City Girl Whisky Diary: Unique Whisky Cocktails Recipes from The Distillery Bar in Vancouver
Mercury is in retrograde: my laptop died on Easter weekend, work’s been a bit crazy, and my left rotator cuff is telling me it needs a little more love. Aside from that, it’s been a pretty good week. But I’m definitely ready to put my my feet up and have a glass of something lovely. I’m mostly a red wine and dark beer girl, but every now and then I like a fancy cocktail. A Gin and Tonic is usually my favourite, but I’ve come to love whisky cocktails in the last couple years. (This is what happens when you visit Scotland many, many times, and visit a fair amount…
#12DaysofHygge – Day 6: Stove Top Almond Milk Hot Chocolate + My Favourite Vancouver Hot Chocolate Spots!
Hot chocolate or hot cocoa. However you call it, it’s the perfect winter treat when you’re out and about, or when you’re having an evening in. It is a very hygge beverage in my humble opinion.
#12DaysofHygge – Day 5: Tuesday Night Supper + Recipe for White Bean & Kale Soup with Sausage
One of things that makes me feel most hygge is a small dinner party, eating family style with favourite people. I have been eating at Karen Dar Woon’s 1920’s oak table since I was 16 or 17 years old. She was one of my dance moms (referred to as Ballet Mom in this post) and is a really lovely friend to me and my own mum. Karen used to be a paper sales rep, and decided to start making biscotti. (Which was very tasty!) Her Biscotti Queen business took off and going through the BCIT Venture Development program, she eventually turned it into Your Secret Chef, a successful private chef…
#12DaysofHygge – Day 4: Roasted Fennel & Butternut Squash Soup
There’s a frosty bite in the air, which means it’s officially hearty soup and stew season. With that, the next few #12DaysofHygge posts will be all about hearty food and beverage! We had a roasted fennel and butternut squash for dinner last night. Much needed after a day of being out and about in the cold. (I was running errands and getting new photos shot for the blog. Really excited about the results!) I’m a little obsessed with fennel. I don’t like licorice, so I’m baffled about this fixation – perhaps it’s just more subtle than say… ouzo (*shudder*) – but I digress. I love soup. It’s quick…
Finding Hygge in the Chaos of Moving House + Creamy Tomato Basil Bisque Recipe
I can hear the rain outside and I have a cup of tea. As I type this, I’m bundled up in my sweats and a blanket. It’s officially soup and stew season. My favourite. But 99% of my kitchenware – so, everything – is packed up. Naturally. A couple weeks ago, I wrote about beginning a year of immersing myself in the Danish concept of hygge. You may wonder why I decided to start this at the same time a moving house. I do, too. Ha. But really, it’s been a good way to balance out the chaos. Particularly since I made a point of keeping one corner completely box free,…
The West Coast Hygge Project and Honey Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Autumn is my favourite season because it’s when I get to pull out my cozy sweaters and wrap myself up in my blanket scarf. It also means the temperature has cooled down enough for me to properly bake again. (My favourite baking recipe is at the end of this post!) Autumn is also a season of change.
Holiday Season Survival Tips and No-Bake Chocolate Cheesecake Recipe
We are now full on into the holiday season, which means shopping, parties, shortbread, and, let’s face it, feeling a bit like you’re running around like a chicken with its head cut off. This is not a feeling exclusive to Christmas time, but it’s certainly amplified at this time of year. Unexpected guests, forgetting presents, hopping from event to event (I had three last Thursday!). How to survive the most wonderful time of the year – and, really, anything that comes your way? Three key things to remember:
City “Cottage” Pie
We have officially hit comfort food season. Read: cold (and usually rainy where I am). But that means savoury, hearty foods that smell amazing. Like Shepherd’s Pie. Side note: Have you ever chosen to make a dish that happens to be someone’s favourite and is also a “national” dish from where they come from? Like said Shepherd’s Pie? It is a mildly daunting and ambitious task. But I was up for it. With some help from Google and the Brit it was being made for, I cobbled together a recipe that was easy and delicious – thank goodness! I varied a bit with some ingredients – not the peas or Worcestershire Sauce, you don’t…
