Obligatory End of the Month Goal Check-In

Sigh

As you may have guessed by now, my resolution to read more still isn’t going as well as I would have liked. It’s embarrassing, as an English Lit Major, to not be able to name one novel I’ve read myself in the whole last year. I have a list, I have intentions, but damn if I am lacking in the follow-through. So I’ve decided to start scheduling reading times. Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 3pm to 4pm will be time to read.

I’ll let you know how that goes at the end of next month.

On the other hand, I have completed an awesome Moebius scarf. Using that delicious yarn I got in Vancouver and some super-cheap Chinese bamboo knitting needles, my original plan was to use this pattern from Three Little Knitted Frogs, but I just couldn’t seem to wrap my little brain around it and instead I just did some plain knit-stitch until all four skeins were used up. I used this video tutorial to teach myself the Moebius cast-on method, which actually made casting on 300 stitches an absolute breeze (I think it took less than 10 mins total), and the whole thing took me about a week to finish.

What do you think?

I think it looks lovely with the Sapphire blue vintage coat my grandmother gave me for Christmas. And it’s super-warm and comfy.

The other fun thing that’s been eating up all of my time has been learning Photoshop. I’ve mostly been playing around with clipping masks and adjustment layers, hoarding all of the free fonts and textures I can find and constantly forgetting to save things in psd format before merging (grrr…), but it’s been super-duper fun and has re-energized me in terms of blogging and fixing up the AriGateaux website. My biggest issue now is knowing when to stop tweaking…

Japanese Style Mass Effect Poster by Sarah (a.k.a. Backside of the TV)

And last but not least, Rick and I seem to be on track to finish our game of Mass Effect 2 in time for the release of Mass Effect 3! Woo!

Get ready for a whole week of Mass Effect Madness starting March 5th!

Tumblr Tuesday: My Hand Moves Funny

Gorgeous art blog by Hanie Mohd.

This Week’s Menu

The biggest hit last week was Rick’s Cassoulet-Style Sausage and Beans. We went the extra mile and got some delicious artisan sausages at the Marché, which just added so much flavour and texture to the dish. Rick was so proud of his creation, puffing up his chest and grinning like a dolt, but it was a big step up for him cooking wise and I would have loved to have taken a picture of it to post here for everyone to see except that the breadcrumb topping got a little charred and the lighting in our kitchen just didn’t do it justice.

I’d forgotten about my Mtl Girl Geeks HTML/CSS seminar last week, so we didn’t get around to making Gumbo, but I figured this week we’d make the Creole Shrimp to make up for that.

Monday: Spinach & Mushroom Spaghetti with Creamy Garlic Sauce
Tuesday: Maple Mustard Crusted Chicken Tenders with Sweet Potato Oven Fries
Wednesday: Wintery Spring Rolls – Rick’s night to cook
Thursday: Shrimp Creole Over Rice with Greens
Friday: Wild Salmon with Lentils and Arugula

Happy Caturday

Friday I’m In Love

What I’m loving this week…

When Your 7-Year-Old Announces, ‘I’m Gay’ – The Huff-Po’s mommy blogger Amelia shares her thoughts on her son’s recent declaration.
 
 
 
 
 
Kate Rowland’s Twin Peaks Brooches – Cute and spooky in that special West Coast way.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Shape Shifting Dinosaurs – Paleontologist Jack Horner (the inspiration for Dr. Alan Grant from Jurassic Park) describes, with sparklingly deadpan wit, where all the baby dinosaurs went.
 
 
 
 
Disparate Youth – Brand new Santigold (formerly Santogold)! Can’t wait for the album to drop. via Fader
 
 
 
 
 
A Beast Every Week – Organized by Ellis Latham-Brown, this illustrative collective produces one new beast every Monday.

The GamerWife Guide to Pinching Pennies: Dime Store Decor

I’ve been working on putting together a “family wall” in the office since we moved in, but a lack of good pictures and appropriate frames have made it rather slow going. I’d printed out some pictures from my sister’s wedding two and a half years ago, but I wanted to display them together in the same frame and could never settle on the right one.

