That Time of Year Again

it's been a busy Birthday Week around here ! 

With everyone's busy schedules, my birthday this year has stretched from just one day to a whole week's worth of celebrating. Here is a brief recap:

On Wednesday the 22nd, I met with my very good friend A for a glass of wine. Which became wine and snacks. Which ended up being wine and snacks and dinner. We started at Boulevard in the Sutton Place Hotel for bubbles. Have I ever mentioned how much I love bubbles? From there we went to Cafe España for wine and charcuterie. They have a great Tempranillo by the glass (as any self respecting Spanish tapas bar should), and cure their own meats in house for salumi. We also has some crispy squid. Yum. Then is was over to a couple doors down and Central Bistro. More wine and bubbles and a squash risotto and chicken saltimbocca. Double yum.

Thursday the 23rd was my official birth day. I was scheduled to work, but it was a slow day, and so I was given the option to head home. But only after a surprise birhtday cake and a song from my friends at work. Once home, it was hot tea, a bubble bath with candles and then I spent some time with a good book curled up on the sofa.

Friday the 24th was another working day, with cocktails after work. And more bubbles.

Saturday, I celebrated with a Birthday Brunch with my family. We decided to do a whole bunch of nibbly things and appetizers and just do some serious grazing from the coffee table in the living room. Stuffed artichokes, baked cauliflower, pan fried crab cakes, brown sugar bacon wrapped potatoes, coconut shrimp....and this cake; which I made for dessert. The cake was two different layers; one chocolate rum, the other butter pecan. The frosting was dutch cocoa Bailey's and the cake was surrounded by wafer cookies with hazelnut creme. The top of the cake had Hagelslag, which is a Dutch food staple that I had growing up. Basically, it's chocolate sprinkles. But these were special chocolate sprinkles. I brought them back with me on my last trip to Amsterdam. Anyhow, just to be cheeky, I wrapped the cake in a pretty pink satin bow. I didn't get very good pictures of it, but here it is none the less. 

Sunday, April 26 was a Birthday Bubbles Brunch at Yew Restaurant in the Four Seasons Hotel with a bunch of gal friends. It was a fun event in which friends from different parts of my life (past work, present work, models I've worked with) were able to come together not knowing each other and leave as friends. Oh, and these beautiful roses were a gift, as well as a tea mug that reads "Do what you love" (insert excited hand clapping), and a blank sketchbook (double excited hand clapping).

So, here I am at the end of a fun filled week to celebrate my birthday. There were many beautiful and appreciated gifts, but the best gifts; the ones that will last for years to come are the amazing cirlce of friends and family who helped me celebrate.

A Year of Pretty - February 19, 2014

It's chilly outside. For Today's Pretty Post...these warm and inviting Moroccan wedding blankets.

So pretty with the little silver discs as decoration, and the different textures and fringes to finish the edges. I can certainly appreciate the time and effort it would take to make one of these; which is most likely why they are reserved for special occasions like weddings.

Called Handiras, Moroccan wedding blankets are hand woven in natural, undyed wool and cotton, which is why they would be so warm. They are the equivalent of our North American wedding dress. For months prior to her wedding, a bride-to-be and her family make the blanket together, while she is instructed on her new role as a wife.

The silver discs are thought to serve more than one purpose. They sparkle and flash in the light, so as to ward off evil spirits. The discs are quite costly for a family, so the more discs on a bride's blanket, the more prestige and wealth she is thought to bring to her husband.

The day of her wedding, the bride's family wraps her blanket around her as they sing songs praising her fertility, value and honour. She is then put on a mule or donkey, and with her family makes the trek to her new husband and new home. Often, she has an arranged marriage, and her new home could be the next village or over the next mountain range. So it helps to have a super warm and cozy blanket for the journey.

I have a cream coloured sofa, so one of these would fit right in at my place. Although I would probably have to put it away when my good friend A comes over for wine and cheese. Something tells me Tempranillo and these blankets would not make good company if they came in contact.

So even if you are not about to be a bride, I still invite you to grab one, a hot cup of tea, a good book and snuggle in and get warm!

A Year of Pretty - January 02, 2014

In keeping with yesterday's Year of Pretty post, I'm continuing the theme of china and saucers and tea.

