How to Tell if A Pineapple is Ripe

stacy reynaud

Pineapples don't ripen after they're picked. If your pineapple isn't ripe turn it upside down so the sugar flows to the top to help sweeten it.

If a pineapple is ripe its leaves will pull out easily.

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8 of The Best Decor Finds on Craigslist Vancouver April 16

 mid-century mirrored fireplace screen | Josef Hoffmann Prague dining chairs | the folding screen I've dreamt about since I was nineteen | free ficus tree

free elephant palm | Balinese wooden trunk with inlay | vintage cane chaise lounge | hammered brass pot (for the free elephant palm)

To see more of my uncovered treasures follow me on Facebook or Instagram. Thanks!

images © their respective owners

How to Make a Vegan Tuna Sandwich

Vegan Tuna Sandwich Image stacy reynaud

What you need:

• 1 can chickpeas | garbanzo beans
• 1/2 lemon
• 2-3 tbsps hummus
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp agave syrup
• a couple spoonfuls of regular mayo, vegan mayo, plain yogurt or soy yogurt
• a couple of pickles

What you do:

• drain and rinse the beans well
• add the beans to a large bowl
• add all the ingredients except the pickles
• fold the ingredients - except the pickles
• mash - I tried using a potato masher, but it was useless. Use a heavy-duty fork instead.
• taste a little bit and add extra lemon, cayenne or agave as needed
• fold in the pickles - I used four

Serve as a sandwich, on crackers or eat straight from the bowl.

Makes about four sandwiches

adapted from Healthy Happy Life

Stacy Reynaud

Quote of the Week | Clothes and the Man - Edward Spencer

Good clothes look better when they are nearly worn out than very cheap clothes look when they are new.

stacyreynaud

From the Archives - The Duffel Bag Mystique

The Gold Rush 1898 duffel bag evolution - Chilkoot Pass Alaska

Even the word duffel bag conjures up images of three day old stubble and mud caked motorcycles all interwoven with vetiver, tobacco, musk and dirt.

Lost treasures from both Kurt Cobain and the Rolling Stones have been found in duffel bags. The duffel bag as Ark of the Rock and Roll Covenant?

Whatever it may be, the duffel bag only gets better with age.

Etsy Ciao Baby Vintage find

originally published February 16, 2011

Wink and Howie's Place - A West Vancouver Mid-Century Home Demolition

You remember this home. In February 2012, I posted about Wink and Howie's cute little place they'd lived in for 40 years. They sold in the summer of 2011 because of declining health (I bought their teak bedroom and dining suites). Well, last weekend, we decided to do a drive-by to see if the home had been restored - as we thought it would be back in 2012. Good God - no. It's been replaced by a concrete monstrosity with Parthenon-worthy Doric columns (the most massive Greek temple columns) and Baroque balconies. First image of the series.

How to Make Vegan Brownies - Vegan and Raw Recipe

Vegan Brownie Recipe image Stacy Reynaud 

Raw Vegan Brownies

Super fast, super easy, super good. 

Call these vegan brownies a breakfast energy square; no guilt is involved. 

What you need:

• 1 cup walnuts
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped almonds
• 1.75 cups pitted dates
• 1/2 cup raw cacao
• two pinches of sea salt
• parchment paper
• food processor
• medium size bowl
• small rectangular glass container with a cover (we used one of those glass airtight food storage containers )

What you do:

• Place walnuts in food processor and process till finely ground.
• Add cacao and a pinch of salt and blend.
• Add dates one at a time to the running processor (through the top feeder tube) - the ingredients should look like cake crumbs, yet stick together when squeezed (if they don't, add more dates.)
• Add the mixture to a medium-sized bowl and fold in the almonds.
• Transfer to a parchment paper-lined glass container.
• Press and mold the brownie mixture into the glass container.
• Sprinkle the other pinch of coarse sea salt on top.
• Place in freezer for about 45 minutes.
• Remove from freezer and slice into bite-size servings.
• Cover and store in the fridge.

Makes about eight to ten bite-size brownies - double the recipe for more

adapted from Karla's Closet and My New Roots

Quote of the Week - Erich Fromm

stacy reynaud

While in our private life nobody except a mad person would remain passive in view of a threat to our total existence, those who are in charge of public affairs do practically nothing, and those who have entrusted their fate to them let them continue to do so.

Erich Fromm, To Have or To Be

The Longest Year in History

was 1972.

Remember the power of three? It's happening again, this time with the year 1972.

First off - Moody Blues, Nights in White Satin - a song I thought, from the very first day I heard remembering hearing it, was a cheesy 70s rambling poem song about King Arthur, so I paid no attention to it. Anyway, it popped up at me on the weekend, and I took the time to listen to the lyrics - which are everything but knights in white satin. 

New old favourite!

Then, I was looking at old Honda motorbikes online and came across this vintage ad from 1972. The truck and camper (and mini bike) equate to the elimination of the living in a van down by the river scenario created by the Vancouver rental pool.

Finally, Tuesday night I was looking at residential architecture and up pops this beauty. West Vancouver's Helmut Eppich house designed in 1972 by Arthur Erickson Architects (and sold in 2010 for $4.8 million.)

Vintage Chanel

1991

Christy Turlington