British Football, Toronto FC and the Daily Savings Club.....

Is a sport I can actually watch. I don't know the rules but I do at least have an idea what is going on.

Dh subscribes to Setanta Sports and its well worth the $15 a month we pay for it. It keeps dh entertained for hours. Dh was watching the Cardiff vs Arsenal game on Sunday, I only saw a little of it, and didn't get into it. After that though was the Liverpool vs Everton game.

Now when the fans sang You'll Never Walk Alone I was all goose bumps. I love the way the crowds all sing together.

One thing I also love is the theatrics of the players, you would honestly think they had been mortally wounded the way they fall down, only to be up and running again two minutes later. Hello, weren't you rolling around looking as though you were in agony a minute before?

When we were in Britain last year, dh went with my brother to see Carlisle United play, he is a big, big fan of Carlisle United, someone has to be I suppose...LOL Anyhow years ago went he used to go regularly he would just stand in the stands, as he's getting a bit older they wanted seats this time. They sat next to two older women, who they said were regulars. They came all prepared with a flask of tea, china mugs, blankets to cover themselves. They sang along with the crowds they were really into it.

They were sitting quite close to the away fans, which could have been interesting as my brother is a big boy who wouldn't look out of place in the Mafia. However he is as soft as muck, and he went to the toilets and nearly ended up in the away side........mind you I don't think he was wearing any Carlisle gear.

So that brings me to the football hooligan stories. Like with anything else it's a small minority who look for trouble and who cause it. Are they true football fans, I don't think so as if they were they would be there to take in the game, not to fight.

I can't say I am "in" to any of the players like when I was growing up. I remember thinking George Best and Kevin Keegan were gorgeous. Nowadays you have David Beckham (I wouldn't mind waking up to him in a morning though!!), Wayne Rooney can't say I like him, and Cristiano Ronaldo who I am sorry I can't stand. I will say though Fernando Torres seems like a great player.

Well that's my take on British football, I don't know much,but what little I do know I like. By the way trying to get tickets to see Toronto FC is like digging for gold, or even looking for hen's teeth...LOL So needless to say we haven't been to a game.....I wonder if anyone from Toronto FC reads my blog, and could let me know what the secret is to getting tickets for a game???

Also with it being the last day of the month, make sure you put your last quarter in the pot, for the daily savings club, you should have $7.75 in your pot. I am posting about this and more money things tomorrow (Sunday)

Coffee or Tea....

I have to say I got the idea for this post from Linda, as she was talking about tea.

When we lived in England we drank a lot of instant coffee, Nescafe being the brand of choice, and obviously black tea, probably either Typhoo or Tetley's. Both were with milk, no sugar and on the weak side.

When we came to Canada, still stuck to that choice, but over the years I began to develop a lot of headaches and decided to cut out coffee and stick to tea. I do drink coffee still but its make in a coffee maker with coffee grounds and its decaffinated. I am partial to the flavoured creamer, the liquid type, as I do find most ground coffee too strong for me.

Tea well that's a whole other ball game. I was always a strictly black tea type of gal, however I discovered green tea last year and love it. I can even drink it without milk, it actually tastes better without milk. I start the day with a cup of green tea with my breakfast. Its either the Tetley or the Lipton Pyramid tea brands. There is even a ginger green tea which I bought for when I have an upset stomach or am not feeling well.

I am still not a fan of herbal or flavoured teas, though at a push I will try one. I tried the Rooibas red tea the other week at Starbucks, and due to that I went and bought the Tetley's Rooibas Vanilla Tea the other day. I put milk in that and is different to any other teas I have tasted.

Are you a tea or coffee drinker?

How do you take your coffee or tea?

Do you like a mug or a china cup and saucer?

Do you like it weak or strong?

Do you have any favourties that you'd like to share with us?

Skywatch Friday

We went out for a drive on Sunday, and I took these photos while we were driving, from the truck. They were taken around 3.30pm, the sun was shining so bright, but it was bitterly cold out. You had to wear sunglasses against the glare of the sun on the snow, a perfect winter's day.

(as always click on the photos for more detail)

For more Skywatch Friday photos, please click on the link

Old Churches.....

When we were out for a drive the other day we passed a couple of old churches. I took the photos from the car, as it was bitter cold outside. The first one is at a hamlet called Alloa. I tried to find some info about the place on Google and found nothing??? Notice the shed behind the church, that is for the horse and buggies. The sad thing is there are plans for development of new subdivisions/estates on the opposite side of the road, so it will lose it's country feel eventually.