Here is a beautiful photo from Tanya and her blog dans le townhouse. Specifically, it's from a post called Tea for Twenty where she talks about and shares photos of a Royal Albert set of cups and saucers her grandma owns.

I've often thought about serving an afternoon tea for friends. People just don't host afternoon teas as much. True, there are a number of hotels and restaurants in Vancouver where you can go and have high tea, but it will usually run you about $60.00, and everybody else around you is doing the same thing, and there's a man in a tuxedo playing Gershwin in the background and it's just not the same relaxed atmosphere you'd have if you have it at home in a comfy home with a cat curled up in the corner.

I remember growing up and going to Oma's house for tea. Each of us had our own cup and saucer. Oma's was purple violets, Opa's was yellow daffodils, mine was pink sweet peas and my mom's was white roses. I think my brother's had a scene of an English hunt with hounds and men on horseback in red riding coats.

The tea cups and saucers are now gone, but the memories of those visits are still with me. There are a lot of good memories to be had over a cup of tea with friends and family.

Note: Tomorrow's post may be slightly delayed. Our staff year end party is tonight and expected to go into the wee hours of the morning. As such, I have high doubts I will be mobile before noon tomorrow.

A Year of Pretty - January 01, 2014

Today is the start of a brand new year. As such, I have resolved to be more inspired, to be more creative, and to share more. I also resolve to wear more dresses than jeans but that's another story.

I'm not gonna lie. Most of these posts are going to be from Pinterest. I will try to include original content whenever I can. But I'm finding a lot of posts lately just link to some sort of  holding tank for images and don't really give credit to the original source. ESPECIALLY with recipes (sooo annoying! I then type in the recipe name into Google search, find it and post the original link to the recipe in the comments of the Pinterest post . . I know, call it my good deed for the day).

So, to start, here is today's Pretty Post to share with you: A set of floral saucers from uncovet.com. The saucers are vintage and have some crazing and minor chipping. But I think they are still lovely. Being vintage, it also makes the set unique and one of a kind.

Makes me think of tea and crumpets and all sorts of wonderful conversations with my mom on the sofa in the big bay window of her home.

Easter Brunch . . . times two !

This Easter weekend brought about not one, but two Easter brunches.

The first was hosted on Good Friday by my friend Sarah of Green Tomato Supper Club. Now, you know it’s going to be a good brunch when you ask if there is anything you can bring and your host replies “Perhaps some bubbly for mimosas….” Nice ! There can never be too much bubbly at a brunch.

It was a beautiful warm spring day, so we were able to sit outside under the cherry blossom trees and catch up with friends we hadn’t seen in a while. Sarah produced a beautiful spread, with quiche tartlets, cheeses, breads, individual caprese bites and her own made preserves. The dining room table was pushed to one side and set up as a buffet to allow more room for people to move around. Throughout the house were cheerful bouquets of daffodils . . .as well as several children and Mezzo the rather large roly-poly cat.

The next day was our family brunch. Mom and I decided to serve bacon wrapped scallops and an assortment of pickles, crackers, salsa and sliced cheeses to start. I know, I know…..bacon on Easter weekend. Not very Lent friendly. The weather being so beautiful, we sat out on the veranda and coloured eggs while nibbling on the spread. Mom grilled a delicious pork tenderloin with lemon and rosemary, while I made oven roasted potatoes and steamed broccoli.

For dessert I made some fun chocolate cups using balloons dipped in chocolate.  When the chocolate set, I snipped the neck of each balloon to deflate it and peel it away from the chocolate. The result ends up looking like half of an egg shell; perfect for the Easter theme. These I filled with a sort of blackberry apple fool, made using Mom’s blackberry apply jelly. Little bit of coconut for a nest, couple little chocolate eggs and some blueberries for garnish, and dessert is done. These can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Easter Sunday morning I finished decorating mini chocolate cupcakes. I had baked the cupcakes in those little condiment cups you get for ketchup so that they sort of looked like flower pots instead of the traditional cupcake wrappers. They also are the same cups used to dispense pills at the hospital, which is where they were going to be delivered. They were a bit tricky to remove from the wrapping, so I clipped into the side to create a starting point. Cupcakes decorated and packed up, it was time for scrambled eggs and cinnamon buns.

So, a full weekend with friends, family and feasting . . . .a perfect way to spend the Easter holiday.

