A Taste of Summer

During these cold, snowy days, my thoughts drift to spring. I always feel like I am just marking time until the nights get shorter and the soil reappears. During the darkest days of December, one's spirits often need a little lift, and fresh raspberry jam can do the trick! A taste of summer in a jar..........mmmmmmmmmmm. Nothing better. I thawed out berries that I had picked and frozen in August, but if you want to make jam, just go buy a couple of packages of unsweetened frozen raspberries, and follow the no cook jam recipe inside the box of Certo liquid pectin. So easy my 6 year old can make jam (and he does, but usually drips it all over the floor while he's at it). Then make fresh biscuits or scones and savor the flavors. :-) Happy New Year!

Christmas Cookies

I like to bake. I could spend all day in my sunny kitchen making a huge mess, listening to music, covering everything with flour. And normally, Christmas is a really good excuse for making a huge assortment of cookies and giving most of them away. Homemade cookies just always seem like a really good present, especially for teachers and other people that just might not have the time to bake treats for themselves. Shortbread, coconut squares, pecan crescents, gingerbread men, Nanaimo bars............. I am always experimenting. I can't help myself, it's my scientific background. ;-)

Sadly this year, I am kind of behind because of the jaunt to Mexico, and have only made one batch of cookies so far. But this weekend! Definitely this weekend, I will be making several batches of rolled cookies. I have a huge collection of cookie cutters, largely inherited from my mom, and the kids love to help cut out cookies. Decorating is pretty fun too. I will probably make my usual gingerbread people, but will also try this sugar cookie recipe from my friend Sue. I haven't made these before, but I've eaten them, and they were delicious!

Sue's Sugar Cookies

1 cup butter softened
¾ cup sugar
1 egg
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp salt


Cooking Instructions:

Part 1
Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer until creamy.
Add egg and beat until fluffy.
Mix flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Stir into wet mixture until well blended.
Form dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Flatten and refrigerate for 1.5 – 2 hours.


Part 2
Preheat oven to 3500 F
Remove dough from fridge and work it slightly so its not crumbly
Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to ¼ inch thickness
Cut out cookies
Sprinkle with sugar or sprinkles if desired
Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes until edges are lightly browned
Transfer to wire rack after 2-3 minutes of cooling

The Mayan Riviera

We had a fabulous week at the Grand Sirenis resort on the Mayan Riviera. It was our first time at one of these fancy schmancy all inclusive places, and the last time Ron and I were down this way, Playa del Carmen was a sleepy little fishing village and the 'mayan riviera' and all these resorts did not exist. How things change, and so quickly too!

The resort was very nice - the sheer size of it took some getting used to, and there was a lot of walking to get from the room to the beach and the restaurants. This would be a tough place for some one with limited mobility. The hotel did offer shuttle service on elongated golf carts, but we rarely waited around for those! It was a lovely relaxed holiday. So nice to see the lush vegetation and feel the hot sun on your face, the sand between your toes, the taste of salt on your lips after swimming in the ocean. Sigh. Of course, we are in the middle of a cold snap in Edmonton right now, with day time highs around -20C.

The boys thought they were in heaven. In addition to the beach, there was a lazy river at the hotel, and several large swimming pools, and an ice cream bar, and a swim up bar where they could order Coco Loco's or Strawberry Dacquiri's, or Sherry Temples' or Congas. :-) There was food everywhere, and we had four dinner meals at different ala carte restaurants at the resort. I think our favorite was the Brazilian restaurant, where filet mignon, pork tenderloin, different sausages, chicken and even pineapple were cooked rotisserie style on swords, and then carved at the table. Yum!

Electronic Waste Recycling

I was browsing for something else on the internet today as I get ready to teach my course on waste management and utilization next month, and I stumbled across this video on 60 minutes. Food for thought as we upgrade our computers, cell phones and televisions..........

Winter 2009 Canadian Scrapbooker

If you haven't seen it yet, grab one! The gorgeous cover was done by my friend Holly , who is also a featured scrapbooker in the Passport to Creativity section in this issue. I had a lot of fun playing with postage for the frugal scrapbooker column, using everything from real stamps that I rip off envelopes or buy in themed lots for a few bucks on ebay (email me if you want the name of the seller in Regina I use), to fake stamps you can make for free or almost free.

