five good things on a friday

01. great food shared with great people

I spent the weekend indulging in amazing food while visiting one of my best friends in Oakville - Saturday's meal consisted of an incredibly filling and delectable turkey burger from a place called The Works; the toppings were goat cheese (can not stress how YUMMY it is), spinach, roasted red peppers and added sundried tomatoes with a side of sweet potato fries. Sunday's homemade brunch included leftover sweet potato fries, baked salmon, and quinoa - a word that I always pronounce wrong - mixed with salsa, peas, garlic powder, and pepper.

The meals were a perfect accompaniment to catching up, wondering about our lives, and strolling about town. Oh, and watching V/H/S, which I can only describe as ... horrifically strange. 

Oh and I also made chocolate almond macaroon (cookies) that were found from Kym's blog and made from this recipe. 

02. taking in your favourite scenery 

Excuse the crazy close-up, but it just shows how happy the beach makes me. Or just being by the water in general. Especially when there's Haribo involved. 

03. dancing (horribly) to zumba followed by yoga

No picture of this one since my dancing should not be photographed ;) But I had an awesome Monday run at the gym; Zumba has quickly become my favourite mode of cardio, since the instructor at my gym is so enthusiastic and doesn't mind making a fool of himself (and he has insane hips), making the whole workout a blast. And yoga was the perfect way to wind down and really see just how inflexible I am (must do more yoga). 

04. mixed (online) tapes

When I was younger, I distinctly remember all the mixed tapes I would make from recording things on the radio and, when I became a little older, all the mixed CDs my sister and I would make, complete with customized Photoshopped covers of whichever artist was on the CD (mostly Britney Spears and Spice Girls, in my case). Just this past week I became acquainted with this site called 8tracks, where people make mixes of 8 tracks or more. I made my first one (here it is) for when I'm more in a mellow mood, and can't wait to make more. If you make mixes on here, please let me know :D 

05. playgrounds 

Although I don't go to playgrounds as often as I used to (remember that spinning wheel of death where everyone tried to hold on? where did that go?), my park recently did renovations and my boyfriend got stuck: 

Good times. This weekend I'm planning on being a bit of a homebody by making plum cake and getting The Hunger Games when it comes out tomorrow, but hopefully do some more exploring outdoors, too.

what's a good thing (or five) from your week?

what are your plans for the weekend?

hope it's a great one! (:

a good meal {giveaway}

“The pleasures of the table belong to all times and ages, to every country and every day; they go hand in hand with all our other pleasures, outlast them, and remain to console us for their loss.”

- Jean Anthelme Brillat Savarin, The Physiology of Taste

Over the past week, I've really enjoyed those moments of being at the table with people I care about, enjoying a meal and reflecting on life. In a world of such hustle and bustle, it can seem almost a chore to sit everyone down at your dinner table - and, I'll admit, a good 3 out of 5 dinners with my parents involve us looking through separate newspapers or reading books instead of actually conversing.

This quote stood out to me because it doesn't necessarily say the pleasure of food, but rather the pleasures of the table. Dinner can be used as a cause for a birthday celebration, a job promotion, an engagement party (congrats Mel!), a catch-up afternoon after a long time of not seeing someone, or an intimate getaway for two. It's those memories that linger, and while a bad meal can tarnish that memory, it's the people I'm with that certainly make it worthwhile. 

The two days off thanks to 'Family Day' in Ontario and an extra day off from my teachers college for the president of the university (so random) inspired me to explore my kitchen. I honestly would love to cook and bake any moment I can, if only my kitchen was bigger and I had more spare time.

During those days off I made apple cinnamon streudel muffins, which was my first attempt at ever making muffins and I gotta say, they turned out pretty good! On Pancake Tuesday I made pancakes for the first time in forever (making me wish I was more like Bree), and then made some dinner for me and my tata while my mom was at work. It felt nice, even though the worse part of making food is definitely the cleaning up (no matter how hard I scrub, I swear there's pieces of food that just magically appear on a bowl once I clean it). 

