Pancake Tuesday

Hi lovelies,

I promised myself I wouldn't blog until reading week because of how busy I am, but this post can be our little secret! Today is Pancake Tuesday and although I am Catholic, the real reason I'm celebrating this day is because a) obviously the pancake part of Pancake Tuesday and b) it's a really good excuse to use the hashtag #catholicgirlsdoitbetter on Instagram. Also, let us all note that my picture wasn't the only one when I clicked on that hashtag... No comment.

So now that my motives for stuffing my face are on the table, I can share the recipe I used this afternoon. I searched a Dutch pancake recipe, because when I was in Holland during my exchange Maggie and I had a field day at all the Pannenkoekenhuis (pancake houses). Their pancakes are kind of like crepes but they're a little thicker and still have that pancake-like fluffiness.

I used the recipe from Egg Farmers of Ontario, which is ironic because I was initially looking for some little Dutch grandmother's recipe that had leaked onto the web, but hey authentic or not, they were great!

Dutch Pancakes

✿ 1 large egg
✿ 1 teaspoon sugar
✿ 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
✿ 1 cup milk (I used almond milk)
✿ 1 teaspoon oil

Direction
- Whisk all ingredients together.
- And because I am horrible at explaining how to make crepes, I did us all a favour and copied this excerpt from the Kitchn (a.k.a. the cooking Bible... can I get an Amen?):

"Heat an 8- or 10- inch non-stick skillet (or a cast-iron crêpe pan) over medium heat. Add a small pat of butter and swirl to coat the pan.

Pour 2-3 tablespoons [I always put more than that!] of crêpe batter into the pan. Tilt the pan from side to side until the batter forms a very thin layer over the bottom of the pan. Cook until the edges of the crêpejust start to curl away from the pan (about a minute) and then flip it over to brown the other side (another 30 seconds or so)."

Enjoy! 

If you're wondering what I have been up to since my last post, well I met Justin Trudeau and Chris Hadfield, hosted a Bill Murray themed chili cook-off, won a sushi making contest, got all fancy for my school's fashion show, took full advantage of Target's closing sales (moment of silence...), stood in two places at once #walktoremember when my roommate and fellow recruitment co-worker and I invaded the US, made triple decker taco cupcakes (uh huh. yes. it happened), and studied, studied, studied.

xox Gaby

Croutons

Hello!

I'm finally back to my second home and it just feels so right! Since being back at school I have been having so much fun that I have barely realized I haven't said hello to you guys in about a month. Madness!!! Well, this evening when I was making a kale ceasar salad for Sara and I, I had an epiphany and I thought it would be just pure evil not to share my flash of brilliance with you.

So here's the deal. Nothing is better than a big salad with homemade dressing or vinaigrette, some fresh veg, and a little salmon. Nothing except adding homemade croutons. But, sometimes it's a pain to make them... Until now!

Little backstory: my roommates and I have 75,000 appliances in our house and they actually get used daily. We laugh that we are so not living in your typical student house, which is why it is funny that tomorrow a videographer (who btw filmed Brad Paisley's tour video) is coming to film a Bishop's promotional video of off-campus living in our little cozy home! I'm so excited!!! My dreams of becoming a child star are coming true... Minus the child part :) Okay sorry I got off track, we have 75,000 appliances, so today when I was making a salad and one of our panini presses (yes, one of two) was sitting on the counter I decided to use it to make croutons and it was soooooo easy and they were soooooo good!

So here's what you do:
1) Heat a panini press.
2) Spread a little coconut oil or butter on both sides of a piece of hearty bread.
3) Press your bread until golden and crispy.
4) Cut into square inch pieces and enjoy!

In other news, I love my classes so much, I have two new jobs in our campus Recruitment Office, I was introduced to an amazing sushi restaurant in Sherbrooke, I held A LIVE RAT, I found a snow tubing place close by, I joined the BU Bowling Club, and I recorded a radio commercial this week! Haha listen to CBC Sherbrooke to hear me as of February 1st!!

xoxo

G

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all my wonderful readers!

I hope you and your families eat lots, laugh until you cry, and cherish these precious moments together.

Keep checking back for posts, I'm going to try and churn out a good bunch of them before I get back to the study grind.

I included a few family pictures from Christmases past to give you a good laugh.

Lots of love

xox

Gaby

1. Classic Santa picture! I'm the little blondie in the front.

2. Dinner with my dad's side of the family.

3. My first Christmas! I was just over a month old.

4. My parents at my mom's parents house before any babies.

5. Christmas in grade 2, when I got my American Girl doll.

6. Another picture of my first Christmas. Steffi and Britt with their "dolls".

7. Summer at Santa's Village in New Hampshire.

Packing for an Exchange

Before I left for my exchange, one thing that was very nerve racking was packing. There were just so many variables that it was nearly impossible to pack for end of summer, fall, and beginning of winter... All under 50 pounds! 

