Postcards from Québéc City

A shark rearing to chomp up a Fleur de Lys on a fishing line

Whenever I go somewhere new, I'm always lookout for street art and graffiti.  I think that you can learn a lot about political and social situations, as well as get a sense for a places humor through street art that you stumble across.  It is a way to visually connect with people from a place that is foreign to you through signs and symbols. In a way, these messages can help you make sense of an environment that is strange to you.  On my trip to Québéc City, I was quite impressed at the amount and the quality of street art on the old fortress walls of Old Québéc.  Québéc street artists create large, colourful pieces that appear to be stenciled or free handed onto walls.  I noticed that the use of text and words is abundant, and often acknowledges social situations in the area.

Julep Maven Box

Beauty subscription companies seem to be very popular on the web.  They have always peaked my curiosity, and I have wondered what the quality of the product and the service is like.  I noticed that the company Julep had an offer where you could  receive a free box, so I jumped at the chance to try it out.

On The Weekend: 21 Balançoires

This weekend, I went to see the public art exhibition  21 Balançoires in Montréal.  The public is invited to swing on colourful swing sets.  The swinging action makes music, and with some cooperation with some other swinging friends, you can create some beautiful sounds.

The Green Goddess

My Mum turned me onto making these green smoothies as a great way to get some extra veggies into your diet.  She was the one that coined the name "Green Goddess".  Yes, I was skeptical at first - just look at that colour! - but one taste had me hooked. These smoothies are sweet, refreshing, and oh-so-good-for-you.

Quinoa For Breakfast?

In the morning time is essential, and I don't always have ample time to make myself breakfast (much to my horror, breakfast is my favorite meal!).  These quinoa filled breakfast bowls pack a ton of protein into one easy to prepare serving and keep you full until lunch.  They are perfect for busy days you want to continue to eat healthfully in.  Keep reading to find out how to make them!

Shifting Scapes

Shifting Scapes is a stop motion animation film that is describes the pulsating, interconnected, and continuous nature of the natural environment.  The Canadian landscape serves as inspiration for these vibrations and changes.

The music is from the band Summer Heart and the song is I Wanna Go;  I have a post about them here on this blog.

I made this work, and I value your feedback on it!

Please enjoy in full screen for full effect.



Shifting Scapes from Christine McKeating on Vimeo.
A stop motion animation about how landscapes move, shift, and change over time.
Music by Summer Heart - I Wanna Go

Join Me For Lunch: Black Bean Soup and Quinoa Tabbouleh

This week I made myself a smoky and spicy Black Bean Soup for lunch, with a side of a fresh, protein and calcium rich Quinoa Tabbouleh salad.  With a side of Corn Chips, this made a delicious and filling lunch!

Read the recipes after the jump!

Easy Chocolate Cake

This week, I needed a chocolate cake recipe that could be easily prepared with very little mess.  I found this recipe, and as always made some adjustments.  Although it is not a super rich chocolate cake, it is very moist, and works as a perfect base cake if you have other dessert items to add to it.
Bonus: It's vegan!

One Pan Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups Sugar
• 1/2 cup Cocoa
• 1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 2 cups All Purpose Flour
• 3/4 tsp Salt
• 3/4 cup Canola oil
• 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 cups Water, with 1 Tbsp Instant Coffee or Espresso added
• 1 cup Milk 
• 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice 

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. sift all of the dry ingredients in an ungreased 9" X13" pan
3. add all of the wet ingredients and mix until well incorporated.
4. Bake for 25 minutes, and let cool before serving.

Notes:

• You could use vegetable oil, or even sunflower oil for this cake.  Just make sure it is a neutral tasting oil. 
• If you don't have lemon juice on hand, white vinegar will do the trick for this cake
• In order for this cake to be vegan, just replace the milk with water.  I used milk because i found it gave the cake a slightly richer texture, but it will be just as tasty with only water.

The cake it THAT simple.  The best part is there are no dishes to clean up after making this cake other than measuring cups, baking utensils, and the pan you cooked it in.  I think that this cake is delicious with the addition of:

• Raspberries and vanilla or chocolate ice cream (or both?!)
• Carmel sauce
• Any fruit
• Chocolate buttercream frosting
• Whipped cream

Enjoy!

Need

The artist Wax Has a great song about our limitations regarding consumerism.

View in fullscreen for full effect.

Daughter

The song "Youth" by the band Daughter has very powerful lyrics, and something for everyone.

"We are the reckless,
We are the wild youth
Chasing visions of our futures
One day we'll reveal the truth..."

The music video is done live in a church, which makes for some very interesting acoustics.

Homemade Mushroom Soup

For a special treat, I made my roommate and I some of this creamy mushroom soup.  It didn't last more than an hour because we gobbled up the entire batch!  The recipe for this soup is deceivingly simple, but we will never buy canned mushroom soup again after seeing how easy and delicious this soup is to make.

