Crafty TCB

Well, Xmas is over and just a warm fuzzy memory and the New Year is just a stone throw away.

I cooked and baked so much that the skin on my entire body felt covered in flour...

Everybody appreciated and got their seasonnal goodies...

                                     Henry found a new friend Stella of Elf on a Shelf  fame.
                                       I sure hope he behaves!

I made a fresh and lovely lunch of grilled shrimp and quinoa salad

 

                                                   And Dan made this lovely super cute birch tree for Dad.
                                                The Etsy shop might take a new direction!
                                                 I'm thinking all kinds of birch accessories!

                                                  So for now , good night and sleep tight!

So Easy

Today I will share one of my favorite holiday treats....I found this recipe in a McCall's magazine Xmas number in 1992 (but not 100% sure).

I remember the kitchen on 2nd ave in Verdun with its black and white floor and mediterraneen  feature wall...You know...mustardy yellow with sponge paint effects...You've seen some for sure.

So if I remember correctly I was on the lookout for a low call, fat free treat...And those hit the spot!

Peppermint Meringue Kisses

4 egg white room temp
3/4 to 1 cup of white granulated sugar
pinch of cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
crushed peppermint candies or candy canes

Pre-heat the oven at 175F

 I freeze the egg yolks 2 by 2 to add to recipes later

Don't forget to label the containers

 

Whip the egg whites until soft peaks form.

add the cream of tartar and when combined add

the vanilla. Then you add the sugar 1/4 cup at a time

and beat until completely dissolved.

 

Then on baking sheets lined with parchement paper,

with 2 teaspoons drop teaspoonfuls and be sure

to leave little peaks.

 Garnish with pinches of crushed candy.

I found these pepermints bits at Walmart in Plattsburg NY on a roadtrip

in November. They were approximately the same price as candy canes, and I didn't need to crush them. 

 

Cook 2 hours with the oven door slightly ajar.

Turn the oven off and leave to cool completely overnight.

 

 

Sweet and crunchy and pepperminty!

 

 

Enjoy!!!

 

 

Oh and guess who the cat dragged in?

 

 



 

Henry!!! Back from a world tour....

He will be spending Xmas with me at my house of Pyrex!

Almost Xmas!

This is the first year I feel so good @ Xmas. I feel calm, serene, in control, totally in the zone and full of Xmas joy. I think I finally realized that Xmas will never be perfect and I'm not stressed anymore.

Yesterday I baked some creme brulée, I've never made some, but I'm crossing my fingers it was super easy! It's for Veronica my step daughter, it's her favorite dessert and she orders it every chance she gets.

Here's all the ingredients and what do you know? I decided the best dishes to cook it in was the beautiful Pyrex Pixies.

Here they are ready for hot water for the bain marie. Thank god for food network! Watching all the shows helps with my technique.... 

Here's Veronica in all her Xmas glory. When I found this pic earlier this week, I cracked up I couldn't help myself! The hat and scarf are really meant for pets, My cats don't want to wear them, and I've tried numerous times....This was taken 5 years ago. I asked her permission before posting this,lol.

This morning, bright and early I baked this delicious french quatre quart (pound cake) with almonds for tomorrow. We are spending Xmas evening with friends (Like a mega sleep over) and I was asked to bring dessert...Of course this being Xmas, I couldn't just bring one thing!  

 So I'm bringing: The almond cake, Xmas shortbread, caramel corn, raspberry drop cookies and pfeffernusse (the round cookies in the box). These are my totaly fave Xmas treat!

I finally finished the tree last night. I realized that we bought a mutant totally uneven tree!

It is what it is.

We don't smoke but I love vintage ashtrays....What can a girl do? Here are my 2 faves: the brown one that doubles  as a magazine rack (1$ at a garage sale 10 years ago) and the bowling Hull heart ashtray, bought last year for 2$ at Finnegan's flea in Hudson.

Here's Henry hanging out with Santa and one of our dearly departed cats; Polpetonne (meatball), he was the nicest cat EVER and would fall asleep in my arms.

Dan is on vaccum duty, after it's shower time and the presents need to go under the tree :)

Merry Xmas to everyone!

P.s: Xmas will never, ever, ever be perfect, so take a chill pill ;)

   

Bad Miss V!

The weather has been wet and cold here in Maine. We were able to take walks between showers, shop and visit a big 16,000 feet Goodwill that contained NOTHING interesting. In its favor it was very,very clean!

If I compare it to the Sally Ann I visit...the Sally Ann is like a Petri dish and you could operate in the Goodwill! Clean but boring!

