tasty tuesday: monster cookies (fall edition)

So apparently Jordyn and I have an obsession with peanutbutter....and anything reese's.  If you remember last week's tasty tuesday, she made these incredible Reese's peanut butter bars!  And this week I put a Reese's spin on traditional Monster Cookies!

We get our addiction from our father...so really, he's the one to blame (or thank?).

I also discovered that you don't even need beaters or anything fancy to make this recipe!  My beaters that I keep in Vancouver are broken, and I haven't gotten around to getting new ones yet (aka: I'm asking for new ones for my birthday!)....so I mixed these up using a fork, spatula, and my hands!

Monster Cookies

recipe: adapted from - Monique at Ambitious Kitchen

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Sugar
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
2 1/4 cup Rolled Oats (I used quick oats!)

3/4 cup Peanut Butter (you can use smooth or chunky; not natural)
2 TBSP Butter
1 tsp Vanilla
2 eggs, lightly beaten

3/4 cup Reese's Pieces (or m&ms)
1/2 cup Brown Sugar (packed)
1/4 cup Pecans, chopped (this is optional. or you can substitute in walnuts.)


Directions:

1) In a medium bowl, mix together both sugars, baking soda and oats.

2) In a separate, large bowl, mix together the peanut butter, butter, vanilla and eggs.

3) Add the dry ingredients to the peanut butter mixture, and mix all together.

4) Stir in Reese's pieces and pecans.

5) Form dough into 2-inch balls, and place on a cookie sheet about 2 inches apart (I used a scoop to make things easy!). 

6)  Bake for 12-14 minutes, until hte tops of the cookies start to brown.

7)  Cool and enjoy!

I thought the Reese's pieces were a nice substitute for the more traditional m&ms since Autumn is almost upon us!  

We're currently brainstorming new Fall recipes...and let me tell you that Pumpkin is the star of the show right now!  If you have any specific requests, just let us know in the comments!

p.s. kelsey ♥

weekly wrap-up: hello vancouver

 So I'm back in Van for school....and have been having an insanely good time so far!

Similar to Clara's weekly wrap-up last week (Hello Edmonton), I've been touring around Vancouver all week...visiting my favorite places, and reuniting with friends!

My good friend Jorica took me to Menchies for frozen yogurt....and it blew my mind!  I'm a HUGE fan of frozen yogurt, especially when you get to control what flavours you get, and Menchies had an insanely large selection of toppings!  And...ummm, yes I do have an obsession with strange pink animal crackers!

We also walked along the seawall, which was so much fun....and has potentially become my new favorite activity!  A gorgeous view the whole way!

I also bought a hilarious disposable camera (thank you urban outfitters...haha), so keep an eye out for those crazy photos in the future!

And the picture below is my room!  I put up indoor Christmas lights above my bed in a sort of "faux canopy" type thing...and I love it!  There is something about lights that is just so magical!

Jorica came over for a day that began with some girly crafting, progressed to a waffle feast, and ended at the beach!

(In case you haven't noticed...I missed her A LOT!)

Living 5 minutes from the beach is something that will never get old....and I intend to enjoy it as much as possible.  Last year was full of morning/afternoon/night walks, and I know this year will be too!

I hope you all had lovely weeks....whether they involved moving, unpacking, new schools, old schools, jobs, vacations, walking, sitting, crafting or blogging!

p.s. kelsey ♥

outfit post: out of this world

These babies are the stars of the show this week.  Hand painted with love for my birthday by my dear friend Ashley, they have definitely moved to the very top of my favorite shoes list!

This outfit was definitely inspired by one of my favourite TV shows: Doctor Who!  Last February Kelsey and I decided we wanted to watch Doctor Who together, but there was the small problem of her being in Vancouver, and me being in Abbotsford.

However we quickly found that skyping someone, while wearing headphones and watching TV is almost the same as watching it while sitting right next to them!  We could still make goofy comments about the endearing cheesiness of the show, or talk about the funny costumes/humor.

I feel just as cool as Captain Jack Harkness in my shrunken leather jacket from H&M, just as healthy as a Time Lord with two hearts, and just as free as the Tardis, traveling through time and space with my custom galaxy shoes!

I just can't get enough of these shoes.  It blows my mind that Ashley hand painted them!  This is the same Ashley who helped us out with all of my photo booth props.  She is crazy talented at arts and crafts.  I want to wear these shoes with every outfit!

Indeed, I ♥ ♥ DW/Tardis.  This show is funny, clever, and endearing.  I am so glad Kelsey and I decided to watch it together.  We love bonding over cheesy scifi, and this show has definitely made its way into our hearts.