Advent Calendars

I just love these things. And so do the boys. We have all sorts around the house to pass the time from December 1 to Christmas Eve. They are so much fun and kind of spread out the excitement and make the time until Christmas go a bit faster. Our favourite are the 'toy' ones - Lego and Playmobil. Every day you get a selection of Lego pieces behind a flap door (or Playmobil toys in a tiny cardboard box) which follow a theme and can be put together to form a specific scene. A lot of fun and a lot of play value!

I am especially fond of Playmobil calendars because they can be reused year after year. All you do is fold up the little boxes, collect the toys after Christmas and hide them in the basement for another 11 months.

I have always had advent calendars, although they were usually thin cardboard boxes, with numbered flaps and a small chocolate for each day of December. We still get some chocolate ones, mostly for the grown-ups. ;-) I just discovered the toy ones after Benny was born. I didn't realize until this week that perhaps not everyone has heard of advent calendars or seen one before! My brother in law was astounded by the whole concept. Perhaps it helps to be born in Germany ........... I think it might be a European tradition.

I've been tagged

by Jennifer! Although I have been thinking about stuff to post on my blog, life seems to speeding up as we move towards the end of the year and there is just not enough time in the day any more!

7 Random/Weird Things about Me .......

1. Although I am Canadian, I was born in Germany. My dad was in the Canadian air force and met and married a German girl, my mom, when he was stationed there. I didn't move to Canada until I was three.
2. I hate wearing socks if I have a choice, and am not that fond of wearing shoes either, so summer will find me barefoot as much as possible.
3. I love salty snacks, especially kettle cooked potato chips, and might eat the whole bag if no one is watching. :-)
4. I used to be a rather good bowler, and was on the bowling team for the technical school I went into after high school. Travelled throughout the province to different universities and colleges to compete.
5. I have a weird knack of remembering numbers - old phone numbers are still in my head, credit card numbers, all sorts of odd things.
6. I listen to opera when I do housework, the louder the better. Rigoletto is my favourite.
7. I hate the taste of diet pop and avoid artificial sweetener like the plague.

Twenty Years

Ron and I got married on November 5, 1988. Gasp! how did two decades fly by??????

It doesn't seem that long ago, really. I remember the beautiful ceremony in the Show pyramid at the Muttart Conservatory in Edmonton. Chrysanthemums were everywhere - it was gorgeous, and the justice of the peace did the vows on a little wooden bridge in the midst of all the flowers. There were about 60 or so guests, but they all had to stand around on the paths during the ceremony, since there were no chairs.

I remember my wedding dress, which was my mom's, and fit me beautifully. Three quarter length, with a little jacket. Loved that dress! And I felt like such a princess with the headdress on. I'll have to dig out some wedding photos. I have never gotten around to scrapbooking them, there always seems to be too much going on in real time!

I remember the reception at the Norwood Legion, at which there was way too much food! Nobody could eat any of the wedding cake, which was marble cheesecake, because they were too full of perogies and everything else!

I remember dancing and partying all night, sleeping for a few hours, and getting on a plane to start our honeymoon in Fiji. There was so much hairspray and bobby pins in my hair that crossing half the world by plane didn't even make a dent in my fancy hairdo! Gosh, I loved Fiji. What a beautiful place. After a week or so, we went to the Cook Islands for a week, then New Zealand, and finally Australia. It was an amazing trip! We always thought we'd get back to Fiji, but alas, it hasn't happened yet. Maybe for the 25th wedding anniversary. ;-)

More about the Puppies

Smudge at 5 weeks

Although they won't be put up for adoption until they are 8 weeks old, the foster puppies are slowly moving on to other homes for their last few weeks of care. Coffee and Spot went to another foster mom yesterday, two more go elsewhere tomorrow and the mama dog goes back to the animal shelter for surgery and adoption to her forever home on Thursday. By the end of the week, my neighbor Kimbra will be done to 3 puppies. It will be an adjustment for many of us!

