Christmas Cake Balls

My family is having our Christmas Day dinner up in Whistler at my sister's, and I was put in charge of desserts. Several batches of cookies and a pie have already been baked for the occasion, but on Wednesday night I decided to add something new and unique to our dessert line-up. You know - because I don't already have enough on my agenda this week.

I decided to make Cake Balls. For those of you who aren't up-to-date on the happenings of the baking world (or who have been living under a rock) Cake Balls are all the rage among foodies and dessert lovers these days. In a nutshell, they're little balls of cake dipped in melted chocolate. In reality, they're time consuming little suckers that took me several hours to complete and kept me up until the wee hours of the morning.

But look at the finished product ... adorable, right? Yup, I think so too.

For those of you who want to give this treat a try, all you need is cake mix, cake icing and chocolate to melt. Oh, and HOURS of free time. (Kidding. Sort of. No, not really.)

I really wanted the red and white look for Christmas so I bought colored melting chocolate at Michaels for $3.99 a bag, but you can probably get the same result with any chocolate as long as it can be melted down to a smooth, creamy texture. Once you've got all the necessary ingredients, bake the cake as per usual and let it cool for at least 20-30 minutes. I believe this is where I went wrong with my Cake Ball attempt ... I was impatient so I only let it cool for 10 minutes or so. Because the cake was still warm when I added the icing, it was extra gooey and hard to work with. Let it cool people, trust me, otherwise you'll waste lots of precious time trying to get the right texture.

When the cake is cool, crumple the cake dough into a bowl and begin to add the icing. Blend well. You should end up with a sticky, batter-like texture. Roll the mix into small balls. If they're extremely gooey (as mine were) you may need to put them in the freezer for a few minutes to keep them from falling apart. Melt the chocolate in the microwave or in a small pot on the stove. Using a lollipop stick, a chopstick or a fork gently dip each ball into the chocolate. If you're planning to add sprinkles to your balls, do this as soon as you've coated the ball in chocolate ... if you wait too long, it won't stick. Place the balls on a plate and put in the fridge for one hour to set.

serve & enjoy!

signed, sealed, delivered

I write Christmas cards each year ... about 20 of them, handwritten and personalized, mailed out by the end of the first week of December, no exceptions. It's a holiday habit I learned from my mother, who learned it from her mother, and it's one I hope to pass on to my own kids someday. I remember watching Mom and Nana write their cards each year. We'd tune the radio to the channel that played non-stop Christmas music and we'd all sit at our big wooden kitchen table. I'd color in my coloring book while they wrote out dozens of cards and sealed festive stamps on each one. At the time, I thought the whole time-consuming process was kind of silly and soooooooo boring but now that I'm older I have a better appreciation for it.

There is something to be said for writing a hand-written note or letter and taking the time to send it out in the mail rather than just clicking a "send" button on a screen. Some call it old-fashioned, some call it proper etiquette ... I just call it nice. In today's fast pace world of emails and social networking where convenience is apparently everything, a "real" letter tells the recipient that you're thinking of them. That they are worth more than 2.5 seconds of your time. That they matter. It's actually quite a powerful thing, this whole letter writing business.

As much as I love me some Facebook (and Twitter and this blog and email), at the end of the day, a wall post or instant message just doesn't even come close to competing with real mail. I don't take the time to write letters nearly as often as I should, but I do put in the effort at Christmas and it always makes me happy to drop a handful of envelopes into the mail box.

Do any of you mail out holiday cards? If not, y'all should try it some time. Afterall, 'tis the season.

xo

Gingerbread Village ♥

If you know me at all, then you know that I have a thing for cupcakes. If you know me really well, then you also know that I have a thing for gingerbread men. I think they're adorable to look at, fun to decorate and beyond delicious to eat. Gimme a gingerbread cookie and a cup of hot chocolate and I'm in Christmasy bliss. So, needless to say, you can imagine my childlike delight when I passed by the Hyatt Hotel in downtown Vancouver last week and noticed a sign advertising a gingerbread village on display in their lobby.