Then, last week I managed to score this awesome triple picture frame at a thrift store for $5, but the openings were 5 x 7 and my pictures were 4 x 6. So, I made a quick trip to the dollar store and picked up some cheap mattes (2 for $1), but they were for an 8 x 10 frame. Enter, a little DIY ingenuity.

After careful measurement (and one scrapped matte) I cut down the mattes so they would fit in the frame and fixed them together with some scotch tape. Then I put the photos into the mattes and fixed them with some tape too. I had to fiddle with them a bit because not all of the mattes were cut 100% evenly (I tried!), but eventually everything got straightened out.

My last bit of craftiness we in creating a way to hang the frame vertically, since the attached hanger was only oriented for horizontal hanging. A couple of tiny screws, some nylon thread and a little clear nail polish to glue the knots together and it was ready to hang.

What do you think?

My First Animation!

Click on the heart to watch the animation.

Recipes: Vegan French Toast with Sticky Banana Topping

French Toast has got to be one of my favourite ways of using up leftover bread and I’ve been struggling for years to come up with a recipe that doesn’t include 8 billion eggs and a bunch of cream. I’ve tried using mashed banana, straight soy milk and tofu based batters, but none of them yielded the crunchy crust/custard-y center I’ve been striving for. Until now.

I originally put this one together for my father since he has recently developed an interest in vegan cooking due to a sudden intolerance to eggs and dairy. Since it was the holidays at the time I actually used a mix of Soy Nog and Silk creamer, but I’ve also made it with regular soy milk and it’s turned out just fine.

Vegan French Toast

1 Cup Soy Milk (you can also substitute soy creamer like Silk)
2/3 Cup Chickpea Flour
2 Tbs Maple Syrup
1/2 tsp Cardamon or Cinnamon
1 tsp Vanilla
Half a loaf of French bread
Earth Balance Margarine

Whisk together the first five ingredients and allow to sit for a couple of minutes while you prep the bread. Slice the bread about an inch thick if it is not already sliced and take off the crusts if you like (I usually don’t bother, but I guess it depends on your bread and your personal preference). Soak the bread slices in the batter while you heat up a non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Melt a little Earth balance in the skillet and then begin adding the batter covered slices. Cook for 2 – 3 minutes until a golden crust starts to form, then flip and cook for another 2 – 3 minutes. Enjoy immediately with maple syrup or my Sticky Banana Topping, which is a great way to use up overripe bananas.

Sticky Banana Topping (adapted from Healthy Happy Life)
2 Very Ripe Bananas
2 Tbs Maple Syrup
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 Vanilla

Slice the bananas into thick chunks and toss with the syrup, cinnamon and vanilla. Melt 1 tsp of Earth Balance in a small saucepan over medium heat, then add banana mixture and cook for 5 minutes or until bananas are caramelized and everything is sticky and gooey. Serve over French toast, pancakes, oatmeal or anything you like.

Tumblr Tuesday: Pwn Love

Fabulous chronicle of all things gamer and nerd.

This Week’s Menu

Last week was a little hectic, between Valentine’s Day, Mtl Startup Talent & a wedding consultation I was off my feet baking, so it’s little surprise that we resorted to a food court dinner on Wednesday. However, since we already had all of the ingredients on hand we went ahead and made the enchiladas for dinner on Saturday.

Big hits this week were Sasa’s amazing Oyster Sauce Bok Choy and the Garlic Roasted Broccoli. In fact, Rick, a notorious broccoli hater asked me to make more broccoli so he could eat it more often. The biggest dud were the beet chips. I don’t know how, but I always manage to mess up baked chips. They were all either chewy and gross or burnt to a crisp.

Monday: Pasta With Mushrooms and Pancetta (with Homemade Linguine instead of tortellini)
Tuesday: Cassoulet-Style Sausage & Beans – Rick’s night to cook. My man’s getting ambitious!
Wednesday: Vegetable Pot Pies Topped with Sweet Potato Biscuits
Thursday: Gumbo (with this recipe as a guide)
Friday: Roast Cod with Crisp Potatoes