Instagrammies: Black & White

First of all, how good is Justin Timberlake’s Suit & Tie? The black and white (or more like black and grey) video is fantastic.

Anyway...let me show you a few things from my past week:

1. Patio season is almost upon us. The Black Bull hasn’t wasted any time.
2. Starbucks interiors are getting more hip by the day. Yes, it’s a giant metal S hanging on exposed brick walls.
3. The white eames chairs at RSquared Cafe are very chic.
4. Just a bit of fun with Leo and friend outside of North of Brooklyn Pizzeria. Again.

You can find me on Instagram under @notpeppermint.

Homebody & recipes

Can I be honest?

I hope it doesn’t make things too awkward.

But, once in a while I become more withdrawn than usual. It happens. I think we’ve all been through this at some point: You don’t want to leave the house, you feel lethargic, coffee stops working, socializing becomes a chore, etc, etc, etc. Then you feel bad for feeling bad and being a terrible friend. It just keeps compounding and never ends. Fortunately for me, these feelings eventually ebb away. It’s probably just SAD.

In the meantime, if you’re like me, you’ve probably spent all this home time watching Adventure Time and eating loads of oatmeal. (I’m not kidding, there’s three tupperwares of Overnight Slow Cooker Apple Pie Steel Oats in the freezer ready to be defrosted at any time.) The upside is that now I have a list of recipes saved for when I feel a bit more energized. I’ve already started with a penne and brussels sprouts pasta I’ve been eyeing (post coming up soon). A non-recipe that’s pretty satisfying is plain rice topped with a fried egg with soy sauce and sesame oil, the recommendation of a friend.

Also looking forward to:
01. Ginger Fried Rice
02. A relative quick Mushroom Bourguignon
03. Caramelized White Chocolate
04. Nigella Lawson’s Dense Chocolate Loaf Cake
05. Slow Cooker Apple Cinnamon Steel-Cut Oatmeal
06. Jim Lahey’s No-Knead Baguettes ;)
07. Homemade Ikea Swedish Meatballs
08. Sesame Pancake Sandwich Bread
09. Nutella Buns
10. Kale Rice Bowl

Instagrammies: Alfajores (Dulce de leche sandwich cookies)

I clipped and saved A Clockwork Lemon blogger Stephanie Eddy’s Alfajores recipe way back in early spring when I saw it on the main page of Globe and Mail’s life section. It was on my fridge for the longest time, waiting patiently to be picked up again, and I finally found the perfect time to make them. These sweet, delicious and simple babies will be part of a cookie exchange amongst friends.

You can make the shortbread cookies and the dulce de leche in advance.

Shortbread recipe can be found here.
My milk jam recipe if you’re looking for an alternative to using condensed milk.

Instagrammies: Oats & Banana Milkshake Hair Mask….is not for eating

This is what happens when you run out of hair conditioner! I spent this afternoon looking up DIY homemade hair care and landed on this recipe for a Banana Hair Mask that looked good enough to eat. I threw in some grounded rolled oats for my scalp.

Oats and Banana Milkshake Hair Mask
via the black hair media forum

1 banana or more
3 tablespoons of milk
5 tablespoons of olive oil
1 egg
1/4 cup of grounded oats

Fair bit of warning: The best way to go about this is to mash the banana(s) first and then blend it with the rest of the ingredients until it’s been liquidized. Otherwise, you will end up like these poor saps on the comment section of the Dr. Oz fan page. The oats have to be finely grounded as well – trust me on this, you do not want to be picking out little bits and pieces of wet oats in your hair. It’s nightmarish.

Obviously, despite its appearance, the mixture isn’t meant for drinking.

Winter Transitioning: Recipe round up #1

Winter Transitioning at BHH Blog: A list of cozy recipes to get you excited about the colder months ahead. Let’s start with breakfast.

My weekday breakfast is usually a bowl of corn flakes, quickly microwaved instant oatmeal or toast with nutella and bananas. If I’m feeling particularly lazy, it might be Tassimo coffee instead of freshly grinded Te Aro beans.

BUT weekends, well, they’re a whole different matter:

Dutch Baby Pancakes, Rapini & Egg Biscuit Sandwich, Oeuf Cocotte, Bacon Baked Eggs,  Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread, and the various scones I’ve made over the years, including the South American counterpart, Brazilian Cheese Bread (Pão de Queijo), are the types of food I gravitate towards when I have more time on my hands. I consider them easy and fast recipes. They’re also versatile, which is great when you feel like substituting ingredients. (Google pull apart bread and you’ll find a hundreds variations by now!)

Other comforting and calorie-rich winterlicious recipes that I hope to make: Breakfast Pizza, Homemade Poptarts , Brown Sugar Roasted Fig Oatmeal , Chai Spiced Cinnamon Rolls , Cranberry Orange Walnut Bread , Shakshuka , Green Onion Pancakes , Coconut Swirl Bread. For more non-Western breakfast ideas, I highly recommend the Globetrotter Diaries blog, which has a recipe for a Guatemalan breakfast and Masala Dosa (Potato Stuffed Indian Crepe).

Happy baking and cooking and eating! (Oh, and Happy Monday!)