Lemon Poppy Seed Scones with Lemon Cream Cheese Glaze

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Not Crocker

Ugh this is terribly embarrassing, so prepare! I took yet another spill in the EXACT SAME SPOT across the street from my apartment. This time though, I was holding my umbrella and bashed in my other knee. I am thrilled to have a fresh wound on my right knee to distract from the furiously itchy scabbing happening on my left. If I fall another time in that spot, I am certain they are going to erect a plaque in my honour. Genesis thinks this whole thing is hilarious, and really, so do I. There are no real defects in that stretch of sidewalk that I am getting caught up on, it is just me, the corner, and clumsiness.

I went to a beautiful brunch/lunch that lasted 5 hours yesterday. It was a partial reunion of MPubbers, and it was so wonderful to see some of my favourite ladies again. On the way back from brunch, around 5:00pm, my friend Heather and I emerged from the train station to an immense crowd of people, at first we brushed it off as a Saturday crowd, excited about the weather. But we quickly realized that we were in the middle of the MASSIVE 420 celebrations in downtown Vancouver. As we hustled through the throngs of people, I couldn’t help but wonder what the poor tourists wandering this area must have thought. The smell of weed followed me all the way down to my apartment, where I ran into the purple teletubby cruising with some friends, looking for a bite to eat. In all, it was an interesting Saturday.

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Sunshine Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf- Willing summer to come!

Posted on April 13, 2013 by Not Crocker

Well, I’ve officially completed my second week at the NFB. I am still doing a lot of learning but have had the chance to get my toes wet with some contracts, so that’s been fun. While I am really excited about my position, I would love to get a chance to work on the creative side, there are a lot of things tossed around that I would love to get my hands on. Anyway, things have been going well, aside from the fact that I had a ridiculous tumble on Monday that left my knee in a bit of a mess. I was walking across the street towards a corner-crazy (hanging out, yelling at traffic). I was wearing my newish boots that were still a little slippery on the edges and right when the man asked me “How far are you going?” I slipped my right leg under my left and came down hard on my left knee. I got up quickly and hustled it down the street, trying to ignore the searing pain. Fortunately, I didn’t do any lasting damage, just a small lump, significant bruises, and some really impressive scrapes. I was pretty thrilled though that my new jeans were no worse for the wear.

In any case, I am fully ready for summer, I have a few new pairs of capris, a new pair of sandals, and the deep desire for a tan. Sadly, as with the rest of Canada, we’ve been having a second winter of sorts. Fortunately, we are in the paradise of Canada and our second winter consists of drizzly days rather than snow drifts. In an attempt to bring about some sunshine I baked up some lemon poppy seed loaves! I am not usually a fan of citrus desserts—my many, many recipes show a trend towards chocolate—but I’ve been craving a little brightness. And, wouldn’t you believe it, THE SUN CAME OUT! Seriously, I whipped this loaf up on Tuesday night, brought it in on Wednesday to work and the sun raged straight through Wednesday afternoon through Thursday night!

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Hot Cross Buns! (Yes, I chocolated these, you can go the traditional route!)

Posted on March 30, 2013 by Not Crocker

One of my favourite things about Easter was searching for treats with my sister. We established our own rules: no looking for eggs when you came out of your bedroom, you bee-line for the kitchen; when the hunt was underway, you stick together, entering rooms and searching areas at the same time; no sampling the winnings during the hunt; when we finally felt like everything was found (to the best of our hunting abilities… apparently we often missed ones, much to the joy of our parents) we counted every last egg, bunny, marshmallow figure, and split it evenly. We took this fairness in hunting very seriously. We were serious about splitsies.

Our awesome mom kept hiding chocolate for us every Easter, straight through our teens. When my sister (who is three years older than I) moved away for school at 18, I was worried that my hunting days were over. Fortunately, dad got on board for Easter egg hunting… fortunately may not be the best word. Dad was ruthless! He was not part of the very structured system that Kellie and I had established. He was a competitive, chocolate-crazed Easter monster! He snacked on the ones he spotted on his way out of bed in the morning, then we ran from room to room, dad shoved me out of the way, stole candy from my basket, and gorged himself throughout the hunt. I remember at the end of that first year of hunting with dad I was defeated and bewildered, and I came away with a very dismal haul. I tried to explain to dad the “proper” way to conduct yourself at Easter but it was clear, the rules had changed! The next year I was much more prepared. I scouted chocolates on the bookshelves in front of my bedroom, snagged a couple in the bathroom and was much more aggressive as we made our way around the house. We had a lot of fun.

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Hot Cross Cookies!

Posted on March 28, 2013 by Not Crocker

With the excitement of both Gen and my new jobs I’ve been kind of in a mental flurry. I feel like I should be preparing for my first day next week but have no idea how to do that! I have organized my pens, gathered my schedule books, bought some new clothes and shoes, and have tried a bunch of casual work makeup looks. I’ve also signed off a stack of forms, giggled like a schoolgirl, and baked a lot of cookies. A LOT of cookies. We’ve been sending batches to Hospice Vancouver and that last batch (Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies) was perfectly timed as that very morning they received $950,000 to complete their funding drive! Now they can get on track, become fully staffed, and fill out the programs that mean so much to families like mine. Today’s cookies went to Gen’s work, as it was his last day at IGA! He starts his new supervisor position today!

An Easter favourite of mine has always been hot cross buns. I remember back when my sister was a newspaper carrier she brought home a batch of homemade hot cross buns from her supervisor’s house. They were fluffy, lightly sweet, with amazing spices. I am not in anyway a fan of currants, so the traditional buns have always fallen short on my enjoyment scale, there is only so much eating around those that you can do. Then! THEN! I few Easters ago I came across Cobbs’ chocolate chip hot cross buns and I was hooked! Add chocolate to pretty much anything and I am on board, AND they didn’t use currants! For the one Easter that I lived across from Cobbs I made a point to pick up few dozen of these amazing buns and haven’t had them since!

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Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

Posted on March 26, 2013 by Not Crocker

Well, things are exciting! I have been offered an absolutely wonderful position! I start next week and will officially tell you about where I am working after that first day (I need to actually be there, pinch myself, and confirm that it is real… yes it is that fantastic). The position is in Vancouver and easily accessible from our apartment! So, Gen and I are both gainfully and fantastically employed. We will finally be able to start saving again! I can finally resume stalking properties and puppies (on the BC SPCA site… not in the park… there too).

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