Wishing you and yours all the best this holiday season!
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Showing posts with label Feeling Festive. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Feeling Festive. Show all posts
For some reason I got obsessed with the idea of making homemade Blizzards. I turned that obsessive thought into reality by buying a four liter tub of ice cream and various chocolate bar add-ins. Then I proceeded to eat Blizzards every day for a bunch of days in a row. All the various add-in chocolate bars make a yummy treat, but hands down the best one is Smarties, no question.
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| Giant tub of ice cream, chocolates, and accessories |
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| Smarties Blizzard (the best) |
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| Reese's Pieces getting ready to blend |
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| Reese's Pieces Blizzard |
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| Mint Aero getting ready to blend |
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| Mint Aero Blizzard |
At the grocery store last week I found this adorable pumpkin for $1.50. I haven't carved a pumpkin in probably ten years, but the $1.50 price encouraged me to want to do it. I'm going to Google different designs I could try, but will probably go with triangle eyes and toothy mouth. Classic.
Do you carve a pumpkin for Halloween? How elaborate do you get?
Do you carve a pumpkin for Halloween? How elaborate do you get?
Coming up on August 8th is the 5th annual Coldwater Steampunk Festival. We went a few years ago and had a fantastic day of walking around Coldwater and seeing all there was to be seen. You can read more about our adventure from a few years ago here, here, and here.
It was all wonderful, but we really enjoyed the costumes, the Knights of Barrie Swordplay Association, and the steam powered corn roaster.
There is so much more to see and do, and I am particularly excited that the costume contest this year is themed 'Wild Wild West'. I am obsessed with westerns at the moment, so I can't wait to see all the amazing costumes.
So if you are in the area check it out on August 8th from 9am-4pm. If you are from out of town, think about planning a trip to Coldwater. This festival is really a lot of fun.
To find out, more check out the following links:
Coldwater Steampunk Festival website
Coldwater Steampunk Festival on Facebook
Coldwater Steampunk Festival on Twitter
It was all wonderful, but we really enjoyed the costumes, the Knights of Barrie Swordplay Association, and the steam powered corn roaster.
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| Costumes |
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| Knights |
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| Corn roaster |
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| Yummy corn! |
So if you are in the area check it out on August 8th from 9am-4pm. If you are from out of town, think about planning a trip to Coldwater. This festival is really a lot of fun.
To find out, more check out the following links:
Coldwater Steampunk Festival website
Coldwater Steampunk Festival on Facebook
Coldwater Steampunk Festival on Twitter
We celebrated an early Father's Day yesterday with Mom and Dad, enjoying some wonderful (as always) Chinese food from our favourite take out place. Mom also picked up doughnuts from Zerhs Bakery (my favourite grocery store doughnut), and a yummy time was had by all.
Happy Father's Day, Dad!!
Thanks to Suzie the Foodie, I won a Magic Bullet! The prize was part of a giveaway for the sixth birthday of Suzie the Foodie's blog. I also won five coupons to try So Good Soy Milk for free. Excited to make some awesome smoothies. Many thanks to Suzie and So Good for the awesome prize pack! :)
Check out Suzie the Foodie on social media:
Suzie the Foodie Blog
Suzie the Foodie YouTube
Suzie the Foodie Twitter
Suzie the Foodie Google+
Check out Suzie the Foodie on social media:
Suzie the Foodie Blog
Suzie the Foodie YouTube
Suzie the Foodie Twitter
Suzie the Foodie Google+
Holy crap I have been Blogging for five years! My official anniversary was yesterday, having made my first post on April 12, 2010. WOW!
For my Bloggerversary I thought I would re-post my first post, as I still like it very much and I think it sets a nice tone for what I think my blog is about. Enjoy!
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A Lesson in Perseverance. Originally posted on April 12, 2010.
About a year ago my parents moved from the family home they had lived in for over 32 years. It was a two month process of organizing, sorting, and getting rid of all the junk that had accumulated over all those years of living in one spot. The easiest day during the whole process was moving day, though it was not without its hiccups. My mother's Christmas Cactus, which had hung in the living room my entire life and had previously belonged to my Great Grandmother Reid, got jostled during the move and fell out of its pot, damaging it and exposing the roots.
Stressed to the max by the move, my mother said: "Before I change my mind, I'm just letting you know that I am going to throw this out." That wasn't what she wanted but in the heat of the moment she didn't see another option. The Christmas Cactus was over sixty years old, and throwing it out would be a tremendous loss. "John's good with plants" I told her. "John will fix it."
So I brought the Christmas Cactus home with me and John re-potted it, gave it fresh soil and water, and nursed it back to health. Over the past year it has shed some dead leaves, had ample new growth, and has made it's will to live quite clear to all of us. At Christmas time, when it is supposed to bloom, it didn't, but we weren't too surprised. "It had a pretty traumatic year" Mom agreed. "Maybe next year."
