I promised myself that I wouldn't do anything for my blog post until I had finished my thesis proposal draft. Since it's now as finished as it's going to get, posting time!

It was quite the week for food and alcohol in this house. My buddy Rob was kind enough to get myself and the roomie free tickets to the Gourmet Food and Wine Expo this past weekend. Sadly, at the last minute neither he, or my roomie could go (Booo). So, fortunately, last minute, two of my classmates were able to go in their place. We had a lot of wine, scotch, cheese, ice wine and I had managed to get this lovely Salmon with apple slaw and Asia noodle dish as a main course. Sooooo tasty.

I have no idea what the sauce was, but it was awesome.

Food Network was sponsoring a chef's stage at the expo, and since we were there on the Thursday, we lucked out and saw a Q&A period with Chuck Hughes. Sadly, he'd just been taken off of The Next Iron Chef after losing at Battle Tofu. He's still got his own show, his two restaurants, and is really cute.So, screw Iron Chef.

Eeeeeeeeeee!!! Chuck Hughes! Also: Fucking tofu! Photo taken by Melodie's iPhone. Damn he's tall.

Chuck was awesome and hung around for almost an hour after the presentation to sign autographs and take pictures, all with a smile. We decided to all go up at once and only have one picture taken since he was kinda getting tired by the time we got to him.

Also, we totally dorked out at a free photobooth. There are two more of these, the girls have them. We are such nerds.


On Saturday the roommate was able to come to Improv Toronto's Fast Food Dining event at McDonald's. Dinners were asked to wear formal or semi-formal attire and provide a table cloth, fine dishware and flatware and wine glasses that waiters would set up on the tables while you ordered your food, you then gave your food to them to serve you. I will say that they needed a bit more organization once they arrived. My friends and I ended up setting up our own table since the waiters ended up being stretched a bit thin between the two floors of the Bloor street McDonald's. None the less, it was fun, and entertaining to eat a Big Mac with a knife and fork.

So, all in all a good weekend. Hopefully that will bolster me through my last two weeks of class.

Wishlists...

I should not be allowed to browse shopping sites. I never buy anything, but this e-window shopping is taking up way to much of my time. I have found some pretty things though...

Ikea's definitely the most dangerous site, especially around November when they release their Holiday items! While I'm not a huge fan of stereotypical Swedish design, I love Ikea's Christmas stuff. I usually wait until the new year to buy it, it's on sale. I may not be able to wait this year though...
Top to bottom, left to right:
Godis Glasses, 6 pack for $4.99. They're a bit Christmasey, but the design could be year long in a cabin theme!
Yrsno garland, assorted designs, $0.79. My mom sometimes buys garlands like these and uses them as decorative ribbon on presents, and if they're this cheap, I might too! They are totally recyclable as well.
Yrsno wreath: $16.99 (each). I'm on the fence of these ones. I'm worried they look a litte too plastic and fake, and I'm well aware they are plastic and fake. Sometime metallics look expensive and classy. I may have to inspect these closely in the store.
Slom bottle with topper, $2.99. A water bottle for dinners or entertaining? A pretty centrepiece? Both?
Yrsno hanging decorations, glass birds, 2 pack for $7.99. Cute!
Yrsno reindeer decoration, 4 pack for $2.99. Given my affinity for moose, these guys aren't far off.
Strala white forest lighting decoration, $29.99. Holy crap these are gorgeous. They would look fabulous along a window sill on a cool winter's eve. I'd need 12 of them to spread the length of our living room windows, but a minor setback in the greater scheme of things.

Bahahahahahahahahahaha. My roommate's agreed to having this in our living room. It may not go with the decor, but who cares. I love Society 6. Affordable art for all!

And a puppy. With a Gun.

Torrid has got some nice stuff at the moment. I do sometimes go to their stores if I'm near one in the states. Their shipping to Canada sucks the bag however, so I'm a bit timid about ordering online form them again. The first time I ordered something from them the products were great but it cost $35 to ship a T-shirt and set of magnets. Yep. I'd imagine if I got something like that wonderful vintage inspired dress, the shipping wouldn't seem as bad since the dress already costs about $120.
Stop Staring! Tiffany Black full dress, $120.50.
Black feather print beaded tank top, $28.50.
Black allover lace blazer, $64.50.
Teal jacquard pocket dress with belt, $68.50.

New Look is something I've come to discovered recently through some clothes blogging. I have yet to order anything from them, but it looks like they've got some nice stuff. I think I have finally worked out what my size is in the UK, so one less problem there.
Floral printer dress, $27.60 (CAD equivalent).
Feather print top, $24.25 (CAD equivalent).
Crossover platform ankle boots, $47.30 (CAD equivalent).

Chicken stir-fry or sorts.

It was one of those night where I had a variety of stuff in the fridge, none of which was really enough to make a recipe I already had. Time to MacGyver it! I loosely followed a recipe from a Canadian Eat Right: Quick & Healthy Family Meals for Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry that I really like, mostly using the sauce and technique for making the dish, but I used chicken and a lot more vegetables.

Chicken Stir-Fry

Ingredients:
3 Tbsp Oyster Sauce
1 Tbsp Cornstarch
1 Boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 Tbsp Hoisin Sauce
2 Tbsp Vegetable oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 Tbsp minced gingerroot
1/2 cup of frozen peas, thawed
1/2 cup - 2/3 cup of sliced mushrooms
large handful of spinach (can be omitted, wasn't great in the finished dish)
thinly sliced green onions
1/2 package of rice noodle.

