Birthdays, Life, Vancouver

Birthday Cupcakes

March 12, 2012

This past week was “Adam’s Birthday Week.” Somehow his birthday lasted four days 😉 Although, I declare June my entire Birth-month. So I guess it’s ok =)

Adam’s birthday was on Thursday, and it was also his last final for his third year for electrical, as I mentioned in my post about our new house, Needless to say there was much to be celebrated on that day. In the afternoon once I was home, Adam’s sister had come over for a visit with our beautiful new niece. We got to hug, cuddle, kiss and awe over her for a few hours. She is just so precious!

The night before, I had made Adam some ‘birthday cookies.‘ He said they were like the top of a cupcake, they were pillowy soft. I had to add some sprinkles to them, of course, to make them a little more special. I used Martha Stewart’s Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies recipe. It reminded me of my favourite show, Seinfeld, when Elaine goes into business selling muffin tops. These would be great for any day, even when it is not a birthday.

So, Adam thought we were going to his parents for his birthday dinner. Usually when there is a birthday in his family we have a birthday dinner at his parents house. However, I thought it would be nice to go out and celebrate seeing as how it was a double-whammy celebration that day. And, he had received 100% on one of his final tests earlier that week.

Coincidentally, I had seen a Groupon the week or two prior to a restaurant that I had recently read a review for, as it was part of the very popular Dine Out Vancouver event. Carmichael’s, located in the Hilton Vancouver hotel. I knew it would be good, so I bought a Groupon and phoned up his mom to ask her to join us.

When we left the house, I was slightly dressed up, in a dress and high heels, and Adam was pretty casual. It’s not unusual for me to dress up, but I had mentioned to him “oh, maybe we will go for a drink and dessert afterwards somewhere.” He thought we were only going to his parents, so I let him think we were. I secretly packed his dress shoes and a change of clothes for him to slip into once we arrive at their house. When we walked in, he did ask his mom why she was so dressed up. I let him in on the secret that we were not staying in for dinner, and that he should go and change, handing him the bag of clothes I secretly packed.

He was surprised, and still didn’t know where we were going. When we arrived, the restaurant was sparse, as it was a Thursday evening, but it was nice to not be in a crowded loud restaurant. We all ordered different dishes, and each was delicious. His mom had the special, a pork chop with apple chutney, mashed potatoes and a reduction with asparagus I believe. She said it was so good, and the pork chop was gigantic, she shared with his dad. His dad had the prawn and chicken linguine, also very delicious, I (swaying from my diet, and lusting after ravioli since our sampling from a Costco trip the weekend before) ordered the squash ravioli – yum. Adam, the birthday boy, had a steak. His favourite, the filet mignon was was perfectly cooked and so tender. It was a great night out.

Side note – our first four dates Adam ordered a steak, and remarked to me that “you’re going to think all I eat is steak” (which was basically true, since he doesn’t cook 😉 ). I’d like to think his palate is MUCH more developed since I moved in. This boy did not eat anything when he was younger, pasta – no sauce, disliked onions, didn’t eat stuffing etc etc. I’ve heard many stories from his mom. Which is the opposite of my childhood, where my Dad sauteed liver and onions, we had whole lambs hanging out in the garage, and we ate chicken hearts with rice and parmesan cheese. Obviously you must know by now I have a love of food. All foods. There are no options in my kitchen, unfortunately, and he learned to love many new foods. Including, mussels. I know.

But, I digress. The birthday boy’s week continued, with Saturday night’s party. I had invited about 12 of our friends over for dinner. I made a giant pot of slow cooker pulled pork – my first time, and it was a huge success. I used this recipe, which worked perfeclty. I did double/triple the sauce as I had four small/medium pork roasts in one slow cooker. I got all the fixings for fajitas, guac, salsa, cheese, sour cream, black beans, lettuce, etc. and we all had a mexican themed dinner. It was very delicious. We will be eating pulled pork for days.

This has become a long winded post, but on to the cupcakes. I had seen this post by one of my cake idols, and sweet blog addiction, Sweetapolita, the queen of all pretty cake delicacies.

I knew I wanted to make them, because 1. They had Nutella ‘Cloud’ frosting, and 2. They were covered in sprinkles. I love a good yellow birthday cake, and so created the vanilla version of the cupcakes for our dinner party. I had made Adam’s sister as another ‘baby meal’  packaged it up, and gave them four cupcakes as well. Apparently they were eaten two-by-two. And I needed to include more next time 😉 Everyone loved this frosting, it truly is like a cloud, not heavy, not overly sweet and a perfect component for the yellow cake base.

