Indiana Jones and the Adventure of Archaeology

Here it is. I've been looking forward to this for a few months now and it didn't disappoint.

For my birthday Chad took me to the Telus World of Science to see the Indiana Jones exhibit. 

We went during 'Dark Matters.' An adults only night that allows access to the whole building including whatever special exhibits are on at the time. 

They usually bring on special displays just for the evening as well as a bar. We even watched someone making Bailey's ice cream with liquid nitrogen. 

Upon entering the show room we were given tablets and headphones to take with us. This allows for a more interactive experience, not to mention that fact that I didn't have to read anything. A+ to whoever came up with this. We just put in a number corresponding to whatever we were looking at and it talked us through it, showed us a video or even let us play. There were virtual "clues" to collect all throughout and in the end you have an idol built from them. 

Wanna take a look around? 

For obvious reasons the costumes are my favorite part, though I get pretty excited about the props as well. Above is Indy's adventure costume and below is the Idol he retrieves only to nearly escape being crushed by a boulder. 

A scetch of how the boulder scene would work. 

Raiders of the Lost Ark, prop

 

Marion's costume

Short round's costume. 

Fancy Indy and Willie from The Temple of Doom

A headdress worn by the crazy man in Temple of Doom

Some of the exhibit was real artifacts borrowed from museums. It's about archaeology as much as it is about Indiana Jones. 

This is one of the oldest known maps. Primitive and not to scale, but impressive no less.

The Last Crusade, props

More pieces from museums. 

This one has a language that is not deciphered yet. That makes me very excited. 

The Last Crusade, which is the true Grail?

Professor Henry Jones' Grail diary 

Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.  

This guy was amazing. He must have been 10 feet tall at least. 

And that is all the pictures I have to share. I highly recommend anyone who is interested to go see this. It took Chad and I 3 hours to get through and we weren't taking our time. Leave enough time for yourself to really check things out and enjoy. 

Let me know what you think of it if you go! 

xoxo

Evolution

Having just changed my hair for the first time in 4 years I thought we would take a look back at the evolution of my hair. 

I have been all over the board with both color and cuts. Very short to very long and everything in between. "Blonde" to red, brown, black, copper, multicoloured, funky colors and au natural. 

These days I also wear wigs, I have a turquoise one and a bubble gum pink one. 

My real hair is natural copper brown but I've added green and purple chunks to it. Subtle, but still fun. 

Sailor Baby Dani. Baby hair. 1992

Very pixelated, picture circa 2008-2009 ish.. Dark with bangs. 

Red headed princess. 2008 copper hair. 

Orange chunk from hair school. 

Very short. I was a hair model in a show. A man cut, coloured and styled my hair on stage. I had no mirror. It was scary. 

Asymmetrical, very short and I loved it. Until I didn't. 

Still short, but longer than before. Very orange. Possibly my favorite color on myself. I wish I was born a fiery ginger. 

Symmetrical again, plain brown, bangs and the last major cut I've had. 2010 I believe. 

Getting longer, natural color. 

Longer still. 2012. 

Even longer. 2013 when I got home from Europe. 

Sailor Scout wig. I want to wear it all the time. 

My Little Pony wig. I love this one too. 

Very long, all virgin and just lovely. If I do say so myself...

Green chunk. I have 5 pieces of green and 5-6 purple. 

Current. If you look close, you can see the purple and green. Natural texture, still very long and I'm loving it! 

You all know by now how much I like to look back. 

What's the craziest thing you've done with your hair??

xoxo

Homemade apple pie!

On the heels of my delicious homemade pumpkin pie, today we have apple!

This recipe makes filling for 2 pies. 

You will need:

6 apples, peeled, cored and chopped 

1.5 tsp Cinnamon

2 tbsp butter, cubed

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 cup flour

2 tbsp lemon juice

Place butter cubes in the freezer. 

