Tiptoe Through the Tulips Part Two

Sometimes I worry that I'm stuck in a rut, boys and girls.

I have (largely speaking) the same friends since highschool.  I moved back to my hometown and love it here.  I can do the same thing on two separate weekends and am perfectly happy with it.

Well if that's a rut, then sign me up!

Echoing the previous, this past weekend I had another one of my very best friends in town.  Lilly came to visit me in Bristol back in the day, and this summer we're also going to be embarking on one hell of a trip together.  So to start our Friday this past week, we klatched over lattes, croissants, and calendars to plan our our big cross-Canada/West Coast jaunt.

Not ones to be satisfied with future tourism only, we then played the traveller all about Ottawa too.  After grabbing some ice tea from the old workplace, we set out to walk alllll about the city, stopping at various places for fairgrounds, tulips, pub lunch, booze, the suburbs for a party, and then back to our neighbourhood for a gathering of old friends.

Fashionable Friends and Delicious Drinks

Passing through the fairground

The tulips at Dow's Lake

Hooray for historical relations between Holland and Canada!

Lush ladies with lunchtime lagers

Back-alley wanderings

Birthday panda cupcakes!

Sunset in the suburbs

Did I mention that we did all of this with clear blue skies, a nice light breeze, and the sun shining down on us fondly?  Yup it was the perfect day.

Except for when you give this girl those conditions, she forgets indeed how white she is and gets SO BURNT.  Like, my skin still hurts now burnt.  Like I'm still pretty red burnt.  Like I was never meant to enjoy such a marvellous day and I don't deserve to be so happy and so the gods must punish me burnt.

But was the resulting skin pain and lobsterism worth it?  Of course.  It was the perfect summer day, and I CAN'T WAIT to take the perfect summer trip with this lady as well.

Go play tourist, boys and girls.  It's lovely out there!

Love,

Your friend Lina

P.S.  I'm heading to New York this morning!  I'm going to be there for a week, and then I'll come back here and gush about it.  I know, how ideal is this summer, eh?

Tiptoeing Through the Tulips

Last Sunday, I had just one of the very best days a girl could ask for, boys and girls.

One of my childhood best friends was in town, so we started the day with our newfound tradition of brunch (I know brunch isn't a new tradition, but us making it for eachother sure is, so cool your jets there).  I made a big ol' fruit salad (which I did not know was her favourite, so ten telepathy votes for me), yogurt, and a poached egg on rye with petso, tomato, and cheddar.  It was the perfect cheesy goodness start to a perfect cheesy goodness day.

We then had coffee with my parents, and got a ride to the bus in my dad's convertible - which never fails to make you feel like a rockstar.  Once downtown we met up with another childhood friend and meandered the tulips in Major's Hill Park, crossed the bridge over the Civilization Museum to dangle our feet in the water and gaze back at beautiful Ottawa, and then ate gelato in a shady stone courtyard whilst discussing the big questions of life, academia, and ambition.

I then had a most lovely of family dinners.  Our neighbours stopped by for drinks and hors d'oeuvres, and then it was onto ribs and mashed potatoes and chocolate cake for the Cromptons.  As my brother took off and my parents settled in for the night, I put on my dancing shoes and off it was to Mod Night for the first time in very too long.  I could not have asked for a more perfect Sunday!

I absolutely adore days like this.  Not only do you have an excuse to eat bourbon-vanilla and nutmeg gelato, but you get to reconnect with who you are.  Having had these friends for pretty much all of my remembered life, they really are part of the fabric of my personality and outlook on the world.  We have so many shared memories, so many years to catch up on, and still so much in common.  It really makes a gal feel special and serves as a reminder that I could never possibly be lonely as long as people like this are in the world.

Enjoy whatever day you've got coming your way,

Love,

Your friend Lina

Getting Ready

Now that I know I'll soon be back into the academic swing of things, it's time to reboot my brain, boys and girls!

This year off has been marrrrvelous - and as I was telling a friend last night, I'm going to make the next six months of hedonism COUNT - but I think my brain has gotten a little soft in the meantime.  So I'm going to try and spend good chunks of my free time refreshing my knowledge of basic Canadian history.  I know a lot about a very little amount of material (which is inevitable the more and more one specialises), but if I'm going to TA I'll have to have the larger picture down pat.

Luckily, my mom got me this book for Christmas a few years back!  It was written by a professor at McGill who I have heard nothing but good things about.  This, combined with the notes from my summer course on Canada since Confederation (I still swoon over our dreamboat professor) will hopefully get the old mind grapes juicy again!

Scarf - American Apparel 
Sweater - American Apparel

This is also the perfect pursuit for a day like today!  Way to stick to your "in like a lion, out like a lamb" guns, March.

