Hi friends

It is so hard to feel the spirit of Christmas in light of the terrible tragedy that happened this past week in a school in a small town in Connecticut. My heart aches for all those families.  I know there are no words that can ease the pain that so many are suffering because of this senseless act.

Whatever else you do this Christmas, please think of the families affected, and hope that they can all find the strength to help them get through this most terrible time in their lives.

Getting ready for Christmas

Good morning all......I had to drop by to say a quick hello and give a little update on why I have been absent for so long.  Mom is still in the hospital, but doing well.  It will two weeks tomorrow since surgery day.

As you can imagine, between all the hospital visits and trying to prepare for Christmas, I have hardly had time to even check my email, but hopeully things will get back on track soon.  Our main focus at this point is for Mom to get well again.

I have been taking a few photos though on my scattered walks, so I am hoping that I'll get some quality blogs posts up soon.

Enjoy these next two weeks and the entire holiday season!!!  This is my favorite time....preparing, cooking, and gift wrapping.......with the fireplace going and Christmas music playing, while sipping great coffee or a glass of wine.

mom is doing well!!

My mom had a very successful surgery on Monday and we are so pleased with her progress and she is doing very well.

Thank goodness---now we can all start preparing for Christmas.

On that note...I entered a Christmas Giveaway at a great blog that I visit almost daily........check it out yourself here.......http://tinajoathome.blogspot.se/2012/10/christmas-giveaway-wohoo.html  --you should stop by and enter as well!!!

away for awhile

Hey there

I've been extremely low-key on the blog-front of late.  As most of you know,  my mom has really ill and I (along with my two sisters and brother) have been pretty busy handling that situation.  She was scheduled to be admitted to the hospital yesterday and and will be having surgery tomorrow(Monday), to remove a large mass from her bowel.

Hopefully everything goes well and she has a smooth recovery, then we can all get back to a normal routine before Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving !

To all my American friends out there in Blogland!!

Cheers

:o)

Happy Trails

Went for my morning walk today on our spectacular Middle Brook Trail System.  It was awesome to feel the cold air and hear the crunch from the frosty ground, as I walked in the beautiful sunshine. I had to wear lots of layers but I had several peeled off by the time I got back to my car.  Once the sun got up in the sky, it was no trouble to feel it's heat.  

 

All the puddles were still frozen.........

and there were beads of ice and miniature icicles on the little branches dangling close to the river.........

 

 

The boardwalks were slick with frost in some areas, but so peaceful..................

 I even saw some wildlife!!  Can you spot a critter here?  What is it???

 

 Have a great week everyone!

Cheers

:o)

Cranberry-White Chocolate Tea Buns

This is my take on a  recipe from my good friend Maureen.  I love making these because everyone loves eating them so much.  They are also really festive with the dark red dried cranberries---great to put in Christmas gift baskets.  I love to give homemade gifts of fresh baked goods with some preserves or a bottle of wine and a couple hand-painted wine glasses.

Back to the tea buns, here's the recipe...

Cranberry-White Chocolate Tea Buns

4 cups          flour                                     1                egg

4 1/2 tsp       baking powder                    1 cup          sugar

1 cup            butter                                   1 cup          white chocolate chips

1 cup            dried cranberries                 1/2-1 cup   fresh milk

Incorporate flour, sugar, butter and baking powder until pill sized crumbs.  Stir in the white

chocolate and cranberries until well mixed.  Stir egg and 1/2 cup fresh milk together and mix

with dry ingredients---may need to add more fresh milk--until soft dough is formed.

Roll out on a floured surface to 1/2 inch thickness, then cut out with desired cutter and place on 

a well greased baking sheet.  Bake at 350* F for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.  Cool on

wire rack.

Here's how mine looked......

This is a nice "staple" goodie to have around.....I freeze these and pretty much always have them on hand.  They are just as good popped into the microwave from the freezer as they are when fresh out of the oven!

Email me one of your favorite recipes....I'll try it and post about it here---ha ha

Cheers

;o)

Lassy Buns

This is a recipe that I have been using for many years....a simple, traditional, old-fashioned molasses  bun.....affectionately known in Newfoundland and Labrador as "Lassy Buns"

Here's the recipe.....

                Molasses Buns

1 cup molasses        1 cup melted butter

1/2 cup milk            4 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar              2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp cloves             2 tsp baking soda

1 egg                       pinch of salt         

Combine melted butter and molasses and stir, then add milk and egg. Mix in remaining ingredients, then roll out on a floured surface, to a 1/2 inch thickness.  Cut into desired shapes and place on a greased cookie sheet.  bake at 350* F for 15-20 minutes.  Turn out on a wire rack and cool completely.

Here are a few photos of how mine looked....

These buns are simple to make and smell glorious when baking.  
Let me know if you try this recipe, I'd love to know how it turns out!

