resolutions

10 days into 2010 and I still haven't got it together. The holidays put me into a relaxed frame of mind, and I wish, in every way, that I could stay there. Like my job very much, but liked being in Brandon with nothing but unstructured down time better. (No kidding.)

So... in order to bump myself back into real life, I've set some goals... made some resolutions... all of which require sticking to a schedule and organizing my time. Not necessarily fun, but still good.

Turning 40 this year, so have upped the ante on my resolutions. Two are big, new goals. Three are old resolutions that kinda didn't really happen last year. :]

1. Be a better blogger.

2. Get back on the budget bandwagon. Shredded all the receipts that I collected last year. No point in feeling guilty about what I didn't do. Haven't started this year's budget, but totally determined to start and actually keep it up.

3. Apply for grad school. Called the U of M Sociology department on Friday to get a registration package. Contacted my former prof for a letter of recommendation. Off to a good start!

4. Actually do the Master Gardener program through U of Sask. I applied last winter and received all the correspondence stuff, but have never gotten around to it. Want to finish before I start a Masters.

5. Run the half marathon at the Run to the Hills marathon in Treherne in September. Started training in October. Getting back to serious training this week. I'm up to 10k, so definitely on track and feeling good about it, despite the funk.

That's it. (?!?) What are your resolutions?

yet another reason why not having summer is great!

Three words... Fried. Green. Tomatoes.

Have had one ripe tomato this summer, but none of the rest of 'em are even blushing thanks to the lack of heat and sunlight. So may as well take advantage of what's currently available... i.e. many green tomatoes.

Recipe I made was okay. But Karen has provided a better one:

Slice tomato about 1/2 inch thick. Dip in buttermilk, dip in beaten egg, coat with a mix of flour, cornmeal, salt and cayenne. Fry on medium heat for 4ish minutes a side. Enjoy!

And then make pancakes with the leftover buttermilk. Yum.

Marvin, R.I.P.

Since I haven't made my blog public, anyone reading this should be someone who knows me. And if you know me, then you are probably well aware that I'm a super huge suck. If you haven't seen that side of me, then I offer this as proof: I actually felt sorry for the old lamp.

And so, it is with a heavy heart, that I announce the passing of my toaster, Marvin.

Marvin's death has been long anticipated. About two years ago, he stopped properly toasting one side, so the bread needed to be flipped half way through the process. And then about six months ago, he would only work if he was plugged into the top socket. And then the plug had to be in the "right way." And finally, his cord started heating up alarmingly. Death was imminent. Fortunately, he died peacefully on the counter before O. had a chance to insist he be put down.

Part of why his death is so sad is because, like Philippe, he had a name. (Something I must stop doing with my appliances!) But mainly, like Philippe, it is because Marvin came into my life at a difficult time and is associated with someone I adore. In Marvin's case, I was just getting back on track post break-up, I was buying my first house and making a big financial investment even though my money situation was precarious, and I was super stressed out with school, jobs and finding roommates. And then Robert gave me Marvin. This toaster was on Rob's counter the first time I met him, and meaning this in the best way, it gave me a lot of insight into his personality. Rob knew that I loved Marvin, that I thought this was the funniest damn toaster ever. And I knew that Rob felt the same way. So it meant a lot that this was my housewarming gift (along with a bunch of tools, because Rob knew that Bruce would have taken all the good ones.)

For now, Marvin sits in our basement, but I have plans for him. Once I find the appropriate plant, he will join Philippe on the top of our fridge, where he can continue to make me smile every morning.

one more reason why not having summer is great!

Veggie pot pie, anyone? Definitely not too hot to have the oven at 400 for 30 minutes.

But pie aside, I'm super grouchy about the weather. I can see that being a snowbird is in my future.

so desperate for spring...

The weather is still shitty (sorry 'bout the language Ma). Yesterday was almost the coldest June 5th on record. We missed it by .7 degrees. (dang?). But just so this doesn't turn into another post where I bitch about the weather, I've been trying to think about all the things that are great about being permanently stuck in late fall.

