Kitchen Basics

I generally like to make do with whatever I've got on hand in the kitchen (as demonstrated here, for example), but I also have some great tools (usually given to me as gifts) that make my life a whole lot easier on a daily basis and are worthy of recommendation. Some are ultra modern, some are ultra not.

Joseph Joseph Folding Colander

Love love love this colander. Stores flat, snaps together. Bought for me by my Mama in a cute kitchen store in Paris, you can get it online and, I'm sure, lots of other places too.

Trudeau Combo Salt and Pepper Grinder

Cute, compact. Grind one way for S, the other for P.

Bialetti Moka Express Stovetop Espresso Maker

I've used and abused my trusty Bialetti for at least six years, replacing only the funnel. I heat milk in a pot and mix it with the espresso for a no-froth latte or add hot water to make an Americano. (Illy's my painfully pricey but gotta have it favourite espresso)

Salad Bowl by Dad

This big, beautiful salad bowl was made by my very talented wood-turning Dad. It's fifteen years old and still perfect in every way. In fact, I think it's improved with age. Salad tastes better when served out of it.

Cutting Board by Dad

He also made me this crazy-awesome, one-of-a-kind, wave pattern cutting board. Just go ahead and try to hurt / outlive it.

Various Iron Skillets

When it comes to iron skillets, I'm a lot like those pesky religious fanatics who are always trying to convert you to their ways. So listen up! They never warp, or shed their creepy non-stick skin (yet are, in fact, non-stick if you treat them even half-way decent), they really couldn't get along any better with heat, and actually add iron to your food! (Often, but not for everyone, a good thing) I clean mine with a bit of soap and warm water (see scrubber, below) and occasionally rub them with vegetable oil (called seasoning, which I've always found strange).

Plus, they look super cool hanging on the wall and match my curtains :)

Amen!

World's Best Pot Scrubber
(left, brand new; right, used for a few months)

These are as rough and tough as they are bright and cheerful. Made from recycled plastic fibres, they'll scrub the crap off your pots without scratching them. Also good for cleaning potatoes and the like. Machine washable.

Starfrit Silicon Pot Holder It's coming to get you...num, num!

These make taking things in and out of the oven quick and easy and keeping them clean is a piece of cake.

Paderno Eco Green Line Ceramic Coated Cake / Roasting Pan and Cookie Sheet

My lovely sister-in-law not only indulged my hippy tendencies when I indicated non-non-stick on my Christmas wish list, but actually found me something I didn't even know existed. Non-stick, non-scary ceramic coated Paderno bakeware with silicon grips.

Happy fun kitchen times! Go make yourself something to eat.

Holiday / Universe Nails

My friend had her nails done kinda like this the other day and I really lurved it so I thought I'd give it a try. Her instructions were to apply sparkle polish 'heavy at the tips'.

Two coats Essie Bahama Mama base topped with three coats Sally Hanson Disco Ball on just half (or tips) of nails.

She had black as her base and it looked super sexy rad.

For a full on Christmas version use candy apple red (I like Loreal Apple of My Eye).

I'm going to try it with white next.

And then orange. Oooh...orange.

Remember that time I told you to buy dry shampoo?

Well, forget about it.

Try cornstarch instead.

I've been keeping a jar of it in the bathroom and using it on days I don't have time, am too lazy or just don't want to subject my hair to regular washing.

Dip your fingers in and then rub it around the roots of your hair, especially near your hairline. Basically, just mimic regular hair washing. Flipping your head over makes it easier to get at your roots. The cornstarch will absorb the oil as you work it around and then disappear. In thirty seconds flat your hair will be, well, less flat. If your hair is dark you might need to work it through a bit longer to make sure it disappears completely.

In all fairness, proper (ie manufactured) dry shampoo, especially this one, is nice. It smells good and comes in a pretty package and you don't have to, um, rinse your hands after you use it. But in my world the fifteen bucks I was paying for it didn't actually make any sense once I figured out most of these products consist primarily of cornstarch. In my estimation, straight up cornstarch costs about .002 cents per application and you don't have to avoid inhaling any scary fumes. Plus, it was already in my cupboard which makes it very hard to compete with. (see occasionally lazy, above)

Go forth and be fluffy haired.

Shortbread: Plain and Ganache Topped

1 cup flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup icing sugar
3/4 cup butter

I think pretty much everybody likes shortbread. No shocker, I guess, considering it consists of sugar and butter suspended in flour.

Good shortbread is marked by its light, crumbly texture. Crumbliness (and flakiness, in the case of pie and tart crusts) happens when little clumps of better melt into the flour and sugar around them and create little pockets of air. Or at least that's how I think about it. This is why it's important not to mix the butter too thoroughly with the dry ingredients when making dough for these purposes - it will end up being too dense / rubbery. Your first offensive tactic against this is to start with butter that's still slightly cool or even cold. If it's soft and mushy or even room temperature, it'll be hard not to over-mix it.

Cut the butter into chunks and put it in the bowl with the dry ingredients. I use salted butter for pretty much everything, including this, because, well, I like salt.

Use your hands to mix it - squish it all together and rub the mixture between your palms and fingers. It's fun. And then gets kind of tiresome. You want to achieve a bread crumb-like texture. You will think there isn't enough butter or something and that what you've created is too crumbly to form cookies with - it's not.

