Vanilla Bean

Three years. I can't believe it's really been three years. Three years ago today I timidly introduced myself and stepped into the blogosphere. I baked cookies, snapped some photos, met you fine folks, wrote about life and wrote about love, laughed, learned, grew. I want to say thank you for being so patient with me....

When I found out my friend, Shauna of Piece of Cake was releasing yet another amazing cookbook, I was so happy for her! Then I found out it was all about one of my favourite things ever and I was thrilled. Then I found out I could get myself a review copy plus a giveaway...

Halloween has always been one of my favourite holidays. As a kid I think I enjoyed the creativity and imagination behind each costume just as much as I enjoyed the candy. Sure Kit Kat bars and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are great, but getting to dress up and pretend to be someone or something totally...

October is a month that's all about welcoming Fall. Baking pies and roasting turkeys for Thanksgiving. Raking leaves into neat piles, jumping in them and raking them all over again. Stringing up cobwebs, carving jack-o-lanterns and donning your creepiest costume for Halloween. October is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month and and that's a fact we...

Spring is a time for new beginnings. It's when all life wipes the sleep from blurry eyes and timidly steps into the sunlight to greet the world. Windows are swung open, bicycles are dusted off, birds fly home, coats are shrugged off, flowers bloom. It's time for spring cleaning! I decided it wasn't enough to...

I think breakfast gets the short end of the stick. Everyone is under the impression that dinner is the romantic meal. Juicy steak, buttery lobster, saucy spaghetti. Then, naturally, dinner is followed by dessert. Dripping with chocolate, sticky sugar, warm and spicy, sweet berries. What if you could have dessert for breakfast? Forget breakfast for...

Today is a very special day! Today Hot Polka Dot turns two and yours truly turns twenty-six. To mark the occasion I have precisely twenty-six grey hairs sprouting from my right temple. I also had two pieces of this impressive specimen of pink sweetness. I thought long and hard about what sort of cake to...

I'm back! Finally right? Have you ever had one of those vacations where you need another vacation just to recover from it? Yeah, that was me. I had all these lofty ideas to post updates for you about how the visit was going salt and peppered with cute shots of chocolate daisy toppers, polka dot...

As promised, here is the most amazing thing you could possibly do with your homemade Dulce de Leche. Ok, maybe not the most amazing thing, but certainly the most amazing thing that I'm currently aware of. If you have any other ideas I'd love to hear them! I recently bought a bulk pack of fifty...

I'm going to have to make this quick because I literally have a bajillion things too too today. Have you ever had one of those weeks where you're so busy you can't even find the time to go to the bathroom? Yeah that's me right now and the week just started! I have so much...