Year of Cookies - December

Hi Ladies!

So the 2015 has come to an end. It certainly was an incredible year! 

Christmas was great, but very busy! Besides the holiday hustle and bustle at work, we did a bit of travelling to see all of our family over the 6 short days we took off for Christmas. We headed to Port after work on the 22nd, celebrated my sister's birthday on the 23rd, did Christmas with my family Christmas Eve (complete with making cookies for Santa - or supervised as Talia made cookies for Santa), and took the last ferry home that night. We spent Christmas morning just the two of us relaxing at our place, before hitting the road to Princeton. We spent a couple snow-filled days at Corey's parents' house with his sisters, before heading back to the city. Then we spent the 28th at home all day to recoup after an exhausting week.

Here are a few photos from our white Christmas…

And now for the last instalment of the Year of Cookies!

Cranberry Shortbread Bars, Gingerbread Cookies,

Peppermint Sandwich Cookies, Whipped Shortbread, Rugelach

Week 48 - Cranberry Shortbread Bars, via Fork vs Spoon - baked for 22 minutes, cut into 12 bars
I was hunting for a good cranberry orange shortbread recipe when I came across these bars. They turned out great! The perfect kick off to the holiday season - a little sweet, tart, citrusy, nutty & oaty! I subbed in pistachios for the walnuts, thought they would be a bit more festive. I will definitely be making these again… especially since Corey ate 3 bars the day I made them!

Week 49 - Gingerbread Cookies, via Pastry Affair - baked for 7-8 minutes, made 64 cookies (mixed sized cookie cutters)
I haven't tried many gingerbread recipes, mainly because the ones I have tried turned out dry and crunchy. these have quite a bit of molasses, so they remained a bit chewy. We decorated them simply with some white icing and a few gold sprinkles.

Week 50 - Peppermint Sandwich Cookies, via Joy the Baker - baked for 11 minutes, 18 sandwich cookies

This recipe was a bit of a flop. In theory it should have worked great, but it just didn't come together the way I expected. I didn't use all my dough, it started to get too warm, yet crumbly, and rolling was becoming impossible. I'm not sure why she specifies not to chill the dough before rolling. I think it would have worked better after being chilled. I had to let my filling cool for almost 2 hours for it to thicken up. That being said, the flavours in these cookies were great - closest cookie I've ever made to an Oreo. And the filling has a nice peppermint flavour and isn't too sweet. But, the process of making the cookies was enough to make me not want to make the again.

Week 51 - Whipped Shortbread, via Corey's Amma - baked for 10 minutes, made 40 cookies 
This is Corey's Amma's (his Mum's Mum) recipe, and has been a staple for him at Christmas his whole life. When we started dating I had some his Mum made, and I immediately asked for the recipe. I have made them every Christmas since - for the last 9 years. And they have now become known as "Sha-oh's Special Shortbread", by my nieces anyway. This is a very simple recipe, only 4 ingredients, but is one I would recommend having a stand mixer for. The first few years I made these Corey's arm got quite the work out helping me whip the dough.

1 cup Butter
1 cup Maragine (you can not substitute this for more butter, it won't turn out the same)
1 cup Icing Sugar
1/2 cup Cornstarch
3 cups Flour
Mix all ingredients together in stand mixer.
When you first start the mix the dough it will become crumbly, keep mixing it will come together, until the dough becomes light and fluffy - almost resembling whipped cream. 
Drop by tablespoonful onto a lined cookie sheet.
Bake for 10 minutes, or until bottoms are just becoming golden.


Week 52 - Rugelach, via Food 52 - baked for 15 minutes, made 48 cookies 
this is a traditional Jewish cookie, and perfect for the holidays. the dough is more of a pastry, with equal parts butter and cream cheese. you can be creative with the filling, I followed the recipe for half of the dough - filling with a mixture of ground nuts & honey. Then I tried fig jam in one quarter of the dough, and raspberry jam and shaved dark chocolate in the last quarter. Some other ideas for fillings include different combos of nuts or dried fruits, chocolate & peanut butter, or nutella.


So, I did it. Challenge complete!
52 cookie recipes. Countless bags of flour & sugar, pounds of butter and cartons of eggs.
3 bottles of vanilla. 2 new oven mitts. 1 oven light bulb.

The ones that disappeared the fastest…
Dark Chocolate Pistachio & Smoked Sea Salt Cookies
Breakfast Cookies
Kitchen Sink Cookies
Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Seed
Cranberry Shortbread Bars

I'm trying to think of another culinary goal for 2016 - besides my usual bucket list of new recipes and techniques to try. Committing to once a week was a bit of a challenge this year, so maybe once a month. Pies, cakes, ice cream, bread? Or something savoury? I'll keep you posted.

We're spending our New Year's Eve in our traditional way - lots of movies and lots of snacks! Relaxing on the couch, just the two of us. We think it's the perfect way to wind down after the chaos of Christmas, and ring in the New Year.

Wishing all of you a wonderful year ahead! Happy New Year!

Sending love,

Xo, A

it's been too long.

Hello lovely ladies,

I'm 75% finished my Term 1 report cards (heeelllllppppp!) and thought that I should take a break before the comments get a bit hodgemodged (it's a word, I promise).
You girls were the first to come to mind as I thought - "who should come over for tea?". Unfortunately, you're not able to make the trip, so I'll meet you here instead.

It's been a while. too long.

This has been quite the year - full of crazy ups and downs. Hard to believe that it's coming to an end. There is, however, something appealing about a fresh year. I'm looking forward to 2016.

The past few months have been full of tears and healing as Jon & I mourned the loss of our little life at the end of August. We've spent many days wrapped up in blankets, with hot cups of tea, kleenex, and cuddles. It feels a bit now like we're coming out of the fog. I'm thankful for that. We think each day of the tiny little we were entrusted to love and care for, if only for a short time, and the amazing support we felt from everyone through the process. Thank you.

Part of the healing process - while wrapped in blankets and drinking tea - was spent reading and knitting, so that's what I'll share with you.

In pages:

- "Village of Secrets: Defying the Nazis in Vichy France" by Caroline Moorehead: This was bit more historical non-fiction than it was fiction. It was less of a curl up with a good book book and more of a learn about the war kind of book.

- "The Opposite of Loneliness" by Marina Keegan: This is a different kind of book than I usually pick up - a collection of writings of a 22 year-old Yale Writing student put together after she passed away shortly before her convocation. It was an interesting collection of short stories - fiction & non-fiction.

