State of the ART, Telus World Ski & Snowboard Festival

Right now the Telus World Ski & Snowboard Festival is taking place in Whistler, BC.  Part of this big even (my favourite part) is the State of the ART art show.  I missed last year's art show and I wasn't going to let that happen again so Sean and I headed into the village to take a stroll through the gallery.

I loved most of what I saw and even the ones I didn't love I could still appreciate the skill and talent it took to create the pieces.  There were a couple though, which I won't point out, that I had trouble finding the any skill or talent involved in them.  My absolute favourites were the lighter paintings by Luke Pollard and the winter scene and tree scene by Chili Thom (my all time favourite Whistler artist).

For more information about the art show, check out their website, Telus World Ski & Snowboard Festival.

 

Me, cruising the art show.

 

Our Family

 

Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookies

This weekend I had the house all to myself.  Sean was away in Skaha, rock climbing with some friends of ours while I stayed home with Hooch and the birds.  Hooch and I spent most of our time relaxing; I worked on my paper mache, we went for a hike around Brohm Lake in Squamish and of course, I baked!  I came up with a recipe for chocolate chip coconut cookies.  They turned were so yummy I just had to share the recipe with everyone.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup non-dairy milk (I used almond milk)
3/4 cup coconut milk
1 tsp molasses
1 tbsp ground flax seed
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cup coconut flakes
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F

In a small bowl, mix together the milk, coconut milk,  molasses, and ground flax seeds. set aside.

In a separate larger bowl, stir together the remaining ingredients.  Next, pour wet ingredients into dry large bowl of ingredients and mix well.  The cookie dough will be very sticky.


Using a large spoon (about 1/4 cup), scoop cookie dough onto baking sheets, spacing them at least 1" apart.  No need to flatten the blobs of dough.  Leaving them rounded will give you a firmer, almost crunchier outside while leaving the inside nice and soft.

Bake for 20minutes or until cookies start to brown.

Once cookies are done baking, remove from baking sheets and let cool on a wire rack before serving.  (or if you're impatient like me, pop a couple into the freezer for a few minutes to sample them early ;)

Groupings

Healthy Cookie Dough

It's April 1st, Spring time, when it should be warming up and I woke up to more fresh snow on the ground.  I suppose that's part of living high in the mountains.  Even though I'm not a huge fan of winter, I did choose to live here so I have to deal with it.  A good way to deal with unwanted snow and cold weather and a very stubborn winter is to make cookie dough!  Since I am trying to loose some weight for summer I wanted to make a healthier version of cookie dough so this is how I made it.

Ingredients

540ml can of chick peas/garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
2-3 tbsp nut butter (I used almond butter)
1-2 tbsp agave nectar (more if you like it really sweet)
1/3 cup rolled oats
2-3 tbsp non-dairy milk (I used almond milk, unsweetened)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup chocolate chips or carob chips (I used some Lindt dark chocolate, chopped up)
1 scoop vanilla protein powder - OPTIONAL

Directions

Combine all ingredients except chocolate chips in a food processor and blend until smooth.  Mix chocolate chips into cookie dough and enjoy!

Mix it your own:

This recipe is not a fussy one so feel free to adjust the measurements of the ingredients, leave some out, or add extra ingredients such as hemp seeds, chia seeds, pecans, coconut, etc.

A Tour of Celebrate

One of my favorite stores in Whistler is Celebrate, a gift and home decor store.  As soon as I walk through their door, I fall in love with everything inside.  It’s such a lovely store that I thought I would take you all on a tour.