Procrastinator's Countdown to Christmas

I know I've mentioned this previously, I'm a less than enthusiastic technology user.  I've recently learned how to access my e-mail on my smart phone...which is apparently much smarter than I am since I've had the phone for a couple of years.

In fact, I'm eligible for a new phone but as I told my son the other day, I've only just gotten familiar with this one, why would I want something new?

Is it only me, or is this world getting more complicated?

This post wasn't supposed to be about my limited tech knowledge.  Oops, I guess I got sidetracked.
Anyway, after all the bragging I did about being ready for Christmas a couple of posts ago....it seems I'm not nearly as ready as I thought.

I should be finishing up the snowflakes I made for my staff.  Instead I'm writing this post.  It won't take much time but I've been putting it off all weekend.

I did get a little Christmas baking done (and I mean just a little) last evening.  I made a small batch of shortbread cookies which I expect will be all gone in the next of couple of days. The butter is softening on the counter as I write, but I haven't decided what else I'll bake.  Time to dig out the cookbooks.

On the other hand all of the gifts are wrapped and under the tree....with the exception of the Santa gifts.  It has been a tradition for many years that Santa brings socks.  I picked them up while shopping on Friday so all it will take is a little wrapping paper.

The turkey is out in the sun room resting in the recliner.  This might seem like an ought place for it to hang out, but we've had frigid weather here for what seems like forever but was likely 7-10 days.  This morning the temp was a balmy -29C (-20F) not counting in the windchill.  It must be warming up slightly though as we're starting to get a few flakes of snow.  By Thursday we're forecast to have temperatures closer to freezing.  I guess I'll have to find room in the freezer soon for the bird.

At this point, I'm not sure who will be here for Christmas dinner.  I informed my daughter, that while her on-again, off-again boyfriend is welcome, his roommates are not.  As a result there is some potential neither of them will be here.  I did invite a long time friend C to join us.  She currently does not have custody of her youngest child, will spend the morning with him and his dad, and then join us in the afternoon.  She's been part of our lives since my son was just a baby and while we don't see each other as much as we once did, she's part of the family.

In other words, there are still a lot of things to be done or determined before Christmas gets here.  Perhaps I'd best end this post and get at it before the list of things to do gets any longer!

Are you ready for Christmas? Just seven more sleeps!

Have a great week everyone!

Whee....

Well, I'm back...sorta.  It's been a busy time, as the weeks leading up to Christmas tend to be.  But there's been more drama than normal and I'm drained.  I'll be so thankful to see 2016 arrive.

I won't get into all the details but at the beginning of the month my daughter's useless boyfriend was stopped by the police.  Since he was driving without a licence and was on probation, her car was impounded until the beginning of January.  It's been a rough time for her, and I'd hoped she'd finally come to her senses, and put him out of her life but sadly that isn't the case.  In the meantime she's been asking for rides and other favors and while I've said "no" a lot, I've also helped her out a fair amount on the weekends.  I've driven her to various doctor appointments, dropped her off at her second job, and gone grocery shopping with her.  When we took the groceries to the apartment, the loser boyfriend told me "you and I have to get together and talk".  Yeah, that is so not happening!  I am so angry with him at this point, I can't stand the thought of being around him.  I guess I'll have to as I've invited he and the roommate to join the three of us for Christmas dinner.  Oh joy!

Meanwhile I've been busy getting ready for Christmas.  My shopping is done, the presents are wrapped and (mostly) under the tree.  There are a couple of bulky items that are tucked away and will be brought out when we open gifts.  I bought both of them new pillows and new winter jackets.  D really needs a new jacket, but with having to pay the storage fees on her car can't afford one.  I was thrilled to find Ricki's had coats on sale at 70% off this weekend.  I was able to get a really nice jacket, regularly priced at $190 for $63 taxes in.  Chad's was also on sale at Marks WorkWarehouse, and although he has a decent jacket, this one is a little heavier.

I did do a little baking for my friend K and her partner J.  I made a batch of shortbread which J loves and K refuses to make.  I usually make her Dundee cake but did not have the ingredients so made a batch of Hello Dolly bars.  These were her recipe, it was my first time making them, and although the tasted great they didn't look very pretty.  I'll make a batch of cheesecake brownies this week in time for our Christmas Eve potluck.  Another batch of shortbread and a Rice Krispie square cake for Christmas dessert.  These are my kid's favorites and much easier than pie.

