Why Fall is the New Spring

Posted on September 3, 2014 by B

Although we still have a couple more weeks of summer left (first day of fall is the 22nd, people!) a lot of people consider the arrival of Labor Day weekend to signify the end of summer. For many, this is true: the so-called “back-to-school” season means a lot of changes in lifestyle, at the workplace, in the retail world and sometimes even in the financial sector.

I haven’t been in school for a good few years now, but something about the arrival of September makes me feel as if I’m being given an opportunity to refresh. Recharge. Renew. Although the year is already halfway through, I find September is often my busiest time as I help people take on new projects, and start on a few new ones myself.

Don’t get me wrong: I love the summer. Summer means my birthday, long walks with the dog, and seemingly endless days of sunshine. But I always enjoy the opportunity to get excited about something new, too.

For those of you disappointed about the summer ending, why not take the opportunity to try something new? Press the reset button. For me, I’ll be trying to blog a lot more (something I love, but which I don’t always make the time to do), introduce some new routines in my lifestyle (I’ll be blogging about those a little bit later) and finally, I’ll be spending some time fixing things up around my apartment so I can better enjoy my time inside when the weather gets colder.

It doesn’t have to be a big project to get you going. Today, I felt refreshed and renewed by giving my hardwood floors a good deep clean to get rid of all the dirt and grime my dog and I have tracked in from the park and the beach. All the scrubbing started to get the wheels turning as I thought of a few cleaning tasks that will give my home that extra sparkle after being neglected in favor of my patio all summer.

So I’m officially declaring that fall is the new spring! Don’t wait until 2015 to clean your apartment, start that new project, organize your life, etc. Start now! Enjoy the feeling of productivity and organization so the winter months ahead can bring time to relax, to rejoice in family and friends, and maybe even a good cup of hot chocolate. (Too soon?)

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What do you have planned for the month of September? Comment below or drop me a line at keepingbusyb@gmail.com. I’d love to hear from you!

Baking with B: Banana Muffins

Posted on August 18, 2014 by B

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t include these muffins as a staple in their baking repertoire, but if you are one of those who does not, never fear: this is probably one of the simplest recipes ever. Best of all, it’s a great way to use up those overripe bananas that are sitting in your fruit basket. Or banana tree. Or wherever you keep your bananas.

Banana Muffins (yields 12)

1 1/2 c. flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 c. butter, melted

3/4 c. sugar

1 egg

3 bananas, mashed (about 1 1/2 c.)

Melt butter gently in a saucepan over medium heat or in a microwave-proof bowl for 30 seconds. Let stand. In a medium-sized bowl, sift together your flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a separate bowl, mix together butter, sugar, eggs and bananas. Gradually add in flour mixture mixing well. Spoon batter into greased muffin pan, or one lined with muffin cups. Bake for about 20 minutes at 350F until tops are lightly golden. If you are making miniature muffins leave them in for only fifteen.

B’s Tip: It’s true what they say- ripe bananas have the best flavor. My saying for bananas is this: “If they’re not good enough to eat, they’re good enough to bake with.” Okay, I don’t really say that. But it is true. If your banana is covered with waaay too many black spots for your liking, use them to make these muffins. If your bananas are already starting to go but you don’t have time to make muffins, freeze them for up a month. Just remember to let them get until room temperature before mashing them and adding them to your batter. Cold bananas make all that butter you just warmed chilly again which gets you- you guessed it- chunks. No one wants butter chunks in their muffins.

These muffins are best served warm, cold, day or night- anytime! The best part about them is that they’re so versatile. Leave them as is and serve them warm with a lick of butter and a cup of tea. Or why not create your own variation? Add in 1/2 c. of your favorite nuts to the batters before scooping it into the muffin cups. I think walnuts go amazingly with this recipe. Or why not add chocolate chips? (Everyone’s favorite.) A co-worker of mine made these the other day with butterscotch chips and they tasted really good as well.

Happy baking!

KBwB-Flower-50

Baking with B appears every other Monday on the Keeping Busy with B Blog. Find out why I like baking so much here. For more of my baking, click here. And for even more recipe inspiration, check out my Pinterest full of food eye candy that will have you licking your computer. Promise.

Welcome Spring!

