Leap!

Tomorrow marks the first Leap Day of runty mouse's existence.  A few links and tidbits to mark the occasion:

It's my Aunt Barb's birthday!  How old are you now, Barb?  Fifteen?

Despite the anti-aging benefit, apparently being born on Leap Day isn't all it's cracked up to be.  Thus, the Leap Day babies have banded together in an online support group!

Most amazing 30 Rock episode yet: Leap Day.  In which these geniuses create a complete, detailed, believable, fictional holiday with all the trimmings.  A little clip here (poor quality but you get the gist) .

[Leap Day Kenneth William] 

(found here)

Google's plan to honour the day.  Check out Google tomorrow to confirm!

Wikipedia sums up all that is known about Leap Day.

My words of wisdom for tomorrow:  don't be afraid to take a leap!

Heart on your sleeve

Has anyone else noticed the trend in decorative anatomy?

I'm used to seeing anatomical images at work, though usually on a poster or textbook.  It's another thing entirely to see these images as jewelry.   I love the juxtaposition when these things adorn the outside of a neck, a wrist, a finger.

[spine and pelvis necklace by Lillian Crowe via Supermarket]

[pelvis necklace by Missy Industry on Supermarket]

Now, some people just can't stomach these types of images.

[stomach pendant by TillyBloom via Etsy]

They aren't for the faint-of-heart.

[heart ring by Melanie Favreau on Supermarket]

So, if you see one of these items on a friend, just take a deep breath...

[lung necklace by Missy Industry on Etsy]

Any squeamishness is just in your mind.

[brain necklace by Moon Raven Designs on Etsy]

Try to see these beautiful pieces as I do:  art, not ick!

For more quasi-medical decoration, see my previous posts here and here.

Eggplant season

I made my first trip to the grocery store in what seemed like a very long time today.  One of the things on my list was eggplant.  Somewhat like the rhubarb situation back in June, I have been seeing eggplant everywhere on the blogs these days.

As I moseyed up to the produce counter, I was greeted by this friendly fellow:

He kinda reminds me of this guy:

[Tintin - photo found here]

At first I was going to name him - some early candidates included Andy the Aubergine, or maybe Eddie the Eggplant, but then I thought it would be too difficult to eat him down the road.  Which I plan on doing.  I just don't know which recipe will be his final resting place.

Baked eggplant?  [via Slash/food]

Eggplant marinara?  [via Heart of Light]

Or harissa baked eggplant?  [via Fig and Cherry]

It's going to be a tough choice!

Footnote:  a glimpse of our supper tonight:

[Farfalle in Lemon Cream Sauce]

It's not getting it's own post since I lifted the recipe completely from the lovely blog s i x o n e s e v e n.  Worth a try - it was a simple and delicious recipe!

Canadiana

It's Canada Day... off... tomorrow!  So go the words of an infectious new song by Carolyn Mark and NQ Arbuckle.

In honour of the most fun - or at least patriotic - stat holiday, I have gathered a selection of Canadiana for your perusal.  Canada has many national icons, and Canada Day is the perfect day to go corny and cliche with some of these symbols of the True North.

Let's start real classic... the beaver, and an homage to Bob and Doug MacKenzie (or any two random hosers you like!):

[both from Touch The Dutch on Etsy]

Now, if those jewelry items weren't loud enough to express your patriotism, and you find Canadian summers a little cool, try on this baby on July 1st:

[Cowichan sweater found here]

If you would rather not wear your Canadian culture, and would prefer to belt it out loud, try singing along to a few of these Canadiana anthems:

In order:  curling anthem "Tournament of Hearts" by Winnipeg's The Weakerthans, cult classic "Bobcaygeon" by Canadian institution The Tragically Hip, and the ultimate Canada Day sing-a-long, "True Patriot Love" by my personal fave, the Joel Plaskett Emergency.

So whether you're in Bonavista or Vancouver Island (let's make that St. John's or Vancouver - close enough!), from Sable Island to Ottawa and all the spots around and in-between:

Happy Canada Day!!

Treats!

