It's 2012!

Happy New Year!  Have you left me?  I wouldn't blame you if you did.  I absorbed myself into school last fall.  It's been a wonderful world of stressful academic bliss.  From reading about Hermenuetics to writing up 20 page essays, it's a wonder I survived the first term. But survive I did.  Now it's a new year and time to get back to blogging!  My biggest challenge for the next year is to continue documenting my life via this blog and photography.  Pictured here is my collage of factory photos taken in India and China from 2005.  It's a reminder that my day job and school work are important and that I must continue down this path with the intent of helping people understand that other people make the things we buy and use.  It's a people place that we live in - not just cold business mergers and acquisitions.  Let's continue to be mindful of others and kind to ourselves!  Happy New Year!  It's good to be back!  

Summer Colours

It's back to school time!  So we're back from summer hiatus.  I had a good summer vacation and hope you did as well.  Unfortunately I didn't get much time to take a break from the city, but there were moments for swimming, basking in the sun, reading, and most of all spending time with family and friends.  I start school myself next week!  It feels a little scary and exciting to be going back to school at "this age" but I hope to learn a lot and meet some interesting people.  But most of all, learning a lot.  I am still working on re-formatting this blog so you might see some changes in the next little while. 

Chat soon!

Summer Dinner - by Patty Pahn

Now that summer is in full swing and we can really feel the heat, I’m sharing a picture of a summery dinner I had recently.  From the center, it’s a cherry tomato Caprese salad, grilled lemongrass chicken, barbecued ribs, pasta with peas and arugula, and yippers, steak!  There were also some marinated cucumbers but they didn’t seem to have made it into the picture.  Maybe next time. 

The Burger at Plein Sud

Bonjour!  I haven't blogged in ages!  Thought I would take a bit of a break and now I am back.  Thank you to Patty for keeping up with weekly bloggin'!  I went to New York last week for the long weekend and indulged in a burger at Plein Sud.  Look at that ooey gooey cheese oozing out!  This burger was dee-lish!  And super rich!  Served with fresh fries sprinkled with sea salt and herbs.  I would go back to Plein Sud in a heartbeat.  I also loved the Smyth Hotel.  There's a Whole Foods around the corner so you have access to fresh fruit and juice in the mornings.  Aw ... I love New York!

A Little Cake - by Patty Pahn

Yours truly is back from vacation with something to show for besides a tan.  This is a Kahlua-flavored cake that I decorated for my friend’s 40^th birthday.  Her aunt recently graduated from Le Cordon Bleu’s pastry program and she let me hang out with her and see how the pros do it.  The cake is about 6” in diameter and was originally meant to be the top tier of a wedding cake, but I lucked out and got to frost and pipe it with a real meringue buttercream.  I never got to try it though because I went home before dessert was served and am now nursing a nasty skeeter bite souvenir from the party.  Ah well; you win some, you lose some.  (Update: My friend and her husband told me that the cake was delicious and they were admiring the piping work for a while before cutting it.)