Remember, your local humane society is probably in desperate need of foster parents for all kinds of animals. It might just be a kitten that just needs to put on a little weight before they can be put up for adoption. Or taking care of a couple of puppies for two or three weeks until they reach a certain age. If you are able to open your heart and your home for these little critters, go for it. There is nothing more rewarding than being able to make a difference.

Halloween

The kids each had two different costumes for Halloween - one for indoors and the school party, and one plush, furry, extra warm one for outdoors, because around here, we have to plan for really cold weather outside at this time of year. But as it turned out, it was one of the warmest Halloween's I can remember, above freezing most certainly, so we probably could have managed with one costume per child. Oh well. And in the end, Ben refused to wear his cute warm bear costume anyway. We get a lot of use out of our costumes. I keep them all in a rubbermaid tote, easily available in the basement. The boys and their friends play dress-up almost every play date. At any given time, I can have a Ninja sneaking around the living room, a giraffe coming up the stairs and Indiana Jones investigating the yard. ;-)

Soap

I'm developing a real weakness for handmade soaps. I started using soap from Rocky Mountain Soaps last year, and discovered that my hands didn't get all dry and scaly from repeating washings. And I was hooked. I have since discovered Kogi Soaps and Wild Prairie Soaps on recent shopping trips. I'm looking forward to trying them. Especially the Wild Prairie soap, which is made on Whyte Avenue in Edmonton and contains a high proportion of olive oil.

It seems like a small luxury. :-) I find handmade soaps much more gentle than commercial soaps. (And they smell wonderful)! I don't know, maybe it has something to do with the natural ingredients and vegetable oils rather than whatever is in the traditional soap bar. Anybody know? I think I'll continue my small splurges on yummy soap. Life's too short to use up all those hotel soaps in my closet anyway. ;-) I think I'll drop them off as a donation for the homeless shelters.

[Sorry for the sideways picture. Sometimes, no matter what I do, blogger will just not load a picture the way it is supposed to. Sigh. Oh well. Not so bad for a photograph of soap. Pretty bad when it's a scrapbook layout though.]

More Puppy Pictures

Smudge - October 24

Spike - October 24

A pile of puppies wrestling

The foster puppies are growing so fast, and of course, get more and more adorable! They are just over four weeks old now. The pups won't be put up for adoption until they are 8 weeks old, but some of them may go to other foster homes now that they are weaned. Seven puppies is a lot of work for my neighbor Kimbra! It was warm enough to take them out on the grass the other day. Lot's of fun for all of us!!

The Village at Pigeon Lake

I just got back from a weekend crop at this wonderful location. Ahhhhhhhhhh. If you haven't been, it's about an hour drive southwest of Edmonton. It has an inn with comfy beds, a spa, a handful of restaurants, a grocery/drug store, a liquor store, clothing store, scrapbook store....... everything a girl could possibly need! :-)

Nothing like a 'mommy' weekend. Great conversation with friends, wonderful food, a couple of days to work on your favourite hobby, a therapeutic massage, a little shopping............ Life is good. :-)

I try to go a couple of times a year. It's just so much fun. This past weekend, the group of ten ladies or so that I 'retreat' with went on a Scrap Inn Jammies crop at the Village. Thanks to Vicki and Sharon for a wonderful time and keeping their store open at all hours! If you ever get a chance, this is one terrific weekend crop to try out. And so nice to meet the talented ladies from Fort McMurray!!!

Meatloaf

Sometimes, a girl just needs a comforting meal of meatloaf and mashed potatoes. There are a lot of meatloaf recipes out there in the big wide world, but my favorite is a basic meatloaf recipe from the New Canadian Basics Book by Carol Ferguson. My sister informs me this book is out of print and pretty much unavailable, unless you have a lot of money. ;-) So, if you're in a meatloaf making mood, I can vouch for this one. Halve the recipe if you just want a small loaf.

Basic Meatloaf

2 lb ground beef
1 cup finely chopped onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup quick cooking oats (not instant)
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
2/3 cup (divided) ketchup or barbeque sauce

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients, except save half of ketchup for topping. Mix thoroughly with spoon or hands. Lightly packed into a greased 9x5" loaf pan (I just give it a quick spray with Pam). Spread reserved ketchup over the top. Back at 350 for 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Drain off fat. Remove from pan and cut into slices.

