ya don’t win friends with salad

So christmas is around the corner! It’s three weeks? Less? I don’t know.

My mom texted me to tell me that I’m bringing salad to Christmas day dinner. Salad.

SALAD.

Thanks Ma. Way to give me the most boring of all the Christmas foods. She claims it’s because I’m the best at making salads and they are my life blood. Therefore easy.

I see you mama hicks. I know what you’re up to.

Just kidding. She’s the bomb. And I don’t mean to toot my own horn, but – Dayummm Gina, I do know how to make a good salad.

You know how they say ‘ya don’t win friends with salad’

Yeah well, challenge accepted.

Let’s combine the traditional brussel sprout with the festive pomegranate. And let’s lure our family into trying it by adding something that kind of maybe tastes reminiscent of bacon. DONE.

I have a million friends now.

Oh. nope. wait. I just have one.

HERE WE GO!

Quinoa & Brussel Sprout Salad feat. coconut bacon and pomegranate
(cause why not just put all the ingredients in the title.)
Serves 4.

2 c. brussel spouts (shredded using a mandolin)

1/2 c. uncooked quinoa

1 c. vegetable broth

3 stalks of spring onions, chopped

1 pomegranate

1 c. coconut bacon

Dressing:

1/4 c. Olive Oil

2 – 3 tbsp. White Balsamic vinegar

1 small clove of garlic, minced

1 tbsp maple syrup

salt and pepper to taste

First, you need to make your coconut bacon. I’m just going to link a recipe here. You only need a cup or so. Pro tip – sprinkle some spoked paprika on there before you bake. This stuff is AMAZING. I won’t lie to you and tell you it tastes like bacon, because it does not. But I will tell you that it’s smokey and delicious and you should make it immediately and put it on everything. Thanks bye.

Next, you need to make your quinoa by combining the vegetable broth and dry quinoa in a small saucepan. Bring it to a boil and then let it simmer until all the liquid is absorbed. Sometimes I have to add a bit more water or broth for all the quinoa to cook through. Once cooked, remove from heat and allow it to cool

Shred your brussle sprouts on a mandolin and for the love of god be careful. Please don’t cut off your fingers. This tool frightens me to my very core. Seriously, hold off on the holiday wine and mulled cider until after this step.

Combine your chopped onion with the sprouts and quinoa. Add in your pomegranate seeds.

Make your dressing by combining your oil, vinegar, garlic, maple syrup and salt and pepper. Whisk it up, then pour over the salad and combine!

I usually add the coconut bacon on top at the end so it stays crispy. Another recommended topping is cashew parmesan cheese. Maybe I should cover condiments and toppings in another post. Noted.

Christmas Dinner – I’m coming for ya.

xxx

I’m HOME!

and then it was September…

HOLLA!

I’ve got some BIG news…

I’m in CAN-A-DA!

I’m on vacation for FOUR MONTHS!

Yes. This is happening. More then a couple of days ago I boarded a plane in Sydney and then 3 countries and a couple of brief days later… (I kid I kid, but it was a looong trip) I arrived in Toronto.

After some love and puppies in Toronto, I am heading on a 3.5 month trip to various places in various corners of the world with one very lovely man named my boyfriend. I’m going to try and document some of that trip via blog, but we’re gunna have to see how it goes based on wifi availability etc. Anyway, I didn’t wanna over take my baking blog with tales from a backpacker so instead I am introducing a second blog: www.sporkvsfoon.wordpress.com. If you are interested… head over there for some pictures (hopefully), some spork and foon puns and some updates from foreign countries. YAY! ( i’m most excited about the puns!)

(but i’m also realllllly excited about the travelling)

In the meantime… I am here in Toronto making cocktails and pretending I never left. Apparently this is what I dooo in Toronto.

Welcome to Margarita-ville.
Population: ME.

My dad got a Vitamix… Colour me jealous…

Margaritas!
as per the Vitamix cookbook recipe

1 Lemon, peeled and halved
1 Lime, peeled and halved
1 Orange, peeled and halved
6 ounces of Tequila
2 ounces of Grand Marnier
1/4 c. sugar
6 c. of ice
1/4 c. water

Put in vita mix.