Recipe adapted from here with slight changes: 

chopping two apples and grating one, and putting a half-cup white sugar and half-cup brown sugar into the batter. 

Last weekend provided yummy bubble tea and moments to catch up with my closest friends that I unfortunately don't get to see that often. Our go-to place has become that bubble tea restaurant with its $1.00 dine-in special where we always get french fries and fish balls (which tastes way better than it sounds).  And while we usually take advantage of all the board games there, from Jenga to cards to checkers, the last few times have been spent just talking and laughing, and I enjoy it just the same. 

Valentine's Day combined great company with delicious food. We had bruschetta with goat cheese and two separate pastas along with amazing Caesar salad (and of course, chewy gummy candy for dessert). The Boy and I hit up an Italian eatery and talked about life, love, and a little white box that popped up on the dinner table midway through the meal (a necklace from him that I adore!). 

I'm definitely thankful for the moments where I can sit down with the people I love and care about and enjoy the pleasure of being in their company (and the pleasure of food, too). To celebrate that - and to celebrate three years of blogging - I'm going to have little giveaways each Sunday for the next few weeks so that you can indulge in a good meal, too. First up:

A Starbucks gift card ($15) along with a few of my favourite teabags.

There's nothing like good conversation over a warm drink and a cake pop.

To Enter:

(1) Be a follower of this blog!

(2) Write in the comments "Enter me!"

Open to local and international bloggers alike!
Next Sunday's giveaway (teaser alert) is about a good meal at home.

And since this whole post has been about food (a first!), I have to ask:

What's your go-to meal? 

What's a dinner you'd have every week if you could?

Hope you've had an amazing weekend!

a recipe for relaxation

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1 litre of heartfelt conversation
• 2 heaping tablespoons of thyme
• 1 tablespoon of French roast coffee (may substitute for hot chocolate or tea)
• A dash of cinnamon 
• A desired amount of laughter
• A package of chocolate, melted or chocolate frosting
• A handful of your favourite fruit
• A tight and squeezing bearhug (may add more) 
• Optional: A bottle of wine (your preference) and an Enya album 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven at 350 degrees F.
2. Mix flour and thyme together. Add in the dash of cinnamon for a hint of spice and spontaneity and tablespoon of coffee (or substitute) for coziness and warmth. 
3. In another bowl, combine heartfelt conversation and laughter; let it marinate for intense flavour.
4. Fold in a tight and squeezing bearhug and add the bowl to the flour mixture. Cover with plastic and let it sit overnight for best results.
5. Pour mixture into a prepared pan and let it bake for 35-40 minutes; it will be fully prepared when the scent tickles your nose and makes you smile. 
6. Garnish with chocolate or frost with chocolate frosting; top with slices of your favourite fruit for added health benefit.

Enjoy:

• To be enjoyed not in one sitting, but as servings spread out over a period of 2-3 weeks when you really need it; effects are strong and tend to be long-lasting.
• Preferred to be enjoyed in the company of loved ones with a bottle of wine, but can also be enjoyed in solitude while Enya is playing in the background, to be followed by a session of yoga or a session of looking at things on Pinterest that make you laugh.

Earlier this week, I had my first panic attack in about three years. It was one of those situations of helplessness and feeling so overwhelmed, and it's not something I'd want to repeat for at least another three years. This "recipe" for relaxation has really come in handy. The past couple of weekends I've been able to spend indulging in delicious food at Winterlicious, seeing friends I haven't seen in so long, getting free bubble tea for being the year of the Dragon (whoop whoop!), drinking probably a little too much wine, and getting surprise calls from The Boy who calmed me down when I was feeling lost.

While ignoring the hard moments or running away from your problems isn't the best solution all the time, it does help to have distractions or people around you who are willing to listen, eager to make you laugh, and time (or thyme) to just relax. Here's what I've been up to lately that keeps me smiling on a regular basis (picure of Enya album not included since I don't actually own one haha):  

Balloons make everything better :)

Getting all spiffy for our friends' engagement party!

