Sorry I've been so quiet!

Things have been quite hectic of late. I off to Miami today! YAY! Will fill you in on that and post some pics when I get back late next week!

Hunted. Happy Olympics.

Luge

Promotion of a non-traditional lifestyle or just plain Olympic fun? You decide...

Helicopter Dick!

Happy 2014!

Hey all! Just checking in. 2013 is now behind us and 2014 is upon us. You did all put up new calendars, right?

We had a fairly quiet Christmas, making the usual visits to Brad's dad's on Christmas Eve and to his sister's on Christmas Day for the big dinner. And we hosted our annual party on NYE for friends and neighbours. We had a few more people than expected, but there was lots of food and good cheer. The new year was rung in appropriately with bubbly around our cosy fire.

We've needed our fire recently as it has been cold, cold, COLD! And we've had plenty of snow as well. So far, it's been a very old fashioned Canadian winter. The snowbanks are already waist deep, which usually only happens in February or March! From a low of minus 28 C this morning we are going to a high of plus 10 C on Monday (with rain). Ugh. The countdown is now on to South Beach in the middle of next month! I really can't wait!

I finally today got a refill for my daily flip calendar for my office desk. As I was going over last year's after I replaced it, I noted that at this time last year, I was biking 27 km in 57 minutes on the stationary! Holy crap. Even I was impressed! I'm now struggling to do 37 minutes (around 16.5 km), which I've been doing perhaps twice a week. That is about to change! I'm going to start biking every other day and work my way back up to 57 minutes. A slouch no more! And my wishywashiness has certainly been reflected on the scales - I'm now about 15 lb. heavier than I was at this time last year. So, in addition to biking every other day, I'm also going to renew my membership at the pool and start swimming at least 3 times a week.

Brad also bought me a pair of snowshoes yesterday, and tomorrow we're going snowshoeing with our good friends Shaun and Mary. That should be a good workout in itself! I'll try to take some pics to share!

My other resolution is to buckle down with my Rosetta Stone Russian course and apply myself to learning more of that language. I'll also keep you posted on how that is going.

Anyway, enough babbling on. I wish you all a very happy new year that is blessed with good health, peace, and prosperity!

I leave you with a few pics taken on Christmas Day in our backyard. We've since received at least another foot and a half of snow!

С Новым Годом!

Snowstorm Coming

Hey all. Sorry I've been so quiet lately. Not a whole lot going on. I can't believe it will be Christmas in less than two weeks. I've got most of my cards done, though I've chopped my card list big time this year. Every year it seems to take more of an effort and this year moreso than most. Up until the last few days, work has been crazy busy and I just haven't had the time or the energy to stand in lines and shop for things. Christmas has become way too commercial. This year will be fewer cards and presents and decorations and more cooking and spending quality time with friends and family. The way it should be, I guesss.

In other more exciting news, Brad will be going skiing out west for a week in late January, and I - along with good friends Paul and Ron - am heading back to Miami/South Beach in February for a week of sun and fun and the South Beach Wine and Food Festival! Can't wait!

I especially dreaming of the South Flordia sunshine today as it is bitterly cold here (wind chill of minus 34 C here this morning) and we are expecting a major snowstorm tomorrow and Monday. I stocked up on food at the grocery store and brought in a lot of wood from the garage to feed our fireplace insert tomorrow. A warm fire and lots of cooking - the making of a perfect snow day!

Stay warm!

Twenty-three!

It was twenty-three years ago today that Brad and I met. November 9, 1990. Wow. We're going out to dinner tonight to celebrate.

The Making of... Royals

Jeez, I am really liking this gal! And she is just barely 17... What an amazing talent. Madonna, Gaga, and Adele got nothing on her!

Royals...

The Lorde Version:



And the Canadian Borde version:

Coffee anyone?

#FlexLikeCarrie

Tantrum!

This clip really cracks me up. Apparently the 6-year-old daughter is thowing a tantrum, which has been going on for almost an hour according to the mother, or originally posted the video. I think the girl is still in her room and can't see her father, but she sure hears her brothers laughing! Dad is an amazing lip-sync!

