Maggie's First Concert

These dark winter months have been rough, eh? So far, I've experienced my first (and hopefully last) "polar vortex". To beat the winter blues, Maggie and I listened to some lovely French music performed by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

The program included some of my fave composers, including Ravel, Debussy, and Satie. This was Maggie's first concert so she wanted to dress up. Her stylish necklace is a MoonRox original.

Keep warm, everyone!

Mellow Carrot Cake

• The Quatchis and I are milking the last few days of our vacation in Kingston. We tested a few new recipes, including the one below. The cake / quick bread turned out quite well, and tastes great, even without the frosting. Enjoy!
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  Carrot Tea Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
  1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
  1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
  1 teaspoon baking powder
  1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  1/2 teaspoon salt
  1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
  2 large eggs
  1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  1 cup packed grated carrots (from about 2 carrots)
  1 bar cream cheese, room temperature
  1 cup confectioners' sugar
  
  Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter and flour a 5 x 9 loaf pan. In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
  
  Using an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy; beat in eggs and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in carrots. With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture; beat just until combined. Transfer batter to prepared pan; bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool in pan 5 minutes. Turn cake out onto a wire rack, and let cool completely.
  
  
  
  
  Using mixer, beat cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla until fluffy. Frost top of cooled cake.
  
  Source: Martha Stewart
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Cheers to 2014!

Happy New Year!

2013 was pretty good to us, although there were some ups and downs. 2014...2014 is going to be awesome. We are going to make every day count, and look forward to blogging about our adventures along the way.

Cheers to 2014!