We both came down with colds so we slept a lot,watched loads of tv and are currently working on a puzzle.There is nearly nobody...it's like somedy pulled out the sidewalks, closed the town and pulled down the shades...Most everything is closed for the season. 

Henry has been laying low, waiting for the nice weather to arrive. Today was sunny and hot and we took the opportunity to go to Portland. 

Yes we took Henry with us!

We visited a candy store and Henry pestered us to buy him some chocolate dipped bacon...

(yes it looks like something else...)

Henry is finding it mighty tasty! Me not some much! If you ask me it's a definite waste of BACON!

Portland's waterfront is lovely, really, I totally urge you to go. One more tourist won't make a difference! I wonder where they all came from....
So it's 11:30 nearly time to go back to the car and try to find the restauurant that Dan picked from a magazine more than a month ago...I get in the car, reach for my water bottle, I also want to check up on Henry and his bacon...Henry? Where's Henry? Have you seen Henry? OMG I FORGOT HENRY ON THE PARKING METER!!! WHAT THE F***! I'M SUCH A BAD PERSON! POOR LITTLE ELF IN THE STRANGE CITY, HIS BELLY FULL OF BACON, WHAT IF SOMEBODY TOOK HIM! OMG! HIS FANS WILL NEVER FORGIVE ME!!!

Let me tell you I was freaking out! And Dan always the picture of calm, said we'll go back maybe he's still there. So we drive (thank god I remember where the candy store was!), I get out of the car without closing the door and I run and, and, and he's still there digesting his bacon but really pissed off at me!

So Henry made it pretty clear that I owed him lunch with drinks!

This is the place that Dan picked, it used to be a gas station.

Well Dan has really good taste (hehehe!). It was delicious and very exotic. We had tacos Al Pastor, Fish tacos, grilled beef quesadillas and mexican style corn. Henry and I had mojitos.

Henry downed his pretty fast!

 Here's what happens when elves are drunk, head over heels in the cutlery!

The sun was so warm that we drove back as fast as we could so we could hit the beach!

Have a great evening!

Oh no ! We have a stowaway!

We.ve made it to Maine safely and here's what I found last night in my bag....

HENRY!

Well I guess it's going to be a week of elf fun!

VTT: Thrifting with Henry

First I'd like to welcome my 48th follower Ally from Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. I visited her blog and it was a BLAST! From the past, I remember a lot of the same things she does!

Now today for VTT it's thrifting with Henry. After the sugarshack we had to do something to digest that mountain of fat and sugar! What better activity than thrifting? I had to check out a new thrift store in the town accross the river (Vaudreuil-Dorion). I was really impressed by the size of the place and it's cleanliness! How ever the volunteers pricing the furniture were way off. It is a thrift shop after all! So no more 30$ plastic lawn chair, ok???

The housewares were very reasonnable. Henry loves to pose near candlesticks.

 

As a matter of fact as soon as I had my head turned he would run all over the place. People are not used to see an elf ,except at Christmas,and usually not thrifting!

Oh there he is! Posing near some really neat BBQ plates!

 Or Barbecutie plates! I regret leaving those behind...Having my cupboards filled to the ri with Pyrex.....It was better to leave them for someone else!

Here's what I brought back. A lovely lemony Pyrex carafe from the 60's complete with lid. A delicious snack serving set with 4 different bowls: Potato chips,pretzels,snacks and nuts. Also from the 60's it's been barely  used and still bright and shiny! And last but not least a vintage glass Xmas tree top, mint in box as they say. The box still has the original price sticker and back then it was 39 cents!

 After all that fun, even if the fat and sugar was pilling on my hips, I could breathe again!!! See thrifting is therapeutic!!!

For more vintage fun be sure to do your Thrusday Social starting with Suzanne @ Colorado Lady ! Have a great VTT everyone!

Sugar shacking with Henry!

Last friday we went for our annual sugar shack meal. We always go to the same place, small, discreet,clean, all the meat comes from their own farm and the rest is local. As we all know elves love sugar so it was high time Henry experience this timeless tradition!

Érabliere St-Henri is really by the side of the road....I just realized that this was meant to be (Henry has the same name as the sugar shack...)

Henry is checking things out. On the table you have cretons and slaw with a maple syrup dressing. We are waiting for the french canadian pea soup.

Ham in maple syrup or cocktail sausages in maple syrup, that is THE question! Why not I sample both? thinks Henry. 