I dragged Boyfriend there over the weekend and we were both surprised by the amazing creations people were able to come up with. Check these out -

(this one got my vote for the People's Choice Award) 

(yes, it's all edible! Amazing, right?) 

(life size gingerbread house! It was HUGE) 

Vancouver locals - I highly recommend checking it out if you get a chance. It's free and is sure to inspire you to make your own gingerbread creation. 

xo

'tis the season!

{photo credit} 

So, in case ya missed it, yesterday was December 1st ... and what that means in Stephanie world is that everybody else *finally* gets on board the Christmas train with me! Bring on the holiday decorations, the music, the baking, the gift exchanges, the much-needed time away from work. Christmas movies and gingerbread cookies and cozy winter nights spend snuggling on the couch? Yes please!

All my Christmas shopping is complete, so I get to spend the next 22 days enjoying everything else this wonderful season has to offer. My to-do list for December looks a little something like this ...

• Do December Daily (one photo a take for the entire month of December)
• Go see the Festival of Lights in Van Dusen Gardens
• Build and decorate a gingerbread house
• Find (and buy!) the perfect hat and mitten set 
• Bake holiday cookies with my girlfriends
• Watch all of my favorite Christmas movies, especially The Preacher's Wife and Home Alone 2
• Read a chapter a day from my new Christmas devotional book
• Meditate on those chapters & pray to be continuously reminded of the true reason for the season
• Go ice skating 
• Drink lots of hot chocolate and eggnog 
• Master my Nana's bread stuffing recipe before I need to make it for everyone on the 25th
• Drive around late at night and see all the pretty lights 
• Listen to Justin Bieber's song Mistletoe on repeat .. yup, I'm not ashamed.
• Read at least one book during my week-long holiday (not including Christmas Devotional) 
• Buy Christmas-themed candy apples from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory
• Think of ways to celebrate New Year's Eve in Portland - any suggestions? 
• Play in the snow, build a snowman 
• Take a Christmas Day family photo (new tradition!) 

What's on your list of things to do or see this Christmas? 

the city girl becomes ... "Halloweeny"?

Okay, so confession ... I am not a Halloween person.

I'm sorry to those of you who got all dolled up in costumes that take weeks to prepare, and who decorate your yards with tombstones and pumpkins and terrifying things that make neighbors like me gag when they pass by. I'm just not into it. I ain't feeling it. I say we just forget about Halloween and jump straight into Christmas. Bring on the ornaments and the candy canes and the cookies for Santa!

A few weeks ago, Alan and I went to a pumpkin patch. We chose two awesome looking pumpkins, brought them home and they've been sitting in Alan's living room ever since looking pathetically un-decorated. The original plan was to use them to make pumpkin pie from scratch but, ya know, life kinda got busy and before we knew it they were going bad and starting to rot. So, yesterday, we decided to carve them.

It was our first time ever carving pumpkins, and I think we did a stellar job for newbies. Mine had sweet little heart-shaped eyes and Alan's had stars ... not scary, but then again we're not really a scary kind of couple. :)

So, for one year only - HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Now, how many days 'til Christmas??

Autumn kick-off ...

If you've been reading my blog for awhile now, you might remember a post I wrote around this time last year about Mid-Autumn Festival, the popular lunar harvest festival celebrated by Chinese, Taiwanese and Vietnamese people. Last year, I was completely caught off guard and totally surprised when my co-workers surprised me with boxes of moon cakes and other little gifts. Let it be known, though, that I am not the kind of girl who forgets a good holiday - especially one that includes yummy goodies like moon cakes - and this year I was prepared.

Boyfriend was away for the weekend so I celebrated with my BFF and new roomie, Bunny. She decided that she wanted to treat me to a traditional Chinese dinner so we headed out to the biggest Asian supermarket in town and stocked up on things we'd need for our feast. (And, yes, a few boxes of moon cakes also ended up in our basket.)

While Bunny cooked, I got to play around with her fancy schmancy digital SLR camera. Here are some of my favorite shots from the afternoon -

To say that dinner was delicious would be a major understatement. It was DELICIOUS!