I even got my Christmas cards and letters written this weekend and mailed.  Over the years the number of cards have significantly declined, as I've connected with people more and more on Facebook or by e-mail..  This year I only sent nine cards, and of those, only five contained the letter as the rest are Facebook friends and family so have heard all the news already.

My brother and his children, and possibly his wife, are expected to drop by on Tuesday evening.  He had thought we might get to have dinner together but it is his wife's sister's birthday so they will be going out for dinner with her.  So I'm hoping they'll be able to drop by on their way home.  I suspect P will make an excuse to go back to work (as she did last year) so I suspect it will just be the three of them.

About ten days ago I decided to seek some help for myself as I've been feeling overwhelmed and stressed out for some time.  This situation with my daughter has definitely added to those feelings.  When I explained that I've been feeling as though I'm in a fight or flight situation almost all the time, and find it very difficult to relax, the counsellor suggested I may be suffering a low-grade depression.  Whether I am or not, it was almost a relief to hear these words. One of her suggestions is that I have a physical, which I've since arrange for mid-January, to rule out any physical causes.  She's also recommended I find time to exercise and get out among other people.  I do tend to hole-up in the winter time, I hate the cold, and prefer to stay home so I will try.  At least thus far, this winter has been pretty nice with little snow and warmer than normal temperatures.

So, yes I'll be very happy when 2015 comes to an end.  It started off well with my trip to Parksville, but is certainly ending on a less than happy note.  For now, I'll try to relax in the glow of the Christmas lights, with a cat (Saku!) snuggled up against me, and with the knowledge I've done what I can.

Have a wonderful Christmas week everyone!

Autumn is here

Summer is officially over, even though the autumn equinox won't occur until September 23.  School started last week and the weather has definitely gotten cooler.  It's mid-afternoon and only 13C (55F).  The house is still comfortable at 21C (70F) so to keep it that way I've been doing some cooking.  I'm not ready to turn on the furnace just yet!


With the cooler weather, I'm starting to want hot meals.  For most of the summer I tended to eat salads, sandwiches or grilled burgers and hot dogs.

I started by making up a pot of soup to use up bits of veg and some chicken broth in the fridge.  To the broth I added a 1/4 cup of mixed dry beans.  It probably would have been better to pre-cook the beans but I added a bit of water to the broth and let the soup cook for about an hour.  I chopped some celery, onion, carrots, and sauteed them in a bit of oil, adding garlic, dried thyme and rosemary.  Once the veg softened I added them to the broth along with some salt and ground pepper and just let it simmer.

Before I served the soup, I added a little chopped cilantro (parsley would have been good but I didn't have any).  With an egg salad sandwich, it made for a very yummy lunch though apparently I need to learn to wipe the bowl the way they do in restaurants.

Soup and omelettes are two of my favorite ways to use up the old veg.  My current favorite omelette is two eggs with onion, tomato, broccoli and a bit of grated cheese.  Hmm...guess I know what I'm having for breakfast tomorrow.

I had some overripe bananas on the counter so when a friend posted this recipe to Facebook for banana chocolate chip cookies, I decided to give them a try,

They don't look much different than any other chocolate chip cookie, but I can affirm they taste very banana-ey.  They are also very quick to make, with limited ingredients, so I've this one to my recipe box.  Definitely a do-over

Here's the recipe for the cookies:

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

3/4 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup mashed banana

Mix butter, sugars*, mashed banana and vanilla.
Add:
2 3/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons cornstarch
Beat together until well mixed.  Dough will be thick and sticky.
Stir in 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips.

Drop by heaping tablespoon on prepared cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.  Flatten slightly - cookies will not spread much.

Bake 12-14 minutes until edges are golden brown.  Allow to cool on cookie sheets for 1-2 minutes to finish cooking.  Move to cooling rack.

*I didn't add the white sugar as I thought the cookies would be sweet enough without it (they were), used margarine instead of butter, and I baked two pans at the same time in the top and bottom of the oven.  This added a few extra minutes of baking time, about 15-17 minutes total.


It's an extra long weekend for me, as I had yesterday off and Monday is our Labour Day holiday.  I managed to get most of the housework done yesterday while C was at work.  I also mowed the lawn in the back yard, which was a good thing because it rained last night.  I was awakened by thunder and lightening about 4 a.m. and when I checked the rain gauge this morning we'd had about an inch of rain. There is more in the forecast so the rest of the yard work will have to wait until next weekend.

