Lillian <3

I just want to take a quick second to introduce the amazing reason why I have been MIA :)




Little miss Lillian was born on November 17, 2012 at 7 lbs 15 oz and 21 inches, and we are so in love with her!!




She has been keeping us very busy and we have been loving every minute of it. She changes and grows so much every day; we don't want to miss a second.




I am hoping to get back to blogging in the new year, but until then I will be getting in as many cuddles as I can over the holidays.




So from my family to yours, MERRY CHRISTMAS! And have a wonderful new year!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Apple Cinnamon Rolls

**In preparation for the arrival of our little one, I have prepped some posts in advance.  As soon as our lives have some semblance of order (hah!) I will get back to my regular posting and be able to respond to any questions/comments you may have :)

'Tis the season for company!  And what company doesn't love some warm Apple Cinnamon Rolls coming out of the oven as they wake up or walk in the door?

I make these Cinnamon Rolls very often around here.  I am pretty sure they are the main requirement in my husband's diet.  Not too long ago I had a pile of Granny Smith apples staring at me on the counter so I figured I would add some variety to our favourite baked item.  

Our Bedroom - Final Reno's!

**In preparation for the arrival of our little one, I have prepped some posts in advance.  As soon as our lives have some semblance of order (hah!) I will get back to my regular posting and be able to respond to any questions/comments you may have :)

While we renovated the nursery, we decided to tackle our room at the same time.  Our room originally had brown walls, drab beige carpet, and we had never owned a bedroom set in our lives! Once again I had taken the pictures before we had curtains, so just imagine some pretty curtains in those windows.

I love how cozy the colour grey can make a room feel, so we went with grey walls and a grey bed set.  My mom and I picked out the fabric for the white and the yellow/green pillows, and she was kind enough to sew them up for me too!  We also went with dark bedroom furniture because we wanted our room to be nice and relaxing, and not too bright :)

Baby Room Update

**In preparation for the arrival of our little one, I have prepped some posts in advance.  As soon as our lives have some semblance of order (hah!) I will get back to my regular posting and be able to respond to any questions/comments you may have :)

Setting up the nursery was a ton of fun, but also a bit of a challenge as we didn't want to know if we were having a little boy or a little girl!  While we were in Thailand last spring my husband came up with the idea to have a room with an Arctic Theme (Thailand plus snow totally makes sense, right?) and it sounded perfect for a winter baby!

Here are some pictures we took before the arrival of the little one.  The only things missing when I took these pictures are the curtains for the windows and the closets, as well as a little side table for the glider.  Other than that, this is pretty much the nursery!

Baby Prep - Meals and Desserts!

**In preparation for the arrival of our little one, I have prepped some posts in advance.  As soon as our lives have some semblance of order (hah!) I will get back to my regular posting and be able to respond to any questions/comments you may have :)

In order to prep for the arrival of our little one I cooked and baked up a storm during the last month or so.  I am hoping that it will make things easier when I can just grab a bag from the freezer, throw the contents in the crockpot, and let it cook away until supper time.

I also baked up some treats so that it will be a bit easier to entertain the visitors as everyone comes to meet the new additions!

I didn't take a ton of pictures, but I have had a few people ask me what I have prepared and where I have found the recipes, so here is a list :) If you have any questions, just let me know!

Milk Chocolate Cookies

Another dessert that I made in preparation for our new arrival were these ridiculously chocolatey and delicious cookies.  These are absolutely perfect for when those chocolate cravings hit!

First milk chocolate is melted and mixed into the batter, and then you go and add even more milk chocolate chips, yum!  These also have a fabulous texture, soft in the middle and a crispy/chewy edge.  

{Skinny} Chocolate Chip Buttermilk Scones

Hello everyone! Today I am rocking it out at 39 weeks...and yup that means there is still no baby.  Yeesh, the kid is really taking their sweet time, aren't they?  So keep the 'boy' and 'girl' predictions coming (currently 'boy' is in the lead!)

I know the 'average' pregnancy is 40 weeks and that most first pregnancies result in babies AFTER the 40 week mark, but a person can hope for a bit of an earlier appearance, right?   Right!  So I am keeping my fingers crossed that we finally get to meet this busy little baby in the next few days instead of maybe two weeks from now :) I don't know if my body can take another two weeks of waddling! It's an attractive look, trust me.