MIX! Pour. Drink.

I salted a glass, but that is optional. (I had just gone to hot yoga so I was replenishing my electrolytes. Obviously.)

If you don’t have a vitamix, this is still doable in any blender or food processor even. The ice may not mix as well, but it will still be delicious.

Mine turned out rather yellow, but I think it’s supposed to be more green. This recipe makes 8 cups, but I halved it. However, my grandma and I split the four cup batch and we were just finnnnne and dannnnnnnnnnndy.

Now if you’re keen on puppy pictures, head over to Spork vs. Foon!
preview below 😉

charlie

Just a little welcome to the newest member of the Hicks family.

This tiny puppy has some mighty big shoes to fill with those itty bitty feet.

My little dog still holds a very large and irreplaceable spot in my heart, but sometimes a family just needs an adorable little weiner dog wandering around the house to make them feel whole again.

And although I am on the other side of the world and have never properly met this little man, he has stolen a spot beside Lucy, Strider and Casey in my life and I am instantly in love with him.

Welcome Charlie! You have no idea how lucky you are.

eeeee! I cannot wait to meeeeet you!

xxx
(pictures courtesy of mama & papa hicks)

hot hot heat

Last Friday I experienced some of the hottest temperatures that I have ever felt on my fair Canadian skin. Sydney peaked at a sunny 45 degrees celcius.

forty. five.

Granted, that is only five degrees hotter than the bikram yoga room… however, Bikram yoga is practiced at that heat to make you SWEAT, and sweat A LOT, but I usually don’t go about my daily routine in the hot room. And furthermore, I wear signicantly more clothing when I am outside a Bikram class. So… five degrees is like, ridiculous.

I don’t even know how to explain it. Really hot is pretty much it.

Anyway, Sean and I decided that an after work swim was in order… so at around 7pm we drove to the Eastern Beaches. When we got in the car the temperature had already dropped to 35 and by the time we reached the beach ten minutes later it was 24. YOU GUYS! What… the WHAT?

We took a dip anyway as the sun was setting and I was actually shivering. It’s a strange country I live in these days.

Let’s talk about summer food! Summer salads… BBQs… light… fresh!

I got this recipe from my boyfriend’s mom. I swapped a couple of ingredients and kablammy! A delicious summer salad/salsa thing that is delish.

Corn & Avocado Salad

4 stalks of spring onion

1 cob of corn (bbqed & chopped of the cob)

2 tomatoes (seeded and chopped)

1 avocado (chopped)

1/4 c. parsley (chopped)

1/2 red capsicum

juice of one lime

salt & pepper to taste

This salad is pretty straight forward.

First cook the corn. I BBQd mine cause I prefer that taste, but you can boil it also. Set it aside to cool.

Quarter the tomatoes. De-seed them and sprinkle with a tiny bit of salt. I find that this helps them to dry out a tiny bit so the salad doesn’t get watery. Chop the spring onions, red capsicum, and avocado. Chop the tomatoes quite small and cut the corn off the cob. Finely chop the parsley and toss everything in a bowl with the juice of one lime. Season to taste.

SO yummy.

x

dog

When I was 10 I sold all my barbies. My barbies, my barbie clothes, even my barbie caravan. I sold my CDs, a couple cassettes and my Buzz Lightyear doll. I put all my money in an old peanut butter jar with a coin hole cut in the top and I duck-taped the lid on so that it was impossible to get into. I cut out a picture of a wiener dog and put that in there too. I saved up allllll my money; all my allowance and my profits from yard sales and I bought a little dog. A tiny little wiener dog that I affectionately named Lucy.

Lucy Bob Sausage Snausage Wiener Schnitzel McGillicuddy Ricardo Hicks. It simply rolls off the tongue, no?

