backyard baking 1

I stumbled upon this unusual recipe on a great blog (www.borealgourmet.com) by a Yukon-dwelling woman named Michele Genest. There's something charming in cooking with what you find in your backyard and I was out collecting spruce tips immediately. If there are spruce trees in your area, this is a recipe you ought to try.

Ingredients:
1/2 Cup plus 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
2 Tbsp chopped spruce tips
1 Cup unsalted butter at room temp
2 1/4 Cups all-purpose flour
1/4 Tsp salt

Method:
1. Pick a handful of spruce tips

2. Combine sugar with the chopped spruce tips and set aside 1 Tbsp of the mixture for garnish.
Cream the butter until light and fluffy, add the remaining sugar/spruce tip mix and cream together. Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix well.

3. Gather the dough into a ball and press into an 8-inch shortbread mold and bake at 325 degrees for 30 - 35 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Remove from oven and set on a rack for 10 minutes. Sprinkle the reserved spruce + sugar mixture on top of the shortbread, cut in sections and leave to cool.

Serve with black tea and a small spruce bough!

porcupine quill earrings

the melt

play that funky music

Put on some short shorts, hop in the car, roll down the windows and rock out to Ida Maria's 'I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked" all summer long.

ondine of the sea

I'm notorious for picking out awful movie (heard of 'Perfume' anyone?) so when I stumbled on this modern myth movie I wasn't expecting too much and was pleasantly surprised. I took a Greek and Roman mythology class in University and have loved myth and lore ever since so 'Ondine' was a perfect pick. Here's a brief synopsis:

"Set in a small fishing village on the Irish coast, the film tells the story of an Irish fisherman named Syracuse (Colin Farrell), who one day brings up a woman (Alicja Bachleda) in his fishing net. She is evasive about herself and will only tell him her name is Ondine, meaning "of the sea". Her songs aboard the boat seem to bring Syracuse unusual luck in his fishing; from this and the way she was found, Syracuse's young daughter Annie (Alison Barry) concludes Ondine must be a selkie, a seal lady creature of Celtic myth who may temporarily become human by removing her seal coat, but must later return to the sea.

Ondine moves in with Syracuse, and though smitten he is cynical enough, through long experience, not to let himself take anything about her for granted. When a mysterious man arrives in town looking for her, it soon becomes apparent that Syracuse's fairy tale run of luck has a price."

summer favourites

urban outfitters crop tops and jean shorts - ideal for beach days


sheer & silk aritzia top - beautiful with bright lips


aritzia multi-layered silk dress - lovely with a high, messy bun & big rings