Tags
bobbing apples, Candyman, halloween, halloween abroad, hocus pocus, pies, practical magic, pumpkin pie recipe, spice cake, sweet shortcrust pastry, trick or treat, Vancouver
Halloween is one of my favourite seasons. I have so many fun memories of it from childhood starting with playing bobbing apples and having a nose filled with water, to having friends over to watch horror films as well as the yearly tradition of watching Hocus Pocus or Practical Magic!
I used to love trick or treating and continued going until I was far too old! One year, my siblings and I went knocking on our neighbours doors and one person asked for a trick instead of a treat and we had nothing for them so the following year we filled a plastic bag with rotten eggs and ketchup and made them put their hand inside. Wild I know.
One of my favourite memories was watching the film Candyman with my friend Christopher when we were about 13 years old and we were sitting in a room where there was a mirror directly to Christopher’s left. In the scene where Candyman comes out from the mirror I remember screaming so much and then laughing hysterically after at how scared we both were.
I wrote this months ago but have been so slack with my posts recently that I’m only just getting round to posting. I can’t believe it’s already been over 6 months since we all went to this incredible place!
I guess you could say that the moment you try on your usual dress size on in the shop and realise that you’ve cut yourself because you’ve caught part of your love handle in the zip, it might be a good time to lay back on the donuts. Well this is the predicament I found myself in last week when I couldn’t get the dress past my hip! Turns out I can no longer eat whatever I want and not worry about putting on weight but rather all those muffins and late night snacks have started catching up with me and I’m noticing it’s taking a lot longer to lose the weight than put it on. I suppose a lot of this is down to the fact that since being here I haven’t really been following a particular routine with meals or in fact preparing meals properly at all. I’ll wake up, have my standard whole grain porridge with milk and honey and then rather than packing a lunch or making dinner I find I’m picking up a wrap or some sushi or a muffin for lunch, then snacking on something else throughout the day and then picking up something light for dinner and then snacking throughout the night. I am not making substantial meals to keep me going throughout the day but relying on bits here and there and not clocking the amount of sugar I am taking into my body each day. I’ve also noticed if I opt for a cold meal for dinner, something like sushi or a wrap I’m immediately craving something sweet or something else to fill the gap that a good warm curry or even rice dish with meat and vegetables would achieve. 
The weather for the last two weeks in Vancouver has lived up to its saying, that being the rainy city. It has been grey and cold and raining constantly therefore unfortuantely this has left little opportunity for exploring. For Easter weekend however with four days off I definitely did not want another weekend stuck indoors and therefore intended to fit some hikes in and travelling to new places in Vancouver.
TEA and TAKES 