I had a craving for a chocolate cake at 10:30. Like, at night. And not many places (if any!) are open this late on a Sunday that will sell me a slice. And living by myself, I am not about to bake (and therefore eat) 24 cupcackes or an entire cake (or buy one!). If I did this every time I wanted cake or something, I’d weigh like 300 pounds by now! ;)

So, these super cute ramekin dishes I bought at Michaels for 30 cents each (it was a post-Valentines day sale) came in QUITE handy.

The best part is it’s a small reciepe, AND doesn’t use anything I don’t keep in the house (ie, chocolate chips or baking chocolate - uh, if I kept it here I’d eat it all before baking with it!)

So, that being said, may I present you with…

Cake For The Chocolate Craving, Single Girl
**note: I forget where I found this recipe - I’ve had it for awhile, and it was from some website/blog, so if anyone knows where it’s from please let me know and I’ll give credit where credit is due!

Ingredients
- Flour: 1/4 a cup, then 2 more tbsp
- 3 tbsp buttermilk.

If you’re like me, and don’t have buttermilk just kicking around - put 1 tbsp lemon juice into a measuring cup, then fill with milk until the 1 cup line. Let curdle for 5-10 minutes… ta da! Buttermilk replacement.

- 1 egg
- 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter (melted) - I use margarine, though (mildly healthier!), and it works fine :)
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1/8 tsp baking soda (1/8 = half of 1/4, if you don’t have a 1/8 measuring spoon)
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup sugar

Directions
- Grease (or Pam!) the cooking dishes.
- Mix buttermilk, egg, and vanilla.
- Add butter tbsp by tbsp, mixing in between
- Mix flour, cocoa, baking soda, and sugar
- Pour wet over dry, and mix
- Bake at 325 degrees for 20-25 minutes (or until a toothpick comes out clean)

Volia! Delicious cake, and in individual(-ish, I only ate half of one dish in one sitting) servings.

AKA my first attempt at (cup)cake decorating - rabbits digging holes in a garden! They’re from the Hello, Cupcake! book. I won’t lie, that book is pretty much the reason I was inspired to run out and buy a bunch of icing tips, gel food dye, and baking supplies to try my hand at cake decorating.

Just call me Martha Stewart!

For the garden cupcakes, I dyed vanilla icing green for the grass (using Wilton’s gel colouring), and used a #18 Star tip to create the grassy-icing effect. I then decorated with mini eggs and spring (flower!) sprinkles. For the bunnies, I iced the cupcakes using the remaining vanilla icing and then dipped them into a bowl of Oreo baking crumbs until covered. I made the feet by hand using melting chocolate. You put the chocolates in a ziploc bag (easier clean up than the bottles!) and zap it for 30 seconds. Knead, cut a TINY tip off one corner, and voila! Instant drawing pen. The tail is simply a white Malteser (did you know those existed? I had no idea until I found them at Bulk Barn!)

I made these little guys for Easter dinner at my Grandmothers… they were a hit! I can’t wait to decorate more cupcakes - the only problem is, well, since I live alone I have no one to feed the cupcakes too once I bake them. Any takers? ;)

With the warm weather we’ve been having the last few days, I think its officially safe to say summer is on it’s way in! And what better way to spend a summer than outdoors with good friends and good food?

As a kid, I had the pleasure of growing up in the suburbs - while it could be pretty boring sometimes - there was no shortage of nearby parks, a large shady backyard for me to hang out in, and a BBQ to grill on (and most importantly, a dad who was WILLING to grill ;)

Even when I moved away to attend University, I often would return home to my parents for the summer - or, the few times I did get an out-of-town job I was always renting a house; which meant we had our very own yard, deck/patio, and barbecue. One particularly  hot summer, I recall my roommate and I even went as far as to buy one of those inflatable pools from Walmart and set it up in our backyard - now THAT was a cool summer (pun intended). 

Self admittedly, I’m a country girl at heart - I spent many summers at my grandparents farm in Creemore tanning, swimming, and playing in the fields… so this urban living thing is mildly new to me.

Even last year, when I moved to the city(ish) for school, I lucked out and lived in an awesome 3 bedroom house (in a not-so-awesome area, sadly, which is why I moved).

For the first time, I’m living in a low level apartment building; which equates to no backyard, no deck, no front porch or balcony, a very small “front yard” (I did manage to squeeze my plastic lawn chairs out there with a small table)… and no barbecue. 

What’s a girl to do?

After pouting over the prospect of cooking on my stove all summer (and constructing a list of nearby friends and relatives with barbecues and yards I could mooch off of), I had a brain wave - camping. barbecues.

They typically fold up and they take up very little space - so you don’t have to worry about one, where to store the darn thing, or two, your grill disappearing overnight from your front lawn. And the best part is you can get them at a very affordable price AND use them anywhere (like… taking camping, which I’m pretty excited about - no more dropping hot dogs into the camp fire!)