- "The Nightingale" by Kirstin Hannah: I have yet to pick up another book after this one and I finished it just under one month ago. I just know that it will take a very special book to top this one, so I've postponed picking up another. It was so good! Set in WWII France, it tells the story of two sisters' experiences while living in occupied territory and moving through the horrors of war. If you start this one, make sure that you've got a few hours (or an entire day) set aside solely for reading.

On my needles:

My goal for Christmas gifts this year was handmade holidays, so I've been knitting up a storm here.

- socks! x 4 pairs - I think I've hit my limit with these for a while.
- this Clarke Pullover by Jane Richmond is laying on my blocking mats currently trying to dry. I can't wait to wear it! It was a very fun, quick to knit sweater - a good one to start with. Practiced my hand at striping - lots of weaving in ends when I finished.
- these tinsel mittens by Drea Renee knits were such a fun knit: quick, easy, and a fun pattern. I knit two pairs this past weekend!
- this toque: another quick pattern that makes me excited for days up on the mountain in the snow.

these are some patterns that I'm hoping to cast on soon:

- Open Sky: the pattern looks gorgeous and I love cozy wrapped shawls.
- Lucy Hat: doesn't it look so cute?! I love it - Downton Abbey inspired.
- Watson Cardigan: I love the lace detailing on the back.
- Pome Toque: a fun cabled toque for chilly days.

They say knitting is like therapy. I'd have to agree. :)

I'm enjoying my new job as a Special Education teacher for a distance school - it's full of challenges and learning curves. every. single. day. I'm thankful for a job that challenges me though. I also get the pleasure of working with a couple kids each week - spending time outside, crafting, and baking. I get my kiddo fill, which is important when you spend most of your work hours on the computer (major adjustment!). Today is a gingerbread house baking day - I'm so excited!

Other than that, life is going well up here. Jon's out on his last hunting trip of the season - hoping he'll come home with a bit more to add to the freezer. He's been lucky to see a herd of elk the past few times that he's been out in the mountains - majestic!

What are your Christmas plans?
We will be here in CR for the Christmas Eve Service and then head down island for a few days to spend time with family and friends.

Hopefully we can squeeze in a real tea date over the holidays. Micah, we'll FaceTime you in.

Lots of love to each of you.
Miss you all.

Year of Cookies - November

Hi Ladies!

Another month has come and gone, and we're getting back into a routine.

Work is starting to settle down, even with Christmas shopping under way. And I'll be starting to split my time between all 3 stores more, which will be nice. The hour long commute is starting to get old.

This past week was a bit crazy for us. It started with us having to replace the alternator in our car - $700 later… so that wasn't the best way to begin the week. But then Tuesday came, and Corey texted me in the afternoon saying he had news and would tell me when he got home - which is just cruel, leaving me to wonder the rest of the day! So when he finally got home, he told me he was placed in a department at work - up until now he'd been on "the bench" spending time shadowing multiple departments, mostly imaging. So, he was told they had a position for him in small appliances. But not only that, he was also promoted from Assistant Merchandise Manager (Assistant Buyer) to Merchandise Manager (Buyer). This came as a shock after only being with the company for just over 3 months! And then he went to work on Wednesday, to start working with his new team, and found out he's not in small appliances, but major appliances. He is now the Buyer for Washers & Dryers and Freezers! Such a departure from anything he's done in the past, but he is really excited for the challenge!

We spent the morning in Whistler today. Took our time with the drive, and wandered around the village. There wasn't much snow up there yet, but it was a nice change of scenery.

And, I just have to put the final touches on Corey's birthday cake! I made this Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake from Molly Yeh. I'm not going to cover it in sprinkles though, instead it will be topped in a pile of mini peanut butter cups! Looking forward to digging in to it, after our dinner date tomorrow night!

Candy Bar Cookie Bars, Chocolate Chunk Pumpkin Seed Cookies,

Chewy Chocolate Caramel Cookies, Iced Oatmeal Cookies

Week 44 - Candy Bar Cookie Bars, via Joy the Baker - baked for 27 minutes, cut into 12 bars
Remember that solo Halloween I mentioned? Well, I wasn't exactly alone. Besides the company of Casper and Charlie Brown, I also had about 50 little chocolate bars comfy in a bowl next to me. Bad idea. I'm nicknaming these Halloween Hangover Bars. Which were a great idea in theory, but this recipe wasn't exactly what I had in mind, they turned out more like a blondie than a cookie. I feel like it needed more flour to create more of a dough vs. a batter. It also calls for you to mix white sugar and molasses - essentially making your own brown sugar. The bars turned out very chewy, which was good, but also very sweet! Not sure I'd make this again, but maybe something similar.

Week 45 - Chocolate Chunk Pumpkin Seed Cookies via Bon Appetit - baked for 13 minutes, made 32 cookies
I was having serious cravings for pumpkin seeds, and didn't get to roast any this year since we didn't carve pumpkins - they melt in our apartment. So, I figured if I can't roast some for snacking, I'll put some in cookies! These are a great Fall to Winter transition. A little nutty, a little spicy, and more than a little chocolately. I will definitely be making these again!

Week 46 - Chewy Chocolate Caramel Cookies, via Foodess - baked for 9 minutes, *half recipe made 19 cookies

I baked the first sheet and totally forgot to put down parchment paper, and the cookies spread a lot, and were under baked in the centre. For the second sheet I used parchment, but also chilled the dough (after balling) for about 20 minutes. The second batch definitely turned out better, they spread nicely while maintaining their shape, and were evenly baked. Not sure if it was the parchment, chilling the dough, my oven deciding to cooperate, or a combination.

Week 47 - Iced Oatmeal Cookies, via Annie's Eats - baked for 10 minutes, made 15 cookies 
These were some of the simplest cookies to whip up. They are not an overly sweet cookie, slightly spiced, and once iced they look pretty impressive - almost lacy. This dough would probably make a good base for some mix-ins without the glaze too.


Only one more month of cookies to come! Starting to get into the Christmas spirit, looking forward to holiday cookies!


Also, wishing Aalysia & Quinn a very happy 2nd anniversary! Hope you have a wonderful time in Victoria!

Sending love,

Xo, A

Year of Cookies - October

Hi Ladies!

Remember what I said about September being the busiest month of the year?
Well, scratch that. October must have taken that as a challenge.