The next one is Union Presbyterian Church which I have to say is a stunning church. This one reminds me of ones back in England.



The last church is St. Lawrence Church in England where we got married (this photo was taken when we were in Britain last year). I featured more photos of the church in this post.



I love old churches......

Quilting 101 - How to cut the material.......

First let me say, I AM NOT A PROFESSIONAL, what I am going to show you is how I was taught. I have taken a couple of lessons on the basics and the rest I have picked up along the way. There are so many more talented people out there who are super quilters. Two whose blogs I visit on a regular basis are Carol and Catherine. I know Leah through another site and her tutorials are spot on.

Anyhow, someone asked me to show them how to cut material and so here is my tutorial on that. So you've been to the quilting store found a lovely piece of material, now what? Well first wash it, some people skip this step, but just pretend you have made a black and white quilt and you never washed the material. You finish the quilt, its beautiful and then you spill some coffee on it so it has to be washed. Well out of the washer comes this dirty grey quilt, as the colours have run. Plus its now a wonky shape.

Pre-washing that material would have made the material colour fast and if there had been any shrinkage, it would have occurred at this point, before you cut the material. As I said some people don't wash their material, it doesn't take long, so why not do it? I don't use fabric softener, just laundry detergent. Here is my piece of material that has been washed and ironed.

The basic pieces you need for cutting are a self healing cutting board, a rotary cutter, a square ruler, mine is 6 1/2 inches square and a regular quilting ruler, oh and a pair of scissors.



So you lay the fabric on the cutting board with the selvedge edges touching one another, and the edge which was cut off the bolt of the fabric to your left (if you're right handed). The folded edge of the fabric closest to you.



Next place you're square ruler on the bottom edge of the fabric closest to you (see photo).



Place your long quilting ruler next to it (see photo).



Remove the square ruler and cut along the edge of the fabric.



You now have a piece of perfectly square fabric to start cutting from. Don't throw that scrap of material away as you can use it for a string quilt!! I have to say I just picked this material from my pile and it was actually not badly cut off the bolt, most times they are way off.

So your pattern is telling you it needs 2 1/2 inch strips. You place your quilting ruler on the material to the 2 1/2 inch line and then cut.



From that strip it is easy to cut out 2 1/2 square, or 5 inch rectangles, or what ever you need.



Its really important to have that perfectly square piece of material, as if that's off the rest of the material you cut from that piece will not be square.

Now I did find another link on how to prepare fabric for cutting, which you may find useful, here is the link

Don't try to run before you can walk with quilting. Here is a great site that takes you through the step by step.

Remember you need to use a 1/4 inch seam allowance in quilting. I have a special foot for my sewing machine, sorry about the poor photo.



You also need a walking foot for the actual machine quilting.......this is one of the most expensive pieces of equipment I had to buy. Mine was $90, but I have a Husqvarna machine and the accessories are more pricey than other machines. You cannot machine quilt without a walking foot. You of course can hand quilt, but that's not my idea of a fun time!!!



I hope that has answered a couple of questions. Let me know what else you want to know, also PLEASE let me know if I have missed anything out OR have made a mistake....

(as always click on the photos for more detail)

50 + 1 Recipes for Bananas

Its a fruit we buy every week.

1. Pineapple Banana Loaf - perfect way of using up over ripe banana's

2. Baked Banana's with Coconut

3. Banana Crepes

4. Lisa's Banana Pudding

5. Baked Banana's with Brown Sugar - this sounds so good and so very easy to do...

6. Banana Dessert Squares

7. Banana Rum Custard - I like the sound of this too

8. Banana Pecan Bread

9. Orange Banana Smoothie

10. Honey Ambrosia

11. Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

12. Banana Yogurt Cupcakes

13. Baked Banana Crumble

14. Banana Nut Pancakes

15. Easy Banana Bread

16. Banana Oatmeal Cookies

17. Fried Banana's

18. Banana Chocolate Cream Pie

19. Banana Split Dessert - I haven't had one of these in an awful long time!!

20. Banana Waffles

21. Oatmeal Banana Cupcakes

22. Easy Banana Cookies

23. Old Fashioned Banana Fritters

24. Cheesy Banana Bread Pudding - this is an odd combination if you ask me.....

25. Old Fashioned Peanut Butter Banana Sandwich

26. Banana's with cream and sugar.......my nana used to make this. Mash a banana on a plate, sprinkle granulated sugar on it and top it with cream or milk, it is so good, again I haven't had this in a long time.

