Lemon Meringue Pie Cupcakes!!!!!!!!

I went to bed last night, knowing I wanted to bake cupcakes for Graham's co-workers today.  I love to bake, and experiement with new recipes, but don't like the thought of dozens of cupcakes in the house, so I bake for friends, family and co-workers.  I've been doing this for years...something that my co-workers have always told me that they LOVE.  As I don't have co-workers right now, Graham's get the benefit of my side hobby- baking!  Baking to me is therapeutic.  I'm sure if I actually ATE more of what I bake, I would beg to differ on the side effects, but for me, if I am having a bad day, am stressed or am not feeling well, I bake.

I decided to make/tackle lemon meringue pie cupcakes.  We have unfortunately (or fortunately), been eating some amazing cupcakes lately.  Once last weekend for our photoshoot with Carolyn and once last weekend at Julie, Mat and Jack's party...made by Marietta, the amazing girl who did our wedding cupcakes.  I have limited myself on the amount of baked goods I have eaten, however, Graham seems to be on a "see it, and eat it" craze!  I swear if he was a woman, I would think he's pregnant, as it's so unlike him!  I have seen a lot of cupcakes with fondant decorations, coloured buttercreams and various other toppings, but I have yet to see (in a shop at least) a cupcake with a meringue topping (I have had a meringue buttercream before and it was delicious).  Mom got me this great book a few months back, that she found at Talize, so I decided to break it open and see what I could create!

I sort of follow recipes...I tend to wing it most times when I bake, using the recipe as a base and adding more/less/extras when I like.  Sometimes it's an EPIC fail, but sometimes it works out so well, that I have to struggle to remember what I did so right for the next time I bake!  I have started to write things in the margin of the recipes/cookbooks I use, but sometimes I forget.  This can either lead to a HORRIBLE baking experience next time, or one that is somewhat close to the last.  If I make something that I REALLY like though, I always write it down or make notes.

I wish that I had taken photos along the way, but I was too busy...umm...sticky to remember to do it.  You know when you cook/make something and every step of the way, it works, or tastes delicious and you just get distracted?  That's what today felt like!  YAY!  What's even funnier, is that if you were a fly on the wall this morning, you would have seen me using my apple corer to dig out the centre of the cupcakes...eating each centre so FURIOUSLY, so that Graham couldn't come in and get any.  What you would have laughed at, is when I looked over my shoulder and around the kitchen, I remembered that GRAHAM WAS AT WORK!

So, I started off by making homemade lemon curd!  It was hard work, whisking away for 30 mins to get it thick over the double boiler, but it turned out so much more tart than store bought stuff!  I could have just sat there on the counter eating the whole bowl!  NOTE TO SELF: ALWAYS eat breakfast before baking.  ALWAYS.

After the lemon curd was done...my right arm was about to explode (why can't we all be ambidextrous?)...I set off to making the batter.  It seemed like a pretty simple batter to me, but after mixing all of the dry and wet ingredients, it seemed a bit too thick.  Almost like a sponge base.  I tasted the batter and decided to add even more fresh squeezed lemon juice, and it loosened up a bit more.  Little did I know, it was supposed to be a bit thicker, as it's more of an English sponge base.  Thanks GOOGLE.  It baked half way and was taken out to cool for 10 mins.  I then used an apple corer to remove the centre (and had to try them to make sure it tasted good, and as the frantic eating of the centres happened, it was delicious!) and then filled that with the homemade curd.  I then set on to make the meringue and decided it would look nicer if I piped it on the top.  It was then baked a further 6 mins for the meringue to slightly brown and as I didn't want the cake to get dry, I took them out and blow torched them to finish them off.

They looked REALLY good and I was super happy.  I impatiently waited for them to cool off, so that I could box them in these super cute boxes I bought, and get to Graham's work so that I could eat one!

They turned out really well, and the verdict around the office is that I should bake some more, they were super yummy and one lady kindly said I should take my lack of not having a job, to start a business.  Interesting.

Come on over!  I'd love to have some friends and family to try this recipe on again!

