After weeks of talk about finishing the upstairs bathroom, it's finally done. I don't know why I procrastinated for so long - once I finally...

I've been itching to try out one of those table-to-bench makeovers that keep popping up all over the blogosphere. And I found the perfect table to do it with. It has solid wood legs with beautiful detail. The top, however, seems to have been replaced at some point in time. It's made of wood pattern laminate-covered pressboard with some crazy kind of brown plastic edging. So there were no feelings of guilt about butchering it if the whole bench thing didn't work out. Plus, it was free. I unscrewed the top and pulled it off so that I could paint the base. Glossy black, of course. I picked up a piece of firm, 4" thick foam to use for the seat. I had a hard time deciding between 2" and 4", but decided to go for the thicker one. While I plan to use it as a coffee table (with a tray on it so you can put a drink or food down on a steady surface) it will be handy to have for extra seating. So I wanted it to be comfortable. To cover the cushion, I cut the fabric about 30 cm bigger than needed to cover the top and sides of the foam so that I had enough fabric to wrap it around and under the table top. Then I put the top on the table with the foam and a layer of cotton batting (to soften the squared edges of the foam) on top. I used the same fabric that I covered the kitchen stools with, so that the pieces coordinate. I put the fabric on the table wrong-side up and pinned and marked the corners so that I could sew them and get a nice, neat, fitted corner. After sewing the corners, it was a quick job to flip the cover right side out and staple it onto the table top. I did this with the top removed from the table, and then reattached it to the legs after the covering was complete. I planned to put this in the family room, but I have it in the living room right now. I like it out there, and we don't have a table for that space yet as our old living room was far too narrow and crowded for a coffee table. I have a small tray to use on it right now, but am keeping my eyes out for something larger. I'm not worried about balancing drinks on the tray as the material is an outdoor fabric, so it'll clean up well if something happens to get spilled on it. Not too shabby for a couple of hours work!

My sister introduced me to sex in a pan many, many years ago. I have no idea why it's called that, but it's a delicious and easy to make dessert. It has a pecan-shortbread crust on the bottom, topped with layers of cream cheese, pudding and whipped cream. I know it doesn't really sound like a grown-up dessert, but trust me, it's worth making. Alan and I have our annual work picnic tomorrow where we head out to Toronto Island with both of our labs for an afternoon of cavorting. There's frisbee, soccer, baseball, and sometimes swimming. And of course, much eating. We have an ethnically diverse group of people, so the pot luck lunch is really something to look forward to. Since I would have an appreciative audience I considered making microbiology themed cookies like these for dessert (minus the petri dishes, of course - that would just be weird to take on a picnic). via I decided that I didn't have a spare six hours for cookie decorating so I was wracking my brain for something simpler to take. Then last night we were out for dinner and had key lime pie for dessert. The restaurant served it up in a mason jar, and gave me the great idea to make individual desserts in a mason jar. Perfect for a picnic! I googled dessert in a mason jar and came up with several recipes for cheesecake in a jar. I considered making it, but then decided to be adventurous and try modifying sex in a pan for 250 mL wide-mouth mason jars. I made 20 jars, and found that doubling the recipe (below) was just perfect for this number. After mixing the base crust, I scooped 2 generous tablespoons into the bottom of each jar and patted it down using the bottom of a glass. I loaded the jars onto a large baking sheet and baked at 350°C for about 15 minutes. I let the jars cool completely before preparing the next layers. The first layer is cream cheese, sugar and whip cream beaten together until it's light and fluffy. I dropped it in with a spoon and then smoothed it out as best I could. The second and third layers are chocolate and vanilla pudding. I have to admit (as hard as it is to believe) that I had never made instant pudding before. I used Jello brand; the directions say to beat it for 2 minutes, but with the first batch I discovered that it solidified too quickly, was hard to portion out with a spoon, and ended up lumpy in the jars. I mixed subsequent batches in my 4 cup pyrex measuring cup using my hand held beater for 80 seconds (and yes, I did time it). It was just starting to thicken at this point, and working quickly I was able to use the spout and pour each layer into the jar where it self-leveled. The final layer is plain old whipped cream, and then I topped it all off with some chocolate shavings. The jars are all closed up and chilling in the fridge. Now I'm hoping that I have the strength to lug them down to the ferry tomorrow! Sex in a Pan Crust: 1 cup chopped pecans 3 Tbsp white sugar 1/2 cup butter, softened 1 cup flour Cream cheese layer: 1 pkg cream cheese 1 cup icing sugar 1 cup whipped cream Vanilla and chocolate pudding 1 package instant pudding 2 cups of milk 1. Mix all of the ingredients for the crust together and add two generous tablespoons to each mason jar (makes 10 jars). Place jars on a baking sheet and bake at 350°C for approximately 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. 2. In a mixer, whip the cream cheese and icing sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the whipped cream and mix well. Divide evenly between jars and smooth out to edges. 3. Beat the milk and pudding on high speed for 80 seconds, then quickly pour into the jars. I put the chocolate in first and then the vanilla for the contrast between layers. 4. Top off the jars with whipped cream (about 2 cups total) and sprinkle with chocolate shavings. 5. Close up the jars and refrigerate for a couple of hours to allow the dessert to set.