And to end the birthday week, we did have a birthday dinner at his parents Sunday night, with his sister and brother-in-law, along with our sweet little niece. Adam requested a Birthday Pie, as he did last year. Apple pie is his favourite. I was told the pie was a close replica to their grandmothers. A lovely compliment, as we know grandmother’s make the best pies.

Cookies, Cake and Pie. I’d say he had a good birthday. Oh, and I bought him a video game.. though I may regret that one.

Simple Birthday Cupcakes

Sometimes simple is good. No fanciness, no fondant decorations. Just good old fashioned birthday cake.

Yellow Butter Cake
Slightly adapted from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook

Ingredients:

● 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans
● 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
● 1 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising) *Don’t have cake flour? I recently made this cake with a recipe for it!*
● 1 tbsp. baking powder
● 1/2 tsp. salt
● 1 cup sugar
● 4 large eggs
● 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
● 1 1/4 cups milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners.

Into a medium bowl, sift together flours, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then beat in vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour; beat until combined after each addition.

Divide batter between the cupcake liners, I use 1/4 cup to scoop them in. Bake for 18 minutes, until golden on top.

Let cool completely before frosting. Best served the day of.

Nutella Cloud Frosting
Recipe from Sweetapolita

Yield: Enough to generously frost 12 cupcakes (I frosted 24)

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter (227 grams/8 ounces/2 sticks), softened, but cool

1 cup (125 grams/4.5 ounces) icing sugar (confectioners’ or powdered)

2 teaspoons (10 mL) pure vanilla extract

3/4 cup (125 grams/4 ounces) premium bittersweet chocolate

1/3 cup (100 grams/3.5 ounces) Nutella

1 tablespoon (15 mL) milk

Method:

1. In a bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, combine the icing sugar and butter and beat on low speed (I use #2 on my KitchenAid mixer) for about 1 minute.

2. Add vanilla, and beat on low speed until well combined. Add the melted and slightly cooled chocolate and beat on medium speed (I use #4 on my KitchenAid mixer) until smooth (about 2 minutes).

3. Add the Nutella and mlik and beat on med-high speed for another minute.

4. Brace yourself.

WIAW

What I Ate Wednesday: First post!

March 7, 2012

Thanks everyone for the sweet comments on yesterdays post about our new home 🙂 We are both very excited to move in!

You may or may not be familiar with a blogging event that happens every Wednesday here on the web. Created by Jennifer over at Peas and Crayons. Every Wednesday bloggers post what they ate the day before, usually, and share their food creations or new ideas for meals etc.

 

Jennifer says:

What WIAW is about
Celebrating one of the glorious things we all have in common: We all eat!
WIAW is about food and fun! It’s about making new friends, breaking out of a food rut, noting changes in your diet/lifestyle, inspiring yourself & others, embracing fruit & vegetables, nourishing your body with the foods that work for you, finding new ways to eat your favorite foods, and so much more <3
Celebrate blogging. Celebrate Food. Celebrate Individuality.
I’ve been blogging for almost four years, after beginning in 2008. Of course, I have only begun to blog more frequently in the past year or two. School sometimes gets in the way, but I’ve been trying to blog more often. As a part of this goal, I decided to join What I Ate Wednesday (WIAW). As Jennifer mentions on her site, people love to see other peoples meals, and get inspired to cook new and exciting recipes and ideas for eating healthier. I love reading other bloggers WIAW every week, so why not contribute as well?
This months ‘theme’ is Green. It fits because this month we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, a holiday festooned in green. It also fits in with Fitnessista’s Marvelous March – Making one Green meal a day
So! Here is my first WIAW!
Breakfast: 6:30 AM, Bowl of Rice Krispies with Almond Milk (still on my Allergy Diet, you can read about that here)
At about 10:00 am I decided I needed a little snack before the gym. I came across this post by Peanut Butter Fingers for Walnut Oatmeal Date Balls. They reminded me of Averie’s Raw Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough balls. They only have six ingredients! I altered my recipe a little to accomodate what I had on hand. I tried making these before here, but I didn’t pulse long enough to make it more of a ‘dough.’ This time they turned out much better!
Raw Vegan Almond & Date protein balls
Ingredients:
  • 7-8 dates, pitted
  • 1/3 cup old fashioned oats ( I used Gluten/Wheat Free )
  • 1/2 cup Almonds
  • Spoonful of Almond Butter
  • Tbs. Protein Powder
  • Chocolate Chips (optional)

Directions:

  1. Place all ingredients into a food processor and pulse. Continue until everything is blended together and a dough forms. This may take a few minutes. You can add more/less dates depending on consistency.
  2. Roll the dough into balls by hand and refrigerate until ready to eat.