Our annual meet-up - this time with wine and "The Artist" (excellent film)

And complete with the best spinach salad of life (pecans, goat cheese, apples, nom!)

Here's what my iPod (I still have to name it!) sees on a regular basis:

Sally Hansen nails, Starbucks cups, delicious Belgian waffle after a night of skating in the freezing cold, and fantastic green apple bubble tea and condensed milk/chocolate toast.

And the gorgeous snowfall ... before it sadly all melted away yesterday.

My apologies for being MIA - those moments of relaxation were much-needed. If I could add one more ingredient to that recipe it'd be "watching K-dramas or a TV show of your choice" - I just started watching "Pretty Boy Ramen Shop" (very bizarre name) and it provides a perfect mini-escape. 

What ingredients would you add
to your recipe of relaxation? 

Oh, and if $ weren't an option, "an all-inclusive vacation to Antigua" would be a great ingredient to add. Hope you get to spend some time relaxing this week :)

simple smiles #42

When two weeks go by without posting it means that either a) there's lots of stuff going on or b) I'm playing way too much Sims. Fortunately it was more of an a) mixed with me just feeling extreme gratitude for all of your comments on my last post ... you all made my heart warm and fuzzy with all your congrats. THANK YOU! :)

Since then, life has been about enjoying the quiet moments, trying to remain calm in the moments where you're in a hall for 25 hours with a bunch of hormonal teenagers and you tell them not to eat to raise money (craziness, I tell ya), and counting down the days until I go to Vancouver!

Strange to think that in a month I'll be celebrating mine and The Boy's three-year anniversary while standing at the front of a room, watching my sister walk up the aisle and marry her man :) And that in less than a month I'll get to meet Patty (/Kym) again! YIPEE!

For now, here are some moments of simple smiles or simple realizations that I've had over the past couple of weeks.

Simple Realization #1: I never really understood my sister and mama's fascination with footwear - until last week when I acquired three new pairs of shoes. On the left - the heels I'll be wearing for my sister's wedding. In the middle - shoes my mom purchased 3 years ago that were too small ... and which she (I would like to think, somewhat reluctantly) bestowed onto me. On the right - nude pumps for my size 9 feet. Looking at this picture, I tend to like neutral-coloured shoes, hmm.

Simple Smile #1: Snailmail in the form of a 'will you be my maid of honour' card from my sister (I responded with a resounding 'no', hehe) and a lovely postcard from Sierra courtesy of the postcard project! Annnd if you're reading this and haven't sent out your postcard yet - please do it haha. I promise I'll be sending out reminder emails soon :)

Simple Smile #2: Delicious food in the form of Subway with The Boy before seeing Your Highness (hysterically weird) and my latest creation in the kitchen - chocolate chip cranberry cookies (a modified version of this recipe!).

Simple Realization #2: How each bus trip adventure, each tickling fight, each hug can make me fall more in love /cheeeeesy.

Simple Smile & Realization #3: That nights with bubble tea and trying out Soju while watching Boys Over Flowers is a perfect way to spend a night with friends.

Simple Realization #4: That keychains don't last forever. A few months ago, yoyo (the green one) started to lose all of his colour, and then last week, hoops (the pink one) decided to breakaway from my house keys. 'Twas a sad moment ... and also made me realize I'm a tad bit obsessed with anything hoops & yoyo.

Simple Smile #4: Books. I love to read, and the library feeds that craving magnificently. I also borrowed The Book of Awesome which is, in a word, AWESOME! and inspired me to create my own little series ... if I can actually stick to it (this is a reminder for me to stick with it!).

Simple Smile #5: Two pigeons sought shelter on the ledge outside my kitchen window from the crazy weather this past Sunday - in the span of two hours it went from ice pellets and extreme hail to a thunderstorm to ... snow. In April. So two little pigeons decided to just hang out by my window, though one flew off when I took out my camera (my dad thought maybe he was camera shy).

So that's what I've been up to in a few random snapshots; this year seems to be going by more quickly than any other year, which only gives more leverage to that whole "time goes faster as you get older" idea. That could be part of the reason why I haven't updated here, but either way I'm excited for the weeks to come and promise to keep more in touch!

