This is...better late than never

Drum roll please... This is my creation!

Her name is Emily and she is my first handmade doll. She took me a little less than two hours to make thanks to the pattern supplied by her namesake over at Inside a Black Apple. I decided to stitch her smile and use buttons for eyes rather than painting her facial features - I love how she turned out. Now that I know how simple dolls are to make I cannot wait to make more!

Here she is meeting her big sis.


"This is..." theme for this week was chosen by BettyTheGeek.

Tantalizing Tuesday

Allow me to introduce my first ever attempt at lasagna:

And a fabulous attempt if I don't say so myself.

I spotted the recipe for the above beauty on the fabulous Pioneer Woman Cooks blog awhile back and have been anxiously waiting for the perfect opportunity to try it out. Why wait? Well, Mike is not a lasagna sort of guy, all the bumps and array of colours frighten him, when I suggested tonight that he try a bite tomorrow he said "hmmm" which is more a yes than a no in my mind so here's hoping the upcoming bite will tempt him into becoming a lasagna lover. I digress, back to the original story: I've been looking forward to trying this dish and tonight was the night! I had a dinner with my good friend Pat planned for this evening and since she has cooked for me the last few times we've gotten together I took tonight as an opportunity to return the favor. As usual I had a lovely evening with Pat, we try to get together for dinner once a month and it's always a good time!

Pat makes a damn good lasagna, although she would suggest otherwise, so to hear her and her daughter Jen say they really liked mine meant something! I think the addition of sausage meat is an absolute necessity - it gives the dish a swift kick that is just yum. I would cut back on the overall amount of meat next time; I like my lasagna a little more saucy and a little less meaty. The cheese on the other hand was the perfect amount, ooey gooey goodness.

High five to the Pioneer Woman for including step by step pics with her recipes! For the original go here.

Oooey Gooey Good Lasagna
originally titled "The Best Lasagna. Ever."

What You Need:
1 1/2 lbs ground beef (I would suggest you use a pound...then again maybe I used too much?)
1 lb breakfast sausage (I couldn't find a tube of it so I bought a pack of sausages and squeezed the meat out of the skin stuff - I'm sure that must be the technical name "skin stuff")
2 cloves minced garlic
1 large 29 oz can whole tomatoes
2 tiny 6 oz cans of tomato paste
4 tbsp dried parsley flakes (2 and 2)
2 tbsp dried basil
2 tsp salt (1 and 1)
3 cups low-fat cottage cheese
2 eggs
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (plus a few extra shakes)
1 lb mozzarella cheese slices (fairly thick slices are best)
lasagna noodles (I used the type you don't have to prepare ahead of time - easy peasy)
9 x 13 lasagna pan (or a fabulous carrot cake pan works perfectly as seen above - thanks Pam!)
skillet (I love my cast iron pan)

What You Do:

1. In a skillet, combine ground beef, breakfast sausage, and minced garlic.
2. Cook until brown.
3. Drain, drain, drain! You'll have loads of fat, get rid of at least half or prepare to drop dead due to clogged arteries - you can't say I didn't warn you.
4. Add whole tomatoes and tomato paste, 2 tablespoons of dried parsley flakes, 2 tablespoons dried basil and 1 teaspoon salt.
5. Mix together thoroughly and simmer, uncovered, appx. 45 minutes stirring occasionally.
6. Make your noodles now if you want OR cheat and use the type you don't have to pre-cook and skip this step altogether.
7. While the meat mixture and noodles are cooking, mix low-fat cottage cheese in a bowl with 2 beaten eggs.
8. To the cottage cheese, add 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, 2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes, and 1 teaspoon salt and mix well.
9. Now it's time to assemble. Lay four lasagna noodles in the bottom of the pan, overlapping as you go.
10. Spread half of the cottage cheese mixture evenly over the noodles.
11. Lay 1/2 pound of mozzarella cheese slices on top of the cottage cheese mixture.
12. With the spoon, make a line through the middle of the meat mixture so you’ll distribute it evenly.
13. Spread a little less than half of the meat mixture over the mozzarella cheese slices.
14. Repeat the process! Add another layer of four lasagna noodles and top with the remaining half of the cottage cheese mixture and another 1/2 pound of mozzarella.
15. Finish with the remaining meat mixture and spread evenly.
16. Finish it off by sprinkling a generous layer of Parmesan cheese!
17. If cooking right away stick it in a 350-degree oven for 20-30 minutes, until hot and bubbly (that's assuming you're using noodles you boiled yourself, if you use the no-cook noodles you will need to cook longer to ensure the noodles are not rock hard! I placed my finished lasagna in the refrigerator for 24 hours, and cooked it at 350 degrees for appx. 1.5 hours. YUM!