I said it last year & I'll say it again ... this holiday beats Halloween any day. Good food and delicious pastries and pretty lanterns and quality time spent with loved ones? Yes, please. It has officially been added to my list of autumn favorites, right up there with Thanksgiving and football homecomings and pumpkin spice lattes.

xo

40 Days + 40 Nights ...

... without my beloved grande, non-fat, no-whip white chocolate mocha from Starbucks!

I don't usually give anything up for Lent. I am definitely NOT a believer in asceticism (aka rigorous self-denial and self-imposed suffering) and I actually think that kind of approach tends to lead us away from God's grace rather than pull us toward Him so it's a philosophy I try to steer clear of altogether. For the past few weeks, though, I've felt a little nudging in my heart telling me it *might* be a good idea to let go of something for Lent this year. And not just anything. Something very, very, precious to me .... Starbucks.

*excuse me while I bawl my eyes out and take a moment to compose myself*

OK. Here's the thing. As crazy as it sounds, Starbucks is a big part of my everyday life. It's where I grab lattes before work. It's where I meet up with friends for girl talk and impromptu counseling sessions. It's where I go when I need "down time" or when I need "quiet time" or when I need "me time" or any time, really. All this time I spend at Starbucks isn't necessarily a bad thing - I mean, there are FAR worse things I could be doing - but it does add up. Those $5.85 lattes add up financially and the calories add up health-wise. And all that time. *sigh* The time subtracts from time I could be spent doing other, way more important, way more meaningful, way more productive things.

Lately, I've been thinking about what would life look like if ...

• I took my time getting ready and had a nice, quiet Bible devotional each morning instead of rushing out the door to make sure I catch the earlier bus so I can swing by Starbucks before work?
• I baked pastries at home, from scratch, and ate them at my kitchen table in the morning while staring out at the mountains instead of grabbing them at Starbucks and eating them on the go?
• I invited my girlfriends over for a cozy, homemade brunch at my place instead of just arranging to meet up at Starbucks?
• I could have more honest heart-to-heart's with my friends over coffee without having to worry about eavesdropping strangers?
• I donated the money in my monthly Starbucks fund to a worthy charity?

What if Starbucks went back to being an occasional, once-in-a-blue-moon, "special" thing instead of an everyday thing?

So, for the first time in pretty much forever, I am giving up something for Lent. And, if I'm being honest, it's not really about the Starbucks. It's about being more intentional in my relationships, being wiser with my finances, being more health-conscious and slowing things down a little. It's about simplifying life, at least for a little while.

Have any of you ever given up anything temporarily? Was it easy for you, or did you count down the days until you could do it/eat it/drink it again?

-xoxo-

♥ Happy LOVE Day ♥

In honor of Valentine's Day, I've been listening to love songs on repeat all day long. The song currently playing is A Whole New World from Aladdin - "tell me princess, now when did you last let your heart decide?" I'm such a sucker for love songs. They make me all giddy and happy and, if they're REALLY good, they give me goosebumps and make my cry.

But enough about that. It's time to announce the winner of my Starbucks giveaway ...

Comment #4 belongs to Ginger. Yay! Congrats Ginger. Send me your address (mail it to stephaniejoanna {at} live.ca) and I will get your gift card in the mail. I love giveaways, I need to host them more often.

I hope your Valentine's Day is a good one, full of candy hearts and hugs and lots of meaningful I love you's. ~xox~

Happy Christmas

Well, folks - it's here. I am officially on holiday for 12 glorious days and will be heading to the airport bright and early tomorrow morning to catch my flight to Montreal. I've decided to take some much needed time away from the computer and won't be blogging again until boxing day (at the earliest) so I wanted to wish you all a very merry & wonderful Christmas before I log off. I hope you get everything you wish for this Christmas & are able to enjoy quality time with people you love. My wish for you this season is that the peace and joy of the Savior fill your heart and overflow into all aspects of your life.