P.S. I have in the past added a handful or two of grated carrot to sneak in some extra nutrition. Also, if you like cheese, try adding some tiny cubes of old cheddar to the mix.

Painting with Light

(A ghostie lit with a flashlight, then written on with a laser pointer).

So, as part of the understanding light course I just took at Metro College, one of the assignments was focused on Painting with Light. This is a very cool concept, where you leave your camera shutter open (on bulb, or B) in the dark and then you paint the scene with a variety of lights and coloured gels. Then close the shutter after many seconds or minutes, depending. It gives a very neat effect, and although the concept is simple, getting some decent photos takes considerable trial and error for the beginner. :-) Kim Gowdy came over and we wrestled with our tripods and tried different lights, colours and exposure times. We used laser pointers, candles, flashlights with and without coloured cellophane over them. It was a fun exercise............... not sure that I would do it every day, but neat to know about!

(lighting with a regular flashlight and one with red cellophane)

(lighting with red and gold cellophane held over flashlights)

Brrrrrrr

I'm a weather wimp. I have always gotten cold easily, and my favorite winter sport is sitting in front of a fireplace with a good book and cup of tea. :-)

But there is nothing worse than wind. Yikes! I had to work outside for a few hours this morning helping a grad student install some equipment, and the wind chilled me to my very bones. It must have been blowing from 70 to 80 km/hr from the north, and it took me many many hours to warm up.

So since it's the day after Thanksgiving, let me give thanks for two modern inventions that thawed me out and made me human again. And might make the winter bearable.

1. Heated car seats (aka Bun Warmers) - I have never ever tried these before, but by gum, I don't think I will ever buy a car again in which they are not standard. Simply marvelous!

2. Hot tubs - we put one of these in the basement many years ago when we bought the acreage, and there is nothing like submersing yourself up to your eyebrows in hot, hot water. Ah...........

Puppies - first week

give or take. A couple of them are starting to open their eyes, so they could be a few days older than previously guessed. Who knows? It doesn't much matter, I guess. Gosh, they are cute! And changing so quickly!! I go next door every day to take the mommy dog for a walk and play with the puppies. I often have an entourage of kids with me, but they usually stay behind and stay with the puppies while I do the walking. ;-)

October Scraptivity Kit

Contains some yummy Kelly Panacci and Pink Paislee papers, and mica!!! All kinds of mica - mica sheets, mica rings, mica D'lights, mica flakes............. It is all so much fun to play with. I especially love the mica d'lights - it is kind of like glitter for grown ups. Beautiful stuff. Sadly for me, I still didn't receive the kit stamps this month. I'm hoping they show up soon, I had big plans for them. :-(

Fostering..............

My neighbor has occasionally served as a foster parent for the Edmonton Humane Society. Kim has just taken care of cats in the past, since that is what is easiest for her. But this weekend, the humane society was in desperate need of a foster home for a dog and her litter of puppies, so she took them in. A beautiful blue heeler doggy was abandoned in a ditch with her one day old puppies. Fortunately, someone found them and brought them, and because of lack of room at the shelter and risk of disease, the puppies needed a foster home until they got big enough to find a home. And Kim, bless her enormous heart, was willing to take care of them all - a mama dog and seven 2-day old puppies. When they are old enough, they will go back to the animal shelter to be fixed and put up for adoption.

The mama dog is quite small, and very timid, almost cowering, as if she was used to cruelty and expecting it around every corner. The puppies are so darn cute! Apparently blue heeler puppies are born whitish, and then develop their blue colouring as they age. It's going to be fascinating to watch, since I have volunteered (along with all the children in the neighborhood ;-) ) to help socialize and play with the puppies as needed!

An Afternoon at Prairie Gardens

The social club for the company I work for usually has a family picnic during the summer. This year, it was held at the Prairie Gardens and Greenhouse near Bon Accord, Alberta. This is a very fun place for kids - we spent most of the afternoon exploring a gigantic corn maze, firing pumpkins in the pumpkin cannon, jumping off hay bales and mining for gems. It was very sunny, so not especially good for photography, but a good place for a family adventure!