I plan to spend the rest of the weekend, reading, watching football and relaxing.  Have a good one everyone!

Making a list

I've been making lists but it doesn't seem to be helping any.  How can it be that I felt so prepared for Christmas a week ago, but today I'm having a conniption fit trying to figure out how I'm going to get everything done?

But I'm

I suppose if I didn't try to cram everything in on the weekend perhaps I'd feel less stressed.  But after a long day of work I feel like doing nothing more than curling up in my chair with a cat or two, watching television, and maybe catching up on blog reading.  So that's what I do even though I ultimately pay for my laziness.

As a result the weekend is busy!!  I did housework and errands on Friday, yesterday was shopping, a little baking, lots of curling to watch, and my daughter's birthday dinner (pizza/ribs/Caesar salad ordered in).  She and I ran to Costco and Michael's this morning, then it was home to watch more curling, and continue baking.  

Which reminds me - Trish mentioned last week that baking and not sharing my recipes isn't right.  At the bottom of the post you'll find the recipe for cinnamon sugar cookies that I made last weekend. These have been such a hit that they are on my do-over list.

Something that is not, is the fudge bar - basically fudge on a shortbread base.  Well, if you figure out a way to get fudge to adhere to the base you're way ahead of me.  So I have a pan of fudge with shortbread crumbs on the bottom.  Very disappointing!

This weekend I baked peppermint cream cheese brownies (yet to be iced and cut), Dundee cake (an almond cake with lots of fruit, shortbread, and mini chocolate cupcakes.  The latter will be iced and sprinkled with bits of candy cane.

The almonds on the top of the Dundee cake should be placed in a circle but I figure by the time it is cut no one will know the difference.

 There's my laziness rearing it's head again.

I'm taking a break for a little bit, then will try to get one more batch of shortbread done (no sugar on top - it's a gift for a friend) as well as a batch of white chocolate M&M cookies. 

AND that will be it for baking.

While I've been watching curling I've been knitting.  My daughter wanted dishcloths - I'm on the fourth one this weekend - she got to take three and I'll keep this one for myself.  

I picked up some more yarn at Michael's for a crochet project.  It's something, that if I don't finish over the next few weeks, can be taken with me to B.C. to finish there.

*****

We had some weird weather today over a period of about two hours.  It started with rain.

Then the snow started coming down in earnest and the wind started to blow.

Within 30 minutes the snow and wind stopped and it's simply been overcast ever since. Weird!

The weather is supposed to warm up significantly, we may even get above freezing.  

*****

Finally what you've been waiting for; the first is the recipe as it was published, and below that is my way...the lazy way.

"Cinnamon Roll" cookies

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp. baking powder

Pinch salt

Cinnamon sugar:

2 tbsp. packed brown sugar

2 tbsp butter, softened

1 tsp cinnamon

In large bowl, beat butter with sugar until fluffy; beat in egg and vanilla.  Whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt; stir into butter mixture in 3 additions.

Divide dough in half; shape into discs.  Wrap each in plastic wrap; refrigerate for 1 hour. Let stand at room temperature until soft enough to roll out, about 15 minutes.

Between waxed paper or on a floured surface, roll out one disc of dough to 12 X 10 inch rectangle.

Cinnamon sugar

Combine sugar, butter and cinnamon, spread half evenly onto rectangle.  Starting at long side roll up dough.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough and filling.

Cut rolls into 1/4 inch thick slices, place 1 inch apart on parchment lined or greased baking sheets.  Bake 1 sheet at a time, in 375F oven until pale golden on bottoms and edges, about 10 minutes.  Transfer to racks and let cool completely.

Cream cheese glaze:

Quarter package (250g package) cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup icing sugar

2 tbsp milk, warmed

Combine cream cheese, icing sugar and milk, drizzle over cooled cookies.

Makes about 60 cookies.

The lazy way:

Although I followed the recipe as far as ingredients went, the rolling and drizzling was too much futzing for me.  So I simply rolled out the dough, used a scalloped cookie cutter, and sprinkled a mixture of brown sugar and cinnamon on top of each cookie.  As Jamie Oliver would say, "easy peasy".  

Enjoy!

Good to see you gone (November)

Is it just me or has the last eleven months zipped by?  Here we are on the cusp of December, just a short few weeks away from 2015.  Not to say I'm not looking to January this year but still...

