Saturday, December 04, 2004
Friday, December 03, 2004
Putzing Along
It has been a busy few days, but now I can say that a few jobs are tout fini! Thank-goodness...cards are done and mailed, tree is up, house is decorated and drapes are totally finished and hung, and the upstairs is vacuumed. This morning I will vaccuum the basement and finish laundry before E returns to hang more Xmas lights outside. There were a few snowflakes coming down, but it seems to be brightening up and the wind is dying down...well, maybe not. It has been extremely windy the past few days, making it feel colder than it really is.
Last night was a little decorating party at E's office to co-ordinate with the city of Nelson's "Light up the Streets " night,where by Baker street comes alive as businesses add a string or two of lights in their windows to give the whole street a very festive look. E's office looked very good as a team of about a dozen experts all lent a hand and hung lights and snowflakes and decorated the little tree and put up angels and snowmen around the office. It was good to see such a nice turnout of staff and some of their families, as some years it was only Wendy and E. and I doing the decorating!
The nice part was the food that was ordered in from the Civic..good stuff ! 4 platters with a variety of appies ranging from a tray of roasted garlic heads with melty brie cheese and long slices of baquet on which to spread it all, to fresh veggies and dips, and a tray of 3 variety of wings, pyrogies, ribs to give everyone a great choice!
One other tasty goodie was a ball of what we determined to be mashed shrimp with some sort of zesty hotsauce mixed into it. Those were deep fried and served like bouquet of lolipops with a piece of lemon grass stalk stuck into it as the skewer. Very yummy, with a hotter sauce for dipping.
Eleanor brought a tray of 1 " tall roll-up wraps that were in fact, slices of roast beef rolled up with a filling of goat cheese dotted with tiny chopped red and green peppers for colour. They oo were tasty!
Okay, time to get down and dirty and do the basement...Have a great week-end! We'll be back Monday !
Oh yes, you can check Ferraro Foods weekly specials at the link at the top of the page...who wudda guessed they had anything online... I may have to go back there to get some good Genoa salami...the best!
"The Creator"
Last night was a little decorating party at E's office to co-ordinate with the city of Nelson's "Light up the Streets " night,where by Baker street comes alive as businesses add a string or two of lights in their windows to give the whole street a very festive look. E's office looked very good as a team of about a dozen experts all lent a hand and hung lights and snowflakes and decorated the little tree and put up angels and snowmen around the office. It was good to see such a nice turnout of staff and some of their families, as some years it was only Wendy and E. and I doing the decorating!
The nice part was the food that was ordered in from the Civic..good stuff ! 4 platters with a variety of appies ranging from a tray of roasted garlic heads with melty brie cheese and long slices of baquet on which to spread it all, to fresh veggies and dips, and a tray of 3 variety of wings, pyrogies, ribs to give everyone a great choice!
One other tasty goodie was a ball of what we determined to be mashed shrimp with some sort of zesty hotsauce mixed into it. Those were deep fried and served like bouquet of lolipops with a piece of lemon grass stalk stuck into it as the skewer. Very yummy, with a hotter sauce for dipping.
Eleanor brought a tray of 1 " tall roll-up wraps that were in fact, slices of roast beef rolled up with a filling of goat cheese dotted with tiny chopped red and green peppers for colour. They oo were tasty!
Okay, time to get down and dirty and do the basement...Have a great week-end! We'll be back Monday !
Oh yes, you can check Ferraro Foods weekly specials at the link at the top of the page...who wudda guessed they had anything online... I may have to go back there to get some good Genoa salami...the best!
"The Creator"
The house is decorated, including my little Teddy Bear diorama..I'm still looking for a cute little white furry bear...Whitey? Just teasing Mads, as that is the name of her teddy!
Nuts and Bolts
I used a variety of cereals: Shreddies,Cheerios and the new yellowish one called Crispex. It is a corn chex kind of cereal..very good! It adds a light crunchy texture.I also added pretzels, mixed nuts,peanuts, goldfish and a ( non traditional) package of Hickory sticks. You just mix all of that together in a big roasting pan and over top you drizzle a mixture of melted butter and or margarine ( 1/2 to 1 cup total) that has had about two tablespoons of Worcestshire sauce and Soya sauce ( something I omitted by accident), added, and a couple of tablespoons of celery salt, as well as garlic powder..about a tblsp or more of that. Bake in a slow oven at 200* for 2 hours, stirring every half hour or so. As Lynn said, the flavours sink in after the mixture has sat for a week or so, improving with age, so don't over season to begin with. Happy Munching. No this isn't on the South Beach diet..just the nuts are! Get it?