Tonight's blog, brought to you by...Graham's sense of humour!

So tonight, we ventured out to try to finally buy a coffee table for the house.  That turned out to be an epic FAIL, so we decided to see if we could check a few other things off of our list (get Graham new work shoes, find an arm chair, get luggage etc).  We ended up finding some work shoes for him, as well as a carry-on sized luggage and medium sized luggage!  Success!

Tonight, Graham was in quite a relaxed and funny mood!  He also wanted to sneak some funny magnets into our purchases!  Here is a GOOD look at my husband's humour!!!

The first one is DEFINETELY about me! :) The 2nd, is just HILARIOUS!  The 3rd and 4th are about Graham, and I am not sure if I am supposed to be worried about how proud he is of those descriptions of himself, or laugh at it!  The 5th, Graham just loves and the 6th...well...Canadian humour?!



Isn't he just HILARIOUS to decorate our house with such taste?!

How to blow off steam- OLD SCHOOL style!

Sometimes you have a day where even just a little thing frustrates you.  Sometimes you have a day where you build up excitement and just feel disappointed.  Sometimes you have a day where you are tired.  Mostly, sometimes you have a day where you just need to do something old school to pick up your mood!

Tonight, Graham and I had dinner, and a GREAT glass of wine or two from a Pellar Estates Reserve collection that he got on business 2 weeks ago.  We decided after dinner, that we would do something competetive and something fun, so we ended our night with something that growing up, Dana and I enjoyed doing at her Mom's house!!!

We spent a few hours playing Diddy Kong Racing!  I used to LOVE this game, and 2 weeks ago, when we were at a Pickering Flea Market, Graham and I found it again for the N64, so we HAD to buy it!  It brings back a lot of fun and happy memories!

Welcome home Gary, Kathryn and Brayden!!!!!!!!!!

Today we went to help Kathryn and Gary unpack some of their stuff into their NEW HOUSE!!!  What an exciting time in their lives!  We are so happy for your family and so proud of you!  We can't wait to see you make your house a home and watch your family grow and learn together in your new space!

While the boys put things together and took things apart to try to get appliances hooked up, we organized shelves, hung clothes and emptied boxes!  We wished we could have done more before we headed back home, but are thrilled to come back again soon and see the finished product (or almost finished- who really unpacks EVERY box AND puts everything in it's right place?)!

Congratulations guys, we are so happy for you! Your house is every bit as gorgeous as you let on/showed us along the way/told us you hoped for!

Welcome home Julie and Mat!

Today we got to be a part of a very special day!  Our friends, Julie and Mat and their baby Jack emigrated to Canada just last month, and there was a BBQ thrown for them at Binbrook Conservation Area (Great job putting it together ladies!!!).  Graham and I are both SO happy that they are home and we are so excited for the life ahead for them!  We know how different it can be, how joyous and how some days at the beginning are a struggle...but yesterday proved that they have people that love and support them so much!!!

Julie, Mat and I met 4 years ago this fall/winter, while working at The Shires in England.  We all got along well (I thought so anyway :), and our friendship grew both working there, and hanging out outside of work!  It was really hard when I left England, but knowing that Graham would be here one day, and they would follow sometime after, was awesome! 

Welcome home Julie, Mat and Jack, we LOVE YOU and are so happy that you are home!

s of course, you can't forget the amazing CUPCAKES from Julie's sister-in-law, Marietta!!!!!!  She did our cupcakes for the wedding and they were just as amazing as we remembered from that day!

Trash the Dress!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now before everyone starts freaking out, I did not ACTUALLY trash my dress!!!

We had a photo shoot last night with Carolyn Bentum, a photo shoot where we could pick a fun location, be totally relaxed and take all the photos you didn't get a chance to take at the wedding!

It was an amazing shoot, we had an amazing time, and I fell in love with Graham even more yesterday, than I thought I ever could.  Thank you Carolyn, for making us be kids, have fun, love each other more and for being the amazing friend that you are!  You captured so many fun shots that we can't wait to see!!!!!!!!  It was the perfect mix of fun, being kids and intimate romance.  You are incredible!