Frankly, I'm glad to see the last of November especially the weather.  Like much of North America we've had January weather the last couple of weeks.  At 6 p.m., it's currently -23C (-9F) only a three degree warmer than our overnight temperature.  But there is a warm-up in the forecast though at least for tomorrow with the strong winds we'll still feel very cold.  From the Environment Canada forecast:
EC forecast: Sunny. Becoming a mix of sun and cloud near noon. Wind southeast 30 km/h gusting to 50. High minus 13. Wind chill minus 39 in the morning and minus 27 in the afternoon. 
Is it any wonder why I want to get away from it all?

Speaking of the cold, my daughter showed up early this morning because the boiler had gone out overnight at her apartment.  She waited until 8 a.m. to call the caretaker and then came over to the house to get warm.  I probably would have come earlier myself and called from here but I guess she didn't want to get out of bed!  With a couple of cats to cuddle up to, she crawled into my bed and slept for nearly an hour.

I took advantage of her company and together we decorated the Christmas tree.  My son had brought it from the basement and set it up in the living room last night but he's never shown any interest in helping decorate.

It took me nearly two hours last night to get the lights on the tree. It would have been less but I was watching the European women's curling final (Switzerland won) and had to keep stopping to watch the last few rocks of each end.

With D's help the tree was decorated much more quickly. At least for now.  Does anyone else rearrange the ornaments?  I continually move things around depending on the view of the tree.  By the time it is up a week though I should have it "finished". In fact, I think I see a bare spot from here.

As you'll probably I'm not a coordinated decorator. I like lots of color and most of my ornaments have been gathered up throughout the years.

Here are a few of my favorites.

I have six of the birds, two mice and at least four cats on the tree along with the various baubles, icicles and snowflakes.  The cats were gifts, but I bought the birds and mice because they are also bells.  It's good to have a little forewarning when one of the cats (Saku) decides to visit the tree.  The whole thing would probably make a designer cringe but I love the memories.

Yesterday I started my Christmas baking.  I haven't baked a lot the last few years but a friend asked if I would make some for work.  I was just a little irritated...okay a lot irritated...when I discovered my daughter had taken my vanilla extract and my lemon juice sometime since she's moved out.    I had planned to get some groceries sometime this weekend, but the lack of those items had me scurrying out into the cold much sooner than I planned.

Thus far I've made two batches of cookies, mocha snaps and cinnamon sugar, and two bars, one with lemon, cranberry and coconut on a shortbread base, and a fudge bar also on a shortbread base .  The mocha snaps are the only recipe I'd made before but everything has turned out very well.  (I have to taste it to make sure, right?)  I have to say the cinnamon sugar cookies are probably my new favorite. Next up are the chocolate cookies with M&M candies, and another bar...probably something with cream cheese.

I'd be baking this evening as well but the Grey Cup game is on.  It's the last football game for our Canadian teams of the year, and while our Riders aren't in it, it's still fun to watch.  So the mess in the kitchen will need to wait until half-time because I'm not moving from this chair.

On that note, I'll end this post, wishing you all a good week!

Wet and worn-out weekend

The view from my front window this morning. There is a system moving through the southern part of the province bringing lots of rain and much cooler temperatures.

I think (I hope) we're on the edge of it.  We're only forecast to get 20 mm (3/4 inch).  Other areas, south of us, have already gotten 50 mm, with more expected to fall today.

Unfortunately those areas have had more than their fair share of wet weather this summer and more flooding is expected.

Our temperatures have dropped like a rock this week, from highs of near 30C (86F) to just 12C (54F) today.  When I got up this morning it felt a little chilly in the house.        

It's a good day to stay indoors, do a little baking, and watch football.

I mixed up a batch of apple spice muffins.  They look a little anemic don't they?  I think the oven was too warm so they baked too quickly, without browning on top.  Oh well, they taste pretty good.

I used a basic muffin recipe from my Canadian cookbook. This was my parent's gift to me when I graduated high school.  That makes it...37 years old.

As you can see, it's well used, the spine is broken and yet it's still my go-to cookbook.  I bought a newer version a year or so ago and I still use the old worn-out book.

Speaking of worn out, I finally broke down and visited the doctor's office on Friday.  The diagnoses is tennis elbow.  Of course, I had to use the well-worn joke, "I've never played tennis in my life".

