Nutella Cookies

I was inspired by a friend to make some Nutella cookies. I love hazelnut and was pretty excited to try it out.

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I followed the recipe from Sugarcrafter. I made two different versions. One with sea salt and one without. I prefer the ones with the sea salt, but some don’t like the salt at all. There is just something about sweet and savoury at the same time.

If I were to make this again, I would use more nutella. There wasn’t much of a hazelnut flavour which was a bit disappointing. I baked them for only 10 minutes and they came out soft and chewy. The inside was moist and had the perfect amount of melt in your mouth texture to it. One batch I accidently baked too long and they came out crispy. It was still tasty, but I definitely prefer the softer ones.

I’ll be adding this recipe to my baking repertoire. They were a hit with everyone and very addictive.

25 Things: No. 23 Movie Marathon

I was 13 when the first Lord of the Rings movie was released to theatres. Its so hard to believe that that is over 10 years ago now. Time flies! It seems like it was only a couple years ago that these films were released.

My friends and I were pretty obsessed with the movies and I have many memories revolving around the Lord of the Rings. I still remember sitting in anticipating in the theatres waiting for the Return of the King to start and the epicness. My aunt and uncle gifted my brother and me each of the series on DVD for Christmas following their release and I would spend hours upon hours sitting in front of the TV watching all the extra footage and special features.

From the very beginning I’ve always wanted to do a marathon of the Lord of the Rings extended version and now I’m happy to say that its been done! Surprisingly time and the movie went by very quickly. The story movies along quickly and soon you’re caught up in the adventures of Frodo and the rest of the fellowship. The worst part is probably the last hour when you know how its going to end, but the movie just won’t end. The total time for all 3 movies? About 10.5 hours non stop.

To make things more interesting and “adult”, we decided to turn this movie marathon into a drinking game with you having to drink every time a particular event happened:

  1. Every time Frodo and Sam have a man love moment
  2. Legolas looks off into the distance
  3. Whenever Frodo falls over
  4. Whenever someone smokes a pipe
  5. Every time there is a Dward vs Elf insult or moment
  6. Whenever Golem / Smeagol says precious
  7. Every time Aragon kisses someone
  8. Every time a hobbit is seen eating
  9. Every time there is a close up of hobbit feet
  10. Close up of the Ring
  11. Merry or Pippin do or say something stupid
  12. When a character of importance passes away – finish your drink

Needless to say, these events happens a lot more than you think. Its only when you’re looking for it, do they stand out.

It was fun reliving the obsession I had with Lord of the Rings. Now I’m inspired to re-watch all the extra features and to reread the books. I guess you now know what I’ll be up to for the next couple of weeks!

WTH Moment of the Week

We hired a new assistant for sales and help with admin work. She was suppose to start on Monday. It is now Wednesday. She hasn’t shown up. No phone call, no email.

We phoned and we emailed. No answer. So strange.

Not sure what we’re suppose to do in this situation. Hopefully things are okay…

Motivation

For some strange reason, I just can’t be bothered to do anything. My motivation is completely out the window.

I wonder where it has gone and when it will come back. I just need to get over it and just do it I think.

One week until holiday! 3 weeks of it! I can’t wait!

Phone Conversations

Guy on the phone: Hello, I have some questions regarding invoicing. Can I speak to ___?

Me: Unfortunately they’re out of the office today. They’re not feeling that well.

Guy: Okay, then can you tell me what bank it is you invoice through?

Me: I believe its ____

Guy: So you mean you’re not sure. Is there anyone else there that will know?

Me: No, unfortunately I am the only one in the office at the moment.

Guy: Ah okay.

Me: Yea, sorry about that. You can try back on Monday.

Guy: Are you American?

Me: No.

Why does it matter where I come from?? GAH! Today has just been a day for strange interactions. Nem jo! This 11/11/11 thing has just made everyone weird!

Birthday Dinner Success

Last night I hosted another murder mystery and it went off so well. I wanted to post my recipes so I will remember it in the future if I ever have to make this stuff again.

Spinach Artichoke Dipexcept minus the artichoke. I couldn’t find any. So it was just spinach dip. Everyone loved it. I omitted the mayonnaise. I feel like the mayo in the Europe just tastes funky. Instead of roasted garlic, I used a garlic salt package i bought at a grocery store. I forgot to get a cheese to sprinkle on top, but it was tasty without it as well.