I spent the first three weeks of the month working 10 hour days setting up the North Van store, which opened on the 24th - yay! The first week has been great, we've received an overwhelmingly warm welcome from the community. We also have a full teaching kitchen at that location, and are running lots of different cooking classes. I'm lucky enough to be able to take part in any class, any time. And Corey and I have taken part in two so far - Autumn Harvest and Cooking with Chocolate. You probably saw Corey's photos - he's the unofficial Cook Culture photographer. I really enjoyed being part of building the store, and looking forward to seeing what it becomes. The only thing I'm not loving is the hour long commute both to and from work everyday. But, at least I can use that time to just sit and read - trying to look on the bright side.

We made a trip home for Thanksgiving, which flew by. We threw together a last minute Thanksgiving dinner with Aaron & Michelle, and had one with my family. And I taught Kiana & Talia how to make apple pie! We also took my nieces out to Stamp Falls to watch the fish jumping up the falls. They all really enjoyed it, and were asking a lot of questions - especially Taila who had me read her every info sign along the trail.

We also made a trip up to Princeton the weekend after Thanksgiving. Corey's Grandpa was up from Colorado, so it was nice to visit with him. We went fishing on the lake a couple times - Corey finally got me fishing! I had 5 bites, one of which I pulled up right next to the boat. But, they all got away, with my worm. So we decided I was better at feeding fish than catching them.

And then Aaron & Michelle came for a quick visit, and we all went to the BC Beer Awards. Which was awesome, but that goes without saying.

Brown Sugar Shortbread, Cornflake-Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cookies,

Mini Black & White Cookies, Brownie Roll-Out Cookies

Week 40 - Brown Sugar Shortbread, via Food 52 - baked for 25 minutes, cut into 16 cookies 
This is another recipe out of the new Food52 Baking book. Its perfect for when a shortbread craving hits, and made with only 3 ingredients you'll already have on hand. The brown sugar gives it a richer flavour than other shortbread recipes I've tried, which is nice since its such a simple cookie.

1/2 cup Salted Butter (at room temperature)
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1 1/3 cups All Purpose Flour

1. Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy and pale. Add flour and stir just until incorporated.
2. Transfer dough into an 8-inch cake pan (square or round), and press it into an even layer with your fingers. Prick the dough evenly across the surface with a fork. Score the dough into the number of pieces you want - e.g. if you're using a circular pan score it into 16 triangles.
3. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes before baking.
4. Preheat oven to 325F (165C).
5. Back for 25-30 minutes, until the dough is a very light golden brown and the surface looks dry. Watch carefully so it doesn't get too dark, it will get darker as it cools in the pan.
6. Remove from the oven and immediately cut using the scored lines as guides. Let cool in pan before separating the pieces. The shortbread will keep in an airtight container for several days.

Week 41 - Cornflake-Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cookies via Martha Stewart - baked for 10-15 minutes, made 26 cookies
This recipe hails from Milk Bar (in New York & Toronto), whose name you may recognize from Master Chef's newest judge, Christina Tosi - who I love! However, I'm ruling this recipe the second major cookie fail of the year. Which is really disappointing, since it was one of the more time consuming recipes I've tried. I know our oven isn't perfect, but I can usually compensate for it's quirks, not this time. Or, maybe it was a combination of multiple factors - I'm still a bit confused on way these didn't work. I baked the first batch at 375F, as the recipe said, and after 10 minutes had to pull them out because the edges were starting to burn, while the centres were raw, and they were spreading into each other. So I tried turning the oven down to 350, and managed to keep them in the oven for 15 minutes before the edges started to burn, but again the centres were still almost raw. I'm kinda left scratching my head on this one. After my second attempt at baking them, I decided to give up and just let Corey eat the cookie dough. Oh well, they can't all be winners

Week 42 - Mini Black & White Cookies, via Food 52 - baked for 8 minutes, made 18 cookies
If a pancake and a cookie had a baby, this would be it. Down to the buttermilk in the dough, which is more like a batter. I used my cookie scoop, which is 1 1/2 tbsp, so the cookies were slightly larger then the recipe specified. And they spread a bit further than I was expecting, so some of them touched, but you couldn't tell once they were iced.

Week 43 - Brownie Roll-Out Cookies, via Smitten Kitchen - baked for 7 minutes, made 12 cookies (using a large cutter)
These cookies are pretty straight forward, using standard pantry ingredients, but they're a little twist on traditional roll-out cookies. I used a tulip cookie cutter, flipped upside down, with white icing, to make ghosts for Halloween. I realized I don't have any Halloween cookie cutters - I'll need to fix that.

Corey is spending the weekend in Princeton. When we were there a couple weeks ago his dad injured his knee pretty bad, so Corey is up there helping his parents get ready for winter - chopping firewood, clearing trails, pulling the docks out of the lake. And he'll hopefully get in some fishing while he's there. I chose to stay home this weekend, because I just needed a break after everything that went on this month. So, I've got a pretty awesome solo Halloween going on - watching Casper and It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. The only thing that would make it better is if I had Hocus Pocus. But, that is proving to be the most difficult movie to track down. Good thing I watched it with my nieces over Thanksgiving.

Looking forward to a quiet and cozy November, with a few adventures thrown in. We don't have much  planned, which at this point I'm thankful for.

Would love to hear what you've all been up to...

Sending love,

Xo, A

Year of Cookies - September

Hi Ladies!

Oh man, I am exhausted! This has been the busiest month of the year, by far!

We've had company for a large portion of the month - our little apartment was very cozy! Corey's sister Meagan for about ten days at the beginning of the month, in town for some courses in her Notary program. Then my sister & nieces came for the third weekend of the month, for Isabella's dance workshop, and Talia's 4th birthday! We explored Granville Island, spent a whole day at Science World, wandered through Queen Elizabeth Park & the Bloedel Floral Conservatory, and watched Honey I Shrunk the Kids while it was raining. Isabella had an awesome time at her dance workshop - she got to take classes with SYTYCD's Blake McGrath & Ricky Ubeda! And Taila had so much fun, especially playing Corey's "pliano", she asked if she could come have her next birthday here too!

Also, work has been insane! We are getting closer to getting the new store in North Van open - aiming to open just after Thanksgiving. It's basically me and my boss planning everything, and I'll be receiving all the stock and setting up the store over the next couple weeks. As well as overseeing all the receiving for the other two Vancouver stores, and inventory control. I've been working 9 hour days almost everyday. I'm very much looking forward to the new store being open, so I can finally take a break.

