DIY: Striped Crocheted Earflap Hat with Free Pattern

Striped Crocheted Earflap Hat

This crocheted earflap hat is really fast to whip up – I pulled it together in less than a day! I used half double crochet (hdc) stitches for the hat, as these stitches are halfway between a single and double crochet. This allows the crocheted earflap hat to be worked up quicker than if single crochets […]

Free Things to Do – Winter in Toronto

Edwards Gardens

Finding free things to do is important way for us to save money, and it can be especially difficult during the winter in Toronto. Summers in Toronto are full of street festivals, cultural festivals, Pedestrian Sundays in Kensington Market, picnics, and afternoons spent cycling. In winter, which in Toronto spans November to March, many people generally hunker down […]

The Year in Books: January with The Craft Cocktail Party by Julie Reiner

The Craft Cocktail Party by Julie Reimer

Tomiko and I found The Craft Cocktail Party by Julie Reiner at our public library and have since been working on collecting a variety of liquors and liqueurs with which to make delicious cocktails. Reiner is co-owner of a couple swanky bars in New York City and one of the few people responsible for the current revival […]

Happy Hour: Trinidadian Sorrel Drink

Trinidadian Sorrel

This Trinidadian sorrel drink is bright red and tastes just like Christmas. I learned how to make it from the master, Ryan’s dad, before making it for my own family over the Christmas holidays. It took me a while to find out that the drink sorrel is different than the vegetable sorrel. The vegetable sorrel is […]

Crème Brûlée

Crème Brûlée

Donatello loves crème brûlée and always orders it whenever it appears on a menu. For his birthday in December, I made individual crème brûlées for him (and the family); and of course, he got the biggest one. After dinner and gifts, I pulled the ramekins of  crème brûlée out of the fridge and lit up […]