1. I look great in turtlenecks.
2. I'm getting to wear my favorite fall coat for much more of the year than usual.
3. I don't get too hot and sweaty when I'm working out in the yard.
4. Omar looks super cute wearing a toque and mitts in the house (we are not turning the furnace back on!).
5. The cats are more keen to cuddle.
6. Cold and rainy is the perfect weather for sitting in front of the tv watching British costume dramas.
7. I'm inspired to make curried parsnip soup.
8. At least it's not snowing (right, Calgary?)
9. I don't really need to shave my legs or think about how truly white they are.
10. And finally, I'm having a great time knitting warm, wooly socks.

See? Not bitching.

T - two words of advice for your upcoming trip from California to Manitoba: Bring. Sweaters.

fence post

May 2008

May 2009

Big, huge, gigantic thanks to:

1. Adam, for busting his scrawny ass for two very full days
2. Ayva, for giving up her daddy for two days, and for making us "sushi"
3. Robert, for loaning us his truck and his big toy (bang! bang!)
4. Marilee, for bringing us lunch and my favorite yoghurt
5. Sheila, er, I mean Santa, for stuffing our stockings with work gloves
6. Lexi, kinda, because she had a hard weekend being left out of all the action (though she made some action of her own... flip flop killer... grrr...)


Now I just need to get rid of some of the excess soil in the back yard and finish making my veggie beds. More pics to come!

so done with winter...

Went for a lovely walk this evening in the fresh fallen snow. Admired the Christmas lights, breathed deeply of the scent of wood burning in a fireplace somewhere. *sigh*

(My neighbor's house, picture taken an hour ago)

Except that it's flippin' April 1st today, and I'm so sick of winter that I could cry. Or scream. Or spit. All of which would be equally ineffective and useless. Much more practical to go and shovel the snow away from the foundation so we don't have water in the basement. Did I say *sigh* yet?!?

Happy Spring, Everyone!

R.I.P. Lux Interior

I shed a little tear in my kitchen last week, listening to a radio tribute to Lux Interior, frontman of the Cramps, who died at the tender age of 62. Hmm. Weird. Just realized that I spent my teenage years rockin' out to someone my mom's age. But I digress... Back in about '84, Karen and I were at A&A Records and Tapes in the Gallery, flipping through the bargain bin when we saw this:

Needless to say, we had to have it. And coincidentally, she had a buck, and I had a buck and the record cost two dollars. We agreed to split it, and it did make it's way back and forth between our bedrooms, though I think it spent more time in mine. That Karen's room was across the hall from her parent's and mine was on the other side of the house one floor down, might have had something to do with it. Somehow, I ended up with it, and still treasure it as a memento of our well-spent youth. The Cramps were a turning point for us. That record kicked open the door to all the non-top 40, KX96 music that was to follow. Some of which has aged better than others. Relatively speaking.

Another funny Cramps story... A couple of years ago, my dad was visiting me on 10th Street. While I was at work, he was rifling through my tapes (presumably that's all). When I got home, A Date With Elvis was in the deck. "What's this doing out?" I asked. "It's not what I thought it was," he replied. No, indeed-y.

spring is just around the corner (in 10 weeks or so...)

Despite being totally annoyed with Canada Post at the moment (oh ya, ask me about how they a) didn't deliver the package I sent to NY, and then b) are charging me to get it back now that it has been returned to Canada... grrr), I did get THIS in the mail yesterday:

If it doesn't look like much, please recall that my garden is kinda tiny. And even if none of them ever get planted (which I assure you, they will), these seeds are making me feel much better today. Have been very low and cabin fever-y due to the freakin' cold weather we've had this winter. 

holiday pics

CHRISTMAS....

REALLY...

SUCKED!!!

Okay, not really. Will post good pictures soon, but in the meantime, there are some here and here, courtesy of Ayva Jo.

tragedy!

I have been drinking out of my favourite mug from Phillipe's (Home of the French Dip) since I went there with Tracy, David and assorted other friends 9 years ago when we were all in L.A. to celebrate Tracy and David getting hitched. I love this mug. It is the perfect size and weight. Coffee doesn't go cold in it. I'm more awake after drinking from it. I feel nostalgic holding it in my hands... both for the time I spent in L.A. and for a time I never belonged to.

