Short Blog Break

I'll be taking a short blog break to enjoy some family time. Have a Happy New Year when it comes!

One thing I learned yesterday from a friend whose wife is a nurse is that women with tattoos on their back cannot have epidurals (used for childbirth)  because the ink might cause an infection wherever the needle has to go (spine?)  Well, that is the belief in Canada anyway.  I went on snopes to investigate this and it seems some radiologists are refusing to perform MRI's on people with tattoos as certain inks may be harmful to the skin.  I'm glad I don't have any tattoos.

Anyway, enjoy these photos I took when M and I lunched recently at a new Panera Bread cafe.  Their food is fresh, healthy and absolutely delicious!  Their bread is unquestionably fresh-baked.  We really enjoyed their caffe latte.

bacon turkey sandwich and caffe latte

spinach bacon souffle and caffe latte

Boxing Day

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! M brought this nice bottle of red wine home from work last week. It was a gift from his boss, a nice thought.   It's been really busy around here, almost overwhelming, as I like it more quiet and prefer to be on a regular routine.

As we approach the New Year, I'm reading of all these cancer breakthroughs in the news.  It seems they have cured prostate cancer in mice and are making new discoveries about how normal cells help cancer cells spread.  This is great news going forward.

Light vs White Tuna

I picked up an information flyer at the grocery store concerning methylmercury in fish.  We are being cautioned to reduce our exposure to mercury in fish.  So we are to beware of King Mackerel, Shark, Swordish, Tilefish and white albacore tuna.  Canned light tuna from smaller fish such as skipjack is advised.  Fish considered low in mercury are: catfish, clams, cod, crab, flounder/sole, haddock, herring,ocean perch, oysters, rainbow trout, farmed salmon,wild salmon,sardines,scallops,shrimp,spiny lobster,tilapia,farmed trout.

I've heard about this before, but it was good to refresh my mind with this list.  I always buy canned light tuna.  Were you aware of this issue?

At any rate, have a wonderful Christmas Day, I won't post tomorrow!  We plan to go over to my mom and sister's place this evening,  my kids will celebrate with their cousins and we will exchange gifts.  Christmas Day will be spent with M's extended family.

our fresh wreath

Sunday Sketches - Deer

Just a quick sketch based on a photo I saw on a Tumbler blog. I grabbed a nearby post-it note and used a fine point marker and some watercolour pencils when inspiration hit!  It's a busy time of year that's for sure!  Have a great Sunday.

Linking to Sunday Sketches.

Visiting world sites remotely

The January 2013 of  'Good Times' magazine says we can now google our way around the world.  Just google World Wonders Project to see things like the treasures of Versailles from our computers. This project developed from Google Street View.

In other news, I got a free sample of Donna Karan's 'Cashmere Mist' eau de toilette, you know the scented papers stuck inside magazines, and I quite like this fragrance!  What's your favourite fragrance?  My regular fragrance is Nina Ricci's L'air Du Temps.

Paint Party Friday - Sailboat

I just did a quick sailboat sketch today for Paint Party Friday. It's done using a fine point marker on cardstock and watercolour crayons(8.5" x 11").

Have a great weekend!

Healthy eating tips

Browsing a flyer I picked up at the supermarket concerning healthy eating, here are some ways it recommends to add flavour to foods naturally:

Savoury:
stocks, broths, herbs, vinegars, ginger, garlic, onions

Spicy:
chili, mustard, curry, cumin, cardamom, coriander,peppercorns,horseradish, wasabi

Sweet:
fruit, coconut water, applesauce

Neat tips, I thought!

And look what we found at our front door when we got home the other evening!  This is the fun part of Christmas!

Godiva Chocolates

 

Beautiful Gifts

I was a recent winner of day 8 of  Lilly's Life 12 days of giveaway:

It was 10 pairs of beautiful MARVEL earrings! It's so fun getting lovely gifts in the mail at Christmastime! Thanks again Dear Lilly!

Yesterday I was at the gym and saw the attendant with a pair of huge pliers cutting through a padlock on one of the lockers.  I had to inquire as I had never seen this being done before.  The poor lady had locked her locker with the keys inside!  Isn't that maddening?  I have a combination lock and hope I don't one day forget the combination.   This lady even had a lanyard necklace off of which she hangs her keys.  Yep, it was inside the locker!

Creative Tuesdays - Holiday Song

For the latest Creative Tuesdays 'Holiday Song' theme, I decided to do 'Silver Bells'.  It's the first Christmas Carol that came to mind and I've always loved that song.  It has a magical, dreamy quality to it.  This piece is acrylic on cardstock, with the silver bells outlined with a fine point marker (4.5" x 6.5").  I did the branches in gold paint.

Please visit the other participants over the next few weeks, theme deadline is January 1st!