Add all dry ingredients to a ziplock bag and shake to mix. You could also mix in a bowl if you plan to make the pie right away. 

Peel, core and slice the apples. Pour lemon juice over them to keep from browning. 

Add apples and butter to the bag/bowl and mix well. 

If this is a make ahead filling, the bag can be frozen for use later. If not, pour everything into the pie crust, cover with more crust. 

I put a light egg wash over the top for extra brown, crispy deliciousness. 

Bake at 450F for 10 minutes, reduce heat to 350F and bake for another 30-40 minutes. 

I chose to make a "fancy" top crust, it worked out decently well for a first time attempt but could still use some work. It tasted delicious though. 

Ideally, the pieces of dough would be interwoven, but I'm not that talented yet.. 

Obviously, this way works fine too, but the bottom layer sinks down into the apples as it bakes. 

The end result was crisp and flaky, perfectly sweet and gooey and just right for me. 

It made a perfectly naughty lunch for Chad and I on thanksgiving. 

You know you've thought about it. Some days it is totally acceptable to have pie for lunch. 

Try it!

xoxo

Pumpkin Pie!

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, and Autumn, I was in the mood to bake some pies. 

Pumpkin and Apple. I wanted to do Saskatoon berry too but that didn't happen. 

And guess what?!!! I made the pumpkin pie out of... A PUMPKIN!!!

This was my first time making it this way and it turned out really well. It was also surprisingly easy, although somewhat time consuming. 

Here's how

You will need:

1 medium pie/sugar pumpkin

Cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out all the seeds and guts, but keep those seeds!

Place the halves face down on a foil lined baking sheet

Bake at 350F for 1 hour

The pumpkin is done when it can be pierced with a fork

Peel the skin off 

All the mushy pumpkin can be puréed in a food processor or with an immersion blender

You'll notice the purée is very watery, this won't work for a pie. 

If you are fancy (read: know where to buy cheesecloth) then it can be left to drain in that, if not, find another way. I bought a mesh screen meant to prevent food splatter in the microwave and that worked perfectly. 

If you are patient or in no hurry, leave the pumpkin to drain on its own, if patience isn't one of your virtues I recommend gently squeezing the pumpkin filled mesh. Much faster. 

I would guess that I got about 4-5 cups of liquid from the pumpkin. 

I have no specific plans for it, but I intend to make something delicious with that liquid! I suppose it can replace the water in any recipe that I want to pumpkin flavor. 

On to the pie now!

You need:

2c pumpkin purée 

3/4c packed brown sugar

1 12oz can evaporated milk

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs + 1 egg yolk

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Mix the dry ingredients

Add the fresh pumpkin purée

Beat the eggs and then pour them in 

Splash in the evaporated milk and mix thoroughly

Now fill up the pie crust and slide it in the oven. 

Centre rack for 10 minutes at 450F then 20-30 minutes at 350F

The pie is done when a knife to the centre comes out MOSTLY clean

Let's not forget about those seeds now! 

They might not be needed for the actual pie, but they make a delicious snack. 

Once the seeds are removed from the gooey stringy bits they should be rinsed and left to dry for a bit. 

When they are dry add a drizzle of olive oil and whatever spices or seasoning you desire. I used coarse sea salt and fresh dill. Shake the dish around so everyone gets nicely coated and flavoured. 

I put mine on a baking sheet on the bottom rack of the oven for the last 10 minutes that the pie was in. 

If you are roasting them separately the oven should be 350F 

They are best when slightly golden brown so just let them go until then. 

On top of having a delicious pie and tasty roasted seeds, I also have leftover liquid, purée and pie filling! I can be domesticated on demand!!! I labeled and put all the leftovers in the freezer for future food making endeavours. 

Who wants to come over for pie??

Happy Thanksgiving!

xoxo

Any suggestions on what to do with my pumpkin liquid would be greatly appreciated as well!

And for anyone who spied the apple pie in the background, that post is still in the oven. Be patient!