Kidney Bean Veggie Burger (The base recipe)

Wash and drain kidney beans from a can. Mash them. I used my hands which was kind of gross. Better than mixing meat though. I diced up some onions, mushroom and paprika and put it in with the beans. Added an egg and then mixed in oats as needed. I added some seasoning: garlic salt, & black pepper. Next time I’ll add less oats. The burger fell apart in the cooking, but at least it tasted really good.

This was amazingly easy. I can’t believe I’ve never made veggie burgers before.

Burgers

I more or less followed this recipe. Instead of making mushroom powder, I just diced the mushrooms. Originally I was going to mix in some onions, but the onion I had diced up was so strong, I thought it would over power everything. Instead of Worcestershire sauce I used soy sauce. Then seasoned it with a bit of salt, pepper and some grill mix packet I found at the grocery store.

This turned out so well. I now have another 12 sitting in my freezer for another burger dinner.

On top of that, I made a side of poutine and served milkshakes.

Mushroom gravy.

Hurray for a 1950s party. Pictures to come!

Things On My Mind

The following are going to be a series of unrelated rants. Just things that have been on my mind for awhile.

Money – or the lack of it

Today is October 20th. Normally I get paid on the 10th of every month. The set up is a bit strange where the company pays AIESEC and then AIESEC transfers the money to me. So even if the company pays on the 10th, I normally don’t receive it till the 12th or so. But this month, its late. Its ridiculously late.

When you’re living pay cheque to pay cheque you kind of need to have consistent source of income. No one warned me that I wasn’t going to get paid on time. My landlord was asking for rent. I had no money. So by last week I asked someone about it. Apparently the bank account didn’t have money. There was no mention of when money would be coming in and when I would get paid. I asked for an advance so I could pay rent and this was met with the most unhelpful and rude response.

The thing is, I know there is money in the account. My coworker had to withdraw some the other day. If there is money to be withdrawn, why is there no money to pay me? Its utterly ridiculous and the source of so much stress. I’ve been in a constant bad mood because of this. I hate not knowing.

I asked my boss this morning about it. Apparently its been transferred already but I still haven’t seen it. Here is hoping I get it before the weekend.

People being sick

Everyone around me is sick. Its utterly ridiculous. I’m in the office alone right now. One has a throat infection. Another stomach problems. Someone else is nauseous and is throwing up. Teachers are dropping like flies. Everyone has a cough or sore throat.

My theory is the weather. It literally went from 20+ degrees to 10 overnight. People were not prepared. People are going out without jackets, not bundled up enough. Just generally being idiotic about the change in weather pattern. I like to think that years of living in Vancouver where the weather changes 5 times a day has prepared me well for the sudden change from summer to winter.

Time to drink copious amounts of tea and eat oranges. Gotta keep up my strength and immune system.

AIESEC and CC

My flatmate recommended me to apply for the social media manager position for the congress committee for Global Leaders Summit. And so I did. I went to my interview last night. I’m not sure how I feel about it.

The interview was interesting. They kept asking the same questions just phrased differently. I got a bit annoyed trying to put together unique answers. Maybe it was a language thing or maybe they were just testing for consistency. Who knows. At the end of the interview, I had a long list of questions for them. I almost felt  like I was interview them, not the other way around. My general feeling, and this is from both the application and the interview, is that they really don’t know much about social media and are only using it because it is the “cool” thing to do and because its hot. Granted, I did do some research on the previous year’s conference and their online presence is almost non existent.

They also sprung on me that I would be required to be at the conference the whole time. Its 3 weeks long. I don’t know if I can take that much time off and not that I want to take time off to go work at a conference. Holidays should be for holidays. So I guess we’ll see.

Homesick

I think I miss home. It could be the change in weather that is making me a bit emo, but definitely, I think homesickness is starting to set in a little. On Thanksgiving this year I was thinking about how I had spent it the previous year, surrounded by friends and family. I think I had 3 different turkey’s last year.

I miss sushi and good Chinese food. I miss bubble tea and dim sum. I miss being able to read signs around me. I miss reading actual books. I miss people. I miss my cat. I miss my own bed. I miss Vancouver and everything it has to offer.

I feel like this feeling is only going to get worse. As we head into the holidays, its going to be difficult to not want to hop on a plane and head home. If only flights weren’t that expensive.