3 more? I think not.

I don't know if I should prelude this story by saying that I don't think I'm fat and that I exercise fairly diligently at least 3 times a week but I'm going to... Yep, I have to say that you wouldn't walk down the street and think, "Man, that lady is a cow, a whale, a ship passing in the night". No, really, I don't think you would...

So, this is how the story goes: My family, all four of us, were sitting around in the living room today just watching Survivorman (a whole other story here about how you shouldn't let your 7 year old watch Survivorman...), just enjoying the time, when a commercial comes on about helping in Ethiopia or something like that and I said we should really do that because the kids are older now and what a great experience for them to know about other cultures (yah, a trip to France would be better but I was momentarily insane). Well, my youngest, the 4 year old pipes up and says that we need more boys in our family before we think about doing anything - thanks to Ser I think, who is currently carrying another little boy in her belly. E. thinks we need 3 more boys and then we'll be done with our family. Then, he lifts up my shirt to reveal my stomach and says, "See, you're belly's already big. You've got them in there now." S. burst into laughter! Tears were rolling down his face and I just sat there contemplating whether I should tell Mr. E. he could go jump in the lake (or other things...) or if I should just laugh and kiss his sweet, innocent head. I chose the latter. I wanted to do the former. Good parenting eh?

I am NOT - let me rephrase that - NOT with child. And quite frankly, I've been doing sit ups. Now, I'm going to stop doing those sit ups and go eat some chocolate. Darn kids.

Whatcha been doin'?

We've been raking leaves (a LOT of leaves),
Building lego ships,

Baking Bundts,

Feeling the fall breeze blowing in our faces,

And just snuggling on the couch. Wathcha been doin'?

Simply Saturday.

On such a dark and dreary and cold day such as this what a great day to have homemade pizza. I've lost my yummy pizza dough recipe - misplaced... lost... it's all the same when you're frantically looking through the cupboards. I had a craving or I really would have given up looking for the recipe after 5 minutes. Darn cravings. Anyway, it turns out that as long as the dough is homemade we're all happy. Yes, we could have ordered out but nobody in our house really likes the store bought pizzas - oh, we'll eat them we just aren't enjoying them as much (or so my family tells me...).

I thought I might experiment today, I had some mashed potatoes to use up and you betcha I put them on the pizza! If you throw on some crumbled bacon and some mozzarella it tastes just like - wait for it.... - Pierogy Pizza! It was awesome! I think I might try to use sour cream as the base next time or cottage cheese or something along those lines but the olive oil I used this time worked just fine. Yes, we Canadians can pretty much put cheese and bacon on anything and we'll eat it with relish. It's a sad fact but a true one and weirdly enough, it's one I'm immensely proud of. I should have posted a picture of the pizza too but it vanished quite quickly...

Side Note:

I should let you know that I only put 3 pieces of bacon on the pizza (when crumbled it goes far) and that the 2nd pizza I made was vegetarian - peppers, onion, tomatoes and cheese. I am trying to cut down the amount of meat we eat but for us omnivores it's not always easy - and frankly, my husband is more of a carnivore than an omnivore.

Put down that Patty!

Or, what to do with the 10 pounds of turkey leftover from Thanksgiving! Does anyone else have this conundrum? I mean really, how is that you buy an 14 pound turkey, feed 7 adults and 4 kids and still have more than half the meat left over? And what do you do with it then? We all enjoy a turkey sandwich (and if you don't you're either vegetarian or insane -that's the only categories I have for you...) but you can only eat so much warmed up turkey.

In our house we enjoy leftovers - again, to a point - but more often than not the leftovers take a different form than what they started out as. For instance, meat loaf magically transforms into tacos, meatballs or a delicious BBQ sandwich (if all else fails, go for the sandwich). In the case of the mountains of turkey hanging out in my fridge, leftovers has become turkey noodle soup (oh, yes, soup another standby), Hot turkey sandwiches (a piece of bread with turkey on top smothered in gravy - we Canadians love our gravy), and a new addition, Turkey Patties. I'm sure this recipe exists out there somewhere but I didn't look for one, I just threw what I had into a bowl and "VOILA" instant success. I love when that happens. S. wasn't exactly thrilled with them but he's only young so it could have been an uncooperative moment as well, you just never can tell...