A side salad is the perfect addition to this meal. Mmm mmmm good.

Ear to Ear

Grab a cup of tea, this was meant to be a short post but it's not... Friends, babies, a new blog I love and some very cool sites are in store for you today. Enjoy!

March break is here and that alone is enough to make me smile. The main attraction this week is a much needed visit with one of my best girlfriends in the whole wide world: Jen! Only 3 more sleeps until I pick her up from the airport - YIPPEE! For the past eight years Jen has been working on cruise ships so unfortunately I don't get to see much of her. It has been a few years since I've had her all to myself for longer than an hour or two so I am super excited knowing that once I pick her up on Thursday afternoon I can hog her for 3 whole days! Wooo hoooo!

I met a fabulous new man today... he is the tiniest little guy I have ever had the pleasure of holding in my arms and his name is Carter. Unfortunately I did not have my camera with me when I went to meet my friend Tamara's new baby boy but trust me when I say he is perfectly adorable. Carter was born on February 28th, he was a month early and weighed in at just over 5 lbs. He was 4 lbs something when he went home and his mommy figures he is appx 5.5 lbs today. Carter is the smallest baby I've had the pleasure of cuddling: his lips were perfect little rosebuds, his eyelashes were so teeny tiny they were barely there, his little nose was like a button (literally) and his fingers... ahhhh I better stop or soon I'll be hearing the chiming of a grandfather clock rather than the gentle tic toc I am able to ignore most days.

Here's a closeup shot of the the very simple card I made for Carter, of course I had to use a rub-on transfer:

The blue paper doesn't actually have a burnt look - not sure what's up with the color in this shot.

Other bits from my world...

I found a fabulous new blog named How About Orange which I think is strange, not the blog but the fact that I found it, because just this past weekend I mentioned to Tanya that I am really loving the colour orange lately. Why did I share that thrilling piece of info with her? Because she's the sort of girlfriend with whom I can share such useless bits of info and rather than looking at me with boredom and disgust, or simply ignoring me, as others might she acknowledged just how fabulous orange really is. Anyways, I found this new blog and think it's bloglicious.

While poking about my new fav orange blog I linked to this other amazingly wonderful site: tastespotting and let me tell you, this is one site where I see myself spending many free moments. Links to people's blogs where others have found amazing looking/tasting recipes that they stumbled upon and felt the need to share! Like this one. If you click on the tiny pic it will lead you to the blog... you could land at a blog such as this one - this recipe is not in English, you're all so lucky to have me here to state the obvious aren't you? What is says in a nutshell is: Zuccini "sushi". Grill zuccini sheets, fill with mozzarella cheese or mushroom risotto; roll it up and add color with paprika. I'm such a linguist! not really, it was written under the pic here.

Since I'm on a roll I should tell you that tastespotting led me to thisvery cool site where I see myself wasting more of my study time. On NOTCOT you'll find pics with descriptions that will lead you to cool, quirky and often just plain weird sites incyberland. The following pics were snagged from sites I found while trolling :

A close-up of the pin on this girls shirt - read description below for details.
I need one of these... seriously, I'm a slob.

Lola, a messy eater, has somehow managed again to get a
nasty stain on her shirt just before going out. But the fantastic kotztierchen'
gives the stain a purpose by simply making it part of her outfit. Lucky her!

