Giving Thanks – Part II & Buon Anno!

Tags

2014, awards, thank you

As the year is quickly coming to a close, there is one more thing I really need to do. I wish to give thanks to all of you for the support you’ve given me this past year. And I particularly want to thank those of you have taken the time in honouring me with awards in 2013.

With every award that was bestowed upon me, I was always grateful and appreciative. So much so that I always wanted to pay that person back in my own special way. I could have just stuck to the awards tradition and followed the rules. You know, answer the questions, nominate other bloggers. But I don’t like to follow rules. Just look at the way I write. Starting sentences with “and”. Or “but”. Or even “or” for that matter. That must be the biggest rule-breaker in the English language. What I meant to do was make that person feel special by cooking up one of their fabulous recipes and showing you all how wonderful they are.  And I did recreate some of their recipes. Some of which I documented with photos, and some of which I did not.

Such as this finnish strawberry pancake from Seana over at Cottage Grove House.

Or her absolutely fabulous fresh corn soup.

And if you haven’t tried Fae’s cabbage rice, over at Fae’s Twist and Tango, you don’t know what you’re missing!

Oh, and how about Shanna’s Curls and Carrots spiced whole-grain pumpkin bread, to which I added chocolate chunks!

And I did mean to get their yumminess on this blog. But time ran out. Or rather, time is running out. I remember years back overhearing a young woman saying the oddest thing. It was New Year’s eve and her hair was all done up. She said that every New Year’s eve since she was a little girl, her mom would tell her that she needed to start off the New Year with her hair looking fabulous. This way, she would be starting the New Year looking fab and would continue to do so throughout the year. As strange as that comment may have sounded, it stuck with me. I actually believed that if I ended the year with my home one big, disorganized mess, that is exactly what I had in store for me throughout the new year. Well, I have yet to prove if this theory makes any sense as I could never get my home tidy and organized by New Year’s eve! And so I continue to live as I do.

All this to say that I do not want to start the new year with things I should have done in the past year. Perhaps this will set me on the right path for 2014, thus getting things done in a timely manner. We’ll see about that!

So, thank you so much for deeming my blog worthy of an award. It was truly an honour!

The lovely Fae over at Fae’s Twist and Tango for awarding me with numerous awards:   Shine On Award & Best Moment Award; Awesome Blog Content (ABC) Award; Versatile Blogger Award; I’m a part of the WordPress Family Award; Blog of The Year 2013 Award.

The always sweet Tasty Treats 13 for awarding me with:  The Kreativ Blogger Award; The Versatile Blogger Award; The Dragon’s Loyalty Award.

The wonderfully creative Elamb over at Food Daydreaming for awarding me with:  The Sunshine Award and Blog of the Year 2013 Award.

The ever-so-sweet and always-there-for-me Shanna over at Curls and Carrots for awarding me with 4 awards:  The Liebster Award; The WordPress Family Award; The Dragon’s Share Award; Blog of the Year: 2013.

The super-nice Dimple over at Shivaay Delights for awarding me with:  The Versatile Blogger Award.

The wonderful Seana over at Cottage Grove House for awarding me with:  The Kreative Blogger Award.

As for passing on the awards, I deem ALL OF YOU worthy of them! Truly, I do. All of your blogs that I follow are held in the highest esteem. And instead of answering some of the questions associated with these awards, I will direct you to some blogs that I quite enjoy. I hope you have a look. They might tell you a little more about who I am and what I enjoy. After all, I’m not just a foodie!

Now At Home Mom  The oh-so-sweet Ingrid has a flare for home decor and DIY crafts that leaves me quit envious!

Christopher De Voss  The ever talented Chris has that twisted sense of humour that I really quite enjoy! He’s too funny!

Ambling & Rambling  Jackie has a way of telling stories that has me, every now and then, bursting out loud with laughter late at night, while reading her blog in bed!

thebestdressup  Because everything she shows me is just fab and I absolutely LUV!

Una Mirada B  Rosa is an absolutely fabulous artist and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! I’m just waiting for the day that I am able to own some of her artwork. For my friends and family who might be reading this, if you had to choose one for me, then let it be Oro. Or El deseo de volar / The wish to fly. Or any of them really. And for you Beatrice, I would give you this, The sewing machine!