DuWest Vintage has a vibe that makes you feel like you're walking onto the set of a film. The shop is on the still-kind-of-quiet stretch of Dundas West n..

Despite my high hopes and enthusiasm earlier this week, I haven’t made much progress in the bathroom. I just can’t seem to bring myself to paint. Maybe this evening I’ll put on a movie on Netflix and lock myself in there until it’s done. I did manage to hang some pictures on the wall in the kitchen. At least I have one small corner of the house back in shape! Here’s a picture of the kitchen part-way through the reno. Note the tiny little useless window above the sink. I couldn’t open it without a climbing on a chair because of the angle of the countertop by the sink. We forgot to include the larger window in the original building permit, and almost didn’t bother with it. Boy, am I ever glad that we did! Compare the picture above with how it looks now Not only does it let in a tonne of light as it faces south, I can also now look out of it when I’m doing dishes. I cannot believe that I lived the last 12 years without it! We also replaced the kitchen faucet. It wasn’t in the plans, but it seems that it got knocked around during the reno and was leaking like crazy into the cupboard below. So we trundled up to Ginger’s and bought this amazing new one. It’s their Soho 33 line. We got taps from the same line for our upstairs bathroom as well. I love how high above the counter it is – I can easily fill really tall pots. And the bell-shaped part is a pull-out spray nozzle; pretty and functional. The bowl holding the fruit behind the tap is the first item I ever purchased at auction over a decade ago. I waffled between pictures or a large mirror over the sink. I was thinking that the mirror would reflect light from the window back into the room. But I had pictures on hand, so I decided to put them up and see how I liked it. I don’t like the Monet/Renoir little poster things in the outer upper frames (they were cheap little things that I have from when I was an undergrad), but I’m happy with the rest of the grouping. Several of the pictures are special to us. The spoon was A.’s grandmother’s. She used it every day for mixing, and apparently stirred so vigorously that she wore away part of the bowl. And this old picture came from my great aunt JoJo. I’ve had it since I was a young teen – she gave it to me the year before she died. We picked up the antique seed packets on our very first trip to Saxton’s River, Vermont; for the FASEB Viral Assembly Meeting of course. Unfortunately the store that we bought it in has gone out of business. I checked when we were there in June. It’s too bad as they had a lot of beautiful antique maps, prints, and other interesting art. All in all, I'm happy with how it turned out. But now I'm on the prowl for something to replace the two little art prints in the top row. Maybe some original kid art?