The remedy is continuing to use the arm brace, icing the arm a couple of times a day, taking an anti-inflammatory for pain and lots of time.  So except for giving it a name, the doc told me nothing new.  And yet, today it feels better. Weird!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Totally Random Saturday

This morning's sleep-in was interrupted by the sound of thunder in the distance.  For the next half-hour or so, I drifted in and out of sleep to the drumming of the rain.  Even the cats seemed not to want to leave the comfort of the bed.

Eventually I crawled out of bed, and after feeding the cats, I grabbed a book and light blanket and went to the sun room to relax in my easy chair. There was definitely no sun in the sun room this morning.

I am currently reading Stieg Larsson's The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest, the third book of the Millennium Trilogy.  I've found this book harder to get into than the previous two, but now 300+ pages in, I'm enjoying it!

 The storm let up for awhile, and I headed back into the house to do some dreaded housework.  After cleaning up the kitchen (I swear there are evil elves at work in the nighttime who mess it up as there always more dishes than I left the night before), I decided to use up some of the berries in the fridge.

Since it was cool in the house I decided I'd do a bit of baking.

These were  so simple to make.  I used frozen tart shells which I baked in a 375F oven for 12 minutes.  After cutting up the fruit (cherries, raspberries, and strawberries), I made a simple syrup of water and sugar, added 3/4 a cup of fruit and brought it to a boil.

I thickened the syrup with 3 tablespoons of cornstarch in a 1/4 cup of water, stirring until it had thickened, about 2 minutes or so.  After allowing it to cool for about 20 minutes, I mixed it into the rest of the fruit, and filled the tart shells (overfilled...).  I popped the tarts into the fridge to chill for a bit.

The sun was starting to shine so I decided to run and do a few errands.  My primary goal was to get a haircut!  I've allowed to grow longer than I normally would, and with the heat these past week or so I've been ready to tear it out.  I'm too cheap to go to a salon so take my chances at the less expensive, Magic or Ultra or something else Cuts.  Today's hairdresser was a fellow originally from the Philippines who told me he had his own salon for nearly 22 years.  He'd gotten a very good offer to come to Canada and has been here for only 4 months.  I'm very pleased with the cut and I'll definitely go back to him again. 

  

After a couple of more stops it was home for lunch.  A nice wrap filled with meat, cheese, and veg, and a lovely tart for dessert hit the spot.  I have to say, these tarts are like summer in your mouth, yum!

The clouds are back, the rain is starting to fall, and that dreaded housework is calling my name.  Sigh...I'd rather read my book!

Have a great day everyone! 

Easy on Sunday

Today was a pretty much do nothing day for me.  We got a good rain last night, with a few flashes of lightening accompanied by thunder, so everything was wet meaning outdoor work was out.  I had planned to weed the back lawn of its carpet of dandelions and then mow but it never really dried up enough to allow me to pull out the electric mower.

It stayed gray and overcast until an hour or so ago. I did go out and plant some seeds into a three containers.  If the rabbits don't get to them I'll hopefully have radish, spinach and carrots to enjoy later this year.  I've never grown anything but tomatoes and herbs in containers so we'll see how this experiment ends.

That makes a total of 27 containers; there are 17 in the back yard and 10 in the front.  Darn, I exceeded my goal of twenty but I'm still one less than I had last year.  That is, assuming I don't buy any more. ;-)  It's so hard, I love the color they bring to the yard and house, and I don't mind the watering, weeding and deadheading.

Yesterday, I took the remaining plants and planted them in the front flower bed.  I think it is going to look wonderful in a month or so when everything fills in.

I spent most of the day reading, playing on the computer, doing Sudoku puzzles, and watching television.  I just finished watching a movie, "Bringing Ashley Home" the true life story of Libba and Ashley Phillips.  Ashley suffers from bipolar disorder, becomes addicted to drugs, and goes missing.  This is story of Libba's search to bring her sister home, which eventually leads her to form the Outpost for Hope organization to help other families in similar situations.  It was an interesting story though it creates more questions than it answers.

I did make one trip to the grocery store, as we were low on eggs, sugar, and few other baking items.  My daughter has been on a low-carb diet, so I think she was craving some homemade goodies.  This was the result.
From left to right are chocolate chip mocha muffins, brownies, banana loaf (two are missing...hmmmm do you suppose she already ate them?) and cinnamon buns.  She's promised to take the majority to work, as I don't want the temptation.  I've had a cinnamon bun thus far...but those brownies look very good.  Maybe a little piece for a bedtime snack!

She even cleaned up after herself, which is huge treat in itself.

