It Was Good While It Lasted 

The weather that is. We had such a mild Winter up till last weekend that I guess we shouldn't be surprised that it started snowing heavily for a good 10 hours on Saturday. I shouldn't complain about the cold snap since I have not had to wear my black marshmellow or red sleeping bag coat till now. That I've not had to worry about walking in the cold for about 10 minutes and walk into work with frosted strayed hair exposed to the elements. Or that my breath would fog up my glasses making it hard to see and walk safely at the same time, while contact lenses are not much of an alternative because my eyes would get really dry and irritated. Not to mention that it now takes me more than 10 minutes to get nicely bundled up before walking out the door and out to the frosty bite of temperatures -30s with or without the windchill factor. Oh well. It is only supposed to last till this coming weekend but we'll see how it goes. Can't be too sure with Mother Nature. She might decide that we've had enough fun and that she wants to 'torture' us for a little while longer. Either way, bundle up my fellow Edmontonians.

At least everything is now a blanket of white fluffy snow. It feels somewhat comforting to see such a scene for Winter instead of the icy mucky brown that reminded me too much of Spring.

I know Christmas is way over but once I woke to this the next day I couldn't help but hum the tune of "Winter Wonderland". Much to my Hubbie's dismay.

For a brief moment, the sun was shining brightly into the living room. Providing some warmth relief for me, considering that everyone has probably jacked up their heat and now the condo's central heating system is very likely overworked and not working properly. I wasn't the only one who welcomed the sun's rays and wanted to busk in it's glorious warmth. :D

My baby boy is so adorable.... 

Pineapple Tarts

Before                                                                                                                                                       After

Well, these little nuggets of golden delicious ... Ok they don't look like the most appetising batch of of pineapple tarts .... And well, they aren't. The filling taste good though with a nice balance of sweetness and tartness. The tart's "shell" on the other hand was bland plain and simple. The melt in your mouth texture (which is superb in my mind) did nothing to save it from the world of Blandness. Ugh! This is why I had hesitated in baking up a batch of these little Chinese New Year goodies. Almost four hours slaving in the kitchen only yielded 36 mini bite-sized pineapple tarts (it was a small pineapple so I got a small amount of pineapple filling). 36 measly, bland-tasting... Ugh! Oh well, at least I tried. 

The whole process that goes into baking the pineapple tarts is tedious one. First, you take a freshly cut and cleaned whole pineapple, with the core removed, and use some brute force to grate the pulp into a fibrous mush. Next, mash the mush in a strainer to drain almost all of the juice out of it. Once that is done, stir fry (without oil or butter) the pulp in a pan until the pulp is dry (oh don't forget to add rock sugar to taste in the process of frying the pulp). This process took me about 1 1/2 hours and it was only a SMALL pineapple(!!). Now that you have prepared the filling for the tart you move on to the "shell". Yes, i call it a "shell" because I prefer to wrap my dough around filling instead of having the filling sit on top of it. The pineapple filling tends to retain more moisture this way. I've been told that once you have the dough ready it's best to refrigerate it for about 30 minutes before using it. While the dough is cooling, I shaped the pineapple filling into mini columns. As you can tell by now, it takes quite a bit of effort to make my mom's version of the pineapple tarts. 

Baking Goodies, 1.

My baking skills, 0.

All I can do now is wait for Hubbie to get back from work and be my guinea pig. Wifey not happy with her efforts.

Update : My bro and sis read my blog and told my mom. Apparently, when my mom said "a pinch of salt" she meant to say "1/2 teaspoon of salt". *groans* No wonder my "shell" is bland. *groan* Mooooommmmmm.......... :(

Goals I Thought I Wouldn't Set

Yep, I'm still alive. Haven't fallen off the deep end. Life just caught up with me. Plain and simple. The older I get the less I find myself being able to multi-task. Also, I blame myself for letting myself go..... physically. Which contributes heavily to my lack of energy. Yet, I was pretty much set on not making a list of goals or resolutions. Why? Simple.  It is almost the same, right down to the letter, year after year for the last few years. However, I was lying to myself. I HAVE been setting goals for myself even before 2011 came to an end.