Some photos from The Weekend Vendors Market last Saturday. We will be here every Saturday until the end of October 2014 :)

Some photos from The Weekend Vendors Market last Saturday. We will be here every Saturday until the end of October 2014 :)

Some photos from The Weekend Vendors Market last Saturday. We will be here every Saturday until the end of October 2014 :)

DuWest Vintage has a vibe that makes you feel like you're walking onto the set of a film. The shop is on the still-kind-of-quiet stretch of Dundas West n..

Well, the doors took a lot more time to finish than I expected. Not that the number of hours I worked on them was large, but I seem to have spent a lot of time procrastinating about finishing them. I'm so happy to have them finally hanging where they belong and not kicking around the house like they have been for the past couple of months. I was worried that the glass inserts would get knocked over and broken since they were just leaning against one wall or another. Because the hallway is only 49" wide and the closet is at the end of it, we knew that narrow double doors would be much more functional than a single wide door. So the search was on. Since we were looking for a non-standard size, new doors would have to be special ordered. Which seemed to equate to "very pricey". We made a trip up to The Door Store to see if we could find something old, and really lucked out. The doors that we found were about 16" wide each, apparently a very unusual size for them to have in stock. The guy at the store told us they had been used as sidelights, but we figured that we could fix them up and hang them as doors. And the best part was that they only cost about a quarter of the price that we were quoted for plain five-panel doors that would match the rest of the doors in the house. I love the look of them; the glass inserts are really heavy glass with a beveled edge, the doors are made from solid oak and are faced with tiger oak, and they have a little mail slot on one side. Since they'd been used as sidelights, they had a line of black crud all around the edges so they had to be refinished. Otherwise I would have been happy to just hang them, even though the colour wasn't precisely the same shade as our hardwood floor. I sanded the fronts of the doors down to remove all of the old finish, stained them the same colour as the hardwood floor, and put on three coats of satin finish polyurethane. I wasn't interested in being able to see into the coat closet, so I had to figure out what to do with the glass. I though about lining it with fabric, but decided to frost it instead. On the weekend I took them out onto the porch and sprayed them with a frosted glass coating made by Excel. It's a special spray paint for glass and was really easy to apply. I put on about four coats before the can ran dry. The glass is still a little more transparent that I would like, but it's does a pretty good job blocking colour from coats showing through the windows. After I finished the glass I had to reinstall it in the doors. When we bought them the windows were held in by a few flimsy nails, but I wanted to make sure that they were good and secure. I got out my handy-dandy chop saw and cut quarter round to fit the inside of the window frame. A few nails (that I held my breath while hammering as I was terrified I would hit the glass and shatter it) and the windows were in. The quarter round gives them a good secure fit, but still allows a little bit of movement in case the wood flexes or swells with humidity in the summer. All that was left was to wrestle them into place. I tried to get them up myself but it was impossible 'cause they're so heavy, so I had to wait for muscles to get home from taking Matthew to hockey practice (did I mention he plays hockey five or six times a week?). I love how they look in place. It reminds me of the old style wooden telephone booths - like the ones used by the Beetles in A Hard Day's Night. I still need to figure out handles for them. The doors fit snugly together and stay closed so we don't need anything that latches. I can't decide if I should put on round door handles, or small pulls, or glass knobs, or ...... Any suggestions?