But this morning, when I took my little friend out of the sink to wash it, I discovered a fatal crack. Tears welled in my eyes. "Noooooooooo!" I cried. 

I see this as a bad omen, an ill start to the New Year. Or perhaps an ill end to the last year. I was going to post about the holidays and how lovely things were, but my day has been ruined. You'll have to wait until I recover emotionally from my loss. Maybe check back on the weekend.

bah! humbug!

I have been feeling very un-Christmas-y this year. My sister and I had a conversation about it, and came to the conclusion that our combined 21 years in retail was the cause. For me, it was 10 years of the same damn songs played every 2 hours for 6 weeks, and the exhaustion caused by unending lines of rude people.

But yesterday the holiday spirit kinda kicked in, and this morning after many cups of coffee, it full on kicked in.

Was reading my dear friend Tracy's blog last night, and had she posted a picture that made me laugh and laugh. It made me laugh at the time it was taken, and 9 years on (!) it hasn't gotten any less funny. It did make me miss her though, and wish that I could go back to 1999 again and spend Christmas with Tracy and her dad.

And then this morning, I did some baking. Made spiced almonds and double chocolate biscotti for my friends Robert and Kari, in exchange for Kari's old treadmill. Maybe not a fair trade, but not one I'm going to argue with either.

So, in the spirit of the season, here are the recipes for the treats I made. Both very easy and both totally delicious!

Lohz (Spiced Almonds)

The almonds are adaptable to every taste. I'll give the general instructions, and then some spice suggestions:

• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 1/2 cups of whole blanched almonds
• generous 1 cup of light brown sugar (though I prefer a scant 2/3 cup dark brown sugar)
• salt to taste
• spices

Heat the oil over med-high heat. Add the almonds and 3/4 of the sugar. Toss together and stir until the sugar is caramelized and the nuts are coated. (You have about 12 seconds when everything is perfect, then the oil comes out of the nuts and the sugar crystalizes again... but don't worry if this happens, everything still more or less sticks together.)

Remove the nuts from the heat, and toss in the spices. Spread the nuts on a cookie sheet to cool and dry. They can be served slightly warm, or stored for several weeks in an airtight container.

I use about 3 tsp of spices. Today I used cinnamon, allspice, ginger, cardamom, white pepper and cayenne. You could also try cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves; cumin, cayenne and cinnamon; cinnamon, ginger, allspice and coriander; cumin and crushed chili... the possibilities are pretty much endless.

Double Chocolate Biscotti

This was my first attempt at baking this dry cookie. They aren't the prettiest, but man are they good thanks to a brilliant last second decision to add a Green & Blacks orange spice chocolate bar, rather than bakers chocolate. This obviously opens up the flavour possibilities greatly. Going to try an espresso chocolate bar next time!

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (I left these out)
• 3 oz dark chocolate chopped (this is where I used the chocolate bar)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped crystalized ginger (also left out because I didn't have any)

Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk the dry ingredient, except the sugar, together. In a separate bowl, combine the egg and sugar. Beat until light and fluffy. Add vanilla. With a mixer on low, beat in the rest of the ingredients until combined. (I found that my mixer couldn't handle the dough as it is very stiff. A food processor would probably work better). 

With moistened hands, shape the dough into 2 logs (9" x 2 1/2"). Place them on the parchment paper and bake for 20 minutes. Remove them from the oven and let cool on the pan for 10 minutes.

Reduce heat to 325. Using a serrated knife, cut each log into 16 slices (1/2" each, with the ends cut off). Bake for 20 minutes, turning them over half way through. Cool and store.

Our pup, Lexi

love my neighbourhood

The people here are just so.... neighbourly. First, we went to a free vermicomposting workshop sponsored by the Spence Neighbourhood Association, and came home with a recycled bin and a load of worms. Then, the awesomely crazy lady across the street organized a block tree banding group. So we all banded together (oh, haha!). And finally today, a guy out shoveling his walk thanked me for picking up after my dog. I mean, how pleasant! How friendly! Love where I live.