Christmas blessings to you and yours, from me and mine :)

xoxo

Deck the Halls

As promised, here are some photos from my Christmas Tree Trimming Party last week. Xinxin took most of the photos with her camera but she's been busy with final exams and hasn't had a chance to send them over to me yet, so you'll just have to make do with the few shots I snapped on my camera ...

We drank Eggnog and hot chocolate

We cuddled and laughed

We admired all the little ornaments, some new .. some from my childhood

... and, last but not least, we posed by the tree. :)

Even though it's been tradition to put up our tree on the 1st of December, when I lived at home it was usually just my Mom and I who decorated. This was my first time throwing an actual party to kick off the season and it was such a blast. In fact, it was *so* much fun that I'll be turning this Tree Trimming Party idea into an annual event!

xox

Heart Full Of Happy

Happy December, everyone! Last night was my fabulous Christmas Tree Trimming Party. I had a wonderful group of friends over, and we ate Christmas cupcakes (above) and gingerbread cookies and drank eggnog and hot chocolate. We laughed, we sang (well, Virginia and I did) and we decorated. My tree looks wonderful and I'll share more photos of the party later this weekend ... but, for now, I just wanted to share some of these thoughts that are on my heart today.

I am blessed. So, so, so blessed. Blessed to know such fantastic people. Blessed to get to call them my friends. Blessed that they care and love me for the crazy, Christmas fanatic that I am. Blessed to have found people who just "get" me. Blessed that they're all so thoughtful and generous and that they showed up with chai latte mix, apple pie and even a present for me to put under my tree. Blessed to have laughter (lots of it!) in my life. Blessed to have special people to celebrate with, both here in Vancouver and in Montreal. Blessed, y'all - that's what I am.

I've been telling people that more than anything else this Christmas, I just want to "get back to basics". I want to get back to the heart of the season and focus on what really matters. Lately, I've been forcing myself to ponder what is left when you strip away the commercialism and the expensive gifts and the overall frenzy of the holidays ... and I've been getting my answers, loud and clear. You're left with an infant King in a manger, born 2010 years ago. You're left with worship. You're left with showering people with kindness and love and quality time instead of (or in addition to) presents and cards. You're left with friends. You're left with family. And you know what? That's all more than enough to fill my city girl heart with happy.

~xox~

Christmas Sneak Peeks

Let me just begin by saying that it is cold here in Vancouver. Very cold. Bleeping cold. Cold like I'm sitting here in my office wearing mitts and a scarf kind of cold. Yo, Mother Nature - did you miss the fact that we've got palm trees everywhere?! Take your freezing temperatures and your frost and your ridiculous wind chill elsewhere please. Brrrrrrrr!

Now that I've got that off my chest, I'd like to warm things up by sharing a few sneak peeks of my Christmas in the City tree. Obviously the tree isn't up yet but I have pulled out my box of ornaments in preparation. Here are some of my favorites:

New York City taxi cab, loaded up with presents. Love it.

(purchased at Pier 1 Imports)

Zebra print bulb because y'all know I love zebra print.

(Purchased at Pier 1 Imports)

And, I'm not gonna lie, this last one is my favorite ....

City skyline ornament, made by yours truly!

Last Friday night was girls' night and we decided to branch out from our usual routine of board games and chick flicks and make some Christmas crafts instead. I, being the self-proclaimed "Martha Stewart wannabe" of the group, was in charge of coming up with the craft idea. Turns out, making your own Christmas bulbs is easy peasy.

I bought some clear glass ornaments at Michaels and busted out my glitter, Sharpie pens, acrylic paint and self-adhesive rhinestones and bling. We all had a blast getting creative and everyone came up with really unique, clever designs.

That's it for now. I'm off to grab a coffee from Starbucks.

-xoxo-

A Tree With A Theme

I've said it before and I'll say it again - one of the most exciting parts of living on my own, away from home for the first time, is getting to create my own space and do my own thing. I love my family to bits and I sure do miss the creature comforts of my childhood home sometimes ... but, really, there is such freedom in getting to make my own decisions. Some of these decisions are important ones and take a lot of serious contemplating ... for example, do I buy or do I rent? Do I live in this neighborhood or that one? Do I sign a lease, or do I insist on month-to-month?