Maple-Pecan Shortbread Cookies

In preparation for the (hopefully soon) arrival of our little one, I have been cooking and baking things to store in our freezer to (ideally) make hosting all of the visitors and feeding ourselves a bit easier after we return home.

First I made a few lasagna's to put in our freezer, then I whipped up 8 freezer meals that can be tossed into the crock pot anytime for easy, healthy suppers.  Thank you Pinterest for the crock pot recipes! After all of that cooking, my freezer looked like it needed some treats.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone!  Hopefully yours isn't as white as ours, it has been snowing off and on for over a week now.  I guess those jokes about Canadians making their costumes so they fit over a snowsuit are true after all :)

A few days ago my sister and I decided to make some cupcakes and deck them out for the big spooky day.

We didn't have any specific plans, we just dyed some buttercream and let our imaginations take over. 

Pretty cool eh? Have a safe and happy Halloween!

Chocolate Fudge Brownies

Hey folks!

If you follow me on Facebook, you may know that my poor laptop went for a bit of a dive off of an end table last week. As a result... No more laptop.




So in order to share some of the things that have been happening in my kitchen I am giving this blogging thing a shot right from my iPhone! I am using the BlogPress app, if you know of a better one I would love to hear it! Please bear with me during this time, technologically savvy I am not.




In order to dull the pain, I decided to whip up a batch of fudgy brownies! Who says emotional eating is wrong? (Ps: my autocorrect totally tried to change that to "fishy brownies". I think I'm in trouble.)

This brownie recipe is from the awesome cookbook put out by Joy the Baker (joythebaker.com) and is pretty much perfect!



This recipe makes about 16 brownies, or 9 large brownies if you are mourning the loss of a laptop.

Chocolate Fudge Brownies

- 3/4 cup flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup butter
- 3 oz unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 eggs + 1 egg yolk
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1) preheat your oven to 350 F and prepare an 8" square baking dish with baking spray (or grease with butter and coat with flour)
2) in a medium bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt
3) fill a pot with some water, and then place a heatproof bowl on top. Bring the water to a simmer and then add the butter and chocolate to the bowl. Stir to combine as it melts
4) once the butter and chocolate are smooth, remove from heat and stir in the two sugars
5) next add the eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix well
6) finally add the dry ingredients and fold with a spatula
7) once completely mixed, stir in the chocolate chips and pour the batter into the prepared pan
8) bake for 25 - 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center
9) let cool before cutting into squares
10) Enjoy!




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

A Lobster Boil!

A couple weeks ago we were invited to our very first Lobster Boil!  We had only attempted to attack a whole lobster once before, and while it was a lot of fun, I think we had massacred the lobster more than we got to actually eat the poor things.  As a result we were really looking forward to learning the 'correct' way to enjoy a full lobster and get to see some friends that we hadn't seen in a while.

The set-up was impressive! There were two large coolers full of lobsters, I couldn't believe it. It was quite a sight for us newbies.

Happy Thanksgiving! And a Pumpkin Swirl Pie to Enjoy

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! (Canadian Thanksgiving that is)

I hope you are getting a chance to spend this long weekend with the people you love most :)

We have been (and will continue to be) super spoiled this weekend! Last night was Thanksgiving dinner with my husband's side of the family where we ate our faces off and had an awesome visit.  And now tonight we have dinner with my side where there will be more massive amounts of turkey, stuffing, and family to enjoy all afternoon.

Foodie Pen Pals

This month I decided to try something new, and signed up for the Foodie Pen Pals through The Lean Green Bean blog which is run by the amazing Lindsay!

I received this AMAZING package from Erin of Happier, Healthier, More Fit Me!

Lego Groom's Cake

A couple of weeks ago two people who are very good friends with my brother tied the knot!  It was a gorgeous ceremony, and we felt so lucky to be there to support the two of them.

My brother looked pretty handsome standing next to the newlyweds in his tux too :)

S'more Krispies

It seems that lately every time a new recipe pops up it is some new take on the classic s'more.  The crazy part is that each and every variation looks so freaking delicious! And I don't think I'll be getting over this 'craze' anytime soon.  Despite the cooler temperatures I think my next s'more adventure will be some version of s'more ice cream...hmm.  Ohhh, or maybe s'more brownies!