This morning when I woke up, the Christmas Cactus was blooming! It is almost mid April, so not quite on schedule, but it has been roughly a year since we started taking care of it. I patted the Cactus and told it "Good for you!" and I called Mom to let her know the good news.
For my Bloggerversary I thought I would re-post my first post, as I still like it very much and I think it sets a nice tone for what I think my blog is about. Enjoy!
*****************************************************************************************************************
A Lesson in Perseverance. Originally posted on April 12, 2010.
About a year ago my parents moved from the family home they had lived in for over 32 years. It was a two month process of organizing, sorting, and getting rid of all the junk that had accumulated over all those years of living in one spot. The easiest day during the whole process was moving day, though it was not without its hiccups. My mother's Christmas Cactus, which had hung in the living room my entire life and had previously belonged to my Great Grandmother Reid, got jostled during the move and fell out of its pot, damaging it and exposing the roots.
Stressed to the max by the move, my mother said: "Before I change my mind, I'm just letting you know that I am going to throw this out." That wasn't what she wanted but in the heat of the moment she didn't see another option. The Christmas Cactus was over sixty years old, and throwing it out would be a tremendous loss. "John's good with plants" I told her. "John will fix it."
So I brought the Christmas Cactus home with me and John re-potted it, gave it fresh soil and water, and nursed it back to health. Over the past year it has shed some dead leaves, had ample new growth, and has made it's will to live quite clear to all of us. At Christmas time, when it is supposed to bloom, it didn't, but we weren't too surprised. "It had a pretty traumatic year" Mom agreed. "Maybe next year."
This morning when I woke up, the Christmas Cactus was blooming! It is almost mid April, so not quite on schedule, but it has been roughly a year since we started taking care of it. I patted the Cactus and told it "Good for you!" and I called Mom to let her know the good news.
A Flower of our Christmas Cactus
I can't help but think about the life of this amazing plant. Over its sixty years it has had at least three different care givers, lived in three separate residences, and as recently as a year ago, almost died. Not even a year after it's near death experience and it is blooming again. This plant is teaching me that despite the set backs and traumas we experience in life, we can always bloom again. Even if it takes a little longer than we thought.
Holiday weekends always seem to have a huge quantity of food in them and I'm okay with that.
Before the weekend started, I roasted an eleven pound bird and we had the gift that keeps on giving: turkey, turkey, and more turkey. We had two nights of beautiful roast turkey dinner (with all the fixin's) followed by super filling, triple decker club sandwiches (with bacon, cheese, and mayo). Plus homemade french fries.
I also made and decorated some heart shaped gingerbread cookies for Love Day, which we ate the last of last night.
Also last night, I finished devouring the sixth book in The Dark Tower Series: Song of Susannah.
It was a pleasant surprise to breeze through this book so quickly, as I found book five (Wolves of the Calla) and all it's 925 pages slow going. But the pace definitely picked up with book six, and now I'm nervous and excited to start book seven: The Dark Tower. I am looking forward to seeing what happens but also sad to see it end. I'm so glad I found this series after all the books were published - I don't think I could have waited years for the books to come out.
It's Family Day here in Ontario (and a variety of other provinces) and I'm headed to Barrie to spend it with my folks, first stop being someplace fun for lunch (TBD) with Mom. The holiday eating continues, and she is my favourite person to lunch with. If only we could teleport to the restaurant so we don't have to be outside in the -20°C (-4°F) weather. Brrrrrrr....
Hope you all had a great weekend too!
Before the weekend started, I roasted an eleven pound bird and we had the gift that keeps on giving: turkey, turkey, and more turkey. We had two nights of beautiful roast turkey dinner (with all the fixin's) followed by super filling, triple decker club sandwiches (with bacon, cheese, and mayo). Plus homemade french fries.
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| Roast turkey dinner |
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| Turkey club with fries |
Also last night, I finished devouring the sixth book in The Dark Tower Series: Song of Susannah.
It was a pleasant surprise to breeze through this book so quickly, as I found book five (Wolves of the Calla) and all it's 925 pages slow going. But the pace definitely picked up with book six, and now I'm nervous and excited to start book seven: The Dark Tower. I am looking forward to seeing what happens but also sad to see it end. I'm so glad I found this series after all the books were published - I don't think I could have waited years for the books to come out.
It's Family Day here in Ontario (and a variety of other provinces) and I'm headed to Barrie to spend it with my folks, first stop being someplace fun for lunch (TBD) with Mom. The holiday eating continues, and she is my favourite person to lunch with. If only we could teleport to the restaurant so we don't have to be outside in the -20°C (-4°F) weather. Brrrrrrr....
Hope you all had a great weekend too!