Other decisions, though, are much more fun and with the holidays right around the corner, I'm getting to make LOTS of fun decisions. In my family, we put our Christmas tree up every year on December the 1st - regardless of what day of the week that falls on. I'm the kind of girl who likes to ride the Christmas train as long as she possibly can, so I knew that this was a tradition I was going to carry with me into my new place. My tree's going up on the 1st and I have a whole group of friends coming over to drink eggnog and help me hang ornaments.

My mom sent me a box in the mail of some of my favorite Christmas ornaments from my childhood, but there aren't enough there to decorate an entire tree. So, tonight, I went ornament shopping. This one store had a whole floor devoted to Christmas goodies and they had a bunch of trees showcasing the ornaments and decorations available. Each tree was done up in a different theme and I decided right then and there that I wanted my tree to have a theme too. And I knew exactly what the theme was going to be - Christmas in the City.

Think lots of pink, purple, silver and gold. Think lots of bling. Think ornaments with skylines and city landmarks (Eiffle tower, Empire State Building, Big Ben, etc) Think teeny tiny shopping bags and shoes and sparkles and bling ... did I already mention bling?

I left with my arms full and I am *SO* excited for the party on the 1st.

I ♥ Christmas. I ♥ City Life.

It's the perfect theme for my tree this year.

xox

Sparkle On

Remember how I said I was writing a letter to my Christmas tree for prompt #4 of Shimelle's class? Well, here is ...

Dearest Christmas Tree,

How lovely you look, all lit up with your pretty bulbs. I am *so* glad that I didn't let Katie talk me into getting one of those Charlie Brown trees. I just don't get the whole Charlie Brown thing ... the flimsy branches, the falling bristles, the whole "woe is me, I can barely hold myself up" demeanor. I don't see the allure. Maybe Probably I am just being materialistic in my belief that Christmas trees should be big and round and breathtaking and full of things that glisten and sparkle. But I'm also being sentimental. Growing up, we always had beautiful Christmas trees. They were the centerpiece of our living room for the entire month of December. We had special, personalized bulbs from "the North Pole" and lots of pretty homemade ornaments that Mom made in our kitchen. We'd tie little red ribbons to the end of the branches and cover the tree in silver icicle strings. My sister and I would take turns putting the angel on the top of the tree - one year she would do it, the next year I would it - and we'd often have arguments about whose turn it was to do the honors. We'd get hoisted up on Daddy's shoulders and carefully reach over, putting the angel at the very top of the tree. It was a big moment, seeing the tree all finished and looking whimsical. But anyways, the point is - it just wouldn't be Christmas without a beautiful tree. So thank you for being the beautiful tree that you are. I appreciate it.

Sparkle on,

xox Stephanie

A while ago, I found a photo of me at 5 years old, on my father's shoulders, reaching over to put the angel on top of my tree. I've been dying to make a layout documenting my childhood holiday traditions, but never got around to writing the journaling. I'm planning to use that photo of me plus a photo of this year's tree (my first tree in my first apartment) with that letter as the journaling.

I managed to squeeze in some scrapbook time today and made a layout about my morning routine using the journaling I came up with in prompt #3 ... unfortunately, my camera's not working at the moment so I'm going to have to wait until tomorrow to post it but I'm really pleased with how it came out! Looking forward to sharing it with all of you!

xoxo

PS - For those of you who are in the class with me and are wondering what I'm doing for prompt #5 (fill in the blanks) ... I've sent off a little Mad Libs survey to my bestie in Montreal, and she's going to be mailing it to me on a postcard with her answers. Then, I'll return the favor and mail her a postcard with my answers. Fun times!

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

I am slowly learning quite a bit about Chinese culture as all of my co-workers at the office and many of the university students I work with are Chinese. On Wednesday, the Chinese will be celebrating Mid-Autumn Festival ... here in North America, it's also known as Moon Festival, Lantern Festival and Moon Cake Festival. It's the 2nd most important holiday in Chinese culture, after Chinese New Year.

