Blue Sky

Fleeting Moments

Spotted

Soaps

Made little soaps as Christmas gifts - and a batch of green patchouli hearts for me. Technically I didn't make any soap, I just bought a huge block of glycerin and some essential oil scents and did the whole melt, mix, mold thing. But still. Semi handmade soap for the win!

I attempted to make little coffee scrub bars, which are those brown ones with the black stuff. I know now that I should have mixed the coffee grounds with some of the melted soap base since a lot of the grounds didn't stick, but they still turned out cute and do their job. I also used little candy molds instead of larger soap bar molds - partly because I already had candy molds - but the little shapes are just so much cuter than some boring rectangle! Cheers!

Sniff Sniff

Fly Away Fruit

We had a diabetic in the restaurant last night, so they couldn't eat any of our desserts. I was asked to make up a fruit plate for them, but I didn't want it to be blah and boring, either to eat or make! So I had a ball making an apple-swan and prettying up the dish with fruit and berries.

My Chef told me the guest really loved the presentation and was very happy. Just because something is simple doesn't mean it has to be plain! Cheers!

Lovin' Pavlova

I'm making the vanilla pavlova with lemon curd and fruit for the restaurant this week.
I've very happy with my plating, and I'm glad I decided to grill the mango slices, it really helped polish things off and give it character. Cheers!

Settling

It's been about a month since I moved into my new home and my room finally feels properly settled. I've got glow in the dark stars on the ceiling and artwork on the walls.

I'm still swamped with homework but there's only two and a half more weeks of school to go. It'll be nice to have the holidays off to relax and recuperate. Cheers!

Busy Cooking

I'm responsible for the Dark Chocolate Mushroom Millefeuille with White Bean Purée in the college restaurant this week. The flavours aren't to my liking but I'm happy with how it looks at least. Chocolate, rosemary and mushrooms shouldn't mix, so far as I am concerned! Still, it's fun to assemble. Cheers!

Scholarship Weekend

I was one of the lucky few to win a scholarship from the Canadian Hospitality Foundation and part of that was being invited to their gala award ceremony and charity ball down in Toronto. My boyfriend lives about halfway there so I took the opportunity to visit him too. Unfortunately only the scholarship winners were given a free dinner, everybody else had to pony up $450 a person so I attended alone. The food was divine though! Not to mention how I felt in the lovely dress my boyfriend bought me for my birthday so I could have something decent to wear to the ceremony.

My mountain-man and I :) And yes that's a bear skin rug on the floor behind me. I love his cabin home. I didn't get to stick around too long though since it was still several hours drive to the ceremony in Toronto. The food alone was worth it!

They did a lot of modern stuff with their food presentation, like this plastic 'papillote' instead of using wax paper, which was really neat. Although I got the impression that non-foodies were more than a little confused by it.

 

The wine was free-flowing and delicious, including a sparkling wine later in the evening. Their sorbet presentation was gorgeous too; instead of in a dish, it was served in an specially made ice bowl with a little electric candle in the base lighting it from the inside. There was even live entertainment!

By the time dessert came around I felt like I was going to explode. There was even a cheese plate after the dessert, but I didn't photograph that because I was too far into my food coma. But I actually got to eat some edible gold leaf, fancy! I drove home late and slept like the dead that night.

The Sunday with my honey was leisurely. We went out for a paddle - he paddled, I enjoyed - on the lake and generally just enjoyed each other's company. I cooked us up a leg of lamb for dinner and we drank plenty of tasty wine. I snapped this last photo off the Monday morning when I was leaving to drive home and head to my afternoon classes. It was a decadent and most enjoyable weekend all around. I still have a bunch of photos from my class trip to Niagara to share too but I have a ton of homework to finish - which explains my general absence here - before I get around to that. Cheers!

Thankful Flashback

I've been crazy busy with moving and homework and other things recently so I'm only just now getting around to posting photos from thanksgiving. My honey came up and spent the weekend and joined my family and I for thanksgiving dinner.

 

Chunky Dog took a shine to my honey almost instantly, which was pretty adorable. That dog is such a suck up snuggle bug. He'll love up anybody who'll let him now that he knows he can.