Tuesday, November 30, 2004
FotoWire
FotoWire
This is an online photo developing service that connects to your local photo shop, so you can send digital pics, and pick the prints up at the shop nearest you. This is excellent for enlargements as well. Locally you can connect to Vogue Studios in Nelson or Castlegar.
You will first need to download and install the Fotowire software that allows you to send the pics. You pay when you do the pick-up...Pretty simple eh?
Link
This is an online photo developing service that connects to your local photo shop, so you can send digital pics, and pick the prints up at the shop nearest you. This is excellent for enlargements as well. Locally you can connect to Vogue Studios in Nelson or Castlegar.
You will first need to download and install the Fotowire software that allows you to send the pics. You pay when you do the pick-up...Pretty simple eh?
Link
Canadian Avalanche Association - avalanche.ca
Canadian Avalanche Association - avalanche.ca
Check here before you go into the back country. We are already having avalanches in this area. I'll put this on my Linkies site also, for easy access.
Link
Check here before you go into the back country. We are already having avalanches in this area. I'll put this on my Linkies site also, for easy access.
Link
CBC.ca - The Greatest Canadian
CBC.ca - The Greatest Canadian
Congratulations to the winner: Tommy Douglas... They were all remarkable in their own areas, but I think this man changed the lives of every Canadian for the better..and after all, it was about the "Greatest Canadian" and doing thing for all Canadians , not just for special interest groups.
Link
Congratulations to the winner: Tommy Douglas... They were all remarkable in their own areas, but I think this man changed the lives of every Canadian for the better..and after all, it was about the "Greatest Canadian" and doing thing for all Canadians , not just for special interest groups.
Link
Archives are back, teeth are cleaned.
Thank-you to blogger support for fixing whatever it was that was broken. I can physically see no alterations to any of my settings or template so it is a mystery, but I am just happy that all is back to normal now! It made me not want to blog when I was working on a defective product.Thus, my archives are back! Yay!
I had my teeth cleaned this morning.
Still not the most pleasant operation in the world, but it is done for another six months anyhow. Dan Kuiper is the third dentist I have tried out, but I like this guy, so we'll stick with him!
Okay, the tree is up, and decorated, the cards are mailed, and speaking of mailing...what a fiasco at the Shopper's Drug Mart post office yesterday!
In front of me was a rather plumpish, older, kind of frumpy, woman dressed in a heavy, rusty red wooly winter coat. She had in front of her, on the counter, a beat-up large cardboard box, all duct taped at the handles, and plum full of padded envelopes, each quite stuffed and there were dozens!
She turned to me and said very bluntly,"I'll be at least 15 minutes."
I replied:"Thats okay, I have to mail this stuff whether it is a 15 minute wait or not." After a time of listening to the converstaion between her and the Clerk, I gathered it was a common ritual..maybe even an everyday one. I then remarked: "Canada post has an on-line service that allows you to print off your own postage , which might be a beneficial service if you are doing this great amount of parcels all the time."
She then said, " Oh, Al is way to cheap to do that, and he'd just never go to that trouble. He just wouldn't do it. He'd have to buy one of those scales and they are really expensive! ( Clerk mutters: "it would be worth it for the volume that you guys do." Plump woman ignores her and continues to talk." Besides, I like to give 'her, (nodding to the clerk),something to do." ( and the other nine people now inthe line-up!)
The clerk agreed that Al was indeed, too cheap and they switched the topic to moose hunting, noting that the Kosiansic girl got a moose all by herself and did the clerk's husband get an elk. No, he just guides elk hunters, doesn't shoot them himself- they like moose. Everyone in the growing line-up shifts their feet and parcels one more time.
All her parcels were going to the USA.
The line of people now snaked clear down the magazine aisle and was nearly out the door to the mall. Some had already left saying they were late and out of time. Some one asked for a piece of blank paper. Another clerk asked the Postal gal, if she was allowed to give out cash, if the customer used her Interact card and needed an extra 20 dollars. Yes, that was ok.
Stock arrived on a huge pallet barely being pushed by a child sized clerk who looked too anaemic to get the job done. The line of people all shuffled backwards a few steps to allow the stocked dolly to pass into the unknown room behind the doors.
I noticed that the bundle of plump lady's parcels were all being shipped to the USA, so I casually said: "You must be shipping a pile of drugs to the Americans." ( Har-har!)
WOW!
The plump lady whipped around almost yelled at me,"SO WHAT IF I AM! If you heard their stories-they can't afford to buy the drugs there!"