But, never mind all that… let's talk cookies!

Funfetti Shortbread, World Peace Cookies, Cream Cheese Cookies,

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies, Olive Oil & Sea Salt Cookies

Week 35 - Funfetti Shortbread, via Fork to Belly - baked for 9-10 minutes, made 30 cookies (depending on the cutter you use)
I had a shortbread craving, and found this fun twist on a classic. But, despite my love of sprinkles, I think I prefer my shortbread plain. 

Week 36 - World Peace Cookies, via Food 52 - baked for 11 minutes, made 21 cookies
When I came across the recipe, based on the name alone, I couldn't resist testing them out. They are kinda crumbly, kinda chewy, and very chocolately. Not sure if they live up to their name, but they are a tasty little cookie.

Week 37 - Cream Cheese Cookies, via Food 52 - baked for 12 minutes, *3/4 recipe made 10 cookies
I was intrigued when I saw this recipe while flipping through one of my latest additions - Food 52 Baking. It only uses 5 ingredients, and I had some cream cheese to use up. Little did I know Corey had snuck some before I made the cookies, so I only had 3/4 the amount I needed - hence the 3/4 recipe. These cookies where super simple to whip up, and have a lovely tang from the cream cheese.

Week 38 - Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies, via Joy the Baker - baked for 12-13 minutes, made 20 cookies
This is my second time making this recipe, I first made it last fall. I was first inspried to try it after having an Apple Walnut Oatmeal cookie at one of our favourite coffee shops, Matchstick. When I first made them they didn't turn out great. They were very wet, and I was guessing it was because I didn't cut the apples small enough. But, they had the perfect fall flavours, so I was determined to give them another go. This time I cut the apples really small, in about 1/4" cubes. They turned out much better this time around, so I think that was the key. This has also made me want to bake apple everything!

Week 39 - Olive Oil & Sea Salt Cookies, via Butterlust - baked for 10 minutes, made 16 cookies

I ran out of butter. That's how I chose this recipe. I have been seeing a lot of olive oil recipes, and curious about how it would compare to recipes made with butter. The cookies turned out very moist, and had a slightly different flavour, almost more savoury.


Besides having a busy month, I am so happy fall is here! We've been soaking up the gorgeous autumn sunshine, and loving the cooler temperatures. We went for a hike up Mount Seymour last weekend, and are planning some adventures for the coming weekends. Looking forward to apple everything - I'm anti-pumpkin, if you didn't know. And, of course, drinking lots of tea! As Aalysia mentioned, David's Peanut Butter Cup tea is a new favourite.

We've gotten back into the habit of reading every night before bed. Corey just finished The Martian, and loved it. Looking forward to seeing the movie this weekend. I just finished The Girl On The Train, which was hard for me to get into at first, but was good in the end, even though I saw the "twist" coming. I just started My Name Is Memory by Ann Brashares (author of The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants). I'll let you know how it is.

I'm also in this phase where I just want to clear out our apartment, get rid of everything we don't need - which is quite a bit. I think the craziness of life is making me want to simplify our house. But I'm in a major nesting phase with the colder weather moving in. Hoping to make a few changes at home.

Hope all of you are doing well. Thinking of you often.

Sending love,

Xo, A

Hello Girlies! 

It has been a while since I have posted as well…. 

As you all now Quinn and I bought a house. We have been working on and around the house this summer, it has been great. Dad came this past weekend and helped Quinn and I put in a lawn… we are patiently awaiting the seed to root! 

Now that Fall is approaching, I will be burying myself in blankets, drinking plenty of tea and knitting lots with the fire place on. My friend is having twins in May, so I have to get knotting these blankies for the babies. Alysia Gave a[me an idea to boarder the blanket with a different colour. I wasn't sure what I was going to do for my friend to differenciate between the two babes. I think that will work! 

Alysia gave me a new Tea from Davids…"peanut butter cup" DANG is this stuff good! I know in Kristine's Care package a few new teas were sent in there as well, Kris what did you think of those? 

Quinn and I are going to an AC/DC concert next week. it was part of Quinn's birthday gift this year. It will be fun to watch. it's their last tour apparently. Quinn said one of the singers is getting dementia, so sad, but he has a teleprompter to remind him of his words. 

For Quinns Birthday last weekend, I created a "Mulligan Games" day of events. Field hockey relay, basketball, football toss, bike race, golfing (driving and putting), hockey shoot, boccee ball and sprints. It was so much fun! 

I tried putting up Photo's but i'm having issues… When Quinn gets home I'll have him help me out. 

Love you ALL!! Chat soon! 

Post wedding and life recap!

 So it's already September, the year is just flying by. Getting settled back into life has been great. Wasn't imagining it to be all that different, however it's strange how some extra metal on a finger changes things-in a good way. Maybe more for my husband, he's showing off his bling at the hospital. Had to teach him how to display it the most manly way! haha. Anyhow, my aunt's and in law's have been sending us some pictures and because I can't wait till the professional ones are done I thought I'd share some here.

Well, hope everyone is doing well. Miss you all, looking forward to fall and everyone's projects and tea time adventures to be posted. 

<3 K

Happy 26th Kristine!

Happy 26th Birthday Kristine!

Flashing back to the first birthday of yours we spent together. The beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Wishing I could be with you drinking champagne and eating cake. Cheers to you!

Lots of love, A

Year of Cookies - August

Hi Ladies!

Another month has come and gone. It feels like I blinked and a month passed. Work has been insanely busy, and I've been splitting my time between to two stores - working 9 hour days most of the time. I'm hoping things will quiet down a bit, but it will probably just get busier as we get the North Van store set up - planning to open beginning of October.

Corey is loving his new job! The first few weeks have been great, he is so happy, and grateful for the change. The office building has all the amenities he could need - awesome cafeteria, gym, dry cleaning, car wash - one day he just might not come home! I'm excited to see how it progresses over the next few months, and to see what department he ends up in.

Oh, and Squamish Fest, that was an experience! Long story short - the music was great, the festival was awful. It was just very disorganized for it being the 5th year, and the four of us walked away feeling like it was an experience was never need to have again, and like we are all very mature, responsible adults. But, the music was incredible! The highlights were James Bay, Vance Joy, Sam Smith, Of Monsters and Men, Mother Mother, Alabama Shakes… and being front row for Mumford and Sons!

