The Journey to Cartems Donuterie

Everyone is talking about Cartems' donuts.  They're not your run of the mill donuts.  They're handmade by skilled pastry chefs and the ingredients are sourced locally.  Donuts are made daily - not frozen. Currently housed in the Gastown hood at 408 Carrall, this pop up donuterie had some serious traffic.  Pals, Mark Tagulao, Rajesh Narine and Jordan Cash will be updating us on the permanent location in the nearer future.

So, here is my journey to get my hands on these donuts:

9:00 am
Woke up a groggy mess

10:00 am
Finally got out of bed - still a groggy mess

11:15 am
Head over to the Gastown hood to meet Sally who tells me Cartems has already sold out of donuts.  They opened at 11:00 am!  The calvary will bring their reserves at 12:00 pm.

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

11:30 am
I loiter around Gastown, hitting up a couple of vintage stores.

The window @ ArtSpeak

12:00 pm
Modest line up starts.  Anticipation is building.  Yes, I know, these are donuts, for crying out loud.  But I heard they are good.  Really good.

12:15 ish pm
Doors open, the crowd is happy, we're excited.  We want our donuts.

You can order online in advance and they deliver in the designated area

12:20 pm
Rajesh Narine apologizes and thank us for our patience - he's a nice dude.  I didn't have a mean bone in my body for these peeps.  I spot the much talked about Earl Grey donut and add them to my 1/2 dozen order.  Also included are the Camp Fire, 2 Carrot Cake, and Cinnamon Sugar donut.  There was a Slow Heat donut and they sold out of the Maple Bacon Donut.  Next time, my friends.  Next time.

These are so good.  Earl Grey Donuts - I call them my Crack Donuts.  They're addicting.  Dangerous.  Sigh.

And I'll have two of these, please.

12:30 pm
Grocery shopping and wanted to get home so badly to eat my donuts that I forgot to pick up miso paste.

1:00 pm
So, now it's me and this box of treasures.  Voila - let your eyes feast on these beaut's. 

Knock Knock

Hello, my pretties

I dig in for the Earl Grey.  Slightly euphoric. Delicious, slightly crispy on the outside.  Dense.  Fragrant.

Oh yes, you and me.

1:05 pm
There are voices coming from the box.  I open it.  I could have sworn the carrot cake donut winked at me.  I teach that damn thing a lesson and eat it.  Wonders if I should call a therapist.

1:10 pm
Making tea and the donut box is still open.  I am weak.  Hand is reaching into the box and it's beyond my control.  The Camp Fire donut disappears.  This is getting out of hand.

1:20 pm
*uck it.  See ya later 2nd Earl Grey donut.  Now decides to put the box with the remaining donuts at the top of my jacket closet - out of reach.  Closes closet.  I am safe, for now.

Turquoise, Teal, Aquarmine Home Decor

Every once in a while I toy with the idea of changing the colour scheme of my apartment.  Currently, the colours that fill my home are these:

But I've drooled over many turquoise, aquamarine, and teal coloured pieces that I've been tempted to change things up and bring in some pieces that change the vibe of my place up a bit.

Here's a little gallery of pretty turquoise items that have caught my eye:

Courtesy of Love the Hays

Courtesy of A La Mode

Courtesy of Core One

Courtesy of Crystal Cattle

Courtesy of Sunny Sunflower House

Courtesy of Retro Verigo Vintage

Some gorgeous rooms with a similar colour scheme:
 

Courtesy of Decor Pad

My Favourite - Jonathan Adler in Coco Cozy

Coming up soon - Faustine from C'est La Vie

Image courtesy of C'est La Vie

What I find most inspiring is people taking something old, typical, used, ugly, beautiful, odd or strange and making it their own.  A couch that would normally look bland and boring can be spruced up with a couple of fantastic pillows or an upholstery change and it will have a personality that matches the owner.

I feel the same way about clothing.  I have a good mixture of vintage and modern items and love the process and result of mixing it all up to create a look that expresses who I am at that given moment.

One my favourite spots is C'est La Vie, a vintage shop that also does consignment in the trendy Main Street hood of Vancouver.  I've been a consignor and a shopper for years.  The owner, Faustine, is what I call an Upper Crust Bohemian Parisian.  She's a bit different - from her clothing choices, her eclectic taste in music and her quirky ways.  She is passionate about vintage clothing and has a wealth of information to share.

So now that we're getting into spring cleaning mode, she'll certainly have some tips on what is hot for Spring and maybe even point us in the direction on some cool combos that we can try with what we have in our closet.

Stay tuned... Faustine and I are going to share some wine and chat, and you get to hear all about it.

Adorable Paper Models - Papercrafts

Oh - how I wish I bought that paper model craft of the scooter that I saw at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.  Now I see cute paper model crafts, everywhere!

Scooter DIY Paper Model post card

So, I just saw this terrific set of paper model towns by papierowemiasto that are inspired by a small town in Poland.  This set is only available in Europe so we'll have to settle with enjoying it visually:

All photoes from Papierownemiasto

I bought the Themis Mobile after drooling over it for months and finally found it at one of my favourite shops, Vancouver Special.  I first saw it in Lucky Magazine a couple of years ago and then went on a hunt to find something similar.  Leave it to one of my favourite shops to carry this wonderful piece by Artecnica.  Even though I knew that I didn't have a proper home for it, I bought it anyways just in case I change it up in my apartment.

Photo Courtesy of the MOMA Store

 So how about we do a little roll call to bring some attention to some other eye catching paper model and crafts:

Can you believe this is a paper model of the Audi A7? I guess this is the only way I could fit it into my budget!

