While going through some old recipes we found this one. Dutch Babies, a recipe that my mother-in-law gave us, and childhood favourite of my husband. I had actually never heard of dutch babies, but I'm glad I have been introduced to them!

Ingredients: For 4 people (keep doubling for number of people)

1/8 cup butter
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1cup flour

1. Cut butter into chunks and melt in large, shallow glass dish
2. Mix together flour, milk, eggs
3. Pour over melted butter
4. Bake at 425 F for about 20 to 25 minutes
5. Add any fruit on top (we used blueberries this time)

So easy and so good! Enjoy!

This past weekend we went on a wonderful wine pairing tour called Wrapped Up in the Valley, just outside St. Catharines, Ontario. You buy a passport with 25 wineries on it, and at each one you get something small to eat that is paired with one of the winery's wines. It was lots of fun, and we probably bought way too much wine! Somehow we managed to fill a whole case. Oh well, it will be enjoyed!

We ended up visiting 13 wineries on the Saturday! That's a lot of wine for one day! We were thinking of doing the rest on the Sunday, but we were kind of wined out, and ended up doing some shopping in Niagara-on-the-Lake instead. It was a great way to spend a cold Saturday. 

At Hernder Estate Winery we got to enjoy a wine made out of rhubarb. It was paired with, of course, a strawberry rhubarb tart. The two went together so well, definitely the best pairing combo of the day for me. Usually, I enjoy both the food and wine, but don't really understand why one wine goes better then another. But these two really did complement each other. The wine is very crisp and light, quite different then a normal white made from grapes.

This winery, Sue-Ann Staff Estate Winery, is located in an old house that the family winery has stood on for 200 years. We were given a delicious grilled cheese sandwich, with apple-smoked cheddar and pear on it, and a glass of their riesling, called Loved By Lou. Both were amazing! We ended up tasting some of their other wines, and I was particularly taken with the 2012 rosé. Somewhere in between a sweet and dry; a little on the sweet side, but not overly sweet like some rosés, but also a little bit dry. It will be an easy drinking bottle, I think!

The very last winery of the day, when we were quite tired, was a big surprise! The service was great and friendly, and the wines were excellent! This winery is Kacaba Vineyards. Set in a beautiful, old style county house, and when we arrived it was gently snowing. Amazing setting! We enjoyed a bite sized snack of flatbread, with pork tenderloin and a tomato jam on top, paired with this cabernet sauvignon. Both were very tasty, and we ended up buy a couple of their other wines as well. All of them were terrific. Overall, it was a fabulous day of indulgence.   

Happy Friday! Here's a little magic duo that seems to clean just about anything!

This combo removes stains from whites, and is an amazing fabric softener. I'm talking about baking soda and vinegar! I have actually started using it all the time when I do laundry, skipping out on fabric softener all together, and bleach for whites. Just add a small spoonful of baking soda to the actual laundry, and then pour a bit of vinegar into the bleach slot. Try it on some whites! And you will be able to see the difference!  That's my cleaning tip for the day, have a wonderful weekend!

Today I turned 30! This was actually I really scary number for me, I never dreaded a birthday so much before. I was having a bit of a break down over this milestone, and thinking, I haven't accomplished enough yet! 

So, instead of dwelling on all that I haven't done, I thought I would list the 30 things in my life that I am happy and proud about!

# 1 Minimal 
Keep items to a minimum! A cluttered shelf is never going to work visually. There are just too many things for your eye to register, that it just ends up looking like a big mess.

# 2 Angles Are Your Friends
By tilting certain things on an angle, instead of keeping everything one direction, you create visual interest. 

# 3 Groupings 
There is the magic number three for groupings that works well. However, you can group objects together in other numbers, such as, two different sized items, taller in the back and short in the front, or four objects about the same size in a neat row. As long as you can see the objects in specific separate groups you can play with any number. 

# 4 Visual Objects
Pick items that will stand out when your eye just glances over at the shelf. Colour contrast works well for this. For example, place white or colourful objects on a black shelf. The sharp change in colour will draw the eye.

# 5 Mix It Up
Mix in different types of objects on the shelf. Even if it's a book shelf, add a few objects to break up the monotony of the books. Also, place similar sized books together, and even try stacking books up instead of keeping all of them on their sides. 

Just have fun and play with shelving arrangements! If something looks good to your eye, think about why that is, then continue the same concept elsewhere. Then you will be creating visually appealing shelves in no time! 

Just thought I would share this post from Home Designing. Ah to play with a modern house!

