What's on your fridge?

All wrapped up and ready to go!

This year one of my best ami and myself spent an evening putting together these great little magnets for all our friends. We figured everyone would have their fair share of baked goods and thought this was a great little give away at our annual Christmas party.

We roughly followed this tutorial but instead of photoshopping the pictures into a polaroid template I simply used this incredibly handy Poladroid maker and we mounted the pictures on to white foam core which created a nice clean white border.

They are a great little gift any time of the year!

xo J

Somebody That I Used To Know

Realized I haven't posted any tunes for awhile. Really loving this song from Goyte, an artist out of Australia, seems to be channeling a bit of The Police when it comes to the chorus. Super catchy and if you've been through a break up you can probably relate!



xo J

Best Bites #5: Purdy's Himalayan Pink Salt Caramels

Do you think anything named "Himalayan Pink Salt Caramels" could taste bad?

No don't think about it - the answer is clearly Heck No!

And you'd be right - Purdy's Himalyan Pink Salt Caramels - though their name be a little fancy dancy are yummy in my tummy. And will be in yours too. These chocolates have a perfectly balanced ratio of salt to chocolate to caramel. You can taste and savour each component but no one ingredient tries to shove the others off stage and hog all your taste buds.

If you have a chocolate lover in your life (and yes, I accept gifts wink-wink) Purdy's sells boxes of these precious little flavour gems for around $20 bucks. And while you're there if you happen to pick up a few for yourself - I say Huzzah! Enjoy!

xo
Jenny C

101 Best Bites
5 eaten, 5 liked (majority rules, Jessy dissents on the olives)
More about the Amis Best Bite Challenge

Best Bites #3 & 4: Heirloom Tomatoes & Castelvetrano Olives

Here are a couple notes before I begin:


1. I am not a picky eater but I really hate olives, this was the first time I willingly put an olive in my mouth in maybe 20 years.

2. This is a pretty lofty task we have taken on, completing this list of 101 best bites, so we may cut some corners here or there.

With that being said last week we knocked a whole group of items off the list (I'll be back later this week with a review of on of the beverages on the list and Jenny has a few items stockpiled to review). One meal alone we were able to taste 4 items! Two of which were the Castelvetrano Olives and the heirloom tomatoes.

So basically my teeth punctured the skin of the olive and a had to cleanse my mouth with a good swig of wine, that is how far my dislike for olives go, and what is it about them you ask? Good question and one that took me a few minutes to formulate, it is the brine-y-ness! And according to the 4 olive lovers around the table these were low on the brine quotient and got two thumbs up all around. So basically, I wouldn't put any olive any "best" list but if you are an olive fan don't listen to me and give these guys a try.

Second was the heirloom tomatoe, and this is where we cheated slightly, as these were from California and I suppose the best bites of Vancouver should probably include tomatoes actually grown in this province, but we figured we got the gist of it. While the red heirlooms tasted just like regular tomotoes that were slightly past their best before date, the purple ones were the perfect firmness with great flavor, and really were at their best with just a sprinkle of salt and good quality extra virgin olive oil drizzled on top.

Stay tuned for more bites!

xo J

Both items can be found at WholeFoods

The final countdown...

The countdown to Christmas has always been one of my favorite things. Every year in high school some friends and I would always create a Christmas countdown in our school agenda's complete with decorations scribbled in with green and red pen. The advent calendar at home was another fun extension of the Christmas countdown where my brother and I would take turns opening the window to get our daily chocolatey treat.

Since I won't be getting my apartment until just before Christmas I am sadly not decorating my place this year but this DIY Advent calendar is book marked as a must for next year! So incredibly simple yet so incredibly cute!

Check it out here to get the free download and instructions.

xo J

P.S. A big Happy Birthday today to one of my very best sister-amis...you know who you are!

Fine finds on the Crawl

Last weekend I made my first visit to the annual East Side Culture Crawl in Vancouver, after some initial distractions from a random sample sale we happened across we finally made our way down Parker Street and got to see some of the amazing local artists show off what they do best.

I was particulalry fond of the unique and beautiful ceramics on show. Two of may favorites were CuldeSacDesign and Dahlhaus .

I was really drawn to the lace on this plate by Cul de Sac

This is a real conversation piece by Cul de Sac

Love the light colours used by Dahlhaus

I wouldn't say no to a set of these by Dahlhaus

P.S. you can find some Dahlhaus of your own at Vancouver's OneofaKind Show

Images via here and here

xo J

Best Bites #2: Jethro's Fine Grub - Frosted Flake Pancakes

Yes you did read that right.

Frosted Flake Pancakes

Are you ready to behold it's greatness?

Voila!!

Frosted Flake Pancakes from Jethro's Fine Grub. Fluffy and flopping over the edges of the plate like a beautifully rotund manatee. Oh so abundant! This was the second item that the amis and I devoured from Vancouver Magazine's 101 Best Bites in Vancouver list. No, we're not getting paid to do this... we just like food and trying new places about town.

So how did this stack stack up? (yeah, I made that pun, and I'm standing behind it)

In a word: awesome

The pancakes were delightfully light. They were the perfect level of sweetness and tartness - the tartness coming from buttermilk and the blueberries. The frosted flakes functioned mostly as a textural add-on. I thought they would add a lot of sweetness, but no, once buried within and on top of the pancake batter, and then covered in whipped cream and maple syrup - sweetness wasn't a factor. The crunch was nice though, and unexpected in a pancake. These were definitely some of the best pancakes I've enjoyed in a long while. And one plate was more than enough for 3 of us to share!

But did we just order pancakes? Hahahahha no, why would we do that?


We also enjoyed a Baked Potato Omelet and Nutella French Toast

Ready.... Set...

Attack!!

The Baked Potato Omelet was a revelation. Again - the fluffy factor was off the charts! And I mean really, an omelet stuffed with all the goodness you'd find in a baked potato? You know that's gonna be great!

The Nutella French Toast was also tasty. Think 3 inch-thick slabs of challah bread slathered with a nutella cinnamon spread. Very good. Full disclosure though - as a hard core Nutella lover, and given the ratio of bread to Nutella - this could have done with a bit more Nutella. Yup I just said that. Even though you can see the craziness that is this dish in the pictures. But if you're going to have a crazy over-the-top dish as this is - then go all the way! Make that mother the craziest, chocolatiest french toast that ever was!!

Besides that clearly gluttonous last remark, Jethro's was a great breakfast experience. You can tell they make their food with love and care. It isn't about ritz at all - it's just about great breakfast done right. I'd say if you're in the neighbourhood - it's definitely worth popping in for a bite.

What's been your best pancake experience? Have you hit up Jethro's already? What'd you think?

101 foods, 2 eaten, 2 loved, 99 to go!

xo
Jenny C