Nicol and Felix by Spanish designer Perro Loco

Shinkansen (Train) Town by Sanrio - link to the templates

You might also be interested in:

My Trip to San Fransisco MOMA Store

March 2011 - Greedy Girl Wishlist

Modern Pendant Light

I have decided that I need a new light fixture.  Currently, I have mid sized discrete pendant lamp that I had picked up at the Torre and Tagus sale.  It's okay.  There's nothing really special about it.  There's no real impact.  I don't want it to be the main focus of the open space but I do want it to be a point of interest.  It must be a bright light - since it is in the kitchen and would also be the main source of light in the room.  I don't want it to look like it belongs in the lobby of an expensive condo or in a restaurant.  I want it to look unique - like my home.  I think the idea of repurposing a bird cage is cute but just too shabby chic for me and I don't want too many edges or details.

Here's what I have - and unfortunately, with the light on, you can't see the mesh-like details:

It's currently sold on Amazon.com (I got mine for only $30!).

I'd like something simple.  I did a little Ikea hack by spray painting a fruit bowl and turning it upside down for my entrance light and I would like to have something similar this light:

I'm not sure if I want to go industrial or continue on with the quirky and bright scheme.  Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Eating Habits - Goal for 2012

My sister used to lecture me about my carbon footprint.  Okay, it was huge.  Like, Shaquille O'Neil huge.  But things changed when I moved out on my own.

First of all - I couldn't afford to buy all new furniture so I became the Craigslist queen.  Then my inventory of clothing was getting out of hand so I turned to consignment (to buy and sell).  Then I got into gardening and became more selective of the food that I bought, what I kept (as organic fertilizer for my garden) and what I put in my body.

Then I moved downtown and I got rid of my car and took public transportation, zip car, cycled, scootered, or walked to my destination.  

All these changes happened in the span of about two years.

But now I have a new goal, which I've been working on for about two months.  I plan to cut down my carbon footprint and live a healthier life by drastically reducing the amount of packaged and processed foods I eat.  I had to take an inventory of the food that I consume the most to identify my buying patterns.  How to do this?  I kept track of what was in my recyling box for the past three weeks.  Here's what I found:

• LOTS of canned beans, tomatoes, beets, pears (for baking), Jyoti's canned curry, herring and sardines and condiments
• Tons of plastic packing for campari and grape tomatoes, arugula, falafel, and goat yogurt

Bye! (Sniff, Sniff)

From this

To this

This is much better than a year ago when I was taking out my recycling every other day.

So what can I do?

• I have already bought containers and filled them with dried beans.
• Continue to pre-plan my meals (I have weekly meal plans).
• Make my own curries.
• Take the time to prepare my own beets.  
• Never buy canned goods by the bulk and when I don't actually need them.  They tend to just sit there in my cupboard taking up valuable space.
• Make my own chips (kale and sweet potato) and pop my own popcorn.
• Buy seasonal veggies.  In the summer, I would get large bunches of mizuna and arugula from the UBC farmer market for stupid cheap.  So, now that the season has changed, I can eat kale and sprout my own quinoa for salads.  
• Make my own falafels.  Besides, the store bought ones are always pre-fried.  I'm sure I can make patties that I can just pop into the oven or on the Foreman Grill.
• In the summer, I will buy fresh berries and make my own preserves.

Less packaging, just buy your veggies from the smaller grocery stores or farmer markets

These tools will be part of my arsenal to keep me on track:

Foreman Grill

Slow Cooker

Salad Spinner

Currently, my intake of processed and packaged foods is quite low - I'd say I'm probably at about 65-75%.  I'd like to see that go down up to about 75% - 85% by the end of February.

How will I know that I've succeeded?

• I only need to take my recycling out once a month and eventually, every other month
• The canned goods shelf is replaced by dried food.  It has already gone from two whole shelves to half a shelf.
• Packaged salad and tomatoes in my home become as rare as a full moon (I'm keeping my expectations realistic).

Any tips to share?

Recipe - Quinoa salad with sauteed kale and tofu

So, I've gone on about how much I'm loving kale so here's a little recipe to the dish I made, today:

Quinoa Salad with Sauteed Tofu and Kale

Ingredients:
-1 cup of mixed dried beans (or two cans of mixed beans)
-1 bunch of kale
-1 large red onion
-1 bunch of parsley
-1 cup of grape tomatoes
-two cloves of garlic
-1 red pepper
-juice of 1/2 lemon
-1.5 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
-2 tablespoons of masala spice powder
-1 small package of firm tofu
-1 box of quinoa
-water or stock

Beans:
If you are working with dried beans make sure to soak them over night and boil them for about 10 minutes.  Drain and put aside.

Prepare marinade:
-In a bowl squeeze the juice from the lemon
-Add 1.5 tablespoon cider vinegar
-Add masala powder, pinch of salt and pepper

Prepare the quinoa:
-Follow the instructions on the box
-I added half an onion and 1 clove of garlic to the boiling water as well as a pinch of salt
-The box of quinoa that I used made about 2 cups of quinoa and let it it aside for 15 minutes

Prepare kale, tofu and onion mix:
-Clean and de-stem the kale chopped up into 2 inches chunks
-Drain and cut the tofu in 1 inch squares
-Put the other half of the onion in 2 tablespoons of oil
-Add 1 or 2 cloves of garlic
-Sauteed until onion start to brown a bit
-Throw in the cubed tofu and add a little bit of salt
-Once the tofu starts to brown a little add the kale
-Add one tablespoon of masala powder and a bit of salt

Sauteed until kale softens but still crunchy.  This will take about 5 minutes.  Set aside.


Prepare the rest of the veggies:
-Slice grape tomatoes in half
-Cut red pepper into 1 inch squares
-chop up the parsley

-Add beans

Throw in all the vegetables in one bowl and mix with the marinade.  Throw in the quinoa last.

Eat and enjoy!