Despite my high hopes and enthusiasm earlier this week, I haven’t made much progress in the bathroom. I just can’t seem to bring myself to paint. Maybe this evening I’ll put on a movie on Netflix and lock myself in there until it’s done. I did manage to hang some pictures on the wall in the kitchen. At least I have one small corner of the house back in shape! Here’s a picture of the kitchen part-way through the reno. Note the tiny little useless window above the sink. I couldn’t open it without a climbing on a chair because of the angle of the countertop by the sink. We forgot to include the larger window in the original building permit, and almost didn’t bother with it. Boy, am I ever glad that we did! Compare the picture above with how it looks now Not only does it let in a tonne of light as it faces south, I can also now look out of it when I’m doing dishes. I cannot believe that I lived the last 12 years without it! We also replaced the kitchen faucet. It wasn’t in the plans, but it seems that it got knocked around during the reno and was leaking like crazy into the cupboard below. So we trundled up to Ginger’s and bought this amazing new one. It’s their Soho 33 line. We got taps from the same line for our upstairs bathroom as well. I love how high above the counter it is – I can easily fill really tall pots. And the bell-shaped part is a pull-out spray nozzle; pretty and functional. The bowl holding the fruit behind the tap is the first item I ever purchased at auction over a decade ago. I waffled between pictures or a large mirror over the sink. I was thinking that the mirror would reflect light from the window back into the room. But I had pictures on hand, so I decided to put them up and see how I liked it. I don’t like the Monet/Renoir little poster things in the outer upper frames (they were cheap little things that I have from when I was an undergrad), but I’m happy with the rest of the grouping. Several of the pictures are special to us. The spoon was A.’s grandmother’s. She used it every day for mixing, and apparently stirred so vigorously that she wore away part of the bowl. And this old picture came from my great aunt JoJo. I’ve had it since I was a young teen – she gave it to me the year before she died. We picked up the antique seed packets on our very first trip to Saxton’s River, Vermont; for the FASEB Viral Assembly Meeting of course. Unfortunately the store that we bought it in has gone out of business. I checked when we were there in June. It’s too bad as they had a lot of beautiful antique maps, prints, and other interesting art. All in all, I'm happy with how it turned out. But now I'm on the prowl for something to replace the two little art prints in the top row. Maybe some original kid art?

Some photos from The Weekend Vendors Market last Saturday. We will be here every Saturday until the end of October 2014 :)

DuWest Vintage has a vibe that makes you feel like you're walking onto the set of a film. The shop is on the still-kind-of-quiet stretch of Dundas West n..

After weeks of talk about finishing the upstairs bathroom, it's finally done. I don't know why I procrastinated for so long - once I finally got down to it, it only took a few hours. And here it is! The floor looks really dark in these pictures, but it's more of a medium slate blue-grey. I love the contrast of the white fixtures against the darker floor. Ignore the hanging pot light in the shower - apparently the housing is in our contractor's shed and we're waiting for him to drop it off. The shower is amazing. We chose plain white subway tile for the walls, but had it grouted in a silver colour to tone it down a bit. We had a basketweave marble mosaic laid in the bottom and used darker grey grout that matches what was used between the slate tiles on the bathroom floor. At Matthew's request we had a rain shower head installed, along with a more traditional sprayer shower head. I love my new vanity. Since this is the only bathroom aside from the basement, it needed to be large enough for everyone to use in the morning - sometimes all at the same time. It used to be such a struggle trying to squeeze past one another when everyone was trying to brush their teeth and wash up. Now, there are two sinks, lots of storage, and plenty of floor space. The photograph you can see reflected in the mirror was taken by by brother-in-law. You get great gifts when you have a photographer in the family! I also hung up a picture that used to hang in the sunroom above the bathtub. It's an amazing in-camera double exposure done by a local Toronto artist. It was taken in India - he took a picture of a woman standing on the steps of a temple, and then re-exposed the same film frame to capture light reflecting off a river. In the days of Photoshop, it's amazing to see someone with the talent to do interesting manipulations right in the camera. And in case you didn't notice, we have a chandelier hanging above the bathtub. That was our contractor's idea, and of course, once he'd suggested it, I had to have it. Alan thought it was a ridiculous idea, but I did it anyway! So there you have it. I can finally cross one room off my list. Next up - the front hallway. I should be able to make some good progress on this cold, dreary, rainy day.

