cousins

 Just a faint echo of spirited conversation, Italian style, is all that is left of Vince's visit. He dashed off around noon to another commitment, leaving a bit of a vacuum. Conversation flowed freely from the moment Vince stepped in the door last night… well, it did as soon as he was off the phone with another cousin as it seems he got his days mixed up and was supposed to be somewhere else as well!

We started off gathered around the kitchen island as I finished up the last of the cooking (beef stew w caramelised onion, bacon & herbs, carrots, broccoli, and of course mashed potatoes), and then lingered over supper. Vince brought tiramisu for dessert, and then finally we retired to more comfortable sofas to look at his photos.

I took myself off to bed around 10:30 (the conversation was flowing freely without my input so figured it wouldn't be too rude!) - they stayed up a few more hours. This morning we were up by 8:30, had coffee, breakfast, and more visiting. It was a lovely time - Carm is still excited and a bit wound up… while my head is slightly spinning!

Awesome!

“cousins”

“possible all clear”

trifecta of activities

 The crusty snow has given Lupa a super highway to everywhere… her little legs carry her as fast as she can run on the slippery surface, stoked to not have to struggle through long grass or deep snow. Luckily she's reasonably good at coming when called but I have been ensuring that I have a pocket full of treats when we head out to the field.

We've been zooming around the house today, getting ready for Carm's cousin Vince's visit tonight. The first time he was here (which was the last time - 2015 - shocking how many years have passed - there's that weird thing that time does sometimes…!), we went crazy cleaning as we weren't sure if he'd be disgusted by our house of pets! As it turned out, he's a dog lover :-) And I don't think our house gets really gross… Carm is a star with the Dyson!

Yesterday I went into the city to spend time with Mom & Dad… Mom and I ‘took off’ for a few hours of retail therapy,  mostly at Value Village. I had to use LOTS of restraint as I saw a few dish sets that I loved and gorgeous crystal bowls that I have no room for. Gosh I wish I had purchased that crystal bowl with a modern flair… chips would look awesome… but alas, I had Carm's voice in the back of my head!

I did score a black beaded top from Melanie Lynn that will look great with black dress pants, if we ever go anywhere again! For only $8 I couldn't pass it up. Got a furry vest too :-) And a pinkish blanket for my trailer remodel 🤪

Mom is much more fun to shop with than Carm! She asked if I wanted her to drive since we'd be stopping at the shopping mall and I'm not the greatest parker… BUT I've parked at the Civic hospital parking garage so many times now that the mall parking lot feels like a giant open field! I guess that's awesome!

Did another walk on the treadmill with Kirsten this morning - 50 minutes of full-on walking on an incline! I’d already had a good start to my day… the headphones were stuck on my head from the time I got up… and by the time my blood was rushing through my veins, it was a full-on PEF day! (peaceful easy feeling)

It really was the trifecta of mood boosting activities! Music (all my favorites), walking & talking with Kirsten, company coming! 

Sunday we had a lovely supper at Trudie & Leo's and then we rushed home to have a ‘v-drink’ with Olaf & Stephanie! 

Awesome!

“I can see clearly now the rain is gone”

“beef cubed and rubbed with garlic, herbs, and kosher salt”

“a good night's sleep”

“realizing that I feel more confident driving - yay me!”

“going for a walk with Kirsten!!!! More awesome than words!”

blathering

 Just in case you are wondering… yes, it's cloudy…

I think I've mastered the carrots with hot honey - I want to gobble them right out of the pan! Tried roasting broccoli last night as well but I can't say I'm blown over… perhaps if I had added butter and parm like the recipe suggested, but gosh! Everything can't be covered in parm or can it? I also made mushroom gnocchi and tried air frying half the mushrooms which might have given it a richer more umami flavour. The bacon might also have helped! I think it was worth the extra effort.

Back to the hot honey! Last night I had some of my bread toasted with some stilton cheese crumbled onto it and then drizzled with the hot honey. Stilon is good but with honey, on top of crunchy bread was awesome! The only thing that would have stepped it up another notch would have been walnuts in the bread - next time for sure!