Hope everyone had a great week :)

Allons-y!

p.s. jordyn♥

diy : buttoned up infinity scarf

As the weather starts cooling down, I thought a perfect way to bring in the fall spirit was to do a diy based on my favourite fall accessory: scarves! I loveee scarves and I especially love the look and the coziness of infinity scarves, so enjoy this very simple and oh-so-cute scarf makeover!

Supplies needed - some old knit scarves, buttons, and leftover pieces of yarn!

First things first, line up your buttons on one end of your scarf.

Make sure they're fairly evenly spaced apart!

Cut out 2 pieces of yarn for your buttons. I doubled up on the yarn for a little more stability.  I chose red yarn to go with my grey scarf to add some warmth and in (yes, very, VERY early) preparation for Christmas-time! I confess, I'm that person that sings Christmas songs months before December, gets ecstatic about the first snowfall, and drink litre after litre of eggnog as soon as it hits the stores.

{  I   N   S   T   R   U   C   T   I   O   N   S  }

1. Take your 2 pieces of yarn, grab a skewer (or something along those lines..) and poke your yarn through your button holes.
2. Using the skewer, poke your yarn through the scarf.
3. Double knot, triple knot, figure eight knot those pieces of yarn!
4. And voila, the back of your scarf should look like so. Grab a pair of scissors and snip off the edges and you're done! 

I am so in love with both of these scarves! They're so cozy and warm and wonderfully fall-ish. Look out for an outfit post featuring these in the future cause they are definitely going to become a staple in my fall wardrobe. Happy fall dear friends!!

p.s.  ♥ clara

tasty tuesday: reeses peanut butter bars

The moment I saw a picture of these on Bakerlady's blog, I knew I had to make them.  They looked too good to be true.  Peanut butter has always been a big favourite at my house, so I knew these would be a hit!

And let me tell you, these taste even better than they look!  Just like a Reeses Peanut Butter cup, or as my friend Ellen said, "Even better, because you know they are homemade!"  I love putting a homemade spin on classic favourites.  

The ingredients are so simple, it is nearly impossible to mess this recipe up!

The bottom layer will look and have the consistency of raw cookie dough.

Adding peanut butter to the chocolate chips made it easy to spread, and easy to cut.  It didn't harden quite as fast or as hard as just chocolate chips would have.  This made them very easy to cut - unlike my Nanaimo Bars, which I usually have to score before the chocolate has completely hardened, I just cut and served these after about an hour in the fridge.

Bakerlady suggested using an offset spatula for pressing the bottom mixture into the pan, as well as spreading the chocolate layer!  It worked very well.

Reeses Peanut Butter Bars

recipe by: Let's Dish

Ingredients

Bottom Layer:

1 cup melted butter (or margarine)

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

2 cups icing sugar

1 cup peanut butter

Top Layer:

1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup peanut butter

Directions

1.  In a medium sized bowl, mix together the ingredients for the bottom layer (melted butter, graham cracker crumbs, icing sugar and peanut butter).

2.  When everything is mixed, press evenly into an ungreased 9 x 13 pan.

3.  Now melt the peanut butter and chocolate chips together to make the top layer.

4.  When melted, spread evenly over the bottom layer.  Using an offset spatula works wonders, and if your chocolate is still a bit melty when you have finished spreading it, give your pan a bit of a shake, or gently bang it on a counter.  This will smooth out the chocolate even more!

5.  Refrigerate for about an hour before serving.

I am actually eating one of these right now as I am writing this!  But I am also eating kale, so that balances things out.  Right??

Do you want to know something ironic?  I started editing this post, and then had to take a break to go to my Nutrition class.  I'm not sure my Nutrition teacher would have been impressed.... but frankly I don't care.  They are definitely worth the calories!

Please, if you are looking for something new to bake, try these, you will not be disappointed!

p.s.  ♥ jordyn

weekly wrap-up : hello edmonton

This week I had a wonderful time exploring Edmonton, eating good eats, and spending time with dear friends =]

 Enjoying an evening by our favourite fishing spot by the river near our apartment...

Hitting up the Labour Day Re-Match of the Stamps vs. Eskimos... Yeah Stamps! 

nom nom noms.

Love late evenings playing intense games of Settlers with good friends =]
Kirsten had a crazy number of knights!

Took these photos and had a blast doing it! I had the shock of a lifetime when a couple who contacted me for an engagement shoot showed up in WEDDING clothes and told me they had decided to elope! SO CRAZY! And such an honour!

 

& lastly, I picked these pretty yellow flowers from the river valley to brighten up our apartment! 

And yes, my last year of school has started...but that's really not so noteworthy ;) So I'll end here.

Hope you all had a lovely week as well!

p.s.  ♥ clara