Friday Art - Zebra

 Welcome to Friday Art!  This is my Zebra ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2").

Linking to Nicole's Friday Face Off.

Linking to Gillena's Art For Fun Friday.

Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date - Squares and Blueberry Banana Bread

 Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date! The theme is 'Squares', here are my square dessert bars complete with a cup of coffee, ACEO (2 1/2" 3 1/2").

For the Dinner Date, I made Manuela's Blueberry Banana Bread.  It is a winner, moist and delicious!

Wednesday Memes

 

A wonderful time of year

 My friend S dropped off some fresh cut asparagus from her sister's farm.  I share my neighbour's chives with her.  It's a wonderful time of year.

Thoughtful Gift

 One of my sisters will miss my upcoming June birthday so we all met up for dinner recently and she gave me this birthday gift, she knows I am always outside weeding at this time of year.  

It was also great to have both of our families together and we had a good chat, it was 10 of us.

Sunday Smiles - Ancient Street Lighting

 Linking to Gillena's Sunday SmileSunday Smiles.

Enjoy your Sunday.

Italian Almond Orange Cake

I finally got around to trying this almond cake by Manuela. It required me using this old egg separator that I had and an old (new) juicer. I had requested this juicer from my wedding registry decades ago and this might be the first time or second time I've used it! It is a lovely appliance. We tend to just eat fresh fruit as opposed to juices.  I used a sugar free liquid sweetener along with almond flour for this recipe as well.  It does have the juice of one orange.  The cake bakes up in an oiled spring form pan at 350F for about 40 minutes. My cake took 50 minutes.  It tastes like a pound cake, quite nice.

old (new) juicer

 

Just out of the oven nicely browned

oops- the bottom came off when I turned the cake over

Friday Art - Galapagos Hawk

 Welcome to Friday Art!  This is a Galapagos Hawk.  It is an ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2") in watercolour pencil.

Linking to Nicole's Friday Face Off and to Gillena's Art For Fun Friday.

Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date - Vincent Van Gogh and Salmon Party Pinwheels

Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date! 

This is my piece for the 'Vincent Van Gogh' theme (3 1/2" x 3 1/2").  It is inspired by his Sunflowers.

For the Dinner Date, I made some Salmon Party Pinwheels using this recipe.

 

Wednesday Memes

 

Happy Spring Days

 I noticed this lovely planter at the local strip plaza.  The tulips are so pretty!.

Husband M was telling me how noisy the birds are in the mornings now.  Finch, blue jays, cardinals competing for who can be loudest, they perch on different sections of a backyard tree and bathe themselves in the sunlight.  It occurred to me that nature has painted them in yellow, blue and red, it must be a pretty sight.  Unfortunately I am usually asleep and missing out.  I hope you are not like me haha.

Millet Grain

 My friend Ivy at The Happy Whisk suggested I try millet grain.  So I found some at Whole Foods. Looking forward to trying it.  

Sunday Smiles - Freebies

 I got these freebies from a charity (I didn't donate though).  Pictured is a red pan scraper, a bag and a sponge.  I had never heard of pan scraper but apparently it is quite useful,  scraping out a cake pan, cutting dough, lifting bread dough and cleaning it off the counter, according to one of my sisters.

Linking to Gillena's Sunday Smiles.

Fresh Kale

 My friend S brought over some kale from her sister's farm.  It will make a good kale salad.

It is the long Victoria Day weekend, when gardening can safely start.

Friday Art - Western Painted Turtle

 Welcome to Friday Art!  This is my Western Painted Turtle ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2").  It is done in acrylic markers and watercolour pencils.

Linking to Nicole's Friday Face Off and to Gillena's Art For Fun Friday.

Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date - Balloons and Dijon Salmon

 Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date!  The theme is 'Balloons', here is my ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2").

For the Dinner Date, I made some Dijon salmon, it is so good!

2 tbs dijon mustard

1 tbs honey

1 tbs olive oil

1 tbs lemon juice

2 cloves garlic minced

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp hot sauce (optional)

1 tsp dried tarragon (or your favourite herb)

1 salmon fillet

Place a salmon fillet on a baking dish lined with parchment paper.  Rub all the ingredients on top of the salmon.

bake at 425F 15-20 mins

Wednesday Memes

 

Pot Luck Dinner

 Daughter L and her husband hosted a Mother's Day party for some of husband M's family members and to show them her new house.  So us moms were well celebrated and it was a fantastic party.  It was a pot luck dinner and I brought a fruit tray.  Pot luck dinners are a great idea and daughter L made a great menu plan.  She thought about who would make great desserts, who is good at meat dishes, who is good at vegetarian dishes and so forth.  When the food came together it was a success!  I took home some lovely rhubarb crumble as that was not as popular, but I love the slightly sour taste of rhubarb.  There were other lovely cakes, brownies and cookies to suit every taste.

Chinese Garlic Chives and Eggs

 I have made a similar dish before, I found this video and was happy with it.  It is a good way to use the chives I got from my neighbour.

I used 2 small chive bunches, soaked and chopped into small bits (about 2 cups).

5 eggs

1 tsp fish sauce (can use soy sauce instead)

1/2 tsp sesame oil

2-3 tbs canola oil

Saute chives with a pinch of salt in the canola oil.  Whisk the eggs with fish sauce and sesame oil.  Mix into the chives and stir around until cooked as pictured above.

Sunday Smiles - Solar Storm

 Earth experienced a solar storm the night of May 10th that resulted in some spectacular photos across the planet.  These photos were taken outside daughter L's in-law's cottage in Muskoka.  It was too cloudy where we were.

Happy Mother'sDay!

Linking to Gillena's Sunday Smiles.

Chinese Chives

 My neighbour brought these Chinese chives from her garden to my door last week.  It was a nice surprise.  That same day I saw a blue jay on the backyard fence.  Spring is a lovely time of year.

Friday Art - Elephant Eye

 Welcome to Friday Art!  This is my 'elephant eye' ACEO (2 12/" x 3 1/2").

Linking to Nicole's Friday Face Off and to Gillena's Art For Fun Friday.

Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date - Statues and Mince with Eggplant in Black Bean Sauce

 Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date!  The theme is 'Statues'.  Here is my ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2"), it needs no explanation!

For the Dinner Date, I made ground beef with eggplant in black bean sauce.

1 lb lean ground beef

2 large long eggplants chopped into small pieces

1" ginger sliced

3 cloves garlic minced

1 onion chopped

1 tsp sesame seeds

3 tbs canola oil

Sauce

3 tbs soy sauce

1 tsp hot sauce of your choice

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp sugar

2 tbs black bean sauce

2 tbs water

1 tsp cornstarch

2 tbs chinese cooking wine

2 green onions diced

Saute ginger, onion in oil until softened, then add garlic, sesame seeds.  Separate the ground beef and brown it in the pan.  When the meat is browned, mix in eggplant and sauce.  Simmer covered 20 minutes.  Add a cup of water after the first 10 minutes.