Now I must ask:
What's your simple smile or
simple realization of this past week?

Hope you had a great weekend!

my to-do list

Well, a remedy of lots of tea, Cold FX, and funny videos means the sniffles are down to a minimum! Thanks for the get well soon wishes and recommendations. If you all haven't checked out the video/movie suggestions in the last comments, I suggest you do. It means I've put the first season of How I Met Your Mother on hold at the library and watched adorable sea otters hold hands. Definitely takes my mind off my dad giving me "are you sure you'll be good in a teaching career" lectures. 

Another thing that takes my mind off lectures? Baking. Yesterday me and my mom teamed up to make a cranberry loaf (recipe from here) and chocolate-banana bread (recipe from Sweet Treats cookbook). The Boy commented that I'm turning into "a little chef" though I first heard "a little sh-t" and then heard "a little ship" -- clearly need to get my hearing checked.

On the left, cranberry orange loaf with walnuts. On the right, chocolate-banana bread.

Other lovely distractions from lectures come in the form of tags! A few weeks ago, Tasha (who recently returned to blogging, yay!) tagged me to see what my pen(wo)manship looks like. You can see the details of this tag right here. Apologies in advance for my miniscule handwriting - years of writing in notebooks during class and not wanting to waste another sheet of paper means my writing has gotten tinier.

1. What's your name/Blogger name? 2. What's your blog's name/URL?
3. Write "the quick fox jumps over the lazy dog"
4. Favourite quote? 5. Favourite song? 6. Favourite band/singers?
7. Anything else you want to say? 8. Tag 3-5 people

 I tell great jokes. Yes.

And finally comes something originally from the talented Abby and that I first spotted on the also talented Kym's blog - doing 7 Things in 7 Days! The rules: make a list of 7 things you want to do in 7 days and actually do it. I usually make itty-bitty to-do lists on my hoops & yoyo post-it notes and thought, why not plan for a week in advance? So here goes:

Hopefully I'll share my progress once each one is completed! Feel free to join in!
But for now, I'm going to challenge you (not to a duel, don't worry). My question:
What's one thing YOU want to accomplish
within the next 7 days?

happy day of love!

{image from here}

Unfortunately (or fortunately), I don't have a wicked mustache to coerce you to be my valentine - but I hope you're all surrounded by loved ones on this day, whether in their physical presence, via Skype, on the phone,  or by looking through photos and snail mail from the people you love.  

Happy Valentine's Day!

While most of today will be spent with me cooped up in an editing room and The Boy stuck in his office, we're coming together tonight - me with my (hopefully yummy) homemade dinner, and him with dessert. 'Til that moment, I'd like to reflect on things I love (also known as simple smiles):

01. Catching up and celebrating a birthday with closest friends over a shared plate of cheesecake dessert.

02. Fitting in random songs into conversation; PERSON: "If you just go over that hill there--" ME: "The HIIIIIILLS are ALIIIIIIIVEEEEE WITH THE SOUND OF--" Okay, maybe not quite like that.

03. Trying out new recipes (here is the recipe of the week, which I can't wait to try out!), all the while biting off my fingers in anxiety (not the part I love), only to find that everyone who samples the completed meal loves it. 

04. Getting things in the mail - ergo, the postcard project will be coming back in a couple of weeks!

05. Random lovely messages from friends. 

06. Cuddling on a Saturday afternoon. 

07. Nutella. And coffee. Mmm. 

08. Attempting to make homemade gifts that usually look pretty bad but it's the thought that counts, righto?

09. Learning various phrases in different languages. I can say "hello" in a variety of languages (mostly thanks to herro hachi), and now I'm trying to master "I love you" in many languages! Here goes: szeretlek, ja kocham ciebie, mahal kita, je t'aime, ti amo, wo ai ni, saya cinta padamu! How do you say it in your language? (And if it's English, I love you too.)

