The Cherry Journal

How I Changed My Career Path: Part 1

2011-10-24T10:00:00.000-05:00

Hi friends!

Still alive. In fact, way more so than back in February when you last heard from me. What can I say? When life finally started turning things a little more in my favor, I really just wanted to live it instead of blog about it.

But now the time has come to do just that. I didn't want to get too into it back then, being new on a job that I got partially because of this very blog. But now that my boss knows all about this, I feel I can be honest with everything I've been wanting to share with you on here.

I'm not sure how many parts this series of posts will be - in all honesty, I thought I was going to be able to wrap it up in one post. But when I started writing, it turns out there was a bit more that went into explaining how I went from being a Graphic Designer to a Marketing Coordinator.

The reason I've chosen to be so detailed about this is because I really, really, don't want it to be for nothing. I'm NOT known for being a risk-taker, and had I not been thrown into this adventure, I don't know if I'd be in it, or as happy as I am with my career right now. So I really hope that this story of mine helps a few people out there that can relate, or at least provides a bit of insight and entertainment for those that don't.

So grab a bowl of Cheerios and sit tight. Here goes the first part, and I'm going to try to keep it short because it's getting late. But I'm going to dial the hot tub time machine back over two years.

I'd been promoted to a middle-management position at my job-Assistant Creative Director to be exact. I was loving that I was given more responsibility, and that instead of designing all day, part of my job was to then schedule the rest of the design team's workload as well. As someone that's more than a little nuts about Dr.Mario and Tetris, the balancing act of fitting everything into the schedule was so much fun.

However, when I had to go back to designing, which was still the bulk of my workload, that's where the job no longer challenged me. I could go on, but I won't - it just wasn't for me anymore, and I knew it - but when the design industry grows by at least 50 Red River College graduates every year, and I was sitting on a job that gave me good benefits, a good salary, and no overtime, I enjoyed the promotion by deciding to buy a condo and stick with it.

Then came the recession. Ohhh, that lovely recession.

Ad sales were down, and middle management got cut. Including me - six months after I'd been promoted. Great.

I was on my own, with mortgage payments to make and not a clue of what I was going to do...

On the horizon

2011-02-21T10:55:00.002-06:00

How is it already February 21?! I don't know where the time has disappeared to.

Well, I sort of do.

There's been a whole bunch of stuff going on lately (all good! yay!), but not all of the details are ready to be shared just yet. So let me just tell you all this: I've got a new job I'm starting soon. And I'm really, REALLY excited about it. It's going to be a huge change, and an wonderful chance to learn and grow. I can't wait to start.

So this past week, for the first time in a VERY long time, I handed in my resignation to my employer. It was a lot harder to do than I thought it would be. My heart was racing, I lost my words for a bit, and felt flustered the whole time. But when it was done, and the thoughts of all the change that's about to happen started to sink in, I couldn't stop smiling.

I can't wait to share more details you soon!

hump day and kitchen dreams

2011-02-02T12:45:00.006-06:00

This week, Wednesday truly feels like it's a hump I have get over. I'm tired, had a bad sleep, and feeling pretty grumpy in general. I'm sure I'll be back to normal again tomorrow, today is just going to feel a bit longer than it normally would.

I didn't really have a post planned for today, so I thought I'd share with you some things that are currently putting me in a happier frame of mind.

As I've said before, I'm always looking for new (affordable) things I can do to spruce up certain parts of my condo. Although it's not TERRIBLE, one of my areas of focus is my kitchen. I have white appliances, and no money to replace them. A mostly grey countertop, and not-very-modern looking oak cabinetry (a picture would have been way easier...but I'll have to post that later).

My thought for a while has been to paint the cabinets white. Well, get them professionally painted, so they're not caked with paint and brush lines. I think it's an easy placeholder decision until I have more money to renovate, or choose to save the money for my next place. More recently, an additional thought came to mind to change out the grey counters with a woodblock-style counter too. That would be more of a cost, but the end look would be something like this, which I love:

This condo is actually listed in Winnipeg, if you're interested - check it out here.

So, I'm on my favourite site the other day, Re-nest, and I come across this:

I know I don't have a photo of my own kitchen to upload right now, but this AMAZING kitchen has an almost identical layout to my own! And LOOK! GREY COUNTERS! It was so great to see this, and know that with a little bit of work, and hopefully not too much money, I could get my kitchen to look similar to this! New lighting, some painted cupboards, a few tiles on the floor and a backsplash and I'm sure it'll look way better soon enough :)

I had a couple more things I wanted to share, but I've run out of time on my lunchbreak. I'll have to save those ones for tomorrow.

The very relaxing weekend

2011-01-31T12:12:00.005-06:00

This weekend was so simple and relaxing, it was great. I didn't do much, and that was a-okay with me.

My friend Lindsay (I've talked about her before...and probably many more times to come), has been partaking in what she lovingly refers to as her 'Psychoallergenic Diet' for the past few weeks (have I mentioned how clever Lindsay is?). Free of gluten, dairy, caffeine, and a whole bunch of other good stuff. Tough, YES. But she's been a trooper, and making some pretty fantastic meals using that strict guideline as a base.

Luckily for us, she's even putting the work into sharing the recipes that got good reviews from her and her family. So I decided to try a couple of those out myself.

I made Slowcooker Chicken and Barley Risotto on Friday. Saturday, I paired Mashed Sweet Potatoes with the rest of our meal. Everything got rave reviews, although I think my new favourite side dish is the Barley Risotto. Soooo good.

Also occupying my weekend was an Kirby's Epic Yarn. I've always had a soft spot for this little guy, so I was pretty excited to see there was a new version of the game for the Wii.

As simple as the game is, it's super fun, and incredibly cute. The levels look like they're made with layered fabric, Kirby himself gets a whip made of yarn to swing from buttons and attack enemies. Love it. Honestly, look at this guy!

Check out the game's site, kirbykirbykirby.com for more videos, desktops and cuteness.

Mellow Moments Monday

2011-01-25T09:23:00.000-06:00

I promise not to incorporate alliteration into every blog post title I come up with, but for the past two days it's worked, and I'm just going to roll with it :)

Tonight was supposed to be a night full of wedding invitation consultation and some other freelance work. Instead, I got a call from my good friend Lindsay today, taking me up on my standing offer to help out. Lindsay happens to be the mother Briony, of one of the smartest and cutest little girls I've ever met, just look at her!

Unfortuately, what Lindsay also has is a serious case of Arthritis AND Fibromyalgia, so some days, she needs a couple extra hands to help make things just a little easier on her. Most of those days, she still doesn't ask for that help, but when she does, I'm so happy to work close by and be there for her.

After dinner, some playtime with her daughter Briony, a couple books, and a wee little bedtime pep talk, she was off to sleep, and Lindsay and I had a chance to finally sit, relax, and enjoy a 'Mellow Moment'... which now might be my favourite type of tea, actually. We laughed at the name, I may have even sung a teeny tiny jingle for it, but it was so good. Peppermint tea alone has never been a draw for me, but this had tons of other stuff mixed in with it too, which made a really great cup of decafinated tea for an evening chat. I'd highly recommend it.

The Wonderful Winter Weekend Experience

2011-01-24T10:07:00.000-06:00

There's really only one way to describe this weekend just passed. FUN. Sooo much fun.

Friday started out with a trip to J.Foxx's pub after work. It was a coworker's last day, and tradition is to head there for a drink and a few appetizers when that happens. A few of us girls had stuck around for a while, and were laughing up a storm, so we decided to pick up a couple bottles of wine and just hang out at one of the girls' places instead. SO fun, it's nice when you have people you work with that you can laugh with and be yourself around.

Next up was Saturday. Got up early and had a productive day at home. Did some tidying...some freelance work...and then headed out to our friends Eric and Lisa's place for a games night.

Well, little did I know that I was about to be introduced to best Wii game yet.

Michael Jackson: The Experience.

I have not laughed so hard in a long time. It was fantastic. The guys got it started off, the three of them were twisting, shaking, and showing us how it was done to Billie Jean.

The three of us girls were having so much fun cheering...until they told us to try.

That's when fear struck.

It takes me forEVER to catch on to choreographed dance moves. My left arm is pretty much useless when it comes smooth movements.

But here I went...what better to start off with than...

THRILLER!! It was HARD. I was the zombie backup dancer. You get to choose when you pick the song if you want to be MJ or a backup, sometimes they have different levels of difficulty. Being MJ in this one meant choosing "inhuman" as opposed to just "hard" for difficulty. I figured it was better to start at less than inhuman.

After that, I was one of these backup dancers. They made us spin in a circle. Fun! I was more than into it by this point. I was addicted.

We tried Smooth Criminal too, during this move, all four us did a "WhooooooooOOOOOOoooooa!" (As if we were on a rollercoaster, it was THAT exciting...and no, we didn't even get CLOSE to the angle MJ does here).

After that, it was time for some even older stuff. This one had us all fooled with an "easy" difficulty level, yet there was so much arm swinging going around in a very small space, there were almost a few punches landed. All in good fun though. And no one got hurt.

We danced to pretty much every song on there, some of them twice, and had a blast the whole time. The only thing I think would have maybe made it better was this:

...Which I now see actually COMES with a version of the game. My only concern would actually be the Wiimote slipping out of my hand as I was wearing the sparkly glove. Wrist straps and a tight grip are definitely key in this game.

And as IF that wasn't exciting enough for the weekend, I got to attend the Wonderful Wedding Show on Sunday afternoon with one of my best friends, of whom I am proudly going to be serving as Maid of Honour for this coming August at her wedding.

It was my first time attending such an event, so I photo-documented like crazy to share the experience with you all this week. It goes without saying there were a LOT of sparkly, feathery, pink, bedazzled, poufy things there...but also some really neat stuff! So stay tuned :)

How was YOUR weekend?

Friday Favourites: re-nest.com

2011-01-21T11:53:00.000-06:00

So, here's another new thing I've decided to try out here at the blog: Friday Favourites. Today it's a website, but there are plenty of things on my list to share with all of you in coming weeks. On we go...

My first Friday Favourite is from the Apartment Therapy family of sites: re-nest.com.

I've mentioned earlier that I'm in the process of making my condo into the lovely home I know it can be. I'm proud of what I've accomplished so far (no more barely-there green walls!), but I'm always on the look out for new inspiration and project ideas. Re-nest is a site I'm on almost every day for exactly that. An added attraction is that all of their projects also focus on re-using materials, and making eco-friendly choices. It's a fantastic resource.

What got me on the site initially was this gorgeous patio, which THEY found on Erin Ever After (another great site, which deserves a Friday of her own):

I happen to have a patio with an overhang similar to this one. So I can not wait to try this project out and add a little bit of casual chic-ness to my outdoor space.

Next up on the list was this post, from just the other day: 15 Fantastic Organized Spaces. Here are just a few samples of what I found to be extremely inspiring. I have an office at my place that desperately needs some structure and attention. I love that all of these can be done on budget, but will have a huge affect on the room.

I can't wait to bring in some of these suggestions to my own place. The office deserves a post to itself, which will happen in time. Right now, it's a pretty uninspiring place, but hopefully that will change soon enough.

Where do all of you go for your home project inspirations?

Q&A a day

2011-01-20T12:40:00.000-06:00

I've kept a journal since I was a young child. I got my first one when I was about 8 years old, and wrote in it right until the very last page was full.

Then I promptly ripped it up into a ton of tiny little pieces so my mom and dad (ok, mostly I thought it would be mom, sorry mom) couldn't come into my room, find it, and see all my deep, dark, 8 year-old secrets. The boys I liked, the teachers I didn't, and anything else I'd listed in there (I LOVED making lists).

Even though the rest of my journals stayed in one piece, I always felt that they were this private place in which to store all my thoughts. And for a lot of years I treated them that way. Journal after journal of privacy, and it helped as things would come up that would stress me out.

But then time got to be an issue, there just wasn't enough of it to keep it up to date with what was going on. I grew up, and the tween, teen and young adult drama just wasn't there anymore. So for the past couple years, my last beautiful journal has sat in a drawer, unvisited. And like this blog, I missed it.

So this Christmas, while I was searching Amazon for gifts, I came across the Q&A a day, 5-year journal. I was instantly intrigued. 5 YEARS of journaling?! How does this fit in one book?! How huge is this thing? I ordered it right then and there.

I think this book is one of my impulse buys ever, and I'm loving every day of writing in it. It's brilliant. A question that's to be answered every day of the year. 365 of them. Each page has room for five paragraphs on it, with a blank year to fill in next to each one. 5 years of journaling with ease.

What I've always loved about journaling is the ability to look back at a random time and see what was going on. But things like music, current trends, my favourite things at the time, would often be neglected for more life-related things. This takes care of that.

Here's a few that I've already answered:

JANUARY 10

Q: Write down something that inspired you today.

A: Easy. An afternoon chat with Steph about craft projects we'd like to try this year.

JANUARY 12
Q: What's your favourite accessory?
A: The two rings I wear every day. One was a gift from Orv after a trip he took to Mexico early in our relationship. The first piece of jewelry anyone had ever bought me. The second is a ring I bought in Greece, on our trip to Santorini. My first trip outside of North America, and one that is full of great memories.

JANUARY 19

Q: List three foods you ate today.

A: Oatmeal for breakfast, my standard right now. Saucers pizza for lunch (tasty but burnt). Lugaw for dinner. I just learned how to make this a few weeks ago, and I'm addicted to it.