Brown Sugar Cookies

I made these brown sugar cookies based on a Crisco recipe that Dkzody spoke about in a recent blog post. She asked Crisco for permission to publish the recipe and they said 'no'. So you can just search for the recipe yourself and we can all avoid copyright infringement!

They were absolutely delicious and disappeared very quickly, besides being a simple, easy recipe!

A good friend and her husband dropped by with some of her own homemade cookies on the weekend,  quite an assortment, they are all good!   We had a nice chat about the passage of life, as we've known each other for about 30 years!

Sunday Sketches - Diamond Earrings

Welcome to Sunday Sketches!  I've done some diamond solitaire earrings today, inspired by all the jewellery being displayed in the newspaper ads at this time of year.  I've outlined the drawing with a fine point marker and completed it with pencil shadings.  It's (6.5" x 4.5") on cardstock.

Please visit the other talented participants!

Neat Seasonal Idea

Ikea Margarita Fabric

I took K to the dentist yesterday I was browsing the Dec 2012 issue of Chatelaine magazine I believe it was. I saw this cute idea for people who might be short of space. It recommended stretching this Ikea Margarita fabric with its Christmas tree pattern over a canvas and then decorating it with lights and ornaments! Why not?

The weather was a 'balmy' 6C, and I went for a walk with a friend in the afternoon.  Upon my return I read about the terrible Connecticut shooting rampage.  I pray for the families involved, it is hard to understand such tragedy.

Paint Party Friday - Diamond Solitaire

Welcome to Paint Party Friday! I've done a diamond solitaire engagement ring today. I've outlined it with a fine point marker and finished it with pencil shadings. It's (6.5" x 4.5") on cardstock. I'm influenced by all the newspaper jewellery ads at this time of year. I also love this style of ring!  What's your favourite?

Please visit some of the other talented participants!

Apple Pear Upside Down Cake

M, K and I finally went to see the new Skyfall James Bond movie.  M thought the movie didn't have as much action or gadgets as it usually does.  I thought it had lots of stunts and action but I went to see what all the fuss was about.  Daniel Craig does a good job as Bond and I liked the new theme song by Adele.

I was inspired to make this cake on the weekend as I browsed through the current edition of Healthy Living Magazine. The Apple pear upside down cake is on page 46 of the current edition, I think.  My version is actually just with apples as I didn't have any pears on hand.  It also called for buttermilk, but I used plain yogurt as that is all I had.   I also used almonds instead of pecans.  It turned out to be quite delicious!  If you like the magazine, you can sign up for a free online subscription.  It has all kinds of interesting health information.

On gift giving

Seasonal Sightings

I've starting delivering a few gifts. I dropped off some nice chocolates to the management and staff of my favourite McDonald's this year. My favourite attendant was there to receive it. I got a big smile and thank you from them all. It was totally worth it! That same day, I took a container of similar chocolates to my mom's pharmacist and also received a big appreciative smile and thank you. They had a bunch of interesting health flyers for the taking, information on the glycemic index and general healthy eating. I've never been sure if potatoes and corn belong in the grain or the vegetable category. So according to these flyers, they are considered grains, more's the pity!  That must mean popcorn is also in the grain category.  I was hoping it counted as a vegetable, lol.

We've been enjoying this box of 'Ferrero Collection' by Ferrero Rocher. It was a gift from a girlfriend. It contains dark chocolate, regular chocolate and their coconut flavour. Well, they are all fine flavours, including this new coconut one!

But to get back to the gift giving, I must say it's so much more fun to give than to receive sometimes, it does wonders for the self-esteem!

Creative Tuesdays - Mittens

Welcome to Creative Tuesdays' Mittens theme! This one is acrylic on cardstock (11" x 8.5"). If you look closely, you will see the mittens hanging off the tree, a seasonal contribution, if you will!  I actually took a photo of such a scene, except the tree was filled with birds that day.  I had the idea to replace them with warm mittens.

Please drop by the other participants to see their 'mittens' interpretations!

Food Find

I bought these Brome Lake duck sausages from Costco. It's a sundried tomato and garlic flavour that I sampled there. I baked it from frozen at 350 F for about 20 minutes after pricking them with a fork. They are delicious!

In other news, K got a small Christmas bonus from his part time job this past weekend!  It's nice when a company can do these little things for the workers.  The envelope had a nice little Christmas sticker on it and they were surprised at getting 2 envelopes instead of one paycheque!

Sunday Sketches - Liqueur

For Sunday Sketches, I drew a bottle of this popular liqueur.  I saw it at the back of  the liquor store magazine and gave it a festive touch!  Actually the festive dots came about when I accidentally splotched some of the gold paint on the background.  I just decided to add more dots!  It's acrylic on cardstock (4.5" x 6.5").

