Can you believe it?

... I can't. Why does this have to happen to us?

Empañadas

I think that I have already mentioned that I love cooking and eating. I also love to try out new recipes. I am an avid reader of food blogs. I love them for their beautiful food photography and for their great recipes- although not all of them are worth a try at home! However, more often than not, I fall on a great recipe that is not too complicated to make and does not require exotic ingredients, and I bookmark it for a day where I am feeling adventurous and wanting to try something new. Yesterday was such a day. R. and I meant to leave the house to go shoe shopping, but we never ended up leaving and I stayed in my PJ's the whole day, which is not a bad thing, but well, it is not a great thing either (productivity wise). So I thought I would compensate for the lack of outing with a new recipe: empañadas!!! Jules, from stonesoup, wrote about empañadas a little while ago and when I read the post, I thought: "This I will have to try soon!" That day came yesterday! The dough needed is easy to make and is easy to work with, the filling is flexible (I used the recipe provided by Jules as a very loose guideline) and the end result is delicious! Worth a try!

Tea showcase!

R. is always thinking of a new project to make our home more practical. His current project is a small custom table where we will keep our router, phone and answering machine. The cables will be hidden in the legs for esthetic reasons and also so that Gustav is not tempted to bite on them! He is currently working on its design, but was able to take some time off to build me this beautiful shelf, which we have hung in the kitchen and which is showcasing my tea collection. I had asked him for a shelf, as I was running out of space in my spice-pharmacy. He was planning on building something simple, but then I said that I would like something a little more detailed, and well, this is what I ended up with!!! Detailed it is! It took R. a lot more time to build it than he thought it would, and I think he was very happy when it was done, as he could not stand working on it anymore! It has helped to free up some space in the spice-pharmacy and to make our white wall a little more interesting to look at!

German ingenuity!

Look what R. made me a few weeks ago!!! Isn't it pretty?! Our kitchen is not the biggest and counter space is rare, so it's a hassle to bring a cookbook in the kitchen and to try to follow the recipe while preparing everything for it. So R. decided to make me this very practical and esthetically good-looking book holder, to make my life easier in the kitchen. As I am mostly the one who cooks in the house, I think he thought of it as a good investment for him!!!! If you are not using a book, you can clap down the holder, reducing the space it takes up. It's great!

A touch of light!

I am not religious, but I do enjoy the time off I get to celebrate religious occasions! It was Easter this past week-end and I had two extra days to laze around, enjoy the sun and relax- it was well needed and I could use a couple of extra days, but unfortunately it is back to work tomorrow for me.
I didn't decorate the apartment for Easter, but I did get this beautiful potted daffodil, which has helped brightening up the kitchen and has made washing the dishes that much better!

Montreal Stencil Art

A few things I have seen around Montréal!