Quick, easy answers, and 5 years worth of them to be tackled. I can't wait.

Brushing off the cobwebs

2011-01-19T16:09:00.000-06:00

Oh, hello.

In case you don't remember me, my name is Amber. I'm the one who supposedly has an interest in the blogging world, and from time to time posts things you may find interesting to this website.

And I miss you.

I miss writing, and I miss this little blog that is never given the proper chance to be anything.

And so I'm back. From outer space. I just walked in to find you here with that sad look upon your face.

If you're here because you followed my tweet here, that's wonderful, welcome. If you're one of the few remaining people who wanted to read the stuff I'd post, and kept checking back in from time to time, THANK YOU for sticking around - it means a lot to me, it really does. I love seeing comments, critiques and all feedback.

I think I'm realizing now what's come between me loving blogging and wanting to post all the time, and what I have been doing.

I don't *want* to share every bit of information about with the world. I'm not the most private person in the world if you know me in person, no matter what emotion I'm feeling, I wear it all over my face. But that doesn't necessarily apply to what I want to portray here. I don't tuck it all inside, but if there's something going on, I'd rather talk to people in person than spill my heart out in words.

Maybe that's why I never ended up explaining about what happened with my old job, and why I don't work there anymore. I don't want a potential new employer to Google my name, find me here, and jump to conclusions about anything. And maybe that's why I don't really care to write about what I'm doing in my job either (and why I've now pulled down the one post I did have relating to work).

There's been some pretty major stuff happen in my life over the past year and a half, and I truly think I am a better person because of it. But I'm not going to be posting the gritty details. That's just not me.

But don't get me wrong - there are parts of my life I would very much love to share, and that's why I've been missing blogging so much. I have a condo. A place I've been living in and making my home for over a year and a half now - and I'm proud of it! I want to show you all what my goals are, what I've done, and what makes it a home to me.

And I love, love, LOVE recommending things to people. If I have had a great experience somewhere or with something, I want other people to enjoy it like I have. I think that's why I started this blog with food in mind. Because I love cooking, and sharing a great recipe. I'm just going to make an effort to share more of THAT stuff. Happy things. That will hopefully make you happy too.

So, this is me - and these are the things I hope to start doing with The Cherry Journal. I feel so inspired by the things I come across, I hope that you can find a little inspiration in my tiny corner of the internet too.

:)

Oh hai!

2010-04-27T22:10:00.002-05:00

Hello friends, remember me?

Two-and-a-half months later, and I'm finally saying hello. How rude, I know. Let me tell you though, life's been buuuuuuuuuuuusy! Holy smokes.

Let me catch you up a bit, shall I?

First up, I love my new job. It's great, and I work for a fantastic organization. Funny thing though: almost six years of working with an outdoor advertising company...and what's the first big assignment I get at my new job? Yep - an outdoor campaign. Haha, I can't divulge the campaign just yet (the official launch is tomorrow!), but as well as that outdoor design, I also got to create the rest of the components to go with it. A big undertaking, but I definitely feel like my career (and career choice) is going in the right direction again.

With the good has come my share of bad as well. Just over a month ago, my grandpa passed away. Although he'd been sick for a while, and knew what the near future had in store - it was pretty hard to take. I've never lost any of my grandparents before Grandpa Ross. I felt so sad about losing him, of course - but I also felt so helpless. I saw and heard my dad hurting, and it broke my heart. He's so much better now, as I knew he would be, but that level of concern and worry is something I haven't felt in so long. I know it'll be back sometime, but hopefully it's long from now.

I was planning on filling you in more on what's been happening - but I fell that the story that's next deserves a post all on it's own. So you're going to have to wait, while I go to sleep and prep myself for what's bound to be a busy press release day tomorrow.

Soon friends, soon :)

A Last Minute Post

2010-02-10T15:46:00.002-06:00

My plane is scheduled to leave in 1 hour, 15 minutes. The past few days have been busy with last minute preps to go on a mini vacation to Calgary to visit friends and family, and a couple mountains. Housesitters, lists, and things I had to do have been consuming me.

But, I didn't want to NOT tell you the Big News...I've been offered a job! Yaaaaaay! Turns out, a blizzard and a cancelled first interview were good luck :) I start the very next day after I get back. Whew! What a whirlwind that's going to be.

I'm SO excited, it's been a while coming, but this opportunity is fantastic. I can't wait to get started (and head out shopping for some new work clothes!).

I just. Don't. Know.

2010-02-03T21:00:00.002-06:00

It was a busy day today, to say the least. A lot to take in, that's for sure.

And it's put me in this mood tonight that's just not very good, to be honest. It's not that there wasn't good parts to my day (lunch with mom, and a quick visit and chat with Lindsay, among other things) - but I just feel like I'm in system overload. There were a lot of things learned, and a lot of questions asked, and a lot of emotions felt all in the span of less than 12 hours.

I had interview number two today, and although I think it went well - I just don't know what to think about it. I know second interviews are tougher than the first, but I honestly don't know where I stand with them. My stomach feels like it's in one big knot.

I don't feel like being alone here tonight, but I also don't feel like leaving the comfort of my home. My mood is just so WEIRD. Anxiety? Probably. I hate it.

Ok. I can breathe now.

2010-02-01T14:49:00.004-06:00

It really seems like the weekend just flew by. They always do, I know. But this one especially.

Friday night began with an unexpected trip to the hospital. Not for me, but to help out and visit my good friend Christine, who was. The good part was being able to help a friend that needed it, and also being able to have an unexpected little visit with both her and Lindsay – who'd just gotten back from holidays hours before. The bad part is being worried about my friend of course, no one likes being in the hospital, or having someone they care about in there.

I'll be having a few words with her about how stubborn she's being, but the good news (again) is that Christine was home the next day.

Saturday was a tad lazy to begin with, but quickly picked up the pace come mid-afternoon. The Boy and I had a 60th birthday party to attend, and I had to make myself pretty :)

It was a fabulous time, and a chance for me to get to know his childhood and close family friends and their wives and girlfriends better. Before I knew it, about 7 of us girls were running up to the bar to quickly grab another drink and jumping back on the dance floor. And did I mention that the dessert table was catered by Dessert Sinsations? Because even if I wasn't in the presence of fantastic company, the two pieces I had of their Berry Torte (my favourite) would have definitely ensured I had a good time anyway. Oh my God that cake is good.

Sunday was BUSY day. Up early, and straight to work on a project I needed to have done for Monday morning. A couple hours later, I was off to volleyball (and winning! Go Ninjas!), and then dashing back home to make dinner for my mom, dad and brother. (Whew!)

My dad is more than a little great. He's come to help me out sooo many times with this new place of mine, I can't even count. I appreciate him so much. Thanks to his quick handywork, I now have lights, a mirror and a brand new towel rack all installed in my freshly-painted bathroom. And I'd be willing to bet a pretty penny that they are all level to an exact if you were to test them. All of that with only a few swears uttered :)

Once The Family had headed home, I was back to the office to finish my project. Aaaaaaand, no wonder I didn't set an alarm this morning. Good thing I had a client to wake me with some changes at 8 this morning.

But I leave you all with some more good news - at least for me...I have a second job interview this week! Wednesday afternoon to be exact, so I really hope the weather cooperates this time.

Wish me luck! I'm pretty excited.

Friday Smile

2010-01-29T17:17:00.004-06:00

I'm stealing the Friday Smile idea today, from my dear friend Lindsay (who I'm actually supposed to be leaving to pick up right about now).

My smiles today come from:

All the support comments I've gotten from yesterday's post, you all are awesome, thank you so much!

The fantastic week I've had. From a great interview yesterday, to a fully painted bathroom (with just some fix-ups and finishing touches to add before posting photos).

I got to have a lovely dinner here at my place with my parents on Tuesday night. I love that I have my place that's closer to them now, and that because I don't have to worry about doing laundry at their place - we can trade off the visits, and they can come here instead.

My dad's help on said Tuesday night. When taking things off the wall in the bathroom required tools I didn't have, he was here to help - and always is. I appreciate his help SO much, and even though my mom likes to tease me about it (and how I kinda have this priority level with him, hehe).

I found a thank you card for my dad today (yes, I love to give cards) that says, "If I were a monster, I'd be Thankenstein". I bought three, just in case of future thank-yous needed down the line :)

Happy Friday everyone, hope you all have a great weekend!

Goal: 40 Pounds Down

2010-01-28T19:38:00.005-06:00

I don't usually make new year's resolutions. So this isn't a post that's a month late - this is me setting some goals for myself.

I've been feeling like crap lately, and I know that it's because I've gained weight. People have said I look fine, look great, etc - but I just. Don't. Feel it. I'm not the heaviest I've ever been, either - no where near. I'm still about 40 pounds below that mark. But part of the bad feeling is the fear of sloooowly creeping back up, there's no way I can let that happen. I worked hard to lose that weight, dammit!

Sooo, what's my problem then?

I put so many other things first. I'll procrastinate like no one's business. I know I make excuses, when I should really just power through a workout and get it done. I know I can do it, I have before. Two years ago, my boyfriend and I decided to try out P90X. It worked like nothing ever has for me before. I was down to my lowest weight ever, my pants for the first time since I was in the single-digit grades were in single digits! I could do CHIN UPS! With no support chair! I felt great.

But I got sick of it. I got tired of listening to the same guy on the DVDs, the same jokes, same everything. I stopped. And I've never really done consistent workouts since. I try to start again, and I don't finish.

I lost my job in October, and although it sucked, and I wasn't happy about it - I don't think I was depressed. I think it was kinda the opposite. After a few hours of self-pity, I realized it was time to move on from that job anyway. I felt revived in my career choice. Design was exciting for me again. With the help of some key freelance work, I was doing well for myself, and not worried about finding a new job right away.

But at the same time, I was working from home - and getting a little stir crazy. So, I'd go out and meet friends for lunch, because I had the time. Or meet a friend for coffee and a Starbucks-style snack in the afternoon. Not usually on the same day, but some times. That's where it started to add up. These social eating meetings have been terrible to me. Combined with actually being so busy with work at home - again, workouts got shuffled aside. I would do a few a week, but not enough to combat the poor eating.

So now it's time for me to make a change. I need to. If I don't, my mood is not going to get better, and neither is my health.

With that said, I would like to lose 40 pounds this year. I think by starting early in the year, it's attainable, and a healthy goal.

I'm hoping through this blog, and the support of you that read it, it will help me stay on track. I'm hoping you'll talk with me about what you all do to keep fit, or reach your goals. And hopefully you don't mind me suggesting things to you. Maybe it's healthy recipes, or things I do in my workouts, and even just progress marks.

Monday is February first, it's the day I get serious.

Here's my list of things to do to really kickstart this goal:

Workout, minimum 5 days a week

Ideally, it's 6. With a mix of P90X workouts for strength and toning, and Insanity workouts on alternate days for cardio.

Drink more water

I don't drink nearly enough, and it's already bitten me once. Goal starts at 1.5 L per day.

Eat better

This is where I've slacked the most. Nothing unhealthy will come into my house. Meals will be planned, and recipes will be healthy. I will allow myself one cheat day per week - because balance is key.

Weigh myself only once per month, at the END of the month

I so easily get off track when I see that I've made progress, or discouraged when I don't. I can't do this anymore.

Take a self-photo at the beginning, and at the end of each month

These will NOT be posted on the internet. I have limits, people. It's a pretty big step for me to even be talking this personally on here. I may get more confident as months pass.

Blog

What I've done, good or bad, for myself each day. Maybe if I see it in writing, it'll hit home faster. I hope so.

I think those are good starting points to aim for, and I have others in mind already for the next step. Do you have any others for me? I'm really hoping for all the support I can get here :)

Worst. Friend. Ever.

2010-01-27T19:03:00.003-06:00

My friend, and former coworker Kim, is having a reading tonight of her first book, Tasting Rain. I meant to post earlier today, telling all of the Winnipeg folk reading this to go if you had no plans for the evening already. But, I didn't. Argh!

Anyway, it's too late now - but not too late for me to tell you about the book. You see, Kim had quite the story tell. She met the man of her dreams, just after he'd been diagnosed with terminal cancer. His prognosis and outlook was grim, but they both couldn't deny how they felt about each other - and decided to be together as long as they could.

Her story is sweet, heartbreaking, and without a doubt inspiring to those who can identify with her, and even those who can't.

If you like, you can visit Kim's site here, or purchase her book here.

"Does this still smell okay to you?"

2010-01-26T13:43:00.004-06:00

Unless it's a dire circumstance of a closed grocery store and a huge craving for a late night bowl of cereal, I will usually not touch a carton of milk that's even one day past its expiry date. Silly? Overcautious? Maybe.

But I'm that way with a lot of foods. If something looks perfectly fine, but has been in my fridge for too long...there's a pretty good chance it will either be thrown out right then and there, or left until there is no doubt that it should not be eaten. Which is usually when it requires a clothespin on the nose and rubber gloves to remove from the fridge.

Yet, there's some things that I have no problem eating when they are clearly past their expiry date. Eggs, salad dressing, mustard. I don't get it either.

I've made it a goal of mine to waste less food from now on. I hate to admit it, but I tend to throw a lot out. I need to get better at using what I have, planing out meals better, and hopefully, reduce the monthly grocery bill tally.

Stilltasty.com is a site I came across about a month ago, and I find it so useful and interesting. They have so many common food questions answered, there's guaranteed to be several that you've asked at one time or another too. Check it out!

