Traveling across the country with a dog and a boyfriend is not recommended. One or the other. But not both. The wiser choice would be the human, in the end. Right out of the gate (literally, of the airport) though, it isn’t obvious that either of them are travel-ready.

I’m not going to say I regret booking five vacation days and spending them in… well… a state of total frustration. What I regret is the future backlash I’m going to have to endure because I “forced” someone else to waste their vacation days on dog wrestling, wrangling, and shushing.

I honestly didn’t know only two of the three would get along at any one time. I guess positive thinking and expectations of harmony aren’t always enough.

Normally on vacation I would have my camera out and I’d be taking pictures of the most minute things. The patio furniture. This time, I brought my camera and lenses with me, but I haven’t bothered to charge the battery.

Yesterday we went for an awesome walk on the beach, and I wish I would have taken pictures of Rufus’ first steps and licks of the salt water. Who knows when he’ll ever be on a beach again… but in a rush to borrow my parent’s car I totally forgot my camera bag. The pictures I took with my iphone are crazy distorted, but I think they somewhat capture the spirit of his adventure. And our vacation.

Here’s the best one:

I’m not entirely sure what happened to the shoreline or the horizon. It’s a really nice beach, honest. And, dog friendly.

We only have two sleeps left here. I’m not sure what’s planned for tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be nice, like it has been every day. One of my folks is taking the day off though, which isn’t typical of my trips home (it’s usually me in an empty house) so I’m not sure if there’s an itinerary or if it’s business as usual.

I have to say, honestly, that while I’m not looking forward to going back to work in a few days or leaving this excellent-100%-of-the-time-weather, I am very much looking forward to tending my lawn and garden, going to Starbucks more than regularly, and getting some lounging done on my own patio. Weather permitting.

Seriously.

The cutest cuteness in all the cutenesses. He’s got two diplomas under his belt, and he’s only 8 months old. He’s also a scientist, he studies the mechanics of kennel doors.

His current portfolio includes knowing all his paws by numbers, crawl, spin/twist, roll-over in both directions, target, fetch, and he knows come, and is working on his 60 second sits and downs. He of course, prefers “place” to being told what to do.

Basically, he’s a prodigy.

And he occupies all my time and money. And he wakes me up at the worst hours every night.

But I loooove him.

I’ve started some seeds for a garden this summer, which I suspect the dog will have fun digging up if the squirrels and wild rabbit/hare-things don’t get to it first. So far I have brussels sprouts, purple peppers, broccoli, strawberries, and two kinds of tomatos started. I have more seeds for later, but I can’t remember what they are. Peas, beans, normal stuff. I need to get some kale seeds because kale chips are something I can’t live without.

I just downloaded the newer Regina Spektor cd. The dog and I appreciate it, but someone else has declared her a weird aquarius. I guess that’s the appeal for me.

Homework time.

Well. I just renewed my webhosting for another two years, so I’d better make it worth while this time.

2009  has been the best. 2008 was shitty. I think 2010 will be a slap in the face. Here’s to the odd numbered years.

In the past year I’ve

- learned how to cook and bake gluten free
- bought a house and all the fixin’s
- brought home the most fantastic puppy on the planet. Fantastic in terms of physical and behavioural cuteness. Fantaaastic.
- killed at school
- killed at work (figuratively, but there are days when it’s been close)
- gone to visit my folks twice
- gained a sister-in-law. i didn’t have to do much for that one, but it’s still pretty cool
- taught the boy-bot how to run and love doing it
- totally slacked at blogging
- lost any work-life balance that i may have had in the past

The office closed at lunch time today, and after going to our favourite diner for eggs benny, we took the dog for a walk to our local liquor store for a bottle of my favourite sparkling wine for New Years Eve. I bought a bottle of merlot too, I’m going to try Julia Child’s boeuf bourguignon recipe, but with bison. I’m hoping. I still need to get my hands on some bison stewing meat, but I think I might have a source.

Right now I have a pan of homemade marshmallows made with agave nectar setting on the counter. Later I plan to make a pan of butter cookies with almond flour. I’m excited to crack open that bottle of wine that’s chilling in the fridge right now.