Check out this crazy hotel in Athens, so cool!

One of the rooms you can rent:

And the hotel pool! Love it!

That's enough smiling for today. Good night!

This is...

looking out my front door.


Perfect timing for this weeks "This is..." chosen by Brooke. March certainly has come "in like a lion" here in Southern Ontario: 35 cm of the white stuff fell yesterday, a record snowfall for us. Thankfully today is a good day, the snow has stopped falling, the sun is shining and one of our very best friends brought his snowblower over to blow us out!

The first pic was taken looking out our front door and the pic above Mike snapped of me from our garage - that's our saviour Colin in the background! Corner lots certainly do have their downfalls, we have a LOT of sidewalk to maintain.

Let's hope March "goes out like a lamb" - I think we're all ready to see some green!

Are we really global citizens?

I wish I could raise my head high and state with confidence that I am a true global citizen but sadly I cannot. Honestly I rarely read the newspaper nor watch the news; I spend my spare time reading blogs rather than researching global or even local issues. The news makes me sad and leaves me feeling helpless; rather than taking the time to try and educate myself on issues and then take action, I usually turn my head and hope someone else will. Is this acceptable behaviour? I suppose in a twisted sort of way it is, I am certainly not the only person choosing this inaction, no one is going to slap my hand and force me to face the facts, no one can make me make a difference... well, no one but me.

For the first time in a very long time I feel as if there is hope for change and that I can contribute to this change.

Last night I had the pleasure of hearing Lieutenant General Romeo Dallaire, the Canadian Commander of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Rawanda from 1993-1994, speak to a crowd of 2000 individuals here in my hometown. For those of you who have not seen either the documentary or the feature film Shake Hands with the Devil, rent it and watch it. Romeo Dallaire is truly an inspiration. What surprised me most while listening to General Dallaire speak was his positive outlook: even after he has witnessed such unimaginable horrors he still has faith in our global community, he has hope and believes that positive changes can and will take place around the world. General Dallaire was both positive and realistic, he did not suggest that these changes would occur over night but rather within the next few decades. Through education and action we can better the lives of millions of people (us included) while helping other countries to help themselves. We can make a difference.

Today Tanya and I had the opportunity to hear another great speaker named Debbie Bodkin . Bodkin spent time in Darfur working with the UN and now speaks of her experiences with the intent to educate the public and with the hope of helping the 2 million individuals still at risk in Darfur. Sergeant Bodkin's recollection of her time in the Sudan was eye opening; she shared stories from survivors that brought tears to my eyes and anger to my heart. Darfur is Rawanda all over again: once again the world is averting its eyes and allowing a genocide to take place.

So now what?

Now it's time to make a difference, now it's time to try and create change. I won't suggest that I am going to spend every spare moment I have being an advocate for human rights but I do intend to take some initiative, to take some personal responsibility for making our world a better place. I'm going to start by promising myself I will spend some time each day catching up on current events, I will begin writing letters on a regular basis (setting aside time to write one a week to my MP or to the PM is a good start) and I intend to find time to volunteer within my local community.

I challenge you too to become a better global citizen. What do you intend to do to make a difference?

Need some inspiration? Want to learn more about Darfur?
Here are a few sites to get you started:
Debbie Bodkin
Save Darfur Canada
Save Darfur

Frozen in NYC

This is so incredibly cool; take two minutes to check it out.
Thanks Shannon for sharing this with me.

Home Sweet Home

We're moving, what do you think of our new home?


Yeah right, as if we can afford a castle and a moat. Let's be realistic. This is the new pad:

Can you imagine? No wonder every little girl wants to be a princess: castles are cool. I want to live in a castle. Puh-lease mike! and before anyone asks, no we're not really moving

Tantalizing Tuesday - Remembering Trevor

Trevor the turkey

Easter is only a hop, skip and a jump away (insert drums here: ba dum dum ch) so I think this is a good time to share the all-time best turkey recipe with you. Next week I'll pass the secret to a fabulous giblet gravy your way.