In the meantime, I think today might have to be fridge clean-out day :(

Must. Keep. Post Streak... Going!

2010-01-25T17:08:00.002-06:00

I'm so determined to keep blogging on a regular basis this time. SO determined that I'm going to try to put something up on here every day for a full week.

It was an exciting day here in the Land of Amber Dawn. I had an interview scheduled this morning, go figure, on the worst blizzard of the season so far. I was awake early, and ready to go with plenty of time to spare (a small feat on its own, if you know me, and "Amber Time" being at least 10 minutes late for almost everything).

I got out to my car, out of my parking spot without any snow issues, through the lot...and stuck. 10 feet away from the parking lot exit. Dammit. Thanks to the help of three kind (and more than a little annoyed) gentlemen, I got reversed enough so I could drive back INTO the parking, back to my spot, and phone the interviewer to tell her I just could not make it today. They were totally understanding. Even more so because my interviewer didn't even come into work today. HUGE sigh of relief.

I put my early rise to work though, it was a productive day - and it's not over! I've taken down as much as I can off the walls in my bathroom, and patched all the walls and around the ceiling fan. For the record: patching a ceiling is HARD. Holy crap.

Once that all dried, it was the moment I'd been waiting for...painting! My bathroom ceiling is no longer mint green! I feel so happy. There's still a second coat to go in an hour or so, and in the meantime, I've made a jump on getting my taxes ready to go too.

Amidst all that comes this hilarious video of Brendan Fraser that I can not stop watching (and laughing at):

It's definitely been a full day. And I'm starving. A day like today definitely calls for breakfast for dinner, in my opinion.

Does this mean I can finally join Barbie and the Rockers?

2010-01-24T17:20:00.006-06:00

Thanks to a nomination* from my dear friend Lindsay, I am apparently a 'Blog Rockstar'.

I was wondering what this was all about, and what privileges such a title would bring me. Until I went outside to drive to volleyball this morning, and there was a limo waiting for me! And inside was a huge, delicious breakfast with a generous side of the best bacon in all the land.

Ok, no - not really. What it really means is that I must prove myself to everyone, and tell you why I'm a rockstar. So, here I go:

1) First and foremost (and just like Lindsay), I have an AMAZING entourage. The people that surround me, and that are part of my life are the very best.

2) I drive a car that's classified by my insurance company as a station wagon. But in that station wagon is a great sounding stereo, and a not-so-great sounding singer in the drivers seat. But no one can hear through the closed windows, right? RIGHT?

3) Purple is my favourite colour right now, and I just happen to think that's a pretty rock star colour. Deep Purple, Purple Rain...I rest my case.

4) I may be deathly afraid of the karaoke mic, but get me Rockband and a group of people willing to sing/stare at notes to hit with me, and I'm there.

5) My childhood idol was Cindy Lauper. To the point where I actually locked myself in the bathroom at age 4, managed to use my mom's coloured hairspray from Halloween and completely cover my blonde hair in blue and red. I came out dressed in layers of the brightest dresses I had, as well as every piece of play jewelry I could find. I then proclaimed, "I'm Cindy Lauper!"

Okay, so hopefully I've proved that I'm worth the title. Now, I have to pass the title onto others. After thinking long and hard about this - I'm nominating the aforementioned Salt, a hilarious, soon-to-be-bride that definitely rocks. And Steph, for the same reason Lindsay nominated me - to get her writing something!

Rock on everybody. Peace.

(I thought I should at least close with something more rock-like)

*Nomination = Kick in the pants to actually write something.

Bathroom: The Final Frontier

2010-01-23T23:40:00.004-06:00

With two weeks left to go until the (wonderful) Home Renovation Tax Credit deadline, I decided to head out today and purchase a few things to spruce up my bathroom, the only room in my (6 months) new condo that I haven't done anything with.

I was hoping for a renovation that would be a little more grand (who doesn't), but it's just not feasible right now. I think with just a few key updates, I can get something that looks way more modern and...umm...not mint green (EVERYTHING in this condo was mint green - or Doctor's Office Green as I like to call it).

So, I am now armed with this:

And this:

I think of all the rooms, this is the one I'm most excited about changing. I don't know if it's just because I waited so much longer than the rest, which I painted before anything moved in, or if it's just because I finally get to have some purple walls in my home :)

Wish me luck!

I think this is a good step.

2010-01-22T16:48:00.004-06:00

Well, look at me - I actually spent a few hours today devoted to The Cherry Journal. I've known for a while it needed more than a little overhaul, and I think it's on the right track.

My day is about done for now, with not much time to post. But if you're still wanting to read a bit more - you should check out Salt Says. She's a pretty fun girl, with a cute blog. (She's also giving away an apron to celebrate her 100th post here).

I'll be back...soon!

(...WES!).

sooo...I was going to post today...

2009-12-03T14:29:00.005-06:00

But I currently have this lovely new piece of furniture to assemble... which I happened to find yesterday at Liquidation World for all of $50!!

tumbleweed and crickets chirping

2009-11-25T20:02:00.004-06:00

Hi!

Yep - that's me, you're not imagining it. Despite all recent evidence on The Cherry Journal, I have not disappeared, died or fallen off the face of the Earth.

I have been on Twitter, but I don't think I actually made it over here to tell anyone that. Sorry. But if you happen to be on Twitter as well, feel free to "@" me. (Look at that, so hip and with it).

Anyway, there's been a LOT going on since June 18 when you last heard from me. A LOT. And now I think I'm finally ready to talk about it, and catch everyone up. Except I don't feel like I can do that on what has turned into just a food blog. But, I don't *just* want a food blog anymore. I want this to be my everything blog.

So, that's what it's going to be.

My everything blog. I might even change the name. Might.

If I haven't lost you yet - please keep checking back! I don't want to lose you, you mean so much to me! I will be making changes and posting a lot more within the week.

If I have lost you, and you just happen to be going through all your infrequently visited blogs list...then COME BAAAAAACK! I miss you! We can be friends again!

We'll be chatting again soon :)

Amber

How many cubes of sugar do you eat a day?

2009-06-18T09:49:00.005-05:00

Check out SugarStacks.com today, and see how many cubes worth of sugar are in your favourite foods. Or if sugar cubes just aren't interesting enough, take a look at their carrot stack comparisons too. See how many carrots you'd have to eat to equal that sugary snack you crave.

Thanks to my friend Cora for passing this one on.

A Post for Help

2009-06-15T14:15:00.002-05:00

An important post today, one I hope that you will pass on and that someone will be able to help out with.

A friend of mine is a local wedding photographer, and is asking for Winnipeg’s help in tracking down some stolen wedding photos.

Last Friday while she was at work, her new home at Canterbury Park was broken into. All her equipment was stolen, including her Apple Powerbook laptop and Nikon Camera with a bunch of wedding photos she’d just taken. The only copies of those photos she had were stolen.

She’s now offering a $500 reward for the return of either the memory cards, laptop, or even just a disk of the photos, which were on the desktop in a folder called ‘Joanne and Rick’. A wedding’s photos just can’t be re-shot, and she’s trying to get the word out to as many people, as fast as possible.

The stolen items can be returned to any Winnipeg police station.

Great things: Couscous Salad and Pre-Measured Soup Broth

2009-06-12T09:21:00.000-05:00

Never did I think I would get excited over soup broth. But there I was, a couple weeks ago, in Safeway.

Excited about soup broth in front of me. But this is why:

I'm not sure if it's a new product (it's not even on their website yet), but Knorr now offers chicken broth in three 1 cup (250 mL) containers. I've so far only seen them at Safeway, which means they're a bit pricier than buying from anywhere else, or in a larger package. But, if you're like me - you don't use very much chicken broth at a time, and that larger package often goes bad with it's short one week lifetime in the fridge.

Buying this was perfect for me, because I needed exactly one cup of broth to make this:

Summer Couscous Salad

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup couscous

1 can chick peas, drained and rinsed

3 small tomatoes, diced with watery centre removed

1 cucumber, peeled and diced

2 teaspoons olive oil

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

1 tsp garlic powder, or to taste

t tsp onion salt, or to taste

sea salt and coarse black pepper, to taste

In a medium-sized pot, bring chicken broth to a boil. Add couscous, remove pot from heat, and cover with a clean towel for five minutes. Fluff with a fork after five minutes and let cool.

While couscous is cooling, prepare the vegetables and chick peas, and place them in a large bowl. Fluff the couscous again, and place that in the bowl as well.

Add the remaining ingredients and mix. Taste, and add more of the seasonings if desired.

Refrigerate for at least half an hour before serving.

That's it! It's REALLY easy to make this salad, and we love it. It tastes super fresh and summery, and at the same time is very hearty and makes a great carb side dish to have with the rest of your meal.

Also for you vegans out there, this is a great recipe for you, too! Simply replace the chicken broth with vegetable broth.

Not being a vegan here, I served it up with an roasted pork tenderloin and grilled asparagus.

Hopefully you enjoy it as well :)

Lovey's BBQ

2009-06-09T12:03:00.004-05:00

My boyfriend and I found out about Lovey's BBQ here in Winnipeg a few months ago. Slow cooked pulled pork, beef brisket, chicken and ribs. Homemade coleslaw, fries, baked beans, mac'n'cheese and all the fixins. We were instantaneously sold. Since then, have been back enough times to pretty much try everything on their menu.

The restaurant is fairly new, as far as we can understand. Although the owner is very familiar to the world of BBQ, having participated in many BBQ recipe competition in The States. Word of mouth is clearly making this place more and more of a destination by the day. When we first started going, we were able to walk in mid-evening for dinner and find a seat with no problem. The past few visits has found us getting there at the optimal time (somehow) to grab a table while others continue to pile in, and end up taking their orders to go. The overflow seating off to the side doesn't even seem to help much.

When you walk in to Lovey's - grab a seat (fast!). Then, take a look at the chalkboard menu on the wall to decide what you'd like. When the decision's done - and it won't be easy, you need to go up to the cash counter to place the order. There's no servers here, just the friendly staff walking around clearing the completely empty dishes off the table. Once the order is placed, there is a shelf set up on the side by the drink cooler where you can either grab a drink if you've bought one, or some water. All of the cutlery, condiments and wet-naps are also at the station as well.

While you're waiting, it definitely gives you a chance to soak in the southern-styled atmosphers of the place. Photos taken from barbeque restaurants all over, blues music playing in the background. It's homey, fun and really shows how much the owners love the barbeque food they sell. I can't remember my 'Blues Name' just now, but take a look at the ad holder on your table for the fun little game that will help you find yours, too.

When your name is called, your order is ready for you to go pick up at the counter next to where you ordered. The only part to this process we've found we don't like, is how congested it gets when the lineup to order gets really long. You have to really weasel your way through a bunch of hungry people. So watch out no one steals some of those yummy fries!

So, as far as the food goes:

The ribs are delicious. Fall of the bone soft and tender. Their homemade barbeque sauce the put on all the meat is tangy and flavourful.

Both the pulled pork and beef brisket sandwiches are fantastic, and served on one of the softest buns I've ever had. They both come with one choice of side dish, and are bit messy. My preference of the two is the beef brisket, as I found the sauce on the pork to drown out the pork taste a little too much. With the beef, there's only a little bit of sauce used, so you really get to taste the meat. At only $7.95 for this choice, it's really quite a great deal. I've never tried the chicken or farmer's sausage versions of the sandwiches, although from what I've heard, the chicken is the least popular of the four choices.

As far as the side dishes go, we've found those to be a little hit and miss. Their homemade baked beans are spicy, tangy and packed with flavour and various types of beans.

Their coleslaw is my favourite so far, I've picked it a few times now to accompany my sandwich, and it's just like my mom and baba make - creamy, tasty, and just the right amount of onions and seasonings.

The potato salad and mac'n'cheese have been the biggest let-downs so far. The potato salad had some under-cooked potato pieces in it, and really lacked flavour. The mac'n'cheese had an odd crumb on the top, that was just a little too crunchy for our tastes. It also didn't seem to have a sharp enough cheese used in it, which left it bland as well.

The fries are homemade as well, and they're good as well. Not crispy, a little soggy actually, but their still good, and of course go really well with any of the meal options.

Overall, we've been happily visiting Lovey's several times now in the past few months. Both my boyfriend and I have encouraged several of our friends to go, and have heard the satisfied comments from them as well.

If you haven't already, check out their website here!

Oven-baked omelet

2009-06-08T12:00:00.001-05:00

I love breakfast. We all know, it's the most important meal of the day. Unfortunately for me (and my hungry morning tummy), when it comes to work days, I choose a little more sleep over breakfast. For a while there, found myself gravitating all too often to the Tim Horton's across the parking lot from where I work for a bagel with cream cheese instead of something more healthy and well-balanced.

Then, my mom shared a recipe with me for an oven-baked omelet. With a few tweaks of my own, I have fallen in love with this recipe. It is SO easy to make, and works out perfectly for the work week. I bake it in a 9x13 dish, and divide it into 6 to be sure it gets me through the work week. It's healthy, versatile, full of protein, good calories, vegetables and very low on carbohydrates. So, if you like, enjoy it with a piece of toast too.

Here's the recipe for what I have pictured here, but it's an omelet - so add or takeaway whatever ingredients you wish to make it your own delicious dish!

Oven-baked Omelet

3 large eggs, beaten

1 500 g carton Simply Egg Whites

1.5 cups milk

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

0.25 tsp onion salt

3 green onions, chopped

1 cup shredded light old cheddar cheese (I find old to be more flavourful, especially when using low fat cheese)

6 oz. fat-free ham, diced

1 can mushrooms, drained

half of a red pepper, diced

5 asparagus spears, cooked and chopped into 0.5" pieces

Pre-heat your oven to 350ºF.

