About Me

Hi! My name is Marika and two of my favourite things are beauty and cooking-hence the name mascara and macarons. I also read quite a bit and am studying English and writing. I will be posting about beauty, my kitchen adventures and recipes, and occasional book reviews. I hope you enjoy and thanks for reading :)

Friday 29 June 2012

An Ode to John Green


                    Hey guys, happy Friday! It's Canada Day weekend over here and I can't wait to get to the beach :). Today I wanted to share one of my new favourite writers. I have read all of John Green's work (five books in all) in the past couple of months and have fallen in love. Since I'm studying English Lit and Writing at school, I sometimes get sick of reading massive bricks of literature and want something a little more readable. John Green is classified as YA (Young Adult), which can be vague and alienating to different types of readers. I would recommend his books to anyone high school age or above, but age is really not a factor I consider for books.

Thursday 28 June 2012




Kale and Quinoa: Making Healthy Food Taste Good 101


Hey guys... it's my first post ever! So be nice. I'm new at this. I thought I would do my first post on what I had for dinner tonight. I, like mostly everyone, am constantly trying to eat healthy, fresh food on a regular basis. Lately I have been trying foods that my eight year old self would turn her nose up at. I never thought I would be someone who would try dark leafy greens like kale, but I gobbled them up, thanks to Joy the Baker. I have been reading her blog for ages and when I was thinking about what to make for dinner tonight, her Kale and Quinoa cakes popped into my head. They aren't the simplest weeknight meal...it really helps to have the quinoa pre cooked and in the fridge though. One major tip is to use a mini ice-cream scoop (I used a coffee scoop) to form the "patties" and be very gentle because these babies are fragile! I topped them with a dollop of sour cream and they were gone faster than I could cook the next batch! Here's a link to the recipe (I added some corn instead of the sun-dried tomatoes) So, without further ado...