Brunch at Yew

Ah…Sunday Funday!

Yesterday I had the pleasure of joining a friend I hadn’t seen in way too long for brunch. Initially, it was to be a whole gaggle of gals, but because of a nasty flu bug that’s going around and last minute cancellations, it ended up being just the two of us. Which was just as nice. It gave us a chance to catch up that we otherwise might not have had with a whole group.

I have several favourite places for brunching. This time, I chose Yew in the Four Season Hotel. It’s a beautiful room; open, full of light, interesting architectural features and lots of wood accents. We sat in a cozy booth for two, which was not butted directly up against the wall. Instead, there was a 12 inch wide wood “shelf” between the table and the backlit wall, perfect for hand bags and coats. No putting the purse on the floor or on another chair. It’s great when restaurant designers think of the comfort of the guest and combine it with function.

Yew does a 3 course brunch for $29.00. Essentially, you choose a starter, a main course and a dessert. I chose Lemon Buttermilk Pancakes to start, followed by a Goat Cheese and Chive Omelet and finishing with a Brulee Duo. My friend chose a Shaved Apple and Fennel Salad, a BLT Eggs Benedict and the Chocolate Explosion to end.

Instead of standard bread that arrives after ordering, we received little sugared mini donuts with a mixed berry mango dipping sauce. Warm doughnuts? For brunch? I’m in!

Yew also offers all their bottles of wine at 50% off on Sundays. Like I said….Sunday Funday! With just the two of us, we decided to skip on ordering a bottle and save that for when we’re able to have the whole gang. Instead, I had a peach bellini. Not the slushy, overtly sweet kind but the traditional, muddled peach nectar and champagne kind.

And so we enjoyed a nice leisurely two hour brunch catching up and chatting about life and its many twists and turns. Our jobs, our homes, our projects. Bad boyfriends. Family. Afterwards, it was off to Holt Renfrew for some post-brunch shopping.  We oogled over Chanel and Prada, decided that at 60% off, $7995.00 was still too much to pay for a blazer jacket; and then said our goodbyes, with the promise “let’s do this again soon”.

Dinner with Friends = Family Dinner

My girlfriend and I decided we needed to have a dinner party. Well, in truth, she had bottled wine with her roommate and it was time for the wine to be consumed. Not all 30 bottles mind you, but a healthy amount.

So Friday night we rounded up some friends. Or rather, SHE rounded up some friends while I sat at the bar drinking a martini while I waited. Then we were off to T&T market to find “provisions”. The girls in the group wanted to do salmon. But it’s January, so fresh salmon is not exactly plentiful.  Nor is asparagus. While they contemplated the fish in the display case, I took off to find the rest of the meal. Fresh green salad with sugar peas, mandarin sections and apple with a sesame oil red wine vinaigrette, steamed broccoli with lemon juice, yams baked in brown sugar and orange juice. When I found the group again, they had settled on chicken with coconut. Which meant a hunt for panko crumbs. Also picked up some gyoza to start, and some aloe vera juice and papayas to make muddled fruit vodka cocktails. Quick stop at the liquor store for the vodka and we set off for home.

I will say I definitely learnt the pros and cons of six people trying to prepare dinner in a tiny apartment with an uber tiny kitchen space; while you might think the work would go faster because of all those extra hands in truth it took much longer….mainly because we needed to take dance breaks and refill the beverages.

Divide the group into teams of two. Understand that not everyone is comfortable with a knife or knows to remove the seeds before juicing citrus. Know when enough is enough. Relax, have fun…it’s just food.

After a bit of prep work, a few fruity beverages and much laughter later, we sat down to a beautiful dinner with candles and the promised wine.

Today on Etsy - December 27, 2012

Found these unique and lovely coffee cups / tea mugs on Etsy today; offered up by BarkingSandsVintage.

Originally by Piero Fornasetti Milano and made in the 1960's, they would add a nice little bit of charm and whimsy to your kitchen, not to mention a smile to your guests' faces as you serve them.

I like tea mugs with lids. I find that I often let my tea sit too long and go cold once I become engrossed in a project. Then I remember, have to microwave the tea (not my favourite); or dump it and pour a new cup. I know....so tragic, so much hardship.

Hmmm, I think I'll make myself a cup of tea right now. Care to join me?