Understanding Light

I just started another photography class at Metro Continuing Education called Understanding Light, aided and abetted by my friend Kim Gowdy. We enable each other. :-)

We took Metering Magic this spring, and Understanding Light seemed a good class to continue learning photography fundamentals. I'm slowly learning. The more a person learns though, the more camera equipment a person wants to buy! The first assignment was very simple, looking for examples of specular, diffuse, and directional light and some shadows. I had a lot of fun wandering around with my camera this week. I find that I need to have it with me all the time - there is always something that catches my eye! The most amazing thing I saw this week did not get photographed - I was standing on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River, admiring the view and glancing into the water, when I saw a large sturgeon, easily 3 or 4 feet, swim by. Of course, by the time it occured to me to reach for the camera, the fish was long gone. But such a neat moment!

Specular Light on Canada Thistle (full sunlight, harsh shadows)

Interesting Shadows

Warm light the hour before sunset on Black Eyed Susans

Fall Issue of Canadian Scrapbooker

Another gorgeous issue! I especially love the cover by Kathy Thompson Laffoley this month and all the apple themed layouts. They make my heart smile. :-)

I played with beads for the Frugal Scrapbooker column, and had so much fun with them (except perhaps for the vacuuming the strays off the floor part). Beads just seem to make your fingers reach out and touch them! I made beaded stickers for one layout in the article, and my kids just couldn't stop petting them! And because they are so easy and quick to do, I think I'll throw some beaded stickers on some cards here and there for for a special touch. I could see beaded stars or balloons pretty easily on a birthday card! So here's how:

Get a 2-sided adhesive sheet from the store. There are several brands available. They are very adhesive and will hold those beads like nobody's business. Cut a shape. Although you could easily use scissors, a cuttlebug machine works beautifully.

Peel off one side of the adhesive sheet. Forgive the dirty nails, I'm a gardener.

Put some beads in a small container, drop in your shape, sticky side down and press firmly.

Voila. Done. And it'll look like you worked for ages. ;-) Or maybe not. But they're nice. When you are ready to attach the sticker to your layout, just pull off the other side of the adhesive sheet. And if you have time on your hands, you can thread some more beads on a bit of wire and use the strand to accent a journalling block or something.

Thinking Ahead

Gardeners are eternal optimists. We are always looking ahead, planning for the next day, the next season, the next growing season. Everything is a learning experience, and if something doesn't work out, hey, there is always next year.

I spent the afternoon planting tulips and muscari bulbs. I didn't intend to plant so many, but like others before me, I was enticed at Costco to buy super-sized bags. Even after I pressed a small handful off on my mother, I was still left with over 150 bulbs to plant. Which I managed to do. The planting is quick. Finding space takes time. :-)

When the world is covered in a blanket of snow, I will dream of my pink and white tulips and my gorgeous little grape hyacinths. I hope they have a safe and cozy winter, and that those danged deer don't eat them just before they are ready to bloom.

well, I guess it's official

I signed the contract with the University of Alberta and sent it back, so looks like I am teaching again in the winter term. The course is ENCS 475, Waste Management and Utilization, a required 4th year course in the Environmental Conservation Science program. This time I am going to teach it as a night class, so it will be a much different experience than the three times a week at 9:00 in the morning that I tried early this year. Lots of work and very stressful, but definitely a good learning experience!!!

My Satay Recipe

This is so easy and so darn delicious, it got my youngest son eating meat regularly. The kids love 'meat on a stick', especially since I let them eat it caveman style. :-)

The peanut sauce is also very very yummy, and it's a great meal to serve to company along with some steamed rice and some stir fried veggies or a salad. I've had a few people ask me for the recipe, so here it is. It's from the New Canadian Basics Cookbook by Carol Ferguson, one of my favoritest cookbooks ever. Enjoy.

Satays with Peanut Sauce
1 lb boneless chicken breast, pork loin or beef sirloin
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil 2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. EACH brown sugar, lime juice, soy sauce

Cut meat into thin strips about 1" wide. Whisk together other ingredients and pour over meat strips. Marinate for 2 to 8 hours, and thread onto bamboo skewers. Grill until just cooked through, about five minutes.