27. Chocolate Banana Pops - Ideal for the kids

28. Blueberry and Banana Bread

29. Banana Spice Cupcakes

30. Banana Jam - never ever heard of this? Has anyone had this before?

31. Banana Boats

32. Banana Milkshake

33. Banana Push-Ups - another kid friendy recipe

34. Banana Toffee Bread

35. Chocolate Banana Trifle

36. Banana Stuffed French Toast - I am drooling..yum, yum

37. Jamaican Banana Bread

38. Banana Squares

39. Banana Sour Cream Coffee Cake

40. Banana Velvet Doughnuts - I would love to try these

41. Applesauce Banana Bread

42. Banana Wrap - another kid friendly recipe

43. Banana Bread Pudding

44. Bananas con Mousse de Duraznos - Bananas with Peach Mousse

45. Banana Choc-Chip Spring Rolls - these look really good

46. Banana Crumb Muffins

47. Banana Peanut Butter Muffins

48. Baked Banana Spring Rolls with Rum Sauce - this would be good at a dinner party

49. Banana Raisin Loaf - I'll give this one a miss...LOL

50. Quick Banana Choc-Chip Muffins

51. Banana and Yogurt Icecream - this sounds good

Have to say there are some yummy looking recipes in that list. It was actually an easy fruit to find recipes for. Although we do buy bananas on a weekly basis, I think I will be buying more from now on.

Nutirtional info here

Next week it is grapes.

Watery Wednesday......

On Sunday we went for a drive out in the car, and we passed a river so I took some photos. It was bitter cold so all these photos are taken in the car. It was a lovely day, and at least the river was flowing, but honestly Spring seems to be a life time away at the moment!!! (Look for the animal footprints on the third one, they're on the ice/snow)

(For more detail please click on the photos)

For more Watery Wednesday photos, please click on the link

One project completed, one a bit further on......

I finished my cross stitch the other day.


I got it pressed and put inside the trivet. I love the colours, it came out brighter than what it was on the picture. I also enjoyed doing it.



I have finally got the top pieced together on the quilt and the borders put on. The outside border will also be the backing and the binding.



I wish I had made it a little longer, it is 60 inches wide by 72 inches long. I am thinking of making matching pillow cases and putting it on ds bed. Don't worry ds doesn't live at home (I know its a bit girly the quilt), but it will always be ds bed.



This is a closer look at the border material.



So now to sandwich it together with the batting and backing material, and then I can start and machine quilt it.

Trip Downtown, Part 3

So one of the reasons for me going downtown was to find some different material stores and some trim/notion stores. I have to say there were numerous fabric stores, but they were mainly for dressmaking or home furnishings, not really much in the 100% cotton range. I did pick up just over 8 yards of this fabric, which I will be using to back my quilt, with plenty of leftovers and I picked it up at $3.99 a yard, as I took the whole bolt.



I did also pick up some 100% cotton muslin for $2.99 a yard, which I thought was a pretty good price, otherwise that was it for fabric.

I did find the most amazing ribbon/trim store called Mokuba However it wasn't cheap, I paid over $40 for this:



It does however have a great selection. It could also lead you down a whole new crafting avenue if you so desired..........which is not where I want to go at this moment, I have enough on my plate, thank you very much. Though if anyone out there crafts with ribbon, please let me know as I would love to see your work, as I am interested in what can be done with ribbon after seeing the selection in this store.

So overall I didn't buy that much, but we had a great day.

Now back to the subway. I find the whole thing a fascinating experience as there are people on there from all walks of life, so its a great people watching place. As it's nippy cold at the moment, people are all bundled up and so you see the odd person in fur coats. First let me say I am not a huge fan of fur coats, but I do like the look of the higher quality coats, though would never own or wear one myself.

So we are sitting on the subway and on comes this person wearing this Russian style fur hat with matching coat. This person was elderly and was using a cane, but what made me notice them was the coat and hat, plus the gold jewellery. They had gold hoops in each ear, numerous rings on their fingers and a high end mans watch. So far have you noticed I haven't said him or her, as I can honestly say I was totally confused at the sex of this person. On first glance I would have said a man, but because of the jewellery (other than the watch) I would have thought it was a woman.

Then there was the coat and hat. It was nasty, it looked like a rabbit which had been dragged through a hedge backwards, not that I have seen a rabbit dragged through a hedge backwards, but you know what I mean. So going by what this person was wearing they were hurting for money, but looking at the jewellery they were wearing they had a lot of money. Anyway, I was still none the wiser as to whether this was a man or a woman when they got off.

