Pi Day

I must congratulate myself, this is the first year ever (I'm pretty sure) that I remembered Pi Day ahead of time, instead of midway through it. I guess I'm not senile yet. Is it possible for your memory to improve as you get older? I mean, usually it seems to go the other way. Well, I better not get carried away, this is only one thing I've remembered, no doubt I've forgotten at least 5 crucial things...(obviously rambling is still a problem I have!)


I had conducted a quick poll on Facebook for suggestions of pie, but in the end, took the lazy way out of making do with what I had on hand. (Hey, I was busy cleaning! I didn't feel like putting on actual pants and going to the store!) I had just bought a couple of mangoes the day before, and thought they would go nicely with some candied ginger (which I have a HUGE stash of). So I chopped up a mango, tossed it with chopped candied ginger, cinnamon, and a bit of cornstarch, and then realized that I only had enough for two tiny pies (well, one tiny pie and one tiny tart). Whoops! I could have frozen the rest of the pie crust (I'm still working on my pie crust recipe, but this one was flaky enough--and the real secret to pie crust is laziness. Yes, be lazy, leave chunks of butter in!) but, well, there's no room left in my freezer...


So I made a simple jam tart, just filled with storebought strawberry preserves, and topped with a disc of pie crust. And why a bunny cutout? Well, why not! It's cute, it lets you see the filling...and well, I had to justify the fact that I bought about 100 cutters at Daiso when I was in Vancouver. The remaining pie dough and scraps got rolled out into a circle and filled with plum slices for a free form, very simple galette (top photo).


A closer look at the lattice top; lattice is really easy when you are only using 4 strips of dough. :) Actually, I suppose technically I only made one pie for Pi Day...and 3 tarts. Is a tart a type of pie, or does it belong in its own family? Well, whatever--pies and tarts are both happy things. And I hope that you are going to have some pie on Pi Day too...and when you're done, test yourself and see how many places you can recite pi to. I won't tell you my number, it's too embarrassing....


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I'm sure everyone has been watching the coverage of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The images are unbelievable, like something out of a movie, except this is actually happening. I'm thankful that everyone I know in Japan is safe, but there are still thousands missing, the risk of nuclear meltdowns, severe damage to the infrastructure...it's going to be a long road. The New York Times has put together a list of ways to help; if you can, please consider donating.

Another Birthday

This time, it's mine! (How self-congratulating of me! Please forgive me, I just want to show you pictures of my trip to Vancouver.) Another year older...well, everything still works, more or less (joints still bend, etc.) so I can't complain too much. Besides, if you calculate my age based on maturity level, then I'm probably still back in my teens! Woohoo!


I wish I didn't have to spend the day at work, but, that's the way the cookie crumbles. But I'm starting the day off with a slice of this mango cheesecake, which should take some of the sting away. (Mango count: 4 left!) This is especially dedicated to Flickr bud kaimono888 and blog/Flickr bud Carly, both of whom have been suggesting mango cheesecake to deal with my glut of mangoes. Thanks for the good suggestion, ladies :) This is my first time making a chilled (vs. baked) cheesecake, and I'm converted! It's deceptively light in texture, because you fold in whipped cream, so it's sort of moussey.


Enough about mangoes and cheesecakes! Let's talk about my weekend trip to Vancouver to celebrate my birthday. It was really a GORGEOUS weekend, and actually quite hot in the sun! I definitely got some color. First order of business? Trip to Japadog! After all, no Japadog, no life!


I got a spicy cheese teri mayo hot dog (it's so hard to choose) and Pyota got an ume dog. He claims it's his favorite so far, but I dunno, the spicy cheese teri mayo was FREAKING DELICIOUS. I want another one. RIGHT NOW. After we were fueled up, we hopped on one of the adorable little ferry boats and went over to Granville Island. I love these boats, they are SO CUTE.


See? Plus when you ride one, you are really, really close to the water. It's very relaxing, unless your pilot is new to the job. Anyway, we wandered around Granville Island for a bit and had some beer at the Granville Island Brewery (mmm, honey lager) and picked up some groceries for dinner. It's kind of touristy, but there's no denying that there is some really great stuff there (and I just remembered that I meant to buy salmon candy. Drat.)


On another day, we were planning to go hiking in Pacific Spirit Park--Camosun Bog, specifically (left from the last ice age! How cool is that?) But, we took a wrong term and ended up at Wreck Beach, which is a clothing optional beach. Whoops! This photo is actually taken at Wreck Beach, just on the deserted end--behind us were a lot of naked people enjoying the sun. I felt a bit weird, and stared at the ground a lot because I didn't want anyone to think I was a perv or something, since we were wandering around fully clothed. Hah! Anyway, one of the things I love about Vancouver is how you can see the mountains from damn well anywhere in the city.


Another highlight (who am I kidding--THE highlight!) was going to the Vancouver Aquarium, where they have OTTERS. Is that a face to love or what? I took about 100 photos on this trip, like 60 of which were photos of otters--and out of THOSE, only 3 came out! Hah. They are quick little things.


Moon jellyfish.


The aquarium is located in Stanley Park, so we had a really nice walk to get there. Along the way, we spotted this smart turtle, who is clearly on to a good thing and not giving it up anytime soon. And, it being spring, there were flowers everywhere!






We went to Provence for my bday dinner, and it was super yum! I had wild salmon (so good) and this really, really delicious apple cake for dessert. I realize I should have taken a better photo of the cake, but, hey, I'm amazed I took a picture at all rather than diving right in.


And here's the man's cheese plate. Nice selection, right? And then, we had to hotfoot it to the airport so I could make my flight. A wonderful weekend, all around. Despite the gloominess of today (darn you, rain!), I think this is gonna be a good year.