Friday Morning

This  morning has to be the most wonderful weekday morning I've ever spent in a while. The fact that I got up extra early (yes, for watching the royal wedding. I can literally see Max rolling his eyes now...well...come on, who wouldn't be curious about the dress!) and had the time to sit down flipping through my favorite magazine (now folded) Domino and enjoy my warm Chai tea could not please me more. And yes, I am one of those people who would read their magazines as their text books if you noticed the sticky tabs in the magazine.

Now I have to head out to meet up with friend and help her setting up for the Spa trade show in the Metro Convention Center. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Balloons (Midtown, Manhattan), by Youngna Park

Botanical Fever pt.2

Probably only around this time of the year, my eyes are addicted to all the botanical prints. And this is also when I start to add bold colors to my wardrobe. As evidenced by the luscious forest green color blazer I got and numerous red, hot pink and bright yellow clothes I tried on in Zara two days ago.

1. Etro Floral-Print Silk Stole $420
2. Zara Floral Mini Skirt $59.90
3. Stella McCartney Falabella Citrus-Print Cotton Clutch $795.00
4. Anthropologie Water Color Pedals Cup and Saucer $18.00
5. S. Harris/ Fabricut Super Chintz Ultra Violet $100+/yard
6. Erdem Carly Georgette Overlay Dress

Botanical Fever pt.1

Yes, it has been storming raining since last weekend. But hey...April showers bring May flowers! I can't wait to see all the spring blooms after the rainy season is over. As for now, I might as well just stay in and enjoy my flower (dried rose, forget-me-not and lavender) green tea.

I have to thank my mom for bringing me all these beautiful dried flowers when she visited me last December. From left to right the flowers are:

1. Carnation
2. Rose
3. Forget-me-not
4. Lavender
5. Jasmine

Lime Tart

Okay... tell  me is there anything wrong with this picture? Yes, that glass of wine shouldn't be there at all! Yup, that was me sipping red wine at 9pm and ambitiously determined to make a lime tart from scratch on last Sunday. Did I accomplish it? Obviously not. After 20 minutes working on the pastry dough and 2 glasses of red wine, I sheepishly gave up and curled up on the couch with my husband and returned to our movie and wine Sunday night routine. Note to myself, wine and baking ...bad idea!

Anyways I made the tart yesterday by following Nigel Slater's recipe from his cookbook "The Kitchen Diaries". It turned out to be a really delicious and refreshing tart. Here's the recipe.

Lime Tart
(recipe is from Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries)

For the filling:
Juice from 5 -7 Limes (around 3/4 cup)
6 Large eggs
250g Caster sugar
175ml Double cream
Finely grate zests from two limes

For the pastry:
175g Plain flour
40g Golden icing sugar
90g Cold butter (cut into chunks)
2 egg yolks
1 tbsp Cold water

1. Put the flour and icing sugar into a food processor, add the butter, and blitz for a few seconds. Stop when the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
2. Mix in the egg yolks and water. Tip into a mixing bowl and bring the dough together into a thick log with your hands.
3. Wrap the log in greaseproof paper and refrigerate for half an hour. Warning: skipping this bit will make your pastry shrink.
4. Cut thin, round slices from the log of pastry, then press them into a loose-bottomed 23-24cm tart tin with high sides (3.5cm), pressing the pastry gently up the sides and over the  base. This pastry is too fragile to roll. Make sure there are absolutely no holes, otherwise the filling will leak through. Prick lightly with a fork and refrigerate for half an hour.
5. Set the oven at 400degrees, bake the tart base for 10-15 minutes, until the pastry is dry to touch.
6. Turn the oven down to 350degrees.
7. Mix the eggs and sugar together, beating lightly for a few seconds. Then stir in the lime juice and cream. 
8. Pour the mixture through a sieve and stir in the lime zest. Pour into the baked tart tin and bake for 40-45 minutes.
9. Remove whilst the filling is still a little wobbly and leave to cool.

New Obessesion

I don't usually wear colors on my lips. That doesn't mean I don't like colors. I just get insanely picky when it comes to choosing lip sticks. Not only that I have to choose the shade that compliments my skin tone, also texture and glossiness are important factors that I have to consider. You can however make a shade to suit you by playing with your make up. 