I'll probably spend the rest of the evening channel surfing or maybe reading.  The weather forecast is for another thunderstorm tonight, perhaps I'll get to watch Mother Nature's fireworks instead!

Hope everyone had a wonderful easy Sunday.

Yummy cookies

I have to share this recipe with you, it is that good!  If you like cookies that aren't too sweet, and just a little spicy this one is for you.  It's also an easy cookie because it's a slice and bake recipe, make the dough toss it in the fridge and bake when it's convenient.

Cinnamon-sugar crisps
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
sprinkles

1.  In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy.  Beat in egg and vanilla.  Combine the flour, cinnamon, and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture and mix well.  Shape into a 12 inch roll, wrap in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm.

I made two six inch rolls because transferring a foot long roll seemed too difficult.  I also kept the dough in the fridge from Saturday to Monday evening before I baked the cookies.

2.  Unwrap and cut the cookies into 1/2 inch slices.  Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.  Decorate with sprinkles.

3.  Bake at 350F for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.  Remove cookies to wire racks to cool.

The recipe says it will make 3 1/2 dozen but I only managed a little less than 3 cutting the cookies to a thickness of 3/8 inches which is less than they suggested.  Next time I'll cut them less thick and just reduce the cooking time a little bit.

The house smelled all cinnamon-y which makes me think of Christmas.  I think these would be good any time of the year, with different colored sprinkles (or just colored sugar).  Definitely what we call in this household a do-over!  I foresee at least a couple more batches will need to be made for sharing with family, friends, and some for us too!

Saturday recap

It's been a busy day!  I finished up my baking...well, almost...the dough for the refrigerator cookies is chilling as I write this.  And I'm sure there will be a few more batches of shortbread to make in the next few weeks.

This morning started early, with a tie-breaker game at the Canada Cup of curling.  The young team (McEwen) from Manitoba beat a really good team from Alberta (Koe) to go on to play in the evening semi-final game.  They are on the ice right now playing the Howard team from Ontario.

In between ends, I was busy putting things away.  Sometimes I think that's the reason my house looks untidy much of the time since so many things haven't found a permanent home.  The piles of books I've been gathering went down to the shelves in the basement.  That reminds me I need to pack up some books to give to charity (or set aside for a garage sale this spring).

The kitchen got another scrubbing.  I seem to be doing that much more frequently especially with all the baking both my daughter and I have been doing.  Oh I did learn the other day, her idea of cleaning up after baking is to wipe the counters, and leave the dishes for mom.  If she weren't so sick I think I'd smack her with a dishrag!

I finished third layer for the toffee bars and made two batches of an unbaked square. It has four ingredients, margarine (or butter), peanut butter, chocolate or butterscotch chips and mini marshmallows. I think I used too many marshmallows because it isn't as candy like as I like.  These are some of my brother's favorites, and will form part of his family's Christmas present this year.

This afternoon while the women were curling (Jones - Manitoba and Nedohin - Alberta) I put together six miniature wreaths.  I had crocheted the wreaths using two colors of green wool.  I sewed them together, and used a chain crochet as a hanger, then clued a small ribbon bow and three poinsettia buttons as embellishments.  They are really cute, but you'll have to take my word for it as I still haven't figured out the storage issue.

I did try to reduce the size of photos currently in the blog, but that didn't seem to work. Perhaps I'll have to break down and buy more storage since I'm such a dolt when it comes to computers.  They are like windshield wipers...working or not working.  (It's an old joke, sorry!)

After I made dinner, I mixed together the cookie dough though I don't think I'll bother baking them until tomorrow since the curling is calling my name.  After that, I think it's off to bed early, a little reading, an d hopefully a good night's sleep.  Tomorrow is another fun packed day.. it's time to vacuum. :-)

Not just another Sunday

Did you realize it's only a month until Christmas?  And less than a month to the end of Mayan calendar...though I expect that means it's also the beginning of the next Mayan calendar.  

I got a good amount of baking done yesterday and this morning.  Today I started my toffee bars, made a cranberry/white chocolate blondie and my favorite cookies, mocha crisps.

I still haven't figured out what I've messed up on my camera settings, and this picture looks a little fuzzy, but you can see the containers, racks (and even a batch in the oven) if you look closely.  My daughter did some reading in the instruction book but I don't think it's quite right yet.  I may have to take it into a camera store to determine what the nut behind the wheel I did to it. 

