The Prodigal Blogger

Vanilla Ruby Sunshine (Gina) 2010.

Hello again friends! It's been awhile, but I'm back from my hiatus. A few things have changed since we last met. I've obtained a steady source of internet access again, and I've relocated out of Toronto to the bustling metropolis of Kitchener-Waterloo. For those of you unfamiliar with the area, its about an hour and a half northwest of Toronto. Let me know if you're in the neighbourhood - we'll grab a cookie together!

A while back I mentioned that the world seemed to have gone baby crazy. One such baby, that I've recently had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of, is the reason the cake pictured above came to be. I made these mini-cakes for a dear friend's baby shower and thought I'd share the results with all of you.

Also, to get back into the swing of things I thought I'd pass on some of the stuff I've been getting a kick out of over the past few months. So here ya go!

• On a recent trip to Quebec City we came across the work of Tibor Timar on display at the Chateau Frontenac. His primary medium is ironwork and I really enjoy the industrial meets organic feel of his functional art.
• I love this colourful seasonality chart from the Leon restaurants.
• The World of Playing Cards has an endless array of entertaining and beautiful vintage cards. I especially like the Souvenir Cards.
• I would love to get my hands on some of these candies from Papabubble. I love the artisanal approach to simple sweets.
• Right before I left Toronto I had brunch with two lovely ladies at Mitzi's Sister. Andrew Shay Hahn's paintings were on display and I couldn't stop looking. They seem so textured, yet fresh. It somehow reminds me of how ocean mist feels.
• The nerdy-baker in me is so impressed with this Periodic Table of Desserts. It's so well thought out and amusingly accurate. (The same fellow has also compiled an interesting list of a variety of different flavour wheels.)

That's all from me for now, but I promise to be back much sooner than before! I hope you enjoy these links as much as I do!

Cake for Breakfast

I was thinking I would like to write about the rhubarb recipe that I made the other night, but then I realized that everyone. is. already. writing. about. rhubarb. Such are the dangers of loving the excitement and flavours of seasonal foods. So I'm leaving the virtures of rhubarb to others' capable hands. Why not focus on a different delightful subject.

I am eating cake for breakfast.

Cake for Breakfast (Gina) 2010.

I did it yesterday. I did it today. I will probably do it again tomorrow. And you know what? I am a grown-up (sort of) and no one can stop me! Granted, it is not an icing-laden monstrosity - more of a rustic snackcake... but Cake! for Breakfast! Luxury.

Akin to the joys of cold pizza or leftover Chinese food, these breakfasts that are not really breakfast are sometimes just the reward needed to get out of bed and start the day. Another guilty pleasure for the file.

What are you favourite non-traditional breakfast items?

(For more (healthy) breakfast inspiration I love the blog Simply Breakfast.)

Life is a Musical: Flash Mobs, Glee and My Dirty Little Secret

I am infatuated with flash mobs. In fact - and here's the dirty little secret - it is a rare occurence when I watch a flash mob video that I don't get choked up... sometimes actually full on crying. I don't know what it is! I realize it is ridiculous, but something inside of me just cracks... perhaps it's the drama of it all, or the excitement of a large group of people coming together to produce an event that brings a bit of the extraordinary to the everyday.

Perhaps its just a throwback to the theatre-nerd I was in high school (and still a little bit today), but also I think it has something to do with the magical feeling that ANYTHING could happen.

This is the first that I remember watching, and it still makes me blubber. All the spectators are so happy, and I must say that it is one of the better choreographed of the bunch I've viewed (sometimes the crowds are too big and it loses the clarity of the whole event and starts to look a bit messy).



Tonight the long anticipated new epidose of Glee airs - chockfull (we can only hope) of hilarious antics, cheesy musical numbers and teenage drama. Despite my better judgement I have given myself over to this show, and was so excited to come across this flash mob that occured in Seattle this past weekend.



I also discovered the group Improv Everywhere through the delightful blog of one of their "senior agents" - Katie Sokoler of Color me Katie. This group has been at it for awhile, and they conduct all sorts of amusing "missions". Some of my favourites - true to today's theme - include their Spontaneous Musicals. So much fun.

I hope that the above links all bring a smile to your face. Or, if you're like a Gleek like me, a tear to your eye.

I Guess I've Got the Easter Blues...

Do you recall the Dean Martin song “The Christmas Blues”? Well this Good Friday morning I awoke with what I can only explain as the Easter Blues. I'd ended up with no long weekend plans, and upon realizing this immediately slumped into a solid sulk. Easter is not the most important holiday on my calendar, but it was unusual to have no plans at all for this weekend of beautiful spring weather. It was making me feel lonely.

So what’s a girl to do? Well, this girl first takes awhile to feel sorry for herself and complain over the phone to a loved one. Then once the whining ceases, decides to get off her heiny and take a walk through the neighbourhood. What wonders the first day of no-jacket-wearing can work! The bustle of Roncesvalles was pleasantly distracting and I got over my self-pity while poking around the shops that remained open for the holiday. Here are some things that helped to get me out of my funk:

Springtime Flowers on Roncy (Gina). 2010.

• Bushels of spring flowers at the corner greenmarkets
• The smells of the Polish bakeries dishing out delicious loaves and sweets for holiday dining tables
• Flipping through books in a second-hand bookstore and scoring a copy of Nigel Slater’s Real Fast Food for $10!
• A late lunch in a restaurant I’d never been to before
• Listening to the charming chatter of a family next to me (twenty-something son trying to explain a vegan diet to his mother, in anticipation of his new girlfriend arriving at the family celebration)
• Fresh ground coffee beans
• Looking for baby presents (as it seems the world has gone baby crazy – but more about that later)
• Grabbing this week's NOW with their Top 50 Toronto Restaurants list, and indulging in my a guilty pleasure of tallying how many I’ve eaten at (13!), how many I’d still like to visit (7) and how many I disagree with (2.5)

Arriving home feeling much better, I discovered that my father was heading down the street on Sunday for a dinner with my aunt and uncle, and that I was welcome to join them out in the suburbs. All that wallowing for naught. Getting out of my own personal-space put me into a better head-space, and made me consider that good things come to those who seek them out.

What little things do you folks consciously seek out to turn a sad mood around?