Picture Me Wednesday - 2010 In Review

This week I searched my photo archive for a picture that summed up my experience of 2010. I couldn't find just one. Instead, I've created a top five list of photos that illustrate some of the finer (and memorable) points of the year.

Cocoa Ginger Crisps

Sweet Sunday Yummy Lit Review: Cocoa Ginger Crisps

Over the past two weeks I have had E living with me. While we had a great time looking around the city during the day, at night I was privileged enough to dress him up in baking gear and acquire a brand new baking buddy. One of the recipes we tried out was Cocoa Ginger Crisps, a spicy chocolate biscuit.


The Cookie Bible says I will need:

1 cup butter/margarine, softened
1 1/3 cups sugar, divided
1 egg
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 cups all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons plus 1 1/4 teaspoon Cocoa, divided
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt

Beat butter, 1 cup sugar and egg in large bowl until fluffy. Add corn syrup; beat until well blended. Stir together flour, 6 tablespoons cocoa, baking soda, ginger, and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, beating until well blended. Cover; refrigerate dough about 1 hour or until firm enough to handle.

Heat oven to 375* F.

Stir together remaining 1/3 cup sugar and 1 1/4 teaspoons cocoa in shallow bowl. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; roll in sugar-cocoa mixture to coat. Place about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until cookies flatten. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely.


These cookies were a pleasure to make. There's something therapeutic about rolling brown balls in sugar and cocoa, turning them from a dull brown to a sparkly iridescence. After 10 minutes in the oven they flattened out into a soft, yet crispy texture... and they were ever-so yummy!

To cap it off, the recipe yielded around 4 dozen cookies... just enough to share with CurlyJ and her husband the following night during a trip to Vancouver.

An American Fugitive

Remember the lyrics, "I would do anything for love, but I won't do that"?
Good. I'm sure by now you can hear the song playing along in your mind.
Now, replace the word 'love' with 'books.'

I would do anything for literature, for the written word, to get my hands on a really good book... but I won't do that. Okay, right there we have an accurate description of my day yesterday.

Something happened yesterday that cannot go without being mentioned on CTR. As some of you know from past posts, I am good friends with CurlyJ of Running From Cupcakes (you can find a link to her on my Muses page).

Yesterday CurlyJ and I decided to head south into Washington for shopping. We had grand plans. Our day, which we dubbed Miss J & Ms. C's Day of Adventure, began with a drive down to Lynnwood to visit 1/2 Price Books and Alderwood Mall, followed by travelling further to the Burlington Outlets and Trader Joes.

A lot happened yesterday morning. You know those days when nothing goes right? Well 1 September 2010 was that kind of day. It began with me somehow thinking I had my passport when it was actually another person's in my family. Along the way to retrieve my real passport we almost get into a car crash because a semi truck driver decides to text on his cell phone whilst driving. I'm not exaggerating either - there was definitely some swerving, increased heart rates, and unpleasant exchanges. Oh, and we're in a little car. If the driver hadn't of looked up from that cell phone screen just in time we would have been squished to oblivion.

Once we're finally across the border we both realize Lynnwood is actually pretty far into Washington. We begin to see signs saying we're on the verge of Seattle.

1/2 Price Books was awesome though... it's a relatively small store crammed to the brim with books on every subject imaginable. I easily could have spent many hours browsing the shelves. Oh and not to mention super cheap... I ended up leaving with two books for just under $7.


Alderwood Mall was also worth the long drive down south. This mall is HUGE and has tons of selection. It was so big that as we drove away we saw a segment of the mall that we had failed to visit. Obviously, as the shopaholics that we are, we pulled over and parked again. More stores? More shopping time, please!

Then, at 630PM on the way to Burlington and Trader Joes it happens... the icing on the cake of our crazy adventure. Flashing across highway signs is warnings of an incident. We're told the I5 is closed.

You know those movies where a city needs to be evacuated and the roads become mayhem? That's what the I5 turned into in just a few minutes. There was complete gridlock spanning the I5's five lanes. And to complete matters, we had 1/3 of a tank of gas.

Thankfully we hit the incident shortly after the highway was closed. We managed to file out of the highway with the other drivers and make our way into another part of Washington.

I still don't know where we ended up, but by this time we had very little gas, no map, were isolated by a thick forest of trees, and the only building nearby was called Exotic Tools. No people. No cars. Nothing but Exotic Tools and two lost Canadian girls.

After awhile of driving we ended up at a gas station, which as luck would have it, didn't sell maps. Troy, a friendly gasman, tells us we're in Everett. He also tells us there is a fugitive on the loose in his city and the only way to get home is to drive deeper into the mayhem.

We buy a dinner of champions from Troy after realizing Trader Joes is out of the question. Who said Pringles and iced tea is bad for you?

And then we travel into the heart of Everett. As we drive we see countless cop cars speeding throughout the streets with their sirens and flashers on. We see helicopters flying low above us. We see telephone poles knocked over with their wires cascading down onto the pavement.

The traffic was bumper to bumper in Everett
but calm enough to start taking pictures again.

We make it back onto the I5 shortly after 9PM. We manage to get home just in time for the Late Night News... and it's then that our fugitive comes on the television. All that mayhem occurred because a man didn't insure his car, had a handgun, shot a cop car, fought through a car chase on the I5, and then ran on foot... or something like that, my mind is kind of hazy.

I love America and look forward to my next trip down... but right now I feel like I've been chewed up and spat out by Washington.