Here Henry is trying to run away with a piece of fried lard called oreilles de christ (christ's ears). No I didn't invent that. It's true and it's a bona fide part of the sugar shack experience! It's  like a thicker crunchier slice of bacon. By the way the food is really good there. And the desserts!

We had little crepes, sugar pie and maple sugar pie. We ate the crepes with butter,maple butter,maple sugar and maple syrup! I was too busy (and everyone else too) to snap some pictures of this....rats!

 

Henry! Don't drink too much of the maple water! I've told you what it does! For those who don't know...it gives you the runs....Yeah big time!

   

Next post: Henry goes thrifting to our new favorite haunt!

Friday Tidbits

TGIF! My cold is almost gone, YAY!

 I love friday,it's like the weekend is already here! And tonite I will be watching triple D (Diners,Drive-ins and Dives) as usual. I can never get enough of these charming places! I wish I could take a GINORMOUS road trip and visit them all (no time restreint and no money concerns) and not gain weight! Wow that is a big fantasy! Right along the one where I find Pyrex in the trash....
Well guess what? It happenned to this lady and I read about it in the Pyrex Love pool on Flickr....Read about it HERE !

I want to give a HUGE thank you and tons of hugs to Tracy @ Crazy Suburban Mom for the bracelet. It is lovely and made me feel like a princess! I wore it last night while country line dancing and it matches a blouse I have. Thank you,thank you,THANK YOU!

On the unpleasant side of things....While visiting all the lovely VTT folks, I stumbled upon a link that intriged me....Boy was I in for a shock! It was a post of pure hatred about Obama! And how George Bush was so much better, and how Obama was ruining the U.S, how they wanted the U.S like it was before, and christian values of the fore fathers etc...etc.... You get the picture.It was really bad. I'm always suprised to see that lack of tolerance from children of God! We all are children of God! And we need to be generous and tolerant and loving. I'm a very happy go lucky person and I strive to be positive as much as possible because I'm a firm believer in you reap what you sow. And that applies to all religions,gender,race or sex orientation .

Ok now that I've said my peace.....

FUN,FUN,FUN!

With none other than..... 

 

HENRY!!!! The bringer of joy!!!

And since he's not grounded anymore...I'm bringing him to the sugar shack! Yay baby!

(I won't forget him, I swear...he's already in my handbag!)

We are gonna gorge ourselves in various pork products and sweet,sweet maple syrup!!! NO DIET TODAY!!! HEEHAW!

And after we are all going to visit a new thrift shop! What fun! Be happy readers and have a nice weekend! 

Elf Gone WILD!!!

Like I mentionned HERE last Saturday we went on a roadtrip to Gananoque, Ontario. I had promised Henry he could come, but one thing led to another and he was left HOME ALONE!

Pinotte (peanut) my toxedo cat and always in charge when we are away was totally apalled by his behavior so she took pictures....

It seems it started innocently enough...with one beer. Need I add Henry is a small elf? One beer (and a light one at that) was all it took....

Next thing they knew Henry was hitting the hard stuff and suffering the consequences....

 

Passing out in a shaker...Oh my!

You can guess what was next....

Yep! You guessed it! Calling the moose in the big white porcelain phone!

Needless to say Henry was fast asleep when we came home...And he is soooo grounded (at least for a couple of weeks). We had to hide and lock the booze!

Until next time....

Good news and Bad news....

Ok the bad news first. We forgot Henry at home! Can you believe that??? We left him HOME ALOME with the cats...As per Pinotte (peanut) the tuxedo cat, he was really a handfull, like Elfs Gone Wild. She took a lot of pics, it's ugly people...But that's for another post....

 

Pinotte (Peanut) as she spills the beans....about Henry's behavior.

The good news is we had an amazing time and we did score some nice stuff. No burning villages, no pillaging I promise...In total we spent 9.50$ check it out!

A 70's FireKing mug (as a rule i'm not a FK person but I loooove this mug!), a Corelle sugar dish to go with the creamer I already have (Spring blossom green Pyrex pattern) and for Dan's glass and barware collection a 1975 Kentucky Derby glass.

This is a 043 1 1/2 qt Pyrex casserole in a pattern I had never seen! WOW! Not being a huge fan of brown, I just took some pics. You are reading right! I took some pics and left it there, I did not suck all the Pyrex from Ontario!!!