In case you'd like to enjoy one of these Patties, here's the recipe:

Throw into a bowl,

3 cups leftover turkey chopped up and shredded - don't get all exact and fretful over whether you have the exact amounts cause I really never do...

2 eggs

1 cup of leftover mashed potatoes

3/4 cup leftover sweet potatoes

1/2 cup of bread crumbs (or the bottom crumbs of all your cracker bags - yes, this is what I used)

1/4 chopped up cheese - I used cheddar cause that's what I had

1/4 cup of chopped up stuffing or carrots or green beans or whatever else you happen to have

Then, mix, mix, mix until it's sticky enough to form a patty. When they're all shaped dip them in bread crumbs and place on a baking sheet. Bake 350F for about 20 minutes or until cooked through (the cheese will start melting). You just want to make sure the egg gets cooked and the outside is a little brown. You could also flip the patties over halfway through baking time to 'crunch' up the little thing but I'm awful lazy and didn't do that.

You could eat these on their own, as appetizers, with a salad or in a bun with lettuce, mayo, beets, coleslaw or anything yummy like that. Enjoy!

Monday October 12th...

Happy Thanksgiving to all those Canadians out there!

What we're having...

...for dinner/snack! Yummy. The pretzels that I talked about this week - I've got a craving darn it - and along side that a delicious pepper mustard/relish that a friend gave me today. Thank you! To top it all off I bought a new wine today; a Viognier by Cline. It's supposed to pair exceptionally well with a richly prepared seafood but I think the pretzels will just have to do. The wine guys at Cline Cellars in Sonoma are cringing and they don't know why! Hee hee....

P.S. Did I mention how peeved I am that Gourmet is folding? Grrr..

*Sigh*

E. Bean (4 years), "Mooommmmm, I'm hungry".
Mom (never mind my age), "Here's some yogurt with cereal - enjoy".
E. Bean, "THANKS MOM! This is sooo good! You're the bestest cook ever!!!".

Now, if only the rest of life was that easy and with that good of results. I'm not asking for much am I?

I'm sure my husband will be singing a different song when he's eating his bean salad for lunch tomorrow (and no, I wasn't thinking of the "bean song"). Maybe he'll enjoy the sweet potato and apple bundt cake I'm planning on making (no recipe yet...) for his 'snack'. Sadly, I'm one of those wives that makes my husbands lunch for him - yes, I'm sure he could fend on his own but unless I want one of those $8.00 bricks of cheese and a box of crackers disappearing from my kitchen I'd just as soon make the lunch. Lesser of the two evils? Perhaps. However, this morning I didn't have anything for him to take (usually it's leftovers but seeing as we had Kraft mac&cheese and hot dogs for dinner last night there wasn't any - yes, even I made KD).

*sigh*

One more.

Just wanted to show you how happy my coffee looks on my new desk. I think it likes it there...

Hankie Curtains and a Painted Desk.

The "before" picture of the window treatment - eww, it's okay, you can say it. I didn't pick it. It came with the house.

The desk "before" picture. It had good bones; good structure but the 1940 laminate just had to go. I'm sure in someones house it would have been just fine but in what I envision my house to one day look like, this wouldn't fit.

The NEW curtains! Thank you to MK for the idea. She did this treatment in her daughters room and happened to tell me about it. I found the hankies at a local second hand shop and after bleaching them (eww to old hankies) and finding a plain black rod at Target (I LOVE Target), I couldn't be happier (happy from a window treatment? nut.).

The new look! The chair isn't staying nor the wallpaper. I'm thinking white walls and a FERM living tree on the left side of the desk and perhaps a white or black ladder back chair. What do you think?