Posted on April 10, 2014 by B

This is it. This is the weather I’ve been waiting for. I’ve lasted through the snow, the slush, more snow and than all of those weeks of rain in order to enjoy the weather that we had this past weekend, and the weather that we have today.

I used to love summer when I was a kid because it meant three things: the first, of course, was that it meant no school but also because it was my birthday. (Cough, cough). Plus, my family had this crazy above-ground kiddie pool that was really quite massive and deep- so much so that it would take hours to fill. That was the third best thing about summer: I loved to swim. I would stay in the water for hours. I still love it even though I’m afraid of a) deep water in places such as oceans; 2) giant waves can occur in deep water, such as oceans; c) not being able to see where I’m going in a large body of water because a giant wave will wash the contacts out of my eyes, like what might happen in an ocean; and d) bathing suits. So maybe swimming now isn’t quite what it used to be.

Somewhere in my teens though, this weird change happened to my body. (No, it wasn’t puberty, you perve, although that did happen as well, thank you very much.) I started to feel temperature.

I know it sounds strange, but think about it. When you were a kid do you have any memories of you when you were extremely hot? Extremely cold? Not really! (Exceptions might be if you enjoyed exploring volcanic craters on family vacations, or if you ever fell through a frozen lake, or down a well.)

One of the reasons I stopped liking summer so much definitely had to do with me realizing how freaking hot it actually was (and not having an air conditioner aided me in this realization). But I still prefer warm weather to cool and so I transferred my affection for summer to spring when I began seeing the season for what it is: a mild, beautiful season where the weather is pleasant enough to spend time outside, but not so crazy hot that I am required to wear a tank top.

So, hello spring! Welcome! Despite the fact that right now I feel super stressed, because of you I can walk from one place of employment to another and actually enjoy myself!

And to summer, who I know is lurking in the wings at the moment because we live in Canada, and spring is often short-lived; can you lurk just a little while longer? Until I get some air conditioning? Indulge me a little. I don’t want to have a birthday just yet, either.

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Are you excited for summer just like I am? Get some of those projects out of the way so you can enjoy the time outside. Visit my business page or my busy page for more ideas on how to get that boring stuff out of the way now!

Baking with B: Shannon’s Strawberry Cake

Posted on March 24, 2014 by B

When I asked Shannon what kind of cake she’d like for her birthday, she said she’d be happy with anything as long as it was “something with fruit and whipped cream”.

I was only to happy to oblige, and came with up with this summery cake. Even though this is probably best served when the first fresh strawberries come out at the end of June, it still tasted like the promise of sunshine and beautiful weather to come wen we ate it back in January.

Of course, maybe I’m biased because I’m a summer baby (hint, hint). But everyone else in the office enjoyed it, which makes me think it’s a treat to be enjoyed year-round, especially if you like desserts that are light and fruity.

Shannon’s Strawberry Cake (serves 6)

generous 3/4 c. flour

1 stick butter or margarine

rounded 1/2 c. sugar

2 large eggs, beaten

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp apricot jam (or preferred flavour)

1 1/2 c. whipped cream

strawberries for garnish

Grease 2 small layer cake pans. In a medium bowl, sift flour. Cream the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs, blended with the vanilla extract, adding a spoonful of flour with the last amount. Carefully fold in the remaining flour.

Divide the mixture between the two cake pans and bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes or until the cakes are golden brown and spring back when lightly pressed. Remove from the oven, leave to cool for a couple of minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and let cool completely.

B’s Tip: I didn’t have two pans the same size unfortunately, and ended up making one long sheet cake. It was easy enough to cut it in half in order to make the two layers, but it left the cake with a golden crust on just one side, which I opted to cut off. It worked out okay, but not great, ya know? Desperate times call for desperate measures, but in the end, go with the two pans.

While cakes are cooling, whip up the whipped cream. I macerated one strawberry in the whipped cream that gave it a wonderful fresh flavour and a tiny bit of sugar. You’re totally welcome to do whatever.

When cakes are cool, heat up the jam of your choice. (Apricot is my recommendation, as it’s super-subtle and lets the vanilla-y cake flavour shine through, but switch it up and tells me how it goes!) Spread over top bottom layer of cake. Sandwich second cake on top. Cover with whipped cream and sliced strawberry as garnish.