#Goal #1 - Speak Up and Have More Guts

I am, and have been, a passive aggressive person. I would like to be more outspoken but not be reckless and cruel with my words. I want to be able to speak up and stand up for myself. So this year I am going to ask myself to gain more of a backbone.

#Goal #2 - Stop and Take That Damn Pic

Tonight, while walking home from City Centre after watching "Hugo", I noticed there were many a times I wanted to stop to grab a quick pic of something on my iPhone but..... I didn't. Why? Was preoccupied with not falling on my ass while walking home. So now I am kicking myself for not stopping, take a moment and just shoot. How difficult was that?? *rolls eyes at myself* Not at all. So yeah. I will say this to myself again ... Stop and Take That Damn Pic! First, make sure it is safe. Heh!

I am pretty sure this list will grow. By how much, I am not sure. So stay tuned.... 

Alexander and Veronica Engagement Shoot

I've been looking forward to today's photo shoot for a while now. It was for Alexander and Veronica's engagement photo shoot. I've known them for the last 2 1/2 years and it was really an honour that they have asked me to shoot their wedding in Mexico at the end of the year. It was a little nerve wrecking for me since this was only my second official engagement photo shoot and I was putting pressure on myself to perform and meet personal expectations. Here's a sneak peak of today's session.

Part-time Student ...again ....

I'm still alive and since my last post, i've add the title of part-time university student to the many hats i'm wearing in life. Although most of the my experiences with the university have been frustrating, i.e. am getting passed around, getting confirmation on credit transfers, essentially anything that has to do with paper and administrative work. But i've met some really nice ladies in my class and as much as i would like to be exempted for most of the classes/courses, i do miss hanging out and getting to know these ladies.

I had my dreads about going back to being a part-time student with a full-time job - the no social life after work, going for classes and missing out on my favourite TV shows, that and coupled with the fears about going back to school as i have never been the academic type. I'm the one who would prefer projects and presentations rather than sitting for days on end trying to churn up a given number of words essay. I've always been an average student. Never one of those straight As or even Bs kinda student. But somehow that motivated me to want to do a lot better than i have ever did before.  The blood, sweat and tears of not having any form of social life for a month for my very first class paid off though - i walked away with an A as my final grade. 

There were a couple of firsts during the process of this new adventure that surprised and shocked me;

1. This is the first time i would be paying for my education on my own without any financial support from Daddy. Yes, it would come to a surprise for a lot of my friends. But i've never had to worry about paying for school and i am really thankful and blessed for that. But yes... am finally learning to stand on my own two feet.
2. My lecturer actually said to me that he really liked my style of writing. Really??? My style of writing??? No lecturer has ever hinted to me that i had some decent writing skills so to me that was a huge compliment and it also made me more confident about my abilities to hand in a good essay.
3. I remember looking at my fellow classmates (You know who you are. :D) who camped out in the labs with a certain lecturer trying to get pointers and feedback on their many drafts for their I-Search paper and say to myself - 'I will never be one of those students!'. Guess who found herself doing the same thing with her lecturer these days? Yep, ME! *lol* I will never fully embrace the saying - "Never say never!."
4. I actually stayed awake in class... no goofing around, no dozing off. I actually wanted to be there and not walking in 1hr later. None of that. Amazing! *l* (Hey, told you i was never the academic sort and i was never ever a model student/kid.)  

I know there is a long, long, long road ahead of me still to where i want to and where i need to be academically in Canada. Doesn't help that i've had to gone through hoops and loops and what not to prove that my previous academic achievements and experiences are as good as the ones offered by the instituitions here. I'm trying to juggle building a career, getting the neccessary academic achievements to support this growing career path, and planning and wanting to start on the life long journey of motherhood. Trust me it's not an easy task and i salute and admire all the mothers out there who balance the many roles they play in their own lives. I guess i have to breathe and take it one step at a time no matter how much i want to just do everything at once and get it over and done with ASAP.

Oh... and it does help that i have a very supportive husband by my side in my life. :)