In a large bowl, beat eggs, milk and seasonings. Stir in the rest of the ingredients.

Pour into a 9x13" baking dish. Bake uncovered for an hour or more, until omelet is set and the top is golden brown.

I cut this into 6 slices, and bring warm up a piece in the microwave each workday for breakfast. Each slice prepared with this recipe would be approximately 350 calories.

Barney Gargles, now what's that?

2009-05-21T23:25:00.004-05:00

I've wanted to post something about Barney Gargles since the day I started this blog. "Barney's," as it's known to regulars and people in the area, is a humbly-sized restaurant in Selkirk. If you're driving in from Winnipeg down Main Street, you can't miss it. Or the line of people waiting to get in for a seat, any time of the year.

Thing is, I'm so biased. Not only have I grown up going to this restaurant, but it was also my first "grown up" job - I worked there as a server while in college. Being so familiar, and such a fan of their menu, there was no way I was going to be able to offer an accurate review.

So, I waited on it.

Then, last Friday, I got a panicked/upset call from my mother:

MOM: Amber - Marion Warhaft's review in the paper today is for Barneys!

AMBER: No way, that's cool! What'd she say?

MOM: It got four stars.

AMBER: Wow! That's pretty good - I'm surprised it didn't get more though. What didn't she like?

MOM: The carrots.

AMBER: Ah, yes - I agree.

MOM: Amber, do you realize what this means?

AMBER: ...

MOM: We're never going to get a seat in there AGAIN!!

(I think at this point I heard a small muffled sob)

Anyway, point is - Barney's has great food. Everything is homemade, from the fries to the chicken fingers and the amazing cheesecakes (which, in my opinion - biased as it is, are better than anything I've found in Winnipeg).

The two women who own it, Judy and Shirley, were my bosses, and two of of the hardest working women I've ever seen. They've owned that business for as long as I can remember. Quality, respect, cleanliness and customer service at all at the top of their list for things to achieve on a daily basis, which is no doubt why this restaurant continues to thrive despite major chain restaurant additions to the small city. As I started my own little cupcake adventure, it was the advice I'd gotten from those two women I thought about most, "Amber, no matter what we do, we're never going to sacrifice our Philly Cream cheese and real german chocolate - even if we have to charge $10 a slice for a piece of our cake." (To this day, pieces of cake are still only a little over $5 there, don't worry).

So now that I've gushed about this place a bit, and have Ms.Warhoft's review to back me up, so you know I'm not lying to you, you should go check Barney Gargles out! Like my mom said, there were line-ups before, so if you're going to make the trek, be sure to make a reservation first!

And save room for the skor cheesecake...it's my favourite :)

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T13:28:00.002-05:00

Happy Easter everyone!

Despite many comments as to my whereabouts, I am alive and well. I did fall, but I got up - I'm not stuck somewhere unable to move. But thank you for your concern!

Life has just been REALLY busy for this girl as of late, and when I do have an evening free, I just can't bring myself to spend it in front of a computer.

I have a TON of things to tell you though, believe you me. So I'll be back to writing very soon. Promise.

I hope all of you are having a great Easter weekend!

I wanted to post today...I really did.

2009-02-10T18:34:00.003-06:00

But thanks to the ice rink city I (or we...depending who's reading this) live in - sitting is still a challenge today, after the fall yesterday. I do have a recipe to share though!

...tomorrow.

Food Magazine - Update

2009-02-09T21:35:00.003-06:00

So, I searched and I searched. McNally, Chapters, any news stand I passed, and I could not find myself an issue of Food Magazine. Nuts.

Luckily, the publisher, Candus, commented and left her email address on the original post. Not only should I soon find out where we can find Food Magazine, but I'm getting a copy mailed right to me! Yay!

In the meantime, keep checking their site - within the next couple of days they'll be launching the full version, with even more recipes and goodness :)

Cookies through the decades

2009-02-06T12:37:00.003-06:00

Gourmet Magazine just posted an fantastic online feature this week. 68 years of their best cookie recipes, one for each year the magazine has been in print. Click through the decades to see the story behind the cookies and why each one was chosen - and then click on the cookie to get the recipe. It's a pretty fantastic resource, check it out here. And then make me some cookies, k? :)

A recipe for a good evening

2009-02-05T15:22:00.015-06:00

Not a typical recipe for The Cherry Journal today. Not a typical post at all actually. Today, I'm excited to have a special co-post with my good friend Steph, from over at Girly Movie Mondays.

She and I, and a group of our friends, have been watching America's Next Top Model since the very early seasons. It started out with us getting together at a friend's house with Kraft Dinner and wine each Wednesday, and laughing together at the hilarity and drama that would unfold that week. That friend of ours (unfortunately for us) how now moved all the way to Calgary, but with exception of one or two seasons, we've kept the tradition going for premiere nights at least.

The time has now come again for a new season (sorry, "cycle") to start. Cycle 12 to be exact. And on February 25, the night it starts, I'm hoping to have my apartment full of great friends, good food, and a ton of laughs.

In the meantime, here's what Steph and I have to think of the 12 new girls:

ALLISON

STEPH: A little squirrly looking, which I have no qualms with… I love the furry little creatures. She is an artist, which could mean some creative posing from this one.
AMBER: Super pretty eyes and nice shaped lips, I think she'll do pretty well. I could see Mama Tyra making her hair a lot darker for the makeover episode.

AMINAT

STEPH: I love the fro. What will they do to it??? She is reminiscent of Dani, the winner of Cycle 6.
AMBER: I get this feeling her name was really Tanima, but to sound more unique, she wrote it backwards. Little did she know this season (oops, sorry, CYCLE) is all about uniquely-named model wannabees. Back on topic though, I think she's gorgeous. Although I could see Tyra deciding to let the 'fro go. I hope not though, yo. ;)

CELIA

STEPH: Mmmmmm, she has nice hair? This hair actually reminds me of your hair Amber, before the switch to the dark side :)
AMBER: What?! I'm offended that she reminds you of me in any way. She looks like she's 47! I'm going to feel really bad for writing that if she ends up being the nicest, most wholesome person on the show. But that leather jacket makes me think she's gonna have a major attitude. Don't all people with leather jackets have that?

FO

STEPH: Oooo – I like this one:). She has adorable freckles, she is wearing a nice vest and she has a tiny tattoo. I want to hear the story! I just hope she has enough attitude to stand out in this competition.
AMBER: I like her...and can definitely see her being versatile and a good Cover Girl. She looks like she might be a bit of a troublemaker.

ISABELLA

STEPH: She’s pretty and I do like her haircut. But she can’t coast on pretty.
AMBER: Too pouty. She looks like she's going to be the whiney one. And she's an aspiring model, so she may possibly be whiney AND think she's better than the rest.

JESSICA

STEPH: “Sexy bedroom eyes” or “I will kill all you skinny beeyotches with my laser glare”? Hmmmm she has long flowing hair which can only mean on thing… a pixie cut a la mia farrow might be in order?
AMBER: Noooo! No pixie cut! I think maybe they'll do chin-length bob. This girl is really pretty, but she needs to lay off the eye squint. She'll learn. Tyra will show her the ways. I think I'm impartial though, because Jessica was always my favourite twin from the Sweet Valley days.

KORTNIE

STEPH: I have a beef with this girls name. Kortnie, pffft! Two things which may work in her favour, or be her demise… BOOBS. I can’t do up my vests either Kortnie.
AMBER: Guaranteed her name is really spelled Courtney, but she's going the unique road like Aminat too. She's cool looking though - I think she'll either the the bitch or the really laid-back one of the group.

LONDON

STEPH: Amanda Bynes knock-off.
AMBER: Nicholas Cage knock-off. I don't like her. First one off, even before Celia. I hope. And are those pleather pants I see?!

NATALIE

STEPH: This one slightly reminds me of Jaime-Lynn Sigler. She looks sad.
AMBER: You're right Steph, way too sad though. Smile, Natalie! We're so proud of your not changing the spelling or letter order of your name!

NIJAH

STEPH: Stunning. I like her. I hope she isn’t the crazy one.
AMBER: Ooooh, fierce. Look at that look! And I love that she's from Rancho Cucamonga - because I like saying it. Sounds like cowabunga - but better. She looks like she could be the season's Big Bitch though, orrr crazy.

SANDRA

STEPH: She has very strong features, but I am having trouble getting past her “Troll-inspired” hairdo.
AMBER: This girl is stunning. I can get past the hairdo, although I don't think we'll have to for long, I'm sure Tyra will have it cut right down to almost nothing.

TAHLIA

STEPH: She looks “nice”, therefore I am thinking she is heading home sooner rather than later. I’m not sure if she stands out, but she has lovely curly hair, and blue eyes (They are blue? It’s hard to tell.
AMBER: Ahh, the "plus-sized" girl (also known as not plus-sized at all). She does look super sweet, and her eyes are gorgeous. I hope she's got confidence, I think that will help her stick around.

TEYONA

STEPH: Ty-ty picked Tey-tey. Fancy job you have there, Teyona.
AMBER: Teyona scares me.

SO, AFTER ALL THAT...WHO ARE YOU BETTING ON?

STEPH: My top 2 girls that I am betting all the marbles on: Nijah and Fo
AMBER: As if I'm gonna spill those beans! I'm holding off my bet decision until I see the first episode.

Food - The premiere issue

2009-02-04T17:45:00.005-06:00

I've sung the praises of Clean Eating Magazine a few times now - but honestly, the last couple issues seem to be a little lacking in terms of new, innovative recipes. Repeat, or only minutely changed recipes from past issues have begun to to appear. Even though the articles are still good, and I've subscribed, I'm on the hunt for something new.

Today I came across Food Magazine's website (or lack thereof), and will be going tonight to pick it up. It looks pretty interesting! I'm hoping they'll have some good (some healthy) recipes to share, and maybe some less-obscure ingredients, unlike Clean Eating.

(Okay, I'll admit, I'm a sucker for anything Gordon Ramsey...and the article promising healthy appetite recipes for under $20 looks verrrry promising.)

Sushi 101

2009-02-03T16:58:00.005-06:00

I was invited to join my coworkers, Cora, John and Rod (John and Rod specifically asked to be named for their moment of fame on my blog) for a sushi lunch last week. And even better: it was going to be 50% off! Awesome, I was in.

We went to Sushi 101 (sister restaurant to Bubble Tea 101, if you're interested), and upon arrival, the first thing we saw on the door was a sign apologizing. They no longer have 50% off Wednesdays. Crap.

Of course we decided to check it out anyway, and I was so glad we did! The four of us sat in the "traditional" japanese seating side, and were promptly brought a couple dishes of really tasty edamame beans. I know this might seem commonplace, but they were REALLY GOOD. Extra tasty and perfectly salted.

I ordered one of their combo dishes. For $20, I was told I'd get miso soup, a salad, tempura vegetables, 6 pieces of maki sushi, a california roll, and 6 pieces of assorted sushi. Not too bad! Actually, really good. I was expecting small portions of salad, soup and tempura to go with the assorted pieces. Nooooo, I should have shared this order! I got a FULL ORDER of yam tempura (my favourite) which I shared with the table. The salad had a great dressing, but was made with a standard pre-packaged iceburg salad mix. The miso soup was a little tasteless, and the tofu pieces were teeny tiny. The salad and soup was served way after I had received the main part of the meal, which was a bit out of order as well. The pieces were terrific though. I don't care for sushi that has the rice take over the roll, and I wasn't disappointed here. The balance was perfect, and everything tasted fantastic. Even though the soup and salad left a bit to be desired, everything else made this a great (and delicious) deal!

My lunch companions seemed pretty impressed with their meals as well. John had a great looking chirashi bowl, with a half order of their Sushi 101 House Roll - he was happy and full. Cora and Rod both had the seafood salad, and although they didn't expect to see pieces of sashimi (and no salad greens) drizzled with the house dressing, they seemed to enjoy it. Cora finished her meal with a roll, as did Rod (he got the house roll as well).

All in all, I was impressed with this new little sushi restaurant. The food was delicious, and the prices were reasonable. We definitely didn't leave bitter because we missed out on 50% off.

Next time you're in the mood for sushi, go try them out. And hey! If you're a student, take advantage of the 10% they still offer to you :)

- Image from sushi101.ca

Cosmo brownies

2009-01-29T20:51:00.005-06:00

Let me just say this to start with: I do not usually make last minute purchases at the cash register, nor do I usually purchase Cosmopolitain magazine. However, last week, I did both in one fell swoop, and at the time I had no idea why.

But now I know. I think I sensed that there was a good recipe to be found in there, as well a list of the 8 things in my closet that are making me look chunky...

Cosmo's brownie recipe

1 box of brownie mix (I used Duncan Hines)

4 packs of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (12 cups total)

Prepare the brownie batter as per the package instructions.

Spread half the batter in an 8x8 inch pan. Place the peanut butter cups into the batter, covering as much of the pan as possible. Spread the remaining batter over top and bake as per the package instructions.

Cool the brownies quite a bit before cutting them into squares and claiming this ridiculously recipe as your own. (I won't tell them it's from a box if you don't)

Seriously, these are DELICIOUS, and so easy if you're in a pinch and just don't have time to make something from scratch.

