Love my food processor!

Well, there's one thing in my kitchen I cannot do without...

I dreamed about having one. Finally, Christmas of 2000, after saving my pennies I bought my machine of my dreams. The Kitchen Aid Food Processor!

It has become indispensable like my fridge & stove. If you are pinching pennies, have a small kitchen. Between the three to choose: mixer, blender, or food processor. Then this is the choice. This food processor will do it all. Even the black color is still in fashion, and after ten years it keeps on working well. Most products are built with planned obsolescence. Manufacturers, in their best interest, intentionally developed goods to break down. Causing a circle of dreaded need for consumers to keep on purchasing. I haven't found this to be the case.

I definitely intend to buy the whole line of appliances. That will have to wait...

Until I have a larger kitchen!

No Ride with this Fabric!

Ironing didn't help!

I was all excited to prepare my new fabrics for the upcoming Winter Cycling Caps. Except this fabric had another agenda.

Pre-washing fabric is an absolute for me before I construct my caps. I know in the fashion industry it's not current practice to pre-wash fabric before making garments. For me, it's a must. When you think about it, cycling caps have to be pre-shrunk before. Imagine an unwashed cap, the rider comes back after a hot ride sweating into it. They're be surprised with a smaller cap.

I'm making cycling caps well over a year and this is the worst fabric I've come across. How about deceiving. I thought it would make a killer cap. Now, it turns out to be a wrinkly eyesore.

This is Step #4 (from a previous post) in making a cycling cap, called washing the fabric. It's not a step you cannot miss. This is a crucial step, for Galstudio, to make the best possible handmade cycling caps. Now, the challenge is finding the best usage for this 5 meter disaster. It won't be a cap, shirt or pants. Maybe it will become a cushion cover.

Salt or what makes the cookie crumbles

Tasty!

I've never been a fan of cookies. I grew up in a household where my mother gave away store bought cookies to the neighborhood kids. So, we always had a well stocked pantry of cookies.

The kids mainly from my extended family would come, for their cookie fix, almost everyday.

When I was married, I quickly discovered that Richard was a cookie monster. We often bought cookies. Too expensive for the quality. If you want good cookies well their really expensive. So, I started to make cookies for Richard. I explored in making a few varieties: peanut butter, shortbread. But, the favorite so far is the oatmeal. The absolute favorite of Richard.

My recipe has evolved in the last 15 years. I am now satisfied with my new standard, chocolate coconut oatmeal cookie. I would like to share my recipe with you...

Chocolate Chip Coconut Oatmeal Cookies

Makes about 20 cookies.

1/2 C unsalted butter
1 C packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 t. vanilla
1C whole wheat flour
3/4 t. baking powder
1/4 t sea salt (important)
1/2 C wheat germ
1/2 C unsweetened shredded coconut
1 C dark chocolate chips
2 C quick oats

Preheat oven to 350 F

Mix well (I use my trusty food processor) the butter, sugar, egg, & vanilla until it is whiteish color. In another bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt, wheat germ, coconut, & chocolate together. Add the wet mix to it and add the oats 1 cup at a time while stirring. You may need to add more oats to get the proper consistency. The consistency is just before it crumbles and sticky enough you can make balls from it. Roll the mixture into ping pong size balls & flatten on parchment sheet. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a rack & try hard not to eat them for 10 minutes!

People who eat my cookies say that their delicious. There's no special ingredient here. It's all about the sea salt and balancing it with the sugar. Maybe that IS the secret ingredient!

The first glimpse of Winter...

It's Summer but it's already time for Winter cycling caps!

It maybe August but we're already getting under way for new winter cycling caps. Todays a good day for it, rainy around 16 C and feeling like wet Vancouver. Perfect for Richard to come up with three new names for the new fabrics.

I bought the fabric a few weeks ago, washed and dried it and about to begin cutting. So exciting going to my suppliers and  hunting for fabric/colors for new caps. I have fabric from last year and plan to re-introduce two previous models. There's demand for solid colors and something may come from it.

This is just the beginning...

Going back to ... Scuola!

The new Scuola (Italian for School) Pencil Case.

Today, we're introducing the Scuola Pencil Case.

Made from recycled bicycle inner tubes it's hardy for kid's storing their pens & pencils and anything they can hold in there. It measures 3" X 8". And, if it gets dirty it can be hand cold washed. Each one has a zipper and overstitich on the inner tube matching the interior fun fabric.

Of course, if school is not where you're at, it's versatile capable of holding a multitude of stuff. It can also hold a pair of your favorite sunglasses. Due to demand for something a little longer than our Recycled Piccolo Pouch we've gone longer!

My Coconut Dream Pie

My first homemade coconut cream pie...

and not my last one!

We had a special event last Wednesday. It was Richard's 50th birthday. He's requested a coconut cream pie for a long time and I decided that it was time.

I made it from scratch. After all I have my own handmade business. So, I went online for a few recipes to get ideas and just to get inspired. My favorite coconut cream pie recipe is here. I knew it was a winner, all from scratch with coconut milk for the filling gives the whole pie a freshness. It's deceiving; the look and the taste offsets the huge calories inside. For Richard, he's always looking for carbohydrates and for me I'll have to monitor my intake. Basically, I'll have to take it easy.

The recipe didn't call for real fresh coconut. I decided that; real is the deal. So, Richard helped me break the coconut with a hammer. He smashed it, outside on the cement landing, into little shards. I baked the ginger snap cookies in the morning. While the cookies cooled away from Richard. I dried the grated coconut in the oven. Later, I created the mix and put it into the ginger crust then I let it sit for four hours in the fridge.

Just before serving I whipped the cream and served it. It's an easy pie but planning is the key. You have to start in the morning. This pie is everything I expected it to be, it's wonderful. Two things I will change for next time; cut down on the ginger snap crust to half & make more coconut filling!

Discovering wine tasting.

Wine anyone?

I won!

I usually don't participate in contests. Well, I did and I put my name to win a free wine tasting evening. I receive an email from the Francophone College stating... I won! It's the first time I won anything from a contest. In fact, I plainly forgot all about.

It's not a huge win, worth 25 dollars. I would never go myself but why not? It turned out to be interesting. And it is the first time that I participated in a wine tasting. I'm a fan of Gary Vaynerchuk. I watch him with his blind wine tasting and I felt bad that he has to spit out all that wine. I've tasted some bad wine but the French Pinot Noir ($18) was the worse. It tasted like strawberry syrup with alcohol. Just to be nice I gave it 1/10. I thought of Gary and thought about spitting it out, too. I didn't have the heart.
After this experiment, I'm more aware or I'll take notice as to what I'd buy.

It was a fun experiment trying so many kinds of reds. The biggest surprise was the last glass of wine; Avalon from California ($25). Usually I don't like  Cabernet Sauvignon, in fact I loved it! It was full, bold and fills your mouth. You can taste the ripe fruit in it. It's only three years young but it tasted older. I gave this wine a 9/10.

Let's don't forget the bread and cheese. Everything I could live on. Not just any cheese. A special selection of Quebec cheese. A rare treat.

Now, I want to take wine classes. The more you learn the more you want to learn about it. It's so addictive. What would be fun is to grab six friends, six bottles of wine and have a blind test.

Cheers!