Please visit the other talented participants.

Extreme Pita

There is a new franchise at our mall eatery called 'Extreme Pita'.  We love it there.   We've tried the falafel and the chicken shawarma.  They are served with the freshest vegetables and sauces such as tzaziki and hummus and a light tasting pita bread.  It's undeniably healthy fare compared to Kentucky Fried Chicken and Taco Bell (which we also love!)  Pictured above are some of their yummy fruit smoothies, one is mango based and the other is strawberry banana.

Paint Party Friday - Tequila

For Paint Party Friday, I drew this bottle of Tequila I saw in the liquor store magazine. Apparently this brand is quite expensive! I'm not a drinker so I wouldn't know! I liked the shape of the bottle and I love the way the cork turned out!  It's acrylic on cardstock (4.5" x 6.5").

Please visit some of the other talented participants.

A Big Hit

I finally got around to making the Dark and Delicious Chocolate Velvet cake from the 2013 Milk Calendar. It was a big hit with us all. It's nutritious and contains one large beet and uses cocoa powder, all good stuff.  The recipe makes 8 servings at 281 calories per serving.  It's cake after all.  My picture is half a serving.

I've been learning that low fat food products are not necessarily better for you.  A lot of these products replace fat with sugar, for example in light peanut butter.  So you are better off buying real peanut butter and eating a couple of tablespoons of it.  It will make you feel more satisfied.  Did you know that? 

A fun morning

Lion Dance

My friend S and I attended the official grand opening of a local bank branch on the weekend. We were looking forward to all the freebies to be honest, being frugal people! So we entered a draw, drank coffee, got free reusable bags and little piggy banks. Then we had roast beef sliders, and some lovely cake at the end topped with berries. Oh, we met the local politicians who had been invited to make speeches and participate in the ribbon cutting. They also had a professional lion dance, as the area has a large Chinese community. We also had hot chocolate from a truck specially parked outside.

We discussed the sports arena and cultural centre that is currently under debate with the local councillor. He is against it, as we are, largely because it makes no financial sense. The mayor is in favour of it.  M sees an advantage for hockey players. We also discussed the looming teacher's strike which we don't support. It's sounding a bit like the NHL Hockey lockout. 

Anyway, it was a fun morning for S and me, did I mention we were stuffed?

Ikea Food Products

We were at Ikea recently and I was browsing through some of their food products. I came across these jars of orange and elderberry marmalade, and gooseberry preserves. Maybe I will try them sometime. They also had this Christmas Drink which I've never tried.

FreeStyle Fountain

Have you seen one of these Coco-cola Freestyle Fountains? I saw one recently. If you are a soda fan, it seems like a neat innovation.  You can mix your own flavours of Coke using touch screen technology, with a choice of 100 combinations.

I went to church yesterday on a rainy Sunday morning. I had to drive over as it was too wet to really walk comfortably. I entered the church and it sounded like they had piped Christmas-sounding music reverberating through the halls, it was really cheerful and joyous, something new, I thought. When the mass started, a Filipino priest visiting from Jamaica gave a moving sermon. It seems he is newly ordained, 3 weeks. Towards the end of mass that joyous singing started up again. Then I realized it wasn't a recording, it was an ebony-skinned young man (from Jamaica) singing effortlessly beside the choir. His lovely voice reverberated high into the ceiling, without being loud. The congregation applauded after the song. I'm saying, he could win X-factor no problem. I didn't recognize the beautiful song. The candle was lit for the first week of Advent. What a treat we had that day!

I happened to be sitting nearby a woman and her son. Her daughter had attended pre-school with my daughter L, so we were able to quickly catch up on what the girls were doing before mass started. The son is now 11 years old, how quickly time flies. Then later on, I turned to shake 'the hands of peace', another couple I knew happened to be sitting behind me. I was able to share with them my amazement at the talented singer!

My friend S was supposed to meet me for a walk afterward, but we cancelled due to the rain.

Sunday Sketches - Birds

Welcome to Sunday Sketches! This is an acrylic on cardstock (6.5" x 4.5"). It's inspired by a photo I took of some birds twittering in the trees, except that they weren't red.

Please visit the other talented participants!

Shazam

It's December!

So  yesterday K and I were driving the the car, and we hear this song playing on the radio.  We wondered who it was and he whipped out his ever present Iphone.  He used an app called Shazam that told him in seconds the name of the song and the singer!  It 'listened' to a few notes of the tune on the radio and 'shazam'!  There it was.  Yes, we are living in a different world these days.

M, K and I were out shopping at a packed mall last weekend, looking for a special gift.  Isn't it funny how you always find stuff for yourself while out Christmas shopping?

I took these photos of the Chrismas decorations at that mall for you. Santa was there taking photos with people.

Xmas Deco

Santa's Chair