Mini Greek Yogurt "Cheese" Cakes and Salsa (the dancing kind)

Salsa: My Love for Dance

What does ANYTHING about baking has to do with salsa?

It doesn't really, so if you're not interested scroll down to the recipe below. For them curious folk read on =)

I've always loved dance from the first time I publicly hip hopped at my middle school dance and I got made fun of a little bit but I'll credit that to my friends being impressed ( maybe =S) It's an expression of self that feels natural to me. But after high school what opportunities do you really have to dance. I was never really into the whole clubbing scene. I LOVED the dancing, but the getting drunk and getting stared down or rubbed up on by some random guy (hot or not and most often not) wasn't so appealing.

So when university started, I jumped at the chance to learn salsa! It's a ballroom dance but I think it's one that's used most socially. I love the movement, the structure, the music. It pulses through me and when I dance, there are no other troubles in the world. No school, no family drama, I'm not tired, I just dance. But when school gets busy and personal burdens start to pile up, there's no time for dance. I didn't make time for it for about 2 years and I was always ITCHING to get back into it. Thanks to my salsa talented cuzzie, salsa, like baking, will hopefully never leave my life.

Update: I'm Back! Starting from Square One.

The last post I had was right before I started school and now that the classroom part of school is for the most part over, I'm taking this chance, while there's a lull, to start up baking again. This time hopefully there won't be any extended breaks. This is kind of baking rebirth for me and I want to take a more personal approach to this blog and about how I share my baking.

So what have I been up to these last 2 years?

Besides attempting to kill myself by studying every possible hour of my life aannnd  I've done some growing up.  Two years ago, baking and having a happy relationship with my parents were two mutually exclusive things. I'm happy to say things have changed, I'm no longer driven to be the absolute best, it doesn't exist, now I'm motivated to be the best me. To some people there isn't a difference but to me, it's a world of a difference. It's the difference between being just successful and being happy and successful. It's a world were I can bake and have good relationship with my parents. It's a world that never could've existed previously, that I couldn't even have dreamed was possible. I can't express how much it means to me that I've found a way to have both =D

Square One

So where does square one start for me anyway now?? Square one is finally having a space of my own, where I can bake, experiment and decorate. (Thanks Dad). This is probably the best I can hope for. My parents will always be the kind to scold me about:

Busy Birthday Cupcakes.

So if you live in Canada and not in Quebec, then you just had a long weekend. For what? Nobody really knows. Actually, let's Google that! Result: Nobody the heck knows, even within our country we don't know what it's for. But it's there and I'm not complaining about a day off work, if indeed I could get a day off (more on this later, if you care). 

Epic Baking Weekend Item 2: Manly Meat Pie!

After trying out a few pie crusts, some with success and many with failure and at the request of dearest I decided to try a savoury pie. Actually, the meat pie was made because I wanted to make a lard crust. I learned that lard made the flakiest pie crust but then I read that it was best used for savoury pies so meat pie it was. Maybe I'll try it in a sweet pie one day though. Who knows? It might turn out, they put cheddar cheese in apple pies after all. In comparison, it doesn't seem like a very big risk.

Epic Baking Weekend Item 1: Blueberry Track Tarts!

Not in order of how I made them that weekend, because there was no really order of how I made things, let's start off with my Blueberry Track Tarts.

All this pie making has got me eager to get pie/tart crusts perfect! This is also in my support of pie domination. I should really call these cup pies or cuppies or maybe not really since they are indeed tarts. Cuptarts?

I already had one success and one failure for pie crusts, so I thought I'd give tart crusts a try as I had found a nice recipe for blueberry tarts and I had lovely blueberries from St. Lawrence Market. Now is the beginning of the blueberry season by the way. That means they are the sweetest and cheapest! So pick some up to snack on or cook with. Nerdism: Blueberries are also great for their anti-oxidant properties. That means they fight against cancer and aging. They're one of those super foods that taste delicious, not like.... erm... Milk Thistle. (I dunno I had to Google superfoods to find a weird one.)