chocolate gingerbread bars and fish cakes

I made these Chocolate Gingerbread Bars on the weekend. Thumbs up!
And last night for supper I whipped up some fantastic fish cakes. I didn't use a recipe, and they were amazing. I have no idea of amounts for the ingredients, but they're made using mashed potatoes, cooked haddock, lots of dill, a couple of eggs, salt, pepper, a splash of tabasco, and pan fried in olive oil. I combined relish and mayo for a homemade tartar sauce, too. If I'd made the mayo myself, it would be hardcore homemade, but I didn't have time. They were served with roasted broccoli, made like this. Also absolutely delicious.

What did you eat this week that was delicious?

getting in the spirit

This is our Christmas tree, minimally adorned, and quite lovely, I think. It reminds me of Pia and all of her beautiful winter whites. The really strange thing about it is that it's on our dining room table. Um, and in a juice pitcher (which is now covered with a scarf). I am so elegant.
I had a few moment's peace yesterday afternoon after work. I sat down with this month's Country Living, The Herb Companion, and Love in the Time of Cholera (just in case I managed to finish the other two, which I did not.) And, of course, a cup of Egyptian Licorice tea.
I bought a return address stamp from Sweet Papery not too long ago, and card inspiration struck yesterday, so I wrote some Christmas cards. How cute is that stamp? It even has the shape of our house. Most of them have this image enclosed:
If you receive one, you can act surprised and as though you've never seen it before.
I've been whipping up all sorts of things as of late. Above are some custom bath bombs, and below is a fantastic olive oil lotion I concocted the other day for my mother-in-law. I can't say enough good things about it. It turned out exactly as I hoped. You can read more details about it and get the recipe here. As you probably know, I choose to avoid unnecessary and scary ingredients in beauty products, and by making this in small batches I can skip the preservatives. Nice. That's also the reason why I won't be selling it - I would need to be able to control any nasties which might decide to take up residence. I'm eager to see how it holds up.

*sniff* *blowing of nose* *sniff*

I still don't know if we're going to get a 'real' tree this year. This may turn into our tree. It's a few branches from our Quince, strung with a sweet beaded garland. I had a beautiful, simple, modern picture in my head, but now that it's together, it looks a bit too much like cobwebs on the branches. I think the addition of a few ornaments might be called for. More pictures to come.
A better picture of the tealight thing I posted last week.
And we do have a green tree; a tiny little Norfolk Pine. It's on the kitchen table, and when P notices it, he says "kiss-masss... tee!"

I have a cold. Ugh. The kind where my head is completely plugged and fuzzy, I'm constantly blowing my nose, and I generally feel disgusting. And it's been pouring rain all day. Not terribly festive.There. I feel better already.

I had hoped to get some Christmas cards done this weekend, and I still might this evening. I got a few batches of soap made yesterday while P was sleeping, and had a little rest this afternoon. I was perusing an amazing book for awhile, too - Birth: the surprising history of how we are born by Tina Cassidy. I enjoy history - not so much details of wars and conflicts, but how daily life and events differed from what we know today. This book is brilliantly and extremely well written, completely fascinating and objective. I must say that I've read about half the book (beginning in the middle), because I was only borrowing it from the library for one particular section. I started and couldn't stop. Now that's a high recommendation, coming from me. And speaking of birth, congratulations to J&J in New Brunswick who welcomed a new son into the world yesterday! Babies are the best.

new favourite

Some weekend reading for you - have a peek at this lovely blog and website by Jane Cumberbatch. Oh, my. I think I know how my evening will be spent. Photo from the Pure blog, here. Happy weekend!

'the real deal' tag and a freshly-planted amaryllis

And what surrounded it when I took the first picture.

1. My $2.99 Value Village leather bag, which I use for work. It has handy pencil slots and everything. It doesn't usually end up on the table, but needed to be cleaned out. And it was. It is probably my all-time #1 favourite thrifted find.
2. Photo albums. Adam was putting together some of his wedding pictures for his site, and had them out.
3. A gorgeous handmade Japanese Cherry wooden bowl, which I bought at this weekend's craft fair. It's going to be a gift, so I will say no more.
4. A new book, which has unbelievable amounts of pink in it, but some nice sewing patterns I'm hoping to try.
5. The packaging which my Christmas present to myself came in! I adore it. I love wearing a beautiful little reminder of my little guy.

Amber (who consistently cracks me up) over at Amber's Ambry tagged me, which is the reason for this post.

Here are the rules:

"Here's the low down.... take a picture the way you would normally do to post on your blog, preferably crop it to showcase the subject. Then show us the "real deal"... the nitty gritty daily clutter that we sometimes try to avoid posting. Talk about the messes you cut out in the cropped picture. We'll still love you!!! Then tag at least two people and link back to your post. OK? Sound fun? Can't wait to be invited into everyone's real life."