Brookies, Kitchen Sink Cookies, 

Kitsilano Cookies, Flourless Double Chocolate Pecan Cookies

Week 31 - Brookies, via Life in the Lofthouse - baked for 9-10 minutes, made 42 cookies
These are the best of both worlds - for when you can't decide, which is an issue I have often. They are a little more work than most cookies, since you have to make two batches of dough and smoosh them together, but worth it in the end. I think I'll try a half recipe next time, but it would be a great recipe for a crowd.

Week 32 - Kitchen Sink Cookies, via Fork to Belly - baked for 8-9 minutes, *half recipe made 19 cookies
I'm on a chunks-in-my-cookies kick at the moment, and these definitely filled that craving. They are a simple drop cookie, that you could really add in whatever you have on hand. I subbed the butterscotch chips for toffee bits, that's what I had in the pantry. They turned out a bit sweeter than I expected - maybe because of the white chocolate or the coconut, although I used unsweetened coconut.

Week 33 - Kitsilano Cookies, via Foodess - baked for 11 minutes, *half recipe made 18 cookies
I've had my eye on this recipe for a while now. There used to be a cafe on 4th & Yew here in Vancouver, called Kits Coffee. We used to go there all the time for coffee with Corey's sister Stacey when she lived down the street from there. It closed a few years back, and is now 49th Parallel/Lucky's Doughnuts - which we still visit frequently. I remember always seeing these cookies, and being intrigued. So, when I found this recipe it immediately went of my to-do list. They could totally pass as healthy in my kitchen - I'm not going to lie, I ate them for breakfast the other day. I subbed the flax seeds for ground flax, and the currants for dried cherries.

Week 34 - Flourless Double Chocolate Pecan Cookies, via Martha Stewart - baked for 18 minutes, made 12 cookies
It's that time again, I have a stash of egg whites in my freezer - keeping my bananas company. And we were planning a visit to The Mulligans', so a flourless cookie was in order. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans, bringing a storm and power outage, so our visit was postponed. These were almost too simple - six ingredients, no mixer required. I was intrigued by the fact that you don't need to whip the egg whites, and you add the wet to the dry - which goes against the usual cookie method. I subbed the 1 1/2 cups of pecans for a mix (about 1/2 cup each) of pecans, hazelnuts and cashews. The cookies turned out huge! I would probably make them smaller next time, and adjust the baking time accordingly. But, they are lovely shiny, crackly, and chewy.

So, summer is coming to an end. I'm still feel like I'm trying to get back into a routine, the change in seasons may help with that. It has been pouring rain here for the past few days, and is supposed to continue for the rest of the week. I don't mind it much though, feels like home. And its a good excuse to curl up on the couch with a cup of tea.

Wishing we could all be together, even just for an afternoon tea.


Sending love,

Xo, A

Year of Cookies - July

Hello Ladies!

Well, July has come and gone. A month we were all waiting for, for what felt like forever! 

The time we spent at home went by so quickly! But it was definitely an unforgettable 10 days. I don't think everything that happened really sunk in until the week later when we were settling back into our routines.

Kristine and Martin's wedding day was incredible! I couldn't have imagined it going any better, and I hope everything you had imagined it would have been, Kristine. I can not wait to see the photos!

Frosted Red Velvet Cakies, No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars,

Breakfast Cookies, World's Greatest Cookies

Week 27 - Frosted Red Velvet Cakies, via My Name Is Yeh - baked for 8 minutes, *half recipe made 13 cookies
Molly's blog is wonderful, following her travels around the states, and her life with her farmer husband - who she loving refers to as Eggboy. This recipe is originally from the Top With Cinnamon book, which will probably become part of my collection one of these days. I haven't made anything red velvet before, so these were a nice intro. You can either use sour cream or greek yogurt in this recipe, I used sour cream because I had it on hand, but they would both yield similar results. And is there anything better than cream cheese icing? Sweet and tangy perfection. 

Week 28 - No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars, via Handmade Charlotte - 8x8 square pan cut into 16 bars
I was playing a bit of catch up this month, and after the heat we had on our trip home I couldn't bear turning on the oven. So, I opted for a no-bake recipe. Not exactly cookies, but delicious none the less. The peanut butter layer tastes like the filling in those pirate cookies - my sister was obsessed with those when we were little! I added a little sprinkle of flour de del, because I put it on everything. These were extremely sweet, I could only handle 1/2 a square at a time. I have a very similar recipe that has oats in it as well, I think that would cut the sweetness.

Week 29 - Breakfast Cookies, via Gimme Some Oven - baked for 11 minutes, made 19 cookies
These are like a cookie-muffin hybrid, and totally expectable for breakfast. The recipe comes from the wonderful book Seriously Delish by the author of one of my favourite blogs, How Sweet Eats. I modified the recipe slightly, to suit what I had on hand. I didn't have whole wheat pastry flour, so I used half whole wheat flour and half self rising pastry flour. And since the self rising pastry flour has baking powder and salt already added, I skipped those ingredients. I also subbed the coconut oil for butter, and the dried figs for dried cranberries. I would have loved to have dried figs, but they aren't a very common thing to see in the grocery store, maybe Whole Foods would have them. This recipe would be a great base to add different dried fruits, nuts or seeds to. It was also a great way to use up some of the 13 frozen bananas I had stashed in our freezer! I have a feeling I'll be making more of these, Corey's reactions was "These are amazing! I think they are some of the best cookies you've ever made!"

Week 30 - World's Greatest Cookies, via The Sugar Hit - baked for 9-10 minutes, made 19 cookies
AKA Salted Caramel Chocolate Peanut Oat Cookies. I baked these for about half the time the recipe called for - 6 minutes, made the indent, then another 3-4. Not sure why you would need to cook these for 15-18 minutes - I know my oven runs hot, but thats crazy! I probably should have cooked the caramel a little longer the thicken it, but I was afraid it would burn. I thought they would take a lot longer to come together than they did which was nice. I don't know if I would go so far as to call them the world's greatest, but they are pretty impressive.

Now we're looking forward to Squamish Fest next weekend! This time next week I'll be watching Sam Smith! I'm not really sure all to expect of the festival other than the amazing line up of bands - of which I'm most excited about; Mumford & Sons, Of Monsters & Men, Vance Joy, Bahamas, Mother Mother, and one of my new favourites, James Bay. If you haven't heard of him before you should check him out - I've been loving his song Craving.

