banana-wii

i heart my wii, but this cross-marketing is a little weird:


[my chiquitas have a donkey kong sticker on them!]

but i think it kind of worked cause now i want to kidnap princesses named toadstool. (wtf kind of name is toadstool anyways?)

soapstuff so delicious, you can eat it!

(ok, so maybe you can't *really* eat it, but i can tell you it doesn't really taste that good anyways...)

my most awesome friend tara (who is an amazing photographer and craftslady) introduced me to these deliciously-scented inedible soap products made by a swedish company newfoundland and labrador called tvål (i know, i know: swedish + newfoundland is a totally foreign combination but it totally works).


one whiff of these hand-crafted soaps and you'll want to lick them clean, like this blueberry-basil cupcake soap.


[there's a little pumpkin-scented marshmallow-shaped bubble bath thing at the bottom of the photo that i would have eaten...]

in addition to these torturously inedible goods, tvål also produce a line of natural mineral cosmetics and you can sample them all by ordering off their site: www.tvalskincare.com

(for those in the know, there's a retail tvål store in downtown toronto that peddles the st. john's-made wares.)

shortcut caramelised onions

unless you're deathly allergic or get sharp painful pangs in the liver when you consume them, there isn't a person i know who would refuse a dollop of caramelised onions on a burger, on a salad, in quiche or ice cream, even...

often though, one might forego the caramelized onions in favour of less tasty raw onions on a burger, for instance, because cooking onions to the state of caramelisation requires more time, patience and one big beer to drink while you wait for the caramelisation process to complete.

[caramelised onions on sage/onion pork burger with apples and mustard]

but here's a little tip to getting that golden onion tastiness quicker: salt... yes, good ol' NaCL.

toss your bowl of sliced onions with a little bit of salt to help draw the water out and let it sit for about 15 minutes or so (more if you have time). fry them up as per usual over med/med-high in the fat or oil of your choice (about 1 tsp (15 ml) per onion) (and bacon fat tastes best). you'll notice that it takes less time to caramelise than it takes to finish your beer!

you can also deglaze the pan with apple cider or balsamic vinegar or love.

n.b. it's caramelise in canada, not caramelize.