It's amazing the things nature can make! The beautiful, intricate, patterns that are seen on this sand dollar are everywhere. Sand Dollars are from the family order of Clypeasteroida; it is simple sea creature, yet humans have always been fascinated by collecting their skeletons. From afar the sand dollar has the unique flower shape on top, but once you look closer there are tiny indented holes on the surface, and lined patterns in the crevasses. It is a beautiful form. Take a closer look next time you hold one of these interesting creatures. 

After we moved into our condo we decided to liven up our front entrance by adding beautiful french glass doors. We actually special ordered these doors, then painted them white. Then we added in all the hardware ourselves, including chiselling out space for the hinges. We are planning on adding a door like this to our master bathroom and closet, as there is currently no door! When we undertake this project I will show you step by step how to install a door. For now here is what the finished product looks like after installing the doors. 

Just over a month until we get our new place!

So we have been staying away from sugar, and have been doing a really decent job of it. The more I learn about sugar the more I know it needs to go from my diet. However, the baker in me just needs to bake sometimes. So I gave in the other night and make some cookies. Once these guys are gone we will go from practically no sugar, to no sugar again. Gotta have a treat every so often!

I decided to make Martha Stewart's Chocolate Cookie Cutouts, but change it up a bit. I only put in half the sugar, less butter, and changed up the flour.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup buckwheat flour or whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder (exclude for a plain white cookie)
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup butter
  
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1. Mix together butter and sugar, then add in the egg and vanilla.
   
2. Mix in all the dry ingredients, flours, salt, cinnamon, and cocoa (if you are using it).
3. Wrap dough up in plastic wrap and put in the fridge for about an hour.
4. Roll out dough and cut into stars (or whatever shape you would like). Decorate as desired. 
5. Turn oven to 350 F, and bake cookies for about 8 - 9 minutes. 
6. Enjoy!

Since finding out the house was ours for sure I have been starting to think of the changes I would like to make to the place. Who am I kidding, I was planning it out even before the place was ours. I know that a lot of these more ambitious projects will take some time to get to, and I will probably want to live in the space before I make my final decisions. However, it is fun to think about it, so I thought I would share some of my idea with you!

I have created a virtual house to make changes on the interiors, and see what we like and don't like in 3D. It's so helpful to be able to see how it might look in real life. Along with the virtual house models, I have found a few photos from other people's home for inspiration. The two major renovation jobs I would like to do would be the kitchen and the master bathroom (in fact I'd like to tackle all the bathrooms). Then there are a ton of small projects to do, like painting and changing some floors, and adding to some of the other areas.

One of the bedrooms on the lower floor is going to become the guest bedroom. We are actually going to use our current bedroom furniture, bed and dresser, for the guest room, and get a new bed for ourselves. 

Our kitchen comes with an extremely good quality oven range and fridge. I have always dreamed of having a wall oven and separate cooktop, but we will have to think about it as this oven seems brand new and is an Electrolux. However, both the oven and fridge look like they have just been added into the space. I would like the make the kitchen look more built in and permanent, more efficient, change the countertops from laminate, and add a neat backsplash. If we aren't changing all of the main appliances (we actually need a new dishwasher) the kitchen renovation may not cost as much as we think. 

The kitchen is already very white, and our appliances are white, so looks like we will be sticking with white. But I do like white! Just not everything in the kitchen needs to be pure white, maybe something like this kitchen (check out the link!). I also like this kitchen, in the picture below, from Style at Home. I love the drawers below for pots and pans, and the open shelve and fan above. Of course, part of the reason I like this one is because of the built in oven! We will see when we get in there!

This bathroom has to go! It's inefficient and pink! Plus, (at this moment anyway) we don't really need the accessibility railings. I love this look pictured below that I found at Via House.

I also love the nice big open shower area with mosaic tiles, like this one below that I found at The Pink Pagoda.

This room is tricky to plan out as it has a window at one end, corner bookshelves at the other. Then it has a fireplace and french doors in the middle, and it is a very narrow room. Ideally I think we would like to put the TV in here, but where and how are hard questions. I found this idea online from Home-Designing. 

Also, to make the book shelves, located at the opposite end from the windows, seem a bit more luxurious, I was thinking of adding some glass doors. Maybe like these ones from Ikea. Not to mention they will keep the shelves dust free!

Our laundry is in the furnace room, and not only is this bad for the furnace (the lint is pulled into it), but who wants to do laundry in the dungeon. I'm not sure if it will be possible but finding some kind of divider to make the room into two rooms would be perfect. I also love the this stunning laundry area from Dust Jacket Blog! We will see if we are able to incorporate something like this into our space!