Things that make me happy

2009-01-28T16:58:00.004-06:00

Whoa, finally - an actual food blog post to my blog about food! It's the dawn of a new era, I tell you. There's a few exciting things I've come across in Winnipeg this week that I wanted to share:

First up is another year of Ciao Winnipeg's annual event, Dine About Winnipeg. 29 Restaurants around the city are participating this year, all of them putting together a three course meal for either $25 or $35. It's a great opportunity to try out a restaurant that you've never been to before, and for a really reasonable price, too.

The event runs from February 2-11, and if you would like a sneak peek at what the restaurants are serving up, go to Ciao's site, and click on the restaurant names.

Which one has your mouth watering the most? I think I'm most drawn to Luce or Nicolino's myself.

Now the reason I found out about this event is because I visited Saucers Cafe this week (they're participating in the event too). I'd never been before, but a friend suggested we go for a pot of tea, and that was just the place to do so. Their selection was almost overwhelming it was so great, and for being a little picky on what type of tea I like (not too fruity, not too perfumy) I was led to the perfect pot.

The herbed chicken focaccia sandwich I had was delicious too, and the case of homemade desserts convinced me to give their carrot cake a try (mmm!). And for those of you with gluten allergies or other dietary concerns, it looked to me like that had some alternative options for you as well.

I know there's a lot of great dessert/coffee places here in the city, but I'd recommend you give Saucers a try the next time you're looking for somewhere to go.

Top 40 Challenge: Accepted

2009-01-26T17:54:00.005-06:00

My dear friend Lindsay posted her list and answers this morning, and I learned quite a bit about her. So, I accept her Top 40 Challenge, and give you my own. Maybe you'll learn a thing or two about me too, and then post your own list :)

Go to your iTunes, (or iPod, or shuffle...just not a Zune!) and write down the first 40 songs that play. Then answer the 9 questions about them.

Here's my list:

Let's Ride (Feat. Ginuwine) – Method Man
Respect – C.R.A.C. Knuckles
Girls Gone Wild – Ludacris
A Milli (Produced By Bangladesh) – Lil Wayne
Build Me Up Buttercup – The Foundations
Baptized In Blacklight – Kenna
I Heard Love Is Blind – Amy Winehouse
Walking after midnight – Patsy Cline
Perseverance – William Hung
The Moneymaker – Rilo Kiley
A Modern Midnight Conversation – The Chemical Brothers
Invisible Man – John Robinson
Stronger – Kanye West
You're My Baby – Robin Thicke
Just A Ride – Jem
Souds Like Love (feat. Debi Nova) – Illa J
Brother Down – Sam Roberts
Song of the South – Alabama
Dumb it Down – Ugly Duckling
I Believe I Can Fly – William Hung
Circus – Kelis
Touch The Sky (Live) – Lupe Fiasco
Maybe Tomorrow (Michael Jackson) – Rhymefest
Leader Of The Pack – The Shangri-la's
Paul Newman – Lefties Soul Connection
Love Is Strange – Mickey and Sylvia
promise (siik remix) – ciara
LDN – Lily Allen
One Thing – Ciara silk re-mix
Yes I Will – Michael Franti
What It Is – Amy Winehouse
Jesus walks – Kayne West
Girl from the North Country – Bob Dylan; Johnny Cash
Transitions (feat. The Proov) – Arts the beatdoctor
Til' The Morning – Mary J. Blige
Don't Stop – Girl Talk
Caught Up – Lumidee
Staying In Love – Raphael Saadiq
Superfreak (Rocasound Revamp) – Rick James
Hello – The Cat Empire

Makes you think of a friend?

Song of the South has me think of Roxanne instantly. She's the only other person I've met who admits to having Alabama as a guilty pleasure (she even bought me their Christmas record, yes, record) a couple years ago for Christmas.

Makes you think of more than a friend?

The two William Hung songs that found their way in here. I get a disk of music every couple months from my boyfriend. About a year or so ago, he managed to sneak the William Hung album on there, under a different name. And it still resides in my iTunes, not because I like it, but because when it randomly comes on it makes me laugh so hard.

Makes you dance?

Hello by The Cat Empire

Makes you sing in the car?

A lot of them, I always sing in the car (and was witnessed doing so by my boss once in traffic). I guess the one that would the most though would be Just a Ride by Jem.

Makes you remember something great?
LDN, by Lily Allen is one of the first songs I was ever sent by my boyfriend. At the time, I remember how much it suited my tastes, and how thoughtful I thought it was of him to send me something to brighten my day. He still does that almost every single day :)

Makes you laugh?

Love is Strange, by Mickey and Sylvia - because I picture the scene from Dirty Dancing every time I hear that song.

Surprised you?

That there were TWO Willliam Hung songs during the play time, of the thousands of songs in my iTunes to choose from. Ugh.

Embarrassed you?
Nothing really, anyone who knows me well knows that on any given day of the week I can go from listening to Alabama to Michael Bublé and Lupe Fiasco. It's all in my mood, so I make sure I have enough to manage the music tastes of all of my moods.

Any overall observations?

Nothing too crazy, other than the fact that I can not resist doing these kinda time wasters :) Thanks Lindsay!

(almost) back!

2009-01-20T12:17:00.003-06:00

Why hello, long time no see.

It's so sad that my last post was well over a month ago - I'm sorry. Between the Christmas rush and all that visiting, getting hooked in by the Twiligh t books, and preparing for vacation, my little blog here really got neglected.

I'm almost back though, I promise. I definitely haven't forgotten about the things I want to do here. There's so many things I can't wait to tell you! Just let me get my bearings over the next couple days and then get ready to cook, eat and bake with me more!

In the meantime - if you'd like to see my vacation pics, check the album out here :)

Easy Zucchini

2008-12-03T16:59:00.006-06:00

Zucchini cake has always been on of my favourite (although rarely had) treats, but as a dish on it's own (or even when it was part of other dishes) - I never really cared for it. I thought it was boring, bland, not nearly as exciting as something like oh, I dunno - corn. That is, until about 6 months ago or so. And now I'm finding myself trying it out in different ways fairly frequently - like in my roasted vegetables recipe.

A few night ago though - Zucchini went solo for the first time in Amber's kitchen. SOLO! And let me tell you my friends, it was delicious. I completely winged it - which makes me even happier with the dish and how it turned out. Now, I share it with you:

Easy Zucchini

Prep time: 3 minutes Cook time: 7 minutes Servings: 2-3

3 Tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves minced garlic

2 small to mid-sized zucchinis

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon coarse black pepper

1/2 teaspoon coarse oregano

1/2 teaspoon onion salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/3 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese

Cut zucchini in half length-wise, then chop into 1/2 inch thick pieces. Set aside.

Heat a large frying pan with olive oil, once hot - add garlic and quickly sautée for about one minute. Add zucchini, stir to coat all the pieces with oil and begin cooking. After about a minute, add all the spices (measurements above are very approximate - I was adding so much to the pan! feel free to adjust for your tastes).

Keep mixing frequently, and once the zucchini is good and hot (cooked, but still crunchy...don't burn your tongue testing it!) add most of the parmesan and mix it all up one last time to melt it a bit.

Scoop the zucchini onto your serving plate, and top with the last bit of parmesan (or a bit more if you just couldn't resist putting the whole 1/3 of a cup in the pan while it's cooking, I understand).

And there you go! Easy AND yummy - try it and let us know what you think.

My favourite chocolate chip cookies

2008-11-29T23:36:00.003-06:00

I can't believe that in just a few minutes it's going to be December 1. There's snow on the ground, and Christmas buzz is getting pretty loud. What a better way to warm up your home then whip up a batch of these chocolate chip cookies? They're my absolute favourite, really tasty, chewy, and super quick to make. The recipe is also on the box of Crisco Golden shortening, which you'll need to make them.

And, if you're looking for more cookie recipes for the holidays, keep checking back here - I'll be posting lots (really!), or check out the recipe section of Crisco's site. I only looked there for the first time this week, and there are a TON of recipes on there to check out, and in some cases, even videos to go with. A pretty great resource, check it out!

Ultimate Chocolate Chip cookies

3/4 cup Golden Crisco shortening

1 1/4 cup lightly-packed brown sugar

1 egg

2 tablespoons milk

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375ºF

In a small bowl combine egg, milk and vanilla. Don't stir, set aside.

In another medium-sized bowl, combine flour, salt and baking soda. Gently mix, and set aside.

Cream shortening and brown sugar in large bowl at medium speed of electric mixer for 2 minutes, or until light.

Add in the egg mixture, and beat for one minute, or until thoroughly blended.

Slowly add in the flour mixture, beating on low speed so not to get flour all over the place. Once flour has been partially mixed in, turn speed up to medium/high and mix for one minute, or until completely blended.

Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop dough by heaping tablespoon onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Leave about 3 inches between each cookie.

Bake for 8-10 minutes for chewy cookies, or 10-12 minutes for crispy cookies. Let cool for 2 minutes, then move cookies to a cooling rack.

Sesame Pork & Roasted Vegetables

2008-11-15T18:21:00.002-06:00

It's always a bit sad when you can feel summer winding down, and the weather cooling off. But for some reason this year, I was REALLY excited for fall and winter seasons. I think it's because I 'm really looking forward to what this winter is going to bring.

I love evenings in, hanging out with friends, a few games (Scattegories, anyone?) and a couple bottles of my favorite wine. Nothing feels better than being inside and warm, laughing and having a great time while it's blustery and cold out there. It also helps that this winter, for the first time ever, I am getting away to somewhere warm mid-way through it. In January, I am lucky enough to be a bridesmaid in wedding in Jamaica! Woo hoo!

Winter also means that getting the oven going is a good thing, instead of using it and having it make your already hot home even hotter. I love that. And, the holiday baking season is just around the corner, too!

With this in mind, and knowing that the barbeques are close to being put away (unless you're one of those die-hards who keep pulling the BBQ out of the garage, even in the dead of winter), I give you TWO recipes today, which happen to go very well together. A roasted vegetable medley (using in-season veggies) and a delicious Sesame Pork Tenderloin. They both cook for the same amount of time in the oven almost, and with just two pans - clean up is easy peasy. Enjoy!

Roasted Vegetables

(6 Servings)

2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 medium sized beet, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch slices

1 mid-sized zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch slices

1 large red pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces

1/4 or 1/2 red onion, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces

1.5 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon coarse black pepper

3 cloves garlic, minced

Combine all vegetables in a large bowl, drizzle olive oil over top, and toss vegetables very lightly just to coat (not too much, or the beets will start to turn the other veggies pink!). Sprinkle all the remaining ingredients overtop the veggies and lightly toss again, lightly coating all the veggies with the seasonings.

Put everything in an ungreased 2-inch deep 9x13 inch baking dish. Bake uncovered at 375ºF for 35-40 minutes, or until tender.

Sesame Pork Tenderloin

(Serves 2)

1 (1 pound) pork tenderloin

1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce

1.5 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 teaspoon ground fresh ginger

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup honey

2 tablespoons packed brown sugar

3 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted and cooled

In a large, resealable plastic bag or container, add the pork, soy sauce, oil, ginger and garlic. Seal and shake it up to coat the meat. Marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or overnight.

Drain and discard the marinade. Place pork in a foil-lined shallow roasting pan (do NOT forget to line with foil). Combine honey and brown sugar, and spoon over pork. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake, uncovered at 375ºF for 25-30 minutes, when meat thermometer reads 155ºF. Let stand for 10 minutes before slicing, so meat will be as tender and juicy as possible.

Rebel rebel!

2008-11-12T20:55:00.004-06:00

I've been coveting digital SLR cameras all year, and just a couple weeks ago, I was browsing around the Staples website, and saw that they had the one I wanted on sale for SEVENTY DOLLARS cheaper than anywhere else. After a very short chat with myself, I went down to the store and picked it up. I was a proud new owner of a Canon Rebel XS. Yay! (and no, it wasn't because of the new Avril Lavigne commercial)

But today my friends, Staples just made me an even bigger fan. Because they have lowered the price by yet another EIGHTY DOLLARS. Feel free to check out the price and specs here.

I'm passing this information on in case any of you have been thinking about purchasing a DSLR yourself, or if someone you know is interested. Obviously, I'm an amateur photographer, so I'm still learning a lot of the features, etc. But as someone who has been researching this camera for upwards of a year, I think it's a great camera to start taking amazing photos with, and at easily the best price I've ever seen it at.

When cakes have kids

2008-11-12T16:27:00.004-06:00

I have come to realize that by having a baking/cooking blog and a very tiny cupcake-making operation, that anytime people come across anything cupcake - they pass it along my way. And I love it.

Case in point, this series of ads my boyfriend sent to me today - "When cakes have kids" for Babycakes. The photoshop work is pretty bad, but the hospital one in particular made me smile. Hope it does the same for you! See the original ad info here.

And hey Lindsay, maybe you could take after the example left by mama cake here? Hmmm? ;)

Let us remember

2008-11-11T10:27:00.005-06:00

I remember being a young child, going to Remembrance Day assemblies at school the day before we had the day off. Then on the actual day of, my grandfather would come by in the morning, pick me up, and we'd would head off to the ceremony he would always partake in, him being a veteran. They were always so powerful and emotional to me, these activities, right down to the moment of silence, or assisting my grandpa in putting our wreath in place.

So if you're reading this on your day off today, or tomorrow when you're back at work, I hope you took a minute or two to respect those who sacrificed all they did back then, so we can all live the life we do today.

