Strawberry Yogurt Bundt Cake

Strawberry Yogurt Bundt Cake, Kiku Corner

   Ryan and I recently went strawberry-picking at Whittamore’s Farm. We picked enough for ourselves, and then some! I’m finding many ways of incorporating the sweet, perfumed strawberries into my day, using them up before they’re past their prime: strawberry-infused vodka, raspberry shrub, and this lovely Strawberry Yogurt Bundt Cake! This is a more casual kind of […]

Toronto Eats: Birthday Dinner at Pravda Vodka Bar

For this year’s birthday, I wanted to go somewhere different.  New cuisine, new neighbourhood, new ambiance. With Donatello’s brilliant suggestion, we decided to try the Pravda Vodka Bar. We arrived early for Happy Hour, which is one of our family’s favourite tricks to save while eating out, like we always do here.

Beaches International Jazz Festival

Beaches Jazz Festival 2014, Kiku Corner

I played the violin in my school’s various orchestras from grades 6-10. In grade 10, we played a few songs at Jazz Night where we dressed in black, and the girls would wear a scarf and the guys would wear a tie. Each music group wore a differently coloured accessory…I think the band wore red, […]

Happy Hour: Raspberry Shrub

Raspberry Shrub, Kiku Corner

Shrubs, or drinking vinegars (they taste better than they sound!), are acidulated fruit syrups. Back in the day, there were no refrigerators to help preserve fresh fruit for longer than a day or two. Adding the sugar draws out the juices of the fruit via osmosis, and traditionally, the mixture would be left to ferment […]

The Year in Books: August

The Year in Books: August, Kiku Corner

In July I read How a Second Grader Beats Wall Street by Allan S. Roth. It was easy to read but a lot of the information was basic investing stuff. Great for beginners (or second-graders), but I feel I’ve passed that point. I would still recommend it to friends that want to learn about investing. […]