And on that note, I wish you all the very best in 2014. Happy New Year! Buon Anno! ¡Feliz año nuevo! Baci a tutti! Ciao!   xoxoxoxo

Foodie Gifts

Tags

Christmas baskets, Christmas food gifts, edible gifts, food baskets, food gifts, foodie gifts, Holiday Gift Baskets

I want to show you a glimpse of the madness that has been going on in my kitchen of late. Not including the mess. Do you know what I want for Christmas? A little elf, following me around all day, picking up after me. So every time I turn around, poof! All clean! Wouldn’t that be something?

And if I can’t have an elf, how about one of these Holiday Baskets? Filled with oh so yummy treats. I know I would love it!

Like this small basket which has: white chocolate bark with pistachios, cranberries and dried roses.

A huge gingerbread Smores. Yes, huge homemade smores filled with dark Belgian chocolate and gingerbread marshmallows! Oh baby!

Oh so yum Salted Caramel Sauce. You know, for drizzling on your ice cream. Or pound cake. Or anything really.

And Hot Chocolate on a Stick. Made with dark Belgian chocolate. Some with cinnamon. Some with hot chill pepper. Perfect for melting into a hot cup of milk.

Or would you prefer the medium basket? With all of the above plus the addition of two of my specialty jams. Bacon jams, that is! Bourbon Bacon Jam (which almost took me to Recipe to Riches), and Apple Bacon Jam with Cider.

Personally, I would choose the large basket. With everything in it plus Chorizo & Port Jam, spicy Bourbon BBQ Sauce, and some superlicious Momofuku Cookies.

Giving Thanks – Part I

Tags

birthday, go habs go, hockey, Montreal Canadians, salade nicoise

As my American neighbours to the south celebrated their Thanksgiving, I thought I would take a few moments to give thanks as well.

First, my birthday week.  Oh, who am I kidding!  I used to have a birthday week, but those days are long gone.  Now, I just have a birthday.  And a special birthday it was.  Many thanks to my friend Sue who organized a beautiful lunch in my honour.  Decorations, friends, presents and great food. A beautiful and oh, so delicious Salade Niçoise.  And no canned tuna for me. Gorgeous, pan-seared tuna steaks for my special day. With wine.  And a yummylicious chocolate-caramel cake.  Thank you Sue! And thank you Beatrice, Karen, Esther and Carmie.  It was a lovely afternoon!

Sue did have one more treat up her sleeve.  And what a treat it was!  She took me to a hockey game on the last day of November.  A perfect ending to my birthday month!  The Montreal Canadians against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Watching a hockey game with my girlfriend, 6 rows from the ice, having hot dogs and beer.  Now what could be better than that?  I’ll tell you what. Montreal beating Toronto 4-2, that’s what!  Go Habs Go!

Things I’m Loving: The Cottage & Prosecco

Tags

Eastern Townships, Lake Memphremagog, Magog, Montreal, Prosecco, summer

I love Prosecco in the summer. An Italian sparkling wine that is dry or extra dry, not at all sweet. Produced in the Veneto region of Italy. Sipping it brings me back to the many days spent in Italy, enjoying it while sitting by a lake somewhere. Or in the Italian Alps with my dear friend Chiara. Other than a short jaunt to Niagara Falls, I have been spending most of my glorious summer days at the cottage with my girls, and occasionally hubby. Situated in the Eastern Townships, on beautiful Lake Memphremagog, free of neighbours, noise and WiFi.

Enjoying the fruits of our many gardens.

Receiving gifts from the girls such as gorgeous water flowers picked from the swamp during their canoe or kayak ride.

And not so pretty gifts too.

We are surrounded by wildlife and blackberry shrubs. Loads of blackberries. We went picking some the other day. Word of advice: don’t wear shorts when picking blackberries! When I visited with my sister the other day, she asked who I had been fighting with. My reply, the blackberry shrubs!

I was excited by these black beauties and decided to bake little shortcakes and make blackberry shortcakes. When I went to the kitchen later that day to start on them, this is what I found. So I poured myself a glass of Prosecco instead and went down to the lake to enjoy the view! At my favourite time of day, I might add. Between 6:00 and 7:00’ish. Most of the boats are gone, the sun is beginning to set and I might be greeted by the occasional wildlife. That’s what I’m loving these days!