There were two results from the cookie decorating party with my niece and nephew. The first, was family fun time that produced 25 awesomely decorated cookies. The second, was that I got super sick with a cold (courtesy of my niece, who has only figured out not to sneeze or cough directly on other people 3 out of every 5 times).
I sent all the cookies home with the kids, so I might have to make some more before the new year. They look like a lot of fun to eat!
Aunt Jenny's cookies:
Earl's cookies:
Liz's cookies:
All the cookies:
I sent all the cookies home with the kids, so I might have to make some more before the new year. They look like a lot of fun to eat!
Aunt Jenny's cookies:
Earl's cookies:
When we were kids, the Christmas Eve tradition at our house was to have appetizers for supper. Mom would bake some Triscuits in the toaster oven that were topped with cheese and sliced green olives. So good! We'd also have a selection of chips and dips and various other snacks. I'm not sure if we ever had mini crescent dogs in those days, but as an adult, they've been added to the Christmas Eve menu.
Mini crescent dogs are really easy to make and especially easy to eat. When they are mini, three of them is equal to one hot dog. So if you don't count how many you are eating (pro tip: never count how many you are eating), you may end up having more hot dogs than you normally would in one sitting. Which is kinda the best.
Ingredients (to make 24 mini crescent dogs):
1 can Pillsbury Crescents
8 hot dogs
cheese
Method:
1. Cut your hot dogs into three equal pieces. Cut cheese into small slices, about the same size as each third of a hot dog.
2. Slice each hot dog piece about half way through and stuff with cheese.
3. Open your can of Crescent Rolls and separate into triangles.
4. Cut each triangle into three, starting from the top point of the triangle.
5. Adjust your mini triangles, so you have a nice sized edge for rolling up hot dogs.
6. Roll up your hot dogs. This recipes is very forgiving, so don't worry how they roll up.
7. Place on a parchment paper lined baking tray and bake at 375°F for 12-15 minutes.
Enjoy!!!
Mini crescent dogs are really easy to make and especially easy to eat. When they are mini, three of them is equal to one hot dog. So if you don't count how many you are eating (pro tip: never count how many you are eating), you may end up having more hot dogs than you normally would in one sitting. Which is kinda the best.
Ingredients (to make 24 mini crescent dogs):
1 can Pillsbury Crescents
8 hot dogs
cheese
Method:
1. Cut your hot dogs into three equal pieces. Cut cheese into small slices, about the same size as each third of a hot dog.
2. Slice each hot dog piece about half way through and stuff with cheese.
3. Open your can of Crescent Rolls and separate into triangles.
4. Cut each triangle into three, starting from the top point of the triangle.
5. Adjust your mini triangles, so you have a nice sized edge for rolling up hot dogs.
6. Roll up your hot dogs. This recipes is very forgiving, so don't worry how they roll up.
7. Place on a parchment paper lined baking tray and bake at 375°F for 12-15 minutes.
Enjoy!!!
My niece and nephew are spending the day at Grandma's (Mom's) house today, so I'm heading over with some goodies to have some Christmas fun with the kids.
Yesterday I baked some gingerbread cookies, and today we're having a cookie decorating party. My favourite part of being an Aunt is filling the kids full of treats and then returning to comfort of my own home, free of the consequences. The kids always think I'm the best...not so sure how the parents/grandparents feel. Haha!
For decorating the cookies, I got Christmas sprinkles, candy cane pieces, gum drops, smarties, milk chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, and rainbow sprinkles. Oh and three colours of frosting.
The cookies I'm taking over are Christmas trees and candy canes (made with homemade cookie cutters, of course!). I also picked up a few pre-made gingerbread men for us to decorate too. Can't wait!
Yesterday I baked some gingerbread cookies, and today we're having a cookie decorating party. My favourite part of being an Aunt is filling the kids full of treats and then returning to comfort of my own home, free of the consequences. The kids always think I'm the best...not so sure how the parents/grandparents feel. Haha!
For decorating the cookies, I got Christmas sprinkles, candy cane pieces, gum drops, smarties, milk chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, and rainbow sprinkles. Oh and three colours of frosting.
The cookies I'm taking over are Christmas trees and candy canes (made with homemade cookie cutters, of course!). I also picked up a few pre-made gingerbread men for us to decorate too. Can't wait!
This week I've been focused on the fun rainbow themed party my friends threw for their daughter last weekend. As you know I got to make the cake and the cupcakes, but there were lots of other fun snacks and treats that fit the rainbow theme.
Not pictured: the hosts also fed us a meal of tri-colour (rainbow) pasta with fresh grated cheeses and flavoured olive oils and a rainbow salad that had purple cabbage, green spinach, and yellow corn. Very nice!
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| Rainbow Fruit Tray |
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| Rainbow Veggie Tray |
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| Assorted Rainbow Treats |
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| Rainbow Cupcakes on display |
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| The works! |
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| Decorations |
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| Rainbow Stuffed Animals! |
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