10. Watching movies with my parents (last night it was Despicable Me). 

11. Looking back at best memories and vacations, and fantasizing about where I'd love to go next!

12. Hugs. Any kind of hug (especially bear hugs). 

13. Painting my nails a different colour every other day. 

14. Y-O-U! (in a strictly platonic sense, of course.) And all your sweet comments on my last post!

Hope this day overwhelms you with love & happiness! Now, I have to ask:

What's something you love?

a tourist in your own city

When my days are full of (unsuccessful) job hunting (save for one interview which involved a job that was 100% commission), I turn to hobbies to make sure I don't lose my mind or become a hermit. Apart from the interview, which told me that I was "not aggressive enough" for the job (challenge me to a game of Super Smash Bros., and I'll show you aggressive), I filled up my week with things I actually love to do. 

Those top five things I love to do ended up being: 1) seeing people I love; 2) enjoying great food; 3) exploring my city; 4) web and graphics designing and 5) catching up on shows, namely "Community" and "The Vampire Diaries."

Here are the bits that stand out the most (maybe because I photographed them, hehe):

COFFEE & THE ADVENTURES OF THE HONEY LEMON LOAF. In southern Ontario, they dubbed Tuesday and Wednesday as SNOWMAGEDDON - didn't really show up so much in Toronto, but in my city we got mountains of snow. So I would enjoy my half hot chocolate, half coffee indoors while watching the blinding snow each morning. We ended up getting a snow day on Wednesday, and in a moment of inspiration, I decided to make something I've never made before - a loaf (Lizzy & Tiara already claimed a slice haha).

I was inspired by this recipe and then added in some honey since I didn't have too much lemon. I trekked through the snow to go to The Boy's place with this loaf and it was an amazing evening of eating, cuddling, and then napping. There's something about cuddling with someone you love (be it a person or an animal) that just warms you right up during a snowstorm or rainy days.

WALKING IN A WINTER WONDERLAND. And being so thankful for those moments where you realize you just stepped onto a patch of ice but instead of falling on your bum you just end up skidding along, like a .5 second skating trip (if only that could have happened last week when I had a bottle of wine in my hand -sob-). And also hoping that my city stepped up with shelters so the homeless wouldn't have to endure the freezing weather and mountains of snow.

THE YEAR OF THE BUNNY & CATCHING UP. A few months ago, I wrote about my adventures in my friend's town. I haven't seen her in ages so when she e-mailed me to say she would be at our university I cried "YIPEE!" out loud. Over lunch, it became one of those moments where you don't see someone for a while but then you just pick up right where you left off ... I'm so grateful for those kinds of relationships. We ended up giving each other little gifts - I got her a sketchbook with an adorably artsy bunny on the front since it's the year of the hare and she ended up getting me a zodiac-animal-filled bracelet of sorts and my name in Chinese and carved into a stamp. I'm going to sign all my letters with this now haha :)

ENJOYING YUMMY CHEESECAKE WITH AFOREMENTIONED FRIEND EVEN THOUGH THE HOT FUDGE WAS RATHER COLD INSTEAD OF HOT. Enuff said.

BECOMING A TOURIST IN MY OWN CITY. I've always given my city criticism; it's decent, but you might as well just go to Toronto or Niagara Falls intead of my city if you ever make the journey to southern Ontario. But lately, I've realized the efforts to make my city feel fresh, clean, inspired. I spent the afternoon yesterday with my close friend just exploring one street in my city that I've only been on a handful of times. I admired the cute, quiant shops, and the ability for this single street to make me feel like I was somewhere else. I loved this one alley - that didn't look sketchy at all - and instead just had one wall covered with graffiti. And then, as my friend snapped this picture, five people walked by and just stared, making me feel like a hardcore tourist haha.

AND MORE FOOD. Monstrous bruschetta (with a picture that doesn't do it justice at all) and a delicious pizza of bacon, goat cheese, and scallions that filled me up and made me grateful that I actually enjoy working out ... since that's what I'll be doing for a good chunk of this weekend :)

Hope you all have a great rest of this weekend! And I have to ask:

What part of your hometown do you love the most? and

Is there a place you've wanted to explore?