I then noticed another woman wearing a fur coat. Now this one was the real thing. The way it hung, the way it moved it was a beauty, I still wouldn't have worn it, but it looked good. There was a man sitting opposite us and he reminded me of a frightened little mouse. His arms were folded tight to his chest. He had beady little eyes and he had his legs crossed just like a woman would have. It was his eyes though that made you look at him, they were very twitchy darting back and forward.

Then a young man got on with a envelope that they give you at the doctors office with x-rays in them. This one however had a huge red sticker on it. What was really annoying was that the man folded his arms over the red sticker so I couldn't read what it said. My first thought though it must be a danger/alert sticker........do I have a vivid imagination or what?

I have to say I do enjoy going on the subway for that reason alone, people watching. Though I do have one requirement though, I must sit down, I don't like the whole standing thing. Also the seats are made for slim people!!! I also travel outside of rush hour, if what dd tells me, its a whole different bowl of cherries during rush house!!

So there you go, the last part of my trip. For part one click here, for part two click here.

Today's Flower

I just wanted to remind myself that Winter will be over eventually, and I will be able to pick flowers from my garden. Mind you this photo was taken July 1st, 2008.....so have a bit to go. These are obviously Sweet Peas the perennial kind that come up year after year. No fragrance as such and no variation in colours, but pretty all the same.

For more of Today's Flowers, please click on the link

I am being interviewed........

by Janet and here is what she asked me:

1. Can you tell us where you are from, and a little about your early life in England?

I lived in both Cumberland and Westmoreland, which was then combined to make up Cumbria, which if you live in Canada is the province, if in the States the State. I have two younger brothers and although we were not rich, we never felt poor. We were just your average working class family. I am sure my mam and dad struggled, but we were never exposed to it.

I was close to my Nana and Pop (my mam's parents) and spent a lot of time at their house in the holidays. They lived on London Road, in Carlisle. I have many fond memories of being there. I also used to go on holidays with them to Scarborough. My Nana and Pop also ran a bed and breakfast from their house, and it was there I had my first taste of canned grapefruit, it was so sweet I loved it. My Nana also always had TUC Crackers and butter, again loved those. They were the first in our family to have a colour tv, and my Nana used to love watching the wrestling on tv on a Saturday.

Me and my younger brother fought like cat and dog when we were growing up, as we both had the same temperament. Now we are the best of friends. My other brother and I, although not as close, I would do anything to help him if needed. They both live in England. My parents divorced just before I married dh, and my mother and step-father live in England, and my dad and step-mother live in Canada. So I also now have two step-sisters and two step-brothers.


2. Why did you move to Canada?

Dh worked for a company called British Gypsum in Britain. The plant where he worked was forecast to have enough "gypsum" in the mine until dh was around 40. At that point they reckoned it was going to close. My dad had moved to Canada, and we decided, why not. We were young enough to start over, the kids were only 3 1/2 and 5 years old, so missing there friends wasn't as big a deal as if they were teenagers. We also knew there would be more opportunities for both them and us.

Me and dh came over for a week in the fall of 1988 to see if dh could find a job which he did. We went back home and applied to come over and in May of 1989 we finally landed here. It took that long for the paperwork to come, despite the fact dh had a job, my dad sponsored us, and we had enough "points" to sink a ship to qualify us. They don't work with a speed of knots the immigration department!!!


3. What do you like best, and least, about living in Canada?


I'll do the worst first, the weather, it's getting worse the longer we live here. It's the extremes. In the summer its boiling hot, in the winter it's freezing cold, there never seems to be a happy medium. Also the fact that most of our family live in the UK, it would be nice if they were closer.

The best, well that has to be the opportunities. I know deep down we wouldn't have what we have if we had stayed in Britain, also the kids maybe wouldn't have done as well as they have done.

4. What is your best money saving tip?

The weekly boxes, where I put money away each week for birthdays and for Christmas. Think about it, how great is it to go to the birthday box, when there is a birthday and just take out the money, no scrambling to find the money. It's the same with Christmas, the money is there come Christmas time, no worrying about how we can afford to pay for Christmas, and no putting it on the credit cards!!!


5. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?

Smoky Mountains, Tennessee, we love the area, we love the people. The weather isn't as extreme and it's calming and more laid back down there. Will we ever live there, probably not, as the kids will be staying put in Canada, and its too far away from them.