Consider yourself tagged! I'm terrible at choosing people. Happy Wednesday! (We remembered to put out the recycling tonight!)

a great gift set, no heat dry, and 18 months today

Are any of you local readers interested in buying a fabulous gift set for someone for Christmas? This set is in a huge, beautiful basket, and contains:
Oatmeal, Milk & Honey soap
Sweet Birch soap
Strawberry Cream soap
Peppermint Poppyseed soap
handmade pottery soap dish (blue)
Candy Cane bath salts
Cherry Almond bath salts
Bergamot Fizzing Milk Bath
Peppermint Fizzing Milk Bath
Candy Cane Sugar Scrub (4oz)
Pink Grapefruit Sugar Scrub (16 oz)

It's worth over $60, and I'm asking $40. Leave a comment if you're interested!
I bought this strange tealight thing at Frenchy's today. It's not like me to buy little candle things, but this one reminded me of elvish hats and winter tree-shapes. I'm a sucker for pottery, and I have some crafty Christmas tree-plans which may or may not come to fruition this month. This could be used undrneath one of those.

This is the newest member of our family! It's a cute little portable dishwasher. We lived without a dishwasher until today, and I must say that my outlook on life is just a little bit brighter now that I can use former dishwashing time in other, more fun, ways. Like playing Carcassone, which is what Adam and I are going to do in a few minutes. Best. Game. Ever. (Yes, Jamie. It's made in Germany. Heh heh.) Oh - it's also has the Energy Star efficiency rating, and we'll be using less water. Excellent. We bought it from a local store, as well.

I also wanted to thank all of you for the comments that you're so sweet to leave! I'm sorry I seldom get back to you individually, but I try to respond within the comments field as often as I think of it. Which isn't as often as I would like.


And lastly, but certainly not leastly, Phillip is 18 months old today! Here's he and Adam, reading a book they picked up at the library this morning. P loves it, in case you can't tell.

dance by the light of the...

As we were eating supper this evening (which was a delicious chicken and barley soup - thanks for the inspiration, K!) I looked out the window to see a lovely sliver of moon and two stars, or so I thought. So of course, I took pictures. Turns out that they're Venus and Jupiter. And this particular configuration with the moon isn't due to fall into place again for another 44 years. Assuming I'll still be around, I will be 71 years old. Some think that this may have been the configuration the wise men saw at the time of the birth of Jesus. I like to think so - it feels warm and fuzzy. Maybe we've been watching too many episodes of Battlestar Galactica and Dr Who, but I am completely amazed that so much exists in space that we know so little about. Or that I know so little about, anyway. It's very reassuring.

another happy craft fair

I seem to have trouble getting a fully-functioning camera to craft fairs with me. Last time it was the batteries; this time I forgot the memory card. So I have a very few kind-of-crummy pictures from the weekend. But I had a great time and sold lots of soap. I also met lots of people and heard lots of great feedback about my products.

And I'm pooped. I also wanted to quickly mention that my Etsy shop is closed until January - I'm taking a bit of a soaping holiday from the 'internets'. If you're local and are desperate for something, I can probably make it for you, just send me an e-mail. If you placed an order this weekend, I'm hoping to get them all made this week, and they'll be ready in a few more weeks - I'll let you know. Thanks to everyone who came out!

wish me luck!

There! Things are ready for this weekend's craft fair, and the house is a disaster! I'll post pictures at the end of the weekend (of the soap goodies, not so much of the disastrous house). Hope you have a lovely one!

quince-tastic

Adam took these pics of Phillip a few weeks ago in our yard. P was so very, very excited to carry that quince around. Unfortunately, it was the only one on our tree that turned yellow, so no jelly.

Ooh, have I got something great coming in the mail to tell you about! I ordered volume one of my very own blog book! I realized awhile ago that this is the only place where I have a coherent record of our life since 2005. So after a bit of looking, I found Blog2Print, where you can have your blog converted into a print book. It was exactly what I wanted - minimal effort, excellent-looking result. Each book has a maximum number of photos it can handle, so I could only do a book covering a few months. I chose January to June of 2007 - months of great anticipation for P's arrival. I'll have the rest of the blog converted into books gradually, since they're kind of pricey. For that particular book, it's about $50. I think it's definitely worth it.

One other tidbit for you - I found a terrific blog last night with gorgeous photos, ample amounts of craftiness, tutorials, food and other lovelies. It's A Foothill Home Companion, by Molly, and you should definitely check it out.