Indulge 2013 (contd)

So our Indulge Weekend continued the next morning with me walking Jasper first thing and then Brad and I having breakfast at the Inn. Nine times out of Ten I will go for the Eggs Benny, which is what I did both Saturday and Sunday mornings. Delish. Complimented by just a few homes fries and some fresh fruit. We then hooked up with Paul and Ron at the Market and walked around there, taking in all the sights and sounds and smells! After a bit, Brad decided he wanted to try to find a rental cottage that we might be interested in renting sometime in the future. We all parted ways and agreed to reconnect at the liquor store at 1:30, which was the time the wine trail started. A wine trail is similar to a pub crawl, except that it's done in daylight and generally, more wine than beer is involved. We decided to start at the liquor store as it was at the end of the street and make our way down from there. It was all kind of ho-hum until we happened upon a place with beer on tap (mostly Austrian), which was very good, and they also had some GREAT nibbles! Lots of great bread and yummy charcuterie (Shhh - some of us still pretend to be vegetarian!). Then it was off to a place where they had single malt scotch. Nice and peaty - yum! We then ended up at the best stop of all on the wine trail, where Mission Hill wines (from B.C.) were on offer. The pours were generous and the reps (Tyler and Jill) were great! Mission Hill recently won an award for having the best Pinot Noir (in the world, I think?). The white wine was also good. There were real glass wine glasses and, as I say, nice pours! We stayed for a couple of samples! Eventually, Brad left to go back to the Inn to let Jasper out and give him his supper. We agreed to meet up at the last stop on the wine trail, which was also the place where we would be having dinner that evening. In the interim, we also connected with some of Paul's friends and had a drink with them. Then, it was on to dinner! It was all set up in one of those gigantic tents with windows. Bales of hay with planks on top for sitting. Tyler and Jill, the Mission Hill reps whom we had met earlier in the day, ended up sitting right beside me. (Let me just say, as a result, the wine flowed freely all evening! :))The tables were beautifully laid out and the food was absolutely delish: Beausoleil oysters (done 4 ways) with Mission Hill Five Vineyards Pinot Grigio; Smoked salmon terrine with canadied Acadian Sturgeon (with Mission Hill Five Vineyards Pinot Noir); Roasted buttercup squash soup with spiced pumpkin (with Mission Hill Perpetua Chardonnay); Merlot slow-braised short ribs with purple shiso-chives blue cheese "gnocchi", parsnip crisps, nasturtium oil) (with Mission Hill Compendium - and man, I must say, if you get a chance to grab a bottle of this, by all means, go for it!); topped off by a dark chocolate mousse cake with hazelnut feuilletine for dessert (with Henkell Trocken sparkling rosé). Uh-huh...

Indulge 2013!

So once again this year Brad and I headed down to the beautiful town of Saint Andrews for the 2013 editon of the Indulge NB festival. I think this was our third time to attend the decadent weekend on the coast. Usually it's held the weekend after Canadian Thanksgiving (which is this weekend, incidently), but this year the organizers decided to hold it the weekend before Thankgiving (Oct. 4 to 6). As usual, we went with our good friends Paul and Ron. We took last Friday off and arrived in Saint Andrews around 4:00 p.m. Brad and I and Jasper checked into our room at the Inn and then hooked up with Paul and Ron, who were staying in a cottage down the street a bit. The weather was beautiful (sunny and warm) the entire weekend, by the way. Between 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. on Friday, a lot of the shops and restaurants on the main street had appetizers and wine and other drinkables on hand for $2 a pop. It was a great idea, but we ate more than we should have, as we had a 7-course meal booked back at our Inn at 6:45.