I'm not nearly as tall as my honey, I was just wearing heels. Our differences in skin tone always amuses me. He's a carpenter and avid outdoors-man and spends most of his time working outside so the sun has done its work. Meanwhile I'm white as a sheet! Now I'd best get ready for another day of moving the last bits and bobs out of my apartment and prep for hitting the road... I have an award ceremony to attend in the Big Smoke! Cheers!

Orange Duck

I was tasked with the duck in the college restaurant this past week. Decent for the first week open but turning all those little vegetables ate up a huge chunk of my time and I couldn't come up with a creative garnish. Hence the lame little piece of orange supreme.

This week I'm doing service work in the dining room so I don't have to worry about cooking anything, but next week I'm on starch and vegetables. I have to come up with tasty and attractive vegetables that can be easily portioned. Exciting... Cheers!

Vintage

I picked up this skirt while vintage hunting in Paris, France. It's a fantastic skirt on its own as it is but the fact of where I purchased it makes it all the more special to me.

 

This is the last outfit photo from my old apartment. I'll have to find somewhere new to take photographs here! Cheers...

The Last

I sold my last snake tonight. He was the first of my snakes back in 2009, Galen the ball python. I'm still crying over it, and I'm going to miss him. But this is what needed to happen so I can do what's best for me.

Now there's just two geckos. The four remaining tarantulas I am giving to my classmate. This horrible process is almost done...

Falling

Blurred

The last few days have been pretty intense, what with being the first week of classes for my second year. Plus on Monday I sold another of my snakes, this time an albino checkered garter snake that I'd raised from a baby. It doesn't get any easier...

My vehicle should be coming out of the garage today, but I'm not looking forward to the bill. The closer I get to the end of 2014, the more I want this whole year to be over... I spoke to the person today who manages the student exchange program. I got some much needed information but I'm still not certain it's going to happen. Money is the main hurdle, but also finding a partner to go with me. Fingers crossed... Cheers!

The Last Time

I sold another of my pets today, this time Rorschach my male spider-morph ball python. He's been mine for almost 5 years now. I had another big cry this afternoon, like I did selling my tarantula. The emotional tole this is taking on me is almost more than I can bare with everything else going on in my life right now.

My van suddenly decided to stall and then refused to start back up today. So now it's sitting in my parents' driveway and I have to get it towed to a garage to find out what's wrong. Fingers crossed it doesn't cost me an arm and a leg...

I really don't have the energy to deal with car troubles right now, on top of my student loan problems and classes starting next week, and moving and trying to find a home for the rest of my pets... When it rains it pours... Cheers...

Bonne Fête

I baked a gateau moka for my mother's birthday again this year. This was a mother's day cake the first time I baked it for her, and she's asked for it every time a cake occasion arises since. I was very happy with how this came out for once, which is rare for me. I'm a terrible perfectionist!

This just tastes so good with its coffee butter cream, coffee-syrup soaked genoise cake, toasted almonds and chocolate covered coffee beans.Cheers!

Goodbye Sweet One

I've sold another of my tarantulas, this one my very first. I'm sitting here crying into my coffee, talking myself through it. It needs to happen, it's part of my choices and the direction I mean to take my life. But it doesn't stop the pain of parting with a little living thing for which I've cared since it was tiny, these past five years.


My classmate purchased my Thor, the second tarantula she picks up from me. At least my Thorling is going to someone I know and am certain will care for them properly. It still hurts me badly but it needs to happen... Cheers...

Mackinaw

My mother says the mackinaw makes me look like a hillbilly but it's fun to wear it around. I'm feeling less feminine lately and wanting to wear rougher outfits and it works well with that.

I'm also stubbornly doing this socks and sandals thing until it's kinda ridiculous, because I can. My birks are just so comfy. Cheers!

Grandpa Sweater

The post title says it, this sweater belonged to my grandfather. With the cool weather now descended, I just wanted to wear something snuggly and warm and this fit the bill perfectly. I chose my eyeshadow colours to mirror the colours in the pattern.

I'm slowly learning to style my hair, finally managed to get it to stay off the back shaved part of my head. Now the hair is tickling at my ear and I'm wondering whether or not to trim it down again. I'm still thinking of letting it grow out and then shaving the side down again once the back has grown back in. We'll see. Cheers!