nothing to do

This post is a bit pointless, but I've really got nothing to do.
The other day, me and Katrina went and had lunch at Luna, easily the most adorable place ever created. Its tucked in on a little neighborhood street where you would never think to look unless you knew where to go. If you live in Toronto, please please please go to Luna. Its just on Dovercourt a few blocks up from Queen.

I love the old Pepsi ads still stuck at the tops of the windows. Somehow utterly charming.

A new pair of Gianfranco Ferré sunglasses. They're almost too much.

I loved Katrina's tree necklace! It's so cute and tiny!



Anyways. Promise to post something more interesting next time.

sweet summer night

I must apologize for my absence and lack of inspiration for the blog...

I went to see Julie and Julia with my mum today and it just totally inspired me to get cooking and wear ridiculous brooches all the time (Amy Adams has a different one on in every scene!)
So I decided to make a delicious summery pasta for tonight, to go with my summery polkadot skirt, which I rediscovered crumpled in the bottom of my closet... It's gotta be three years since I've seen that thing!











skirt, vintage; jacket, H&M; shoes, vintage; clutch, vintage; necklace, Chanel.


My trusty Jamie Oliver cookbook offered me the most delicious of summer pastas: spaghetti con gamberetti e rucola, apparently meaning spaghetti with shrimp and arugula. Lemony, spicy, with a lovely splash of white wine, it's perfect when eaten on the front porch.

city in the clouds

Then me and my mum took a walk down to the water... so nice and misty today. Sometimes it's nice when it's overcast.










My mum's awesome bracelet!




Had such a lazy day today...
I've been having such a darn obnoxious craving for peanut butter cookies that I finally gave in and made a huuuuuge batch. Then I promptly ate half of them while lounging on the couch watching Breakfast at Tiffany's. I did do a teeny bit of work (I hope Esmé doesn't read this I'm supposed to be sewing haha).

garden party!

The Edmund and Lou garden party today!
We sold lots of stuff, ate delicious baked goods (my favourite were Esmé's blueberry scones), and caught up with good friends.

I'm super tired now, off to watch True Blood with le bf, but definitely such a good day! We're pretty much cleared out of stuff, and now I can't wait for our next sale! I guess we've got a lot of work ahead of us haha


ps: the dress I'm wearing I made two years ago out of floral silk, with little rosettes on the shoulder.

lemon lavender shortbread

I have a mild obsession with lavender, probably brought on my mother's incessant use of it all over our house. She has lavender soaps, shampoo, hand cream, essential oil, body butter, fresh, dried, everywhere.
But it was only recently that I discovered the amazingness of lavender in food! I had a delicious and lightly perfumed lavender crème brulée while in France last summer. Since then, I feel like I've been seeing herbs pop up in desserts all over the place.
I had an lovely rosemary chocolate ganache at Czehoski in Toronto, and my famous favourite vanilla cardamom ice cream. And finally lemon lavender cookies. The photos are courtesy of Jules Food and I love their simplicity. I'm making these for the weekend!


1 1/2 cups butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons very finely chopped lavender florets (fresh or dried)
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 1/3 cups flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 325°F.
Cover bottoms of two baking sheets with parchment or brown paper. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, lavender, and mint with an electric mixer. Mix until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add flour, cornstarch, and salt and beat until incorporated. Divide dough in half. Flatten into squares and wrap in plastic. Chill until firm.
On a floured board, roll or pat out each square to a thickness of 1/2 inch. Cut the dough into 1 1/2 -inch squares or rounds. Transfer to baking sheets, spacing cookies about 1 inch apart. Prick each cookie several times with a fork. Bake 20 to 25 minutes until pale golden (do not brown). Cool slightly, then transfer to a rack. Sprinkle with lavender powdered sugar.
Garnish:
lavender powdered sugar: Put a 4 or 5 sprigs of lavender flowers in a sealed jar with powdered sugar for a day before using the sugar.

la la lola

I was doin a bit of blog-reading follow up when I came across these lovely photos of a new book called Lola's Ice Creams and Sundaes.

A book inspired by and old 1970's van turned organic ice cream parlour, it reminds me of why everyone loves summer so much. The book looks so friggin cute and delicious, I cannot wait to get my hands on a copy. Such lovely and beautifully styled photos of the perfect summer treat, with flavours like melon and ginger sorbet, lemongrass icecream, and burnt orange and caramel ice cream.

This reminds me of why I named my blog vanilla cardamom. I was out with friends one night and we came across this tiny little miniature ice cream shop. Everything was organic and homemade and had amazing flavours like lavender blueberry, fig and chocolate, and finally vanilla cardamom. It was the most delicious combination of fresh, sweet, and spicy. Sigh.

Dreaming of icy sweet treats on this hot summer evening. Yum.

she comes in colours everywhere

Chic on the cheap: I am so budget today.

Le boyfriend is coming over so we can begin our culinary adventure into the world of risotto. I am quite excited as to whether or not it'll turn out since it's supposed to be one of the hardest things to make... We'll see.
Here's what we're making, Jamie Oliver would be proud:

Roasted mushroom risotto with parsley and parmesan.

Cooking with friends is honestly one of the best things you can do. Get a bunch of silly people together, go grocery shopping at an outdoor market if you can, cook cook cook.
I swear, best thing ever. I'm so glad I talked my boyfriend into it too. I've gotta teach him how to cook before he goes back to his NYC apartment with THREE MALE ROOMATES. Somehow I can't quite imagine them spending their afternoons in the kitchen.


velvet jacket, Bitten by SJP; coral top, H&M; jeans, Nitrogen; patent shoes, Payless.