Kaitlyn's Cookie Shine

a small bag of expensive nuts

2012-03-05T02:19:00.001-08:00

Got your attention? hahaha
When it comes to excuses I've been trying to live by "if you want something you'll find a way, if you don't you'll find an excuse". So I won't give an excuse as to why February was lacking in blog posts (leap year...leap month?). Anyhooo as you know I'm still living with my mother...here's a tip for those who are also living with parents, if they try and bribe you to go grocery shopping by giving you their credit card and saying you can get whatever you want...DO it! Since I have lived on my own previously for four years I'm pretty good about looking at prices at the grocery store, but when it comes to the bulk section I'm not so good at guess-timating prices. Hence buying pecans for a salad, not paying attention at the till and later realizing that small bag of pecans was around $9! I told my mum I lost the receipt when asked....

Well the salad was delish! I drizzled a mix of butter and brown sugar on the pecans before putting them on the salad. I'm big on fruit in salads so I put some apple and pear in it too.

I also made the balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing. I've never made dressing before, it was really easy. Just a mix of balsamic vinegar, olive oil, Dijon mustard, garlic, and sugar. TIP the recipe for said dressing didn't tell me the serving size...I should've been able to figure it out due to the cups of liquid but again not so good at guess-timating. So I ended up having way more dressing than salad, but I put it in the fridge for a bit and used it once more then dumped it. I guess with homemade stuff it doesn't have an expiry date, I'm sure it would've lasted longer but I decided not to risk it.

Ring Ching!

Bloody Scones

2012-01-24T14:08:00.000-08:00

Sooo I've had my car for a year and a few days AKA I had to renew the insurance for the first time this past weekend. Being a lazy daisy I just drove to the closest broker to my house instead of with the company I did last year. Anyhooo I go in there saying give me what I got last year, showing them my ICBC estimate I got in the mail and the woman started asking me all these questions about adding this and that to which I felt a bit pressured to give in...the funniest was "we recommend 5 million liability not 2", to which I replied "you think someone would sue me for more than 2 million dollars?"...."well" she said..."what if you hit a bus, or a surgeon who will no longer be able to use their hands so you'll have to pay their wages." In the end I held strong but still had to pay $1177, oooo welll 'tis the life of an adult I guess.

Anyways thinking about car accidents reminded me of some scones I made. The recipe called for blueberries but I used raspberries which got quite messy...

Next time I think I would put a bit more sugar in them and won't cook them as long, but thankfully I had some leftover cream cheese icing from the blissful centers that I've previously posted about (they're so good I made them again).

Moral of the day, make sure you know where your money is going and question those who want more, ha!

Ring Ching,

Back from Hiatus

2012-01-03T02:59:00.000-08:00

So it's been a while...
Sorry! All the students out there will understand the stress of finals, papers, and projects. My program ended in June and my whole grade was the sum of my final projects so needless to say I had to focus. After school was over I had developed an aversion to typing, I was scarred from all the typing I had to do for my school assignments that blogging became one more task to complete sooo I took a break. Yes the break was long, but I had to wait until it would become a positive instead of a negative in my life...also if my sister, who is busy being a new mum, can blog than surely I can too haha, check her out @ http://domesticgoddesswannabe-kat.blogspot.com/
Speaking of blogs, my dear friend Hayley in Ontario has started a new blog as one of her resolutions, I love the title and the reason behind the blog, check it out @ http://sohungryicouldeatthis.blogspot.com/

So even though I had the aversion to typing I was still baking! Like this cake for mother's day...yet another type of cake with apple in it; it's the third type I've tried, apples and cake are a great mix!

I also attempted to bake a carrot cake with cream cheese icing. It's a staple; everyone must know how to make carrot cake right? Well this one didn't turn out so well... I blame my sister's oven and her lack of sifter, although she denies any fault hahaha. As you can see it looks hard and sunk in the middle,

but when I flipped it out of the pan it didn't quite stay in a square and some parts were mushy, quite a funny moment...So i put it back in the pan to cook some more...

However like all things in life just add something sweet like icing and it makes it all better... well at least it looks better and my brother in law still really enjoyed it but, he's also know as a garbage disposal sooo I dunno how to really rate this one haha.

I know it's been a while since the summer, but my favourite recipe was strawberry salsa, I had never eaten a fruit salsa before, but it's delicious! Great for all the outdoor hang-outs and BBQs. There's jalapenos in it though so if you don't like spice, put less in or different peppers all together. I love spice so for me it was wonderful. The second time I made it I just did a half batch which was still plenty. Below is most of the smaller version (saved some for myself in the fridge); it had a range of strawberry size, from big chunks all the way down to the juice, this is a must try!

What's new with me? I've got two part-time jobs as an Educational Assistant and a Child & Youth Worker, so far so good!