Most of the time I only go for nude colors...actually only for two specific lip glosses. Praline lip glaze by Stila (Stila already discontinued this color, but I've got enough stock to cover for 2 more years from HauteLook)  and Giza lip glaze by Nars. That's been said, you could imagine how happy I was when I tried out Chanel's Rough Coco Shine in Aventure. Thankfully this line just got released in March this year so I don't have to worry about it will get discontinued anytime soon.

Etsy Finds

"Some Like It Hot" retro print poster from shop handz

What would be a better way to spend the first morning of long weekend in bed doing some window shopping on Esty?!...plus Max is in the kitchen doing all the dishes and making me breakfast :)

Here are some of my finds:

1. A cool Hollywood vintage jewelry box for all my teabags

Vintage glass jewelry chest from shop TheOrangeCollective

2. I'm looking for more colorful additions to my all white dinnerware

Cheery green teacup from lovely Kathy's shop RelishVintage

3. Love the deep royal blue. It could be a perfect holder for all my rings!

Vintage Fitz and Floyd octagonal bowl from shop TheGildedTassel

4. How cool is it to own a ring that's made of a antique silver plated spoon!

Art Deco patterned antique silver platted spoon ring from shop Revisions

5. I don't usually shop for earrings because I don't have any ear piercings except for one blocked ear rim piercing. My heart actually skipped when I saw these vintage clip on earrings.

Vintage clip on earrings from shop Krishenka

Last but not least, porcelain egg shell votive candles and porcelain bunny from shop Revisions

Happy Easter to you all!

Simple Sautéed Zucchini With Garlic And Chili

When it comes to vegetable, most of the time I would prefer it to be warm and cooked than a cold salad (not saying that I don't like salad). And I believe with fresh produce the best way to cook it is probably by using simple ingredients and minimal cooking time. So that the freshness and the distinct taste of the produce will be well kept. When I got these zucchinis from the farmer's market, I already know how I would prepare it. I've been using this recipe for years and I've also seen my parents using this recipe so many times with other vegetables.

Sautéed Zucchini With Garlic And Chili

serves 2 - 4

2 table spoon extra virgin olive oil

2 medium zucchini, halved and then thinly sliced

2-3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 chili pepper, seeded and finely chopped

Fine grain sea salt

1 table spoon light soy sauce (optional)

• Heat up the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in the garlic and cook until it starts to take a hint of color.
• Add the zucchini, stir to get it coated with oil evenly for 5 minutes.
• Add the chili, soy sauce and pinch of salt. Stir occasionally. Cook until zucchini starts to brown a little bit - 5 minutes or so. Serve immediately.

20x200 Affordable Art Prints

Praia Piquinia 27/08/09 15h17 by Christian Chaize  20x200.com

Here's a website that I want to share with you all. It's www.20x200.com. They feature great funky contemporary art for a starting price as low as $20! I have no idea how long I've had this website in my bookmark bar and I still keep checking the site regularly because every week they feature a different new artist's works.

Here are some more of my favorite ones:

Untitled (Santa Barbara) (2008) by Liz Kuball

Untitled (Santa Barbara) (2009) by Liz Kuball

Actually by staring at all these sunny summer pictures isn't really helping me at all on a day like this with the miserable weather. Oh well...at least I'm heading to my yoga studio in an hour and that would probably be the easiest way for me to approach the tropical weather in Toronto by practicing yoga in a room heated to 40 degrees Celsius.

Hack Ikea Furniture

After

Before

I was looking for shoe racks for the longest time for my new apartment. When I spot this one in Ikea for only $29.99 I knew I've found the one. Forget about shoe racks. I will stick with the golden rule of tackling down all the mess around the apartment...hide it! I've bought enough of file storage boxes and kitchen storage containers to prove that rule. The only problem of this shoe cabinet is the ugly birch color which is also easy to be solved by just few coats of paint. I know that I have been talking about this project for a while and finally I got this done by last Sunday. Lesson that I have learned this time? NEVER forget that most Ikea furnitures aren't made of real wood and no wood stain or polyurethane is ever needed (and I'm truly thankful for Canadian Tire's return policy)!