Did you notice the drawer pulls? I couldn't decide and I'M CHEAP! After all, I found the desk on the side of the road... I had thought about making picture frame knobs (please don't steal my idea) but the only ones I could find on the net were these ones - ewww... And since I don't currently have time to make my own (perhaps one day?) I decided to use some old ribbons instead. I tied a knot, slipped it through the hole, and then used an old pin (in this case a 1980's sunglass pin) to secure it in place. It does the job and I think makes the desk a little kitchy.

So, it's done. The drawers work great and it's the perfect height for my computer. I can blog till I can't blog no more! Aren't you excited???

Next up - finishing the dresser! I've already got the drawers primed and ready for a paint colour. This is the hard part! I can't decide what colour to paint them - white? green? brown? more black? No. Not black.

Oh, and honestly, the pictures don't do it justice. I think this is the best reno job I've ever done - that's not saying much I suppose...

ACK!

Gourmet magazine is folding! Did you know this? I'm a subscriber and have been for the last year (I wanted to wait to until I could read it in my own home before I subscribed, that'll teach me) - before that I checked the magazine out from the library and read through the pages just to find the "right" recipe to inspire me. This weekend it was the oven baked pretzel nuggets from the October issue (DELICIOUS). I've travelled all over the world with the writers of Gourmet. I thought it would be fun to actually go on a holiday and try to stop at all the little dives they go to. *sigh* Alas, they are no more and now I'm going to have to find a new magazine. Are the days of paper magazines gone? I REALLY dislike reading a magazine online. It just doesn't have the same appeal.

In the same regard, I have a fear that books in general are going to go as well. I cringe every time I see the commercial advertising the Kindle. Double ACK! How can you curl up in a cozy chair and fall into the pages of a Kindle? Yah, I know, they said the same thing about shopping on the World Wide Web. Although I love sending my thoughts out there for my friends to read I'm still not cyber suave. Heck, I'm still trying to get a hold on how to work my microwave and don't get me started on cable...

I'm not ready for the future. I'm not ready to let go of my travel companions at Gourmet. Sadly, it doesn't matter. It's all moving ahead anyway isn't it?

A New Blog to ponder...

...While I finish up my desk - and no, I really didn't procrastinate yesterday and I have the black fingers to prove it!

I'm using spray paint to paint the desk (don't gasp or shake your head at me). I thought it would be easier. I thought it would cover those hard to reach areas easier. I though the whole process would go, well, easier. It's not. My right arm barely works - I think I'm slowly pulling a ligament and now my last 3 digits barely respond to my brain. It's like this one time I tried to water ski and couldn't use both my arms from the elbows down... whole other story and not one I'm proud of.

Anyway, I went out and bought 2 more cans of paint and I'm putting them on right now. Really, I am and while I do that you should read Julie at Towards Sustainability. I think she's a smart lady and she's got a great recipe for crackers! I made them and I have to say they're lovely! I added 1/4 Cup Rye flour and 2 Tbsp of flax seeds. YUMMERS! So, sit back, stop folding the laundry for just a minute and browse her site!

Working.

Okay, I know it's been awhile but that's because I'm working on my desk and the dresser. Both are primed. Well, okay, the primers still wet but the last coat is on. I've finished the drawers for the desk and might I add - they look awesome! Really, I'm not just tooting my own horn....

I'm hoping to get the paint on the desk (at least one coat) this evening. I'm hoping that by tomorrow it'll be ready to bring inside... Don't hold me to that 'cause we all know how I like to procrastinate. I need hardware for the drawers too. This isn't as easy as it sounds.

I've decided to paint the drawers a glossy black and the rest of the dresser a flat black. So, should I keep the pulls black too or should I go with a metal or white or what??? They could also be ducks but really, no one wants to see that... what do you think?

It's Thursday... in case you didn't know...

and the weather has finally started to co-operate - alright, except for the chill in the air but it's fall and at least it's not snow!

I've started to work on the desk. I have to admit I'm not giving it my all. It's probably going to be 'rough' looking and look more like I refinished it versus a professional. I'm feeling pretty lazy about it now. I just want to get it inside the house so I have somewhere to put my computer and all my crud. I'm sick of sitting at the kitchen table. It's annoying.