I am not going to go through every single t-shirt and bra I packed, but I will give anybody that is going on exchange a couple of tips that I wish someone had told me! Obviously, every student on exchange isn't going to be studying in France, or even in Europe but here's what I learned!

1. Blundstones

I got these boots right before I left for my adventure and they were my favourite item. So comfortable and supportive, yet I got many many compliments on them! I wore them on dry days as much as I wore them on days that were raining cats and dogs. They looked especially cute with cuffed pants and patterned socks peeking out #mysisterismystyleicon.

2. Socks and Underwear

Bring lots of them!!! Lots of socks and underwear means that you can stretch out the time between laundry loads. And if the laundry costs as much as it did for me, then you will want to do the least amount of laundry as possible (without being too stinky).

3. Backpack/carry on hybrid

I borrowed a carry-on that had backpack straps and it was sooooo useful throughout my exchange. I brought it on almost all my trips, so it was good for trips ranging from a weekend to a 9 day trip. The straps were key for running to catch a train and handy for when I needed two free hands #parismetro.

4. Don't overpack

I know this is so classic, but honestly when you're carrying your bags around town at the beginning and end of your trip, your back and hands will thank you for your light packing. Also, extra luggage fees will creep up on you like a rabid dog! My roommate paid hundreds of dollars extra because she packed too much. The bright side of that is that there will always be that person on your exchange, so they're the perfect people to borrow clothes from. Thanks Kate ;)

Not my blouse :)

Not my dress!

5. Pack ahead of time

Pack your suitcase a little bit ahead of time to be able to test out if you can actually carry your packed suitcase. Make sure you'll be able to carry it around without breaking every bone in your body. Also, check handles, and straps to make sure all systems are go. 

6. Buy things there

Do your research and read blogs about your host city, and make sure that you can buy basics there. If not, bring it with you, but ONLY if you are certain you won't be able to find it there. If you have a special type of shampoo, I'd say bring it, but know that you'll be able to get some sort of substitute wherever you are! 

7. Leave room

I can't stress this enough: LEAVE SPACE in your suitcase for shopping, souvenirs, and other random things you'll pick up along the way. I packed an empty backpack and used it the whole time for school and day trips, but the best part was I used it as my "personal item" on my flight home. That extra space, and the fact that I didn't use the expandable part of my suitcase on the way there, gave me just the right amount of space to fit the goodies I acquired while in Europe. 

8. Don't pack stuff you don't wear at home

If you don't wear something at home, don't think you're style or preferences will change because you are in a different country! 

9. Things to bring

Don't forget: lock for hostels, room decorations, pictures from home, flip flops, sunglasses, nail clippers, every charger you need, chapstick, a USB stick and slippers (or birkenstocks!). One thing to note is that in France they don't have lined paper note books, only graph paper, so I brought my own notebooks and I was really happy I did, because I think I would have gone crazy writing between little squares.

I'll be adding things to this list as time passes and I remember other items that were super useful during my time abroad.

Lots of love,

Gaby

Oatmeal Add-ins

With a house full of visiting friends and loved ones, it’s easy to forget things or not have time to think about anything other than the big turkey dinner. This holiday season, don’t leave breakfast out!! Some say it’s the most important meal of the day, I don’t know about that, but I do know that no ones wants hangry relatives nosily poking their heads into the kitchen. I have a solution!! Wait for it… An oatmeal breakfast buffet! Or not necessarily oatmeal, because not everyone likes oatmeal, but any type of self-serve customizable dish is usual a great idea. Last fall, I made a grilled cheese bar for my birthday and it was THE BIGGEST hit! Everyone gets what they want, and there’s no running around trying to “effortlessly" incorporate last night’s stuffing into an egg casserole.

Here are some things I like to eat with oatmeal:

• Chopped dates and cranberries (or any dried fruit to add a little chewiness)
• TONS of fresh fruit, my favourite fruit in my oatmeal is bananas!
• Ground flax seed
• Hemp hearts
• Pepita seeds
• Goji berries
• Maple syrup or agave
• Coconut
• Nuts (roasted pecans or walnuts are sooo good, and almonds too)

Gluten-Free Pizza Crust

Hello!

Now that I am back home, out of residence, and I FINALLY have access to an oven I thought I would try out a Pinterest recipe I've been longing to eat all semester. It's a cauliflower crust pizza recipe and I spiced it up a little with pesto, a mozzarella/parmesan blend, chopped kale and some roasted sweet potato. The original recipe also called for a cracked egg on top, which I was skeptical about at first, but then went for it and I'm so glad I did! 