-In a large bowl of boiling water, submerge the rice noodles. Add some more boiling water about half way through the cooking process for the stir-fry, and then ignore them.
-In a small bowl, whisk together 3/4 cup of water, oyster sauce and cornstarch. Set aside.
-Slice chicken into small 1 inch pieces and mix with hoisin sauce in bowl. Set aside.
-In frying pan, over medium high heat, heat half the vegetable oil. Cook the chicken until no longer pink inside. Remove from pan unto plate.
-Add remaining oil to pan and stir-fry mushrooms, garlic and ginger for 1 minute. Cover and then steam for 2 minutes.

-Add peas and spinach, if using, and stir. Return chicken and any juices, and add oyster sauce. Mix well and cook until slightly thickened, 3 minutes. Remove from heat.

-Drain rice noodles in a colander, and rinse in cool water so they can be handled. Ensure the noodles are soft to the touch and taste. Place in the frying pan and mix well.
-Garnish with green onions and serve!

Working away at the computer, as per usual these days.

Doesn't it look good though? The recipe in general worked out really well, but I found the spinach was a little too bitter, so I probably wouldn't use it again for this. It did make up for how much time I had to spend working on my literature survey and 3 presentations I have to give this upcoming week. All by Tuesday night. Weehee. I may be eating a fair bit of take-out and instant stuff due to lack of time for the next few days.

An Esty kitchen

I'm writing my thesis proposal while wandering through Etsy for accessories to my dream vintage, cabin-inspired kitchen. This site is dangerous.

A chicken Recipe box! I like chickens, although I'm trying to be quiet about it so everyone I know doesn't buy me chicken stuff. Choice pieces, not crazy chicken lady. My recipe collection wouldn't even remotely fit, so maybe a general "stuff" box.

Everyone needs a cookie tin or two. This just happens to be nautical as well. I'd probably line with parchment paper or something before I put any actual food in it, but a minor thing.

Yep. But they are cute!

I know it says that this is a decorative tile, so I could hang it on a wall. How about a trivet? Maybe? Either way, it's pretty awesome.

I love having canisters on the counter to hold the most frequently used baking and cooking ingredients. That being said, nine times out of ten, vintage ones are labeled. That can be nice, but most of them have a 'coffee' label. I hate coffee and don't have it in my kitchen. This set isn't labeled, and a has a lovely floral design on it. Win, win!

This is one of my favorite finds so far. Its got great colour and its still in great shape. A good centerpiece, or on an open shelf maybe?

This is a little different. I have a great appreciation for the subversive. Also, this piece has the added bonus of being a functioning clock. It's not cabin-y, and only so vintage, but it's funny. It would go perfectly in a kitchen, dining area that already has a sign that says "Free your inner psychopath."


Sigh.... back to thesis work.

A lazy afternoon

So instead of reading for my literature survey like a good little grad student, I'm going through fashion, vintage and food blogs. Procrastination level high. Maybe I'll go to the library this afternoon to redeem myself. Maybe not.

I think I've discovered one of my old classmates in the blogosphere, specifically in 'Round Raglan Road. It's a young lady named Alison Little, and by the looks of it she's the same one that I went to elementary and high school with. I wonder if she'd remember "conversational wookie" from the Italy trip. None the less, she's as fabulous as ever blogging about plus fashion and life in general.

I've been addicted to Solanah for a while now over at Vintage Vixen. I really admire her ability to go all out with Vintage wears and truly rock them all. Like myself she's got a figure that suit the (better) tailoring of yesteryear... I'm a few sizes to big for most of it but c'est la vie. Thanks to her many, many links I have been able to find some plus sized vintage to drool over as well. I also just discovered Diary of a Vintage Girl and the lovely and charming Fleur de Guerre through Vintage Vixen. Next time I'm in London or Washington, I'm stalking them both for vintage. That doesn't sound creepy does it?

I spend well too much time on Canadian Living and Apartment Therapy. Enough said.

Pft. Like I need a reason. 

I think my next cookie project should be this one. I've had Mexican Wedding Cakes a lot, and my Mom's recipe is pretty awesome. I found this one on the Kitchn website. Fall baking anyone?

Halloween and an archive update!

Yeah, it's a been a while since I have posted on here. So a bullet point update is in order.


-The PhotoHistory XV symposium was last weekend in Rochester, New York, and a bunch of us did some planning and managed to get down for it. We had a great time and caught some very interesting lectures. One of my favorites was about the cameras that were on the top of Mount Everest in 1954 when the summit was first, fully climbed. It was great to see Team Rochester as well, and a good, drunken time was had by all. 

-I've been working at the Archives of Ontario for a few weeks now as part of my Master's program, and I'm having a fabulous time. I've ding so much stuff and generally making some of my fellow students a bit jealous about it. Most importantly, I think I've sussed out my plan for my thesis, which had been a niggley thing for the past few weeks. Once I've got a solid body of work decided upon, I will further post my idea here!

-Halloween. This year was a D.I.Y.O.D.S. (Do it your own damn self) and thrift store special. My classmates hosted a party and my roommate and I went along for some house party and Wreckroom action. My roommate spent almost a year pulling together pieces from Craigslist and Value Village to create her own Shera costume. The best part was a hideous gold dress she butchered for parts to create the headdress, insignia, belt and armbands. I was inspired by one of Meg Allan Coles's old Decor it Yourself videos for Threadbanger, I had decided to go as Melanie Daniels from Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds, and had managed to find a skirt and retro-ish jacket in tweed, in my size (that's the miracle part of this) from Value Village. I picked up some fake birds from Micheal's and Dollarama, and attached them to the jacket, skirt and my hair. I added a bandage to my head to show the last scene in the movie when she's been attacked and is being taken to the hospital. I also managed to put some peck and scratch marks on my legs, chest and face to complete the look. I only had one casualty over the course of the evening, about an hour into our time at Wreckroom I found a trampled foam bird on the ground. Other than that, I was really proud of the costume.

Back to work, back to school and hopefully some food along the way.