Also I'm an auntie to the bestest snuggler I know, Maddox :) aka baby bean...Isn't he adorable!?!
I got a Snuggie as a secret santa present, he fit in the pocket!

I got him this monkey, so of course I had to pose him with it, what a great auntie I am ;)

He's gained at least 5 pounds since this picture was taken, so he's not exactly my baby bean anymore, more like my baby buddha! His face like his personality is becoming fuller and cuter by the day. LOVE HIM!

Until next time...

Ring Ching!

Who should I vote for?

2011-04-03T12:49:00.000-07:00

Yet another grown-up thing to do... vote in the federal election. When people ask me my opinion about politics I usually say I'm not informed enough to respond appropriately. SO if I'm going to vote (which everyone should) I should know what's going on. I had no idea where to get started but my mum found this questionnaire on cbc.ca called the vote compass. You go through a few questions about defence, economy, environment, government programs, immigration and multiculturalism, law and order, moral values, parlimentary reform, Quebec, and taxes. It ends up being 30 questions, you find out which party you line up with the best, the worst, and everything in between. It's neat because you can see how each one of the parties would answer the same questions you did. Check it out @ http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadavotes2011/votecompass/

Pies!!!

2011-03-27T18:25:00.000-07:00

Baking pie was a bit intimidating but it ended up being a lot of fun! As you know it was recently my friend Steff's bday. For her present I decided to buy ingredients for pie and then have some gals over for wine and pie making, such a lovely evening!

Originally this pie was called cranberry struzzle pie, but we opted for mixed berries instead. We made two, one with and one without nuts. We got quite creative!

Ring Ching!

Pie: 300 Tried-and-True Recipes for Delicious Homemade Pie

Apple Pudding (Birthday) Cake!

2011-03-27T18:12:00.000-07:00

Well it was my birthday and I decided I wanted to make my own birthday cake. It's very similar to the first apple cake I made for my mum's bday but this one has grated (not chopped) apples ( i gave this task to my sister which she so grately appreciated hahaha). Needles to say it was delicious so nice and moist! I put some of the sauce on top of the cake right away, set it in the fridge for a bit, then I was able to write on it in icing (pink of course), and I saved most of the sauce to warm up when it was served to drizzle on each piece! Very good with ice cream :) YUM!

Ring Ching!

90 Apple Recipes - The Ultimate Cookbook For America's Most Popular Fruit + Bonus

Carrot (dream filled) Cupcakes!

2011-03-13T17:58:00.000-07:00

So it's my lovely friend's (Steff) 23rd birthday and she's having a pot luck brunch. I decided cup cakes would be more fitting for a birthday than muffins right? haha, anyhooo at least there's carrots in them! wow let me tell you grating carrots is a mega workout, i may have pulled an arm muscle ;). For these cupcakes you put a dollop of cream cheese icing in the middle before you bake them, but there was a lot of it left over so i decided to put a layer on top of the cupcakes so it would be easier to write in icing on top. These are my most favorite things I have ever made EVER!

My Co-worker was also moving away and a group of us got together for some thai take-out and what better to go with thai food than carrot cupcakes ;) mmm so good they would go with anything!

Ring Ching!

Carrot Cake - 8x8 Pan

SNOW in Victoria (weird)

2011-02-23T17:31:00.000-08:00

Grown up thing #2 - Take care of dog (and myself) for two weeks

So my mum went to Scotland for a couple of weeks (I'm 1/2 Scottish), I unfortunately couldn't go because I still have school and work :( Anyways I'm looking after her dog Isla and of course it was at the worst time because there was a snow storm (if you're not from Vic. this is quite rare) and Isla isn't much for cold weather (such a princess)!

I'm quite an independent gal but I'm living at home right now and some of the things that my mum does for me when I'm in a rush is lovely. She'll voluntarily scrape my windshield if there's ice or she'll toast me a bagel! So not having her there plus the dog plus the snow was interesting...hahaha, lets just say I was in more of a rush than usual to get to practicum in the morning. I couldn't find a shovel and ended up sweeping my stairs!!!

Here's the princess quickly enjoying the snow

after the initial shock she'd just make a yellow spot on the snow on the porch ( I don't blame her it was cold!)

but i did take her on walks too, here's proof mum!

Snow Castle Package [Misc.]

Banana Bread

2011-02-12T16:51:00.000-08:00

Well who doesn't love banana bread!?! It's a classic not to be messed with! There were a few recipes to choose from however (whole wheat, nut vs. no nuts etc...). I'm not the biggest fan of nuts in my bread but I do love chocolate chips soooo good when they're melted mmmmm! Loaves are perfect because you can quickly just cut a slice and run off to work and still have a satisfied tummy :) It was delicious!

Ring Ching!

Nordic Ware Banana Bread Pan

I Got A New Car!!!

