An array of recent happenings

How quickly the rain erases all memories of the glorious summer weather and all the fun that went with it. Before the rain came though, I managed to fit in a few fun activities and am hoping this isn't the end of them due to the weather. So I do like to think of myself as someone who will try to try lots of things, but for all the trying I also enjoy doing some of the same activities. With this in mind, I saw out September with a play by the name of Educating Rita, which is the first of four shows that I got a really great deal to see over the next several months. Next up was a pre-season NBA game, a hot ticket and one I was doing for the second time. This past weekend featured another visit to the pumpkin patch at Southlands Farm because what is fall and Thanksgiving without this kind of outing. I have to say that it is these kinds of activities and the potential of so much more undiscovered fun that is part of Vancouver's charm. I just hope that the rain and the coming months don't turn me into a couch potato, which would be very easily aided by a well stocked pvr and some fresh baked goods.

Brownies and cookies, oh my!

I might not have been blogging as much as I would like to, but I have been baking just a tad bit more. The latest recipes I whipped up were for a batch of cookies and brownies. I like to think I bake for a few reasons, and on these two occasions, I baked because I wanted something fresh and delicious with the cookies, and because I had a fantasy NHL draft with the brownies. The cookies were baked from a recipe I found here. The two things I did differently to the recipe were to add semi-sweet chocolate chips instead of peanut butter chips and I baked them for fourteen minutes.

The different flavours in the cookies came together deliciously and made for a most enjoyable cookie or half a dozen. Pumpkin spiced m&m brownies made an appearance last Friday night, baked for Saturday's fantasy NHL draft. I had gotten the m&m's on my Hawaiian adventure and sampled a few straight out of the bag before deciding they might be best in a recipe, hence the brownies. I'm not sure if it was a good idea that the whole bag went into the recipe instead of just a cup, but half a brownie square was all I could bring myself to sample. This is because I think brownies for the most part are a bit too rich for my liking.

Cookies are definitely my preferred eating choice over brownies, but when it comes to baking I enjoy trying all kinds of new recipes.

Hawaiian adventures

My Hawaiian adventure had to be written about in the month it took place and as they say better late than never. A holiday was very overdue by the time it was upon me and what made it even more exciting was the fact that some of my immediate family would be a part of it. I left for the island of Oahu what feels like many Saturdays ago and stayed for a week. My sister, brother in law, nephew and niece met me at the hotel. We then spent a glorious and restful week doing the following:

• Shopping at the Royal Hawaiian Center, Ala Moana and the Waikele Premium Outlets
• Dining at The Cheesecake Factory, P.F. Chang's and Dave & Buster's
• Visiting the historic and interesting Pearl Harbor
• Taking drives to the North Shore and around the coast
• Experiencing an impressive Atlantis submarine tour
• Playing at Wet 'n' Wild water park
• Picking up candy and cookies in Target and Walmart
• Watching animals roam at the Honolulu Zoo

The week started off slowly, but was very quickly over like all good things and before I knew it I was back home full of new happy memories. Hawaii is a place I would like to return to one day, but probably to one of the other islands so I can truly get some rest and relaxation.