My sister introduced me to sex in a pan many, many years ago. I have no idea why it's called that, but it's a delicious and easy to make dessert. It has a pecan-shortbread crust on the bottom, topped with layers of cream cheese, pudding and whipped cream. I know it doesn't really sound like a grown-up dessert, but trust me, it's worth making. Alan and I have our annual work picnic tomorrow where we head out to Toronto Island with both of our labs for an afternoon of cavorting. There's frisbee, soccer, baseball, and sometimes swimming. And of course, much eating. We have an ethnically diverse group of people, so the pot luck lunch is really something to look forward to. Since I would have an appreciative audience I considered making microbiology themed cookies like these for dessert (minus the petri dishes, of course - that would just be weird to take on a picnic). via I decided that I didn't have a spare six hours for cookie decorating so I was wracking my brain for something simpler to take. Then last night we were out for dinner and had key lime pie for dessert. The restaurant served it up in a mason jar, and gave me the great idea to make individual desserts in a mason jar. Perfect for a picnic! I googled dessert in a mason jar and came up with several recipes for cheesecake in a jar. I considered making it, but then decided to be adventurous and try modifying sex in a pan for 250 mL wide-mouth mason jars. I made 20 jars, and found that doubling the recipe (below) was just perfect for this number. After mixing the base crust, I scooped 2 generous tablespoons into the bottom of each jar and patted it down using the bottom of a glass. I loaded the jars onto a large baking sheet and baked at 350°C for about 15 minutes. I let the jars cool completely before preparing the next layers. The first layer is cream cheese, sugar and whip cream beaten together until it's light and fluffy. I dropped it in with a spoon and then smoothed it out as best I could. The second and third layers are chocolate and vanilla pudding. I have to admit (as hard as it is to believe) that I had never made instant pudding before. I used Jello brand; the directions say to beat it for 2 minutes, but with the first batch I discovered that it solidified too quickly, was hard to portion out with a spoon, and ended up lumpy in the jars. I mixed subsequent batches in my 4 cup pyrex measuring cup using my hand held beater for 80 seconds (and yes, I did time it). It was just starting to thicken at this point, and working quickly I was able to use the spout and pour each layer into the jar where it self-leveled. The final layer is plain old whipped cream, and then I topped it all off with some chocolate shavings. The jars are all closed up and chilling in the fridge. Now I'm hoping that I have the strength to lug them down to the ferry tomorrow! Sex in a Pan Crust: 1 cup chopped pecans 3 Tbsp white sugar 1/2 cup butter, softened 1 cup flour Cream cheese layer: 1 pkg cream cheese 1 cup icing sugar 1 cup whipped cream Vanilla and chocolate pudding 1 package instant pudding 2 cups of milk 1. Mix all of the ingredients for the crust together and add two generous tablespoons to each mason jar (makes 10 jars). Place jars on a baking sheet and bake at 350°C for approximately 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. 2. In a mixer, whip the cream cheese and icing sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the whipped cream and mix well. Divide evenly between jars and smooth out to edges. 3. Beat the milk and pudding on high speed for 80 seconds, then quickly pour into the jars. I put the chocolate in first and then the vanilla for the contrast between layers. 4. Top off the jars with whipped cream (about 2 cups total) and sprinkle with chocolate shavings. 5. Close up the jars and refrigerate for a couple of hours to allow the dessert to set.