You can really use whatever nuts you have on hand, walnuts, cashews, almonds etc. and use peanut butter (unless you have an allergy, like myself).

These are great to grab before a workout or as a sweet snack on the go.

I can eat almonds and almond butter, as I know I do not have an allergy to them, and I’m not sure you can be allergic to dates.. though Adam always says ‘you can be allergic to anything!’ But I felt these were safe as a snack. And I now know I have a wheat allergy, and I am going back to the doctor’s this week to find out my blood work results for the celiac test, so I used gluten free and wheat free oats from Trader Joe’s.

Post Workout Snack: Green Smoothie 12:30 pm – Almond Milk, Ice, Handful of Spinach, Banana. Blend in blender until liquified. Delicious!! + It’s Allergy-Diet Friendly 🙂

For Dinner I had planned on making black bean soup, but I remembered seeing this recipe and decided I wanted to make Turkey Burgers! These were really simple and SO so delicious.

Dinner: 6:30 pm Homemade Turkey Burger, crumbled Goat Cheese, Spinach, Homemade Cranberry sauce from Adam’s mom, Yam (sweet potato? depending on what you call it!) and Black beans.

This was SO Good. Definitely going to be dinner again tonight!.. Or lunch, depending on how hungry I get 😉

I only had enough turkey for two burgers.

Turkey Burger
Recipe adapted from:
From Hungry Girl Por Vida  

Ingredients:

1/2 medium onion, diced fine (pulsed in food processor)

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

Dash of Rosemary

1 pound lean, ground turkey

1 egg

3 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, sweat onions and garlic. Once onions become translucent, add rosemary and saute another minute. Do not brown or the garlic may burn. Set aside to cool.

In a large mixing bowl combine ground turkey, egg, breadcrumbs, and cooled onion/herb mixture. Mix gently to combine. Divide meat into 4 sections and shape into patties (about 1/4-1/2 inch thick), making a shallow well in the center. Refrigerate patties for 20 minutes to firm up.

Heat a heavy skillet or grill pan over medium-high heat. Sprinkle patties liberally with salt and pepper, cook, flipping only once, for about 4 minutes on each side.

Serve immediately.

 

So there! That’s my very first WIAW!!

Do you participate in WIAW?? Share a link to your page 🙂

If you don’t, what was your favourite thing you ate yesterday? Any new recipes you tried?

 

Life

Moving on Up

March 6, 2012

It seems like March madness has already begun. I’ve been pencilling in all my final assignments, essays, and projects into my calender on my desktop, as well as other events such as baby showers (for our new little niece!) and birthdays.

This past weekend was my brothers birthday, and this Thursday is Adam’s birthday! It’s even more exciting because he will be finishing his third year exam that day as well for his Electrical apprenticeship. We’re both students right now!

Other exciting things have been happening around here for Adam and I. Last night, while watching The Bachelor (yes, I’m guilty of watching that show and love seeing the train wreck that is Courtney), I remarked to Adam about how he thought he would be a bachelor in his new bachelor pad when he purchased his condo (that we now both live in).

The night Adam and I met was a funny one. I was having a going away party, as I was moving away to go to school on the island. I was really excited to be going away for school and living on my own. It was just before Christmas and after my last exam at my current university. Adam was waiting at his friends place to get the keys to his new and very first place of his own. My brother, who worked (and still works) with Adam, invited him out to my party. The funniest thing is that months before I met Adam he jokingly told my brother he would date his sister, as boys do, while not even knowing if he had a sister. As it turned out, Adam wasn’t going to be getting his new keys that night, and so he decided why not come out to the party.

Well, you can guess what happened next. Adam walked into the house, up my stairs and there I was standing at the top. My brother introduced us, and then I’m sure immediately regretted it in the next breath. Adam and I talked all night long, while my brother jokingly tried to separate us during the night. Adam says it was love at first sight. However, that may have had something to do with the scantily clad shirt I had decided to wear that night 😉 Before Adam left that night we said we’d ‘add eachother on facebook,’ the cliche thing to do, and the next morning I woke up and had a new friend request.

