CHOCO CHIP COOKIES

i got this recipe straight from the martha stewart link bellow

martha stewart soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies recipe

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups (about 12 ounces) semisweet and/or milk chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter with both sugars; beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; add the salt, vanilla, and eggs. Beat until well mixed, about 1 minute. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
2. Drop heaping tablespoon-size balls of dough about 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
3. Bake until cookies are golden around the edges, but still soft in the center, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool on baking sheet 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.

this recipe will make up around three dozen cookies.

this recipe is super easy to follow, and the cookies turned out to be truly moist and delicious.

we ended up using half white chocolate and half milk chocolate for our cookies and they turned out to be very yummy!

just make sure to not make the cookies too big since they may end up burning at the bottom like some of our cookies...heh

definitely give these cookies a try!

:)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

HOLIDAY CARDS

happy holidays everyone!

just wanted to share this fast and easy holiday card idea.

all you gotta do is get some pretty paper that has got some shine to it, write up come holiday cheer, cut out chunky pieces of white paper, glue the chunks into intricate looking ice pieces, and voila!

be sure to count your blessings this holiday season.

:)

GROUSE MOUNTAIN - PART 2

here are more pictures from the day up at grouse.

the scenery was surreal during the sunset and also at night(it's too bad the picture turned out blurry).

definitely check out grouse when your in rainy vancouver!

and eat beaver tails. yum.

:)

GROUSE MOUNTAIN - PART 1

my friends and i decided to go up grouse mountain 

to ski and snowboard...

just kidding

 we pretty much went up just to see the snow, skate, and eat beaver tails.

all in all it was a really good time.

we didn't end up skating because the ice wasn't looking too good, but we did go on a sleigh ride twice, walked in the snow till we couldn't feel our feet, saw cute reindeer, and we ate beaver tails without a doubt.

more pictures from grouse coming up tomorrow!

:)

CAKE GALORE

reunited at last!

my friend and i decided to do some cruising and ended up at a cake shop called true confection.

we tried some of the devil's cake and a fruity cheesecake. 

we thought we could handle two slices...but it turned out to be a bit much.

there really is such a thing as too much cake.

hope everyone is getting into the christmas spirit, and spending some time with friends and family!

more to come tomorrow.

:)

CHRISTMAS PARTY

i went to my dad's staff party at the four seasons hotel this past sunday. 

they have a very pretty display of many christmas tree's. 

this one tree decorated by the children's hospital 

(shown above) was especially beautiful. 

for dinner i chose the vegetarian dish which was the mushroom and ricotta ravioli, and for dessert they served us a praline and chocolate mousse cup with a coffee meringue stick and beer flavoured chocolate.

this dessert was one of a kind!

however, the best part of this night was after the party when i was reunited with my best friend who just came back home for the winter holidays!

more pictures of this night are yet to come.

:)

RAYS

finally the sun decided to make an appearance.

unfortunately, not for long.

but i managed to catch some of it's beauty while i had the chance.

enjoy

:)

finally my winter vacay has begun!

feels soo good to be freeeee

ORNAMENTS

this is an example of procrastination at it's finest.

i really should be studying for my econ final...but it is more interesting to take pretty pictures of christmas ornaments!

it is so difficult to concentrate on studying when:

1. you are dying to see friends.

2. it is almost christmas.

3. there are more fun things to do. duh.

4. instagram, pinterest, and facebook can speak for themselves.

5. pages after pages of notes turn into a big scary monster.

k soo...i should actually study now.

boo.

:)

more procrastination pictures shall be on their way.

CHRISTMAS STOLLEN - PART 2

 :)

CHRISTMAS STOLLEN - PART 1

last week i went to go help my dad out at work to make the traditional german christmas stollen.

i underestimated the time and work that goes into these cakes.

it takes hours upon hours to prepare with numerous steps in between.

first you have to prepare the rum covered raisons, the roasted almonds, and marzipan the night before.

then you make the large sum of dough, adding in the raisons and almonds.

next you gotta let the dough rise.

then you separate the dough into individual mounds.

i had never seen this much dough. ever. it was craziness.

while this cake may take a long time to prepare, it doesn't take long for one of these cakes to be eaten bite by bite.

more to come tomorrow.

:)