I came across this amazing blog and I had to share. Isn’t it amazing. It is so personal and unique. Makes me wish I studied Japanese longer wahhh. The author (Takashi Betsui) writes many blog posts simply by scanning pages of his moleskin journal!
Here is where I first learn’t about the blog (one of my favorite reads, I highly recommend it if you love Japanese culture/ marketing/ new product innovation).
I love photography. I’ve heard it said that digital photography is sad though because only the best pictures survive. The out-takes and the cast-offs are destroyed. Those to me are some of the best shots. The shots where we look unpolished, quirky, silly, and imperfect.
I wanted to share an outfit post today. Something I wore on the weekend. Instead of showing you only the best shot, I’m going to include some of the ones I would have edited out. Posing has always felt comical to me. I sabotage every shot I’m in. I hoped watching “Americas next top model” would help me find my best angles. I practiced poses in front of the mirror. I took picture after picture but I still haven’t found my posing mojo. You can see I’m trying to find my best angle. Where is it!? 🙂 lol.
I had to pull out the pink to go with my manicure.
A good tutorial on leopard print nails can be found here.
K.
Roar!
I started to do a leopard french manicure on top of a neutral nail. Step 1 complete. Then I got tired. I’m settling for oddly alien polka dot french?
Our neighbor was hit by a car last week! Don’t worry, He is alright minus a leg fracture. This unfortunate event surely deserved cupcakes.
One tough trooper cupcakes
Ingredients
– 1 Package store bought white cake batter
– (Whatever the store bought cake batter calls for in order to make it a cake)
– 2 packages of lime kool aid
Directions
– Mix the cake batter per the instructions on the back of the box.
– Once mixed toss in two packages of kool aid lime mix. (I found this to be too much lime and will use only one next time but my bf loved the one he tasted.)
– Bake per regular cupcake recipe (per back of box).
Once baked, ice the cupcakes and add the topping of your choice. I went with tough lime army men 🙂
Ps. I’m haven’t added my icing recipe because there isn’t one. I never measure but the ingredients are butter, icing sugar, vanilla, milk and food coloring if desired.
Where I plan to be on my lunch break, book in hand.
I love breakfast but I never have time in the morning to sit down. These were definitely a success, one I will be repeating to help add more fibre to my diet. As I’m on a modified diet right now I’ve minimized the processed sugar as much as possible. I have also added some spices to add some dimension to the muffins.
Low Fat Bran Muffins*
Ingredients
– 1 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
– 1 tablespoon baking powder
– 1/4 teaspoon salt
– 2 cups Bran Flakes cereal
– 1 tablespoon cinnamon
– 2 tablespoons cardamom
– 2 tablespoons nutmeg
– 1 teaspoon ginger
– 1 cup nonfat milk
– 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
– 1 eggs, slightly beaten
– 3 tablespoons brown sugar, firmly packed
– 3 tablespoons honey
– 2 tablespoons canola oil
Directions
– Preheat oven to 400F.
– Mix dry ingredients together.
– In a separate bowl mix all wet ingredients.
– Combine wet and dry ingredients. Mix well. Let stand for 3 minutes.
– Pour mixture into silicone muffin tray or a greased metal muffin tray.
– Crumble some bran cereal on top.
– Bake for 15-20 minutes (until brown, and a toothpick test confirms they are done).
*Adapted recipe. Original available here.
These were really good. I made mega muffins so my baking time was closer to 35 minutes (I had to cover the muffins with tinfoil for the last 15 minutes). Sadly, I lost much of my crunchy bran topping after baking because it didn’t adhere to the muffin top. Next time I’ll push the topping a little into the muffin before baking.
Hope you like them!
Mmmm fibre that doesn’t taste like twigs.
Yes. I promised more posts and I had fully intended to keep that promise.
My tummy unfortunately did not get the memo. Without going into detail with boring medical terms, I have an upset stomach. My cranky tummy seemed not to like the pasta salad I procured at a local shop on Tuesday and went on attack.
My Dr. has placed me on very strict diet. A diet where my food options are akin to baby food and liquids and I’m only allowed a portion size fit for a tiny poodle or maybe a bird.
Not being able to eat normally is torture. So what have I been doing to cope? Why reading my favorite food blogs of course!
You might think this would make it worse, and in some ways it does. But it does give me something super delicious to look forward to eating again in about 2 weeks time. Believe me I need the extra motivation to keep eating the meager little morsels currently in my dietary repertoire.
So here’s hoping that you enjoy these blogs as much as I do:
Raspberri Cupcakes
The blog is so inspirational. I love that successes and near misses are chronicled with such open candor and grace. Someday I swear I will try to make something on this site. Until I get the courage, I’m sure it will continue to make me drool.
Sweetapolita
Are you sensing a trend here? I love beautiful deliciously simple creations. This site never disappoints. I love the beautiful colors in all the deserts. I want to try making the citrus curd sooo badly. Soooon oh so soon.
Texana’s Kitchen
I love the whit and stories that accompany each delicious recipe. Jalapeño cheese bread, what? yes! that sounds devine…Oh wait now you’ve used this bread to make Grilled Cheese and Bacon Sandwich With Pickled Red Onions and Guacamole… (I’m foaming at the mouth now).
I was dying to use my new maple syrup. All last week, I kept opening the lid of the jug just to get a whiff of perfect maple goodness. So I decided to create a recipe to pair it with.
I have to say that this recipe turned out better than I imagined. The pancakes are not really sweet but more cocoa-y. As a result, the maple syrup was able to shine without making the whole dish overly sweet.
The fruit topping was a win as well! My bf has already requested “oven fruit”again; but the second time I made the topping, we enjoyed it over ice cream of course.
Chocolate chia pancakes
Mix all ingredients in a bowl, fry pancakes at medium heat until cooked. Recipe yields two pancakes.
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Oven Fruit
Place all ingredients in an oven safe dish. Toss. Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes Tossing again midway. 
Serve pancakes warm with oven fruit on top, drizzled with real maple syrup. Trust me the fake stuff does not compare!
If you don’t happen to have the real stuff on hand here are some wonderful resources:
Maple Syrup World (world wide shipping)
A great article on a common variety of syrup in Quebec.
Enjoy!
I’ve been crazy busy and haven’t had time to post properly. This is my apology.
Posts to come soon include:
Stay tuned!
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