Wow, I sound like a 70 year old woman... I can't believe I just wrote "hop, skip and a jump away" and the word "giblet" in the same paragraph.

Some of you may remember my Thanksgiving post where I honoured Trevor the turkey, and others may remember Randy Travis from Christmas. Both of these fine featherless turkeys were cooked to near perfection using a fantastic no-fault recipe that my sister-in-law Joanne shared with me. The recipe is one of the Food Diva's awesome creations... speaking of which, I'm due to hit up another cooking lesson with the Diva - she's amazing and sweet and easy to learn from. Blah blah blah, here we go.

Roast Turkey
Thanks to the Food Diva extraordinaire

What you need:
a turkey (Trev was organic and fabulous but you pay for fabulousness; Randy was an avg kind of guy who came frozen and cheap. Organic is definitely better but do what works for your budget)
whole onion (just cut ends off)
fresh thyme or sage
garlic bulb
1/4 cup melted butter
salt & pepper
Roasting pan big enough for your bird (use the rack if you have one, it makes life easier for basting and you'll be doing lots of that)

What you do:
1. Let your turkey sit on the counter for a couple hours so that he's at room temperature when you're ready to cook him
3. Preheat over to 425 degrees F
4. Cut off wing tips and reserve them for the giblet gravy you'll learn about next week. Remove wish bone (makes carving easier)
5. Stuff the neck end of bird with a whole onion, thyme or sage, whole garlic bulb (no need to remove skin), butter and season
6. Tie up the bird so the wings are tight to body using twine (this is optional - I didn't bother)
7. Rub the bird down with the melted butter (all over)
8. season well with salt & pepper and place in a roasting pan (not too big, not too small)
9. Roast turkey in over for 20 minutes
10. **Reduce heat to 350 degrees
11. Roast for appropriate amount of time (use chart below to figure out timing - BE PRECISE) and be sure to baste the bird every 20 minutes
12. Meat thermometer should read 160 degrees when inserted in thickest part of thigh
13. Remove bird from roasting pan, tent with aluminum foil for a minimum of 20-30 minutes (this is important too - don't skip it)
14. Remove all the inside bits of herbs, garlic and onion and carve the sucker
15. GOBBLE GOBBLE

Basting is most important, don't try to take the easy route out and not baste. Have I made myself clear, BASTE. Set your timer and baste baste baste.

If you find your bird tanning too quickly slap a piece of aluminum foil over him while he's roasting - this will help him keep his tanning under control.

Turkey Roasting Temperatures and Times

Size Time
under 10 lb/4.5 kg 20 minutes per 1 lb/500 g plus 20 additional minutes

10-14 lb/4.5-6.5 kg 18 minutes per 1 lb/500 g

over 14 lb/6.5 kg 16 minutes per 1 lb/500 g

Don't mess with the temperature or times - trust me this is a fool proof method.

Yum for the bath

Taking a bath is one of my all-time favourite things to do. I don't have them as often as I should - before anyone makes a smart ass remark I should clarify, I do shower on a daily basis, I just don't make the time to soak in a relaxing bath as often as I would like to - the perfect bath includes candles, a cup of hot chocolate (or glass of wine), a book and some fabulous bubble bath or a bath bomb fizzing around me.

My girlfriend Cara sent me some of her fav bath melts, bombs and bar soap from LUSH this past Christmas. One word: WOW. I've used some LUSH products in the past (again, thanks to Cara) but never really understood her obsession with the company until I tried their bath products. Unbelievable!

What I didn't realize was that I could (and should) have chopped the melt & bomb in half or even thirds to make them last a few baths each. Instead I dropped the whole damn thing in and cried when my bath time came to an end because the bomb was gone. A simple solution would be to go to LUSH and purchase more, unfortunately the closest LUSH is in Toronto so my next brush with LUSH will have to wait until I head to T-dot for a shopping weekend this spring/summer.