The rest of day I plan to relax and enjoy.  It's Grey Cup Sunday!  That's the Canadian version of the Super Bowl, with a starting group of eight teams, a wider field, only 3 downs, and fewer celebrities at half-time.  I think I heard Justin Bieber will be performing today...I'm sure I can find something else to do for twenty minutes or so.  

Unfortunately, our team isn't in the game this year.  Our province, however, is hosting next year's Grey Cup. All I can say, is here's hoping the weather cooperates.  This morning, the temperature was -15C, with a windchill near -26C.  Brrr...I'm glad I was indoors baking.

So I can watch this game without the nerves I normally exhibit because it doesn't really matter to me who wins.  It's a good day to simply sit back, relax, eat pizza and watch football in the comfort of home.

Hope you all have a wonderful and warm Sunday too!

What happened to Saturday?

It's near 9 p.m. here and I'm finally sitting down to relax...and in a little while I'm going to bed!

Got up early this morning, fed and watered the cats, made a pot of coffee, and started the dishwasher.  I did have a couple cups of coffee and read a bit before I headed out to my nail appointment.  After my hour of pampering, it was off to the Michael's and then to Walmart.

I've spent the last couple of evenings crocheting Christmas wreath ornaments, six of them, for my team and I needed to get some embellishments. I had found some mini snowflakes at the dollar store, but I really wanted to find something similar to the min poinsettias shown in the pattern.  I got lucky and found buttons at Michael's that will work perfectly.

At Walmart, I picked up cat food, cat litter, and some groceries for the rest of us. When I got out to my car, I was frustrated when I couldn't get my trunk open on the car.  I filled the backseat and headed home where I parked in the garage for awhile.  We have three vehicles and a two car garage.  My son's car will not start in the winter, even when it's plugged in so his sister and I take turns parking in the garage.  It's my winter to park outdoors.  :-(

Once I had the groceries put away, I made myself some lunch, before I started the laundry.  Then it was into the kitchen to start a batch of buns, and my Christmas baking.  By dinner time I'd finished two loads of laundry, 4 dozen buns, a pan of Dundee bars and 3 dozen fruit cookies.  We had sloppy joes for dinner (always a favorite when I make homemade buns) and then I baked 4 dozen shortbread cookies.  The house smells great!

I'd have taken pictures to share except I've messed up the settings on my camera and can't figure out how to get it to focus properly.  Every picture I take comes out blurry no matter where I move the wheel.  I need to get the book and work out what I've done.

But for now, I'm exhausted and ready to crawl into bed with a book.  Hope you all had a wonderful Saturday!

Hi ho, hi ho

Another busy day, it's only just past 7 p.m. and I'm ready for bed. That won't be happening as there are four dozen cookies yet to be baked. Plus I plan to get some presents wrapped this evening. I'm willing to exhaust myself now in order to have a few days of peace before Christmas arrives.

I started off the day with an apppointment with my esthetician to get my nails done. L has been taking care of my nails for over two years now, and today, she was able to convince me to do something special. Each of my nails has a tiny little star in the corner and the polish has sparkly bits through it. It's very subtle, which I appreciate, and I love the look since it adds a bit of Christmas sparkle.

After the appointment, I did a little shopping, first to Sears to return to a sofa slipcover I'd ordered on line. At least I thought it was a sofa slipcover but it turned out to be a loveseat cover. So I took it back and ordered again, this time making sure I had the right SKU number. I need to slipcover the couch because Saku has taken a fancy to the back and it looks like this:

It was either a slipcover or new furniture and until I break him of the habit of scratching it. I tried that anti-scratch spray and all it did was encourage him even more. Any ideas from the cat folk out there?

Once I got home, I got busy in the kitchen. I made a meat loaf, put a roast in the slow cooker, baked 4 1/2 dozen shortbread cookies, cut up a toffee bar square, made sugar cookie dough, and mixed up a batch of buns. At about 3 p.m. I sat down for a cup of coffee and realized I had a tanning session booked for 4! Somehow with everything going on, I picked the perfect time to take a break, as the buns were ready to go into the oven when I go home.

There's something good about a busy day. I'm tired, yes, and glad the day is getting closer to an end so I can crawl into my bed and relax. But I feel a sense of accomplishment and that's a good thing!

The buzzer just went off for the second last tray of cookies so I'm almost done. Now if those presents would just wrap themselves!!!

Time flies.....