There’s a lot of options to choose from though, so I compiled a list of a few I think are great choices, depending on your lifestyle:

1. Camp Chef Weekender 2-Burner Stove, available for $108 at Walmart. This one comes with legs (whoo hoo!) so you don’t need a picnic table to cook on - huge bonus.  This one’s actually a stove with two burners, so it’s great for all your on-the-go cooking needs if you’re into outdoor living. That being said though, keep in mind that in ORDER to grill, you’ll need to purchase a barbeque box or grill top for it. It can also be used with a bulk propane tank.
2. Landmann Barrell Charcoal Grill, available for $129 at Walmart. If you’re looking for a BBQ to double as a camping grill, move on to #3. BUT - If you don’t camp, and just love barbecued dinner, read on. If you’re not in an apartment with a balcony you can grill on, you’ll need some semblance of storage for this grill - a shed? a storage locker? - as it doesn’t fold up. However, it DOES come on wheels so you can move it around fairly easily, and it doesn’t take up a lot of space either.
3. BBQ In A Box Charcoal, available for $29.99 at Canadian Tire. I just love this one - it’s so darn cute! It’s great for camping or road trips, as it’s absolutely TINY and travels well. No propane needed, and it even comes with a bag of charcoal and a spatula/tongs and fork. Awh!
4. Coleman Tabletop Grill, available for 79.99 at Canadian Tire. This is my new baby. I love to camp, so it will be great to bring along. The mini-propane tanks for this one run about 4.99, or $15 for a 3 pack. It’s easy to light, easy to use, and easy to clean. You will need a table or something to put it on thought, because it doesn’t have legs.
5. Woods Deluxe Single Burner Propane Stove with Grill, available for $79.99 at Canadian Tire. Again, this is one that’s great if you’re a camper, boater, or tailgate partier - it has both a grill AND stove top, and is pretty affordable. No matches needed to light (it has a button you push to ignite it). Like the Coleman one, you’ll need to make sure you have a table/surface to use it on.

I know I’ll be enjoying BBQ’d food in my little apartment this summer - and I can’t even begin to describe how awesome that is and how excited I am  - so I think I will leave it at that.

Who doesn’t love brunch?

Personally, I am a huge fan of the breakfast-meets-lunch phenomena - the sweeter, the better (and it’s always especially tasty when you borrow a page from Gossip Girl and the upper east side and throw in some champagne!)

Sadly, I missed the absolutely divine Mother’s Day brunch my family attended at the Granite Club this year (and I’m sure the champagne and sweets were there with a vicious abundance… actually, I am CERTAIN after hearing the reports from my younger sister. Tear.) 

To make up for it, I decided to make a personal favourite recipe for myself, my boyfriend, and my roommate this morning (errrr… afternoon) - Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes! One part Dad’s famous pancake recipe (allegedly his grandmothers, my grandmothers, and a cookbook’s combined), one part mashed bananas, and one part chocolate chips.

Can we say OH-EM-GEE YUMMY?
 

The process of making Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes (click to enlarge)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 egg
• 3 tbsp melted butter
• 1 cup milk
• 2 mashed bananas
• 1 cup chocolate chips 

Preparation

• Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl
• Mix wet ingredients in a smaller bowl (be sure to beat the egg first!)
• Mash bananas (the most fun part - seriously!) in a smaller bowl
• Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients
• Mix well
• Add the mashed bananas and chocolate chips
• Stir

Cooking instructions

• Pour mixture onto a griddle (or frying pan - that’s what I use) on low-medium heat.
• Be sure to flip them!

—–

Ta-da! The most delicious pancakes you’ll ever eat ;)

So, I ordered some Chinese food tonight (and for what it’s worth, it was delicious!). Sweet & Sour Chicken Balls, General Tso Chicken, Hot & Sour Soup, and some Veggie Lo Mein.  The Lo Mein, of course, had Broccoli in it (one of my favourites!) and I began to wonder how Broccoli grows. I mean, it’s a veggie, so it obviously grows in the ground - but as a bush? a tree? a vine? in the ground like carrots? A quick google later, and I had my answer:

"broccoli grows not on a tree, not a bush, but it is it's own plant"

(Thanks, Wiki Answers :)

Apparently, bunnies also love Broccoli as much as me:

Yummy!

The most interesting thing I learned however, had to be that the weird purple Broccoli actually grows that way. No, seriously:

I think the only veggie I like that's purple is eggplant.

How bizarre! It’s called “Purple Sprouting Broccoli”, and as you can see in the picture… just the top end (and the tastiest part, in my opinion) grows purple.

I wonder if it tastes the same as normal Broccoli?