This little dog was my best friend. She was cute and cuddly and stubborn and fierce. She was 13 1/2 years old. Or roughly 94 1/2 in dog years. She enjoyed taking up the entire bed, yawning in my face, licking everything and sleeping by the radiator. I will miss her with all my heart.

Goodnight little dog. Go find your buddy Strider in the giant field in the sky.

xxx

Jurassic Park

Summer is coming! I know this because over the weekend we sprang forward. The sun now sets at 7… and getting later everyday. Too bad I’m abnormally tired. I feel jet lagged. It was only one hour though… I don’t… I don’t understand.

Anyhoo, with warm weather and longer days comes summer fun! Swimming, hiking, camping, and lunches on the dock!

A couple weeks ago Sean and I took a hike in Kuringai Chase National Park. We hiked to Resolute beach and back. I spent about an hour numbing my feet in the freezing cold waters and taking pictures of rocks and yachts. The water was paradise blue. Had it been even a degree warmer, I woulda jumped in.

By the time I spotted the wallaby, he was hopping away down the beach. I only saw a bum. Lame.

But then we spotted this GINORMOUS yellow-bellied black snake. By far the largest snake I have ever seen in real life. Not poisonous, but still scary. He’s a python so he’ll strangle his prey. This one was about 1.5-2m long. AHHH.

And though it may be hard to see in this picture… I also saw a dinosaur. I know you think they’re extinct, however -little known fact, they do still exist in the wild bush of Australia. My knowledge of dinosaurs is obviously extensive, as I was an avid watched of The Jurassic Park trilogy when I was young. True, the first one made me scream in terror and drop my extra cheese pizza all over my lap, but I soon ‘grew up’ and was able to watch the following two movies while experiencing only minor panic attacks.

Side track. Anyway, from my studies of  the ‘Saurs I know this to be a compsognathus. Der.

After experiencing the Jurassic period first hand, Sean and I found our way back to an old favourite. A lovely restaurant on the dock at Church Point.

His and her post-hike refreshments.

Kuringai never ceases to impress me. 🙂

Next week? Camping in a cave = Awesome Sauce.

In other food news, I have a granola recipe coming up that is delishhhhhhhhh! Check back soon!

xxx

 

 

mom

You know what’s the best? Moms. Moms are the best.

this is my mom

More specifically, my Mom. I’m sure your mom is okay, but my Mom… my Mom in the best. She’s infinitely cooler than any other Mom. She’s my best friend.

I wasn’t exactly a dream child, I don’t think. I wasn’t a nightmare either… but I suppose I had my moments. I wasn’t one for throwing tantrums, but I diiiid cry before school every single morning for longer than I’d care to admit. I also refused to eat breakfast and I’d push my dinner around my plate for at least an hour every night. You know what else? I never once stayed at a sleep over past midnight. I think I was probably 13 before I actually spent a night away from home willingly. And do you know why I never wanted to partake in sleepovers? Even when all the other girls were braiding each others hair, eating sugar and talking about boys? And why I cried every morning before going to school?

Because I missed my mom.

Talk about major separation anxiety.

But honestly, if you knew my Mom, you’d cry upon separation too! She is the coolest lady I have ever met.

coolest lady ever and kind of a fox. just saying.

She is the best at cheering me up. She’s awesome for watching trashy tv with and she’s really good at eating cereal for dinner with me. She is an excellent Yoga partner and an even more excellent post-yoga coffee partner. She will help you dye your hair blue when you’re going through your teenage rebellion phase. And she will drive you to and from the photography shop approximately 154 times when your school projects are falling to pieces. She throws the best birthday parties ever and will help you create the best halloween costumes on the block. She makes a mean carrot cake and an even meaner fruit tray. Just ask any of my friends.

She’s also a real keeper cause when you move to Australia, she will save up all her money and fly across the world to see you. For seven weeks.

Yep. That’s her. I can’t really even put into words how much I love my Mom. She’s a pretty incredible lady.

Happy Mother’s Day MOMMMMMMMM!