This particular dessert came about because a couple weeks ago I found myself with 4 bags of mini marshmallows, and nowhere to store them.  4 bags! Ridiculous right? 

Ham and Egg Cups

A few months ago my sister sent me a picture of these breakfast cups that she had found online and let me know that we had to make them ASAP.  

How could I disagree? I love breakfast and they looked super easy, win-win!

Gingerbread Biscotti

Now that the leaves are turning yellow (yikes!) and cute boots are back in style (yay!) it is prime time for some fall desserts.  Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, all of those flavours are perfect for the cooler weather that is creeping up on us.  Speaking of fall boots, those are one of my 'pre' maternity items I can still wear! Woohoo! I love boots!

August in Pictures

This August was a pretty fantastic month! Here is an iPhone summary to give you a small taste of how fabulous it really was :)

Banana Caramel Cake - I still dream about this cake 

Baby room reno's are coming along!

Jasper Fun! Jasper Fun!

Yesterday we got back from showing our San Diego guest the beautiful Canadian Rockies! We spent four days with a group of friends trekking around Jasper National Park and enjoying the beautiful sights and sounds of this gorgeous park.

Our home away from home for the long weekend!

Not to shabby eh?

A Very Exciting Day!

Do you guys remember last August when I flew out to San Diego to hang out with Amy and attend BlogHer '11?

Well guess what?? Today Amy is flying in to hang out with me and check out what Canada has to offer!

She will be here for the next week, I cannot wait! We plan on eating copious amounts of poutine and donairs, checking out the mountains, visit WEM, and who knows what else :) I just hope this pregnant lady has enough energy to keep my guest busy!

A Wedding Cake and Cupcakes

This past weekend a great friend of mine married her perfect guy.  The wedding was so much fun, with lots of tasty food (how can you go wrong with a Ukrainian wedding?), great friends, and an awesome reason to celebrate!

I was so honoured when they asked me to make the wedding cake and cupcakes! The wedding colour was orange, and while the bride requested vanilla and chocolate for the cupcakes, I was given free reign with the wedding cake flavours.

Chocolate Cupcakes w/ Swiss Meringue Buttercream and Brown Butter Glaze

Remember these doughnuts and how they blew my mind because they were just SO good and the brown butter glaze was insane?

I found another use for that tasty tasty glaze :)

I had some leftover in my fridge after the doughnuts had disappeared, just taunting me to dig in with a spoon. But I held strong! Instead I made some chocolate cupcakes, topped them with some vanilla bean swiss meringue buttercream, drizzled them with the remaining glaze, and BAM, proceeded to shoved them in my face.

So. Good.

Camping-themed Baby Shower

In May one of our closest friends gave birth to an insanely cute little boy, Emmett!  This little dude is so awesome; we couldn't be happier for the new parents.

My friends and I eagerly waited until we could throw little Emmett and his mom a prime baby shower.  Since our friends spend almost every weekend in the summer camping all over Alberta, we decided that a camping-themed baby shower would be perfect!

We served all sorts of camping themed food such as mini burgers and mini hotdogs

Zebra Birthday Cake!

This past weekend we celebrated my sister's...21st birthday! (again?)! Yay! 

She had originally requested a lemon poppyseed dessert, but then we found out that a family member was allergic to poppyseeds so the morning of her birthday I woke up and had no clue what I was going to make!

Another one of my sister's favourite desserts is strawberry shortcake, so I decided to make a vanilla cake and fill it with vanilla buttercream and strawberries to try and bring some of the flavours together.

Pork Souvlaki

Can this be? TWO posts in a row and neither is dessert?? 

Oh dear, I promise I'll do my best to get back on track for you guys.  I'm pretty sure you have come to expect more than your/our fair share of desserts on this blog these days! I promise that I do have some new sweet things to share, so no worries alright? :)

In the meantime, let's fire up the BBQ!  When we had our Greek-themed dinner a couple of weeks ago (when we served the Marinated Feta and Red Peppers salad) we decided to take advantage of our amazing summer and throw something on the BBQ.  Not only does it get us outside, but it takes the cooking portion of the meal off of me, win-win right?

Marinated Feta and Roasted Peppers

How about something fresh and easy for your summer BBQ's? I am all about the easy (but tasty!) dishes these days, and this marinated salad totally fit the bill.  