As per usual, there wasn't any sun, and we were threatened with rain drops off and on all afternoon/evening, but we made it through before anything started happening that would make us wet!  We couldn't believe how blessed we were with perfect overcast weather...although it would have been nice to have a sun flare or two!  We are most thankful that it was NOT 6 degrees, and we were NOT freezing :)

It was an amazing day out on Toronto Island.  We had our photos done on the beach, in the park and on the RIDES at Centreville Amusement Park!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  It was the most fun we have had in a long time!  We ate cupcakes, lollipops, rode the carousel, the ferris wheel, the log ride (only a little bit wet!) and just had fun around the park!  We surprised Carolyn with some awesome props too, so it really was fun!  She showed us a few pics she took that were BEYOND our dreams, and so romantic and playful!  We can't wait to see the finished product!

The night was ended perfectly with getting our WEDDING PHOTOS BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!  We will spend time over our busy weekend to look through them when we can!  CAN'T WAIT!  We then went to the Park Hyatt rooftop for a drink and dinner (YES, in our tux and dress) and then finished off with a drink at the Port in Pickering!  It was a perfect day!

We got home and felt just as tired today as we did on our wedding day!  Lugging around a 10lb dress, not being able to take a deep breath all day was exhausting!

Here's our 1 sneak peek photo that I asked Carolyn to take on my phone!

I highly recommend EVERYONE does a session like this!

Spoiled with fun, thanks to great friends!

We are more grateful than words can say from the help that we got with the wedding, the people that stood beside and celebrated with us, and the generosity from our guests.  Our house is now almost all set and it is so nice to finally have "grown-up" things (like a bed frame, bigger kitchen table, a nice couch, a guest bed...you know), but two friends left us specific instructions in their wedding card to us...

It went something like this: "I know this is a non-creative gift...but what WE lack in creativity, you two MORE than make up for...so use this for something fun"!

Well, today, we booked something that we had to cancel for myself 4 times last year because of weather.  My mother-in-law (first time I wrote that here!) got me a Christmas gift to do something I would NEVER buy for myself.  We decided to take the instructions above and book Graham in with me! 

Thanks so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Can't wait to share the experience with you!

Feelin' HOT HOT HOT!!!!!!!!

I have no motivation to blog anymore today!  It's HOT here, even with a "breeze" off the lake!  The thermostat in here reads: 29C!!!!!!!  My friend Jen informed me that, "it's probably hotter than that in your house.  The guy who came to deal with our a/c said thermostats only go to 29C".  GREAT!

For the first time, we are living in a house where we have to pay all of our bills (we didn't not pay bills before, they were just included in our rent).  Our condo was the only place we've ever lived in that has had a/c, so we are unsure of how much it would cost per month, especially with this being an older house.

By 4pm, I caved, and ignored Graham's requests to just open the windows!  The air coming in was too hot to keep them or the blinds open!!!  I turned on the a/c, and by dinnertime, it was so hot in here still, we went out for a bit.  By the time we got back, it was still just as hot, but POURING and thunderstorming HUGE!  By bedtime, the temp had not really changed, so Graham went investigating.  30 minutes later, he found the tripped fuse from the a/c and got it going!  It was about time we had a sleep where we didn't wake up 10 times because it was so hot!

I guess we went from winter to a 2 week spring and then STRAIGHT to summer!  I hear it's going to be a hot one!!!

Summer lovin...

I am a HUGE fan of summer...patios, drinks, dinner outside, beaches, the sun, warmth...pretty much everything!

Last night was GORGEOUS out, so we decided to go to the Port, our favourite restaurant on the Bay, for a drink.  Last time we were there, I had the most DELICIOUS cocktail.  It sounds gross, but it is one of the only cocktails I have ever had that doesn't taste sweet.  It's a combo of whiskey, lemon juice, meringue foam, and malbec wine.

Do you ever just want to quit?

I'm sure everyone has their own thoughts/examples/reasons for why this post title rings true to them.  I'm sure we've all thought about it in one way or another...