The recipe is originally from Season With Spice, but the recipe I list has some adjustments.

Ingredients:

2 Cups of Chopped Fresh Mushrooms*

1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

6 Cloves of Garlic (go big or go home)

2 Tbsp of Butter

2 tsp dried thyme

2 Bay leaves

1 Cup Vegetable Stock

1 Tbsp of Flour dissolved in 1 Tbsp Water

Pinch of salt

1/2 Cup Half and Half cream

1/2 Cup 2% Milk

Dash of Nutmeg 

Pepper and fresh cilantro to garnish and to taste

*You can technically use any type of mushroom for this, although I recommend using at least two varieties in this soup.  It will give the mushroom flavour more dimension than if you had only used one.  You could combine a "smokier" mushroom, like a portobello, with a "brighter" one, such as a Button mushroom.  For my soup, I selected half Shiitake mushrooms, half Button mushrooms.  The Shiitake mushrooms gave an earthy, smoky flavour, while the Button mushrooms were soft and bright in contrast.  I prefer smoky, earthy flavours while my roommate prefers lighter ones, so this was the perfect balance for us.

Method:

1.  Heat your oil and melt the butter in a medium sized sauce pan, and sautée the garlic on medium heat.

2.  Add in the chopped mushrooms and spices.  Cook until the moisture evaporates from the mushrooms, and the spices begin to toast and smell great (about 5 - 10 minutes, depending on how finely you chopped the mushrooms).

3.  Add in Vegetable Broth and stir until the mixture boils.  Immediately reduce heat and let simmer for about 10 minutes.  Add in your diluted flour so the soup thickens, and has that creamy texture.

4.  Season with Nutmeg, Salt, and Pepper, and stir in the Cream and milk.  Once the soup reaches a simmer, take it off the heat and serve it garnished with Pepper and Cilantro.

This soup would be great served with pumpernickel bread, but we just served it with parmesan toasted onto rye bread, and that was delicious as well.

Please let me know if you try this soup! 

Tokyo Police Club

This Canadian band has been a consistent favourite of mine for years now, but I somehow neglect to mention them.
Tokyo Police Club has a pretty great range of song on my favourite album theirs: Champ.  I would recommend it for it's nostalgic lyrics mixed with a quick pace.  One of my favourites off the album is "Breakneck Speed", mostly for its layering, but also for the sound of the singers voice.  He manages a grungy feel which doesn't surface too much in other songs.

Give it a listen:



"Favourite Colour" is a more a more lively interpretation of the band:




Let me know what you think of this band!

How To Be Alone

An older video, but still refreshing to see nonetheless.

Brunch

My roommate and I very often host meals in our apartment.  Food is something we can enjoy and share with all of our friends, and gives us all a chance to talk and catch up with each other as we enjoy the food.  This past weekend we hosted a delicious brunch with six guests in attendance.  One of the challenges we encountered was how to get the eggs out all at the same time, and hot for everybody.  We came up with the solution of baking the eggs in a muffin tray in the oven, and it worked perfectly! We cracked eggs into a greased muffin tray and put them in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

We also made our brunch an optional pot-luck style.  Our guests contributed bagels, perogies, fruit, juices, and bacon in addition to our eggs, hash browns, apple crumble and tea.  Everybody was full and content by the end of the meal!

How do you share with your loved ones?

Sleepover

Chris Natrop

I have been looking at artists who utilize literal shadow and light concepts in their work lately.  Chris Natrop's work catches my eye.  I would really like to visit one of his installations.  They seem so ethereal, and layered.  Or maybe I could construct a Natrop-inspired mobile over my bed...

All Photos are taken from Chris' website: http://www.chrisnatrop.com/

Coca-Cola Stage 2012

The line up for this years Coca-Cola stage at the Calgary Stampede looks great!  I am most excited about seeing Our Lady Peace, Awolnation, Seether, and Dragonette. It will also be nice to see The Trews and Mother Mother for the third and fifth time.  What parts of this line up look the best to you?

I Wanna Go

Summer Heart makes perfect summer sounds with their song I Wanna Go.  You can almost feel the heat waves bouncing off of you!




What is your favorite summer song?

Just One Second

What if you only had one second to show something beautiful?  This is the question Montblanc and Leo Burnett ask in their short film challenge.  Artists make a one second film encapsulating something that is beautiful to them.

Check out this compilation, Make sure you view it in full screen for full effect.:



If you only had one second to show something beautiful, what would you show?

Submissions can be sent to Montblanc One Second.

There's No Leaving Now

The Tallest Man on Earth is coming out with a new album June 12th.  It's called There's No Leaving Now.  If you want a taste of what this album is going to be like, check out this mp3 from Rolling Stone.  I've always loved his music.  The lyrics are always so beautifully placed, and his guitar playing is phenomenal.  Make sure you check him out on his Myspace as well!