If I was in Toronto today… I would make her this for dessert:

And these for later when we’re on the couch inevitably watching Say Yes to the Dress:

peppermint patty

xo

ps. Just for good measure can I add this child hood photo? Humour me. This is my brother an I dressed as none other than Batman and Robin. But you know that right? Spitting image, I tell ya.

batman and boy wonder

apple muffins and life

What happened to my second Tasmania post? Oh that’s right. I got sick of editing pictures. Woops. OK well… SURPRISE POST… at some point in the next year! Get ready. brace yourselves. it could come at any moment.

But for now, I’m organizing life. Filling in forms, photocopying every piece of identification that I have and cleaning my apartment like a woman possessed.

I’m also making bowls of cereal and pouring in vegetable stock instead of oat milk. it’s my life ya know? unedited.

I made things last week! I made pie! Apple pie! but I made it with butter as it was my boyfriends birthday and a crust made of vegan margarine is really nothing to brag about. Also Australia seems to be against vegetable shortening. Where is my CRISCO!?

I also made muffins! Apple ones. Kinda like mini apple cakes. I think I’m on an apple kick.

Apples, cinnamon, brown sugar. what could be better?

Apple Crisp Muffins!
a recipe adapted from Happy Herbivore

1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour

1/2 c. rolled oats

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 c. raw sugar

1/4 c. brown sugar (not packed)

2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ginger

sprinkle of salt

1 c. homemade apple sauce!* (the best kind)

1 c. of diced apple

1/4 c. maple syrup

*To make the apple sauce, peel and chop two apples. Place apple in a saucepan with a tiny bit of water on the bottom of the pan. Cover and let the water boil and steam the apples. When the apple are good and tender (can be smushed with a spoon or fork) Drain any remaining liquid and add a dash of cinnamon. Blend the mixture in a food processor or with a stick blender until smooth. Taste and add more cinnamon if desired.

Mix the dry ingredients and preheat the oven to 350*F. Line a muffin tin with papers, or lightly grease with margarine.

Add applesauce, sugars, and maple syrup to dry mixture and mix until almost combined. Then add the diced apple and mix until everything is just combined. Spoon mixture into muffin liners, about 3/4 way full. Sprinkle some oats on top.

Bake for about 20 minutes.

Eat warm!

 

Enjoy muffins! Organize your life! Pour Vegetable stock on your cereal!

x

 

 

Canberra, Thredbo and some unfortunate incidents…

ohhhhhhhhhhkaaaaay.
Here we go. Where to begin? At the beginning I guess… but this might get a bit rambley.

It was a Saturday like any other. But not at all really. Cause we woke up at the bumcrack of dawn and piled the car about ten stories high with camping gear and backpacks in our attempts to ‘pack light.’ We slowly drove the car over to my parents where we stopped momentarily to pile more luggage in, then gawk, get really nervous, gawk some more… and then order coffee.

After all the gawking and coffee drinking, we began to come to terms with the fact that the next two and a half weeks would, for the most part, be spent in this very car. Anyway, that is neither here nor there. In the grand scheme of things the car was fine. A mere 3000 km later and we are back in Sydney, safe and sound.

goulburn

So we started to drive. We drove for a while and then I sneezed. We drove some more. We stopped briefly in Goulburn for some site seeing. The Big Ram. Yeah for real… and also a light breakfast.

the ram! (he was anatomically correct as well...)

We started driving again. I sneezed again. and then again. And then my nose made noises that I’ve never heard. Then we stopped in Canberra. It was hot and Canberra is… um… a city of roundabouts. And a pinch of history. We visited the Parliament house. But first, I stuck some eucalyptus up my nose for some temporary relief.

ahhh sweet relief.

I’ve never been one for seasonal allergies, but I suppose that is what was going on. Eucalyptus is like a miracle plant or something, no? I dunno. But you can leave your judgements at the door, cause I could definitely breath 90% better after this little incident.

So we looked around, bought a spoon, and piled back in the car. Thredbo— camping on night one!