Once we're back from Squamish that's it for events for the summer. I'm almost excited to have nothing to plan for, to just relax and take each weekend as it comes. But as for work, I'll be hitting the ground running, gearing up for opening our North Van store in October. 

Also, Corey had some exciting news! Its a long story, but I'll just keep it short. At the end of June Corey was contacted by the HR department for Best Buy Canada, they were looking for a camera buyer. He was extremely excited about this opportunity because he was wanting to get out of Broadway Camera. Anyways, a month and FOUR interviews later… he was hired! He will be starting at Best Buy August 17th, as a Assistant Merchandise Manager (AKA Assistant Buyer), and will be working at the Canadian Head Office in Burnaby. He isn't sure what department he'll be in yet, but he is really looking forward to it. His last day at Broadway is the 5th, then we'll go to Squamish, and then he's going to take the week off prior to starting at Best Buy. 

So, what have all you ladies been up to this summer?

Sending love,

Xo, A

Happy Birthday to ALL

I can't help but re-surface this photo-oldie but goodie, as evidently we are becoming too! Too soon to be cracking jokes at our age-maybe?!

Any how, Happy birthday to all those of whom I've missed via the blog-so in celebration of all enjoy this little throw back and remember how your skin used to suffer for the sake of fashion-puka shells and sunburns, maybe that was just me?!

Love, Kristine xo

Happy 26th Micah!

Happy 26th Birthday Micah!

Thinking back to the girls weekend we spent at Qualicum Beach.

Wish we could all celebrate with you, but I'm sure your boys spoiled you!

Lots of love, A

Year of Cookies - June

Hi Ladies,

2015 is half over. Also, it is so HOT here!

Those are the two thoughts that have been running through my mind for the last few weeks.

Other than that we've been keeping busy, work mostly, and adventuring when we can. 

We had a great visit home Father's day weekend. Spent the afternoon at the Harbour Quay with my sister and the girls - doughnuts and the clock tower, always good ideas. We watched the year end dance show, which was awesome! The girls were in 21 dances between the three of them, so they were an stage for a solid half of the show. And we had our first lake day of the season! All in all, a very successful weekend.

Dark Chocolate Pistachio Smoked Sea Salt Cookies, 

Strawberry Shortcake Cookies, Flourless Double Chocolate Almond Cookies,

Oatmeal S'mores Cookie Bars, Watermelon Slice Cookies

Week 22 - Dark Chocolate Pistachio Smoked Sea Salt Cookies, via Joy the Baker - baked for 17 minutes, made 24 cookies
Without. A. Doubt. My favourite cookie so far! And totally worth the splurge on pistachios - why do they have to be so expensive anyways? I've already expressed my love of Maldon salt, but this smoked salt is even better! I need to send you all some. It adds a little campfire essence to these cookies - total summer vibes.

Week 23 - Strawberry Shortcake Cookies, via Joy the Baker - baked for 16 minutes, made 20 cookies
These are very similar to Joy's Strawberry Cream Scones, but with the substitution of buttermilk and the addition of nutmeg & sweet vanilla glaze. I baked the first batch for 18 minutes and my temperamental oven brunt them, so I had to reduce the time and keep a close eye on them.
The first two cookies this month are out of Joy's cookbook Homemade Decadence, which quickly became one of my favourites. And I happened to find a link to to full copy on Google Books!

Week 24 - Flourless Double Chocolate Almond Cookies, via Gratinee - baked for 7 minutes, made 16 cookies
I had been looking for a recipe to try using the egg whites I had frozen - because that's a thing! And it worked like a charm. I was a bit worried when I had added all the dry ingredients and it was looking like brownie batter, and still had melted chocolate to add. I thought I would be smearing batter on the cookie sheet, but it actually thickened up a lot and formed a dough. These cookies are intensely chocolatey, crisp on the outside and a bit chewy & gooey on the inside. I think I would try mixing in the almonds or another type of nut into the dough instead of on top. And, I don't think the fact the egg whites had been frozen made any difference.

Week 25 - Oatmeal S'mores Cookie Bars, via Spoon Fork Bacon - baked for 30 minutes, made 12 squares
I have been craving a campfire, but we have a fire ban on now. So, I had to find a recipe to recreate the sense of the campfire in my oven. These squares were just as gooey as s'mores over the fire. I used an 8"x8" square pan, but the ingredients could have easily stretched into a 9"x9". I used 6.5oz chocolate chips vs 8oz, and 3oz marshmallows instead of 6oz, because I thought it would be too much. I'm happy with the choice on the chocolate, but I think I could have kept the full amount of marshmallows since they did melt down a lot, but still gooey. I'll definitely make these again, but in a 9"x9" pan.

Week 26 - Watermelon Slice Cookies, via Taste of Home - baked for 8 minutes, made 48 cookies

These cookies are so cute! As soon as I found this recipe I knew I had to try them. I skipped the first chill, which resulted in the dough melting a bit in my hands when I was trying to assemble the layers - at 9am, it's that hot here! After the doughs were layered I chilled the dough for 8 hours. I also swapped the almond extract out for vanilla.

Looking forward to the mid-week holiday tomorrow. We're thinking of heading out to Golden Ears Park to explore.
Happy Canada Day!

Sending love,

Xo, A

Happy 26th Aalysia!

Happy 26th Birthday Aalysia!

Flashing back to 8th grade and our trip to Pinkerton… before the flood.

Excited to celebrate with you tonight at your new home!

Lots of love, A

Year of Cookies - May

May has been wonderful, busy, but wonderful.

Work has been crazy, starting the month organizing and working at EAT Vancouver. And we're planning to open a new store on the North Shore in the fall, so there is lots of planning going on. I'll be getting to help a lot with the set up of the store, so I'm really looking forward to it.

We had a wonderful visit home for Mother's Day weekend. Got to spend some time with Aaron & Michelle. Spent lots of time with my parents, which doesn't usually happen because my Mum usually works weekends. And I made sugar cookies with my nieces. Talia remembered all the steps, after making them for the first time at Christmas. And was even rolling the dough out herself! Total baking prodigy!

We've been trying to make the most of our weekends by getting an early start to our days - by early I mean about 5:30-6am. Enjoying the outdoors before the rest of the city wakes.

On the cookie topic - I can not believe how much butter, flour and vanilla I've gone through in the past 5 months! It's crazy! I guess the cookies aren't entirely to blame - I've made a few strawberry rhubarb crumb pies. This month I dug back through the Joy the Baker archives, with mixed results. And I made my first Martha Stewart recipe, which is kind of hard to believe.

