La Leçon

So...My Little Sister Is Visiting NY...

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 15:45:11 -0500

Me: So what did you do last night?

Her: Well we went to Macy’s…then Victoria Secret…then Times Square, we ate at Applebees OMG so good! AND we got Margaritas, they came with their own shaker like OMG and then we went to the Mariott in Times Squares and like they didn’t ask for IDs so we took like cosmos and it was so fun!!! And today we are going to like, Abercrombie and Fitch and like NBA store and maybe Canal Street! You are SO LUCKY to live in NY, you do things like that like, every day!

Me ( slightly horrified ): Yes. Right. This is exactly what I do. All the time.

Oh and i still have a big bowl full of leftover cupcake icing from this afternoon's cooking

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:30:05 -0500

I need to put it here in writing just so I can feel really really bad if I lick it all tonight

Oh, yeah, smile Friday. …With…blurry traffic lights...

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:20:00 -0500

Oh, yeah, smile Friday. …With…blurry traffic lights edition.

Ta-DAH!!! My cupcakes! Ok so they are a little squat - and a...

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:12:12 -0500

Ta-DAH!!! My cupcakes! Ok so they are a little squat - and a little, humm, artisanal looking, but I assure you they are pure pleasure. And they kind of look like Ladurée’s Macarons…

I used this recipe if you want to be a copycat ( but I divided by two ) :

Preheat Oven: 350 degrees F

Cupcake Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened.
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 ½ cup self-rising flour
1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
1 cup Whole Milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Icing Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
8 cups confectionary sugar (powdered sugar)
½ cup Whole milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

TIPS: If you have a stand mixer (like a Bosch, or Kitchen Aid) this recipe is much quicker to make.
Using whole milk makes the taste of the cupcakes and icing much smoother. I tried using Skim milk and whipping cream just to test it out and whole milk makes a much better flavor.

Cupcake Directions
1. Whip butter until very smooth in texture
2. Add sugar 1 cup at a time, beating until smooth in texture
3. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating very well between each addition
4. In separate bowl, mix the 2 flours together
5. In separate bowl, mix Milk and Vanilla
6. Add flour mixture and milk mixture 1 cup at a time to Butter mixture. Beating very well between each addition.
7. Spoon into lined cupcake pan (approx. ¼ c batter per cupcake)
8. Bake for 20-22 minutes in pre heated over (350 degrees F)

Cool cupcakes before frosting (or else the frosting will fall off)
You can also make 3 – 9” rounds with cupcake batter. Just make sure you grease and flour each pan.

Icing Directions
1. Whip butter until smooth
2. Add ½ of sugar (4 cups), 1 cup at a time. Beating well between each addition.
3. Add Milk, and Vanilla
4. Add remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time. Beating well between each addition.
5. Add a few drops of food coloring to icing
6. Beat icing well, until good spreading consistency.
7. Over-beating is hard to do with this icing.

( from this )

You know what? Enough of those perfect kitchens! ENOUGH of those...

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:41:00 -0500

You know what? Enough of those perfect kitchens! ENOUGH of those bronzed pics of cakes on a pile of wood with fresh flowers and cutesy saying!

I am making delicious cupcakes for my little sister’s visit and THIS is what it really looks like.

I can’t compare myself anymore! Let’s celebrate a real kitchen’s mess!

( no worries, it’s cooking-related mess, not grime and ants-running-around-mess. It’ll be spotless in 5 minutes, but while I cook, it’s a tornado in there )

Richard Desjardins - les Yankees Well since I’m going to...

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:22:30 -0500

Richard Desjardins - les Yankees

Well since I’m going to Montreal, why not put the great Quebec singer-songwriter Richard Desjardins singing about, well, Yankees. Though it’s pretty much againt the American invasion of the Indian territory, but still.

( Caligula, his legionaries

Your President, his millionaires )…

Allez Gringo! que Dieu te blesse!