I'm still mourning the loss of my LUSH so to soothe myself I figured I could check out Etsy and see if there are any fabulous looking bombs on there. Sure enough I found a pile of products that look good enough to eat and the shipping is less than LUSH charges. I wonder if they're as good though, maybe I'll just have to order some and find out for myself.


Butter Cream Icing and White Chocolate Cherry mini cupcake bath bombs from Feeling Smitten.

Strawberry Lemonade bath bomb by Magic Hands Workshop


Sex Appeal Sea Salt Soak with Roses by Savor who has a pile of yummy looking products I would love to try.


Another one of Savor's products I would love to get my paws on is this Caramel Brownie Batter soap. Looks good enough to eat!


And finally check out this super cute, super cool sushi soap by Midohana that comes in an adorable bunny Bento box! Love it!

Snip snip

Peter Callesen is one talented man. Check out a few of my favorite pieces of his work created with just paper and glue.

All in All

White Hand

Inpenetrable Castle

Looking back
Down the River

The Short Distance Between Time and Shadow

To check out more of his fabulous work check out his site.

Tantalizing Tuesday

I hosted a Pampered Chef party tonight: good times. Girlfriends, gadgets and food are three of my most favourite things so of course I enjoyed myself...

The recipe featured tonight was super easy and super yummy. Give it a whirl!

Tangy Pepper-Pecan Brie
c/o Pampered Chef

What you need:
1/4 cup pecan halves chopped
1 jalapeno pepper seeded & chopped
1/4 cup apricot jam
1 brie cheese, 3 inch round at room temp
1 French baguette, sliced
vegetable oil

What you do:
1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
2. In small bowl combine peppers and apricot preserves.
3. Cut the brie in half horizontally.
4. Place one half of brie cut side up onto center of a large round stone (a baking sheet would work).
5. Spread half the apricot mixture on top.
6. Top with half the pecans.
7. Place remaining brie on top (cut side up).
8. Spread remaining apricot mixture on top & top off with remaining pecans.
9. Arrange the baguette slices around the brie.
10. Spray or brush baguette slices with vegetable oil.
11. Bake 8-10 minutes or until baguette slices are golden brown & Brie begins to soften.
12. Removed from oven; let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Next time I make this (and yes there will be a next time) I'll use more jalapeno peppers and more apricot jam to give it an extra boost of flava flav.

Yum yum good.

This is...

Me taking a picture of myself in the mirror with my favourite accessory.

Okay it's actually me taking multiple pictures of myself in the mirror with my fav accessory. Do you know how hard it is to get a decent shot without looking through the viewfinder?

I'm posting a few shots that I played around with in PS. The colours are pretty vivid, maybe too much? Those strawberry daiquiri walls do make a nice backdrop...

My favorite accessory this year is a beautiful handmade scarf that I received for Christmas. Don't you love it?! It's made of the most beautiful wool and the colour is fab. I wear it folded in half as a scarf but it can be worn as a shawl or even a head wrap. Love it so much that you would like your own? Be sure to check out my favorite knitwear company EterKnity.
They have an Etsy shop as well - I love their cabled corsets and the cabled halter is hot hot hot!

For those who might be wondering what it is I'm doing with my hand in this second shot, it's not a gang sign (as suggested by my husband), it's me pointing at my fav scarf. duh.

"This is..." theme for this week was chosen by One Red Robin.

Parenting 101

New parent looking for some helpful hints? Check these out. Hilarious.

Thanks to Dooce for sharing.

30 and FAB if I don't say so myself.

Happy Birthday yesterday to moi!

It's official, I'm a member of the Dirty Thirty club and pleased to say that I feel no more mature today than I did last week... or last year for that matter. PHEW!

My birthday celebrations started a week ago: Mike arranged an evening of fun fun fun with a pile of our friends last Friday. Drinks and yummy chow at a local watering hole Barley Works HELLO it's our new pre-party feedery - $20 for a bottle of wine? what the...? followed by an evening of rump shakin' at Starlight equals good times had by all. I was thrilled to see my favorite faces showed up to help me celebrate, I had no idea who was actually coming, we had a blast! We opened up the club and nearly closed it - disco and funk kept us on the dance floor from ten till two. A truly fabulous night!

