Reading Week!

As of 5pm on Thursday I am officially on vacation!  Actually there's going to be a lot of reading getting done this Reading Week-sadness! I have two essays to work on, four chapters to read for my Québec history class and two midterms to start preparing for.  They are on the same day, which really sucks!  Both are psych classes, which means a LOT of information to memorize.  I definitely should have taken child development 2 instead of brain and behaviour though-that class is hard! Stupid brain being all complicated lol. I'm never going to want to hear about neurons ever again after this semester is over lol.

 I am actually in Montréal right now.  I came up on Thursday and am waiting to go to the airport.  I'm going back to BC for Reading Week! It's the first time in my four years at Bishop's, so I'm hella excited haha.  I leave for the airport in three hours!!

bisous!

WILW!

I'm linking up with Jamie over at this kind of love for what I'm loving Wednesday!

I'm *loving* that I got to spend last weekend with my sweet friend Tara and her husband Aaron in Montreal.  We went shopping downtown and to the biodome where I saw the cutest animal ever:

This is a capybara! No the one at the biodome didn't have a purple harness, but seriously, how cute is he?! They look like giant swimming guinea pigs, so of course I want one hehe.

I'm *loving* that tomorrow is my last day of classes and then I am free for Reading Week!

I'm *loving* my Lululemon backpack.  Seriously the best backpack ever!

I'm *loving* the look of this place: The Wickaninnish Inn in Tofino, British Columbia.  Isn't it gorgeous?

Recipe to try: vanilla marshmallows

Ingredients:

3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup corn syrup
1/4 cup cold water
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup warm water
2 7-g envelopes unflavoured gelatin powder
1/4 cup icing sugar
1 tsp cornstarch

Stir granulated sugar with corn syrup, cold water, and salt in a small saucepan.  Set over high.  Bring to a boil, and let boil without stirring for 1 minute.  Then stir in vanilla.  While waiting for syrup to boil, pour warm water into the bowl of a stand mixer with whisk attachment.  Sprinkle in gelatin.  Let stand 2 minutes to soften.  Line an 8-in square baking dish with overhanging plastic wrap.  Lightly spray with cooking spray.

Set mixer on high, then pour hot syrup in a stream down the side of the mixer bowl, beating gelatin mixture until it is thick and sticky and white peaks form, about 4 minutes.

Scrape into prepared pan, smoothing top as best you can with an oiled spatula or a metal offset spatula.  Let set at room temperature for at least 2 hours.

Whisk icing sugar with cornstarch in a small bowl.  Sift one-third of mixture over top of marshmallow to dust the surface.  Turn out onto a cutting board.  Discard plastic wrap.  Sift half of remaining sugar mixture overtop to dust the surface.  Slice into cubes about 1 in. square.  Roll each cut marshmallow in remaining sugar mixture until all sides are coated.

Happy Sunday!

I'm spending mine chained to my desk.  The topic of the hour is neuro psych.  Did you know that the golgi apparatus produces lysosomes, which are sacs that contain enzymes and whose function it is to break down cellular structures no longer needed by the cell? Well, you do now.  Don't you feel enlightened?  I also have to read two more chapters of my quebec history book and write a 500-600 word summary for each chapter.  I have two midterms on Tuesday: neuro psych and psych of human sexuality.  Oh ya and a novel to read for tomorrow.  I've read it before and the novel quizzes are super easy.  Things like, "what is the father's name?" The book is only like 100 pages too.

Yesterday was library day! Once a month me and a few other girls from Bishop's run an activity day at the library.  We read stories (duh), do crafts, and play games.  Because Valentine's Day is in February I made pink cupcakes with pink frosting and bought different sprinkles and cinnamon hearts for the kids to decorate with.  It went really well : )

Anyways, back to the golgi apparaturus...

Snow Day!

Not officially I guess, but my two classes were cancelled today :D I've been writing out flash cards for the past two days, so I'm taking a blogging break.  Since it's such a snowy stay at home kind of day I think I'm going to make homemade macaroni and cheese for dinner.  Yum! I also have a recipe for brownie cheesecake bars that I'm dying to try.  They have a brownie base and then you mix brownie pieces into the cheesecake batter, pour over top of the base, and voila! Kind of like my favourite dessert EVER: chocolate explosion from Boston Pizza.  It has a chocolate cake base, and the rest is chocolate mousse with bits of cheesecake.  So.  Freaking.  Amazing.

On that note, I think it's lunchtime :D

Recipe: Bailey's Irish Cream Brownies

Taken from The Voice of Joyce

1/3 cup butter, room temperature (Irish butter if you have it)
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup Irish Cream liqueur

Irish Cream Glaze
1 tbsp Bailey’s Irish Cream
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 cup confectioners’ sugar

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9×9-inch square pan with aluminum foil and lightly grease.
In a medium, microwave-safe bowl, melt butter. Whisk sugar and cocoa powder into butter until smooth. Allow to cool to room temperature, then whisk in egg and vanilla extract.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Pour in butter mixture and Irish cream and whisk well to combine, mixing only until no streaks of flour remain. Pour into prepared pan.
Bake for 22-26 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs (not chocolate batter). Cool in pan on a wire rack before glazing.

For the glaze, whisk together all glaze ingredients in a small bowl. Drizzle over cooled brownies, then use a spatula to spread gently into an even layer. Allow glaze to set for at least 2 hours at room temperature before storing the brownies.

Recipe link: Banana cupcakes with nutella icing

Check the recipe out over at Lil Mrs Housewife: Banana cupcakes with nutella icing