And now that you have a day off, why not share a piece or two of this delicious cake with someone you love, or bring some in for your coworkers tomorrow? It's super easy, really moist, and SO delicious.

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

1/2 cup poppy seeds

1/2 cup milk

1 box lemon cake

1 large box vanilla instant pudding

4 eggs

1/2 cup oil

1 cup warm water

Soak poppy seeds in milk over night.

Combine the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, oil and water - and add the poppy seeds last.

Pour into a bundt pan and bake at 350ºF for one hour.

Mix 4 Tablespoons lemon juice and 6 Tablespoons white sugar, and drizzle over still-warm cake.

Keeping warm

2008-11-10T15:38:00.005-06:00

I'm sitting here at home with a lovely bout of strep throat, drinking what feels to be my 186th cup of plain ol' hot water (mmm!). How I wish I could have something a little yummier than that, but tea has lost its lustre, and anything milkier is not going to go over well with a tender throat. But I share with all of you reading, what I'm craving right now, as well as a selection of other warm, winter-worthy beverages to keep you cozy.

Homemade Hot Chocolate

2.5 cups whole milk (or 2% or 1%)

2 cups half-and-half

4 ounces milk chocolate, chopped

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon instant coffee

Heat the milk and half-and-half in a saucepan on medium heat to just below simmering point. Remove the pan from the heat and add both chocolates. When the chocolates are melted, add the sugar, vanilla extract, and coffee, and whisk vigorously. Reheat gently and serve immediately.

If this recipe didn't tickle your fancy - here is another one (haha, that's got a little humor in it too!), and then there is Fine Living's list of a whole bunch of warm winter beverages.

And if NONE of those works - here's a couple photos I took of my cats today (check out my flickr photostream if you wanna see more). Being home sick means I can pester them to test out my new camera :) Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to continue my Freaks and Geeks marathon.

Donuts, light cooking, and cupcakes

2008-10-22T23:05:00.009-05:00

So I'm sitting here, ready to blog. Tea is brewed, PJ pants are comfy, slippers are on, and cats are curled up around my feet. The setting is perfect. Buuuut, wait a sec. I forgot the *real* cherry journal, and camera (with photos to go with recipes) on my desk at WORK. Not very bright, I say. Luckily, a busy, blogging girl such as myself has a backup plan. And you, my dear friends are about to read my first-ever book review(s). Are you excited? Cause I know I am!

First up is a book I just finished - Always Fresh. The story of Tim Hortons, as told by Ron Joyce. Ron wasn't the one who initially came up with concept for the restaurants, but through a series of events, he went from being one of the chain's first franchise owners to being half-owner (with Tim Horton of course) of probably the largest Canadian-born food chains to date.

This book is facinating, and was really hard to put down. Ron and his co-author Robert Thompson are great storytellers. From a business standpoint, it was interesting to read of the how the growth of such a company happened (especially given the fact that Ron, besides owning at one point a Dairy Queen store, had no real training or education for working in the food service industry). Branding is discussed, as well as ideas the company tried that both worked and didn't (initially, Timbits were thought to be a failure!), and much more, right from day one.

The book is entertaining as well, not a dry moment at all. Ron Joyce was 76 when he wrote this, so it's kinda like my grandpa's telling the story at times. Names and details can get very specific, but it's pretty obvious how Ron felt about certain people in his career, good or bad, by the stories he tells about them (like Lori Horton, Tim's wife, haha).

Whether you're addicted to your morning double double, or even just looking for a good new book to curl up with as the weather gets colder - check this one out for sure. Just like a good box of mixed timbits, you won't be disappointed.

• • • •

Next up is a cookbook jem I happened to come across in the 40% off section in the Wal-Mart book section (proof there there's actually a good reason for going to such a place from time to time). Anne Lindsay's New Light Cooking is a FANTASTIC cookbook. I'd heard about Anne recently from a friend, and was really excited to find this. The book is full of amazing-looking recipes that don't have super complex instructions, or ingredients that are too obscure to have on hand or to get.

Anne is all about healthy eating and recipes, so each recipe comes with nutritional information and how many servings of meat, wheat, fruits, and dairy from Canada's food guide it contains. There's also several articles throughout the book about specific health topics too - coping with high cholesterol and blood sugar, just for example.

It's really great, and if your cookbook collection is just in the beginning stages like mine - see if you can track this one down at your local Wal-Mart or book store too, it's worth it (even if it's not in the 40% off section). Keep an eye here too, and I'll be sure to share some recipe reviews with you too.

• • • •

And last, but certainly not least isn't really a review so much as a "check out this awesome thing I got!". A friend of mine surprised me with this super-cute cupcake journal a few weeks ago! I've already got the Cherry Journal to take care of the blog stuff, but you better believe I have ideas for how to use this one now too :) Thanks Katelin!

Hello, Amber, are you there?

2008-10-21T17:38:00.001-05:00

It seems I've already written a few of these posts - apologies and explanations for where I've been and why I haven't been updating my little space here on blogspot. I've gotten a few questions as to my whereabouts already this week, which made me both feel bad for not posting (especially given photos of new recipes I've taken and ideas I've written down), and touched for actually being missed a little :)

It's not for lack of content that I haven't been writing - I have pages full of ideas! I just don't know where my days seem to go (well, besides working) and why I just can't muster up the time to post daily.

I swear though, I will do better. The book I've been reading is now done, some design work I had on the go is now done, and as of this weekend all the weddings and baby showers will be done for a few months.

Just to fuel the fire (and give myself goals to meet), here's a little look at what's coming up:
• A giveaway
• More Thursday Specials - chinese food, greek, sweet places, french cuisine and more.
• More recipes (hopefully a bunch from you readers out there, too!)
• Kitchen tips and pointers
• Winnipeg restaurant reviews
• And much, much more!

Little things make me happy

2008-10-07T11:37:00.005-05:00

Something a little different today. I don't want to really make a habit of talking about work, but I wanted to share with all of you something I'm proud of – a billboard design that I just sent off to print. It's a simple message and design for a client I absolutely love working with. They had a couple other options to choose from, and I'm so happy they chose this one. It makes me smile when I look at it, and hopefully others that see it will too.

And, if you're ever in the Toronto area and in need of flowers, go visit Hill's! ;)

You don't want to eat gross, do you?

2008-10-06T17:11:00.004-05:00

Something I've been meaning to post for a while now, for all you Winnipeg friends out there. The City of Winnipeg Diner's Digest.

Although this isn't a new feature on the City of Winnipeg website, it's a section that is frequently forgotten, or not known about my many. But boy oh boy is it helpful and informative.

The Diner's Digest is an often-updated set of lists with local dining establishments (both big and small) that have had to close for health-code related reasons. Lists are available for both convicted offenders (ew!), and closures beyond the establishments' control.

I check here fairly often, both just to see who's new on the list, or if I happen to notice that a place I've visited, or meant to visit has closed (like Basil's on Osborne-water main break flood-not their fault).

Hopefully it can help you out too!

Open Source Food

2008-10-03T11:40:00.005-05:00

First myspace, then facebook, twitter, and all the other social networking things I keep getting emails about to join. Now comes Open Source Food, a social networking-style site for recipes.

Although I'm not 100% sold on the idea yet - I've been looking through, and even put up a recipe to see what that process is like (fairly simple, I'll probably put all the recipes from here onto there). It still looks like they have some work to do with it (maybe a recipe book type feature, so you can keep track of favourites?), but the idea isn't too bad.

Is this site necessary, or worthwhile? I'm not sure. There's already so much out there like this, with allrecipes.com, cooks.com etc. The draw of chatting and discussing the posted recipes doesn't seem like enough of a draw to me. Especially when those features and many more are already available on allrecipes.com.

A few recipes did stand out to me in my search though, so I can using the site as another recipe resource, if for nothing else:
Vegetarian Black Bean Burgers (Greg, thought you might like this one)
Tall Child's Saucy Wings
Brownie Peanut Butter Cups
Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookie

And then there was Anorexic Delight - purely ridiculous, and just the kind of thing I don't want to waste my time seeing more frequently than this once.

Go check it out for yourself, and let us know what you think! I'm user name CherryCherry if you want to vote for or follow my recipes :)

Thursday Special #2 :: Lunchtime!

2008-10-02T16:14:00.004-05:00

Happy Thursday everybody. Hope y'all are having a fabulous week!

This week, as part two of my series on where to eat in Winnipeg I decided to take on lunch spots. It looks like a pretty good variety here for areas of the city to eat in, but as always, if you have suggestions of your own - please share with the rest of us!

Underground Cafe
70 Arthur Street

Why you'll love them: Their fantastic selection of vegetarian meals that both vegetarians and meatetarians can't resist.
Be sure to try: The sun burger

• • • •

Roscoe’s Grill
1313 Border Street

Why you'll love them: Terrific portions and food at a great price, homecooked meals
Be sure to try: Greek salad, souvlaki

• • • •

The Dairy Chef
610 Dufferin Avenue (they're in the small business building, it's a little hard to find)

Why you'll love them: Awesome prices, homemade meals and great service. They're only open until 2 in the afternoon though, maybe 3.
Be sure to try: Their burgers, or egg salad on brown bread with coleslaw

• • • •

Eddy’s Place
660 Selkirk Avenue

Why you'll love them: Again with the homecooked meals thing - there seems to be a trend with today's list!
Be sure to try: Corned beef on rye with hot mustard

• • • •

Luda’s Deli
410 Aberdeen Avenue

Why you'll love them: Broken record here - but everything at Luda's is homemade and deeeelish
Be sure to try: Borcht, perogy plate, home made hamburgers

• • • •

Tuxedo Village Family Restaurant
2090 Corydon Avenue

Why you'll love them: Fries AND salad with each meal, huuuuuge portions
Be sure to try: Greek salad, lemon potaoes and their soup of the day

• • • •

So what do you think? Anything look really good to anyone?

Lasagna - it's easy!

2008-09-29T12:48:00.000-05:00

Lasagna's always been one of those dinners that I rarely make. It's not a hard dish to master, but I just always seem to think of it as super labour-intensive, and not very practical for an evening meal. I don't know what made me think this, because it is SO not true. I made one last night super quickly (well, super quick being only about half an hour of making it, and another half an hour baking it...) and now I have a REALLY quick dinner for tonight, AND lunch for at least one day next week too. Fantastic!

Amber's Easy Peasy Cheesy Lasagna
(You're going to need a 9x13 casserole dish)

1 pkg whole wheat lasagna noodles
2 cups grated part skim Mozzarella cheese
1/2 grated part skim old cheddar cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Meat Layer:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small white onion, chopped
3-6 cloves garlic, minced (I love garlic...but use no less than 3)
1 pound ground turkey (or extra lean ground beef)
1 jar Ragu Classic Mushroom Sauce
1 can sliced mushrooms (optional...but why wouldn't you want them in there?)

Cheese Layer:
1 small white onion, chopped
1 250g tub of 1% or fat free cottage cheese
1 egg
1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese (not taken from grated cheese listed above)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (not taken from grated cheese listed above)
2 tsp dijon mustard
1 pkg chopped frozen spinach (thawed and water squeezed out)
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 can whole kernel corn
1 tsp coarse black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried oregano

Start the water to boil for the noodles in a big pot. While that's heating up, heat another medium-sized pot on medium heat with the olive oil in it. Once the pot is hot, add in the onions and garlic and sauté until soft. Add in the ground meat, and scramble fry until completely cooked.

At some point during this process, your noodle water will be boiling, so pop those noodles and boil as per the package instructions. When the noodles are done, take the pot over to the sink and run cold water into the pot instead of draining it. Keep running it until the water stays cold in the pot, then let the noodles sit in the cold water. This keeps them from sticking together in a collinder or drying out.

Once the meat is cooked, dump in the whole jar of pasta sauce, as well as the mushrooms. Turn down the temperature to medium-low, put the lid on, and let simmer until you're ready to assemble the whole casserole.

Next up, the cheese layer! Combine all the cheese layer ingredients and mix it up good. SO easy.

Now, time to assemble this delicious masterpiece! Start by putting a single layer of noodles on the bottom, covering the pan. Top the noodles with all of the meat sauce. Layer that with noodles again, and top with the entire bowl of the cheese mixture. Top with a single layer of noodles one last time, and cover the top with all the grated mozzarella, cheddar and parmesan.

Bake for about 30 - 45 minutes in a 350ºF oven.

And voila! Delicious, homemade lasagna :)

Excited!

2008-09-25T10:55:00.004-05:00

As a treat for all the work my coworkers and I do here - our boss is taking us out to Chop for lunch! What a nice Thursday treat, I hope I don't get too spoiled by all this fancy dining lately :)

The Cherry Journal takes Winnipeg...and slightly beyond!

2008-09-25T09:51:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, a coworker of mine had a fantastic lunch at a new restaurant she'd never heard of before because of a suggestion from someone else here at the office. That very afternoon she emailed all of us and asked for everyone to share their top three favourite restaurants in the city that people might not have heard of.

It was a fantastic idea, and the results were phenomenal! The compiled list from the office was huge, diverse and full of great new things to try.

So now, over the course of several posts, I'll share this list with all of you! I'm going to aim for one every Thursday - just in time for the weekend :) Hopefully together, with your added suggestions we can make it grow even more. I hope you'll all share your opinions if you've tried any of them before, too! Menu items to try, things you didn't like, or even if we need to make a reservation.

Enjoy!