Yesterday was my actual birthday and it was a fantastic day! My girl Tanya was super cute and had my b-day announced at school, she also brought in a... errr... lovely pink BIRTHDAY GIRL ribbon for me to wear. I made a valiant effort to wear the sucker but it kept falling off. oops.

Unfortunately Mike has been in Orlando on business since Monday - he felt really awful about being away but of course I understood SOB - he surprised me yesterday by having a ridiculously huge and stunning bouquet of tropical flowers sent to my work! The office ladies were gushing over my delivery when I slipped in to pick it up. Honestly these are the most beautiful flowers I've ever seen! Thanks babe!

After work I went to The Cake Box with my mom for cupcakes and had the BEST cupcake EVER. Seriously. A chocolate peanut butter cupcake? Peanut butter flavored butter cream icing? Oh my delish.

I worked off the cupcake during my pilates class that followed - I love it more this round than I did last - then headed to an amazing little Italian restaurant, Casa Rugantino, to pick up the pizza Tanya had ordered for our dinner. YUM!

My wonderfully simple yet fabulous birthday was topped off when I arrived at Tanya's place . I was expecting an evening of pizza, a movie and maybe some Scrabble but walked in to find balloons, streamers, and some of the fabulous women I love gathered together. We ate, drank, watched the lunar eclipse and laughed!! I am so unbelievably lucky; I have the best people in my world.

It really was a very happy birthday.

Freaky Horoscope

Isn't it weird how some days it's as if your hororscope was written just for you?

Tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. EST my interview for teacher's college will be taking place. EEEEEEEK! Send me some positive energy people!

Check out my horoscope for today:
"You are standing at the very edge of an opening and you will get to walk through this window of opportunity over the next few days. In the meantime, make the most of where you are by paying close attention to what's happening. Watching how others respond to you is one way, but don't forget to also tune into your own inner process. If it happens in your imagination, it can also happen in your real life."

Window of opportunity here I come! Oh and the whole, "if it happens in your imagination" bit... do you remember this converstation?! Weird.

Cutting and Photoshopping

My less than thrilled kitty cat is modeling my first attempt at papercutting. Follow the link to snag yourself a template and instructions. Do yourself a favor and puchase spray-on glue or use a glue stick. Plain white glue leaves glue bumps visible on your finished project - grrr.

The pic above is one of my first shots at improving a pic using Photoshop. A big thank you goes to Stacy over at The Land of K.A. for providing some fabulous Photoshop tutorials and providing me with a new addiction. Unlike the PS help menu Stacy's tips are easy to follow and actually make sense to me. Be sure to slip over to her blog to check our her beautiful children and phenomenal photos.

Here's another pic I fixed up using Stacy's simple steps for defoging and using the free plugin she suggested, it's called Virtual Photographer.

Before:



After (effect is SPICE from VP):


This last shot is one I have been hoping to fix for a couple years now... check out the before and after. I think it looks way better now.

Before:

After:
I have a long way to go but this is certainly a starting point!

This is... what makes me laugh out loud

Old School is one of my all time favourite movies: Will Ferrell kills me. Watching just a clip means you're missing the build up so it's not as funny as it is when you see the movie from start to finish but this clip still makes me laugh out loud. "You're cra... you're craaaazy!" The F-bomb is dropped so if you might not want your kids sitting next to you when you watch this.

Another thing that makes me laugh out loud is the thought of my brother's 30th birthday party. John's birthday is on December 22nd, my sister-in-law decided to throw his party on Halloween with the hope of surprising him. In early October my parents invited John & Sarah to join them on Halloween evening for a costume party at the Legion, of course they accepted the invite.