"I was now muttering, "Well I guess that is one way to make a bunch of money " ( and under my breath - off the poor people!)" I had known that Nelson was a meca for not only growing drugs, but now it looks like shipping is big too!
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as she payed up and now it was my turn and I'll tell you, that postie was in a bad mood by then. The line-up was out the other end of the store, parcels that were too heavy to hold, were now stacked up on the counter. Everyone's coats were draped over their arms. Kids were crying, and she took it out on me!
She became grumpy when she had to figure out the excess postage that I needed on a couple of cards to the states. She snapped at me: " You have that WHOLE PILE of cards to do??????" I said,"No, only these two...just give me 25, 1 cent stamps for the rest...,the parcel can be sent express and I'll take a package of stamps-Christmas ones.
She grumped back at me"Christmas ones?" "Yes, Christmas ones," I repeated.
Good thing I didn't ask her for an extra twenty in cash.
Good thing the rest of the customers didn't strike out, start shouting or throwing things.
It must be the Christmas spirit and all that. Thank-you for humility, thank you for the greatest Canadians, right here in Nelson.If I ever see the plump lady with the box again...I'll go shopping at Walmart instead.
"The Creator"
I had my teeth cleaned this morning.
Still not the most pleasant operation in the world, but it is done for another six months anyhow. Dan Kuiper is the third dentist I have tried out, but I like this guy, so we'll stick with him!
Okay, the tree is up, and decorated, the cards are mailed, and speaking of mailing...what a fiasco at the Shopper's Drug Mart post office yesterday!
In front of me was a rather plumpish, older, kind of frumpy, woman dressed in a heavy, rusty red wooly winter coat. She had in front of her, on the counter, a beat-up large cardboard box, all duct taped at the handles, and plum full of padded envelopes, each quite stuffed and there were dozens!
She turned to me and said very bluntly,"I'll be at least 15 minutes."
I replied:"Thats okay, I have to mail this stuff whether it is a 15 minute wait or not." After a time of listening to the converstaion between her and the Clerk, I gathered it was a common ritual..maybe even an everyday one. I then remarked: "Canada post has an on-line service that allows you to print off your own postage , which might be a beneficial service if you are doing this great amount of parcels all the time."
She then said, " Oh, Al is way to cheap to do that, and he'd just never go to that trouble. He just wouldn't do it. He'd have to buy one of those scales and they are really expensive! ( Clerk mutters: "it would be worth it for the volume that you guys do." Plump woman ignores her and continues to talk." Besides, I like to give 'her, (nodding to the clerk),something to do." ( and the other nine people now inthe line-up!)
The clerk agreed that Al was indeed, too cheap and they switched the topic to moose hunting, noting that the Kosiansic girl got a moose all by herself and did the clerk's husband get an elk. No, he just guides elk hunters, doesn't shoot them himself- they like moose. Everyone in the growing line-up shifts their feet and parcels one more time.
All her parcels were going to the USA.
The line of people now snaked clear down the magazine aisle and was nearly out the door to the mall. Some had already left saying they were late and out of time. Some one asked for a piece of blank paper. Another clerk asked the Postal gal, if she was allowed to give out cash, if the customer used her Interact card and needed an extra 20 dollars. Yes, that was ok.
Stock arrived on a huge pallet barely being pushed by a child sized clerk who looked too anaemic to get the job done. The line of people all shuffled backwards a few steps to allow the stocked dolly to pass into the unknown room behind the doors.
I noticed that the bundle of plump lady's parcels were all being shipped to the USA, so I casually said: "You must be shipping a pile of drugs to the Americans." ( Har-har!)
WOW!
The plump lady whipped around almost yelled at me,"SO WHAT IF I AM! If you heard their stories-they can't afford to buy the drugs there!"
"I was now muttering, "Well I guess that is one way to make a bunch of money " ( and under my breath - off the poor people!)" I had known that Nelson was a meca for not only growing drugs, but now it looks like shipping is big too!
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as she payed up and now it was my turn and I'll tell you, that postie was in a bad mood by then. The line-up was out the other end of the store, parcels that were too heavy to hold, were now stacked up on the counter. Everyone's coats were draped over their arms. Kids were crying, and she took it out on me!
She became grumpy when she had to figure out the excess postage that I needed on a couple of cards to the states. She snapped at me: " You have that WHOLE PILE of cards to do??????" I said,"No, only these two...just give me 25, 1 cent stamps for the rest...,the parcel can be sent express and I'll take a package of stamps-Christmas ones.
She grumped back at me"Christmas ones?" "Yes, Christmas ones," I repeated.
Good thing I didn't ask her for an extra twenty in cash.