Obviously, strawberries are super delicious and made this cake super yum, but you could substitute for any fresh summer fruit, or maybe change it up with some pineapple rings and a sprinkle of coconut. Or change up the flavour by omitting the vanilla extract in the cake batter, and cream in instead 2 tbsp finely grated orange or lemon rind in with the butter.

Happy baking!

KBwB-Flower-50

Baking with B: Lucy’s Chocolate Chocolate Cake

Posted on March 11, 2014 by B

Somehow (somehow!) I was roped into making a birthday cake for one of the office staff.

Okay. So it wasn’t really that hard to convince me. And when my co-worker Lucy requested that her cake could be anything that was “chocolate chocolate” (that is, chocolate cake with chocolate icing), I was totally game.

And don’t even try to tell me that it should be “double chocolate”. She asked for “chocolate chocolate” and I think I delivered.

Lucy’s Chocolate Chocolate Cake (serves 8)

2 oz./55g semisweet chocolate, chopped

2 tbsp milk

1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

3/4 c. unsalted butter, softened

generous 1/4 c. dark brown sugar

3 eggs, beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

Filling and Frosting

31/2 oz./100 g semisweet chocolate, chopped

4 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 c. icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp milk

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan and line with parchment paper.

First, take a picture of the chopped chocolate and post it on Instagram just to be a huge tease. When you’re done gloating about how many likes your picture got (you’re welcome), gently heat the chocolate and milk in a saucepan just until melted, without boiling. Remove from heat.

Sift the flour and baking powder together and add the butter, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla extract. Beat well until smooth, then stir in the melted chocolate mixture.

Spoon the batter into pan smooth level. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until firm to the touch and just beginning to shrink away from the sides of the pan.

Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire racks to finish cooling. When cold, carefully slice the cake horizontally into 2 layers.

B’s Tip: For the love of all that is good, please test all your willpower and do not try to cut the cake before it has cooled! I learned that the hard way- my first round of this cake got totally smooshed.

For the filling and frosting, melt the chocolate with the butter in a small pan over low heat. Remove from the heat and stir in the confectioner’s sugar, vanilla extract, and milk, then beat well until smooth.

Sandwich the cake layers together with half the chocolate mixture, then spread the remainder on top of the cake, swirling with a spatula. Sprinkle with leftover grated chocolate, if desired.

I substituted milk with cream with no difficulties (so sue me, I was all out!) and instead of a layered option I used the extra icing to frosting the sides of the cake as well. The result? A rich, chocolatey cake with a dense, moist texture. It keeps in the fridge wonderfully if you’re making it ahead of time- just remember to cover with tin foil and let rest at room temperature a few minutes before serving.

Lucy said that it was everything she wanted and the rest of the office seemed pleased as punch, too. Considering my first stab at this recipe turned out a disaster, I was pretty happy with the results too. I’m definitely not waiting until Lucy’s next birthday to try this cake again!

Happy baking!

KBwB-Flower-50

How Do You Cope with Stress?

Posted on March 8, 2014 by B

Lately it seems like every little thing under the sun has the capacity to stress me out. I call this feeling “the octopus” because once you start feeling anxious about one thing, those tentacles of anxiety reach out and grab anything else orbiting around your mind. Suddenly, one minor issue has turned into several and you’re no longer sure which one originally caused the churning feeling in your stomach.

In situations such as these, I have a favorite stress reliever that I usually turn to. Some of my more stressful moments have manifested themselves into these creations below. Can you guess what I like to do when I’m stressed out?

It may not be so good for the waistline, but I’ve found it to be a (relatively) healthy and productive way of dealing with my workload. The satisfaction that comes with creation is surprisingly soothing!

How do you cope with all of your stress?

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When I’m not eating my own body weight in cookies, you can also find me dealing with my stress by tuning out with a good book. Read about more of my selections here or follow me on Goodreads so you can creep my virtual bookshelves. Interested in my favourite stress relief method? Choose your poison here.

The Literary Snoop

Posted on March 3, 2014 by B

There is one hard truth about people and that is this: people like to snoop.

I think there’s nothing more than people like to do than hear about other people. It doesn’t have to be in a malicious way. We’re just interested in what’s going on in people’s lives- and in their medicine cabinets.