My facebook feed is filled with house and rv decor… it runs the gamut from horrible to amazing and sometimes there are rooms that I'd like to emulate so I save screenshots of my favorites. Well, yesterday one of my blog memories came up and the photo was of the living space in our house - I was surprised to see that there was a resemblance to some of my favorite rooms! I guess I know what I like and it's not grey. I like bright, sunny, and cheerful! With lots of blue, white and fresh green. Sometimes with a little pop of pink 😉 And for sure lots of gold accents for a little bit of bling.

My FB feed also has a plethora of cooking and recipe posts. I've saved a few recipes to try into my recipe app. I've TRIED to pick some healthy ones but obviously failed with last weeks brussels sprouts recipe (cream, butter, parm). I did save a lentil recipe which looks healthy and delicious - I'll try it this week. (assuming I get myself over this lethargic hump otherwise it will be leftovers, things from the freezer, and takeout!)

As I try to figure out what was Awesome these past few days, I realize that I've been just going through the motions and I've not been mindful. I haven't been actively looking for all the awesome things that are everywhere. That will be my goal this week - to get back into the habit of noticing and appreciating the wonder that is around us.

When you try something new to eat and don't immediately like it, do you persevere and keep trying it or do you dismiss it as a possibility? Last week I got some protein powder to have in the morning to start my day. Well, I don't normally eat anything until lunch, and certainly nothing that can have the powder mixed into it, so I added it to my coffee. Yuck. But it was the easiest option so I kept up with it, getting better at whisking all the lumps out and now! I love it! It makes my coffee into a special treat 😀 

Awesome!

“laundry all done for the week”

“morning coffee with vanilla protein powder whisked in”

“so many birds at the feeder - we've even had some Northern Flickers this year”

hibernation

 Hibernation. I've turned into a bear - fat and full from gorging myself on sugary treats and now ready to withdraw from life for a while to hang out in bed. It's not dire yet of course, I have been extracting myself from my den under the covers to venture into the main part of the house, where ‘life’ happens. Alas, I still can't pry myself from a semi-reclining position for more than a few moments.

I'm pretty sure my lethargy is directly linked to the 2 days of freezing rain that we've had this week… more cloud and precipitation to dull the spirits. And now the snow is wrecked for any winter activities 😞 

I couldn't even pry myself out of the house to go visit Mom and Dad while Carm went to Costco yesterday. It's easy to forget that this is a normal state for January/February so I'm not worried and will just go with the flow… at least for now.

It wasn't hasn't been like that for long - earlier in the week, and last week, I ‘walked’ with Kirsten four times - from the balmy comfort of the treadmill while she braves the wicked cold and ice on the roads near her place. Twice we walked for an hour! Once 50 minutes, and another short walk of 20 minutes. Wednesday Christina came over to help me snowshoe paths in the field for the dogs - I think we were out for almost 45 minutes - a good workout!

But now I've sunk into a laziness so profound that I can barely make myself a cup of coffee! On with the show though - tonight Pat is coming for supper! I'm downing an extra bit of caffeine to get me energized (will it work? not so far!). Perhaps a bit of music will help.

A few days ago (or was it a full week ago? time is such a flexible construct) I dug out the recipe for bread that I developed 20 years ago. It's been almost that long since I last made it so had to make a few semi-educated guesses… I'd written fairly cryptic notes on recipe cards - the ingredients and proportions were different on each one! So I guessed and got on with it (making better notes this time!).

I'd read somewhere (who the heck knows where - was there even internet back then?), that half the flour could be replaced with bran or other things… so the recipe ended up having 4 ½ cups of flour with 2 ½ cups of bran, ½ cup cornmeal (I'm going to change this to chickpea flour next time), ¾ cup oatmeal, ½ cup ground flax, and ½ cup sunflower seeds. It's got olive oil, molasses, and surprisingly, 2 eggs. Next time I'll add some chopped walnuts as well. It's a dense bread, packed with protein and fibre - I can trick myself into thinking it's healthy!

(I just entered the recipe into an analyzer… only 4g protein per slice so not amazing… boo hiss!)