Peanut Sauce
1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
3 Tbsp. EACH granulated sugar, soy sauce, vinegar
1 Tbsp. EACH minced garlic, minced fresh ginger, dark sesame oil
1/2 tsp (or to taste) chile paste or hot pepper sauce
1/4 cup warm water or coconut milk

Mix all ingredients in food processor until smooth, adding a little more water if needed. Or, if I don't feel like getting my food processor dirty, I throw everything into a glass measuring cup, heat in the microwave to soften the peanut butter, and whisk until smooth.

so I finally have a new computer

(which I have not set up yet) but I'm still a little bit steamed!!! Maybe I'm just getting old and crotchety(er) :-)

I had just purchased but not set up a desktop package from Costco when the Best Buy flyer came in the newspaper. For the same price I had just paid, I could get a much bigger hard drive, a bigger monitor and a free HP colour printer. Um, okay! So I went online to Bestbuy.ca, and they had a 'pick up in store' feature, where your online order would be filled and ready within three hours. So I bought the computer and printer. Received an email in a few hours that the order was filled and ready to go. And then I went to Best Buy to pick it up the next day.

Maybe it's just me, but wouldn't it follow that the order would therefore be filled and ready to go???
Um, nope.
It took almost 45 minutes of standing around AFTER I was served to get the computer. There is apparently no place where the Best Buy store actually collects and puts online orders, and they had to get a guy from the computer department to get the computer and he was busy, and couldn't find it. And so on. And there was no printer. The young girl that was providing 'customer service' told me that they were sold out, and there were no rain checks. Even though I had an email stating that I had purchased a printer and that the order was 'filled'. Sigh.

Although I came perilously close to just walking out, and returning to my slightly more expensive but amazing customer service Costco computer, a slightly older teenage manager with attitude finally decided that Best Buy could give me another substitute colour printer after I made a fuss.

So I sucked it up and bought it. I might regret it. If there is ever the slightest problem with this computer, I KNOW I will regret it. But at the time, I kept thinking how I could store so many more photos on a 500 GB hard drive, and how the kids could print out their own Pokemon cards with a free colour printer.

Anyway. Be very very cautious when you are using Bestbuy.ca and picking up in store. I don't actually think I'll go there again. At least not for a long long time. Wish me luck that I don't have a lemon of a computer.

The September kit

from Scraptivity is terrific! Especially if you like houses! Among lots of other fun things in the pizza box this month, there's Heidi Grace house paper, Scenic Route chipboard houses, and my personal favorite, build your own house stamps! The stamps were very fun, you can stamp different base structures, add different roofs, and windows, and doors and decorations......... and a few trees. :-) Here's a couple of my layouts, quick and simple. I have others in my brain when I can find some more free time.

Oh no, the newt is missing!!!!

And I'm afraid it looks grim. He (?) escaped from his tank a few days ago, and although I spent over a day searching for him, there is not a single trace. Anywhere. No dead newt, no foot prints, no suspicious noises, nothing. I have looked everywhere. I suppose one of my cats could have eaten him, they would definitely be attracted by a scuttling newt, but they are outside most of the time during the summer. I also have no idea how he got out. There was a plastic lid on his tank, and although it was not snapped tight or anything, it should have been enough to keep a six inch newt where he was supposed to be. I read on the internet today that fire-bellied newts are notorious escape artists though. Uh oh.

Sigh. The only good news is that I got a lot of cleaning done while I was looking for Newt. The boys rooms were completely stripped and rearranged, the kitchen appliances were pulled out, the linen closet emptied and reorganized. I feel terrible. I hope he had a quick end. I know Newt had a long life, but still. I miss him. Rest in peace, Newt.

First Day Back

Might be tougher on me than the kids! Although Marty did admit to 'being a little scared' about entering the grade one classroom. He hid it well, he was very brave, and is not scared at all to go back tomorrow! There is a hearing impaired child in his classroom, and so every thing the teacher says will be signed by an aide. Interesting to watch, and I'm sure all the kids will pick up some sign language along the way. Ben really liked his new grade three teacher, and there is a nice mix of kids in the classroom, so it should be a great year!