My resolution for the next year is to do less. Instead of going insane, I’m only going to take one course at school at a time, I’m going to take more pictures, bake more, decorate our house, and enjoy the puppy. He’s really easy to enjoy.

I might even blog more. Maybe.

Recipe:

Gluten Free Coconut Flour Waffles

2 tbsp coconut oil
3 eggs
1/4 c brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp gluten free baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp buckwheat flour
2.5 tbsp coconut flour

It REALLY doesn’t matter what order you put the ingredients in your bowl as long as you mix the buckwheat flour in BEFORE the coconut flour.

These are dense, and probably won’t easily fill your waffle maker. I aim for the center of mine and make adorably odd waffle shapes. You could do the same and play “Name that Country.” Convince your breakfast mates that you formed the waffles in the shape of a country, and they have to guess which one or they do the clean up! Brillliant.

I heart these with fresh strawberries and vanilla yogurt or pan roasted apples (in butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon) and vanilla yogurt. Delicious!

Picture forthcoming.

We (meaning my boyfriend) just bought a house! I’ve already sourced cheap almond flour in the neighbourhood. There are 6 grocery stores within a short walk! Two italian, two asian, and 2 big chain type deals. I’m stoked on the Italian markets! All the nuts, and syrups, and oils! Oh my! Along with our weekly grocery delivery service, I believe we will be more than set in our new digs.

First, CAKE! Gluten free cake made out of coconut flour. I downloaded the recipe in a pdf from Picadilly books, but I can’t find it anywhere on their website or on Amazon right now. I have every intention of buying the book though, because every recipe in it has been a total taste success… something that’s hard to say after tasting some random gluten free baked goods out there. Coconut flour, in my opinion, is the way to go. I think I could make some good change opening a #gf bakery in Calgary using coconut flour. The only issue might be the amount of eggs needed. Wheat intolerance folk will be fiiiiiiiiiiiiine. True celiacs may have problems if they have egg allergies. Which would suck, obviously.

In case Picadilly puts a link up to the innards of the book, this their site. Or maybe you want to read the lonely Amazon review? You’re welcome.

The cake:

Basically, I beat the hell out of the batter in my fancy new 90th Anniversary KitchenAid, divided into two round cakepans lined with parchment paper AND THEN I stuck the two cooked cakes together with (UTTERLY FABULOUS) whipped coconut milk.

Did you know you could even do that? You take a can of coconut milk, throw in some vanilla and (I used) icing sugar and you whip it, whip it good. It doesn’t really take on a whipped creamy consistency until you chill it. I poured what was left of mine after the cake was assembled back into the can and stuck it in the frigo. Because I am brilliant.

There were some slidey issues, but before it went into the fridge things were straightened out. Is that toasted coconut on the top? Oh, why YES! it is.

This cake tastes soooo much better the next day after it has been refridgerated. I’m not sure why. The coconut flour is moist and firm (probably because this cake has oooh, 9 eggs in it). I went with a coconut theme just because I wasn’t sure how much coconut would come through the chocolate in the cake. I really had nothing to worry about.

I used a dirty plate. And put the picture on the internet. To show you the magical dollop of coconut whipped cream. It was divine. Really. Also, the flash was a necessity in the first two pictures. Which is worse than the faint natural light coming from the one window in my subterranean kitchen. But not a lot.

FIN.

Next time, maybe a Hawaii round up or a cookie revelation. Or a post only about my newly acquired love for borscht.

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp butter
• 3 eggs, separated
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 tsp vanilla
  
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 3 tbsp coconut flour

What I did:

I melted the butter and mixed all the ingredients except for the eggs. With the eggs, I only mixed the yolks into my batter at first. I beat the egg whites ’til soft peak stage and then mixed them into the batter right before cooking (ie. after I made a pot of coffee and praised how awesome these were going to turn out).

What happened:

Something completely unphotogenic. Basically, I got nice fluffy waffles. Nice fluffy soggy waffles. Served with fresh organic strawberries and organic nonfat french vanilla yogurt. And maple syrup.