Good thing the rest of the customers didn't strike out, start shouting or throwing things.
It must be the Christmas spirit and all that. Thank-you for humility, thank you for the greatest Canadians, right here in Nelson.If I ever see the plump lady with the box again...I'll go shopping at Walmart instead.
"The Creator"
Feta-Spinach Salmon Roast with Desert of Strawberry Mousse
Food Network: Feta-Spinach Salmon Roast Link to this page and then scroll down for this recipe that Sonia suggested to me and I made tonight...to die for! It was deeeeeelicious! I used those itty bitty rainbow trout steaks( It calls for fillets) and butter-flied them open enough that I could stuff the feta and phili stuffing into the cavity...I added the remainder of the filling to the top, then set it all in to roast for about 30 minutes... Marna came down for dinner and vouched for how tasty iit was. I may make this for my dinner party on Saturday night...Who couldn't love it? I think one could stuff any fish with that mixture and come out looking gourmet. I added dill, salt and pepper and a lemon dill herb mix that I have, to the cheese mixture. They tasted like Spanokapetas! Make that Salmonkapetas!
Thanks Sonia...
The desert was yummy too.. a mouse - no, not a mouse...a moose- hmm, a desert made with lemon jello and frozen strawberries and a bit of whipping cream or half and half. I mixed up a pkt of lemon jello with 1 cup of boiling water until it dissolved, then poured the lemon jello into my food processor ( a blender would work), then added about 2 cups of semi-frozen strawberries that I had already added some sugar to prior to freezing. Whip the mixture up until it is blended and a little frothy. Pour in a few tablespoons of the cream and continue to whip,until the mixture turns a creamy pink . Pour into some tall wine goblets or sherbert glasses and set outside on the balcony table to cool and set ( or in your real fridge!) By the time the salmon cooked and we had eaten it, the deserts were ready except for the garnish...a fresh strawberry sliced and fanned on top. THis was so easy and so good. I think I will try raspberry ones sometime!
Link
Thanks Sonia...
The desert was yummy too.. a mouse - no, not a mouse...a moose- hmm, a desert made with lemon jello and frozen strawberries and a bit of whipping cream or half and half. I mixed up a pkt of lemon jello with 1 cup of boiling water until it dissolved, then poured the lemon jello into my food processor ( a blender would work), then added about 2 cups of semi-frozen strawberries that I had already added some sugar to prior to freezing. Whip the mixture up until it is blended and a little frothy. Pour in a few tablespoons of the cream and continue to whip,until the mixture turns a creamy pink . Pour into some tall wine goblets or sherbert glasses and set outside on the balcony table to cool and set ( or in your real fridge!) By the time the salmon cooked and we had eaten it, the deserts were ready except for the garnish...a fresh strawberry sliced and fanned on top. THis was so easy and so good. I think I will try raspberry ones sometime!
Link
Check out the Shopping Tab !
Stuck for something to buy? Know what you want, but don't know where to get it? This is the website for you if you live around the Kootenays!
Link
Sunday, November 28, 2004
Sawhet owl, in for a visit
Sorry about the lack of clarity, as this photo is a cropped version of the original that I took in a hurry through the patio door when I spied this cute little guy peering above the bird feeder.
Unfortuneately, I scared him away when I tried to open the patio door to catch a better photo. I hope he returns! Seems to me we had one here last year just as E was putting up the Christmas lights. The sawhet owl landed in the tree just above his head to see what he was up to!
I hope this little guy sticks around...he could go ahead and move into the owl house that I put up for the flickers, as they have no serious interest in the house, by the looks of it!
The moon was still out this morning as the sun started hitting the tops of the mountains to the north west of us.
CBC.ca - The Greatest Canadian - VotingCanadian
CBC.ca - The Greatest Canadian - Voting
You still have an hour and a half to vote for the "Greatest Canadian"!
Cast a vote for the great Tommy Douglas!..Did I ever know that Keifer Sutherland was his grandson?Donald Southerland is my all time favourite actor. He must be Tommy's son-in-law. Thats ok, I'll go with that!
Well. what are you waiting for ...vote..The phone lines are jammed, might as well email it. Check CBC tomorrow night to see who wins
Link
You still have an hour and a half to vote for the "Greatest Canadian"!
Cast a vote for the great Tommy Douglas!..Did I ever know that Keifer Sutherland was his grandson?Donald Southerland is my all time favourite actor. He must be Tommy's son-in-law. Thats ok, I'll go with that!
Well. what are you waiting for ...vote..The phone lines are jammed, might as well email it. Check CBC tomorrow night to see who wins
Link