My sister introduced me to sex in a pan many, many years ago. I have no idea why it's called that, but it's a delicious and easy to make dessert. It has a pecan-shortbread crust on the bottom, topped with layers of cream cheese, pudding and whipped cream. I know it doesn't really sound like a grown-up dessert, but trust me, it's worth making. Alan and I have our annual work picnic tomorrow where we head out to Toronto Island with both of our labs for an afternoon of cavorting. There's frisbee, soccer, baseball, and sometimes swimming. And of course, much eating. We have an ethnically diverse group of people, so the pot luck lunch is really something to look forward to. Since I would have an appreciative audience I considered making microbiology themed cookies like these for dessert (minus the petri dishes, of course - that would just be weird to take on a picnic). via I decided that I didn't have a spare six hours for cookie decorating so I was wracking my brain for something simpler to take. Then last night we were out for dinner and had key lime pie for dessert. The restaurant served it up in a mason jar, and gave me the great idea to make individual desserts in a mason jar. Perfect for a picnic! I googled dessert in a mason jar and came up with several recipes for cheesecake in a jar. I considered making it, but then decided to be adventurous and try modifying sex in a pan for 250 mL wide-mouth mason jars. I made 20 jars, and found that doubling the recipe (below) was just perfect for this number. After mixing the base crust, I scooped 2 generous tablespoons into the bottom of each jar and patted it down using the bottom of a glass. I loaded the jars onto a large baking sheet and baked at 350°C for about 15 minutes. I let the jars cool completely before preparing the next layers. The first layer is cream cheese, sugar and whip cream beaten together until it's light and fluffy. I dropped it in with a spoon and then smoothed it out as best I could. The second and third layers are chocolate and vanilla pudding. I have to admit (as hard as it is to believe) that I had never made instant pudding before. I used Jello brand; the directions say to beat it for 2 minutes, but with the first batch I discovered that it solidified too quickly, was hard to portion out with a spoon, and ended up lumpy in the jars. I mixed subsequent batches in my 4 cup pyrex measuring cup using my hand held beater for 80 seconds (and yes, I did time it). It was just starting to thicken at this point, and working quickly I was able to use the spout and pour each layer into the jar where it self-leveled. The final layer is plain old whipped cream, and then I topped it all off with some chocolate shavings. The jars are all closed up and chilling in the fridge. Now I'm hoping that I have the strength to lug them down to the ferry tomorrow! Sex in a Pan Crust: 1 cup chopped pecans 3 Tbsp white sugar 1/2 cup butter, softened 1 cup flour Cream cheese layer: 1 pkg cream cheese 1 cup icing sugar 1 cup whipped cream Vanilla and chocolate pudding 1 package instant pudding 2 cups of milk 1. Mix all of the ingredients for the crust together and add two generous tablespoons to each mason jar (makes 10 jars). Place jars on a baking sheet and bake at 350°C for approximately 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. 2. In a mixer, whip the cream cheese and icing sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the whipped cream and mix well. Divide evenly between jars and smooth out to edges. 3. Beat the milk and pudding on high speed for 80 seconds, then quickly pour into the jars. I put the chocolate in first and then the vanilla for the contrast between layers. 4. Top off the jars with whipped cream (about 2 cups total) and sprinkle with chocolate shavings. 5. Close up the jars and refrigerate for a couple of hours to allow the dessert to set.