Love,

Your friend Lina

P.S.: Ten points for whoever gets the mind grapes reference ;)

Moving Beyond-Boundingly Forward

BEST OF NEWS, BOYS AND GIRLS!

I just got into my dream program for my master's!  That's right, I'll be doing a Master's in Public History at Carleton in the fall.  The professor who will be supervising my work just called to let me know, and I CAN'T WAIT to get the ball rolling on this!

I've been missing school, I've been missing academic history, and I've been missing doing research in the form of watching old NFB movies.  And in just a few short months, it'll be my day-to-day yet again!

This basically sums up how I feel:

I'm too jazzed to do anything but gush about this!  No time for hair or make-up or bloutfits for this gal!

Aaah!

Love,

Your friend Lina

Living Vicariously

Last night my cousin crossed the Atlantic, boys and girls.

She's off for a semester abroad in Wales and I COULD NOT be more excited for her.  Not only is she my cousin, but my best friend as well.  And soulmate?  What I'm trying to say is she's arguably my favourite lady on this whole planet and I am feeling nothing but anxiety and joy and excitement for her right now.

Last week I took a little day trip to Montreal to see her off.  Here's a few shots from that lovely day.

The evening's entertainment of trying to throw a grape into Emma's mouth

Which just turned into whipping grapes at Emma's face

So close and yet so far

Prettiest girl I know

My cousin Kyle also got in on the action

I'm pretty sure she's all settled in Wales by now, so all that's left is to wait 'till she gets the internet so I can hear her stories and impressions.

Love (vicariously),

Your friend Lina

Twice Cooked

These little puppies were the talk of the season 'round these parts, boys and girls.

I decided that my contribution to the Christmas baking was going to be some biscotti, and I was going to do one savory and one sweet.  I expected to like the savory black pepper and parmesan biscotti much more than these chocolate orange pecan ones, but the opposite was true.  Where the parmesan ones never had quite the crispness that I wanted, these sweet concoctions were perfect every time.  They're just the right amount of hard, without being the pieces of shrapnel that will tear apart your mouth, they melt perfectly in coffee or hot chocolate, they keep well, and they're pretty easy to make.  I would seriously recommend trying them next time you've got a few hours free and want something to impress.  Either yourself, or guests.  If you must.

I just adore my mom's Kenwood "Chef", from the fifties.  With only a few mild tune-ups from over the years it's still the best mixer we own.  I've told my parents that this exact piece of hearty machinery is what I want my wedding present to be from them!

Perfection!

Ingredients:

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 large eggs

2 tablespoons Grand Marnier or other orange liqueur (I used Tripe Sec)

1 tablespoon grated orange peel (basically just the rind of a whole orange)

1 cup pecans, lightly toasted, coarsely chopped

6 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) chocolate, chopped

I didn't actually end up using this Suisse chocolate, but I'm sure they'd be equally good with a bit of nougatty goodness too.

Directions:

Stir your flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Using your electric mixer, beat the sugar and butter in large bowl to blend.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the orange liqueur and orange peel. Add the flour mixture and beat until blended. Stir in your chopped toasted pecans (I dry-fried mine cause I don't know how else to toast a pecan) and chopped chocolate. Divide your dough in half, wrapping each in plastic.  Freeze your little packages for twenty minutes to firm. Now you can preheat your oven to 350°F.

Orange-y goodness going in.

The addition of chopped chocolate and toasted chopped pecans.

Just a few turns of the mixer and there you have it!

All snug as some bugs in some rugs.

Using floured hands, form each package of dough into 14-inch-long, 2 1/2-inch-wide log on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spacing them two inches apart. Bake until light golden, about thirty minutes. Transfer parchment with logs to a cooling rack and let them cool for twenty minutes. Turn the oven down to 300°F. 

Ball-parking it should do it, there's no need for them to be too pretty or too uniform.

When your logs are cool, transfer them to a big cutting board and using serrated knife, cut the log on the diagonal into half-inch-thick slices. Stand slices upright back on the baking sheet and repeat with the remaining log. 

Slice and slice and slice.  It is your privilege to eat the ends and any pieces that don't maintain their structural  integrity.

Arrange nicely and then cram in whatever's left.

Bake again (biscotti means twice cooked, your fun fact for the day!) for about thirty minutes. Cool completely on rack.  While they're cooling, make a pot of coffee.  Devour whilst dipping into said coffee.  

To be consumed preferably three-at-a-time.

 There you have it boys and girls!  Simple, delicious, and arguably acceptable as part of this complete breakfast.  Enjoy!  And let me know how they turn out for you if you try them.  Variations too!

Love,

Your friend Lina