A couple weeks before Halloween we were having dinner at my parents and my brother was discussing the party, he wasn't sure what he should wear. I, being a loving and thoughful little sister, suggested he go dressed as a woman: "Why not John? It's not like there's going to be anyone you know there, the party's at the legion!" Thankfully he agreed with me, he thought it would be funny and since it would only be my parents and a few other family members why not have a good laugh? I was stoked when he took it one step further and remembered a friend of his had a costume that would likely fit him. Here's John on the big night:

Imagine his shock when he walked into the Legion to find appx. 150 of his closest friends, family and colleagues yelling surprise. Classic! This moment will forever be etched in my brain.

Poppalina chose the topic for this week's edition of "This is..."

Tantalizing Tuesday one day late

All of these snow days are throwing me off, my apologies! I had another day of relaxation on Monday due to 'blowing snow' that caused the country buses to be cancelled which in turn closed our entire school (bus dependent schools shut right down on these joyous occasions). I love my job but an extra day in bed is nothing to complain about unless of course you're my husband who believes the school board closes my school just to torture him, it's a tough life.

The point of my jabbering is that I missed a Tantalizing Tuesday post because Monday felt like Sunday and Tuesday felt like Monday; I know you're all in tears over this sorry mom so I'm making it up to you today by posting a great recipe for Valentine's Day!

These brownies are by far the best I've ever had and I've eaten a fair number of brownies in my life, chocolate is my drug of choice don't you know. My favourite way to eat these babies is with ice cream, hot fudge, raspberries and peanuts BUT eating them as I am right this now, naked with a glass of milk, is a close second. Whoa, let me clarify: the brownie is naked, I am clothed.
Tomorrow I'm taking my fav dessert to a whole new level, since it's V day we're having hot fudge brownie sundaes with pink champagne. Do I hear a "OH MY YUM"?

When I made this recipe on Monday I halved it and Mike was not a happy man, he told me that there was no reason to deprive him of the best brownies on earth and assured me that the entire pan would have been consumed had I made the full amount. I explained to him that I knew very well that they would have been eaten and that this was the precise reason why I had cut the recipe. Two people do not need to eat an entire tray of brownies in just a few sittings. geesh.

So consider this a warning, don't blame me if you find yourself standing in your kitchen at 4 am stuffing brownies down your throat after tasting one of these beautiful bits.

Best Brownies EVER
thanks to Shannon for sharing this delish recipe

Whatcha Need:
1/2 lb butter
4 squares unsweetened chocolate
2 cups white sugar
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
2 cups chocolate chips

Whatcha Do:
1. Preheat your oven to 350
2. In a double broiler melt butter and chocolate squares.
3. Pour chocolate/butter mixture into a bowl. Add sugar, flour, baking powder and vanilla. Stir.
4. Make a hole in the mixture. Add lightly whisked eggs.
5. Add chocolate chips. Stir
6. Grease 9 by 13 pan and bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes (mine don't take this long but my oven is crazy hot)
7. Let cool before cutting & gobbling up

Ummm I skip step seven but I usually burn my fingers and face eating them while they're still hot - the chocolate chips are all melty inside so if you take the risk of eating while hot you're bound to burn.

Global Moms Promo

What a fantastic project this is!
I'm looking forward to watching the documentary Global Moms and also plan to look for Promises this week!

Education is the key to change. In an ideal world there would be little conflict, you may not think that this is a realistic goal, and maybe it's not, but it is certainly one we can strive to reach. Exposing our children to cultures other than their own & encouraging them to explore similarities while respecting differences is one very manageable thing each and every one of us can do to make a difference. Baby steps!

For more info on the project Global Moms visit Promises Films

This is... Sunday lunch.

Our Sunday lunch usually consists of a Tim Horton's bagel and a large half coffee & half hot chocolate - pretty exciting huh? Sunday is our day of laziness so our lunch is technically breakfast and when you're eating breakfast between 11 and 12 you want something fast, easy and yummy: Timmy's is the winner.

It's just the two of us so an all out Sunday brunch is not unheard of but quite unusual; some day in the future we'll quite likely have a weekend breakfast tradition of pancakes/hashbrowns/eggs & bacon etc, that will be waaaay down the road when we have additional mouths to feed. As a kid I loved when my mom & dad made big weekend brunches, waking up to the smell of bacon mmm there's nothing quite like it.

