Prawns. Vegan Prawns.

What the what? Vegan prawns? I know I was equally skeptical. My whole foods journey took an unexpected turn yesterday when I discovered Sophie's Kitchen vegan seafood (!!) I've been a vegetarian for about 5 years now and am an avid advocate of the faux meats- chicken, tofurkey, sausage, bacon, you get the picture. Name an animal and I've probably tried it veggie style. But NEVER have I seen vegan prawns.

Verdict: Undecided. I put them in an alfredo mushroom-y pasta sauce with broccoli and the overall dish was good. However, not sure how I felt about the prawns themselves. Texture wise they were a little foamy/wiggly and they had a very mild flavour.

Half birthdays and cake

I love making cakes. There is something so satisfying of going through the steps and emerging with a beautiful finished product. Don't get me wrong, I am a cupcake girl through and through, but a full sized cake produces a feeling of satisfaction that cupcakes just cannot (sorry my little friends.) I rarely find the opportunity to justify making a cake knowing full well that it will be going to be eaten by myself and my roommate. And while normally this would warrant a "challenge accepted" from the both of us, my whole "get healthy blah blah" resolution would find a way to make the experience just a little less gratifying.

So last week was my friend's half birthday and seemed like the perfect opportunity to fulfill my cake making needs and not end up eating half of it.

Finished product: Red Velvet Cheesecake with cream cheese frosting a la Cheesecake factory. Recipes are a sort-of combo of here and here. 

Red velvet cakes ready to go

Assemble the layers! 

Cream cheese frosting ready to go

Crumb coating (can you tell my window sill is my go-to picture taking place)

Inside! 

Finished decoration! Discovered my friend's hidden talent for cake writing-- look at that cursive!

Happy 19.5th Birthday Riana! 

The Mac Shack

I had a dream yesterday that I went to a restaurant and all they served were different kinds of Macaroni and Cheese. Oh wait— it wasn't a dream.

I ventured to the Mac Shack yesterday for dinner in Kerrisdale and was transported to what I can only imagine heaven must look like. They have a menu with all sorts of delicious sounding creations or a "build it yourself option." I went for the latter. White pasta, cream sauce, gruyere and mozzarella, caramelized onions and bell peppers. WHAT!

The place itself was a lot smaller than I was expecting but I think I enjoyed it more. You order at a counter and you can see the chefs preparing your food right there. The joint (I feel like Guy Fieri calling it a "joint") has a bar running around the perimeter, a few booths, and a couple of high tables. 

So instagrammable. So delicious.

It looks sort of gross when you look at it at first. And then you keep looking at it and realize you want it in your belly. Right. Now. 

I will definitely be seeing you soon! 

Christmas Countdown: 14 days! 

New developments

Trying to make a film joke there eh? Not my greatest, but I'll work on something better.

Busy busy studying for finals and got some old pictures developed. These encompass Thanksgiving, beautiful fall colours, and crisp winter days. I went on a scenery kick with these ones. 

 A backlit Public Market

 Post Alley 

 Pretty market food

 School. I should solicit this to UBC to be in a brochure or something

There's something I really like about this one. Not sure what it is.

 This building has been in more movies than Morgan Freeman

 Fall colours at UBC

It's like it's on fire (like these)

Granville Street (Vancouver, why are you so pretty? 

Granville Street at sunset

Christmas countdown: 16 days! 

The great pumpkin, Charlie Brown.

Fall baking means one thing to me: pumpkin. Whether it be in the form of muffin, cake, scone, pancakes, or bread it has to be there. It begins with an innocent pumpkin spice latte mid-September and ends in October with pumpkin worked in to every meal of every day. It's an obsession.

Here  is my latest round up of pumpkin goodness.

White Chocolate Cinnamon Pumpkin Truffles (yes please!)

How about some Pumpkin Pie White Hot Chocolate to warm up on a cold October night?

Don't Mind if I do— Pumpkin Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream

Pumpkin Soup- in a pumpkin! 

I'm off to the store at this moment to purchase gratuitous amounts of pumpkin. Next pictures will be of my creations! 

Change is afoot

January 1st has never been the time I make resolutions and set goals. September is the time I associate with new beginnings. Back to school, the transition to autumn (my favourite season), and the return of my favourite TV shows all trigger my impulse to make resolutions. I can't help it— it's a reflex. Even after I graduate from school, I think I will always reach for the "Academic" day planner over the "annual" planner at Chapters. September is my new year. I should count down on August 31st, maybe drink some champagne.

Starting with a new hair colour (I'm thinking Auburn-y this year) the resolutions flow from there. So here are a few of goals for this new year. (Sidenote: I'm writing them to myself so I can look back on this in November when I will obviously be failing at all of them and feel motivated.)

1. Write
- Write everything down. Scribble down ideas and musings. Doodle in margins. Update your blog. Write short stories. Just write more as a creative outlet. (Writing this blog post is a good start.)

2. Focus on the Positive 
- Stop fixating on the negative and the things that you cannot change. They will not make you any happier.

3. De-Clutter Your Life
Alternate name to this goal: Buy less pointless crap.
- Really think about where you are spending your money and the objects you are filling your life with.   If if doesn't have a purpose- why do you have it?


September Me is ready to kick November Me's ass when/if I start slacking on these. Don't make me do it, November Me.

Change is afoot (picture)

Rock the vote

The federal election is coming up here on May 2 and I have been giving a lot of thought as to who I want to vote for. I think I'm a little too excited to vote actually (this is the first one I will be legal for!)

I figured I would look at a few platforms, check out a few candidates badabing badaboom and vote. Apparently not. Apparently parties and candidates don't want voters to know exactly where they stand and what they do when they're elected— that would make too much sense. I have been voraciously devouring every newspaper article that crosses my doorstep (okay let's be serious my computer screen) about the election. Yet here I am, not anywhere closer to a decision as to whom I should vote for.



Although there is a silver lining, along my search I have found some hilarious pictures, videos, and websites about Stephen Harper— and what's more fun than making fun of Stephen Harper?

This website is golden http://thingsharperdoestoseemhuman.tumblr.com/. It's hilarious on two fronts. It's bi-hilarious. Firstly, the pictures themselves just warrant a good chuckle and secondly, the captions turn that chuckle into a full on laugh.

One of my favourites:

High-fiving the wife in full-body high-fiving gear. Safety first.

Another gem I have stumbled upon was this video of him and Maria Aragorn (the girl who became famous singing "Born this way" on youTube). When she says "no matter gay, straight, or bi, lesbian, transgender life" I thought he was going to have an aneurysm (his platform is anti-gay). You can almost see his thoughts saying " shit I really should have listened to the song before I signed up for this publicity stunt...."

Awk-ward