Cards and Pubs

I come from a very competitive family. No matter what time of night it is or how tired any of us are, we all become overly competitive when it comes to winning games. This weekend my family and I took a vacation to Parksville and spent the nights eating at a cute English pub and playing cards. We had lots of fun laughing with each other and enjoying some good traditional English food. 

Ketchup Container Cupcakes

 Yes ketchup containers. Not only are ketchup containers the perfect size for a cupcake but they also are ideal if you don't own a cupcake pan. These bad boys fit into the oven on a plain baking tray no problem. This week I had to make thirty six cupcakes for a special event so I decided to go with a plain chocolate cupcake topped with pink or white plain buttercream frosting. 

Prosciutto Wrapped Bread Sticks

Ever since we went to Italy a couple years back, my family has been completely in love with the taste of prosciutto. Almost every trip to the grocery store includes picking up a few slices. With inspiration from pinterest I wrapped small pieces of fresh prosciutto around some yummy soft homemade breadsticks that I made. The combination of the warm and crusty bread with the chewy meat was wonderful, and created a perfect and simple appetizer.

Five Things To Love

{While visiting family on Vancouver Island this weekend I stumbled upon a really cute farmers market, I had to control myself and and try to not spend all of my money. I did buy these three soaps flavoured ginger ale, orange and pink grapefruit all made from goats milk} 

{I love sand dollars! I found so many on Raft Trevor Beach this week while I was on vacation with my family. I also learned about the Legend of the Sand Dollar which is so cute}  

{This summer I have been visiting the library SO much. I finally discovered the Nicholas Sparks section and found "The Choice". So far its a really good read, I totally recommend it to everyone who likes a good cheesy romance novels!} 

{A mud mask I picked up at the drugstore this week. I love the packaging and the mask. It worked so well and left my skin feeling super clean and fresh, not to mention the price was super low!}

{Call me the crazy cat lady! I fell in love with these shoes at first sight, they are so cute and they fit me perfectly!}

Gingerbread Cake

To celebrate my Dad's 50th birthday this year I went with his favourite and a classic, Gingerbread Cake. Its a super moist cake with lots of flavour and warmth. I love to pair it with vanilla bean ice cream and some chocolate covered strawberries when I get the chance!  I got the recipe from one of our dear family friends who used to own a bakery. Last night we served it with vanilla bean ice cream, chocolate and pistachio covered strawberries and a fruit skewer. Yummy!

Rosemary Pineapple Scallop Skewers

One of my favourite parts about summer is all the fruit that is ripe and in season as well as all the herbs that are finally growing fresh in our garden. I got inspiration for this post from a picture I saw recently on pinterest, showing a skewer made with fruit, fish and some herbs. I decided to do my own take on it by pairing up rosemary, pineapple and scallops. Ideally I would have preferred to use mini scallops but because I couldn't find any I used large scallops that I cut in half during prep. I used a piece of rosemary as the skewer base and then added pan seared scallops and fresh pineapple on top. 

Avocado Balsamic Toast

 Its the perfect snack. Avocado and balsamic smothered on top of a warm piece of buttered toast. For this recipe I chose to use a balsamic reduction with the avocado, but a light balsamic dressing or vinaigrette would work just the same. I used my old ghetto toaster that my family has had FOREVER. Its missing a couple numbers and sometimes burns my toast, but I love it. I love to add ground black pepper or even salsa on top as well to give this open sandwich an extra taste and spice!