Tuesday, February 25, 2014

What's Cracking?

Good morning!

Guess what? I made a gif!!! Thanks Britt for the lovely photos.

FYI I like eggs.

xox










Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Chili-Fest Party Idea

Hi folks,

This past weekend my roommates and I hosted a chili fest! It was Sara's idea, and she got it from her annual chili-fest back home. We invited around 40 people but with midterms and other middle of the semester shenanigans, only about 20 could make it. Every team/household had to bring a pot of chili and a prize for the winning chili.

Our theme for the event was the stages of Leo. As in Leonardo DiCaprio… All I can say is our guests weren't just saying "yum" about the chili!! Every team got to pick a different Leo for their pot of chili and then after we ate copious amounts chili topped with cheese, sour cream, and green onions, we cast our votes at our secret voting station a.k.a. the shrine in our staircase. It was the perfect way to spend a snowy afternoon in February.

The prize for the winning chili went to Tim, or should I say The Wolf of Wall Street Leo!! His chili had the perfect hint of hot sauce and the right amount of tomatoes. Congrats Tim, we knew you had it in the bag :)


Yay for homemade valentines garland 




It's a great party idea if you're thinking of having some friends over! At all our parties we have a pretty central theme of good food. I've always said food brings people together!!!

Have a beauty of a day friends :)

xox

Gaby

Friday, February 14, 2014

Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

Hello lovelies,

It's valentines day, and as a single gal I should be posting passive aggressive gifs about how life sucks and all I want to do is eat chocolate and watch Netflix. BUT Valentine's day is one of my favourite day's of the year! I love how I get to dress up and bake and make cards… a.k.a. my three favourite activities. What's not to love? Last year I went home for Valentine's day and it was super adorable to see everyone reuniting in the Montreal train station with roses in hand.

I also threw a cute party last year with red drinks (I made a drink called Kiss in Heaven, 1 part grenadine, 3 parts pure love) and desserts with my girlfriends. It was so fun! This year, I'm going to a ladies only v-day party and I'm super pumped! I'm planning on making a chocolate fudge pie with raspberry sauce and coconut whipped cream (recipe to come!). Seriously, this is becoming a "let's celebrate ladies'' holiday and I'm loving it!

If you're heading somewhere special today here's a fabulous recipe you can make for your loved ones!

Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

Ingredients:


Red Velvet Layer:
- 3 1/4 cups flour
- 2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 4 tablespoons milk, divided 
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon red food colouring
- 2 teaspoons white vinegar
Cheesecake Layer:
- 2 8oz packages cream cheese, softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions:

✿ Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13 x 18  pan with butter or spray.
✿ In large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, vegetable oil, 2 tablespoons milk, vanilla extract, red food coloring, and white vinegar.
✿ Combine the dry and wet ingredients, until completely combined. The batter will be a really thick, almost moldable texture...but don't worry, that's what you want. Remove 3/4 cup of the batter and place it in a medium bowl. Whisk in the remaining 2 tablespoons of milk (into the 3/4 cup of batter you just took out). Set aside the 3/4 cup batter.
✿ Pour the remaining batter into the prepared jelly roll pan. Using a spatula, smooth out the batter to reach all the edges.
✿ Now, in your stand mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla, beating until combined and there are no lumps. Pour the cream cheese mixture on top of the red velvet layer and smooth mixture till it reaches all the edges.
✿ Drop spoonfuls of the remaining red velvet batter (that you mixed with milk) onto the top of the cheesecake layer. Drag the tip of a knife through the red velvet and the cheesecake layers to create swirls.
✿ Bake for 30 minutes, rotating half way through, or just until the center is set and it no longer jiggles. Let cool completely on a wire rack before cutting. Use a medium sized heart cookie cutter to create the perfect Valentine's Day treat!


Enjoy!

xox

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Lemon Shrimp Linguini

Hello mates!

You may be wondering why I just referred to you as mate?? Well… after waking up in a cold sweat one night (slight exaggeration) I realized that I need to start living more spontaneously. I decided that even though the deadline for exchange program applications were due a week ago, I would look into studying abroad for a semester. I emailed the international exchange coordinator and in less than 24 hours I was sitting in her office bright eyed and bushy tailed. She told me that the deadline didn't matter but that I should get to it with my research! What was initially holding me back was that I couldn't study in a big city but once I brought that up, she informed me that Bishop's just recently signed an agreement with a business school in the heart of LONDON's FINANCIAL DISTRICT!!!! Say what?!?!


I'm by no means certain that I will go because, if you haven't already clued in by my recipes, I'm really  frugal and living in London = me pouring out more money than I can imagine. I mean it would probably cost me four times more than living here and I don't want to feel bad the whole time I'm there about my strict budget (I'm serious. Think spreadsheets). BUT, it's an option and even looking into it makes me giddy and excited about doing something crazy! So I will keep you posted on my adventures.

Anywho, I've been having a great time in Lenny these days especially with a visit from Steffi and my mom last weekend for an event I helped coordinate that involved TED inspired talks and a debate tournament.

Here is a fabulous lemon shrimp pasta recipe to add a little zest to your drab winter.

Lemon Shrimp Linguini

From Barefoot Contessa Family Style

Ingredients:

- Vegetable Oil
- Kosher salt
- 1 1/2 pounds linguine
- 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
- 5 tablespoons good olive oil
- 3 tablespoons minced garlic (9 cloves)
- 2 pounds large shirmp, peeled and deveined (just buy them that way)
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
- Grated zest of 1 lemon
- 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (4 lemons)
- 1/2 lemon, thinly sliced in half-rounds
- 1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes


Instructions:

✿ Drizzle some oil in a large pot of boiling salted water, add 1 tablespoon of salt and the linguine, and cook for 7 to 10 minutes, or according to the directions on the package.

✿ Meanwhile, in another large pan melt the butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic. Saute for 1 minute. Be careful, the garlic burns easily! 

✿ Add the shrimp, 1 tablespoon of salt, and the pepper and saute until the shrimp have just turned pink, about 5 minutes, stirring often. 

✿ Remove from the heat, add the parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, lemon slices, and red pepper flakes. Toss to combine.


✿ When the pasta is done, drain the cooked linguine and then put it back in the pot. Immediately add the shrimp and sauce, toss well, and serve.


Enjoy!!

xox 

Gaby