CNE on instagram

The CNE marks the end of summer and it makes me sliiightly sad that summer's over. There is, however, no better way to celebrate the end of a wonderful summer than to go to the Ex.

Chicken and waffles.

Red velvet pancakes with pulled pork and a jack infused syrup.

View from the skyride.

Got caught in the rain.

Deep fried cola. 

Can't wait til next year's CNE :D Follow me on instagram @abckarrots

Mixed Berries & Apples Galette

Adrienne and I decided to make some galettes the other day. We didn't really follow an actual recipe and winged it. Not a great idea, but they didn't turn out horrible. There were a million things we could've done differently to make it better though. We got the techniques down, just need a better recipe.

Here's what we should've done:

• Added more sugar. We were worried it would be too sweet, but the fruits were really tart after they got baked.
• Add some sort of fruit compote to the apple galette. They turned out slightly dry because it was baked open-faced.
• Tossed the berries in flour before putting them into the galette. The liquid leeched out of it, but it wasn't that big a deal because berries have natural pectin which semi-gelatinized.
• Rolled the dough thinner.

We're definitely making these again. And this time, we'll probably consult a recipe or two. It's pretty easy to make, and it's a lot of fun to assemble. We saved some dough from this batch, so hopefully we'll be able to make some again soon.

Until next time, thanks for reading! :)

Kikkerland Music Box! ♪ ♫ ♪ ♫

I bought the Singin' in the Rain hand-cranked music box a couple weeks ago and it just came in the mail. These guys are small and unique, which makes them ideal for wonderful gifts. We found out about these when Lyndon (our little brother) received one for his graduation that played Moon River. Adrienne later on searched it out and bought it at the ROLO store. She got one that played La Vie en Rose. I am addicted to shopping online (all you need to do is click!), so I got mine off Amazon. You also have more to choose from when you buy it online as opposed to buying it in a store.

Here's a video of the hand-cranked music box at work:

I kinda struggled because I was filming it with my phone as you can tell from the beginning. The actual music box plays pretty smoothly.

The Kikkerland music boxes aren't too pricey, I got mine for around $10 (before shipping and taxes). They are sold online on Amazon. All you gotta do is scroll through and find the one you like :D

DIY: August Desk Calendar!

Hello, August! We found these cute printable desk calendars on Scout Creative a while ago. I've always wanted to make it and finally got around to it. It's a hotdog stand this month, so adorable!

Looking at this makes me super happy, so I'm giving this one to Henry for him to put on his work desk (hopefully it'll brighten up his desk). You can find all the calendars here.


Oh my word, it is so cute. Have a very happy August, everyone :)

if i can do it, you can do it!

It’s true.  I’m probably the most un-crafty person you will ever meet. You’ll able to tell if you look at my hand stitches closely, it’s uneven and not straight, but hey, I finished my first artsy project from scratch! I made a simple card wallet :) Here is the link where I got the instructions from: Needle and Spatula.
I’ve been meaning to make something since last summer and had quite a few online tutorials bookmarked but I never got around to it… but since the Fabricland near our place was having a closing sale, 75% off everything, I thought I’d finally give sewing a try.

I spent about $12 in total including tax and bought 1.5 metres of fabric and 5 buttons for $1. It took me 3 days to finish the card wallet since I was sewing it by hand, with a sewing machine it’d probably take a couple hours only. Hopefully one of the girls I’m living with next year will bring a sewing machine and that I’d actually have time to make things!

Good thing I was sewing with the right sides facing for the larger piece of fabric… and I probably should’ve used a thinner hair elastic. And here first look at the wallet after I turned it right side out, I had to sew part of it with the pattern facing out which clearly didn’t work out too well especially at the corners:

So I sewed both card pockets up and decided I would put in the button after, which is clearly a terrible idea. I ended up having to sew under the pocket I made. Momma Sy put a cardboard under the button so there would be enough space to put the elastic band around it which I thought was a brilliant idea…but maybe it’s just common sense? Either way, I sewed my first button ever!

And the final product! My card wallet made from scratch :)

We ♥ Matcha Macarons!

We love macarons and we love matcha, so seeing that there's a different method for making macarons, we decided to try the new method out by making matcha macarons. We followed Ovenloven's recipe for both the filling and the macaron shells. She uses the "Swiss Method", which involves double boiling the egg whites with the granulated sugar.  It turned out well (ours wasn't as pretty as hers though). The shells tasted like regular macaron shells, but the filling is out of this world.

The ingredients for the macaron shells:

The ingredients for the white chocolate matcha ganache filling:

Chocolate ganache is one of the simplest things you can make, and matcha and white chocolate ganache.. mmm. So good!


Click here for the Swiss method and the step by step instructions on how to bake these delectable delights.

Thanks for reading!