What I’ll try next time:

Brown sugar or regular sugar instead of honey. I think the honey cooks too quickly in the waffle iron and doesn’t provide enough structure. I need some sweetener with stability.

Maybe some more coconut flour?

I thought that beating the egg whites would make the waffles fluffier (i was right!) but maybe their structural integrity was compromised. I might have to try this again without beating the whites. That sounded racist.

Next up: Birthday cake!

A few weeks ago we travelled (my) home to attend my little brother’s wedding. It was nice to see him happily growing up. I hope he and his new bride are happy. I guess she’s my sister-in-law now, but we’ve never really met. I mean, I saw her at the wedding events. It was obvious that I was my brother’s guest.

On our trip the maritmes we went on a quick one day, three province tour. Breakfast on the ferry from Pictou, NS. A very lovely sailing over to Prince Edward Island (I think on the Confederation) lasted about an hour. The Island was beautiful. We had lunch at a pub in Charlottetown that came with recommendations, but that I certainly wouldn’t recommend. Snacks were acquired at the Anne of Green Gables Store (chocolate covered potato chips, what!), then we cruised over to Summerside. A total waste of time. Back across the bridge to my hometurf: New Brunswick. We took a jaunt over to Shediac to make insure an obligatory lobster dinner was had (none for me thanks x_x) at a place I’ve been to and enjoyed many times. Then it was back to the newg (as we’ve affectionately dubbed the town my parents live in). It was a whirlwind tour, but it was totally fun to mah boyfriend a bit of the geography of where I’m from. Of course, he was totally unimpressed. He said the maritmes are overcompensating for their lack of mountains. Not all westerners are like him.

It is true that the maritimes have a number of the world’s largest ________ roadside attractions, but actually? Alberta has more. World’s largest UFO landing pad? Who’s overcompensating now?

Speaking of world’s largest, a neighbour was just kind enough to give us the world’s largest collection of organic bananas. They’re in need of immediate eating/baking/smoothie making. I need to find me some gluten free recipes, or a decent (non gritty) all purpose flour mix to use that we’re both going to like.

I have been buying a lot of normal-bread sandwiches for myself at lunch time. I appreciate the gluten free stuff for what it is, and some of it is REALLY REALLY good. But I like my whole wheat flour stuff. I like ciabatta, foccacia, and other flat breads. If I had a need to stop eating wheat, I would. But I don’t.

I love baking muffins, and cookies and really anything pallitable that doesn’t have wheat flour in it. I’m not super adventurous to try a lot of different flours though, because the cost can get a little ridiculous. Also, it’s still hard for me to know when I should use a rice flour versus a sorghum flour versus WHAT THE HELL is coconut flour for. My mom had a nice flour mix going (which was a nice gesture for her to have gluten free baking ready), but when I tried to replicate it, I got gritttttt.

Have I mentioned I hate texture? In my mouth? Yup.

So, this whole gluten free thing has been a really fun challenge … so far.

Yup. Not me, but is the new way of the kitchen.

I now have the challenge of trying to prepare meals with food sensitivites. I have food sensitivities, but my “deadly allergic” doesn’t equate to having North American staples make you feel ill all the time.

And so, tonight I made Gourmet Pizza from Grain-free Gourmet with almond flour, and it was without a doubt the meal that made me decide not to give up. Not to throw in the towel and say, “If you can’t eat what I’m making you’re going to have to make yourself a salad or something, forever.” It was delicious. No pictures were taken and I’m happy to repeat that meal. Over and over and over.

The book was gifted to me by my (former) boss on her last day. I was stoicly devestated to see her go. We became friends, and I honestly don’t think the gap that I’m going to feel when I go in on Monday and see her office empty can be filled. I am super happy for her, and the reasons she has for leaving cannot be argued against. I just really want to go too.

But alas, I am here, studying for a final on a Friday night.

I am taking July and August off from school and hope to have a little time to be creative.

When I’m not working.

Or cooking without (wheat) flour.

Sigh.