» Tina

I am a lucky girl. You see, when Ginger returned from Paris she brought with her not one but two tins of my very favorite tea. I have been greedily sipping it every morning since. But something has been missing. Aside from the fact that Russian Earl Grey is best enjoyed in Paris, a yummy cookie would probably make drinking tea in rainy Vancouver a little more bare-able. Isn’t it traditional to have cookies with tea after all? And with Christmas just around the corner, making a batch of cookies seems like a natural fit.

I discovered something about myself while hunting for a recipe. I am often drawn to recipes that have cornstarch in them. I know, weird right. But it is true, throughout my life recipes with cornstarch in them seem to some how end up being the recipes I choose to make. Take for example one of my first forays into baking. When I was 6 or so I asked my mom if I could bake some cookies. “What kind of cookies would you like to make?” she asked. I ran off to the kitchen and returned with the box of cornstarch and declared that I wanted to make the recipe on the back of the box. It was a simple recipe, so she agreed. I made them, my family ate them, I gave some to my grandma and she ate them. For awhile I was certain I was going to become famous child baker. However, one fateful day while whipping up a batch of cookies I doubled the cornstarch and omitted sugar. That was the end of my run as a genius child baker.

Fast forward 20 years and you will find me in the kitchen again trying out a waffle recipe. I’m not a big fan of waffles, but that is another story for another day. But when I found a recipe that promised the lightest, fluffiest, most perfect waffles ever I was willing to give them a go. What was the secret that made these guys the lightest fluffiest waffles ever? Why cornstarch of course.

But back to the real story. I want cookies. And I want the perfect introductory cookie to Christmas baking. So when I stumbled upon a shortbread recipe that featured cornstarch I know it was a sign and I had to make them.

Grandma’s Shortbread

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 cup icing sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 3/4 cup butter, softened

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Directions:

1. Sift together cornstarch, icing sugar and flour.
2. Stir.
3. With wooden spoon blend in butter until soft, smooth dough forms, shape into 1″ balls flatten with fork, or you can roll them 1/2 inch thick and cut into shapes.
4. Bake at 350°F for 15-20 minutes.

Charlie knows Christmas. And He knows that decorating is the best part of the season. Garlands are his personal favourite. How could a cat not love something made of string, tiny bits of paper and beads. Charlie also knows that after the garland is done it is time to put up the Christmas tree! Like Charlie, decorating has always been my favourite part of the holidays. Heading out into the woods with my dad and sister to choose a tree and then hang the decorations. Good times!

The first snow came early here in Vancouver and that was just the push that I needed. Decorating starts now! So on Saturday morning I got up a little early, made a pot of tea and got down to business. When I busted out the ingredients to make my garland Charlie was beside himself and chose a spot as close as possible.

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Having a full size tree of my own is fairly new for me, this is only my second year. So when it comes to decorations things are kind of slim pickings. I have decided to slowly grow a collection of decorations over time rather than just running out and buying everything all at once. So I’m left with plenty of opportunities to be a little creative and make my own decorations.

I am imagining draping this garland from the ceiling, I think it will be perfect. Inspiration for this garland came from a project on Poppytalk, the directions can be found there. Or you can watch my fancy video: Folded Paper Balloons.

http://youtu.be/2QFOGFAi3D8?hd=1

Like virtually everyone in the world I have comfort zones. Rules that I live by: I don’t touch raw meat, I certainly do not wear the shorts over tights look, and my home is always in a state of controlled chaos. Every line was crossed this week.

It all started when I turned down Scott’s offer to trim and cube the beef that I was planning to stew for a dinner we were having the next day. I should have realized that saying no to his offer would mean I would have to do it myself! I had decided to make My Go-To- Beef Daube by Dorie Greenspan, you can find the recipe in her cookbook Around My French Table.

I am the product of a vegetarian home. As a kid, we occasionally had turkey at Grandmas for Thanksgiving and Christmas. There was also that one very out of the ordinary occasion when grandma went out with the dog and grandpa’s rifle and shot a Christmas duck! And once in a blue moon my mom would come upstairs from the deep freeze with a couple of drum sticks and say she wanted fried chicken the way her mom made it. So, to say that I’m uncomfortable with raw meat would be the understatement of the year.

Last Saturday morning I could be found in the kitchen bemoaning the fact that I was stuck cutting the meat to Ginger who had graciously joined me with a bottle of rose via facetime from Paris.  What I wouldn’t have given to switch places with her! By the way, I would recommend that you run out and get Around My French Table and make that Beef Daube because it was fantastic, if I do say so myself.

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Now what about all those other insane little rules you maybe thinking. Well, on Monday I pulled out a pair of dressy charcoal short, black leggings and a pair of suede boots and marched right out the front door without even a second thought. On Tuesday chaos tipped the scale and the house became a disaster zone! 20 minutes before work I was scurrying around the house trying to tidy, moving things come one room to another and prepping dinner. Things ended badly with me nearly cutting off my finger.

Today I am about to cross the biggest thickest line of them all. I am kind of a private person. I have always felt that creativity is personal. Maybe I’m a little secretive or just don’t like having to explain myself or deal with critic. But most of my projects take place around the kitchen table and are only shared with a few people. Here I am laying it all out on the table, sharing my thoughts & ideas, my history & future and my life I guess. What was I thinking!

Now for some breakfast.

Fall came this week.

The colour of the light changed ever so slightly. A little softer maybe. And with the turn in the season I went to my closet and pulled out all the warm fuzzy cashmere I could find. Then I had a crisis.
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This weekend I learned that my friends seem to all have style icons. Where have I been! I certainly do not have a style icon nor has it ever crossed my mind. And no I’m not running around wearing a paper bag on my head, I’m aware of fashion. If you were to ask me who Kyle Maclachlan is I would said “Isn’t he the guy from that spread in Vogue with Linda Evangelista back in the 90’s?” I just have never thought about having a style icon.

So while I was pulling out all my winter sweaters and scarves I did a little style soul searching. I tried on numerous outfits. And then tried them on again and finally decided that I don’t really need a style icon after all, I just needed to make a kale salad.

Kale salad inspired by the many kale and quinoa salads on My Cooking Diary and the Tahini dressing by 101 Cookbooks