March 2, 2009

My Birthday Boy!

Filed under: Animals,Children,Food,Life — Holly @ 10:16 pm

My son Noah turned 9 today! Caught these two photos of him on the way home from school:

But on the weekend he had his big birthday party with his friends from school. On Saturday he helped me bake a cake:

On Sunday morning we iced and decorated the cake:

Noah enjoyed the left over gel icing from the tube:

But the really exciting and FUN part of the weekend came once Sabeena and Zack from Bugs Without Borders arrived. They started off with a little education, which was interesting and fun for the kids:

Noah checks out one of the containers:

Sabeena talked about how she started collecting and catching bugs when she was a little girl:

And then they brought the insects and animals out. If it was safe for the children, they were allowed to touch and hold them:

The lizard with the blue tongue was a big hit:

As was the gecko:

And the bearded lizard was a HUGE hit:

A few more of the animals:

A favourite part, at the end, was when they watched the bearded lizard catch and eat a meal worm, they LOVED that!

And to finish out the party, cake and presents!

Noah later proclaimed it as ‘the best day of his life’, I’d say Bugs Without Borders was a HUGE success! 😉

Comments Off

February 26, 2009

Kensington Market & Five Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

Filed under: Children,Food,Life,Out & About,Toronto Neighbourhoods — Holly @ 9:36 pm

Headed down to Kensington Market the other day with a friend, and my daughter came along. It wasn’t quite as colourful (or warm, of course!) as our summer visit to the market, but it was fun. We had some Dim Sum first and then wandered around the market for a bit.

Rebecca checks out the colourful wares, and wishes she hadn’t spent all her money so she could buy something:

There are some weird things to see in the market, like this bin of gas masks:

But some yummy sights too, like these colourful cupcakes shot through the store window:

Shot these colourful glasses in a large market there, think it’s called the Blue Banana Market?

Rebecca, giving me the evil eye:

Enough with the pictures Mom!

5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

Later Rebecca and I tried out this cake that you cook in the microwave (see recipe below) that my mother emailed me quite a while ago.

Rebecca added both white chocolate and chocolate chips to her mug cake:

AND then added some mint chocolate chip ice cream on the side as well!

Can I recommend this cake? Well, I’m not sure, I only had a taste but Rebecca seemed to enjoy it! (And my son, seeing these photos, wants to try making it too!)

Here’s the recipe:

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
a small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts (not sure how strong our microwave is, we cooked it for the 3 minutes and it turned out fine). The cake will rise over the top of the mug (depending on the size of the mug), but don’t be alarmed! Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.

Enjoy!

Comments (2)

Yummy pulled pork, mashed potatoes, and more

Filed under: Food,Life — Holly @ 9:11 pm

Made the yummy slow cooker pulled pork a couple of weeks ago (see link to the recipe here).

You’ll know it’s done when it pulls apart very easily:

It’s much yummier once you add the bbq sauce though!

Asked the kids what they wanted, one wanted mashed potatoes, the other brown rice. Did a MUCH better job with the mashed potatoes this time, last time I didn’t add enough butter & milk, this time the kids kept going back for more and more:

Comments Off

February 13, 2009

Vanilla Pudding Chocolate Chip Cookies: Food Photography, Toronto

Filed under: Food — Holly @ 11:11 pm

A friend passed on a delicious cookie recipe, so the kids and I did some baking today. These cookies are great, and even though I did what I could to make them a bit healthier, they still tasted great and the kids loved them! See below for the recipe, and here are the images:

Vanilla Pudding Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, melted, cooled (I used just under ¾ cup)
1 cup lightly packed brown sugar (used a little less)
½ cup granulated sugar (a little less)
102 g box instant vanilla pudding mix
2 tbsp milk
2 large eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour (I used Nutri-Grain flour)
1 tsp each: baking powder, baking soda
2 cups milk chocolate chips (I used ~ 1 ½ cups, and that was too much—will do less next time)

In large mixing bowl, using wooden spoon, mix butter and sugars until
creamy. Stir in pudding mix and milk, then eggs and vanilla. Add flour,
baking powder and baking soda; stir until batter is smooth. Stir in
chocolate chips.

Drop batter by heaping tablespoonsful on non-stick cookie sheets (about
12 per sheet). Bake, in batches, in preheated 350F oven 12 minutes or
until edges are lightly browned. Cool 10 minutes on cookie sheet.
Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely. Store in airtight
container.

Makes about 36. (I got about ~50 or so from this recipe.)

If you make them, let me know how they turn out for you!

Comments (2)

Latté and Dinner

Filed under: Food — Holly @ 10:44 pm

As I managed a decent Latté design I caught a quick shot of it the other morning to post on my blog:

Then I thought I would photograph one of my favorite vegetables, Swiss Chard with Caramelized Onions, here are two onions with the swiss chard in the background: