For Robin

I was the snack queen. "Was" because I have fallen out of the habit. I have somehow tricked myself into believing that buying granola bars (2 boxes for $5.00) was not going to add up and that with my husbands new job we would finally be able to afford these little extravagances. Guess what? They add up! By the time Sam takes one for lunch, Ellie has one for a snack and Andy takes 2 to work, the box is pretty much empty and that's just day one. Not only that, but I don't feel anyone is getting any actual nutrition. A whole lot of something, but nutrition is not it...

I have decided (this too could be fleeting) that it's time to rediscover my role as Queen. Ah, it suits me don't you think? There was a time I could make something out of nothing and not only was it healthy, it was delicious - at least by my standards (which we all know aren't that high). So, the last two days I have hardly left the kitchen. It's good - I know some people don't like being there but quite frankly, I'm happiest when I'm in the warmth of the appliances, their quiet buzzing noises and the amazing flavours that can be created from the simple ingredients found within. I think while I mix, while I knead and while I bake. It's my own special place. Of course, it does help to have an appreciative audience.... With children this is not always the case and so I have started branching out. In Colorado, I often pawned stuff off on my friends and their children. Here, my neighbours are my victims! Simple stuff for the children: cut berries (easy peasey), rice krispie squares, that sort of stuff and occasionally, a daring "stuff added" muffin!

Yesterday and today was a daring day. I hate waste. I really, really hate "food" waste. I save bread (freeze it). I save vegetables (freeze them). I puree fruits to be used as sauces or jellies or fillings for bread and pies. So if you've ever been given a 'banana loaf' from me chances are it contains a lot more then just bananas....surprise! The menus I've created thus far (often from others recipes - again, with stuff added if I thought it would work):

1. Icky, sticky date pudding with sauce (thumbs up from the neighbours).

2. Prune & Almond/Walnut Breakfast loaf (I made it yesterday - it's almost gone)

3. "Leftover" Cereal squares (like rice krispie squares but I save all the little bits of cereal then use them to make the squares - this one also contains pretzel pieces and graham cracker scraps)

4. Samosas/Pie (started out as samosas and then I got lazy) - last nights ham and rice with veggies for the boys (the ham frozen leftovers) and a potato, chickpea, tomato for my husband and I (leftover onion and potatoes).

5. I make my own homemade bread and when you do this you can make oodles of stuff. On my counter now: 1 dozen buns, a loaf of bread, a roll of dates, honey and walnuts (to be sliced), and a roll of 3 cheese, garlic and spices (to be sliced on Friday driveway night??).

6. Sweet Potato Doughnuts (using leftover pumpkin and sweet potato - recipe adapted from J. Seinfeld's book).

Need a recipe? Let me know - but I highly recommend making some creations of your own. I've been doing this for a while and it's strictly trial and error (a whole lot of error...).

Special thanks to Ser for reminding me that I don't have to shop a lot to create a great meal!

Nails & Tubs.

The bathtub before... nice walls, nice tiles, nice cream (oh, don't be fooled) bathtub.

The 'nails' at work. Easy peel and remove paint chips. Good gracious.

A pile of peeled paint. Say that 10 times fast. Yah, it irks you too doesn't it???

And now, the bathtub after the peeling has started. Sometimes it peels easily, other times not so much.

For those of you who would just die if you're manicure was ruined, STOP READING! Please, please, please, stop reading!!! Have you stopped? I can not be held responsible for any gut wrenching and/or gasping that might occur.....

Alright, for the rest of you, I have been tackling my upstairs bathroom (yah, not the en suite that hasn't worked since we bought the house - nice heads up on that one Mr. Home Inspector). It's a beautiful raspberry colour (I actually like the colour - bold, I wouldn't have done it myself but like it just the same) with nice faucets, a cream toilet and what we thought was a cream bathtub.... thought? Yes, thought. Now, we knew the tub had been painted. Yes, painted! But we were unaware that the people who originally painted it (perhaps the previous owners???) had absolutely NO idea as to what they were doing when they painted it! I know it's possible to paint a bathtub (see Anna's tub on Door Sixteen - gorgeous!!!) but, I would never, ever, think of using just regular paint. It's a bathtub. It gets wet. It gets gross - don't kid yourself, your tub is gross too. And when you clean it with regular old baking soda and vinegar (no harsh chemicals here) it shouldn't bubble and start to peel - RIGHT???!!!

So imagine my surprise when it started to bubble and peel! This is after we find out the en suite shower doesn't work (as the water dripped down the wall in the living room), most of the plugs are wired incorrectly so that a bulb ended up exploding in the office (yes, explode), the basement started to leak and then the drainpipe fell off the front of the house. *sigh* deep breath... Do you remember that movie with Tom Hanks and Shelley Long, "The Money Pit"? So far (good gracious, I'm about to jinx myself aren't I) the tub has not fallen through the roof of the living room and into the basement. Can you even imagine? You'd probably hear me screaming in Gahana and if you do, cover your children's ears 'cause it ain't going to be nice.

Anyway, back to the peeling.... So, the paint has started to peel - sometimes in little bits and other times in great big junks. And in order to lift it easier you'd think I would use some sort of tool right? Like what??!!! What exactly do you use to peel paint off a bathtub? Wait for it.....yah, that's right, finger nails! And you know what? They work pretty darn good. Shake your head, have bad thoughts, it's alright, I can take it. If someone knows of something better feel free to tell me but for now, the nails are going to have to suffice. This time tomorrow I'll be staring at an all white bathtub - white, they painted a white bathtub with a cream paint.... I can only imagine why?! Who were these people????

Swinging through the trees.

We bought our first home last summer - you've seen some pics - it's great. I love it. Of course, that doesn't stop me from looking around, you know, to see if there's anything better out there for a cheaper price, in a better neighbourhood, for less money... and ultimately, making me second guess the purchase of my new home. What I've happened upon are the fabulous treehouses out there! Have you seen these? They are green - so green they incorporate trees into their very existence. How wonderful. So, my next house is going to be one of these.... perhaps the round "Deathstar" like one or something made by the Sybarite architectural firm in London. Yes, we can swing in the trees like our ancient ancestors! Take a look - pick one and maybe in 20 years we'll be neighbours!

Check them out:
Freshome
Weburbanist
Treehugger
Inhabitant

Glasses

This is my favourite of the 3 - from www.papastour.com - pottery made in Scotland

Lovely and sleek - Ravenscroft Double Blind Tasting Glass

Don't click to enlarge! Sorry, I'm still getting the hang of this... Dansk Karin wine glass

When I graduated from university I got a job NOT in my chosen field of bio-anthropology (archeology) but rather in a china shop. Didn't I make good use of that degree? At the time I was quite happy just to have a job and be able to pay the rent (I was 23 for crying out loud, what did I know). I didn't think I would actually grow to love the job, okay, maybe not the job but definitely the china and the glassware. I have quite the collection of odds and sodds from working there and a darn good salad spinner (it's been a decade and that thing keeps spinning)! So, today the above pictures are a few glasses that I've found on-line to put your favourite wine in... okay, so don't worry if it's just a bottle of 6 dollar crap, at least you've got a nice glass!

The ladies are heading out again this evening - we'll be at the local watering hole - say "hi" if you see me - heck, buy me a drink would you?! And if you're just too far away don't let that stop you from enjoying your spirit of choice - CHEERS!

Who are you today?

I just read an article in GQ magazine on Robert Pattinson (I know, I know, enough about my Twilight obsession already) and according to the article he's just a 23 year old boy - fancy that! He's not a yummy, 17 year old vampire. Who knew?

We (maybe just me) all have assumptions of people - friends, family, ourselves - that aren't necessarily who those people really are. Is it possible for others to live up to these expectations? Do you really know who the person really is? It got me to thinking about who I'd like to be... you know, if I could take a step out of my already fabulous life and reinvent myself into someone even more fabulous! Could it even happen??? No, but give me a minute here... In my weird, fantasy world I'd be hobnobbing with the rich and famous. I'd be sure-footed and elegant. I'd be funny and smart and gorgeous! Vanity Fair would be calling me to do the cover shoot and I'd have to turn them down because I was off that week and heading to Fiji for a long needed holiday. *sigh*

In real life I'm none of these things. You wouldn't turn your head if I passed you by (oh, you might, but it would be to check out the weird stain that was stuck to my shirt or to wonder what was happening with my hair), I'm not photogenic (Vanity Fair is definitely NOT calling - even the local paper isn't calling...), and I'm not rich. I have trouble remembering what I was going to say. I don't have a Ph.D. I don't even have a Masters degree and I'm not a Doctor of Medicine, Dentistry, or Optometry. I'm not incredibly funny and sometimes, even I don't find me interesting (what the heck are you still reading this blog for???).