And Happy Thanksgiving to you Americans out there! I know more about turkeys than I will ever need to know, thanks to Martha's Sirius channel this week. (Take your turkey out when it's 160 degrees, and let it rest for at least 30 minutes, during which time the temp will rise to 165. Don't overcook it- that's the number one trouble with turkey. There are dry and wet brining techniques, and I can tell you all about them. Cornbread stuffing? Check. Gravy? Check. Pumpkin pie? Check, check, check. Actually, I learned a technique for keeping pie crust crispy this afternoon. Blind bake your crust until it's almost done. Brush with an egg wash, bake for another 5 minutes or until that's cooked on, and then add your filling. It creates a barrier that will keep your filling from making your crust soggy. Brilliant!) Enjoy your time together!

packing, packing, packing

In between packing up custom orders (one of which is pictured above) and wrapping soaps for this weekend's craft fair, (oh yes, and working, too), I've been enjoying P's company. Adam was at the Grey Cup in Montreal this weekend with his Dad and brother, and I'm happy to have him at home. (And not only to help get things ready for the weekend!) Hope you're having a splendid evening.

"two-times" & "lellow boots"

Phillip adores two things most especially: "two-times" and his "lellow boots". And if he's wearing the 'lellow boots', he's running. "Bing" is what he says when he (inevitably) trips.

pinecone wreath

I picked up this pinecone wreath on clearance after last Christmas - I think it was $8. I love it on the front door. It's so natural and inviting and seasonal. Happy Monday!

a fine find

You may remember my driftwood shelves, laden with jars of herbs and spices and other natural soap additives. I like to keep things visible, so I can see what I have, and how much. I have some things which don't have jar homes, and I can never remember exactly what is stored away, so I was happy to find some more wire-closure jars at Frenchy's last week for 75 cents each. They're cute stubby ones, too, which is just right for the small amounts of many things I have. Like cranberry seeds and strawberry seeds and crushed grape seeds, for example. Kind of like red berries, I have a thing for glass jars. And seeds, apparently.

I just have to mention that I'm having a fantastic weekend, in case you didn't get that impression from last night's post. P and I visited a bit today, did a couple of teensy errands, and cuddled and read lots. What more could I ask for?

post #800: snowy crafty afternoon (and evening)

Welcome to our house on a snowy, snowy Saturday (although it doesn't look terribly snowy in the picture taken this morning, it got much worse later in the day.) My only complaint about the snow is that it wasn't on a weekday, resulting in a snow day for me.
Did you notice the sweet wreath on the cellar doors? I think it fits perfectly, and the snow was so lovely on it. It was an ideal day to be domestic and hunker down inside, so Ingrid and Annie came over.
Ingrid wore this snazzy washed-but-wrinkly apron (which I found at Frenchy's) over her clothes for the day,
and I was snug as a bug in this soft-yet-acrylic sweater I found at Frenchy's last week. (Note which shouldn't need to be written: the jeans, belt, and t-shirt are also from Frenchy's.)
We looked out at the weather as we chatted and had tea,
read, of course,
while there was also knitting and the baking of scones. I did manage to clean out my recipe binders while Phillip was sleeping, which was very satisfying.
Ingrid brought apple pie,

and I made this garlic dip. I used roasted garlic, because I thought the flavour would be milder. It was, but it was too mild. Next time I'll definitely use fresh. I used the leftover dip mixed with frozen chopped spinach on butter puff pastry to make little appetizers, but due to poor timing, they were post-meal appetizers, if such a thing is possible. The meal was delicious butter chicken and rice, courtesy of Annie. Y-U-M. After clean up, bathing P and putting him to bed, we made some Peppermint Poppyseed soap! Could you possibly fit more fun into one day? A day with organizing recipe binders and making cute appetizers? I think not. Hope you're having a lovely weekend, too.

all dolled up

How do you like the changes over here at my little blog? I had some fun changing things up and making it a little bit warmer and cozier. Hope you like it!

Pictured above are some shampoo bars; part of a custom Christmas order. They're Eucalyptus Lime, and I think they're quite lovely. I've been getting together lots of custom Christmas orders lately; if there's something you'd like to speak for before the craft fair on the 29th and 30th, let me know and I can set things aside for you. The shop was getting very bare, so I beefed it up with a few new listings for the last week and a half of November, before I go on a soaping hiatus for December. If you're local, don't forget that you can always buy soap directly from me and skip the shipping.

We have company this week, so things are a little busier than the usual routine, but good fun. Happy Wednesday!

798

Don't enjoy about November: it gets dark so very early.
Do enjoy about November: on a long drive home, watching the sky change from day to night.

scones

I've tried making scones once before. They tasted like cardboard. These ones, on the other hand...
are amazing. I didn't have as many dried cranberries as were called for on hand, so I threw in some raisins with the ones I did have. And I didn't use any of my usual hippy-dippy whole wheat flour, so they're light and fluffy and perfect. Yum.
And I had a helper in the kitchen. P stood on a stepstool at the kitchen sink for one hour this morning, as I washed dishes, made scones, and cleaned up. He had a pot and some utensils, a bit of sudsy water, and was a very happy camper. What a great boy!