A couple weeks ago we had a Greek-themed dinner at our house (more tasty recipes to come!) and we put out this salad as part of the appetizers and to enjoy with dinner.  This salad was delicious on it's own, and also great spooned on top of some fresh bread that we had put out.

Weddings Galore!

Despite the noticeable decrease in activity on this ol' blog of mine, I have been keeping quite busy in the kitchen this summer.  It seems like almost every weekend I end up with some sort of event or party to bake for. There have been a ton of weddings, showers (wedding and baby), stagettes, birthdays, etc etc that I have been whipping up something sweet for over the last few months. It has been a blast!

Cupcakes still seem to be a huge hit for weddings, so my cupcake pans and stand mixers have been getting quite the workout! At the end of this month I will have my biggest challenge yet, a 2 (or 3 maybe!) tier cake AND cupcakes for up to 400 guests! Oh dear, wish me luck! I think my stand mixers might to into hiding when they find that one out.

Banana Caramel Cake

Remember last week when all my husband wanted was some 'normal' food for supper? He had requested these super easy Fish Tacos, but instead I couldn't get this cake out of my head?

This cake was so good! Incredibly moist (you might want to store it in the refrigerator, not on the counter of your AC-less house like I did), tons of banana and caramel flavour, and it really classed up my counter since it turned out so pretty.

The baby has a sweet tooth!

Today as I was browsing for some dinner ideas for tonight (on my lunch break, of course…) I came to a realization:

I haven’t really cooked much at all during my second trimester! I have baked up a storm for sure, but I haven’t done much cooking! I didn’t think that I had cravings that bad, but apparently my body just wants something sweet these days!

A prime example is one day last week when my husband came home from work. Usually I have supper ready around when he walks in (good timing on his part really), but that day I this is what was coming out of the oven:

Peach Cobbler and Cinnamon buns. That was our supper.

Baby Fun!

We are now closing in on our 23rd week, how crazy is that? I still cannot believe we are 5 months in, with only 4 to go until our little one makes an appearance!


My husband has been working his butt off getting the nursery up and ready for our baby :) He has gutted the room across the hall from ours and has been mudding, sanding, ripping up carpet, painting, and laying new floor whenever he has a spare moment over the last few weeks.  How spoiled am I to have such a great guy?

Double (Triple?) Cake

Remember the "unbirthday" cake I made last year? This year they had a slightly bigger request! A Welcome Home/Happy Birthday/Unbirthday cake! 

I made a marble cake and filled it with this amazing chocolate frosting. It was then coated in vanilla buttercream and the decorating began!

Brown Butter Glazed Baked Cinnamon Doughnuts

As I sit here typing this, my keyboard is getting progressively stickier because I am currently shoving the third one of these, in as many minutes, into my mouth.


No shame.


And since the recipe only makes 6 doughnuts, I either need to pack them up in order to save some for my husband OR finish the other three and clean up my baking mess so he never ever knows that doughnuts were even made today. 


I like the second option personally, but I have a sneaking suspicion that he can smell homemade doughnuts from a mile away.  I tell ya, he is right on par with my few pregnancy cravings!  Also, please tell me I'm not the only one who considers hiding the treats in the house from their husband? Right?

French Raspberry Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Wow this has been a fantastic summer! Wanna know why? It is HOT! Wonderfully, beautifully, sunny, random thunderstorm-y, HOT!  You would think that I would be complaining being that I am 22 weeks pregnant and walking around in 30C heat, but I could not be happier.  


Last summer it rained for about...5 weeks straight. You may think I am exaggerating, but I missed 5 weeks of golf in a row due to rain last July/Aug! I was starting to think that I would never golf at the 2011 ladies league again! But then it dried up a bit in August and we were able to finish off the season through September, whew! Even still, we had some chilly wet games in September too.

Mint Chocolate Brownie Cookies with Macadamia Nuts

Cookies! Warm, gooey, rich, tasty cookies! What more can you ask for right? How about the addition of some roasted salted macadamia nuts? Oh man, now that is perfection!


This cookie recipe is from Joy the Baker's new cookbook: Joy the Baker Cookbook - 100 Simple and Comforting Recipes. This book is full of so many amazing recipes; I have tried about 4 so far and have at least another dozen bookmarked to try right away! Everything is just so tempting, as soon as you see one of the pictures you convince yourself that you have been craving that dessert for weeks and have to have it right away. As in right now.