These are the rules for this meme:Want to be interviewed by me? Here are the instructions:
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me." Then send me another separate comment with your email address as to where I can send your questions.
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. (I get to pick the questions).
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions and let me know when you have posted it, so I can link to it.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Another "how stupid are you to do that," story...

When the kids were little I used to be a lunchroom supervisor. I also helped out on school trips and did the whole being involved in the kids' education etc.

So one morning we went on a school trip to a skating rink at a place called Gage Park in the middle of the city where we lived. The skating rink is actually a circular footpath that goes around the park and is flooded in the winter. In the middle is a band stand and it is lovely.

Anyhow, all the kids skated, but I don't think I did. So when we were leaving, for some reason I decided to walk over the ice. I was wearing a pair of waterproof boots, called duckies, which were NOT made for walking on ice. Needless to say I fell, what a fool I felt. I banged my head and everyone came running.

I said I was fine and we walked back to school, all the while my poor jaw was killing me. I then had to do my lunchtime supervisor's job and I have no idea how I got through that. When I finished that I went home and got in the car and went to the doctors. He made me get an xray and I had dislocated my jaw, however I had managed to pop it back in, I have no idea how.

So fine, he gave me some painkillers, I go home. Next morning I was in agony with my poor neck. So off I trot back to the doctors and he says, I was expecting you back today, I say how comes, he says because I knew you would have whiplash, which is what I had. So why on earth didn't he tell me the day before!!!!

So the moral of this story is, don't walk over the ice wearing duckies/plastic shoes, or you may fall!!!

Check this out......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ3d3KigPQM

I know it's an advertisement but it's really neat, I would have loved to be there.

Look out for the "older lady" in the purple jacket at around the 1 min 55 sec mark, as her smile says it all!!!!

Let me know what you think, also thanks to a pot, a thought and a smidgen of dirt for the original post.

Something funny.......

if you want a laugh pop by this blog Cathy at Cathy's Caper's featured it on a post, and I have to admit it was funny.

Let me know what you think and leave a comment for Mr "Two Legs." He must really love those pigs, I would have sold them for bacon if it were me!!

I forgot to do this.........sorry Clippy Mat

Back on the 17th of January I popped by Clippy Mat's blog and on this post and she had this quiz thingy, not sure what to call it. Here are the rules:

1. Leave a comment on this blog and I will assign you a letter.
2. Write about ten things you love that begin with said letter.
3. Post the list on your blog.
4. When people comment on your list, you assign them a letter, and the game continues.

So I of course commented and dear Clippy, assigned me the letter "W" I say Dear Clippy in a sarcastic tone, as DEAR Clippy what the heck you may as well have given me "X"............LOL

Anyhow, after many hours of racking my brain to figure out ten things I like beginning with the letter "W" here is my list:

1. Water, well filtered water, I wouldn't in this day and age drink tap water, especially where we live. We were told when we had a fish tank to never change the tank water on a Wednesday, as they pump that much chlorine in the water that day that it would harm the fish..........need I say more why I won't drink the tap water.

2. Wednesday, I liked it more when I worked as you were half way through the work week, now as I don't work it's not as important I suppose.

3. Wireless Mouse, so convenient.

4. Wooden stairs, I love my oak staircase, it was one of the things I paid extra to have when we moved into the house. Must polish them weekly as dusty oak staircases look tacky.

5. Windows, we have nice large windows in our house and I really love them as they let in so much light.

6. Wholewheat Bread, tastes so much better than plain old white bread, though if you're having a chip (fries) sandwich, it does taste better in white bread, all the British are shouting yes at this point. We British will put anything between two slices of buttered bread, and anything between two pie crusts!!

7. Walking, well only when its not too hot, not too cold, not raining, not snowing and not too windy........did I mention I am allergic to exercise!!!

8. Weather, well as I am British I have to be obsessed with the weather, its in our genes. Will say though I am never happy with the weather. Its not helped by the fact I live in a country that has six months of winter, followed by a week or two of Spring (if we're lucky), which then plunges into heat and humidity from hell, followed by a month (again if we are lucky) of Fall.........

9. Wildlife, quite like wildlife, as long as its not digging up my garden, then its annoying.

10. Wind, actually I only like the wind when I am hanging out the washing to dry, as it dry a lot faster. I also like to look at the sky on a windy day, to see the clouds zoom by.

