Flowers

June Flowers and a Tale of Woe

June 29, 2012

It’s nearly the end of June. Already. The end of the month, and yet again I’m doing my monthly flower post of the near to last day of the month. I want to be clear though – this month my tardiness wasn’t entirely my fault. I had a plan to have it completed in the middle of the month but I was thwarted.
Pink peony bouquet in a white face vase
Like a lot of other people in N. America I get a number of those group deal emails every day. I don’t purchase the deals too often, but from time to time there’s one that’s tempting. I’m rather careful about what deals I buy – last year I was one of the people who purchased a deal for a Toronto butcher (Google ‘butcher Toronto coupon’ for more info on that snafu if you’re unaware of it) that ended up being too good to be true. I did get my money back, but it’s made me a little more wary of the ‘deals’ that arrive in my inbox.
Pretty pink Peony
Anyways, in May there was a LivingSocial deal for either some fresh flowers or a flower arranging class, and after a quick Google search for bad reviews I decided to buy the class. I thought it would be nice to learn how to arrange flowers in a way that doesn’t look like I just unwrapped them and plopped them in a vase. After buying the coupon I called the shop and booked my class for June 16th.
side of a pink peony
On the 16thI left for my class and I was rather excited. I’ll admit I may have been drafting my triumphant blog entry about my monthly flowers being done in the middle of the month while I rode the streetcar on the way to the class, but I was truly excited about learning some tricks and techniques. That is, I was excited until I entered the shop and after saying I was there for the class was told that the class had been cancelled because LivingSocial hadn’t forwarded the money yet. Womp womp. So disappointed.
Close-up of a pink peony
I haven’t tried to re-book my class so these flowers are more of the ‘I don’t know what I’m doing so I just stuck ‘em in a vase’ variety. I think they’re lovely no matter what though as they’re Peonies which are one of the prettiest flowers, and a personal favourite.
pink peonies in a white vase
Do you like the vase? I think it's very Jonathan Adler-esque, but I found it on clearance at HomeSense for $9. It's decidedly quirky so I like it.

Canada Day

Chocolate Mousse Filled Strawberries

June 27, 2012

Chocolate mousse filled strawberries
Within the next week or so, North America will be going a wee bit nutty with parties and fireworks as we Canadians celebrate Canada Day on July 1st, followed by our neighbours to the south celebrating their nation's birthday on the 4th.

Given the number of BBQ's and picnics one may get invited to over the next few days I thought I'd try my hand at a little festive treat that's pretty easy to make, sweet, and tasty.

Chocolate Mousse Filled Strawberries

  • Strawberries
  • Chocolate Mousse
  • White Chocolate *
  • Candy melts
  1. Rinse your strawberries, and then core them as you'll be filling them with mousse. Leave the strawberries out to air dry. (The mousse won't stay put if the strawberry is wet)
    cored Strawberry
  2. Make your mousse (I used this recipe. It makes a dark chocolate mousse which I thought would work well as the strawberries and white chocolate are quite sweet).
  3. Using a piping bag (or a plastic baggie with the corner cut off) fill your cored strawberries with mousse. I placed mine in an empty ice cube tray to ensure they stayed upright while the mouse set. Refrigerate until set.
    chocolate mousse filled strawberries in an icecube tray
  4. Once the mousse is set you'll need to melt your white chocolate or candy. I used white chocolate, but I found it a little harder to work with, so I'll use white candy melts next time.
    Carefully dip the top of your strawberry in your white candy. The heat will melt the mousse, so this may take a little trial and error or you can also use a spoon to pour the chocolate/candy on top of the strawberry. Place your strawberries on a wax-paper covered baking sheet and refrigerate until cool.
  5. The last step is decorating your culinary creation. Using candy melts in either red or blue, decorate the white part of your strawberry again with a piping bag or baggie. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
    white chocolate Canada day strawberries
    Happy Canada day - Eh!

    White Chocolate July 4th strawberries

    July 4th Chocolate mousse filed strawberries

General

Blurb Books Giveaway Winner!

June 21, 2012

I'd like to thank Blurb Books for giving me the opportunity to host my first ever giveaway, and I'm excited to announce the winner of a $35 promo code towards a Blurb book.

Blurb giveaway winner selection
And the winner is Janet @ House Four who said:
Blurb giveaway comment
Congratulations Janet! I'll be sending you an email shortly with the code to claim your prize! I hope you share some pictures of the book you create - I'd love to see it once it's done!

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