The Mother-in-Law Scones

3 c. flour
½ c. sugar
2 ½ t. baking powder
½ t. baking soda
¾ t. salt
¾ c. cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 c. buttermilk
1 c. berries, raisins, nuts, etc.

Mix dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Cut in the cold butter until the butter is the size of small peas (or, rub butter in with fingertips, but work quickly so as to not warm up the butter). Add the berries (or whatever you are using) and mix well. Add buttermilk and mix just until blended. Work dough into ball and knead 10-25 times (this is what the recipe says, what can I say?). Pat dough into two circles about 2 ½ inches thick. (The dough will be sticky and a bit hard to deal with. Don’t worry. Keep going.) Cut each circle of dough into 6 or 8 pie-shaped pieces. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Brush with buttermilk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Serve warm. (These can also be frozen and heated in the oven until they are crusty on the outside.)

The recipe is from over here, at Jora's lovely blog.

a knack for winning, and a million links

I seem to have a knack for winning things. As you may recall, I got an early Christmas gift of a Sirius satellite radio. Which has a Martha channel. I am a confessed Martha-holic, and listen to it often as I'm driving for work. (I must admit that I do laugh often at the ridiculous things some of the hosts say - I think their sense of the grand scheme of things is rather skewed, and there's lots of time-filling repetition, unlike CBC. But I did learn how to brine a turkey today, so all is not lost.) A few weeks ago, swept up in the newness of the radio, I called in to tell the hosts of the morning show how Martha I had been the previous weekend, selling my handmade from scratch soaps at the craft fair you've already heard lots about. The prize for the 'most Martha' listener was a copy of her new cookbook, "Martha Stewart's Cooking School". I think it may even be signed. I was on my way to see a student and missed the end of the show, and having heard nothing for a few weeks, assumed that another listener had won. Here's the best part, and I'm not making this up: this afternoon, on my hour long drive to see a student, I was thinking of the list of things I want to do this weekend and how on Monday morning it would make a great contending list for being the most Martha. Then my cell phone rang, and it was a producer, calling to let me know that I'd won! I may have scared her with my enthusiasm. I can't wait to receive the book!

Here are the other nifty material things of the week:
1) We sometimes use disposables on P. Adam opened a package a month or so ago, and there were very sharp melted plastic bits on some of the diapers, rendering them dangerous and useless. I promptly packed them up with a letter to Huggies and received coupons for $66 worth of diapers. Nice.
2) My replacement Kitchen Aid mixer arrived.
3)
I have been looking for decent toilet locks for months. I found these ones at Canadian Tire the other day, and so far, so good! They were about $9 each, which is a little steep, but much better than replacing a flushed phone or ring. They're held on by suction cups, and the lever which keeps the seat down pushes to the side when the toilet is in use, and clicks back into place afterward. They're made by Safety 1st, and if you have a curious babe, I think they're a good investment. Much better than some others we tried. A bit tricky for guests to figure out, though.

Okay. I'm stepping away from the computer to sit still and read a magazine. Christmas crafting coming up tomorrow, yay! Happy weekend!

a peek into my pantry and Christmas ramblings

My current pantry may not look like this one, but I do love it. I love whipping something up, tucked away in there, away from the rest of the kitchen. It's also where my Kitchen Aid resides once more - my replacement mixer arrived earlier this week. It sounds entirely different from the first one I had, which is probably a good thing. As is the case through the rest of the house, in my pantry glass jars abound. See that barley on the right? It's been there for way too long. Do any of you have recipe suggestions for barley which don't involve mushrooms? Adam can't eat them, and it seems as though barley is usually paired with those fun fungi. Let me know - I'd love to see your recipes.

And this little Martha-fied stack has been getting me in a festive kind of mood. I'm very excited that on Saturday, Annie and Ingrid are coming over for some Christmas crafting. I haven't decided what I'll be working on, but it won't be soap! I can't wait. I know that the whole Christmas thing isn't for everyone, but I am one of those people who love it. The planning, gifts, and food, of course. But especially the music. I'm very sheepish about my all-time favourite Christmas album, since it seems to be so out of character for me but I'll tell you - it's Mariah Carey's Christmas album. I know. In high school, a great friend (Hi, AC!) and I made incredible gingerbread creations each year for the annual school-wide contest, and I remember listening to it with her in her kitchen while we made a model of our school from scratch. I've loved it ever since. Listen carefully, and you just might hear me singing away in the car. Happy Thursday!