We just jumped in. Right on in. Both feet. In the water. CAMPING! Probably the first time my parents have camped since I was what… 10? So, we settled into a nice little campsite equipped with a fire pit and pet ducks!

duckie

Then the sneezing continued. Full on, rib cracking sneezes. I got up to nine in a row. I’m sorry to dwell on this, but it was a big part of my first day on holidays. Sneezes. One after another and then I stopped counting. My nose was running like a faucet. I had bought four packs of travel kleenex and I was already through TWO of them. Things were out of control. After another 6 sneezes in a row I felt my ribs poking my organs, I felt my lungs coming up my throat. I had just about enough of this nonsense.

So I did what any other normal person would do. I stuck a kleenex up each nostril. Well low and behold, the sneezing stopped.

By this time I was in a foul-ish mood, so I decided that I should go for a wee nature walk and see what the creek had to offer. I had been warned of uneven terrain, so I stepped carefully. I was taking pictures of the creek and what I thought was a platypus when it began to rain… sprinkling at first, so I took little notice, but then a couple of big drops fell and I decided that it was time to head back. I didn’t want my camera to get waterlogged on the first day.

the creek

However, I decided to take the long way round. The path that I hadn’t come down. It was a bold move, I KNOW. I’m a dare devil, what can I say…

Well, wouldn’t you know it, just as I was replacing the saturated kleenex in my nose I failed to look where I was placing my feet and I fell right into a Wombat hole. At this point I had yet to see a wombat, but I had heard that they can get pissed off quite easily. I immediately pictured a cylindrical creature waddling after me at an alarming rate with a distinct rage in it’s eyes. So I did what you do; 1. I checked to make sure no one saw me fall, and  2. I ran. I rannnnnnn fast. Away from the non-existent wombat that I was SURE was chasing me. I had real fear.

...

And then, just for kicks, I lost my footing again and rolled my right ankle. Falling over briefly, I looked around once more, made sure no one saw (always so vain, I am…) And then attempted to keep running. Which at this point, lets be honest, was not really my best bet. I finally slowed. Realizing there was no angry wombat, no crazed animals chasing me. No. I was the only crazy one on that creek. But I don’t think that’s news to anyone.

I stopped for a second and took in all my bad fortune, then hobbled back to the campsite for some good eating and really really horrible pictures.

Really.

oh jeeez.

But here is a cute one of my parents:

mom and dad

I swear this trip has more to it then sneezing and imaginary wombats. Really. There might even be some REAL wombats in the next post.

just two of my favourite animals eva...

xxx

twenty-four

My dad wrote me an email the other day. It was October 31st and that is precisely my birthday. He titled it: 24! I swear to you that upon reading that number I immediately felt sick to my stomach. It shocked me. Both the number and my reaction to it. When did I become 24? How long ago did I graduate high school? What have I accomplished? Shouldn’t I be a wife, or a mother… or at the very least, a career woman? I am exactly one year away from being twenty-five years old and that is exactly one quarter of a century.

Cue my quarter-life crisis.

After reading the very sweet email and sheading a single tear at my silly little office desk, I felt less ill, and yet it got me thinking. Why is this so scary? I’ve accomplished things haven’t I? But I want to do so much MORE. I want to travel, I want to take pictures, I want to bake, and have babies. I want to bake for babies! I want to have my own business, I want to see the entire world. All of it.

I started making a list in my head of things I have done, to make me feel better about the things I have yet to do… it helped. I have done quite a bit, seen a lot, I’ve been educated in a field that I love and so what if I don’t have a career? I made the choice to travel and see as much as possible before I pinned myself down to one job. And it may be a while before I actually take that step. But I think I’m ok with that.

For now, I am living in Sydney, Australia with an incredible man that I met when I was traveling Canada. We have a cosy little apartment, two full time jobs, and a beautiful city at our fingertips. The world is my metaphorical oyster and I should stop analyzing the number of years I have been alive and instead start planning the next 75 (or so…). I have a lot to do. So I better get to it.

xxx

This post seemed to warrant it’s own space, so the next one is a recap of my birthday weekend. weee!