June has been a great month.  Two visits from family and very recently, some nice weather.  On top of that, I've recently received some lovely treats!  Allow me to share:

The first one is a gift from my sister, Tidyowl.  I have mentioned before what a great gift-giver she is and the tradition continues!  She is well aware of my 'kitchen habit'.  On a recent trip to Edmonton, she visited Anthropologie and selected the cutest apron ever (see below).  She came for a visit just this past weekend and I was thrilled to receive it as a hostess gift!

Check out the quality and details below:

applique

sweet li'l pocket

The next treats weren't exactly a present... well, they were the kind of present you get for yourself.  I have been admiring ohhellofriend's blog and Etsy shop for ages now and finally decided to indulge.  When the package arrived yesterday, I felt like it was a present - it was wrapped with so much care and attention to detail!  Just had to share:

outside

inside

The items I chose were floral hair pins and a floral ring in an antiqued style. 

hair pins

ring

Not only were the items I ordered amazing, there were some fun little extras.  A bonus gift for blog readers, and sweet little stickers in the style of ohhellofriend.





It was like Christmas in June! 

More posts soon...

Words to live by

My fridge magnet:

Cilantro

Why is it that every time I go to purchase cilantro, it seems to be labeled coriander?  This has bothered me for some time.  Why do I even call it cilantro if it is so ubiquitously labeled otherwise?  Ah, the questions of life.

As I usually do when I have such a profound conundrum, I googled it.  And what I found surprised me.  Well, the answer to my initial question didn't surprise me - that was actually what I had suspected all along.  The whole plant itself is called coriander, the leaves of the plant are cilantro, and the seeds of the plant are called coriander as well (coriander seed to be correct).  It's both a herb and a spice.  Loves it.

[found here]

So now onto the surprise.  Apparently there are only two kinds of people in this world:  those who like cilantro and those who detest it to the very core of its herb-and-spice being.  This dichotomy is big news - it has made it to the NY Times, NPR and the Wall Street Journal.

Now the detesters don't seem to be merely 'picky eaters'.  The detesters apparently count among themselves such culinary icons as Julia Child (evidence here, about 2/3 of the way down) and maybe-not-so-iconic-but-reality-TV-famous-chef Fabio Viviani (evidence here).

Word on the street is that some people just cannot taste the fabulousness that is cilantro - instead they taste soap!  Urggh.  Or some other unpleasant flavour.  Might have something to do with those people's ancestry, genetics, tastebuds or sniffer.  I'm not citing any research here - this is just a synopsis of what I've read on the web.  My heart aches for you, cilantro-haters.  At least you don't know what you're missing. 

I am 100% on the LOVE side of the fence.  The more, the better.  If you put cilantro in an omelette, I might just eat it.  See a few of my favorite cilantro-containing recipes here and here and here. 

Other interesting pages I found on my surf:

Cilantro Martini!!  Definitely going to try this.
ihatecilantro.com - a whole online community of detesters!
Cilantro Pesto recipes galore - this one looks delicious
Handy tips on how to freeze your leftover cilantro

Now, quick unscientific poll:  tell me in the comments which side of the fence you sit on. 

Summertime dreaming

It's a Spring tradition for me:  studying, and daydreaming of Summer vacation.

Summers long ago:

And not so long ago:

Summer day-trips:

Summer tunes:

Summer food:

Summer bevvies:

Summer randomness:

This Summer I am lucky enough to be traveling out West, driving through the Rockies, participating in what will be an amazing wedding, and seeing lots of family and friends I don't get to see often enough!  (Can you see why I'm daydreaming?)

Things that make me laugh

This guy.  Every day.

These comics from  Toothpaste For Dinner.  Consider yourself warned about their addictiveness.

 

and

and

Tina Fey as Liz Lemon (and 30 Rock in general):

More great little 30 Rock clip montages here and here.

Finally, a hilarious little Twitter account called Shit My Dad Says.  To quote from it would be a little too profane for my blog, but these tweets make me laugh every time.  I get them sent to my phone.

My next few weeks are going to be a little bit crazy so I wanted to start them off with a laugh.  Hope you find laughter in at least a few of these items!