Here are some more pictures:

Because the shoe cabinet is made of laminated particle boards, it would be hard to paint over the surface without any prep. You can either slightly sand the surface by using fine grit sandpaper (220grits) or using primer if you are like me that aren't too sure about your sanding skills. A guy from House Hardware store told me that I should be looking for a primer that's for vinyl. I used foam brush to apply the primer because I don't want to leave any strokes on the surface and I used foam roller to put on the high gloss black paint.

After two coats of primer

Project's done after two coats of primer, three coats of high gloss paint (for the first time that I actually strictly and patiently followed the instructions about the waiting period between each coat) and my leftover wallpaper again.

Few Things That Made Me Happy Last Weekend

1. Dogs!

Yup, we had three dogs in our apartment last Sunday! They were brought over by my mother-in-law and sister-in-law for a visit. Even though Benjamin (the toy poodle) marked his territory on my bed right away when he noticed that no one was watching, it was absolutely joyful walking them to the park (despite the miserable weather) and watching them lying down side by side on the floor. By the end of the day, I had to put my nerdy glasses on Roda for a picture because she just looked too cute with that accessory!

2. Farmer's Market

I go to St. Lawrence Market (south market) quite often but not the farmer's market (north market) due to many reasons. Usually it's just because I can't get up that early on a Saturday. Anyways finally for the first time this year we made it to the farmer's market and as always I was happily surprised by the reasonable price and freshness of the produce. We got a week worth of vegetables for only $35!

3. Organized Apartment

What's the benefit of having your mother-in-law for a visit? Get your husband to clean the whole place inside out! It feels good to have a spring clean-up and it definitely feels much better to have it done by someone else.

4. Tulips

Tulips are one of my favorite spring flowers. It's such a sweet coincidence that I got few tulips from the farmer's market on Saturday and then on Sunday I received two pots of tulips as gifts from my mother-in-law and sister-in-law.

5. Black Camel's Sandwich

This beautiful juicy beef brisket sandwich from Black Camel Cafe ( 4 Crescent Road, Toronto) totally worthed a 30min's walk in a spring snow storm.

Hope you all had a great weekend too :)

Asparagus Risotto

I met up with a close friend on Tuesday after not seeing her for almost a month. As soon as she saw me, the first thing she said was "gosh! you gained weight!" hmm...Thanks and I missed you too? What can I say? I love food! Well, I would also love to get myself fit into that tight little pair of faux leather legging I got last fall. With that in mind, I digged out my yoga mat and headed to my hot yoga studio for the most challenging class after two weeks' absence. The result? disgustedly sweatily satisfied and energized! So I decided to make a delicious asparagus risotto and bake some fish for dinner to reward myself. Yes, food again.

The recipe I followed this time is from The Silver Spoon (a new cookbook I got from BMV on Bloor street last Sunday) with few changes. I added some sugar peas (that had been sitting in the fridge for quite a few days and I had completely lost the original cooking inspirations that I had in mind when I decided to buy them in the grocery store) and also I added zest from 1 lemon to bring some citrusy zesting excitement to this traditional spring dish. My only mistake that I made this time? After the rice was done, I moved the pan to another burner that I forgot to turn off. And it was already a little bit too late when I finally noticed the rice was getting dryer. Oh well..Bon Appetit!

RISOTTO CON PUNTE DI ASPARAGI

Asparagus risotto (Recipe is from The Silver Spoon by Phaidon Press)

Serves 4

1 pound 2 ounces asparagus, spears trimmed

6 1/4 cups vegetable stock

5 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 onion, chopped

2 cups risotto rice

salt

Parmesan cheese, freshly grated, to serve

• Cook the asparagus in a pot of salted, boiling water for 10-12 minutes until tender, then drain and cut off and reserve the spears. Chop the stems and set aside.

• Bring the vegetable stock to boil

• Meanwhile, melt 1tbsp butter in a skillet, add the asparagus spears and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, then remove from the heat and set aside.

• Melt 2tbsp butter with the olive oil in a pan , add onion and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.

• Stir in the rice and cook, sirring, until the grains are coated in fat, then add the chopped asparagus stems.

