Rak Surprise!

In the mail today I received a package containing a rak I won at Bobbi's blog.I will be having fun with the stickers, rub-ons and ribbon. Love them.
Thanks so much Bobbi!

LRW #17

Black and white is the challenge this week.
I used MS garden trellis deep border punch, K&Company black and ivory paper, the image is from Digital Two for Tuesday, CB paper and some embellishments.

LRW #16 Ribbon

Getting this card in just under the wire for last Wednesday's LRW challenge of using ribbon.

Thanks Sue!

Last week in the mail I received a nice surprise from my friend Sue. A lovely handmade book mark. Sue is a water colourist. This bookmark is made from a painting Sue called Fantasia. Sue has just started an artisan home based business called Brushstrokes featuring handmade notecards of her original art work.
Thanks Sue!Love it.

Shrove Tuesday

Pancakes with Maple syrup, what else!

Best Friends Card

Digital Two for Tuesday posted a lovely black and white best friends image.

This is the card I made using chalks, markers, CB'ed leaving the center blank , antiqued the edges . Raised the best friends using 3d Dots.

Happy Valentine's Day

Valentine touches first to my home then a Red Hat party on Friday.
A Valentine's touch to my dining table.
Simple dessert for two .


Pictures of the Valentine Red Hats Luncheon Friday.
Escorted to our seat.

Table scape Red Hat style.

Some fancy hats.

Dessert Table, Oh My!

2 door prizes won at my table.

A rowdy group singing Hot Flash!

Played some backwards bingo !
Lots of fun!
Valentine's Day certainly helps break the mid winters blahs.

Olympics 2010

I am a proud Canadian and have to do a little flag waving today.
The opening ceremony of the Olympics was a terrific show.
A fantastic interpretation of Canada.
From the LED bear to the aurora borealis to the leaves falling in autumn to KD Lang singing Hallelujah to the prairie wire artist .
The finish of the cross Canada torch run in the pouring rain to light a beautiful representation of an ice cauldron.
The sadness for the loss of the Georgian luge Olympian.
Even the silly protesters.

Foodie Friday-Teatime with Applesauce cake

Decided to join the potluck of

Hosted by Gollum
Afternoon Tea Break with spicy Applesauce cake

This recipe comes from the Joy of Cooking book.

Preheat oven to 350.
Grease and flour 8 inch square pan ( that is the one I used)or 6 cup fluted pan or loaf pan.
Whisk together;
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. mace
1/2 tsp. salt
In large bowl, beat til creamy 1/2 cup butter, add and beat on hi speed 3/4 cup plus 2 TBSP brown sugar.3-5 minutes.
Beat in 1 egg.
Add flour mixture in 3 parts alternating with 1 cup thick applesauce. Beat until just blended.
Bake for 25-30 minutes. Fluted pan -40 to 45min. Loaf pan-60 min.
Let cool .

This cake is moist with a lovely spice flavour. I chose to dust my cake with icing sugar but this cake would be so good with Butterscotch icing.

Snow

6 inches fell in this area of Ontario yesterday.

Sun today.
I was wondering...............

When the "H" is spring coming?
Thanks to cousin Shirley for this cute joke.

LRW #15

Red and Bling is the challenge.
With Valentine Day so close, remembered the valentines we used to make in school.

Used a paper lace doily, embossed red card stock, red ribbon , lots of
heart shaped rhinestones and short and sweet stamp set.

3 cards

These cards I have made lately .



Rather solemn colours.
Next time brighter and cheerier.

The Great Houseplant Census of 2010

Mr. McGregor's Daughter started a 2010 census on houseplants. At first I thought I don't have that many but then looking around realized I do!
Number 1, my favourite; spider plant I got from my sister, Donna , but oh my you should have seen it last week when it was 3 times bigger. Spidey so needed
thinning , no soil left in the pot;so I cut it down to 1/3rd. But oh you should have seen it!
2 orchids and one has the start of a flower scape coming.

Primrose
Christmas cactus that flowers in November every year.
Mixed planter that needs attention.
Clivia.
Amaryllis, note the lovely green leaves no sign of a flower to come.
Number 9,Peace lily.
Myrtle, my neighbour Louise's aloe , I am babysitting until she is back from Florida. Yes, Louise named the aloe!
Several potted bulb plants.




My total 14.

Spinach and Almond topped Chicken

Raves for this recipe.This yummy recipe comes from a pamphlet of the
Heart and Stroke Foundation .February is heart month!
This chicken dish is without a doubt one
of the best I have tried lately..
Simple , quick ,full of flavour, moist.
2 Tbsp. Hellman's 1/2 the fat mayonnaise
1 cup lightly packed baby spinach leaves( I use 1/2 pkg of frozen chopped
spinach)
2 Tbsp. chopped almonds
2 Tbsp. bread crumbs
1 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
6 small breasts( suggest they be slightly flattened)
In small bowl combine mayonnaise, spinach, almonds, bread crumbs, and cheese , mix well.
Place chicken breasts on parchment paper covered baking sheet. Spread evenly with mixture. Pat mixture down lightly on chicken breasts.

Roast at 425 for about 16 minutes. (Roasted
mine for 20 minutes.)
I served the chicken with tossed salad and raspberry dressing, nice combo.
One of the best parts, besides all the others mentioned;
the calorie count only
169 per piece.

Favourite spot in Mid winter!

Mid Winter, this is my favourite spot to read , knit, watch TV, or just veg.
Staring out the window at all the white; hoping I see it melting.
Mid winter leaves me sort of feeling like the following critters;

and this
and most definitely this;

Drama Queen I know!:-)

Black Bean Soup

March's Canadian Living magazine has several recipes under the title Winter Warm-ups.I am going to try several of these soups over the next week. First up the black bean soup.They claim it is low fat and high flavour.
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
half an onion diced
2 each carrots and celery ribs diced
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
pinch each salt and pepper
2 cups sodium reduced chicken broth
2 cans black beans, rinsed
2 Tbsp. chopped green onions or coriander
In large saucepan heat oil, add onion, carrots, celery, garlic, oregano, cumin, salt and pepper cook til softened.Add broth and 4 cups water scraping any brown bits Add beans bring to a boil,reduce heat cover and simmer for 20 min. In blender puree til smooth, return to pot.Garnish with green onions or coriander.
Makes 4-6 servings Cal. 138 per serving
I followed the recipe exactly.Used green onions instead of coriander.
I felt it was not high in flavour.
I would add more oregano and cumin to boost the flavour and perhaps not as much water change that to chicken stock as well.
Otherwise the soup was fast to make and overall good, just not great.

LRW #14

This week a chipboard challenge and it certainly was. Glittered a chipboard frame . Messy. Used Anna Griffin glittered paper for the background and a digital down load picture of 2 angels from Digital Two for Tuesday.Followed a layout from Linanna Designs.

Spring has arrived!

At least in the house. Thanks to my daughters and their families for the lovely bulb garden for our anniversary.