What if I just quit my job tomorrow?

What if I just ran away and travelled the world forever?

What if I stop looking for a job, will they all start calling me at once?

What if I stopped eating junk food and went on a diet? Would I binge like crazy or stick to it?

What if I just stayed in bed all day and pretended like that was normal?

What if I watched TV till my brain hurt?

Some days, I have days where I question all of this.  Fortunately, I live in a world, where I have dreams and hopes and plans for the future.  I am so blessed to have a husband, friends and family in my life who care about me, just as much as I care about them (or close to it, I hope).

But sometimes, don't you ever just want to quit?  Even if for a day?

A VERY hardworking husband!

I know that Graham would LOVE a deck.  He talks about it at least once a week and has multiple DIY books on how to build one (still not sure how I'd feel about HIM building a deck for us).  Our current patio will have to make do for now though.

We have been eyeing patio sets since we moved to the house, and are dying to use one, now that the days are getting brighter and warmer.  The only problem was, that our patio is an uneven, broken disaster!  We contemplated using a roller to see if it would even it out, or using cardboard under the table/chair legs, but we didn't want to be that ghetto!

So we decided to pull up the entire patio today, use a compactor to try to level out the ground and then relay the tiles (minus the really broken ones).  I have a hard time doing a lot of lifting, moving heavy things, so I stuck to using the shovel to get under the stones and prop them up so Graham could move them.  It was a crazy sight underneath with tree roots, old stumps and ant trails (no wonder it was uneven, there were three old tree stumps partly cut down underneath!

There were 40+ tiles to have to move in the end, so it was ALOT of hardwork!

After putting on my work shoes, and getting stuck in, things went a bit more quickly.  Graham is a BIG DIY fan, so he only wanted me to help with the tiles and then he wanted to do the rest himself.  What a man!  I can proudly say, it's almost done and there is not an injury in sight! 

My tools and the progress coming along!

Patio all dug up.  Really unlevel and so many roots/tree stumps, it was too hard to get completely level!  Graham put in so much work to try to get it's best though!

Patio as level as possible and almost back in!

Now to set up a patio set and have our dinners/weekends outside enjoying the garden/sunshine and each other!



Umm...today was supposed to have NO PLANS...Right...

So, this weekend was our first weekend in maybe over a year with NO plans.  No driving, no get togethers, no errands...you know NOTHING to do but what we thought was fun/relaxing.  Did that happen?  NO!

We did however, get alot done, that was on our "wish" list.  Things that we still needed to get for the house, that we haven't had a chance to get yet, or didn't find anything at the time we were looking.

Today our day ended up looking like this instead:

Go to Pickering Town Centre to sign up with a dentist that has evening and weekend hours- CHECK!

Go to Pickering Flea Market just to have fun, but mostly to look at their British Discount Shop- Check!  Buy 3 Nintendo 64 games for old school fun- CHECK!  Find apple fritter donuts just like at St. Jacobs Market!!!!!!!!!!!- CHECK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Go to the Pickering Ribfest.  Show Graham was good BBQ is- check, but then it rained, so we ate in our car!



Go to Home Outfitters to try to find chairs and a rug for our kitchen table/livingroom- we found a rug, which we took home and it just doesn't look right.  Have to take it back this week- UNCHECK

Go to Ikea to buy 4 more chairs that match our own, try to find chair pads to make them more comfortable, find a table runner and placemats- UNCHECK...chairs were discontinued, nothing else worth buying...had to go to Vaughan Ikea for chairs in the end...so HALF CHECK.

Go to Wal-Mart to see if we can find chair pads, a table runner and placemats- half CHECK...we found 6 chair pads and need 2 more, and found nothing else.

By the time we got home, all I wanted to do was NOTHING.  Graham made a delicious tilapia and roasted veg dinner, and is now building all of our chairs.  What a good husband!

Tomorrow, I guess we have earned a true DO NOTHING day!









Home sweet bed!

It's always great when you get to spent a few days in a hotel, having a mini vacation, or away on business etc.  Usually you have these GREAT sheets, pillows, duvets and bed. 

