Recipe Copycat

So what you probably do not know is that I am from Toronto but I live in England. I am IN LOVE with food and when I lived in Toronto I never cooked. Its not that I couldn't, just that I was always out running around and meeting people for breakfast, lunch and dinner on most days. So moving to Surrey, England has been a bit of a change since people here don't really go out for meals everyday, let alone three times a day. I have had to resort to learning to cook more things, and at times, copying the meals I would get at the restaurants! One in particular, 7 West, does a dish called Rosie Ravioli . RR is stuffed with asparagus and ricotta and topped with a creamy tomato Rose sauce. I LOVE it! Although allergic to onions I still eat it and regret it (they seem to put them in the sauce) so making it at home has made it guilt free! It doens't photograph well and looks really orange instead of pink, and I used cannelloni instead of trying to make my own pasta at that time. It definitely tasted just as good as 7 West's and my boyfriend was able to try my favourite dish from Canada! If anyone wants the recipe please let me know as I have written it down somewhere but need to find it to remember what all went into the sauce besides white wine! mmm... 

Chocolate Hazelnut SPARKLE!

These sparkles are The Boyfriend's favourite. I had to share according to him. I did the vanilla cupcake and made a Nutella Cream frosting... the people at work LOVED them! It was a new job, I was trying to buy friends! They were a light fluffy result, and I think I ate two....

Dirty 30 Cupcakes

So, my boyfriend turned 30, old I know... so of course I made him some cupcakes! I really like how the icing turned out only problem was that it was from Betty Crocker! But really, Betty knows what she's doing. Perhaps I will name my first child after her! Maybe Martha Stewart will come out with a rival line to Betty and they will bring it to the UK.

Quality over...well anything really...

I made these for a birthday, and they are the prettiest cupcakes I have made I think, but unfortunately I bought the butter for the icing from Tesco, and it was Tesco's own... Blech. It tasted ok, but definately not the BEST tasting frosting I have ever made. Luckily they were very pretty and the cake part turned out wonderfully (I used the Hummingbird Bakery vanilla cake recipe) so they were saved a bit. And the sparkles. It was the first time I used sparkles with baking, and I LOVE the results! I think everything should be sparkly from this day forward - my house mates might not agree, but since they aren't here let the sparkles reign!

Next time, Im going to go back to the shop and get the right quality butter because when you spend about 5 hours on some cupcakes you really want them to be their yummiest!

Cupcake Guidelines

I have been looking at cupcakes online for a few days now, looking for new recipes and ideas. And have decided that fondant has no place on cakes. It looks sleek and clean, but its a CAKE. Its meant to be fun, fluffy and delicious. Fondant is none of these things. Long live buttercream, whipped cream and well anything else that looks gooey yummy and fun!

Hearts Galore

After working in black for so long I really wanted a nice girly colour to bring things back to an even keel. Ive had this horrible acrylic yarn for a while and decided to use it to have my first go at lace stitching. A heart pattern seemed good enough for me so here's my first lace project. Sadly all it is destined to be is a curtain tie but alas it is a fate better than just sitting in my yarn bin (rapidly growing since discovering the current sales at my local yarn shop!).

Voila! Holey Heart! (and my gorgeous Filofax in the background stretching it out. I just love it).

Back to Black

I have REALLY struggled with knitting some black slippers for my 2nd cousin. She's a bit of a nutter and only wears black or white, and I think sometimes grey. So I thought I'd start on these and have finished them finally. I really did struggle with the gauge and when I had to re-do it I decided to change the stitch to my fall-back of a 3-5 stitch broken rib. This one was in a single stitch broken rib and I was really sad not to be able to continue as I really like the outcome of it.

To jazz them

up a bit after having to change the stitch I have done a colour swatch heart on them, to fight her white/black affliction with a bit of colour! Its a heart of the sole! Lets hope she gets the humour and still wears them. They are going to be finished with a white bow and some white contrast stitiching around the top of the slipper. Will have to post pictures when I do get motivated to finish them fully!

For my mom...

I have been working on these "broken rib" ballerina slippers for my mom for AGES. I still only have one finished, but I have a bit of time before Christmas. I'm also not sure about this colour for her, she's a bit more subdued, so they might end up belonging to someone else and I will get her a dark green or burgandy yarn to knit!

Im not fond of knitting on the bamboo needles. They all came in a set and I do use the bigger sizes but the smaller ones (like pictured) always just feel a bit fragile, but perhaps they will let me bring them on the plane when I fly home at Christmas? Lets hope!

The New Start

I had a blog before, hidden somewhere in cyberspace. And now that I can't remember where I have left it I must start again!