My sister introduced me to sex in a pan many, many years ago. I have no idea why it's called that, but it's a delicious and easy to make dessert. It has a pecan-shortbread crust on the bottom, topped with layers of cream cheese, pudding and whipped cream. I know it doesn't really sound like a grown-up dessert, but trust me, it's worth making. Alan and I have our annual work picnic tomorrow where we head out to Toronto Island with both of our labs for an afternoon of cavorting. There's frisbee, soccer, baseball, and sometimes swimming. And of course, much eating. We have an ethnically diverse group of people, so the pot luck lunch is really something to look forward to. Since I would have an appreciative audience I considered making microbiology themed cookies like these for dessert (minus the petri dishes, of course - that would just be weird to take on a picnic). via I decided that I didn't have a spare six hours for cookie decorating so I was wracking my brain for something simpler to take. Then last night we were out for dinner and had key lime pie for dessert. The restaurant served it up in a mason jar, and gave me the great idea to make individual desserts in a mason jar. Perfect for a picnic! I googled dessert in a mason jar and came up with several recipes for cheesecake in a jar. I considered making it, but then decided to be adventurous and try modifying sex in a pan for 250 mL wide-mouth mason jars. I made 20 jars, and found that doubling the recipe (below) was just perfect for this number. After mixing the base crust, I scooped 2 generous tablespoons into the bottom of each jar and patted it down using the bottom of a glass. I loaded the jars onto a large baking sheet and baked at 350°C for about 15 minutes. I let the jars cool completely before preparing the next layers. The first layer is cream cheese, sugar and whip cream beaten together until it's light and fluffy. I dropped it in with a spoon and then smoothed it out as best I could. The second and third layers are chocolate and vanilla pudding. I have to admit (as hard as it is to believe) that I had never made instant pudding before. I used Jello brand; the directions say to beat it for 2 minutes, but with the first batch I discovered that it solidified too quickly, was hard to portion out with a spoon, and ended up lumpy in the jars. I mixed subsequent batches in my 4 cup pyrex measuring cup using my hand held beater for 80 seconds (and yes, I did time it). It was just starting to thicken at this point, and working quickly I was able to use the spout and pour each layer into the jar where it self-leveled. The final layer is plain old whipped cream, and then I topped it all off with some chocolate shavings. The jars are all closed up and chilling in the fridge. Now I'm hoping that I have the strength to lug them down to the ferry tomorrow! Sex in a Pan Crust: 1 cup chopped pecans 3 Tbsp white sugar 1/2 cup butter, softened 1 cup flour Cream cheese layer: 1 pkg cream cheese 1 cup icing sugar 1 cup whipped cream Vanilla and chocolate pudding 1 package instant pudding 2 cups of milk 1. Mix all of the ingredients for the crust together and add two generous tablespoons to each mason jar (makes 10 jars). Place jars on a baking sheet and bake at 350°C for approximately 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. 2. In a mixer, whip the cream cheese and icing sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the whipped cream and mix well. Divide evenly between jars and smooth out to edges. 3. Beat the milk and pudding on high speed for 80 seconds, then quickly pour into the jars. I put the chocolate in first and then the vanilla for the contrast between layers. 4. Top off the jars with whipped cream (about 2 cups total) and sprinkle with chocolate shavings. 5. Close up the jars and refrigerate for a couple of hours to allow the dessert to set.

My sister introduced me to sex in a pan many, many years ago. I have no idea why it's called that, but it's a delicious and easy to make dessert. It has a pecan-shortbread crust on the bottom, topped with layers of cream cheese, pudding and whipped cream. I know it doesn't really sound like a grown-up dessert, but trust me, it's worth making. Alan and I have our annual work picnic tomorrow where we head out to Toronto Island with both of our labs for an afternoon of cavorting. There's frisbee, soccer, baseball, and sometimes swimming. And of course, much eating. We have an ethnically diverse group of people, so the pot luck lunch is really something to look forward to. Since I would have an appreciative audience I considered making microbiology themed cookies like these for dessert (minus the petri dishes, of course - that would just be weird to take on a picnic). via I decided that I didn't have a spare six hours for cookie decorating so I was wracking my brain for something simpler to take. Then last night we were out for dinner and had key lime pie for dessert. The restaurant served it up in a mason jar, and gave me the great idea to make individual desserts in a mason jar. Perfect for a picnic! I googled dessert in a mason jar and came up with several recipes for cheesecake in a jar. I considered making it, but then decided to be adventurous and try modifying sex in a pan for 250 mL wide-mouth mason jars. I made 20 jars, and found that doubling the recipe (below) was just perfect for this number. After mixing the base crust, I scooped 2 generous tablespoons into the bottom of each jar and patted it down using the bottom of a glass. I loaded the jars onto a large baking sheet and baked at 350°C for about 15 minutes. I let the jars cool completely before preparing the next layers. The first layer is cream cheese, sugar and whip cream beaten together until it's light and fluffy. I dropped it in with a spoon and then smoothed it out as best I could. The second and third layers are chocolate and vanilla pudding. I have to admit (as hard as it is to believe) that I had never made instant pudding before. I used Jello brand; the directions say to beat it for 2 minutes, but with the first batch I discovered that it solidified too quickly, was hard to portion out with a spoon, and ended up lumpy in the jars. I mixed subsequent batches in my 4 cup pyrex measuring cup using my hand held beater for 80 seconds (and yes, I did time it). It was just starting to thicken at this point, and working quickly I was able to use the spout and pour each layer into the jar where it self-leveled. The final layer is plain old whipped cream, and then I topped it all off with some chocolate shavings. The jars are all closed up and chilling in the fridge. Now I'm hoping that I have the strength to lug them down to the ferry tomorrow! Sex in a Pan Crust: 1 cup chopped pecans 3 Tbsp white sugar 1/2 cup butter, softened 1 cup flour Cream cheese layer: 1 pkg cream cheese 1 cup icing sugar 1 cup whipped cream Vanilla and chocolate pudding 1 package instant pudding 2 cups of milk 1. Mix all of the ingredients for the crust together and add two generous tablespoons to each mason jar (makes 10 jars). Place jars on a baking sheet and bake at 350°C for approximately 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. 2. In a mixer, whip the cream cheese and icing sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the whipped cream and mix well. Divide evenly between jars and smooth out to edges. 3. Beat the milk and pudding on high speed for 80 seconds, then quickly pour into the jars. I put the chocolate in first and then the vanilla for the contrast between layers. 4. Top off the jars with whipped cream (about 2 cups total) and sprinkle with chocolate shavings. 5. Close up the jars and refrigerate for a couple of hours to allow the dessert to set.

