Done and happy about it

And so the weight has been lifted from my shoulders - my independent professional project, a nonfiction book about my crazy loveable family, is done. And as of today, bound by coils. I couldn't be happier than I am at this moment.

For those of us in the Creative Communications program, our IPP is like our thesis, showcasing the skills we've honed for the last two years. We've been working on each of ours for about a year.

So, in celebration of my first book being finished, I'd thought I'd share a piece.

PROLOGUE

There are three things you should know before you read this story. One, my maternal grandmother was Cree. Two, up until I was 7 years old I was a very pale blonde. Now I am a very pale brunette. Three, because my grandmother died when I was 2 years old, I know her only through the stories that have been told to me. I now know her very well.

Forbes was my grandmother’s younger brother. When he died his only grandchild, Lilly, to whom this book is dedicated, was less than a year old. The only way she will know her grandfather is through the stories told to her.

And so, continuing the oral tradition of storytelling, though updating it by writing it down, one day I will tell her this story, of our family and her grandfather’s funeral.

There will be many others, I am sure.

That is why the title of this book couldn’t be anything other than, “There’s a story”.

Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe

Every once and a while I get the urge to bake something and this recipe for peanut butter cookies is one of the easiest and best-tasting ones that I've found. It comes from Anna Olson and food network.ca.

I like to leave the mixer off to the side and do it all by hand. Just make sure the butter is room temperature or you're going to have a heck of a time creaming it with the sugar.

So here it is:

Ingredients

                  1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

                  1/2 cup sugar

                  1/2 cup brown sugar

                  1 egg

                  1 teaspoon vanilla extract

                  1/2 cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)

                  1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

                  1 teaspoon baking soda

                  1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350° F (or 325° F because my oven cooks hot). Cream together butter and sugars until pale and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Stir in peanut butter. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Add to peanut butter mixture and blend in. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet and crisscross mark them with a floured fork. (I like to press them down with my fingers so they're a little wider than the recipe calls for because then you get really soft, flat peanut butter cookies that don't break your teeth.) Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, until cookies just start to colour around the edges.

It's really important to take the cookies out as soon as you start to see the faintest colour along the edges because they will keep browning on the bottom as they cool on the cookie sheet.

If you want to look really gourmet, mix some spanish peanuts with the red skins still on into the cookie mixture at the last second. Then when you bite in it you get these great little bursts of peanut and they look really great.

Perfect little gift if you're on a tight budget like me. (It's the kind of gift your aunt and uncle will hide from the grandkids. I know, mine did!)

Enjoy.

A picture perfect weekend

This was a perfect weekend complete with Mom's birthday, an impromptu movie fest with my best friend, breaking out my sketchpad, dad's cooking, and a beautiful overcast day, perfect for taking pictures.

So here's a little snapshot ...

The Superbowl of Ads

Just kidding, it's actually about football. (At least for my dad.) As I sit here next to my pop, who's annoyed that he can't see any of the much-talked-about Superbowl ads in Canada, I'm once again forced to peruse the Internet for the year's most anticipated (and costly) ads.

And, once again, my favourite ad is for a car. Go Hyundai. Way to tackle bullies.