I admit, on occasion I do dream of the rich, fabulous life. I even dream, some days, of being able to run away and having an amazing fantasy life that others would be jealous of. But would I trade my existing life for my dreamworld? thinking.... No, no, I wouldn't. I'm very fortunate to have great friends, a wonderful family and a roof over my head. It's not perfect. It's not glamorous. I'm NOT fabulous. Occasionally I get told I'm the most beautiful woman in the world (thank you to my 4 year old)! *sigh* Sometimes life is better than the dream...... right????

A little something for my "foodie" friends.

Hello Foodies, you know who you are! I've got a quick and easy recipe for some Yummy and Nutritious French Pancakes... It's adapted from Jessica Seinfeld's recipe for Pancakes with sweet potato puree. My kids (all 3 of them) loved them and probably ate about 5 of them each - loaded with peanut butter and honey! They freeze well; place a piece of wax paper between each first thaw them in the microwave or the toaster!

Crepes:

1 cup all purpose flour (white

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp. salt

Mix these together in a bowl.

In a blender, place the following ingredients:

1/2 cup plain yogurt

2 tbsp. honey

1 cup fat free milk

2 eggs

1/2 mushed sweet potatoes (I use any leftover sw.pot. here - you could use cauliflower or pumpkin or bananas)

4 cooked baby carrots (it was all I had but I think you could probably use about 10 if you had that many)

6 prunes

3 tsp. cinnamon spice or pumpkin spice

Blend until mixed and then throw in all the dry ingredients and mix again. Add milk as needed to get a runny consistency. Place in the fridge for 10 minutes or up to an hour. If you have a crepe pan then you could use it to cook the pancakes or on a griddle put about 1/4 cup of batter and use the back of a spoon to spread the batter out until thin. This makes cooking time cut down to less than a minute on each side. You don't have to smooth it out but trust me it makes them ooh, sooo yummy and easy to roll up.

Fill with anything! Peanut butter and honey are favourites in our house but I tried it with some leftover curry today and it was yummy that way too!

The Winery Wine Shop - the day after...

www.thewinerywineshop.com

Hello all and a happy end of the week to you (I don't think I've gotten over St.Patty's day talk yet - it is fun isn't it?). The sun is shining, the curry is simmering and the boys are playing, together, outside. Life is pretty darn good. To top it off I've opened a bottle of Wooloomooloo (Shiraz) to sip while I wait for the curry. It's not all that bad. I read the back - it says, "it'll go well with any type of bold-flavored cuisine or equally well with dimly lit candles...", sounds like a winner in my book (I'm so easy to please).

An update on the night at The Winery: I'd have to say it gets a big ol' 4 stars in my book. It would have gotten a 5 if the portions of the cheese tray were a little bigger and there was chocolate sauce for the brownie (it's all about the food with me). It's a great wine bar; wonderful service, lovely ambiance, and a big fish bowl full of crackers! You actually get served at your table with what ever you've chosen for your tasting flight (oh, right, you have a choice) and the portions are not at all chincy here (have to love that). A large selection of wine and food round out what might become a regular hangout for our Thursday Night Wine League (bunch of ladies getting together = a league). I think the fact that they didn't kick us out when we started talking about our breasts (this includes hand movements and gestures) was a big part of us wanting to go back... really, this isn't a joke. Get 5 women over 30 away from their families and serve them wine, cheese and chocolate and all heck breaks loose!

So, at the end of the night and many a gesture later... we did compile a list of wines that you might enjoy. At least we enjoyed them. There were some we didn't but I'll spare you those tonight - its the weekend, start it off on a happy note!

1. Paso A Paso Tempranillo (La Mancha, Spain) $10.99 a bottle

2. Cote Alla Flora Podere Del Giuggiolo Sangiovese (Tuscany, Italy) $12.99

3. Ballentine Chemin Blanc (Napa, California) $15.99

4. Franciscan (Napa, California) $15.99

What are you drinking?