What a lame set of things don't you think???? Anyhow, if you want to play along let me know and I'll assign you a letter.......no pressure or anything though!!!

Skywatch Friday

The first two photos were taken outside of Much Music on Queen Street in Toronto last week. Its a lovely blue sky, but it was bitter cold, in the minus 30's that day. I did a couple of other posts on my "adventures" down there if you have time to read them? Part 1 Part 2 and Part 3 will be posted on Monday January 26th.

I did post this last photo on one of my other posts, it was taken the same day just down the street from Much Music, I just love this photo, it was taken as I was walking across the street, just a quick click and hope something turned out and it did. For those of you who don't know it's the CN Tower in Toronto.

For more Skywatch Photos please click on the link

No Peekin" Chicken & Double Baked Potatoes

This recipe is so simple its ridiculous!!! When the kids were in primary school the PTA put together a recipe book as a fund raiser, and all the kids could include recipes. Our two submitted the Carrot Soup Recipe. This is one of the other recipes in the book. (read through the whole post, as I did make some changes to how I did things)

Ingredients:

1 Can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 Can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 pkg Lipton Onion Soup Mix, or any dry onion soup mix
1/2 soup can milk
1 1/4 cups rice, uncooked
paprika to taste

Preheat Oven to 350oF and grease a 9" x 13" pan, I use a glass lasagna dish.

Mix soups, soup mix, milk and rice, stir evenly and place in baking pan.



Place chicken pieces on top of the soup and rice mixture, and sprinkle with paprika.



Cover tightly with foil and bake for 2 hours, and "No Peekin'!"






****Now as my dh won't pick chicken of the bones, I use either boneless skinless chicken breasts or boneless skinless chicken thighs (mind you he's not keen on the dark meat either!)

I had some mushrooms that wanted using up so I mixed them in with the rice and soup mixture.

I didn't have cream of chicken soup, so I just used two cans of mushroom soup.

I increased the milk to one full soup can, as mushrooms tend to suck up liquid.

I also popped some potatoes in the oven to cook at the same time, to make double baked potatoes.

I scooped out the middles, mashed them up with a little salt and pepper, added some mushrooms and onions that I had sauteed in a little butter to soften. Grated in some cheese and mixed it all together with the potatoes. Will pop them in the toaster oven to heat through, and will have them with salad and maybe some garlic toast.

50 + 1 Recipes for Oranges

Oranges are a great fruit and are pretty accessible for most people. Here are some recipes where you can use those oranges. If nothing else check out #9........

1. Caramelized Orange Flan

2. Fresh Cara Cara Pico De Gallo

3. Orange Pineapple Muffins

4. Sunkist Citrus Slaw

5. Glenda's Mandarin Orange Salad

6. Simple Citrus Pie

7. Grilled Chicken and Orange Salad

8. Orange Maple Sweet Potatoes

9. Orange Slice Jello Shots - Alcoholic Dessert

10. Orange Pancakes

11. Flourless Homemade Orange Cake Mix

12. Orange Scones

13. Lamb Chops in Orange Sauce

14. Orange Rice

15. Chicken and Pasta with Orange Sauce

16. Orange Cookies

17. Orange Barley Casserole

18. Orange Coconut Bread - Bread machine recipe

19. Orange Applesauce Muffins

20. Orange Nut Loaf

21. Carrot Orange Cake

22. Orange Marmalade - this is a step-by step with photos, which makes it easy to follow

23. Orange butter - super simple

24. Ambrosia

25. Orange Shortbread Cookies

26. Orange Cake

27. Orange Sour Cream Cake

28. Apricot - Orange Bread

29. Liquid Sunshine Soup

30. Mexican Orange Thins

31. Orange Butter Cookies

32. Orange Curd - we would use this like a jam, or a filling in a tart or cake

33. Orange - Olive Tapenade - they say this is a good starter

34. Duck a l'Orange Bigarade

35. Pork Fillets with Orange Sauce

36. Orange Couscous with Pine Nuts

37. Mousse au Chocolat

38. Crispy Mandarin Duck Breasts

39. Winter Pavlova with Kumquats and Blood Orange Compote

40. Ricotta Pie with saffron and orange syrup

41. One Bowl Orange Cake

42. Mandarin and Almond Cakes

43. Galaktoboureko with orange syrup (Greek custard pie)

44. Pork Ribs with Orange Sauce

45. Yoghurt Blancmange with Orange and Honey-Poached Cranberries

46. Orange Cumin Chicken

47. Beef Sirloin Stir-Fry with Orange-Garlic Sauce

48. Light Orange Cheesecake with Chocolate Glaze

49. Banana Orange Shake

50. Orange Chiffon Cake

51. Orange Sorbet

There are a couple of recipes there that I wouldn't mind trying. Hopefully there are a couple you would like to try.