Thursday Special #1 :: Pizza

2008-09-25T09:50:00.000-05:00

Let's kickstart this new weekly post with a list of suggested places to get the fail-safe favourite - pizza! Mmmm mmm!

Pizzeria Gusto
404 Academy (by Buttercup Beauty Bar)

Why we love them: A brand new place to go, it just opened this summer. Gourmet pizzas cooked to perfection, and an incredible wine list.
Be sure to try: The Sinatra

• • • •

Collosseo
670 Corydon Avenue

Why we love them: Beautiful patio in a great area, and a ton of choices on the menu if for some reason you're not in the pizza mood.
Be sure to try: Special Pizza or Lemon Chicken Fettuccini

• • • •

Loona Rosa
460 St.Mary’s

Why we love them: Huge portions, and a great price for excellent food with the homemade touch.
Be sure to try: The Loona Rosa Special

• • • •

The Tomato Pie Company
1-167 Osborne St

Why we love them:Word on the street is that their pizzas are outstanding - they strongly recommend a reservation be booked so you get a seat!
Be sure to try: pasta with Italian sausage and rapini, and their pizza of course

• • • •

Opinions? Let us all know what you think if you have tried one, or have somewhere else to suggest!

Oh, about Garwood Grill...

2008-09-24T16:35:00.000-05:00

I drove by it last night right after I posted, and guess what? It's open again! I'm gonna have to stop by and see if they renovated or something. Or maybe it was just an extended vacation. Either way - I was happy to see the windows open and lights on again!

Poor Banana Cake!

2008-09-24T14:46:00.000-05:00

What did Banana Cake ever do to all of you? Poor cake, in last place of all the votes for your favourite cake! Okay, it wasn't a big loss or anything, only 2 votes, compared to three for all the rest, but still.

I'm going to try to change that opinion with a brand spankin' new recipe for y'all to try. Both the photo above and the recipe come from The Food Network. It looks really quick and easy to whip up though, hope you like it! I'll have to do another poll soon to see if the results change.

Famous Banana Cake
with Spiced Rum Creme Anglais
3 very ripe medium bananas
1 cup demerara sugar, loosely packed (250 ml)
2 eggs
0.75 cup grapeseed oil (175 ml)
1.5 cup all purpose flour (375 ml)
1 tsp baking powder (5 ml)
0.5 tsp baking soda (2 ml)
0.5 tsp salt (2 ml)
1 tbsp ground cinnamon (15 ml)
Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (250 ml)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, mash bananas with a hand held potato masher, leaving them chunky. Add the demerara, eggs and grapeseed oil. Continue to mash and stir with the potato masher until ingredients are blended.

Sift dry ingredients onto a piece of parchment paper and pour into banana mixture. Using the potato masher blend gently until flour is worked through. Stir in the walnuts.

Pour into 9-inch cake pan lined with parchment paper. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, until golden and tester comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 30 minutes. Flip on and wire rack and cool completely. Serve with Spiced Rum Crème Anglais.

Spiced Rum Creme Anglais
4 large egg yolks
3 tbsp white granulated sugar or brown sugar (45 ml)
1 cup homogenized milk, cold (250 ml)
0.5 vanilla bean, scraped
1 tbsp spiced rum (15 ml)

Whisk yolks in a small bowl until smooth and pale.

In a small saucepan, combine milk, sugar and vanilla bean. Stir over medium heat. Remove from heat just before milk starts to boil. While whisking, slowly pour hot milk into yolks. Pour mixture back into saucepan. Cook over low heat, continually stirring with a wooden spoon. Cook until mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Strain. Let cool completely. Add the rum. Refrigerate until ready to use. Serve with Famous Banana Cake.

Get "That Old Black Magic" while you can...

2008-09-23T19:05:00.000-05:00

I apologize, because I meant to post about this earlier. Maybe I've just been too sad to talk about it.

Pasta La Vista is closing its doors for good. The (newer) Kenaston location already closed a few weeks ago, and has been undergoing extensive renovations in preps for it's re-opening as Dacquisto - an Italian fine dining experience, and the WOW! enterprise's newest venture. But gone forever will be the downtown location, which will be only be open until September 30. Breadworks will be closing as well, and replacing them will be a Boston Pizza.

"That old black magic" was my favourite dish on the menu - "Black fettucine with shrimp, mussels and sweet & hot peppers, tossed in a chili lime butter sauce with a crown of frazzled leeks." I can only hope that it maaaaaybe makes an appearance on Dacquisto's menu soon!

What do all of you think about the restaurant change downtown, or dining downtown in general? Gone are two local businesses in favour of a big national chain - good thing or bad?

And on another note - does anyone know what's going on with the Garwood Grill and why it's been closed for two months now?

Chop: The Review

2008-09-23T15:13:00.000-05:00

Lucky me! Just a day after I posted that Chop here in Winnipeg is now open for business, I was treated to a lovely dinner there by my awesome, fantastic boyfriend. It was a special day for us, so what better a way to celebrate than a nice night out. It was great.

We were both pretty excited to check it out, having both heard some pretty good things about it. We were greeted at the door, and seated right away in dining room. I took a quick look to the left, to see that the lounge was already packed for only it's second night open. The dining room was beautifully designed - a very intimate setting with plush seating, thick black drapes blocking out any light from outside (as well as the not-so-pretty area of the city the restaurant is in), and various brown, dark tones throughout. We were impressed, it was definitely nicer than Earls or The Keg.

Our server came out to greet us very promptly, a nice guy - but with a bit too long of a speech about Chop (and it's long-term business goals). Maybe some people want to hear the history, and I know it's not his fault - but even he commented that he hoped he wasn't losing us with all the talking. Because following that came a description of many menu items. Still, nice guy though, and he remained very attentive through the course of our meal.

What I was really interested to hear him talk about was how everything right down to the ice cream on the desserts is made there at the restaurant. The beef is aged for weeks, and everything there is made fresh daily - now that's what I like to hear.

Which brings me to the food! After much thinking, I decided on the medium-sized Aged Canadian Prime Rib (12 ounces for $29). It came with mashed potatoes and fresh seasonal vegetables. I ordered it medium rare. My boyfriend ordered the New York Striploin, medium rare as well, which also had mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables coming with it. We had a good look at the wine list as well, but decided to hold off on a drink. Good selection on that though, several choices from many regions around the world.

A very short amount of time later (almost too short, we thought) our meals came out. My prime rib was great. Perfectly cooked, with a nice amount of very flavourful au jus. The seasonal vegetable was steamed whole carrots, which were perfectly cooked. Still a little crisp, and not limp and soggy. The only thing I was disappointed in was the "infused mashed potatoes". The texture was okay, but there was was too many seasonings/extra stuff put in there. It was to the point where it didn't even taste like potatoes anymore. Maybe that was a one-night thing though - I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

Over on my boyfriend's plate, he had a steak that was severely undercooked for the medium-rare he'd asked for. It was closer to blue rare than anything else. He's not finicky, so it wasn't sent back, and he ate it all - but for a steakhouse, I'd expect them to be able to make the perfect steak. We thought our food came out a little too soon, and I guess we were right.

Next up was dessert! And I think we all know how much I love THAT part of the meal. We ordered the Carribean Rum Cake ($8), and decided to share it. The individually-sized cake (it wasn't just a slice) was drenchd in Appleton's Rum, and served with homemade vanilla ice cream, cinnamon anglaise and toasted coconut. Our next choice would have been the Twenty-four layer Chocolate cake, but with a pricetag of $14 for one slice, it was just too hard to justify that one!

I'm glad we opted for the Carribean Rum Cake. And if you go to Chop - you need to try this out! It was delicious. Warmed up to the perfect temperature, and ice cream melting all over it. Not too much rum or coconut to over power it, it was just right. It's actually making my mouth water right now describing it. Trust me. Try it. And as a thank for leading you in the direction of said cake, I wouldn't complain if you brought a piece over for me too :)

So that's it! Dinner was over. And overall, it was really good. I'm not sure if it would bring us there specifically instead of The Keg the next time we're going out for steak, but I would definitely try it out again.

And Greg - I'm sorry I didn't have a review of the fish for you! Maybe next time :)

And whoa - sorry if this post was too long! But please comment, and let me know what you think, if you'd try Chop, or if you've been there already.

Can somebody please help?

2008-09-19T18:39:00.000-05:00

Crazy blogger is messing with her layout again, and can't figure out for the life of her how to get rid of that stupid whitespace to the left of her header! I have no idea what I'm really doing in html, so if anyone can help, I'd love it!

ARGH!

Happy Friday everyone!

2008-09-19T16:47:00.001-05:00

I hope seeing this cake brings you as much happiness as it did for me today. I wish I could take credit for something this awesome, but that all goes to super talented Alicia. Check out her blog if you have the chance, she's got some pretty great stuff going on over there!

As far as I go - it was a ridiculously busy week filled with workouts, cupcakes, desiging, visiting, catching up, and even a green tea latte. Yum! I hope to start off the week next week as a better blogger - and offer you, my readers, a prize! Stay tuned...

Have YOU been nice today?

2008-09-12T12:28:00.000-05:00

Hey everybody, happy Friday! I hope y'all had a fantastic week.

I came across a great blog recently - a blog about being nice. How awesome is that? This site is so refreshing to see, and makes me happy just read. I thought it would be the perfect thing to share on a Friday afternoon. Nice things make the world a better place.

So, go check out Melissa over on her blog, OperationNICE - you'll be happy you did. And if you have a blog of your own, show people you're nice too, with her handy little badge. I like the look of mine :)

Cooking tips from Gordon Ramsey

2008-09-11T16:36:00.001-05:00

I must admit, I'm hopelessly addicted to any show involving Gordon Ramsey (Kitchen Nighmares, Hell's Kitchen). Especially if it's showing on Food Network and his swearing isn't covered with dozens of annoying beeps per minute. Despite his bleep-worthy mouth, his success only goes to show what an amazing talent in the kitchen he has. Here's a few tips from him, should you need them.

Oooh, questions!

2008-09-11T14:36:00.000-05:00

Let's test out the "Poll" widget, shall we? I would loooove to see your answers!

What the eff am I doing here?

2008-09-11T12:34:00.001-05:00

If you happen to be looking at my blog, and notice that it hasn't looked consistently the same in the past few days, it's because I have no idea what the hell I'm doing with ANY of this HTML code I'm playing around with.

Can't a girl just get her blog looking nice without a crazy amount of time and effort? If anyone can help me out, and tell me how I can have the main text part of the blog be white, with colour on the outer sides, I would really, REALLY appreciate it!

K thanks! I expect the comments to roll in soon ;)

Finally! Chop is open in Winnipeg.

2008-09-10T11:15:00.000-05:00

I'm sure most of you reading this blog live in Winnipeg, so you'll understand when I tell you that I drive down Century Street on my way into work each morning. On that drive, for the past couple years (yes, years!) I have seen the progression of a new restaurant being built onto the new Sandman hotel.

It seemed to be taking forEVER for this place to form some sort of shape, but the design was intriguing. A large black stone entrance way, huge windows...and then finally, last fall, their signage went up. It was called "Chop", and right there on the sign it advertises "steak, fish, bar". I was excited! A new restaurant, and it sounded great. If the sign is there, it must be opening soon, right? Wrong! It kept teasing me, progress on the building seemed to halt again, and I was forced to just continue to wait, and gawk as I drove by.

But now my friends, I don't need to just drive by anymore, because Chop is open for business! I can't wait to try it out. Where Magazine had the Edmonton location on their list of Top 10 New Restaurants of 2007, and their menu pages I snuck a peak at on their site give a ton of delicious-looking options. The only thing I wasn't sure about was the $14 piece of chocolate cake on the dessert menu, yikes!

I'll let you know how it goes. And if you want to check it out yourself, take a ride down to 1750 Sargent Avenue and have a taste. Let me know what you think, too!

Did you know?

2008-09-04T15:29:00.000-05:00

That Dairy Queen offers their yummy soft-serve ice cream in containers that you can take home with you?!

I was only just educated on this myself yesterday, and needed to share. Just please don't buy it all before I get there. Thanks!

(Also, I don't know why the cones are in a field...I borrowed the image from the DQ site!)

Kahlúa + Brownies = SO good

2008-09-03T23:47:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, my coworker Bryan was doing a little research on Kahlúa, and pointed out to me some recipes they offered online. They looked fantastic and very delicious, so I saved just the text in a big bunch and made a note to try them later. Well, thank goodness I did that - because just mere weeks later, Kahlúa has changed their site and no longer has them on there! (Umm, Kahlúa, hello? What gives?)

Don't worry dear friends, I still have 'em though, and tested one out tonight. It was super quick and easy, and let me just say, mmmmmmmmm... enjoy!

Kahlúa Brownies

1/2 cup butter

3 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup Kahlúa

Heat oven to 350ºF (180ºC)

Grease an 8x8 inch cake pan.

In a saucepan or double boiler, melt the butter and chocolate, stirring frequently until smooth. Remove saucepan from heat, and let cool.

While the chocolate is cooling, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.

Beat the eggs and sugar until light in colour. Mix in the cooled chocolate mixture, Kahlúa, and flour mixture. Spread in the cake pan and bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool slightly, then brush the top with about 1-2 tablespoons of Kahlúa. Cut into squares.

On the radio

2008-08-29T10:33:00.000-05:00

If you're from Winnipeg and reading this, I would highly suggest that you get up, find a radio, and tune it to 94.3. Fast. Because what you're about to hear will be some great music to your ears.