We stayed at the Queen's Landing while Graham was on a business conference.  We do Niagara-on-the-lake every year for this conference, last year, being at the Prince of Wales hotel.  I'm not usually a person who cares about whether we stay at a hostel, a hotel or a campground, so the room/bathroom etc, doesn't matter to me.

As a person who doesn't sleep well, I DO love a good bed.  We have a King bed at home, as Graham is a tosser and turner, and loves to hog the bed.  We have great sheets that we got as a gift from the wedding, so some days, it's hard to get out of bed- just because it's so comfy!

One BIG negative about the Queen's Landing was that we checked into the hotel, having booked a King Bed, but they didn't have any left.  They first put us in a room with 2 double beds, so we switched to a Queen.  It was nothing fancy, and there was a WAY TOO SOFT pillow top mattress pad, but we figured we'd be fine, I mean it's a hotel bed right?

Well, my side of the bed was on a slant at the head of the bed, almost like it was collapsing!  In the middle of the night, I was less happy when I tried to turn over, because I was so uncomfortable, and I hit both my head and funny bone on the side table because it was RIGHT at my head!  Oh dear! 

Good thing Graham's work paid for the hotel, but the lack of care when we notified the front desk, was shocking for the price of the rooms there!  Needless to say, when we got home last night, we were both exhausted and I was THRILLED to climb into bed!

I'm not usually a glutten, but today, I was a PIG :(

I LOVE icecream.  Gelato.  Sorbet.  Frozen Yogurt (FRO-YO!).  You know, anything in that catergory.  i DO NOT however, love ice milk.  Gross.

I am a big fan of getting ice cream on holidays, at the beach, on road trips or in different countries to experience flavour combos I never would at home.  But the buck usually stops there.

Due to my love for ice cream, but a tummy that doesn't depending on how much I eat, I tend to either not keep any in our own freezer, or keep small tubs.  I was GIDDY when I went to the grocery store and they now started selling MINI tubs. 

Anyone who has ever been to our house, or eaten ice cream at home with me, knows three things about me:

1) I can buy a haagen-daas sized tub and eat 3-4 spoonfuls, put it back in the freezer and not touch it again for days...usually taking a month to finish a tub

2) I am an anti-digger.  Graham faces the consequences by being banished to his own tub of ice cream in the freezer, as everytime I went for my few spoonfuls, all I got was ice cream and ZERO chunks/flavour bits in it!  I will not share my ice cream if you are a digger.  NO MATTER IF YOU'RE MY MOM, HUSBAND OR BEST FRIEND.  It's just not cool to steal all the bits.  You hear me?

3) I am not a BORING flavours person when it comes to anything really, especially my ice cream or sweets.  No cherry, orange, lemon, lime, chocolate, strawberry or vanilla anything for me.  It's usually something like: chocolate peanut butter, cookie dough, hazelnut (gelato), watermelon (sorbet) etc.  I am not a "classic" type of girl, and I like to live on the adventurous/wild side (in both food and life).

Today, in the comfort of my own car (where my husband couldn't stare in shock at me), across the border in the U.S, I defied all of my rules.  Seriously, the ice cream was THAT good, for all rules to be thrown out the window.  And I LOVE rules, most of the time, especially my own.

What could have been so good that I threw out the rules, dug away, and MIGHT or might not have eaten close to the entire tub?  (Don't even get me started on calories, I know...)

This bit of heaven.  It is EVERYTHING I could want in a tub of ice cream...if I can't find my favourite flavour: "Everything But The..."- try it and tell me it's not amazing!

Thank you, Jimmy Fallon! Vanilla bean ice cream with a SALTED CARAMEL swirl (it was heaven) & a Fudge covered POTATO CHIP cluster.  Yes, please! 

Good thing they don't have this at home, or I might have a reason to sneak away and eat in my car, in decadent silence more often.  Shh...don't tell my husband!



Big kid!!!

Graham having fun at the park after dinner in Niagara-on-the-lake!