it if I find it!

Step 6 – FroYo

So I used to live down the street from Menchies. If you have not experienced this, I am very sorry. Menchies is the FroYo to end all FroYo. It has a single great flavour (Purely Tart) but endless amazing toppings. Jen came up with the idea to go there, 50% because it is delicious, and 50% because we really needed to go to the bathroom, and the ones in the mall closed before we were done shopping. Anyways, stellar call Jen. We also got to witness the coming of age of two boys who were listening to some old school rap, thinking they were real hip and hoppin. So we went back to Step 2 for a hot minute.

Aint that the truth

Anyways, it was a pretty perfect evening, and I was able to come home, and trot my dog around the block in my new shoes without them hurting at all. I hope this is a good sign.

What do you like to do when you get together with your friends? Let us know!

Non boozy ice cream that I don’t know will turn out

I got an ice cream maker from my dear cousin last Christmas, and although I love it, I didn’t really get around to using it a lot. Mostly because when I need an ice cream fix, I need it NOW not in 24 hours plus planning and grocery shopping. But this summer, I have been immensely bored, because summer school is only on two days a week, and the other 5 days, when I should be studying for said two days of school, I want to take on projects. Like perfecting homemade ice cream.

Looks so simple and delightful! So over the past couple of weeks, I have been experimenting. The first batch I made, I got half and half, not whipping cream, and it was too icey. The second batch, I did the correct amount of whipping cream, but it ended up with that fatty residue in my mouth, which reminds me that I am being bad. I choose to avoid that. Anyways, I was originally set on perfecting  vanilla ice cream, and while it was fun, I think my roommate is tired of me bursting into his room and demanding that he try the new batch. This has happened once, but I think once was enough.

So I am skipping to the good stuff. Although I cannot wait to make a boozy version (seriously, all of this stuff is just a time waster until I can get to the rill good stuff). I am making peanut butter ice cream.

Why peanut butter you ask? Why the hell not! Also I like peanut butter everything. Reese’s are my favourite, and I genuinely think peanut butter goes with everything, bananas, jam, regular butter… So this is the current one. This time though, I am still trying out different fat content in the milk, but I am pretty sure this batch is going to be a winner. I will write down the recipe of what I did, and hopefully it turns out. If not? Well fuck.

First of all, this is the ice cream maker I have

From what I can see from my endless googling though, you can also make homemade ice cream with ice in a large bowl, and a smaller bowl in the middle (similar to a double boiler method) and you churn the ice cream with beaters.

Anyhoodledoodle, here is the recipe for the ice cream I hope turns out perfectly.

First step is to put the ice cream churning cold bowl thing in the freezer, this is if you have an ice cream maker, if you not, disregard, this makes absolutely no sense. If you are doing it the old fashioned way, make sure you have a lot of ice. Same with the ice cream maker, it that ice cream churning cold bowl thing is not totally frozen, you will have a milkshake type mixture, that while delicious, will not ice cream make. You can though, take life by the horns and dip a straw into that half churned cream and go to town. I definitely did the first time I made it.

Ingredients

2 cups whipping cream

2 cups whole milk

1 cup smooth peanut butter

2 tbsp granulated sugar

1 tbsp vanilla

1 tsp Maldon salt

Directions

-Mix the peanut butter and the sugar together until fully combined.

-In another bowl mix the whipping cream and the whole milk with the vanilla.

-Slowly pour the milk mixture in with the peanut butter and sugar, allowing it to blend.

-Put all ingredients in a bowl and cover in a fridge for an hour.

-Once chilled, pour the mixture in the ice cream maker, and let that shit churn for about a half hour

-Empty ice cream into a glass dish and let it chill in the freezer, if you like it hard… If you like it soft, eat it right away 🙂

-Mix in the 1 tsp of Maldon salt so that you get that sweet and salty goodness

-Add some additional peanut butter into the dish to make sure you get a full peanut butter bite or two

-Also I am sprinkling chopped chocolate chips, and using some Hershey’s Shell chocolate sauce

-Serve and enjoy!

Confession time: I didn’t follow my own advice and didn’t let the ice cream churning cold bowl thing cool long enough. So the ice cream didn’t get fully frozen before I put it in the freezer. It was a little icey, but still delicious. The taste was awesome though, and if I was patient enough, it would have been absolute perfection.

What kinds of things do you work on tirelessly to make perfect? 

Why pesto is the besto

So as I am sure you have noticed by this point, I really like pasta. The majority of the food I make goes with a delicious pasta, or just pasta. It is my bread and butter, and my weakness. So even though I try to limit my happiness through pasta, but on occasion (frequent occasion these days, oops) I indulge in the good stuff, and when I do, pesto is one of my favourites. The pesto from Costco is actually quite good, but homemade is a different breed of animal. It tastes fresh, light and heavenly. Here is my favourite kind of pesto.

First of all, I use my mini food processor, but you can also use a blender, or go old fashioned and use a mortar and pestle, although it would need to be rather sizeable.

As far as the basil goes, I like to grow my own. It is super easy to grow, and it also tastes infinitely better than store-bought.

Cut off a fair bunch, right at the base of the shoot, and trust me it will grow back and then some!

Wash it up good, rinse and then dry it off thoroughly.

Load a big handful into the food processor, add about 1/2 cup of olive oil, and start to blend it.

Once the basil has been pretty well macerated, add in about 1/2 of pine nuts, and about 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese.

Let it all blend together and keep it blending for about 2 minutes. Add more olive oil as needed.

Then boil up your favourite pasta, add in a big dollop of pesto, some additional parmesan and enjoy!

What I also do if I make a big batch is put it into ice cube trays, freeze and then enjoy at a later date. Add a drizzle of olive oil on top and to seal in the goodness. It keeps beautifully, and you can enjoy it all year long, if it lasts that long.

What are your favourite things to keep around in the house for a rainy day?