A few pics from the tree banding...

post for tracy

Meant to get these up sooner, but forgot until last night when I was shoveling the walk and heard geese flying overhead. I guess it is technically still sort of fall...

Progress!!!

After a summer of waiting, waiting, waiting.... finally, and just in time for winter, work is being done on the house.

1. The back yard has been dug out (ya.... just in time for winter)


2. The doors... one in, one to go. If anyone knows a good, cheap contractor in Winnipeg (other than the most amazing Robert, who is actually booked until January and is just doing us a huge favour), then send them my way.


3. The windows. Fiberglass. Five of 'em, including the brute in the living room.


Cats have spent far too much time locked in either the bathroom or the kitchen window. Rufus is getting pretty tired of it, but Cleo's a trooper, as usual.


So, we'll be safe (ask me how easy it was to break into the house when I locked myself out earlier this week!), toasty warm and broke this winter. Which means I'll be amusing myself by dreaming of my garden to be, rather than jetting to exotic locales.

What I'm doing on my summer vacation - Calaway Park

Flew to Airdrie yesterday to visit my brother, nephews and dad. After an interesting night attempting to sleep on the futon with an 8-year old who somehow managed to use my arm, stomach and shin as a pillow at various points, we were up bright and early to go to Calaway Park. After an hour and a half in a minivan and five hours in the blazing sun with two brothers being brothers, I actually managed to arrive back in Airfrie feeling semi-cheerful. Do have a headache, but that's because I require shade and lots of cool drinks in the summer, which was in short supply at the amusement park.

Boys have just left for a vacation to Victoria with their mother (boo, hiss) so we'll have a much more low key day tomorrow, and then I'm flying home Sunday. Ready to be going home. Or back to Vancouver!

What I'm doing on my summer vacation - Culture Overload!

We started our Tuesday with the most Vancouver thing possible... a walk/run on the sea wall. Followed by another amazing breakfast courtesy of Karen, then off to see Brideshead Revisited. Movie review in a nutshell... first half great, second half thin, looked gorgeous, overall far too long.

This was followed by a walk through the Ayden Gallery, a pop-surrealist/graffiti/urban art gallery, where I became smitten with a painting called "Red Cap." Karen and the owner bartered, so we're heading back there today to pick it up for a good price, and no tax if I pay cash.

Then a walk to Cafe Artigiano for the most amazing coffe in the world. The Spanish Latte... espresso, steamed milk and condensed milk. I got the largest cup possible and savoured it.

And finally, to the Vancouver Art Gallery, for donation night (aka cheap night), where we took in some amazing art, became completely overwhelmed by the Anime exhibit, and saw a live mouse in the gift shop.

Evening was another round of tapas and Little Britain.

Today... having dinner with my old friend Andrea, and getting ready to fly to Calgary tomorrow.

What I'm doing on my summer vacation - Ladies, doing lady things

Monday, we went to Jericho Beach with two of Karen's friends to see the bunnies and pick blackberries. We were all appropriately dressed, had we been living in Victorian England. High heels, chiffon dresses and silk shirts, it turns out, are not the best for rambling through brambles.




Late afternoon included cupcakes and tea at Karen's condo, just the three of us. Though Monty had neither cupcakes nor tea. Poor puss.






Evening was spent watching Little Britain, drinking lovely white wine, and eating a gorgeous spread of olives, dates, cheeses, pickled beans, tomato and crackers. Basically, this trip is all about the food!

What I'm doing on my summer vacation - VIA to Vancouver

Left Friday evening, two hours late. The usual Via schedule. Flew across Manitoba, through Saskatchewan overnight.



Alberta Saturday morning (yes, that is a gorgeous lake, boats, cottages, swimmers... and a massive coal burning power plant on the opposite shore).



Into British Columbia early Saturday evening.



And arrived at Karen's for a good breakfast late Sunday morning. Fresh tomato and avacado on toast. Rich, dark coffee. OJ. Completely revived.