My sweet co-workers surprised me this morning with an early Mid-Autumn Festival gift ...

As if that box wasn't beautiful enough, inside are a bunch of little Moon Cakes made at T&T Bakery, one of Vancouver's best Chinese bakeries! I also got a little citrus candle. I am already a HUGE fan of this holiday. So much better than Halloween. Give me pretty pink flowers and Chinese lanterns over spider webs and skeletons any day. And, just to really complete the experience, I picked up some yummy Chinese take-out on my way home ~

This week is off to a fantastical start, if I do say so myself!

Love y'all xox

O Canada ♥

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Canada Day on Thursday. I sure did! The city was a buzz of patriotism and I was up and out at 9am to take it all in. Here are a couple of snapshots of my day (the rest are all up on Facebook) ~

Canada Place down by the waterfront was where most of the festivities were. The Olympic flame was also re-lit in honor of our country's birthday.

The parade downtown

Celebrating diversity. These Persian dancers were AMAZING.

Tara-Jean and Vincent from So You Think You Can Dance Canada performed.

The Young Executives (a band) paid tribute to our troops with an awesome rendition of The Killer's song, All These Things I've Done.

My favorite "secular" band, Five Alarm Funk, performed. They were fantastic, as usual.

Last but not least, fireworks by the water with a group of my favorite church peeps.

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

We are truly blessed to live in such a wonderful, beautiful, free country!

xox

Easter Thoughts

"Since we've compiled this long and sorry record as sinners .. and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity He put us in the right standing with Himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we're in and restored us to where He always wanted us to be. And He did it by means of Jesus Christ."

- Romans 3:23-24, The Message paraphrase

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

It's 4:00pm ... which means it's time for me to head off to the airport for my flight to Vancouver. I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas. My prayer this year is
that everyone takes a little time to remember that JESUS is the reason for the season! He is wonderful and totally worthy of praise, and I hope that in the hussle and bussle of this busy holiday time, everyone can find a few moments of peace to reflect on the miracle of Christmas and the hope that is available to each of us as we enter 2010. May your Christmas be filled with happy moments and lots of cheer! I'll be sure to update once I'm safe and sound in British Columbia.

Holiday hugs to everyone,
xox Stephanie

The Great Pumpkin Ball

As promised, here are some of the photos I took at The Great Pumpkin Ball at the Montreal Botanical Gardens. I don't celebrate Halloween, so traditional jack-o-lanterns don't really do anything for me ... but these pumpkins were so uniquely decorated I couldn't help but be inspired.

A little background info on The Great Pumpkin Ball .... it's an annual event here in Montreal hosted by the Montreal Botanical Gardens. Anyone can participate and individuals (young and old), schools and groups get together to decorate a pumpkin. The pumpkin cannot be carved, but you can use whatever you want to decorate it - paint, glitter, fabric, clay, etc.

All the pumpkins are then put on display for the public to enjoy!

You can see more photos here.

Isn't this a great activity to do with kids??! Pumpkin carving is so messy (not to mention dangerous) but this is totally safe and you can get as creative as you want. And if you don't celebrate Halloween, you can still get in on the fun and make something totally non-Halloweenish. AND ... because the pumpkin isn't carved, it will last longer.

Yup, I'm a fan of The Great Pumpkin Ball. :o)

xox

Thanksgiving Tradition

In case you're unaware, it's Thanksgiving Weekend here in Canada - one of my favorite holidays! We've been busy preparing for our big family meal ... pies are baking, the turkey is cooking and the house smells like a delicious blend of nutmeg and cinnamon! I just love this time of year!

One of my favorite Thanksgiving Weekend traditions is going to the farmer's market near my house to select a pumpkin. I went today after church and had so much fun - the weather was just *perfect* .... here are some photos I managed to snap ....


And here is a sneak peek at some of tonight's desserts .....

The pumpkin pie (the one with the criss-cross design & the heart) was made by yours truly (aka me). The little apple tart was made by my mom. A blueberry pie is currently being baked, too. Mmmmmm! Cannot wait.

xox