What used to be Q-94 FM is now Curve 9 4.3, a completely new format and sound for the radio station that's been playing the same dental-office-safe stuff for years. It's officially, it's being called Pop Alternative, but basically, gone is Madonna and bubble pop, and in comes Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Daft Punk, Weezer and House of Pain with a great mix of older songs you love to hear and that new song you just wanna keep playing in your head.

The change itself, and how they chose to do it was really cool. Their ever-popular Beat the Bank game had just finished up, and it sounded like what was coming from the radio slowed right down. That famous movie man voice came on about how radio was changing and so were they...and this is now the mixtape for your life. Then came the sound of a tape going in the player and that old high pitch sound that used to play at the beginning of a tape. The first song in the new format was "Paper Planes" by M.I.A. Totally un-Q song (it's also a song that I am loving right now).

It sounds like it's really going to be something good worth listening to. Thank goodness, because I don't even remember the last time I faithfully listened to a radio station, and I've been missing that.

The best sangria ever

2008-08-28T12:03:00.000-05:00

When life hands you lemons...use it to make this awesome sangria recipe. This is super easy, quick to make and oh-so-delicious. I've had nothing but rave reviews about it, so I thought I'd share, especially with a long weekend coming up! If there was ever a perfect time to try it, this would be it. Might want to make more than one recipe worth if you have a lot of people though, it goes really quick.

Sangria
1 bottle red wine (Cabernet Sauvingnon, Merlot, Zinfandel, Shiraz)
1 lemon cut into wedges
1 orange cut into wedges
1 lime cut into wedges
2 tablespoons sugar
Splash of orange juice (I use a couple scoops of orange juice concentrate, straight from the can)
2 shots of gin (or a little more if you're inclined...you can't really taste it in there)
1 cup of sliced strawberries (I just realized now I forgot to put this in...so it's not missed if you don't feel like adding them)
1 small can of diced pineapples (with the juice)
4 cups ginger ale (about half of a two-litre...see why it's better to at least double the recipe?)

Pour wine in a large pot, and squeeze the juice from the wedges or lemon, orange and lime into the wine. Toss the fruit wedges into the pot, leaving out the seeds if you can. Add in the pineapple and sugar, orange juice and gin. Chill overnight. Add ginger ale, berries and ice just before serving.

If you'd like to serve this right away, use chilled red wine and serve over lots of ice. The best sangrias are chilled around 24 hours in the fridge though, it really allows the flavours to marinate well into each other.

Tofu delight

2008-08-20T14:41:00.000-05:00

My friend and co-worker Cora makes some of the best salads I've ever seen for her lunch on a daily basis. Today's was no different, and had pieces of marinated tofu on top, of which she let me try a piece. Oh. My. Goodness. It was fantastic! So tasty, and the texture was great too. The lovely girl supplied with with the link to where she found it from, and now, I share it with you:

Marinated Tofu
3/4 c. Tamari
3/4 c. water
2 to 3 tbsp. chopped fresh ginger
2 to 3 rounded tsp. chopped garlic (or to taste)
1 to 1 1/2 lbs. Tofu (firm)

Combine first four ingredients in a container that you can seal. Cube Tofu and add to marinade. Marinate a day or two (in the refrigerator), turning occasionally. Remove Tofu to a cookie sheet (I spray cookie sheet with Pam). Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, turn Tofu and bake to desired browness.

Experiment with amount of garlic/ginger, size of cubes, browness, etc. You can reuse the marinade one or two times, but keep it refrigerated. (This marinade is good with chicken, too!)

Can you guess?

2008-08-19T14:34:00.001-05:00

Good luck getting any work done now, friends - check out this movie quiz! Single letters from the movie posters are your only clue...good luck!

Johnny Cupcakes

2008-07-29T17:24:00.000-05:00

Does someone YOU know love cupcakes and cupcake-related gear? (*hint!*) Then you should check out Johnny Cupcakes.

Started from the back of a beat up old car, this fairly young company has a huge fanbase around the world. Everything is really cool and unique and (as I now know from personal experience) sells out fast! The clothing lines change constantly, with fresh batches being pressed all the time.

Check Johnny out!

What's with the polka dots, Amber?

2008-07-29T17:17:00.000-05:00

I was sitting at my computer last night, looking at my blog its content, and really felt that it wasn't looking as I wanted it to. Granted, I wish I had the time and the means to actually build a custom blog site of my own - one that has all the things I want it to, but, I don't.

So, I'm happily here with Blogger. But I tried on the dark brown outfit for a while, and I just didn't think it was working for me. Now I'm testing out the polka dots, and I like them! They're fun, they make me think of an old kitchen, or a patterned apron.

I think it fits, what do you think?

Small Potatoes

2008-07-25T15:08:00.000-05:00

Three weeks since posting anything! I'm embarrassed, and promise to do better in the future. Life's pretty busy right now, so please bear with me.

I don't know if it's just my age, or the people I'm hanging around with these days - but there seems to be a lot of women I know that are pregnant. So, I must share this site with you.

Small Potatoes is a locally-run company by designer Holly Clarke. If you're looking for something cute and funky for a little one you know, or one on the way, I'd highly suggest to check her stuff out! What baby wouldn't want to wear a little cupcake-patterned dress?!

(Almost) Weekend Rhubarb Crisp

2008-07-03T22:42:00.001-05:00

I haven't been a very good blogger the past week or so, not posting anything! I know, some nerve I have. Really, it's rude, and I'm sorry. I'll do better, I promise.

To make it up to you, I've swiped this delicious number from my mom's recipe book. Rhubarb's in season right now, so it's a great time to test it out. Go ahead, try it! It's delicious, EASY, and matches perfectly with a big ol' scoop of vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!

Rhubarb Crisp

1 cup flour

0.75 cup oatmeal

1 cup brown sugar

0.5 cup melted margarine

2 teaspoons cinnamon

4 cups rhubarb, sliced into chunks

2 cups strawberries, sliced

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 cup water

1 teaspoon vanilla

Pre-heat the oven to 350ºF.

Combine the flour, oatmeal, brown sugar, margarine and cinnamon in a bowl. Mix with a fork until crumbly in texture, keep half of this mix to the side for later, and spread the remaining half evenly across the bottom of a 9x9 inch casserole (baking) dish. Top this mix with the rhubarb and strawberries.

Combine the sugar, cornstarch, water and vanilla in a small saucepan, heat on medium, stirring constantly until the mix has thickened past the consistency of syrup. (Just a hint: once it starts getting thick, it'll happen really fast, keep stirring so it doesn't burn, but keep it on the heat until it's nice and thick).

Pour the heated sugar mix over top of the rhubarb and strawberries already in the dish. Top with remaining crumbly mixture, fairly evenly.

Bake for 45 minutes, and let it get down to a nice warm (not piping hot) temperature before serving. And seriously, it's against the law if you don't serve it with vanilla ice cream :)

Starting with the basics

2008-06-25T09:47:00.000-05:00

My friend Cora and I got together last Friday night with a good bottle of wine and a brand new vanilla cupcake recipe to test out. I've been wanting to perfect that specific flavour of cupcake for a while now, it's just so darn versatile! These turned out REALLY good, the flavour was terrific and the icing wasn't too over-the-top sweet, just really tasty, with a great texture. Try them out!

Vanilla Cupcakes:
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line 2 (12-cup) muffin tins with cupcake papers.

In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

Cool the cupcakes in tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

Vanilla Icing:

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
6 to 8 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 4 cups of the sugar and then the milk and vanilla. On the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat until smooth and creamy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about 2 minutes), until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency. You may not need to add all of the sugar. If desired, add a few drops of food coloring and mix thoroughly. (Use and store the icing at room temperature because icing will set if chilled.) Icing can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days

Be sure to beat the icing for the amount of time called for in the recipe to achieve the desired creamy texture.

Makes 2 dozen cupcakes.

I swear, I didn't mean to!

2008-06-23T17:38:00.000-05:00

My friend Ryan sent this one to me, and I felt that it was food-related advertising and it made me laugh, I'll allow it on my blog :)

Originally found at Adveristising Is Good For You.

This is Debbie, and she does cakes

2008-06-20T17:55:00.000-05:00

Debbie is a woman I came across early in my flickr days, and I immediately admired. Not only is she super sweet herself, but her cakes never cease to amaze me, and I can't wait to see what she comes up with next. Have a look! (Check out the rice cooker! haha).

Summer strawberry salads

2008-06-17T17:35:00.000-05:00

After a week of rain it's finally sunny out, what a perfect time to post a couple recipes for the delicious strawberries that are in season right now. Use them as much as you can right now!

These recipes come from Clean Eating Magazine - my favourite new magazine. It only debuted last December, but I've already subscribed. It's a fantastic mag, full of healthy recipes that don't take a ton of complex ingredients or time to prepare. The articles too are great, as well as their 30 day meal plans and weekly shopping lists. It only comes out once every three months, but there's plenty to keep you cookin' the whole time.

Spinach & Strawberry Salad
(with orange and poppy seed dressing)

Dressing:
1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt
1/4 cup orange juice concentrate, thawed
2 tbsp poppy seeds
1 tbsp honey

Salad:
3 1/2 cups baby spinach leaves
4 large strawberries, quartered
2 tbsp dressing (above)

For dressing: Whisk yogurt, orange juice, poppy seeds and honey together in a small bowl.

For salad: Place spinach leaves in a bowl. Top with strawberries, toss with dressing and serve.

Strawberry Mozzarella Salad

Dressing:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 tsp (or to taste) sea salt
1/8 tsp (or to taste) coarse black pepper

Salad:
3 1/2 cups mixed baby greens
6-8 large straberries, sliced
4 oz mozzarella cheese, cut into small cubes
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

For dressing: whisk ingredients together in a small bowl

For salad: put greens in a bown and toss with 1/2 the dressing. In a separate bowl, toss the strawberries gently in 1/4 of the dressing. Divide greens into four small individual plates, and top each plate with 1/4 of the strawberries. Top each salad with 1 oz of mozzarella cheese cubes, and 1/4 of the basil. Finish each salad with another small spoonful of the dressing on top.

I'm in love

2008-06-13T17:05:00.000-05:00

So, from time to time (okay, a LOT of the time) I like to window-shop online. But today on my Etsy adventure, I found something I must own. DayZews has a great shop, full of beautiful vintage-inspired aprons, including this lovely cherry one...which will soon (hopefully) be proudly hung in my kitchen.

Happy Friday!

I'm vanilla!

2008-06-12T13:36:00.000-05:00

Sweet, original, and liked by many :)

Too busy today to post something of any value - so how about I waste a few minutes of your time instead? Just a quick quiz to take, let me know what kind of cupcake YOU are!

Recipe time!

2008-06-11T10:48:00.000-05:00

I am one of allrecipes.com's biggest fans, seriously. Whether you're just learning how to cook or have experience to back you - this site is a great resource. I like to use it when I already have a general idea of what I'm looking for, like a couple nights ago. I had a pork tenderloin that was in dire need of a marinade, I wanted to grill! This is the recipe I found, and it was fantastic. Paired with steamed asparagus it was a great dinner.

Indonesian Pork Tenderloin
3 tbsp lime juice
3 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
3 tbsp stir-fry sauce (this is what it called for, but I put 2 tbsp oyster sauce and about 1.5 tbsp honey)
1 tsp ground fresh ginger
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
3-4 cloves minced garlic
1 pork tenderloin

Use about 2/3 of the marinade for on the pork, and reserve the rest for basting during cooking. Marinate for at least 2 hours. Grill for 20-25 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 150º. It’s supposed to be 160º, but to make it really tender I tent it for about 15 minutes while it finishes cooking off the heat.

Blueberry Cupcakes

2008-06-10T17:44:00.001-05:00

I tested out a recipe I had for blueberry cupcakes this weekend, a special treat for my dad's birthday.

Although they were tasty, they were also pretty dense (and I don't know about you, but I prefer my cake light and fluffy). The topping suggested with the recipe was a whip cream topping, which also failed the test. It was yummy too, but it goes watery pretty quick, especially with a few frozen blueberries whipped in there. So, not too practical if they were going to be sitting out on a table at a party. Next time I'd do a blueberry buttercream instead (pictured is a quick batch of vanilla icing with blue food colouring...my failsafe for any cupcake).

Back to the kitchen I go!

Cool!

2008-06-06T13:54:00.000-05:00

I came across photographer Jason Lee on flickr today, thanks to this hilariously awesome photo on the Explore page. If you have some time, check out some more of his work on his site, or here!

Cute, printable recipe cards

2008-06-04T15:58:00.000-05:00

Jessica Jones' blog led me to these wonderfully cute, free, printable recipe cards from illustrator Julianna Smith. Yay!

Welcome to The Cherry Journal!

2008-06-04T13:55:00.000-05:00

Hello, and welcome to my brand spankin' new blog!

A couple months ago, I came across a journal that had a bowl of cherries on the front, and knew right away it had to be mine (as you'll find out, my love of all things cherry-related is quite out of hand).

I promptly started the journal with my recipe idea for black forest cupcakes. They turned out pretty darn good, and it was decided then that the journal is now my official baking journal - and I plan on sharing that journal (plus other things I find interesting) with you! Are you excited? Because I know I am!

I'm still trying to figure out all the things that blogger here has to offer, and even what I want this site to offer (I'm sure it's not just going to be baking), so bear with me as I go through my learning curve. Keep checking back, maybe gain a few recipes, tell me what you think, and see what's new to The Cherry Journal.

Amber