On December 23, 2013, our 4 year anniversary, Adam asked me to marry him. We were at our usual anniversary tradition, the Stanley Park Christmas train, when he got down on one knee and popped the question.
It was shocking, exciting and completely amazing. I cannot wait to plan this exciting new adventure together! Thank you to everyone for your congratulations and joy!
{sorry for not posting earlier! It was lovely to soak it all in and enjoy it} I’ll post more about the details soon =)
The last weekend before Christmas – and I woke up this morning feeling not so great. I already had one cold this month, which turned into an ear infection. I’m hoping it’s just the result of walking around in the cold windy snow yesterday. I’ll be popping vitamin C for the next few days before the big day.
On the plus side – I got all of my Christmas wrapping done yesterday – including some last minute gift pick ups. All that’s left is to get ready for our Annual Christmas Cousins get-together tomorrow.
Every year Adam’s cousins try to get together for Christmas and this year we’re having it at our new Club House – which is perfect since it’s easier to have a large group of people there than in our townhouse – although we have done it before. Plus, there’s a pool table in the Club House. However, someone has taken all of the pool cues – or – they have put them inside a locked closet. Hopefully we have some for tomorrow’s get together.
I’ll be bringing most of my baking – It is currently taking up real estate in our freezer and we have no room for even the ice tray anymore.
I have made this ‘toffee’ style cracker dessert before, only with saltine crackers. I’ve seen both versions, and I actually prefer it with the Graham Crackers. It’s a better, thicker base than the saltine’s, and I think the Salt overpowers the chocolate – the base needs to be fairly bland for such a sweet and decadent topping such as toffee and chocolate. Here I used bought Graham Crackers, however if you have the time (and I suggest you do) you can totally make your own. I have a recipe for Graham Crackers here, and they are very simple and taste amazing when you make them yourself.
The recipe is affectionately called ‘Christmas crack’ – and the title is deserving. It is mildly addicting – but like I said, with the more neutral graham crust it isn’t tooth-sickeningly sweet. It’s just the right amount. The Toffee portion also isn’t the hard-as-rock toffee, more of a caramel-smooth toffee.
It’s a super simple recipe – lay tray with graham crackers, boil the sugar and butter, bake then spread with chocolate. You can sprinkle anything on top – I like the combination of nuts (walnuts or pecans would be good) You can even package the crackers up for a sweet gift.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas… (which is only 5 days away!!!!)
Today is a wonderfully white snow day in Metro Vancouver.
The fluffy white snowflakes began falling late last night and we woke up to roads blanketed in snow. Snow makes everything look beautiful.
I hope it sticks around for Christmas. We haven’t had a white Christmas in Vancouver for a few years.. oh how lovely it would be.
However, snow in Vancouver creates chaos. Unlike most people, I actually put on brand new all weather tires a couple months ago so I was pretty prepared for the cold weather and ice. Whereas a lot of people in Vancouver don’t have all weather/snow tires, and if they do they wait until after it is already snowing to put them on….
I’ve been watching Twitter all morning and the list of accidents/cars in the ditch keeps growing.. Stay safe out there people.
What better way to celebrate a snow day (if you’re lucky enough to be home today and enjoy it!) than to bake. A warm house filled with baked goods while snow falls outside is a perfect winter afternoon to me.
I have a certain love for ginger baked goods (such as these GingerStamp cookies) – the aroma is delicious. These are soft and chewy gingerbread people with a spicy ginger bite. To make them a little more personalized, without using royal icing, I used a small letter cookie cutter to imprint our family members initials on them. They would be great for table setting cards – or on top of presents.
Stay warm inside on this snow day and bake yourself a gingerbread army.
The dough itself is easy, and only requires about an hour to chill. Little kids can help with rolling out cutting out the cookies, and even decorating if you want to add frosting.
