cherry vanilla pie

When I was planning my woodland picnic I really wanted to have mini cherry pies.  I called Jenell from The Pie Hole and she created these little beauties...they are so yummy. Jenell was kind enough to share the recipe - happy baking!

Crust Ingredients
2 cups of AP flour
1 tbsp of sugar
pinch of salt
1 cup of butter
1 tbsp white vinegar

Directions
1. Mix flour, sugar and salt together.
2. Cut frozen cube chunks of butter with pastry knife until butter is approximately pea size chunks.
3. Slowly add ice cold water infused with the white vinegar, 1 tablespoon at a time until the mixture holds together. Chill until ready to roll.
4. Let dough cool in the fridge for at least 30 mins.
5. Roll chilled dough and place into pie plate.



Filling Ingredients
3 pounds sweet BC cherries, pitted
1 vanilla bean
3 tbsp arrowroot flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp sea salt

Directions
1. Wash cherries well. For smaller mini pies, cut cherries in half.
2. Slice the vanilla bean open using the tip of a pairing knife and gently scrape the vanilla bean seeds out.
3. In a mixing bowl, combine the cherries, vanilla, arrowroot, sugar and salt. Mix well with  large spoon gently pressing some of the cherries to release some delicious juice! Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rest for 15 minutes. 
4. Pour the cherry mixture into the prepared pie shell leaving a 1" overhang. Cover with pastry, and pinch to create a decorative edge.
5. Whisk egg and brush the top of the pastry evenly covering all surface area. Sprinkle with sugar and cut several 1" slits for venting. Place in the oven for 10 minutes at 400F and then lover to 350 for an additional 35-40 minutes.

all photos by Kyrani at Kilk Photography

Cool, and enjoy!!!!

poppy's 4th birthday party

Poppy loves My Little Pony, so thinking of a theme for her 4th birthday party was easy. Rarity is her favourite, with Pinkie Pie a close second - Twilight Sparkle is right in there too.  I can name all the ponies. True story. 

Where would we be without Auntie Denise? We actually start thinking of party ideas months in advance, this one was a lot of fu.  Denise made the cake and cupcakes....together we made all the other food.  The Whisk did the cookies, how sweet is the cutie mark on the number 4 cookie?  If you don't know what a cutie mark is you can read more here. Important stuff.

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beckett's 7th birthday party

It's hard to believe that Beckett is seven!! When I was tossing around ideas for Beckett's party I realized that I had already thrown him a party for each of his favourite things. Thomas - check,  dinosaurs - check, cars - check, hot wheels - check. Dave suggested we just have a party to celebrate 7...a good old-fashioned, themeless party.  Perfect.

Once again my good friend Denise (or Auntie Denise) made the cake and food, she likes to remind me that she's a realtor not a baker. Her cakes are insanely delicious, if this realtor thing doesn't work out...right, she's an amazing realtor. Kyrani from Klik Photography took all the photos, best decision I ever made was to have someone capture all the moments. The cookies are from The Whisk, always amazing. 

We hired Bell E. Buttons to face paint and perform some magic tricks, the kids loved the show. He kept them entertained and laughing for a couple of hours, it was great. From these photos it looks like it's just us as the party but we had friends and family over! 

It was a great time, I love birthday parties and from the looks of it - so do my kids!