Bakin' Honeyed Chicken Leg and Winey goat Cheese Potato Gratin

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:40:00 -0500

french-moi: Les Rita Mitsouko - Marcia Baila French 80’s at...

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:39:05 -0500

french-moi:

Les Rita Mitsouko - Marcia Baila

French 80’s at it’s best

David Bowie - Lady Stardust ( demo )

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:06:22 -0500

David Bowie - Lady Stardust ( demo )

(via supersonicelectronic)

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:40:36 -0500

(via supersonicelectronic)

Sparrow - Simon and Garfunkel

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:06:27 -0500

Sparrow - Simon and Garfunkel

Good boy!

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:19:17 -0500

Good boy!

RIP Grandma Pauline - you were loved and will be missed. Now go...

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:55:16 -0500

RIP Grandma Pauline - you were loved and will be missed. Now go hug grandpa :)

and yes, I do take my love of crazy prints from her. That and the cooking gene.

lickystickypickyme: Eric Clapton - Tears in heaventime can...

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:15:06 -0500

lickystickypickyme:

Eric Clapton - Tears in heaven

time can break your heart, have you beggin’ …please……

:(

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:14:51 -0500

My grandma passed yesterday evening at 91 yrs old. She would have been 92 today :(

We knew it was coming for a long time, but I don’t think it makes it easier.

To make matters worst my family began to fight and yell and tore each other apart right there in her room 2 minutes later. Oh, and my mom announced the passing to me via e-mail. I won’t hold it too much against her, she lost her mom, but I think it’s tactless.

It’s at time like these that it feel eerily weird to live in another country. I could really go for a hug from mom now.

Yay! ... Nay!

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:59:40 -0500

Good news found a lift for Montreal with my little sister

Bad news its with my sis so I guess Katy Perry and Britney Spears blasting for 7h

Good news I should be in time in Montreal for improv & drag queen show with my friends!

Bad news I have to stay at my mom’s so she’ll wait for me at 2 am, smell my hair and tell me I shouldn’t smoke

Good news Poutine Poutine Poutine Poutine Maple Syrup Poutine

Bad news I’m already overbooked for the week and…don’t laugh but I just know I’ll miss my dog so much.

Still, happy to be going even under bad circumstances. But you know what? I’m sure I’ll be looking forward to heading back to NY in no time. Home is here now.

I like where this night is heading LASAGNA! WINE! already in...

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:36:57 -0500

I like where this night is heading

LASAGNA! WINE! already in PJs!

ebk: french-moi: Anna Karina - Jamais je ne t’ai dit que je...

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:22:12 -0500

ebk:

french-moi:

Anna Karina - Jamais je ne t’ai dit que je t’aimerais toujours

( from Jean-Luc Godard’s Pierrot Le Fou )

my favorite film.

Me too…well up there. I go back and forth between this, Contempt and Masculin/Feminin. But it’s definitely from Godard’s 60 era!

Movies to watch this week...

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:05:04 -0500

If you weren’t allllll the way on the other side of the globe I’d make tons of snacks and invite myself.

Wait let me check expedia or travel dot something, maybe I will

marychrist:

The Lost Boys

Back To The Future

It's the little things

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:02:00 -0500

I was having a bad day ( yes, again. I know I’m usually a beacon of positive energy but whatever, I’m stressed, crying ( family drama & imminent relative’s death ) nd I have been having I-want-to-die migraines for 3 days )

So I was feeling a tiny bit better ( headache-wise ) so I decided to hit the gym in my building. It was completely empty, which for me is a sign to “do stuff I look ridiculous doing” like jump rope, do complicated machine contraption-things, play with big balloons etc.

Well, the gym mix started playing “RRRRRiiiico Suave” and I caught a glimpse of myself all dishevelled, doing reverse sit up hanging from my feet with a very “important concentration” face. This…is so out of character, and I started cracking up, loudly, and it was the best thing.

Also, I might have danced.

If I discover the front desk has installed cameras in the gym I might move.