sketchbook december 2009

sorry i was gone for so long. semester is over and i can finally breathe. looking forward to spending my holidays at home in toronto...i fly out next week! will update soon. lisa x

sketchbook august 2009

mid-review

yesterday, and the day before: five cups of coffee, two take-out dinners, 36 hours of no-sleep and all productivity, five hours of presentation and critiques

today: twelve hours of sleep, two hours of lazying around the apartment, two cups of home-brewed coffee. and now it's back to the studio to do it all over again.

whole-wheat blueberry oatmeal honey bread

for my weekly group meetings on thursdays, we always bring snacks to share. what better excuse for me to close the computer for an hour and do some baking?



this was loosely adapted from a recipe from the enchanted broccoli forest that i had picked up a couple weeks ago from moe's books, from which i live literally 2 minutes walk away - quite a fabulous arrangement.

the bread turned out a little stiff as i used only whole-wheat flour. the sweetness was perfect though - just right for a bread. i was afraid that my critics might have a sweeter tooth than me, but the general consensus after the bread was devoured was that it didn't really need to be sweeter. i might add a little bit more oil next time, though.

whole-wheat blueberry oatmeal honey bread
yield: 1 medium-sized loaf

::dry ingredients::
1+1/2 cups rolled oats, ground to a coarse flour in a blender
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1+1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

::wet ingredients::
2 eggs (i used 1/3 cup eggwhites)
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup blueberry yogurt
1/2 cup soymilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp grated lemon rind
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp canola oil

::extras::
frozen blueberries (as much as you like)
sliced almonds (for topping)

to make
1. mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients, then stir in blueberries - the more the better!
2. turn into a lightly greased medium-sized loaf pan, and top liberally with the sliced almonds.
3. bake at 350F for 50-60 min. until a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean.
4.cool in pan for 10 min, then turn onto rack and cool for 30 more min before slicing.

milpitas

the past weekend, we rented a zipcar and drove to Milpitas for a site-visit of our design project. we started from the marsh, worked our way up the geography and ended with the hills at sunset. i stumbled across an incredible 100-yen shop in the Great Mall and had my first inn-n-out burger. it was a very good day.

my resolution to post pictures up from one year ago's europe trip did not get carried out at all. one of these days i will learn how to balance life and school properly.

p.s. the clock has ticked over at last here in the west coast, and now that it is past midnight...happy birthday to me! i foresee sushi in the very immediate future :)