This evening I wasted spent about four hours crafting small animals and people to top Cal's birthday cake. Thank goodness I baked the actual cake yesterday. Cal hates chocolate (weird, I know!), sometimes going so far as to actually spit it out after he takes a bite. So he always requests a vanilla cake. Somehow that seems a little too boring, so I made him a funfetti cake. You can use any old white cake recipe, or even (*gasp*) a box mix, if you choose. The secret is to add in coloured sprinkles before you bake it. I make mine from scratch using this recipe. Funfetti Cake Recipe 3 large eggs 1 cup of milk, divided 1 tsp vanilla 1/2 tsp almond extract 3 cups flour 1 1/2 cups of white sugar 4 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 4 tbsp butter 8 tbsp shortening 1/3 cup coloured sprinkles Heat the oven to 350°F and lightly grease cake pans. I sometimes use two 9" pans, but this time used a single 10" square pan. Mix the eggs, 1/4 cup of milk, vanilla and almond extract in a bowl and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix until well combined. Add the butter and shortening and mix until incorporated into flour mixture. Add the remaining 3/4 cup milk and mix on medium speed for about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the egg mixture in two additions, mixing for 30 seconds each time. Mix for one more minute, and then gently fold in the sprinkles using a spatula. Divide the mixture into two 9" pans and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops spring back when lightly pressed. Remove the pans from oven and let cool slightly before taking cakes out of pan. Cool completely before icing. Since the Minecraft cake required a square pan and I only have one, I baked the recipe in a single pan. It took a long time for the center to cook, and probably dried it out too much around the edges. Lesson learned - next time I'll bake half and then clean the pan and bake the other half. While the cake bakes the sprinkles melt into the batter, and make it look so festive inside! Since I planned to use fondant to decorate, I whipped up a batch of buttercream icing to go between the layers and under the fondant. I use the standard Wilton recipe. Then came the fun part - moulding small animals and Steve, the Minecraft guy, and decorating the cake with hundreds of tiny squares! I used melted chocolate chips and kneaded them into the icing for the brown fondant, and painted on Steve's hair using melted chocolate and a small paintbrush. I also added a moustache, as it looked to me like he had one in pictures I looked at for reference. Apparently he doesn't, so that was a little bit of a fail. Oh well. It was a lot of work, but I think it's just what Cal had in mind. It was too hard to get all of the little blocks the same size and thickness, so they're a little willy-nilly. If I were to ever make another one, I would cover the top in a single piece of green rolled fondant and score it to make it look like blocks. Then maybe put additional thin pieces of darker and lighter green fondant on top (just brush on a little water to melt the sugar a bit to glue them down) or use edible markers to colour some of the blocks. It's hard to believe that tomorrow my "baby" will be seven!

hola der

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