It's nice toasted with peanut butter, but is da bomb with the cheese puff topping I saw on FB. Crack 1 egg onto a pile of grated cheese (enough to top 4 small slices of bread), mix well, toast the bread, then put it onto a baking sheet and top with the cheese mixture. Bake in the air-fryer for about 6 minutes or until it's bubbling and brown. Yum! 

I have had to start locking Lupa into her crate when I get on the treadmill - if I slow down my pace, she's quick to hop on which would be fine, except she jumps at my legs trying to get me to pick her up - not ideal or safe! She shows no fear of it and can trot along quite well. We could work on her technique but I don't want to create a super-fit Lupa!!!! She's already full of energy and speed, the last thing she needs is to dial that up - no, I'm wrong, the last thing that I need is for her to dial up her busyness!

Awesome!

“not as much freezing rain as expected”

“the sun coming out for a few minutes while snowshoeing with Christina”

“enough leftovers that I barely had to cook all week”

“weird little circles in the snow”

bacon cream honey and parm

 The sun… the missing sun… last November and December we had 13 total days of sun, so far this Jan we've had 8 - which is a huge improvement but it also means that we've had 14 days of cloud, snow, and rain! I'm sitting in a sunspot at the moment (9:30am), but it is meant to cloud over and snow this afternoon…

Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day and it looked like the roads would be good so a quick message to Jo Ellen and Don for a late lunch and the race was on! First we had to run out to check on someone's house which took a little less than half an hour but it meant I really had to put boots to the ground… I had a pork sirloin roast with a herby dry rub to go into the instant pot (easy if the IP didn't glitch on me a few times), Carm took care of the mashed potatoes and vacuuming, and I tackled 2 new recipes: creamy parmesan & bacon brussels sprouts, and hot honey & parmesan glazed carrots. I raced around the kitchen like a mad woman trying to get this all sorted, getting cranky with Carm every time he stepped into my whirling path.

The instant pot failed on me a few times when I was sauteing the pork and then the onions, and then again part way through cooking the roast! Unfortunately I didn't notice right away so it sat for who knows how long… Luckily the roast was partially cooked, so I just stuck it back in for another 5 minutes of HP, leaving it to naturally release - cooked! The delay was not too bad and I think we were sitting down to lunch by a little past 2:30.

How did the new recipes go? Both were excellent ways to turn a healthy vegetable into a scrumptious, rich, unhealthy side. The brussels sprouts had bacon, cream, and tons of garlic: once the bacon was crisped and removed from the pan, the brussels sprouts were added with lots of butter; they cooked until they were starting to brown, then cream was added; it cooked a few minutes more, then the whole thing was topped with gruyere & parmesan cheeses and popped into the oven. Decadent!!!

The carrots weren't gilded with butter and bacon but did have a bit of parm as well as a honey glaze. The glaze was made by heating some honey, adding some of my chilli garlic crisp oil for some heat, then a bit of apple cider vinegar was added for some zip. They were good, but I didn't fully follow the recipe so I think they could have been better. The flavour somewhat disguised the weird texture of the frozen carrots.

I'll make both again! The brussels sprouts can be made ahead and popped into the oven for the final 15 minutes when the time is right - perhaps a good Thanksgiving recipe?

Speaking of carrots - there's a bit of a funny story. I was shopping in Costco with Carm and saw a giant 10lb bag of carrots. I bought them and they got stuck downstairs, some days (or was it weeks) later, I went to get some and they were starting to go weird, so I got the peeler out and did the whole lot. I diced them and stuck them in the freezer for soups. Handy to have right? 

So I had this giant bag of frozen carrots but wanted to roast some so asked Carm for a bag of fresh ones, but didn't specify that I only wanted a few 😱 So… he picked up another giant bag at Costco!!! Downstairs they went, upstairs they came, and we peeled & chopped the next 10 pounds! Carm helped this time ;-)  Note to self: frozen carrots get a weird texture that doesn't roast well!

Saturday was another hibernation day but I puttered around the kitchen getting various cooking things done… Friday I had an imaging appointment in the morning, then we left, with Carm driving due to my horrible night vision, to pick up Mom for her CT scan around 5. It was bloody cold! We got Mom to the hospital on time (a bit of hurry up and wait!), and she got her scan. She has to wait until Feb 22nd for the results… it will be a very long month, especially for her. She still can't wear the mouth appliance so she is still on a liquid diet… I think she would love to sink her teeth into something solid but that’s a ways off 😞 

What else can you do but persevere… Mom does it with grace and humour - I don't think I'd be as awesome at getting on with it as she has done.

