La Family

I finally got around to developing some photos I had taken from the summer thanks to the new photography class I'm in. There were some real treasures hiding out in all those rolls of film. Some from a cottage trip, concert photos, Capillano Suspension Bridge and wonderful memories of Vancouver like the Lantern Festival.

But the real magic was two full rolls of photos from my cousins wedding in the summer. Adam married the ever-lovely Tara and had an incredible wedding celebration in Calgary. It's so great to finally see the photos again cause it's so rare you get a whole clan together.

If anyones wants a print or two let me know. I'd be more than happy to send some your way.

Aww, this just dawned on me; If anyone has an objection to having this face broadcasted over the web let me know.

Imitating the Masters

We had an assignment this week or drawing class...

We had to choose an artist we admire...
Pick one of his drawings to duplicate...

And draw another picture of a subject of your choice, in the style of the artist...

I choose Chuck Close...

He does HUGE; think the size of your biggest wall, photo realist drawings...

Done on a grid with every detail exact, each and every hair...

And this is what I came up with...

Expect maybe ten times smaller.

Party Hard with Seniors

This week me and my aunt, with the help of a lovely friend hosted a big birthday party for a special lady who turned 70 the other day. We were manic thinking we wouldn't get everything done in time and when we weren't worrying about trying to hide the party fact from the birthday girl we we're trying to hide all our evidence.

That's why I haven't been able to post anything of the last week though I've been busy making cakes and candy and confections. But haven't been able to display cause the birthday girl is an avid viewer of this blog.

Unfortunately being a student I had to go to class and ended up missing the whole affair but I've heard word for word, timeline included, of the party and it sounds like it was successful affair.

Have you ever realized how a lot of desserts involve fruit? I never even thought of it before I was told that the birthday girl has NEVER been a fruit lover so I went on a mad hunt to find a cake without a blemish of fruit and decided on a Lemon Curd Cake with Meringue Sticks.

And out of fear that there wouldn't be enough to feed the masses, I made another one. This one being a Red Wine Cake. I'm not to pleased with the outcome, it was too pound-ish cake tasting and looked like a confused art piece rather than something edible.

Tarts were a plenty. I made a turtle-esque tart filled with salted caramel, roasted pecans and topped with a chocolate ganache.

And something new, chocolate dipped figs stuffed with pistachios. Really easy and quick to make but if your thinking of doing something similar I would stuff it with almonds for a little more crunch.

And lastly Sponge Toffee for all.

Home at Last

So I've had time in the last week to really discover Halifax. There were probably errands I could have run that were of importance to do with school and resumes but I couldn't help frolicking around this old city. I've already made some new favorite haunts including the farmers market held every Saturday. I promise to add some pictures of the place cause it is absolutely grand. Housed in the Alexander Keiths Brewery, it has 3 floors that have been lay ed out like a maze so you always feel like your finding a new secret around every corner. Artisan cheeses and meats and fresh brussel sprouts and root veggies, the place is a wonderland.

And then there is this little store called the Bulk Barn and I thought I had discovered a secret Heaven located in Halifax. After much boasting about this store that sells any kind of candy tools you could need I was told that they're all over the East coast and but that didn't mean it lost any of it's charm.

Coffee is pretty stellar, a huge amount of magazine stores which I adore, cute boys with beards and sailor toques and a bicycle friendly city. It's a quaint but charming place.

I promise with the New Year some more frequent posts. I've had some trouble with wi-fi lately but as soon as I can find a solid place to "borrow" a connection I will pump out more consistently. Happy New Year and all that jazz.