2011-02-05T16:20:00.000-08:00

Grown up thing #1 - Buy my own car!

So I used to drive my grandpa's old 92 Mazda MPV...it was doing its job, getting me from A to B, but since January my driving has tripled because im doing my practicum for school which I go to almost everyday, then home, then work, then home again, plus the trips I do to socialize (not as often as one would like). Needles to say the MPV wasn't so reliable so I decided to buy a new car. How does a "starving student" afford a new car!?! 0% financing for 7 years. At first I thought this was impossible...there must be some trick or hidden fine print, but NOPE! So I got one of the least expensive cars on the market (Kia Rio5) so I was expecting it to be a very basic car...BUT NO! There's heated seats, blue tooth, and not to mention a functioning sound system :) My favorite part is that it warms up instantly without fogging up my windows...I've had it for two weeks now, it's a dream...alright so here it is...

Car Shopping Made Easy: Buying or Leasing, New or Used: How to Get the Car You Want at the Price You Want to Pay (Money, America's Financial Advisor Series)

(not so) Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies!

2011-01-30T14:26:00.000-08:00

Who doesn't love chocolate chip cookies!? Especially home made, right out of the oven ones...irresistible... literally these ones lasted a day at my house! The recipe calls these delicious treats "giant cookies" (makes approx 12-15), I stretched the batter to make 17 normal sized ones (at least in my opinion)... not sure how "giant" they would really be if I made only a few less, but normal sized to me might be humongous to others ;)

Eating some of the cookie doe could also have had something do to with the cookies' not so giant size.

Next I should probably do a recipe that doesn't involve sweets, seeing as how lately these are the 3 kinds of meals prepared in my house...haha.

Here's my 16 1/2 finished cookies I made (my brother was too impatient for me to take pictures of the finished product, hence the 1/2 cookie).

Ring Ching!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Scented Candle

The Wonderful World of PUMPKIN (Loaf)!

2011-01-15T23:15:00.000-08:00

One of my favourite new flavours is Pumpkin! Most of my pumpkin experience has either to do with craving them at Halloween or pumpkin pie (not the biggest fan). However over the holidays I found this pumpkin tea (made by Stash I believe) which is delish. I started warming up milk in the microwave and putting the tea bag in it for a few minutes...it's great for my early mornings when I'm not that hungry and in a rush (much more substantial that tea)...it's basically a chai tea latte! I think it pretty much has the same ingredients like nutmeg, cinnamon etc... Anyways I made some pumpkin loaf which I also found to be delish, so if you're not the biggest fan of pumpkin pie like me but do enjoy the chai flavours then you'll love it too! Now I didn't thoroughly go through the directions (something I should work on) and didn't realize that the recipe made multiple loafs and I only had one loaf pan... I didn't want to be baking all day long so I decided to also make muffins! It was quite nice to have so much because then I was able to bring muffins over to my family members' houses, who doesn't love free already made food!?

Ring Ching!

Nordic Ware Pumpkin Loaf Pan

Caramel Apple (Birthday) Cake!

2011-01-12T20:16:00.000-08:00

I haven't always been a big fan of cake...I blame it on all those gross store bought cakes that are way too dry and have an abundance of nauseating custard and tasteless icing that every kid in elementary school had at their birthday parties. So when it came to my birthday I would usually opt for ice cream cake or cheese cake (YUM!). Getting older I've been trying new things and my palate has grown (although I have yet to try sushi) so I'm going to bake and cook everything in my two new cookbooks! First I tackled my fear of cake. For my mother's birthday I decided to make a cake, a caramel apple cake! The cakey part had your usually ingredients in it like flour and sugar, but I also chopped up a couple of peeled granny smith apples into it! Then I made the sauce to go on top which really made the cake because I put the sauce on the cake almost immediately after making it instead of drizzling it on top of every individual piece when serving it like the recipe said. It made it soooooooooooo MOIST. BEST CAKE EXPERIENCE EVER! Everyone loved it and scraped the dish clean, every last crumb! I hope you like my creative use of tea light candles!? ;)

Ring Ching!

McSteven's Sweet Sprinkles Caramel Apple, 4.5-Ounce Jars (Pack of 4)

Just * Pure * Lovely

2011-01-09T21:26:00.000-08:00

Arrow, wine carnation, that’s fraternity,

No longer a student at college πβΦ still means so much to me…

For health, for food, for friendships tried and true.

~I am a 2010 Ontario Gamma Alumna. I have moved back home to Victoria, B.C and am missing my Chapter while finding my way as an Alumna in the adult world. My mother bought be the two Pi Phi cookbooks for Christmas and I decided to do a “Julie & Julia” inspired blog and cook/bake these recipes and blog about them and my new Alumna Life!

ENJOY!

PPL & Mine!

The History of Pi Beta Phi Fraternity