Quinoa is one of those strange food names I’ve never been able to pronounce properly. Off of the odd chance that I magically get it right, my brain never decides to remember it and then I always go back to mispronouncing it again. The bad part is that Trevor has decided that we’re at the point of our relationship where he knows what I’m talking about and doesn’t bother correcting me, even when I use the wrong words or say something wrong all together.
Trevor: What’s for supper?
Me: Oh, we’re having….uh, quinn-noh-ah.
Trevor: (pause) Great, sounds delicious!
This does wonders for my social development outside of the apartment. “Yes, Mr Waiter, I would like my side dish to be some of that delicious looking……quinn-noh-ahh….yes, I said quinn-noh-ahh. In my spare time? I like to bake and post my creations on the internet.”
One of our typical quinoa suppers, with roasted carrots, sweet potato and zucchini
For future reference, according to Google, quinoa is pronounced keen-wah. Yeah, I don’t get it either, I must have completely zoned out during that significant part of grade 2 when this kind of alphabetical pronunciation was taught to us. Grade 2 wasn’t a complete blur though, I can tell you about the time that my best friend at the time pushed me as I dangled on the highest monkey bar as though it were a swing (we thought we were so clever) and thanks to the force of that push, I flew off backwards and landed flat on my face in the playground sand. That was the year I rocked a wicked scar on my lip and a new-found knowledge of momentum.
Matcha (green tea) powder is delicious in baking. You heard it here first, folks! 🙂
Matcha powder is especially delicious when paired up with the delicate art of shortbread. Savoury, buttery and oh-so-sinful. I just love the way it melts into goodness on my tongue and crumbles away in my hands when I eat it.
Show of hands, I can’t be the only one, right? That must be why those large tins of chocolate shortbread at Costco are so darn popular, especially around the holiday season.
Besides my parents occasionally using this blog as a means of checking up on me (Hi Mom!), I’m never sure who else comes here on a regular basis. I get lots of page hits on individual posts, such as my experience taking the Michael’s cake decorating course last spring or a recipe that sounds intriguing (my dairy free blueberry oatmeal muffins has been consistently the most popular).
Therefore, I’m never sure when I should talk about the other, non-baking events that happen in my life. I know that its the personal aspects of a blog is what makes it interesting and keep readers intrigued, but I’m never sure on what level I should be sharing things. Obviously, you have to be careful and I’m not interesting in sharing tons of personal stuff with the internet. At one time, it was dangerous to put a picture of yourself online and now with Facebook and Twitter, its almost the norm. I even remember when my parents were too afraid to use online banking when it first became available and now its the fastest, easiest way to pay our bills.
I had a couple of outside influences when it came to making these brain cupcakes. One is that it is now thisclose to Halloween, although if you were to go the holiday sections of any store, Halloween began back in September. Another is that it’s Trevor’s favourite unofficial holiday. We always make a list of movies to watch leading up to the 31st, which always includes the Halloween series, Nightmare on Elm Street series and the Scream movies. Those are the ones I’ll sit through. On his own, I’m sure he watches many more. These cupcakes were to get us in the Halloween spirit.
You know, in between all the mini chocolate bars and Tootsie Pops we’re currently consuming.
Lemon squares. They are easy to make, a pain to cut and they don’t always look pretty when you finally managed to saw off a few squares. Don’t let that fool you, they are always delicious and these ones have a story to tell. I just wish that these photos showed more of the yellow-goodness that was inside them.
I started the morning with a dream to make lemon squares and I ended the day with a cleaner oven and a greater patience for Trevor. He might say the same about me.
Canadian food blogger, baking and eating her way through life. Musical theatre fanatic. Personal finance nerd. Sometimes runner/yogi. Green smoothies are pretty amazing.