I challenge all of you to become tourists of the place you live :)

on an irish coffee trip

Irish Coffee, meet this lovely reader. Lovely reader, meet Irish Coffee. Now, Irish Coffee, do you know what you did on Friday night? 

- Besides being absolutely delicious? 

- Yes, besides that.

- Besides being a part of a scrumptious dinner date you had with The Boy at an Austrian restaurant? 

- Yes yes, besides that too. 

- Besides being part-whiskey and part-coffee, which you love so much, topped with --

 - Okay, you made me stay up until 3am and I felt like bouncing off the walls instead of sleeping thanks to you. 

- Now you know never to have coffee at 8:30pm. 

 - Yes, I guess I do. But you were delicious. 

- Thank you.

 - And how are you even talking if I've already consumed you? 

- Errrr ...

Anyways! It's been a pretty good weekend, though it's ending on the low note of having to actually do homework (never fun). But Friday night was spent with The Boy going to a great restaurant with huge portions:

Scrumptious breaded mushrooms (recipe of the week!).

Yummy "hunter style" schnitzel with mushrooms and bacon, mmm.

:D

And Saturday was spent catching up with one of my best friends at her house, eating yummy fried wonton with cream cheese and watching the K-drama Boys Over Flowers (or Boys Before Flowers). And today I ate pizza and strawberries and watched How To Train Your Dragon and then X-Factor - I like to watch things not available in North America, apparently.

So, after all this eating and watching I think it's safe to say I put the pro in procrastinator -- after catching up on some blogs I'm locking myself into severe homework mode, followed by working out mode. Wish me luck!

P.S. I need your help! I have two opinions so far (that are going for the right); I'm going to dye my hair sometime soon (as long as I can stand these roots coming in!) but need help choosing which colour to go with. Thoughts? Please and thank you :D

Now I have to ask:

What was your favourite part of the weekend?

And how do you fall asleep when you feel wide awake?

the one where I ramble ...

Last night, while hanging out with my two best guy friends (who are brothers), we headed to a concert ... for 16-18 year olds. Oh yes, I must be the coolest twenty-something that you know, eh? It wasn't too shabby and I found myself "whoo"-ing and "oww owww!"-ing at the end of songs (the band was called The Penske File which I thought was neat). 

At the beginning of one song the lead singer went, "So, this is a song about when you're trying out new things, and you try weed and you don't really like it, but you kind of like it. And then you're older and you look back on it and you kind of miss it." At first I was like, "Err, dude, you're a kid, how can you 'look back' on it ..." and then I thought, "Wait, this concert is going on in a community church building, why is he talking about weed?" 

But at the same time, I kind of appreciated the fact that there was a gathering of 16-18 year olds (me and one of my guy friends were probably the oldest people there) on a Saturday night where there was no alcohol, no drugs, and just music ... made me feel like maybe the younger generation will grow up well after all? [Note: Reason I say this is because I've come across too many teenagers who abuse those substances, so it's nice to see teenagers who can enjoy a night without either of those two things present.]

And I know I'm only about six years older than them, but I feel that period from the end of high school to the end of university/earlier half of the twenties ... well, you learn some things. I'm still completely clueless on how life works, but I know who I am, I've realized which friends are worth holding on for and friends I love to be with, I've come to appreciate and respect responsibilities rather than defy them, and I know that anyone who pressures you into doing something you don't want to do is not worth it. 

So even though some girls there were wearing the shortest shorts known to humanity and one girl kept reaching into the ass pocket of a guy and just said, "Oh, I'm only reaching for your wallet!" when he asked why she kept doing that ... hopefully I won't grow up hating teenagers after all.

Other than that, I've been soaking in the sun rays as much as possible in case this fickle Canadian weather decides to go all cold and rainy on me again, studying for my night class midterm on Tuesday, planning things out for The Boy's birthday this Tuesday (day of test, yay~) and going fishing at the lake!

By "fishing", I mean The Boy and his dad decided to go into the lake with nets while I stood on land and took lots of pictures of nature ... but it was good :) Plus we had a barbeque afterwards, so that made me a happy lady.