Some people get their fix watching reality shows, or just being a plain gossip, but I get my jollies in a slightly different way.

I snoop bookshelves.

Part of my excuse is that it’s very hard for me to see words anywhere without automatically reading them, which is why you’ll catch me reading over your shoulder on the bus or on the subway. I don’t mean to pry. I just can’t be near a written word without reading it.

You may have guessed this already, but here’s my official confession anyways: I am a literary snoop.

Case in point: two of my good friends moved a while back and in a gesture of good-friendliness I volunteered to help out. By the time I had gotten off of work they had moved all the furniture and boxes into the rooms and now all that was left to do was unpack.

I stood with my friend in his room, surveying the garbage bags full of clothes, the mattress still leaning against the wall and the general clutter that comes with moving all of your belongings willy-nilly into one room. We looked at all the boxes. We looked at each other. I asked, “Do you want to unpack your books?”

And we did- all twenty-three boxes of them. My friend is also a self-confessed bibliophile and as it turns out, has a collection that’s much bigger and much more varied than my own. You can imagine the fun that we had that afternoon, the kind of sick pleasure we took from realizing that all of his books would have to be double-stacked on his shelves. Even though we were both excited about decorating his new apartment and had endlessly discussed paint colors and the like up until moving day, we just couldn’t stop the conversations that would ensue every time we commented on the books we were pulling out of the boxes, one at a time.

Inevitably, I walked away with a big stack of books that I had borrowed, which is usually the end result of this particular friend and I spending an afternoon together. It is the one benefit to being a literary snoop- I am constantly adding to the growing pile of books stacked next to my bed to read.

And believe me, that stack is ever growing.

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You’ve heard about my dirty secret- maybe you have the same one? Feel free to browse my virtual bookshelves to see what I’ve read and what I’m looking forward to reading on my Goodreads profile. My username is- you guessed it- B. More reading inspiration, click here, or check out my Pinterest Book Board.

Baking with B: Chocolate Brownies

Posted on February 14, 2014 by B

Happy Valentine’s Day to all my readers!

Hey. I love you guys all so much. Thank you for supporting my blog. I’m rewarding you today because it’s a) Valentine’s Day (duh); and b) because it’s coincidentally Friday, which means that this is kind of like the solar eclipse of holidays.

Chocolate Brownies (yields 12)

1/4 c. cocoa powder

1/3 c. butter

1 c. sugar

3/4 c. flour

2 eggs

pinch of salt

In a small saucepan add together cocoa and butter. Begin to melt butter at a low temperature, stirring every so often to combine the melting butter with the cocoa powder. Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl add eggs, sugar, flour and salt. Don’t mix yet! When the butter and cocoa is melted, pour over ingredients into mixing bowl. Stir just enough to combine everything without any lumps, then pour batter into a 9×9-inch into the middle comes out clean. Let cool in pan before cutting into squares.

B’s Tip: I know it’s tempting, but wait until the brownies are completely cool before cutting them! If they’re too hot, the batter will have not set and you’ll end up with a gooey mess that will be delicious, but it won’t be a brownie.

This brownie has a cake-like texture and a chocolatey flavour that isn’t too overhwelming, so it’s perfect for add-ins. You may want to try adding some nuts to the batter, or just smearing with your favourite frosting. Delicious!

Happy baking!

KBwB-Flower-50

Chocolate not your thing? No worries. I’ve got a butterscotch version here. Follow a vegan diet? I’ve got you covered too.

Break it Down Now

Posted on February 21, 2013 by B

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The winter months seem to be a favorite time for everyone to recharge and re-evaluate their spaces, their careers, the way they organize things. And who would blame them? With all the cold weather it’s natural to want to hibernate inside and tackle those millions of little projects that start driving you crazy after so much time spent indoors.

I say millions of projects because most of us have them. Even if you think the items on your to-do list can be easily counted on one hand, you would be surprised at how many projects each of these incomplete items comprises.

Take for example an especially sticky task such as “organizing my office”. Action words like “organize”, “clean”, or even “figure out” make me wary. What do each of these actions mean physically?

Let’s go back to organizing that office. What would it take to get your office organized? I’m betting you there’s at least more than one step involved. In fact, there could be steps involved to the steps you have to take in order for your office to become more organized.