Today I had a grocery store stop to make so we had sandwiches insteadof drive-thru bagels. Not the usual but it was delish: turkey and salami with jalepeno havarti cheese, lettuce, peppers, cucumber and mayo on a calabrese bun = yum. Oh and I certainly couldn't skip the hot chocolate, it's a vital part of my Sunday routine.

Another edition of the "This is..." meme; today's theme was chosen by Allison at Lark.

My Monkey's Three!

Today we are celebrating my niece's third birthday. Neve's actual birthday was on February 8th but her mommy and daddy were out of town on business so she thinks her special day is today. One of the benefits of being three: you can celebrate your birthday late, early, or every day and think that it is perfectly normal.

I made the card pictured above for the little nut. Couldn't resist posting the pic of EC with the finished product, she looks angry and that's because I kept calling her name trying to get her to look at the camera and she, like her cousin Neve, isn't a fan of the paparazzi (aka moi snapping pictures) - this dirty look was the closest she came to posing. I do like the way the light fell on the card though. I forgot how much I love rub-on transfers! I enjoyed crafting with them when I was a kid and found out last night that I still feel oddly satisfied after applying them even as an adult - hey, I never claimed to be 'normal'.

Miss. Neve is my most favourite little girl on earth. I fell in love with my monkey the first day I laid eyes on her - my bro John tricked us into thinking the adoption had been delayed and that we needed to sign paperwork to get things back on track. When we got to the house he handed each of us a portfolio with the 'paper work' inside and we opened it up to see photos of Neve for the first time. Tears flowed freely that day and everyone gushed about how cute she was, I was smitten and eyed those pictures every day after that until the next shots were posted on John's blog following Gotcha day.

November 11th 2005 was the day Neve arrived in Canada and the day I held her for the first time. It is hard to believe that Neve has been part of my life for just a few short years, it seems like she has been a part of my heart for much longer than that. I smother her in hugs and kisses every time I see her and the smile that takes over all of her little features when she sees me melts my heart. Neve is growing up so fast and has become one of the most beautiful, strong willed, loving, talkative little people I know. My life has certainly been enriched by Neve's existence - I love you my little monkey! Happy Birthday Neve!

One Step Closer!

Well apparently the hard work I put in to completing my teacher's college application for my dream school and all the positive thinking I've been focusing on have paid off. I received a phone call today from a lovely lady congratulating me on being chosen for an interview! February 19th at 10:00 a.m. will be the moment of truth. Eeeeeeeeeeeeek!!

I'm one step closer to being accepted, how fantastic is that?! Now I need to focus on happy thoughts for the interview - ugh how I hate interviews. Thankfully it is only 15 minutes long and there will be a panal of just two interviewers (likely retired principals). I'm going to ask my current principal to sit down and have a practice interview with me, the more prepared I feel I amthe less likely it is that I'll melt into a puddle of nerves on the big day.

I'm so excited!!

This is... my collection

Better late than never; I have joined the "This is..." meme started by Three Buttons and technically this should have been posted on Sunday. I was in recovery from the disco party I attended Saturday night (details coming soon) so I apologize for my late post. I think this meme might be a fun way for you to get to know me a little better and it's an excuse for me to start taking pictures more regularly.

I collect children's books.


These are just a handful of my books; the entire collection isn't huge but it is constantly growing. My dream is to one day have a house with a little library, books lining the walls!

One Fabulous Year Down

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY BABY!!

At this moment one year ago our wedding ceremony was taking place. It was truly an amazing day: we laughed and cried and laughed some more. I wish we could do it all over again; I wouldn't change a thing!

Here are a few of pics to celebrate us!

The last year has flown by so it feels like just yesterday that we were saying "I do." We are going on eight years together as a couple and I think we laugh harder and more often today than we ever have.
I love you more than anything Michael, you complete me.