Cheers

:o)

Great food and awesome company

We went to the city for the Remembrance Day long weekend.  We had a fabulous trip---as usual.  Roger & Mark were pretty busy installing some mouldings and doing the finish work from that.  Rana and I did some shopping, and went for a few great walks with Bailey (the dog).  The temperatures were much warmer than we usually have in mid-November---but just nice for long walks, though......

Rana and Bailey---Rennie's River Trail

We usually check out a different downtown eatery each time we go to the city---usually for brunch, and this time we were not disappointed ---- we had brunch at Blue on Water .  

Yummy--take a look.....

The service at Blue on Water was very friendly and fast, food was great with lots of fresh hot coffee, and the price was surprisingly very economical!  We will definitely go back....soon, I suspect.

To close off the weekend, Rana made an awesome supper for Monday night.  My niece Tonya and her husband Rodney came over and we had a fabulous evening.  Rana was pretty pleased to showcase some of her Nan Ward's dishes.........

We started with a salad and some of Rana's home-made bread.......

We had cod-au-gratin, from the cod fish that we caught this past fall.........

For dessert, Rana made molten chocolate cakes...they were scrumptious........

There is nothing as good for the soul as sitting around after a meal with people you love, and sharing a coffee or some wine.......

Cheers

:o)

“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.”
― Charles M. Schulz

First Snowfall & Cookie Exchange Trials

Well, look what I saw when I peeked out my front door this morning...........

With the first snowfall each year comes the anticipation of the upcoming festive season. It also is the time when little groups of friends and co-workers start organizing Christmas "cookie exchanges".  Sooooo...that being said, the hunt is on for that special cookie for my contribution to this year's exchange.  

My first trial of a new recipe for this year was "Caramel Heavenlies".  Here's the recipe.......

Caramel Heavenlies

1 pk                 Graham wafers

4 cups              miniature marshmallows

¾ cup              butter

¾ cup              brown sugar

1 tsp                ground cinnamon

1 tsp                vanilla extract

1 cup               sliced almonds

1 cup               flaked coconut

Line a 15 X 10 inch baking sheet with tin foil.  Place graham wafers on the pan 

and cover with marshmallows.  In a saucepan, over medium heat--bring butter, 

brown sugar and cinnamon to a boil, stirring constantly, until sugar is completely 

dissolved.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.  Spoon the hot mixture over the 

marshmallows, then sprinkle almonds and coconut over top.  Bake at 350 degrees 

for 14-16 minutes-(watch carefully, as the sugar burns quickly).   

Cool completely, cut into 2 inch squares, then cut each square in half to form 

triangles.

 
Here's how they looked........

The smell of these cookies as they baked was fabulous.  

After they cooled, I cut them up and displayed some of them on one of my most prized dishes.....a footed plate that was on the wedding table of my late mother-in-law.  She was married in 1937 at the age of 15.  She gave birth to the first of her seven children when she was 21 years old!! 

Isn't the plate beautiful??!!?

The cookies don't look too bad, either, do they?

The caramel taste contrasts beautifully with the almonds and sweet coconut to make a lovely crunchy treat. 

I packaged them up and took them all out to friends and neighbors.  I even took some to my good friend Bill, who owns and operates the Chestnut Tree Cafe.  He cut them a little smaller and passed them around to everyone there at the time....they were a hit.  I have a feeling that I'll be making these again......real soon. 

If you have a favorite cookie recipe that you wouldn't mind sharing, I'd love to hear from you.

Cheers

;o)

Walk in the Park

I went for a walk in the park this morning.  It was quite beautiful......2 degrees Celsius 

and lots of sunshine......

All that wind and rain over the past couple of days stripped the last of the leaves from the trees. 

 Now you get to take a closer look at the trees again.....I like what I saw....

 

I knew it was chilly overnight, but I didn't realize just how chilly until I came 

upon this little "feast for the eyes"..........

All the little puddles from the rain yesterday had started to freeze overnight.....it looked so pretty.

I remember being a kid and we'd all get so excited over this because it meant a whole

new season of great things to do outside...like ice-skating, building huge snowmen 

and making snow angels!!!!! 

I couldn't resist---I must have taken about 30 snaps of this.......

Roger & I stayed up really late last night, watching the Presidential Election----pretty exciting 

stuff.  I still don't have a good handle on how the U.S. elections run---a bit different 

from here in Canada....but exciting nonetheless.

Cheers

;o)

It's beginning to feel a lot like C - - - -TMAS!!!

See....I didn't say the "word"!  My friends have all been threatening me to stop saying the C word this early in November....but I can't help it.  I have been working away on my little festive projects for gifts, so I want to share a few photos.  

Although I have to say that the weather is certainly not beginning to feel a lot like CHRI - - -S!!   

Today it was sunny and 15 degrees Celsius---can't complain about that now, can we???

Here is a sampling of some glassware that I have completed......

I'm working on a totally new little project now and I am pretty excited....I'll post a few 

snaps later in the week.........if I can get some time to work on it.

Have a "holly-jolly" week, my friends...it's just around the corner!!! 

CHEERS