Here is the menu from Friday night:

Glass of sparkling wine served with
Buttercup Squash purée
(vanilla infused, parsnip crisps, prosciutto dust, parsley oil, micro greens)

Glass of Sauvignon Blanc served with:
Croque Madamme
(crushed baby potatoes with olive oil, crisp bacon, chiabata crouton, arugula, soft poached egg with mustard ice cream)

Lobster Cake
(wasabi sour cream, potato "swiss cheese", corn shoot)

Charcuterie
(prosciutto wrapped pork terrine, Waldorf salad, Sauce Cumberland)

Bay of Fundy Scallop
(Bay of Fundy scallop, quinoa tabbouleh salad, sweet potato silk)

Glass of Shiraz Cabernet served with:
Surf & Turf
(Pork tenderloin filet in parsley panko crust, blueberry jus, scalloped potatoes, blackened salmon filet, saffron beurre blanc, baby carrots)

Glass of ice wine & brandy served with:
Sessert Sampler Trio
(Rote grütze with crème Anglaise, Baileys cheeze cake, hazelnut truffle)

All that was just $75 (including drinks), and for good measure, we had another couple of bottles of wine to wash it all down. Needless to say, by the end of the meal we were stuffed! Brad and I walked back to Paul and Ron's cottage for a night cap and made it back to our Inn around midnight.

I'll recap Saturday soon!

Tennis Court

Music by Lorde:

More Cookbooks!

I indulged my cookbook addiction on the weekend and ordered two new books from Chapters online. One was "Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking: A Memoir of Food and Longing" by Anya Von Bremzen. It's written as an autobiographical story and has no recipe pics.

The second book was "Plenty" by Yotam Ottolenghi - co-author of "Jeruselem," a book I bought last year and is great! Plenty is completely vegetarian, and I've been wanting to pick it up for some time now. It's got all the bells and whistles as far as recipe pics go.

They arrived today. I can't wait to read and make dishes from both!

Cheers and Bon appétit!

What are You Reading?

I just finished Neil Gaiman's "The Ocean at the End of the Lane," and I recommend it highly. A very quick, but thought-provoking read. The author was recommended by Chris Kluwe (you must know who he is, right?). His book, which I also read this summer, "Beautifully Unique Sparkleponies," is also a TERRIFIC read.

Eat Fresh, Not Crow!

Hopeless Wanderer

Neat ditty. For my Brad.

Busy summer weekend!

Hey all. Just checking in quickly. Brad and I have had a very busy weekend; making hay while the sun shines, so to speak. And shine it has for the past couple of days (after seemingly unending weeks of rain). Yesterday and today have been magnificent- sunny and warm with a great breeze to keep the bugs at bay while outside. I got up early yesterday morning and walked Jasper and then went to the local farmers' market. I made only two purchases: fresh garlic and 4 bunches of basil. I'm sure those of you who've been reading for a while know what I did with those purchases! You got it, more pesto! I made two batches this morning; one for the fridge and one for the freezer, so we can have a little taste of August some cold December day. I've got two batches frozen so far and may try to sock away another couple before the season ends. I also made a blueberry pie yesterday, which Brad claims is the best I've ever made! I had a tiny sliver and do admit, it's pretty gall darn good.

Last night and tonight as well we dined al fresco on the back deck. On offer last night was local corn on the cob (which I claimed was the best I've ever eaten) and Swiss chard (with blueberry pie for dessert). Tonight, it was pasta and pesto with a little canned tuna and some of Brad's homemade pita bread. Yum! I really have to start taking more photos!

Brad has been in the kitchen from noon on and he's still there as I speak, making pickles. Dilly green bean pickles, beet pickles, pickled carrots, etc. He'll be pickling away for most of the evening, as well, I think. Smells amazing, and I definitely will take a couple of pics of the finished products!

Oh, and then Brad cleaned all the downstairs windows yesterday and I mowed the back lawn today. Like I said, a very busy summer weekend!

Here are some basil/pesto pics. Cheers!

Cannonball!

Will wrap up our trip to Spain in the days ahead, in the meantime, I simply cannot resist putting this out there! Shaun doing a cannonball jump into our pool at the villa! Good stuff!

I also send out my condolences to the friends and families of the victims of the recent train wreck in Spain. So very sad. And there, as they say, but for the grace of God, go I. We took a number of high-speed trains when we were in Spain.

More soon....