The lake and ... being shy about having his shirt off?

My no-make-up face trying on the classic Miley Cyrus pout (she ain't got nothing on me, yo).

A gorgeous butterfly and a birdie! (yes, I call them birdies.)

Yellow in the form of a lily and lemon sorbet ... mm, mm good~

My mood's elevated from Debbie Downer to Apprehensively Appreciative Anna ... or something. Either way, I'm feeling better about things, just really nervous because I'm graduating in a week. Egad! It's exciting but I'm just worried about a) falling on my face as I go up the stage; b) the entire day being horribly organized; and c) how badly they're going to butcher my last name. But in the meantime, maybe you could try out some mozza pita-calzone, the recipe of the week (I'll be sharing the German Apple Cake soon!) and I'm going to go eat some ice cream soon ... my simple smile of the week is that there's ice cream at home to help me endure the heat!

What's your simple smile of the week?

And what have you been up to this weekend?

If you happen to have a long weekend - enjoy it :)

tiramisu, anyone?

One of my favourite desserts is tiramisu, which means 'pick-me-up' (due to the espresso/coffee flavour). And thanks to my sister surprising me with The Illustrated Kitchen Bible (a recipe book that I have been obsessing over for the last few months) and a friend's birthday party this past weekend, I decided to ... attempt to make this cake. Thankfully, it didn't turn out so badly :)

If you choose to try out this recipe sometime, hopefully it'll look like this (or better than this):

Here are the weapons ingredients of choice:

And some brewed coffee (I'm using this one) mixed with a few teaspoons of liquer (I used brandy):

Mix the mascarpone (threw in a bit of ricotta cheese since there wasn't enough of the former) and the sugar together; in a separate bowl, you whip the cream and then you combine the two, folding it together instead of mixing or whipping it further. An option is to grate chocolate and combine it into this mix!

Take any serving dish of your choosing, and put a thin bottom layer of the mixture:

Dip the ladyfinger into your coffee - I found I soaked mine a little too much, but I love the strong flavour of coffee compared to others - so it's up to you how much you want to dip it in for! I accidentally dipped my thumbnail in there (it was yummy ... errr, yes).

And place it on top of the layer. Repeat as many times as needed!

Once you're complete setting your ladyfingers as you like, cover with another layer of the mixture:

And after you've spread it around, you can cover it with cocoa powder and grated chocolate:

Add another layer of dipped ladyfingers:

Cover once more with the mixture! As you can tell, there's lots of repetition with this cake:

Here's what the side view looks like at this point:

Cover again with whatever mixture you might have remaining until its spread thoroughly. I just took the bottom of my spoon to spread it vertically, then horizontally and I thought the little waves/ridges were a neat effect:

Then, I grated some bitter-sweet chocolate and placed on top before I put more cocoa powder:

I ended up having some leftover mixture, and since this was for a party, I decided to make a couple of extra ones for my parents ... in some cute little cups:

Et voila! Petit tiramisu! Don't mind the paper towel ... I realized after I made the main cake that it's handy to have some PT underneath while you're sprinkling the chocolate/cocoa on top:

Then, put the cake and the little cups in the freezer. I'd say for at least 4 hours.
Take it out, and enjoy!

That's The Boy's index finger making an appearance. That cake slice looked so pretty before he blocked it haha.

I know there's probably a few things I could tweak with it - I found the taste of the ricotta cheese more satisfying than the mascarpone, and maybe dipping in the ladyfingers for a shorter period of time - but overall, everyone really liked it at the party which made me happy (and then hungover, meep). My simple smile is that I was able to my favourite dessert for the first time and not fail horribly haha.

Here's the recipe in case you would like to try:

 LARGER IMAGE HERE | PDF VERSION (coming soon)

So ... tiramisu, anyone?

Please let me know what kind of recipes you enjoy and I'll see if I can find something to your liking in my beautiful new cookbook and share it! I'm off to my night class in a few hours (happy happy, joy joy). How's the start of your week been so far?