Nutritional Information, please click on this link

Next week, bananas..........

Watery Wednesday

This photo was taken at the Welland Canal back in June of 2008. I actually posted a series of these photos, along with some information about the canal on this post



It was actually very interesting to watch the ships go in and out of the canal.

For more Watery Wednesday photos click on this link

Catch up time........

Well it's been snowing here, what else is new with that I suppose!!! At least it's not minus a million, it actually feels toasty warm for a change.

I am busy with my crafting. Got the 80 blocks done for my quilt top. Need to start stitching it together. I bought the batting yesterday at Michael's and used a 40% off coupon, saving $10 there, so that was good. So all in all this quilt will have cost me around $50 in total. Just so you know Michael's has a 40% off coupon on its website every week at the moment!!

I am still doing my cross stitch hoping to have that finished this week. Been making some fabric boxes, I'll tell you more about those next month, as there is a story behind them. Still haven't put together that table runner, that's on the back burner until I get some of these other projects finished. I would like to make a lot of my Christmas gifts this year, so plan on trying to do one a month.

I have to say I am really missing my laptop, and because of that I am not on the computer as much, as the laptop is convenient, whereas the desktop I have to trail upstairs to use that. So because of that I am not visiting many people's blogs, so my apologies for that.

I am trying to not go out much, as its too cold and snowy, so my goal is to go out twice a week if not once. This week isn't a good week, and I am out Monday, Wednesday and probably Thursday, as we are supposed to be getting another nasty snow storm? When I do go out I do try and run numerous errands at the same time. I am hoping next week will be better.

I took some photos of outside of the house, thought you might be interested in seeing the snow.





As you can see we have a little snow!!! Thank goodness we bought the snow blower this year, we have used it a few times.

I haven't been trying any new dishes recently, hopefully I will post a "new" recipe to you guys later on in the week, if I make it tomorrow, as its yummy.

At least we are all healthy for a change so that good news. Otherwise things are quiet around here, which is just the way I like it!!! Oh I could do with a "cleaning fairy" to come and clean the house, as I never seem to have time to do the housework nowadays???? So if anyone could spare me one, I would be ever so grateful?

*****Are you still remembering to put your 25 cents per day away in your Daily Savings Club jar/box? You should have $4 in there now....well done*****

My trip downtown part 2......

Part one was here just in case you missed it. I must say I was in two minds about talking about this, because I could end up with all sorts of strange and delightful people popping by when they do a google search.

What on earth am I talking about you say.......well me and dd are walking along Queen Street when we come across this store with these strange glass jar/vases in the window. They were really neat, and I wouldn't have minded a couple of them in the house as decorative items. However on closer inspection I see the words Marijuana and a word beginning with "H" can't remember what it was now. So of course I put two and two together and I DO GET FOUR!!! I was going to take a photo, but luckily I thought better of this, as I was concerned about being arrested. I never knew you could buy that sort of thing. By the way there was another store selling the same thing on the other side of the street.

Also on this street was a store called the Condom Shack and all it sold was condoms.........who knew that there was a store dedicated to condoms???? I mean it was an education seeing these stores!!! Then we were walking along and coming towards us was a talk stick thin person in skin tight leopard skin leggings, high heels and furry bomber jacket and big sunglasses. I mean you noticed this person, however as I said to dd when they had passed, was it a man or a woman? I was telling my friend about this and she thought he/she was probably a hooker!!!!! Hadn't thought of that.

By the way, just in case you are concerned about me being in a seedy part of town, I don't think I was. I didn't feel frightened or anything, in fact I love to go downtown to people watch as there are so many strange and unusual people around. One man passed us, swearing up a storm, it was obvious one of his personalities was having an argument with another of his personalities...LOL

Now a I am getting old story, or at least dd treats me as I am getting old and senile!! So the Toronto subway is like a U shape. We generally get on at the top right hand side and to go to downtown we get off at the bottom right hand side. However this day we had to go round the bottom of the U and get off at the bottom left hand side. Are you following me?