Salted Chocolate & Vanilla Cookies, Chocolate Chunk Cookies with Muscavado

Flourless Peanut Butter & Jelly Cookies, Dark Chocolate Sour Cherry Cookies

Week 18 - Salted Chocolate & Vanilla Cookies, via Joy the Baker - baked for 9 minutes, made 32 cookies

These cookies are a bit of work, but totally worth it. They are a cross between a shortbread and sugar cookie, and the best of both worlds - chocolate & vanilla. I used vanilla extract, because I couldn't justify using 1/4 of a vanilla bean, but I'm sure that would add even more depth of flavour.

Week 19 - Chocolate Chunk Cookies with Muscavado, via Flora Shedden- baked for 11 minutes, made 13 cookies
I've been looking for more recipes to use up my muscavado sugar, so when I saw these I knew I had to try them. The first thing we thought when we tasted these was Chips Ahoy! I'm not sure what gave them that flavour, maybe the muscavado, but I have never made a chocolate chip cookie that tasted so similar to Chips Ahoy.

Week 20 - Flourless Peanut Butter & Jelly Cookies, via Joy the Baker - baked for 10-11 minutes, made 17 cookies
I was intrigued by these cookies because they only used 4 ingredients. I used both berry jam on some and fig jam on a few. However, they weren't totally successful. I found them too sugary, probably due to the lack of flour. And I haven't made many thumbprint cookies, so I'm not sure if I made the divot too deep, or put too much jam in, or what. But half of my cookies ended up with holed in the centres, completely buckling under the jam. I think for my next thumbprint cookies I'll try something with a bit more stable dough.

Week 21 - Dark Chocolate Sour Cherry Cookies, via Martha Stewart - baked for 10 minutes, *half recipe made 20 cookies
Dried cherries are one of my favourite things, so when I came across this recipe I had to try it. They turned out a bit thicker than pictured. But they are intensely chocolately, and the cherries add a perfect brightness.


Not much planned for June yet. Just a visit home for the girls' dance show, and Father's Day. And maybe a bit of sprucing up around the apartment.

I know there is lots going on in all your lives, would love to hear about it!


Sending love,

Xo, A

Year of Cookies - April

April seemed a bit more calm than the last few months. Just working away, and trying to get outside as much as possible.

We went home for Easter, and had a good visit with my family. We set up multiple Easter egg hunts for the girls, which they loved. I tried to get them psyched about pie, but that didn't happen. But when we were out getting groceries for Easter dinner Isabella convinced me to buy marshmallows, so we made rice krispie squares. And when we were finished Talia says, "That's it?!" I guess she feels she's mastered cupcakes and sugar cookies, so she needs more of a challenge - the 3 year old master baker that she is.

And last weekend we went to Princeton to visit Corey's parents. He spent most of his time fishing with his dad, out in the canoe a few times and off the dock. He was using his fly rod for the first time, mostly just practising his cast. But, just as we were deciding to call it a day and pack up to had home, he caught a fish! A little 7" rainbow trout, which was too small to keep, so he released it back into the lake. But it was so exciting! Seeing how excited he was and being right there next to him as he reeled it in, totally made me want to start fishing with him. So we'll see how that progresses.

Meyer Lemon Meltaways, Easter Egg Brownie Cookies,

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies, Salted Brown Sugar Toffee Cookies

Week 14 - Meyer Lemon Meltaways, via My Baking Addiction - baked for 13 minutes, made 29 cookies

I think these were the first slice cookie I have ever made, which seems kind of odd. I think I sliced mine a bit too thin, but they were perfectly lemony and slightly sweet, just from the icing sugar, and great with a cup of tea.

Week 15 - Easter Egg Brownie Cookies, via Foodess - baked for 10 minutes, *2/3 recipe made 29 cookies
This was a great way to use up leftover mini eggs… I know, what do you mean leftover? There is never been such a thing in our house, so this gave me a great excuse to raid the marked down Easter candy at the grocery store. And I hid the last half of the bag in the pantry, to be discovered at a later date. These cookies are just like brownies, without the wait time! They are also great without the chocolate dip and crushed mini eggs.

Week 16 - Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies, via Foodess - baked for 9-10 minutes, made 33 cookies
These cookies are everything I crave in a cookie - crisp, chewy, chocolately, slightly oaty & slightly peanut buttery.
Also, if you don't know Foodess, I suggest you check her out. She's based in Vancouver, and has a great collection of straight forward, fresh recipes. I've made quite a few of them - including these Chocolate, Pistachio, Cranberry Granola Bars.

Week 17 - Salted Brown Sugar Toffee Cookies, via Wit & Vinegar - baked for 11 minutes, made 22 cookies
This is actually Joy the Baker's Brown Sugar Cookie recipe, just with the addition of some toffee (skor) bits and a little sprinkling of flaky sea salt. They are nice and chewy from the brown sugar, and lightly spiced from a touch of cinnamon & ginger.


I've been spending the last few days at work getting geared up for EAT Vancouver, at BC Place this weekend. Our store will have one of the biggest booths, right across from the chef's stage. So I'll have a front row seat on Saturday for Anna Olsen - jealous Kristine?

What are all of you up to?


Sending love,

Xo, A

Happy 26th Ella!

Happy 26th Birthday Ella!

I pulled this one out of the archives… taken about 19 years ago.

Hope your day is filled with joy!

Lots of love, A

happy Easter

Epic Kitchen fail today ladies.

Tomorrow we are having our family Easter dinner and I was on dessert. Everyone one loves brownies.  Real brownies! 👏 so I volunteered my amazing baking skills... Anyways I think I accidently put self raising flour in the plain flour Tupperware container.  Now I have an oddly dense cake. Which I am sure still taste amazing. Just not Brownies. 😢

Anyways on that note..

Kristine got your wedding invitation in the mail. So lovely! Hopefully we may be home for a wedding shower or something like that before we go home.

Aarons getting a bit worried about the content on this blog. He thinks it's a place we go to winge about our husbands😳 I told him no such thing! Hehe


Looking forward to coming home.  Not long now.  Xoox

Year of Cookies - March

March came in like a lamb and is going out like a lion, in terms of busyness. 

