DIY Out of My Comfort Zone

I stopped at a red light and heard the person in the car next to me say "Excuse me".  Because I live in a constant state of partial anxiety my first thought was: "Oh great, what did I do?"  I looked over and it was an older man who said: "I just wanted to let you know your left brake light is out".  I thanked him for letting me know and my next thought was: "Oh great, how much does that cost to fix?"

I was on my way to my parents place and in conversation with my dad he told me replacing the brake light was an "easy fix".  He went so far as to say, "The longest part is going to Canadian Tire to get a new bulb".  Now it almost hurts me to put this in writing, but my dad was right.  The second longest part was figuring out how the brake light assembly came apart, but once we got at it, we quickly removed the burnt out bulb.  Conveniently, the bulb number (or bulb type?) is written right in the plastic beside where the bulb goes. It is also imprinted right on the bulb, so picking up a new bulb was easy as pie.  It turns out replacing a brake light is really just replacing a light bulb.  Like dad said, it's an easy fix.

The brake light assembly is accessed through the trunk of the car. 

We removed the paneling/covering and three screws.  I initially thought the wires and the metal panel dislodged into the trunk so we could access the bulbs that way.  After a few failed attempts to get it to do that, John realized the brake light itself detached away from the vehicle.

The brake lights!  Inside out!

 Light bulb goes here!

Burnt out bulb!

Two bulbs at Canadian Tire were $4.99.  I only needed one so this repair was pretty cheap!!

Bulb replaced! I hit the brake to ensure it worked! It worked! 
We did it!

As it should be!!

It Was a Pretty Popular Movie

I am always in the market for new notebooks, as I am quite obsessed with them and often have ten or more on the go. When purchasing notebooks, I flip through them to see and feel what the pages are like.  That is how I found this awesome leave behind by another shopper at Dollarama the other night:

Neat looking notebook:

Awesome leave behind:

 

People in Midland are funny!

Always On A Timmy's Run

I have been going to Tim Horton's almost daily over the past few months, which is more times then I was there over the entirety of last year.  There are some valid reasons for my dramatic increase of Tim Horton's consumption.

Reason One: I make my own schedule right now and when I'm in charge, there is always time to stop for coffee.  When I was working, the day started at 8:00am sharp, and when one leaves the house at 7:48am for a 15 minute commute - there is no room for a drive through visit!  (I know the math doesn't make sense, but I was hardly ever late for work).

Reason Two: my mother underwent hip replacement surgery at the end of May, so I have been back and forth to Barrie every few days to spend time with her, clean up her apartment, and help her in her recovery.  As per reason number one, I make my own schedule for this, so I often stop at Tim Horton's on the way.  I stopped drinking coffee in January, but running the roads, the stress of being one day here and the next day gone*, sweating the small stuff (my dad's car battery died while I was driving, I ripped a tile out of the wall of their bathroom, as well as a few other choice things), and not getting enough sleep (or sometimes too much) has found me frequenting the drive through line.  Like the countless others before me, I've turned to a stimulant to help me cope with the stress of my life. 

Reason Three: I didn't admit to myself that I started drinking coffee again ("it's just a treat!"), so going to Tim's was my only option as I hadn't set up my coffee maker at home.

Thankfully for my finances, John and I plugged in our coffee maker last week, so I am a regular coffee drinker again.  When I gave it up in January I was drinking 2-3 cups a day, but so far I am sticking to only one cup (not 8 oz, a real cup!). If I feel like a second cup, I go for a tea, and so far that is working for me.  Even though I make coffee at home now, I'm already thinking about the Timmy run I will be making on my way to Barrie this Saturday.  One day at a time...



*Yep that is a Tom Cochrane lyric**

**Not Rascal Flatts (well, yes them too, but I was quoting Tom Cochrane).

Fish On Friday

After an amazing afternoon at the beach, we went to our local Chip Wagon so I could let my Bro experience all the joy that is Perky's Fish and Chips. Every time we go there it is the best fish and chips we have ever had. And after a good long swim, it was even more perfect!! Super Yum!!!

Haddock + Chips + Coleslaw

Caramel Popcorn If You Please

I have recently been craving the caramel popcorn my Mom makes at Christmas.  I made it myself this past Christmas, and realized it is an easy and fun treat to make. The original recipe is from Farm Journal's Country Cookbook, with some slight additions.  I thought you might enjoy the recipe too!  

Caramel Popcorn: A recipe in photos!

You need 5 quarts (20 cups) of popped popcorn.  I probably used about one cup of un-popped kernels to achieve this.

5 Quarts of popped popcorn is 5 of these!

As you are popping the popcorn, sift through it to make sure only the best pieces go into your caramel popcorn.  Pick out any kernels or loose shells and discard.

Place your 20 cups of popcorn into a large oven safe pan. Heat the popcorn in a 250°F oven to keep it nice and crisp while you prepare the caramel.

Caramel: Add 1 cup butter or margarine, 2 cups firmly packed brown sugar, 1/2 cup of corn syrup, and 1 tsp of salt to a medium sized saucepan.  Place over medium heat and stir, mixing together.

Once mixed, stir periodically and bring to a boil.

Once boiling, set timer for 5 minutes and just let 'er boil.  No stirring!

This is what it looks like REALLY boiling (taken around the 3 minute mark).  At this same point, take your popcorn out of your hot oven and add 1 cup of salted peanuts and 1 cup of broken pretzels.  I use waffle pretzels and just love how the squares and broken bits fill with caramel.

When your 5 minute buzzer sounds, remove caramel from heat and add 1/2 tsp of baking soda, stirring in well.  The caramel will foam and get thick.

Pour caramel over popcorn/peanuts/pretzel mixture.

Using an egg lifter, stir the popcorn mixture to coat everything with yummy caramel.  Return the pan to the 250°F oven and heat for 15 minutes.  Remove the pan and stir the popcorn mixture again to ensure everything gets a good coating.  Return the mixuture to the oven for an additional 15 minutes, then give it a final stir.  Everything should be beautifully coated in caramel.

Pour caramel popcorn onto waxed or parchment paper to cool.

Here is a photo of the most amazing part of this process.  The handy egg lifter, when all it's jobs are complete, gets to be licked clean by the candy maker.  Super tasty bonus!

The recipe makes 2 large Ziploc bags (about 20 cups!) of caramel popcorn.  I made two separate batches and now have 4 bags of this glorious treat!  Total cost was proabably less than $7 for these four bags, and I still have a lot of unpopped popcorn left.  Economical, easy, and delish!

Enjoy!!!