• Add a ladleful of the hot stock and cook, stirring, until it has been absorbed. Continue adding the stock, a ladleful at a time, and stirring until it has been absorbed. This will take 18-20 minutes.

• When the rice is tender, stir in the remaining butter and the asparagus spears. Serve with Parmesan

Julia Child's French Mussels Steamed Open in Wine and Flavorings

I am the biggest fan of seafood. Whenever it comes to dinner selection, I always tend to choose seafood over red meat. So it was really hard to pass on when I saw theses fresh mussels in the grocery store. Come on what else can beat a nice glass of white wine with steamed mussels on a warm spring day! This time instead of doing it my usual Italian way I opted for the French style adapted from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Moules à la Marinière

Fresh Mussel Steamed Open in Wine and Flavorings

2 cups of light, dry white wine

1/2 cup minced shallots/ green onions/ very finely minced onions

8 parsley springs

1/2 bay leaf

1/4 tsp thyme

1/8 tsp pepper

6 Tb butter

6 quarts scrubbed, soaked mussels (I used around 2-3kilos.)

• Bring the wine to boil in a pot with all the ingredients but the last two ingredients for 2 - 3 minutes

• Add the mussels to the pot. Cover tightly and boil quickly over high heat. Frequently grasp the kettle with both hands, your thumbs clamped to the cover, and toss the mussels in the kettle with an up and down slightly jerky motion so the mussels will change levels and cook evenly. In about 5 minutes the shells will swing open and the mussels are done.

• with a big skimmer, dip the mussels into wide soup plates. Allow the cooking liquid to settle for a moment so any sand will sink to the bottom. Then ladle the liquid over the mussels. sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately.

Something important:

The most crucial step of preparing the mussels is SOAK the mussels for at least 2 hours! This way you can get rid of the sand and dirt that's been hiding inside the shells.

Easy Project

After

Before

Today I was supposed to work on the Ikea shoe cabinet that I got two weeks ago and I actually got quite excited for this little project. I've already picked up 120grit and 220grit sandpapers, a neat rubber sanding block, ebony color wood stain and polyurethane from Canadian Tire. This morning I jumped out of bed at 8am and can't wait to start to get my hands dirty...not until I opened up the furniture package...hmm... pressboards! How could I even forget in the first place that a $30 Ikea shoe cabinet wouldn't be anything made of real wood?!

After 5 seconds of self blaming, I decided to do a easy project just to cheer myself up. This Ikea Expedit Console table was bought for only $50 on a Wacky Wednesday Sale night more than a month ago. It is a nice piece considering the price. However because the lighting condition in the hallway isn't that optimum and the dark color of this console isn't helping at all. To make it alive again, I used some leftover wallpaper from my old bedroom. All I did just cut the paper and put it under the glass. No glue or water was even needed! There you go, an eyesore is finally pleasing the eyes now. And now I shall make another trip to Canadian Tire to do some exchange...arghh

Something that I Found

Before (image's taken from movelineliquidations.com)

After

Well this really old newspaper isn't something that I found. It's from my husband's grandfather. Earlier this year I found this awesome frame from a hotel liquidation place in Oakville (Moveline Liquidation). Out the kitschy print and topped with a coat of fresh paint, doesn't this frame look ever so wonderful with the newspaper?

Anyways, this Daily Express was published on May 31, 1940. What amazed me the most is not the interesting World War II coverage on the front page or the shockingly low price of the paper (which is only one penny!!).

It's the Guinness ad grabbed all my attentions. Unlike what the beer industry likes to do nowadays by using sexism in advertising to sell, this 1940 Guinness ad simply stated "Good for Strength" with a smiley face framed inside the glass...tell me who doesn't want a glass of beer now?

Black Cod with Olives and Potatoes in Parchment

Finally spring is here to stay in Toronto. After a really long winter of pasta and stew and more pasta and stew, my taste buds are yearning for even more green and vibrant elements than my eyes do. So last week I made this Black Cod with Olives and Potatoes in Parchment as a start of eating more light and healthy meals. (Recipe can be found here: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Black-Cod-with-Olives-and-Potatoes-in-Parchment-242013)

Instead of following the recipe to tie up the parchment paper with kitchen string, I baked the French style fish en papillote by folding the parchment paper into a pouch.

Voilà!