This last week has been crazy! Work has been super busy, and we had a very full weekend celebrating Aaron's birthday with him and Michelle here in Vancouver - with some very special guests, Martin & Kristine! Which I had kept a secret from Corey since December - that's right, I'm so proud of myself for that! He was in shock, teared up a bit, and exclaimed "What is happening!?" 

It was wonderful.

Another accomplishment this month… 

Doing the dance to Spice Girls' "Stop Right Now" at our neighbourhood pub in front of my co-workers (and the rest of the crowd), and winning a pint. That's right. All that dancing to Spice Girls in elementary school finally paid off!

Sour Cherry Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies, One Pan Skillet Cookie, 

Chocolate Stout Crinkle Cookies, Vanilla Bean Shortbread, 

No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bites

Week 9 - Sour Cherry Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies, via Bakers Royale - baked for 10 minutes, made 36 cookies
I think this is the closest I've come to a cookie fail so far. I thought this recipe would be similar to my "kitchen sink" oatmeal cookies I make when I've realized how many random small amounts of bulk nuts, seeds, dried fruit, chocolate, etc I've collected in my pantry, But, when I was mixing the dough it was really forming a dough, it was a weird granola-like texture, unlike any cookie I've ever made. I scooped balls of dough and really had to compact them. Then half way through baking they kind of started cracking, and I had to squish them together with the back of a spatula. It was a really weird experience, and they turned out okay. But I probably won't attempt these again.

Week 10 - One Pan Skillet Cookie, via Sophistimom - baked for 17 minutes in a 10" skillet
After the previous week's disappointment, I felt I needed to stick with a tried & true household favourite. We Corey makes this whenever we get a cookie craving, and need a quick dessert. I love it because you make and bake the whole then in the skillet. Our 10" cast iron skillet is probably the harder working item in our kitchen, we use it at least once a day. Bake until golden on top and around the edges, but still soft in the centre. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Week 11 - Chocolate Stout Crinkle Cookies, via The Beeroness - baked for 8 minutes, *half recipe made 13 cookies
In the spirit of St. Patrick's Day I had to make cookies with beer. I made these with Parellel 49's N2 Milk Stout, which is a bit sweeter than a regular stout and quite flat because they use Nitrogen to carbonate it. I love baking with the combination of beer and chocolate, usually adding beer to chocolate cakes & brownies, but I haven't tried it in cookies yet. It adds a depth of flavour and enhances the chocolate. I also haven't made chocolate crinkles before, but they are a staple Christmas cookie Corey's Dad makes every year. For these cookies I refrigerated the "dough" - it will be more like batter - overnight (about 22 hours) and it firmed up a lot. She warns not to over bake the cookies, so I pulled them out at 8 minutes. They were quite gooey in the centre when I tried one, I probably could have let them bake a minute or two longer, but they did firm up a bit once they cooled completely.

Week 12 - Vanilla Bean Shortbread, via Butter Baked Goods
This recipe comes from the cookbook of one of my favourite Vancouver bakeries, Butter. If we all lived in Vancouver we would be having tea at Butter on a weekly basis! Their buttercream black tea is amazing!

1 cup Butter
1 cup Icing Sugar
2 1/4 cups All Purpose Flour
2 tbsp Vanilla Extract - I substituted 1 Vanilla Bean & 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

In a stand mixer cream together butter & icing sugar on medium speed until light & fluffy.
Turn the mixer to low, add the flour and mix until just combined.
Add vanilla and mix to combine.
Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and roll to about 1/4" thick, cut out cookies, space about 1/2" apart cookie sheet.
Bake at 325 for 14-15 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly browned around the edges.
Remove from the oven and sprinkle the cookies generously with granulated sugar while they are still warm. Cool on wire rack. 

Week 13 - No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bites, via How Sweet It Is
I've tried a few different recipes for "granola bites" in the last few months. They satisfy the urge to eat cookie dough, and you can adjust the recipe it to fit whatever you have on hand. You could easily swap out the peanut butter for almond butter, sunflower seeds for pumpkin seeds, add dried cranberries… the list goes on.

We're heading to Port tomorrow for the long weekend. I think I'm going to teach my nieces how to make pie!
Hope you all have a great Easter!

Sending love,

Xo, A

Snow day?!

Well ladies, if everyone is doing it....!

My day has turned into a bit of a crazy one! AM wake up this morning at 5:00 thinking I had to be at work by 6:30. On my way out the door, a foot of snow was a bit of a hassle! So much so that Rhonda felt it too much to handle. So, 6;30am and digging out the car with it's nose in the alley 3 ft was not an ideal start to the day! After some maneuvering and calls into work, my car was in the driveway and my patient's at work were canceling. So 2pm start today instead. As I sit waiting for a plow and to try to get into work I watch OTH and miss you fine girls!

Alysia's pin boards are inspiring aren't they! I feel this could and should be reality one day!! All the cookies and the cooking are invited to the cabin as well by the way! 

All is well here in the midwest, just "enjoying" this lovely weather we've been having-insert eye roll here! #donewiththewhitestuff . Other then that we've just been getting through a crazy rotation of cardiology and my crazy work schedule. Feeling like we are in need of some serious west coast best coast therapy about now! 

Ella - Cutting for stone! Funny story, the author of that book actually gave the commencement speech at Martin's medical school graduation last year! We listened to the audio book on our cross country drive last year. Wild! He was a great speaker, great story-enjoy!

Micah- Your boys are amazing! I can't believe how fast they're growing! Wish we were going to be home at the same time, we should skype soon! We have friends right now from Ireland applying to Australia for work, made us think of the life in Aussy land and how you must be just loving it. I didn't imagine missing the water so much but that's been one of the hardest parts of being away, would think that's one of many Aussy perks is being near water. Martin and I were talking about what's next on our trip list and Australia is top 5!!

Aalysia- Sad to see your trusty car go! I lasted the longest out of all of our high school rides! Still remember that door that we wouldn't open! haha. We all had some trusty rides that's for sure. I still remember stalling in Ella's blue civic in the middle of the intersection across from the Barcley. My couch, Michelle's honking Acura, Corey's go anywhere civic and the list goes on!

Anyhow, haven't had much time for crafting but cooking is always on the table - literally. Last night we had roasted red pepper linguine, Roasted red peppers in the jar are my new favorite ingredient,very under utilized in my opinion-so much flavor, great addition to my tomato soup recipe too! 

Okay ladies, I shall leave you as I get ready for my evening at the dentist, doesn't that sound awful! haha. Lot's of love miss you all! Aalysia and Micah you're up!