When there are no big pieces of butter left, pick up a small crumbly handful and work it into a little ball. As your hands heat the dough you'll be able to form a small patty that doesn't just fall apart. Once you achieve this, don't over work it - just make your patty and get out. Place them on the tray and use your fingers to tidy up the edges and make them prettier. Press with a fork to make a little pattern. I have mine on parchment paper here because my tray isn't in great shape. Either way, you don't need to grease the cookie sheet because the cookies are so buttery.

Bake at 325-ish degrees until the edges are just brown, usually about fifteen mins. Cool on a cooling rack.

I decided to try putting a ganache on top of some of these (not all because, honestly, the beauty is really in their simplicity - but, um, yum).

Ganache is made by melting together 35% cream and 70% dark chocolate (semi-sweet will work too) at a ratio of 100ml to 100gr. Make as much as you like depending on how many cookies you want to be chocolate covered and how much chocolate you want to have left over for eating with a spoon.

The process is easy but you need to pay attention.

Heat up the cream on the stove as gently as possible. Ideally, you'll use a double boiler. Two pots close in size stacked on top of each other will work well too. The set up I used here was a bit silly but I don't have a double boiler or the right sized pots so I rigged something acceptable up with a strainer. In any case, you put a bit of water in the lower pot and let it heat so it's just barely simmering. Just producing bubbles, really. A medium-low temperature setting should be enough. Put your pot with your cream over top and then stand there staring at it as it warms up. (Once you know what you're doing you can chop the chocolate while this is happening but at first your only job is to make sure the cream doesn't get too hot - get the chocolate ready before you turn on the burner)

A more professional instructor who cared more about your safety would suggest you heat the cream to a certain temperature which you'll establish you're at by checking it with a candy thermometer. I'm going to tell you to stick your finger in it every  minute or so and when you think it's warm enough to melt chocolate you're ready to rock. If it's hot enough to hurt you even a little bit - it's too hot!! Get that shit off the burner asap. If it actually boils (in which case I know you won't go sticking your finger in it) it's ruined and you'll need to start over. (This has to do with the fats separating or something and it will simply refuse to properly mix with the chocolate - I've ruined cakes)

OK, so once it's just hot enough to melt small bits of chocolate you start adding them one small handful at a time. Stir until it's melted and then add more.

And so on.

Allow the chocolate to cool down a bit and then dollop it on top of the cookies. I highly recommend eating some warm right then and there. Put the others in the fridge to encourage the chocolate to stiffen. You can bring them back up to room temperature before eating and the chocolate won't go all melty on you.

And that's that.

By the way - if you do find someone who doesn't like shortbread, please have them contact me so we can have a chat about life, the difference between right and wrong etc. 

Love,
Rebecca

Dr. Who?

Dr. Martens

I'm as surprised as you. I really am.

I rolled my eyes when I saw the kids around town in their Docs, resurrecting what I thought was a long forgotten and thank-goodness-for-that trend.

But then I spotted these and was confused.

Still a bit ugly, but so much more interesting and feminine and, I think, really modern.

Dr. Martens Viviana

Turns out, Docs are back and all over the place. I've seen them in several big chain and smaller boutique stores and there's even an entire Doc Martens store on Queen West in Toronto offering styles ranging from the classic three-to-million-holed ones we all know, to nearly unrecognizable, but for the distinctive rubber sole, sophisticated stilettos.

I bought my first pair (these would be my second) on a trip with my parents to London England in 1992 when I was fourteen. They were black with three holes and I felt just as cool and cutting edge wearing them at the time as I do wearing these now.

Take two, wear them with whatever you damn well please, enjoy your comfy feet and if you call me in the morning - it'll be to thank me :)

How to Cut Your Own Hair

(If your hair is sorta wavy and sorta straight and frizzy in spots and smooth in others and medium to long and you want it layered.)

1. Start with damp hair. Put it in a very high, tight, smooth ponytail.

2. Brush the ponytail forward and smooth it out nicely with a comb.

3. Bring it straight down in front of your face and cut off however much you like in a straight-ish line.

4. Do some random snipping straight up into you hair while it's still between your fingers to make your cut a little less blunt. Try to look slightly terrified.

5. Let about half of your hair down and make a new ponytail with what's left. Cut just a bit less off this layer than you did the first.

6. Let down even more to create the top, shortest, face-framing layer.  Take about the same off here as you did with the second layer.

Et voila!

Do just the first tier or all three, depending on how layered you want it.

I've been doing my own bangs too. As my dear, no-nonsense friend Emily taught me, just go from one side to the other. In a straight line.

Be sure to use decently sharp scissors or you'll find your self pushing the hair around instead of cutting it.

May the force be with you.

p.s. While you're cutting your hair, maybe you'd like to listen to some songs I made?
https://soundcloud.com/rebecca_daniels

Mixed Ontario Berries with Vanilla Sugar and Lemon Liberte Yogourt

Ontario strawberries, blackberries and wild blueberries. Don't ask me how they were all in season at the same time this weekend.

 

Lemon Liberte Yogourt. For me, it actually rivals ice cream. There are lots of other flavours too - all killer. Try the coconut.

Putting vanilla beans in my sugar is my new favourite thing. It both flavours and moistens it. The berries are so ripe they really don't need it, but just a touch is nice. (Oh, p.s. - did you know you can also remoisten brown sugar by putting a small peice of bread in the jar? Works like a charm. And quickly too.)

All together now.

I'd say this counts as en entirely presentable Summer dessert. Serve it with a biscotti or cookie if you want to be fancy.