I hope those books are worth the trouble we went through to get them!


PS - we had a baking extravaganza the night before all this happened. I got some pretty yummy pictures of the final products but unfortunately no recipes on hand to share. Here's a look at our chocolate chip cookies and peach muffins!

Oh, and the real, impartial story of the fugitive can be found here.

Blog Tag

The wonderful CurlyJ of Running From Cupcakes put me into a game of blog tag last night.

The rules are quite simple - each blogger who is tagged must answer 8 questions and then tag their favourite bloggers who will preferably do the same.

However, please don't feel obliged to follow suit if you don't feel up to sharing personal information... just take it as face value that I really like your work :)


So, onto those questions...

1. Milk or dark chocolate?

I grew up with milk chocolate. Over the last few years I've switched to dark chocolate but it doesn't taste nearly as good as the milk variety... dang being health conscious.

2. What's your favourite colour?

Deep, vibrant, and royal purple. It's gorgeous and somehow looks both sophisticated and quirky... and it brings out my green eyes haha.

3. Do you have any creative hobbies?

I have many! My first love is writing (both fiction and non-fiction). Photography. Pottery and painting - I even won an award for it in highschool. I like to think that baking is a creative hobby as well... especially when I make my own cookies without the help of a recipe.

4. What was your favourite subject in school?

History. I have loved learning about other cultures, global issues, and the past ever since I was young. I also had an amazing teacher who sparked my interest in the subject.

5. What is your favourite season? Why?

I always have a hard time answering this question. Summer is nice - it's warm, bright, and there's so much more free time during that time of the year. I love winter because of the Canadian snow and that festive holiday feeling that is hard to escape... not that I would want to! And then there's the fall... nothing makes me happier than walking home from a day at university with beautiful, bright red maple leaves scattered along the lane.

6. Who inspires you to sing like crazy when nobody is around?

I have a few. Michael Buble, Jason Mraz, Colbie Caillat...

Back in June I had the good fortune of being introduced to Ellie Goulding's work through E, my favourite Englishman. I'm addicted to her CD, just hearing her music makes me smile. I've recently been listening to a lot of A Fine Frenzy. Carley Rae Jepsen is probably my number one artist though.

Actually, here's some of my favourites... just a click away :)
- Carley Rae Jepsen's Tug of War, Heavy Lifting & Hotel Shampoo
- A Fine Frenzy's What I Wouldn't Do
- Ellie Goulding's The Writer

7. What is your favourite dessert? Can you make it?

Probably bread and butter pudding, English style. The family recipe we have for it is so unbelievably good. I've helped to make it before but can't say that I've done it independently.

8. How did you learn to cook?

Specifically to cook? That would be my mom... and I guess those old home economic classes from highschool.
Baking, on the other hand, has been a combined effort of books, my mom, and my aunt.

Now, my favourite bloggers, in no particular order...
The Household Goddess
What Red Reads
The Window Seat Reader
Rantings of a Single Girl
Running From Cupcakes

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Duo

Sweet Sunday's Yummy Lit Review:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Duo

You know those friends who are absolutely inspiring? They're the people who seem to have their lives together - they know what they want, how to get it, and are well on the way of getting it. They even manage to praise your accomplishments, help you through the consequences of your bad decisions without saying "I told you so," convince you to challenge yourself for the better, and find a good laugh in the random events that comprise life.

Well, let me introduce you to Curly J, the creator of Running From Cupcakes.

Curly J and I, with a friendship that has lasted over eight years, share a strong passion for baking. Last July Curly J tried out a recipe at Picky Palate for these peanut butter/chocolate cookies that looked divine. I decided to try my hand at the same recipe before catching my flight to eastern America.

Here's the nuts and bolts of the cookie:

Peanut Butter Cookie part
1 cup creamy peanut butter -- I used the chunky kind
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg

1. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl until well combined. Set aside.

Chocolate Chip Cookie part
2 sticks softened butter (1 cup)
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/4 cups cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream the butter and sugars until well combined. Slowly beat in eggs and vanilla until well combined. Place flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl; mix with fork or sift. Add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips until just combined.

2. Take a tablespoon of peanut butter cookie dough and a tablespoon of chocolate cookie dough and gently press together forming a "not so perfect" ball. Don't press and roll too much, just stick them together and place onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until cookies are cooked through to your liking. Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Enjoy!

I'll start off by saying I loved making these cookies. I was warned that they might not turn out and that there would probably be too little chocolate cookie dough. Throughout the entire procedure I was dubious - a peanut butter cookie composed of just peanut butter, sugar, and an egg? And the chocolate cookie portion seemed a bit too heavy on the dry ingredient list. However, I followed the ingredients and their stipulated amount word for word. In the end I had the perfect amount of dough.


There is one thing I didn't follow in Picky Palate's recipe... When it came time to combine the peanut butter and chocolate together I definitely wasn't gentle. I varied between placing peanut butter cookie dough directly into the center of a mainly chocolate cookie (with just a bit of peanut butter sticking out to be seen)... to being more creative and forming the peanut butter dough into shapes of the alphabet... I'm particularly fond of my 'W.' I also mashed the peanut butter and chocolate together, rolled it into a tight ball, and let it do its thing in the oven.

The cookies came out of the oven after 10 minutes in perfect shape... and they tasted pretty darn good, too! The flavors of chocolate and peanut butter support each other just as a sound friendship should. This is definitely a recipe I'll be keeping on file.


Hope you all have a sweet Sunday!
Bye for now :)