Since everyone nowadays has some sort of intolerance or allergy, I thought that I would take my Christmas break to try my hand at more vegan and gluten-free recipes. It also helps that I lived across the hall from Maggie for the last four months and she has been so inspiring with all her dates, chickpeas, and her blender!!

Gluten-Free Pizza 

Crust recipe adapted from Cooking Stoned (ya, no comment at that blog title).

Ingredients 

- 1 head of cauliflower (about 2 lbs)

- 1 egg for the crust, and 1 egg for topping (optional)

- 1/4 cup Parmesan 

- 1/4 tsp salt

- 1/4 tsp oregano

- 1/4 tsp basil

- 1/4 garlic powder

- 1/4 cup shredded Mozzarella for the crust, and another 1/2 cup for topping

- 3 Tbsp of pesto 

- 1/4 cup of chopped kale 

- 1/2 cup of chopped, roasted sweet potato

Instructions

✿ Chop up the cauliflower and then pulse in a food processor until it is finely chopped. It should look like snow, and  come to roughly 3 cups of cauliflower.

✿ In a large skillet, cook the chopped cauliflower over medium-low heat until tender, about 5 minutes.

✿ Let cool, and then drain as much as of the water from the cooked cauliflower by squeezing it through cheesecloth, or though coffee filters if you don't have any cheesecloth. The more water you squeeze out, the less soggy your crust will be.

✿ Combine the cauliflower, salt, oregano, basil, garlic powder, 1/4 cup of mozzarella, parmesan. Then add one beaten egg and combine ingredients to form a dough. 

✿ Pat the dough onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. 

✿ Bake just the dough for 15 minutes at 400ºF, or until it starts getting golden.

✿ Remove from the oven and spread an even layer of pesto over the crust. Then add the rest of the mozzarella, followed by the chopped kale and the sweet potato. Make a little room for the egg, and then gently crack it over the other toppings.

✿ Bake for another 15 minutes or until the egg white sets.

✿ Yum! Enjoy :) 

If you want to see a video of the steps check out my vine account. I'm going to try to make more mini movies on cooking, so stay tuned!

I'm heading to my mom's side of the family's Christmas get together tomorrow in Peterborough, so I'll catch you next week with posts on packing for a semester abroad, a great breakfast idea, and a Christmas celebrations!

Lots of love,

Gaby

Friendships

It's all over. Done and done. Tomorrow morning I'm catching a flight from Paris back to Canada and I still can't believe that my semester in France has come to a close. I am sitting in the Rouen train station as I write this post because there's a train strike so I have to wait another 3.5 hours before I can get on a train to Paris (Editor's note: I moved to a coffee shop cause I was freezing). From there I'll have to take a metro to the airport which will be quite the sight because I have about 70 lbs of luggage! #weighttraining

(I started that post four days ago, since then I am HOME)

What a good time to tell you a bit about my exchange! I have learned so much and seen so many places, but what I'm really going to walk away with is amazing friendships. The exchange students I embarked on this journey with are all amazing people and I had so much fun figuring out France with them. I'm really going to miss living in residence. In my first year at Bishop's, my floor wasn't very tight knit and I missed being able to cook. Whereas at the NEOMA Business School, I was in the international residence with all my friends and I had my own kitchenette and it was the BEST DECISION! 

We had so many memorable nights staying in, just having a ball cooking dinners together or watching Jane Austen mini series (BBC's Emma if you were wondering). Maggie and I also got a group of people hooked on Serial, a podcast, and it awesome to all pile onto someone's bed and drink tea and eat cake while listening to a riveting episode.

I also loved my roommate! Although we didn't technically share a room, we did share a bathroom and a little hallway connecting our rooms, so it was nice to have someone I liked and trusted. Sam was so wonderful to have right there and I'm really going to miss just yelling through the wall "I JUST PUT THE KETTLE ON. DO YOU WANT TEA?". Also, that girl can do wonders with a straightening iron!!

Another thing that was truly great was studying abroad with my best friend, Maggie. At first we were like an old married couple bickering about everything ("You're squeezing the toothpaste weirdly!"), but by the end of the exchange we were finishing each others' sentences and sandwiches (sorry for the Frozen joke). They say travelling is a real test of friendships and I think we passed with flying colours!! 

So here's to all the laughs, the communal dinners, the movie nights, the dance parties, the countless trains we nearly missed, the weird carpoolers, and the nights we had enough wine to sink a ship! I'm going to miss all of you xox