Thursday was a snow day - Kirsten called in the afternoon so we could go for a walk together - her on a snowy road, me on the treadmill. We walked and chatted for almost an hour! She called my cell phone so I could wear my headphones - the audio quality was excellent :-)

Wednesday we met up with Kirsten in middle earth for lunch at the shwarma place (big garlicky burp)! And there's almost a week (in reverse), flown by.

Just after 10am and the sun is gone :-(  I think I'll change the ‘sun’ entry in my log to ‘snow’! I don't think that 2 hours of sun counts as a sunny day…

I've been reading mostly crap… the book I just started is about a woman who owns a chocolate shop and a billionaire (of course - millionaire is no longer enough), is opening a chocolate shop right next to her, threatening to drive her out of business… what billionaire is opening a little shop in a tiny town called Poppy Creek? But will they fall in love? Probably! 🤪

Gosh, I sat down with not much to say but I managed to say it in over 1000 words 😱 

Awesome!

“more sunshine“

“dogs sleeping in a sun spot”

“my headphones”

“walking with Kirsten”

A day at the spa

 It wasn't Lupa's day… oh, it started like a normal day: a bit of a sleep in, a trip outside in the deep snow, a bit of breakfast… but then! The grooming table, clippers, and scissors were unearthed and she was hoisted onto the table and the clippers started humming. Fur flew everywhere as she was shorn of her scruffy exterior. Her cute little face emerged from the tangle of fur and soon we were done. 

But wait! The horror wasn't over yet… into the shower with Carm… and then, a few hours later, into the car to the groomers for her nails!

All was made better by lots of snuggles with Trudie and Leo.

Awesome!

“haircut done “

winter has come

 Winter is here, or at least has visited for a few days (is it here to stay?). A giant storm was in the forecast for this past weekend and the weather guys did not disappoint, although it was maybe not as dire as predicted. We did get snow overnight on Friday and into the morning on Saturday and the wind was howling like a wild creature. The power stayed on!

To backtrack just a bit (cause that's what I do since I can't seem to get into a regular routine of fingers to keyboard…) Thursday I went into town early and met up with Kirsten at Mom & Dad's… I was catching a ride with her for an overnight visit. The plan was for 2 nights, with a third up in the air - wiith the storm brewing for Friday night into Saturday it was unclear if the roads would be cleared enough Saturday for me to go home. 

Thursday night, after a stop at Costco (new pjs!), the grocery store on the way home, and then a bit of supper, Kirsten and I binged ‘Julia’ with a seguay to the movie ‘Julie & Julia’ on Friday to compare the actors playing Julia Child. Of course no living person could hold a candle to Meryl Streep's version, but the actor in the series was good as well.  

A lap full of chihuahuas and a side of Jack Russell terrier kept me cosy!

Friday Kirsten and I made a trip to Perth to wander the cute downtown area and shop for treasures (I came home empty handed!). It was cold and damp, forcing us into each shop to warm up a bit 😉. We stopped for a scone and a coffee to further warm up after a walk through the park, and then with a stop at the pet store for dog food, drove back to her place.

More Julia, ginger carrot soup, cookies, and bourbon cherry bombs were on the menu for Friday night. The cherry bombs are my new favorite drink: the boozy part is delish, and when that's done we fill our glass with sparkling water to get the last of the cherry goodness - muddled whole cherries are the base and elevate soda water to heavenly heights!

Saturday we woke up to a winter wonderland - lots of snow had fallen and horror of horrors, it was changing to rain, so Kirsten and I got out there with shovels and rain gear! In the end, the roads were good enough to meet Carm in ‘middle earth’ for a very late lunch/blue hair special supper and then home… 

I’m not even sure if I stuck my nose out of the door on Sunday - it was cold and windy!