So dd had a meeting downtown in the afternoon, so I said that's fine I will just get on the subway and go back up to dd house and pick up my car and go home. Dd says no I will go with you, as you'll end up getting lost and her dad will "kill her." I say no I will be fine, she says no and we argue back and forward. With me finally giving in. Have to be honest just as well I gave in, as I had forgotten we were on the left side of the "U" and automatically went to get on the Northbound train, where in fact I should have got on the southbound train, to go around the bottom of the "U."

So I get a lecture from dd about how I was going to get on the wrong train and I would have got lost. Then she goes on about standing in the wrong place at the station. When we got to her stop, I got a lecture about where I was to go to get to her house, and she was going to call me later to make sure I got home....LOL Oh how the roles are being reversed, it's normally me giving the lectures!!! Needless to say I managed to get to her house without getting lost and got home fine.

By the way on our way down town we called in at Starbucks and we got a Vanilla Rooibos Tazo Tea Latte I had a two for one coupon, so we thought we'd give it a try. They were really nice, very different. As I don't take sugar in my tea or coffee, I had mine without the vanilla syrup. They are expensive though, as we got two large ones, and even with the 2 for 1 coupon it still came to just under $5, still it warmed us through while we were on the subway.

Well I think that will do for today. I will leave part 3 for another day........yes I know there is more to this day......LOL

Today's Flower

Well as we are in Canada and in the middle of winter, flowers are few and far between. However I picked up four amaryllis bulbs on sale for 94 cents each after Christmas and finally one of them is flowering. Now granted it's not fully out, but at least it is starting to flower. So this is my contribution to today's meme. Also do you remember back on January's 4th post I wrote about how I was given a bunch of flowers by my neighbour on December 29th? Well just wanted to say they are still looking good. So that will be three weeks tomorrow.







For more of Today's Flower posts click on this link

A little fairytale for you...........

One day, long, long ago, there lived a woman who did not whine, nag or bitch.

But it was a long time ago, and it was just that one day.

THE END

I would like to say thanks to Nancy for this.

It's a sad, sad day......

in that British Woman's house......my beloved red Dell Laptop has gone away for a vacation. Where you ask, to dd house. For how long, no idea.

Dd laptop went KAPUT again the other day. This isn't the first time this has happened, infact it's the fourth time it has happened. Now to cut a long and miserable story short, she faxed over her receipt to HP on Thursday and she should be getting 80% of the money back on the receipt. How she got to this point is long and painful, but basically they knew she meant business and within an hour and a half of being on the phone she was through to a case manager and had a case number etc. Which may not seem like an achievement, but believe me it was a great achievement. It can take days before a case manager speaks to you.

So as dd is still in school (final semester of her graduate studies), she needs access to the Internet. Dd boyfriend only has a desktop and it doesn't have a wireless connection which is what they need where they live. So I was gracious enough to offer up my laptop until she gets another one.

Dd was talking to HP yesterday and they seemed to think she would have her money within a month???? Dd of course doesn't want to buy another computer, until she knows for certain how much money she is getting back, and when. Which to my mind is very prudent.

So I am now having to use our desktop in the spare bedroom. I normally work on my blog and on the Internet in the family room when I am watching tv. So last night it was strange, no laptop. I sat and did some more of my cross stitch which was fine, but I am missing my little red Dell.

Dh is always saying I am addicted to the computer, and I have to finely admit I am. I just pray and hope my poor little baby is not away too long. Meanwhile I will be sitting by myself in the spare bedroom......

Had an interesting but cold day downtown Toronto....

went with dd downtown Toronto to the Queen and Spadina area as I wanted to look at some fabric stores down there, and look for some trim/notions.

We took the subway down and walked along Queen Street. One landmark we had to pass was Much Music. Here are some photos of there. Now they did have a sign on the sidewalk saying that some girl was going to be there and a tv camera, and a bright light there. However I had never heard of her and neither had dd, so we walked on, plus it was too cold to hang around anyhow.





One of the "attractions" is that they have a car smashed into the wall, here is the photo, try not to be too excited about it all!!



We had lunch at a Restaurant called "Peter Pan," which is on Queen and Peter Street. I must say despite the wait it was really good. I had a pizza and it was very tasty. Sorry about the quality of the photo, it was too cold to fiddle on trying to take the perfect shot.



This shot I took as we were walking across the street, it turned out pretty well I thought.



These poor pigeons were sitting on a doorstep, look how fluffed up they are.



I then ran out of battery on my camera.......it's always the way!!

By the way, I didn't buy as much as I would have liked, as there wasn't much I was looking for, however I'll post more on my adventures in Toronto another day.