We flirted back and forth for a few messages before he had the courage to say “December 21, 2009 at 5:51pm Adam: So, I was also going to say, if you are ever in ____ and want to grab a coffee or something, give me a call, or really if you just want to grab a coffee or anything… my phone number is 778-***-**** ” To which I replied “Lol well im not in ____ often, but id love to get a coffee or something, maybe not coffee, since i dont drink it.. but a tea or a drink or something.” We’re both so suave. It was true, I really didn’t venture outside of my small town and little did I know I would later be moving in with him, to an area I seldom visted. Ever. We went on a secret date, before telling my brother, and then had several more dates within the two weeks before I moved away. We celebrated New years together, and then on the 2nd of January I moved to the Island.

The funniest thing is Adam thought my brother had an older sister, and I thought Adam was younger than my brother when I first met him. He is actually four years my senior, and my brother is two years older than me. Adam has been blessed with a very youthful face. I think he got it from his dad, who also looks very young. He will always get ID’d when we are out, and I will hardly ever get ID’d.

Apparently this has become our token pose

Needless to say, I only stayed on the island for one semester before Adam came over and helped move my stuff back home after four months of long distance dating, numerous ferry rides (I was sick of ferries), late night calls and skyping. And another four months after that, I moved in with Adam.

But two years later, no scantily clad shirt, and we are still together. We have lived together for just over a year and a half. Adam had bought a one bedroom condo, obviously not thinking he would meet someone the day before moving in who would eventually move in too, and take over every nook and cranny 😉 Over the last year we have done lots of renovating, painting the bathroom from burnt orange to grey, the bedroom from brown/green to charcoal, and the kitchen from brown/green to white as well as a fun accent wall in the living room, and touching up little things such as changing over the hardware to stainless steel from brass and installing a new ceiling fan and lights in the hallway and bathroom.

  

 

 

However, even with the renovations we have made, we can’t do much about the issue of space. We have one closet in the entrance, and two closets in the bedroom as well as a small linen closet in the bathroom. They are always stuffed to the brim, things are falling out constantly and we are forever cramming more items into them. They are about to buckle.

In the kitchen, my second home, our oven is always filled with 10+ baking dishes, baking sheets, pots and pans, and things are constantly falling out of the cupboards or off the counter top (I’m a messy cook) and there is little to no counter space due to my three KitchenAid appliances, Adam’s coffee machine and other utensils and containers. It is a real pain to have to take everything out of the oven before turning it on and cooking/baking and then having to put it all back into the oven afterwards.We also have a rather large KitchenAid roasting pan underneath our bed, and a brand new 10 piece KitchenAid pots and pans set at my Mom’s house that I have yet to use because, well, we simply have no space for them.

Simply put, we need more space. We have tools, lots of them, (Adam’s) in two of our closets, underneath my dresses and shoes, pots and pans under the bed and clothing racks under our couch.

So, a couple weeks ago while I was recovering from my wisdom teeth removal, and Adam’s sister was in labour, he thought it would be a great time to purchase a new house. We had only looked briefly at these places one day for fun the week before, and Adam decided that he would now buy one. They are brand new town homes being built, that will be finished in December. I thought it was a fitting month to move in, the month Adam and I met, and the month he moved into his ‘bachelor pad,’ that lasted about 24 hours. December seems to be a happening month for us.

The new place will be just over 1400 square feet, much larger than our 600 square foot one bedroom condo we are in now. It has four bedrooms, a giant kitchen with a massive island and TONS of drawers and storage (kitchen of my dreams), and a double garage (fit for lots of tools! no more tools in my closet). I cannot WAIT to move in. It is still 10 months away, but I am already thinking of decorating it in my head.

While I won’t miss things falling out of cupboards and closets, off the countertops and constantly moving the pots and pans in and out of the oven, I will miss our friends.

We are so blessed to live in a building with four of Adams best friends (two couples). They all went to school together, and have continued to have close relationships as they have all grown up. I think we take for granted how nice it is we know people in the builidng. Whenever we run out of eggs, sugar, flour or need to borrow some item we can always rely on them. We park next to each other, have one another over for dinner and lend a hand carrying in groceries or installing new ovens/dishwashers when asked and watching trashy shows like the Bachelor together on Monday nights. While we are not moving a significant distance from our current home, it is not quite the same as living down the hallway, and a couple floors apart. We will be about a 25-30 minute drive, depending on traffic, away from them. However, both Adam’s family and mine live only minutes away from us now, so we will be visiting often. Of course, I can’t wait until we are all settled at the end of the year so we can invite our friends over for dinners and catch up.

It’s a funny thing when you realize you are growing up. This year I have become an Aunt! I will be graduating from University (finally!), moving into a new home, beginning my career upon acceptance to the Teaching Program, and hopefully travelling to Europe this summer. It seems March madness will be here long after the 31st.