This morning I drove into the city to take Mom to see the dentist. Dr. Ararat is an artist with a dremel, putty and plastic, forming and adjusting Mom's obturator so that she could start wearing it again and maybe even start eating real food, or at least some semblance of food. It's a step forward in her endless journey… 

The roads were okay on the way there - on the way home there were stretches of snow covered roads where the wind blew snow across the roads. It was okay and I wasn't too freaked out! Later we went into the village to get some protein powder that was on sale. 

To be honest, I don't have the greatest eating habits these days, often going for much of the day without eating anything at all until early afternoon or maybe just some roasted mushrooms or other incomplete food. I have been making lentil soup to have for lunch which is a big improvement over the summer. I backtracked a bit and updated a food app to see my ‘macros’... definitely deficient!

I have been remiss in my prose! It's sunny today!!! All day!!!! We even got a bit of sunshine yesterday! Hurrah! The sun still exists (I was beginning to wonder!).

Awesome!

“Mom's appointment”

“spending time with Kirsten”

“no power outages!”

“snow removal guy showing up”

“a bit of 🌞 “

farewell

 Ugh… belch… gag… I just had an epic fail in the kitchen… I tried a recipe for ‘Cheddar Bay Biscuit Chicken Cobbler’ - sounds good right! I made a few changes as I didn't have a few ingredients (I only had peas not mixed with corn and carrots), I made it in a smaller dish which meant all the liquid would not fit, leaving it dry and stodgy. Instead of rotisserie chicken, I used breasts that I cooked in the instant pot. The chicken flavour was gross. I rated it a 0 out of 5. Carm didn't finish his.

We had a bit of a blizzard overnight and into today so we snuggled under some blankets and binged Ted for a few more hours. We came up for air around 3pm so that Carm could snowblow the laneway… and I could make the previously mentioned catastrophe. 

It was down to the last two episodes of ‘Ted Lasso’... would we wait for tomorrow… NOT! A few more hours, multiple tissues, and there it's done. The tracks of my tears… Brilliant. My only wish is that somehow we'd be able to go back in time and watch it again.

We are easing out of the Ted world with Hannah Waddington - she has an amazing voice and the power - wow!

Awesome!

“happy endings”

on the road

 Instead of jinxing us with my lament about the missing sun, our hopes for a sunny day on Thursday were granted, at least for a few hours. Not before a trip into the city to Costco on slightly snow-covered roads, but all was clear and dry when we headed to Olaf's for the night to help Stephanie celebrate her birthday.

Pat stayed here with the dogs and Grace which certainly made it possible for us to go and have a good time! Thanks Pat!!!

We arrived just before dusk, too late for full light, but too soon for Christmas lights (do they even put them up there?). It was funny, at around 5pm, after a glass of bubbles, I proclaimed that I had already reached the point in the night where I wanted to tell everyone that I love them… would it all be downhill from there? At that point it seemed that the evening might drag but suddenly it was 6:30 and time to meet up with Kirsten & Shawn virtually… and then BAM 9:30! Blinked again and it was midnight!

Oh, the potato skins - a 4 or maybe even 5 out of 5. The green onions that I forgot would have  knocked it out of the ball park. They were worth the extra 2 bakes and they warmed up perfectly in Olaf's airfryer. The chocolate cake however was dry and overcooked :-( I MUST get the proper sized springform pan before I make it again. The buttercream icing was okay but could have used a bit more cocoa. 

Olaf made a wicked Mac & Cheese in his airfryer… so rich and decadent! Topped with crushed doritos for a nod to the 70s when they put chips and marshmallows on everything.

Speaking of the 70s, I get the occasional post on facebook with recipes from that era 😱 OMG! They were crazy for jellied everything… like what the actual heck! I will admit to a certain fondness for tomato aspic, but that last time I made it for Thanksgiving I was still living in my apartment downtown… decades ago… we had a dozen people for dinner… and it sat in the fridge barely touched until it was an exciting chemistry experiment - how many types of mould will grow in jelly? And really, how appetizing is ‘ass pick’!

In the middle of the night (tossing and turning on a strange bed), I wondered if last year's December electricity bill was less, even though it was colder, because of the dearth of sunshine. Our house gets a lot of passive solar heat in the winter, alas, it's been cloudy for months now… As soon as we got home yesterday I extracted the 2022 and 2023 weather columns from my records and sent it to Carm for analysis. Will report results later! Midnight musings…

Surely all of my slightly insane record keeping will be useful for something!