Whether you're having fun or not! I had a miserable day yesterday, therefore no post as I wasn't wanting to pass my crankiness on. I won't get into what was going on as it won't mean much to anyone who doesn't work with me. Plus a day later it doesn't seem to matter quite so much.

I had a much better day today. Even though I wasn't going to work I was out of bed by 6:30 a.m. In fact, I had woken at five and wasn't able to get back to sleep. I put a pot of coffee on and then relaxed and watched the news and weather.

By 8 a.m. I had the dough ready for a large batch of cookies (almond crescents). Several of us are having a cookies exchange next week so I needed to make 10 dozen cookies. I rarely make a batch that large because I like to try different recipes. However by the end of next Wednesday, I'll have 9 other types of cookies or squares to share with family and friends. It's a great idea even if it's a lot of work!

It took until lunchtime to finish shaping, baking, and cooling time to get the cookies done. After lunch, I put together another recipe of Dundee cake. This recipe turned out amazing. These cakes are basically a lighter version of a fruit cake and although I've never made a fruit cake, I assume this is easier. I made the mini cakes in the muffin tin as the recipe suggests though my bake time was about 5-10 minutes longer. I had to do a taste test (is there any wonder I look as I do?) so I had a mini-cake for dessert this evening. It was great! I know my friend K will enjoy them; now I just need to finish a batch of shortbread for her partner J.

Tomorrow should be the final baking day. After that I have gifts to wrap, a little more decorating to do, and the house to clean. I also have an appointment to get my nails done and a tanning session. Wanna bet I don't get everything done?

I'm a machine!

The alarm went off at 8:15 this morning (on a Sunday!) And since I always keep my alarm 20 minutes fast...because I'm that stupid in the morning...it was really 7:55 a.m. After feeding the cats, getting dressed in a cool outfit (as in temperature, not fashion), and starting a pot of coffee I got busy!

It's about 2:15 p.m. and so far I've made this:

Chocolate marshmallow roll
and this

Red velvet cupcakes (still need to be iced and decorated)
and this

Dundee cake (a simpler version of a fruit cake)

At the moment, the dough for the chocolate peppermint cookies is in the fridge chilling, and the lemon squares are in the oven. I'll get the sugar dough going after those are done.

Oh, and last night I made a new recipe, one I've never tried before. It's starts with a graham wafer crust, with topping comprised of a can of condensed milk, chocolate and white chocolate chips, cranberries, and coconut. It's definitely a keeper. Here's it is:

I usually bake only at Christmas time and as you can see, I tend to go crazy with it! Good thing for bake sales, Christmas parties, and family and friends or I'd weigh twice what I do!

It's beginning to smell like

Christmas baking! I'd have taken pictures but my batteries died and I have no spares.

Having a three day weekend meant I had time to houseclean on Friday, and then time to mess up the kitchen with my baking on Saturday and Sunday! I started with my kids' favorite - Scottish shortbread. It's a recipe I've been making for over thirty year because not only is it simple but it tastes fantastic as well. It has only three ingredients, butter, sugar and flour. It has to be real butter; although I've made it with margarine it doesn't taste right. My daugther D says my shortbread "tastes like Christmas".

Next I made a batch of monster cookies - which is basically a drop cookie with M&M candy instead of chocolate chips. This isn't a Christmas recipe but I thought it would keep my kids out of the rest of the Christmas baking - it seems to be working thus far.

This morning I made a pan of brownies for our potluck at work tomorrow. I went through a number of magazines and cookbooks, and researching on the recipe websites, looking for a recipe. Most every one called for mega amounts of butter and chocolate which I was trying to avoid. In the end, I went back to an old favorite, from the Canadian Cookbook by Nellie Pattison. I received this cookbook from my parents as a graduation gift in 1977. My copy is in tatters, with the spine broken, and pages loosened, and spills decorating many of the pages.

I finally got around to some real Christmas baking this afternoon making a batch of mocha crackle cookies. Unfortunately I couldn't fnd the recipe I normally use, so I spent more time looking for another recipe. The one I found is available here. My cookies didn't crackle as much as Karen's, but the crisp cookie with it's blend of coffee and chocolate with a dusting of sugar is one I just love. Not only did I find a great new recipe but a new blog to follow too!

While I truly didn't get a lot of Christmas baking done I did get a lot accomplished. The house is reasonably tidy (I'm not a Suzy Homemaker by any stretch of the imagination) and the smell of home baking permeates the entire house. Next weekend will be more baking and decorating too!