I’d like to get mine organized too. In order for it to look organized, however (or at least to the point where it “feels” organized), I have to complete more than one task.

Get my overflowing inbox to “zero”.
Organize my magazine clippings.
Back-up my computer’s hard drive (not exactly a step that makes my office look physically organized, but one that makes me feel as if I am!)

The task at hand (organizing my office) has suddenly become three smaller, much more manageable tasks. Automatically my to-do list has grown larger, but the things I have to do in order to complete the list have suddenly become much more well-defined. The job of organizing my office has suddenly become much more manageable.

Having vague, sweeping notions of what it is that you need to do can become intimidating, which allows us to procrastinate or even worse, grow numb to actually doing the task. If it’s broken up in smaller, more manageable chunks you no longer need to put these tasks off because you don’t have time to put an afternoon aside, or you don’t know where to start.

Try it! Take a particularly tricky item on your to-do list and write out the steps you need to take in order to follow it through to completion. It may be that your list will grow uncomfortable long but at least you’ll find that those bite-sized chunks are a little bit easier to swallow.

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Juggling a part-time job with a full-time business is pretty harrowing to say the least. This is how I break down my projects, but I’d love to hear more of your tips in the comments below. Read about other ways I manage to keep busy here, and more about how I run my business here. Whenever I feel like taking a break, you’ll probably catch me reading or forcing my baking on other people. The list of projects never ends!

Where Do I Start?

Posted on November 30, 2012 by B

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I am the first to admit, we’ve all been there. Even the most organized of us have had our moments where we’ve abandoned all sense of routine and have left our spaces to be taken care of by the cleaning elves.

Unfortunately, there are no such things as cleaning elves so we’re left to deal with the giant messes we’ve left in our collective wake. It doesn’t mean we’re lazy- it just means we’ve been busy, too tired or too frustrated to get things done. Ok, sometimes it’s laziness too.

But when faced with a back log of filing, a large organizational project or even just a big mess from last night’s party it can be hard to know where to begin. How do we motivate ourselves to tackle all that work.

I have bad news: there is no right solution. Everyone procrastinates, falls behind or gets overwhelmed from time to time. We’re busy people getting busier, so it stands to reason that backlog will happen to even good people. The best solution is prevention- figuring out why we get so over our heads in the first place.

But that’s not helpful advice to anyone trying to find their laptop under giant stacks of paperwork and mail that have been collecting dust for at least a week. (Disclaimer: That has never happened to me before. Ever.)

Here’s my advice then. Consider it a gentle kick in the behind.

Make like Nike and just.do.it.

I’m serious. It’s as simple as that. You may send me hate mail telling me, “Oh, B, but you don’t understand X”, or, “I just have to do Y”, etc.

But honestly? You don’t. Just pick one thing and start. It may mean that you figure out it’s a bigger project than you anticipated. You may realize that you’ve picked the wrong thing to start with. But at least you’ve learned more about the task at hand. It may even lead you to create a plan to get the rest of your project done.

But worst case scenario: you actually got something done! Celebrate! Do a crazy dance at your desk! (Make sure no one is watching first.) Take that happy, accomplished feeling and run with it. Who knows? It may be the source of motivation you need to start another project, and another. Before you know it, you could find yourself chugging along like the efficient little organizer you are deep down inside.

So go ahead and do it! Get off of your computer, or iPad, or phone, or whatever and do something. (Unless it involves one of the aforementioned devices.) Then let me know how good it feels. Just so you know, that light airy feeling you’re experiencing? That’s the feeling of the weight being lifted off of your chest.

KBwB-Flower-50

Need more help with jumpstarting your project? Find out more about what I do here. Feel like doing it yourself? Check out my other articles on running a business or keeping busy for inspiration on how to get your next project going.

Keeping Busy With B

Author Archives: B

Why Fall is the New Spring

Baking with B: Banana Muffins

Welcome Spring!

Baking with B: Shannon’s Strawberry Cake

Baking with B: Lucy’s Chocolate Chocolate Cake

How Do You Cope with Stress?

The Literary Snoop

Baking with B: Chocolate Brownies

Break it Down Now

Where Do I Start?