Today the santas and angels were packed away, leaving the forest of green trees for another month or more. We've left the garlands up for now too. The tiny fairy lights are also still deployed!

Awesome!

“birthdays”

“a few hours of sunshine”

“the dogs slept until 9 this morning!”

skin in the game

 The sun hasn't shown up yet and neither has the snow… it did peek out on the first, but only for an hour or so… so many days… weeks… months… of sun deprivation. There is some sun in the forecast for later in the week so fingers crossed!

My muse hasn’t arrived yet either! Of course, nothing has happened in the last few days to summon her… day after day of mooching around the house does not inspire creative writing. Putting away serving dishes and general tidying up also do not inspire! I'm not even reading anything thought provoking.

Last night we had a quick supper at Trudie & Leo's… it's generally not a long night (we were home by 8) but that makes it easier to do spur of the moment gatherings!

Today I took a deep dive into the internet looking for comfort foods to bring for a birthday party tomorrow… I settled on potato skins which I have never made before, and as a bonus, I have a big bag of potatoes that need to be used up! I usually read through multiple recipes before I settle on one… today I passed over a few before deciding on the one that bakes the potatoes, cut in half & scoop innards, then with skin side up, brush with bacon fat and cook again for 10 minutes. Turn them right side up and bake for another 10 minutes. When it's time to serve I'll just have to assemble the bacon & cheese then pop into the oven or airfryer for a few minutes :-) 

blah blah blah! 

I need to find a hobby that doesn't involve fat and sugar… I'm wondering if I could convince myself that 2024 will be the year to get fit…

Awesome!

“early suppers”

“scads of crispy bacon lardons”

“binging Ted”

Happy New Year!

 Happy New Year everyone! 2024!

The sun is peeking through the clouds, shining directly into my eyes, but luckily I have no hangover ;-)  although I could say the same thing for a few other people! Last night we had our traditional party with the usual suspects… and a few last minute extras. 

Cathey and Jim came from the city, and even Tina and Bruce made the drive all the way out here. We had a last minute call from Olaf that they had no plans so I talked them into coming for the night. Trudie & Leo were here, along with Pat! It was a fun night with too much food, even despite the last minute guests - as usual I over catered!

We decided on an evening of nibbles around the island, rather than a sit down dinner, which worked out well as it's easy to shoehorn in extra guests at the last minute! Beef tenderloin on yorkshire puddings with a horseradish sauce, mushrooms stuffed with sun-dried tomato & feta, potato & bacon puffs, chicken wings, brie with caramelised onions, citrus roasted olives, dates stuffed with cream cheese and walnuts, cheese & crackers, cold meats, veggies & dip… chips, nuts, cookies… I think everyone was stuffed by the end of the evening! Not much makes me happier than stuffing people!

I did have a yorkshire pudding fail though :-(  Oh, it was edible but not up to normal standards… I usually make the batter in the morning (as instructed by ‘Joy of Cooking’), but I changed my mind about when to bake them so it sat in the fridge for an extra day which seems to have affected the texture.

The city people left before midnight - wanting to get off the roads before all the drunks… Trudie & Leo left after 1am and Pat around 2am, so a late night! The dogs have been asleep all day… while we sat around with Olaf & Stephanie, semi-watching the Rose Bowl Parade! (a traditional NY activity) and eating leftovers.

The rest of the week was nice with a short visit with Mom and Dad on Friday, lots of cooking on Friday, Saturday, and a bit on Sunday… we had a trip to liquidation, an outing to the grocery store, a few days of incredibly lazy days… the gammut!

Well… my muse has abandoned me today… and there's an old Godzilla movie on… Mothra! Later we'll watch more ‘Ted Lasso’! We've been binging for a few days but still have one and a half seasons to go. Any other suggestions for Apple TV shows? (non violent of course)

Have a happy 2024 - may every day be filled with good health and joy!

Awesome!

“gathering with friends”

“surprise visitors”

“the beef tenderloin turned out perfectly - low and slow for the win”

“2024”