Last but not least, this is the piece of resistance! A bit of background story before...it is 15h45 saturday afternoon, we're taking the long way home, the scenic route along the St-Lawrence Seaway. It is GORGEOUS!!! And in Prescott we see a little place with signs in the window: Let's make a Deal! Antiques and collectables. Ok now everything closes at 4 pm in Ontario on saturdays. So Dan says: You wanna stop?  I say: Why not??? And then we see it....The skies part and a ray of thrifting God sunlight shines on it and I hear angels singing.....

OMGOMGOMGOMG!!! Look at that! A pink hamper! It would be perfect for SD's(Step Daughter) new appartment (coming in July or August). I ask the guy for a price, fully expecting 50 or 60$$$. And he says....

He says....

4 dollars!!! ok I nearly fainted amongst all the Blue Mountain Pottery! SOLD I scream!!! And we put it in the car laughing!

ok that was my Saturday....Did I mention that the hamper is in super nice condition????

Have a sunny and bright week! 

And The WINNER is...

Oufff! After a busy weekend : Thirfting 10 to 5 on Saturday and dancing my booty off yesterday (I can barely walk today...), I'm ready and so is Henry to draw the name of the winner to my FAB giveaway!
Henry dove right in! Head first in the pool of tickets!

And the winner is....

Drum roll please!

One

two

three!

Yay!!! Congratulations Cynthia! Cynthia has been a follower for a long time and I know she loves Pyrex! LOL

Please write me at valerie.barbeau@gmail.com to give me your info!

I want to thank all who entered and welcome my new followers! This has been a blast! Come back to morrow for Retro Tuesday! Bye y'all

Last Day!!!

Just to remind you that today is last day to enter my FAB giveaway!

Just go to last Friday's post to leave a comment or better still subscribe to follow my blog. Henry and I will make the draw over the weekend and I will post the result Monday Feb 1st. Sorry I can't make it sooner I have a busy, busy weekend...

Yesterday, I happened to go to the Salvation Army and lo and behold it was the manager's sale! Everything at 50% off!!! Well this brings out ALL the crazies (including me!) and the rude and obnoxious and people who don't know how to behave...By the way I'm not in the habit of being rude or obnoxious unless I'm pushed or PMSsing...

So I'm barely in the door and I see this really cute table and it's marked 3.99$ with half off it's 2.00$!!!

So I follow my number one thrifting rule: When you see something you like...grab it, you can always change your mind later. So I grab the table and this man comes up to me and says: Is this table yours? and I answer :Well I'm holding it! to which he replies: Doesn't mean that because you're holding it it's yours! And he grabs the table.
Ok by now i'm thinking that this guy is certifiable!

And I hold one to it and give him the evil eye (malocchio) he probably still has a headache from it...So that's the story of the table! A lot of people looked at me with table envy...

So I was meeting Dan for some sneaker shopping, but we didn't find anything.

On the way back we stopped at one of my fave shop 'Le Panier' in Pointe Claire

And what do I spy with my little eye??? A St-Valentine Henry in the flesh!

He's not an elf but a gnome now with wings!

My Henry was thrilled, I met one of his siblings....

Here it's so cold (minus 5 F-minus a million C) and it's windy the garbage cans are all over the place...

Tomorrow we're Crossing the border (not south but west of us) to Ontario for a day of thrifting and fun.

I'm as giddy as a school girl!

Bundle up and be safe!!!

Henry's Shopping Spree

Who knew that Henry was a shopaholic? Well certainly not me! You think you know elves!


So Henry was sucking up for a trip to the mall. It seems that working for Santa doesn't allow for a lot shoping!

First stop the ATM for some cash.

An elf can never smell too good! So Henry bought himself an English Leather gift set (eeeewww!). I didn't know they still made the stuff, it screams 1970 to me and I couldn't help myself and included a bad 1970 English Leather commercial-please get braces for that little girl with a mullet PLEASE!!!

Here Henry stopped by the drugstore to say hi to some snowmen dishes he met at Santa's workshop.I have a blue one at home that Dan nicknamed the obscene bowl. I love eating caramel corn from it.

Those are just my size! Said Henry trying on some boots. I'll take them!!! Do you realise that Henry doesn't carry all his purchases. His arms are too short! I'm the one who carries everything!!!

Last pic: Henry's taking a breather in the soft drink fridge. It was getting too hot in the mall!

Don't fall asleep Henry it's time to go home!

Don't forget to enter my fab giveaway by reading and leaving a comment on Friday January 22nd post!

A giveaway 'coz it's Friday!

Happy Friday everybody!

TGIF!!! To celebrate the end of the week and the beginning of the New Year I decided to do giveaway! YAY for the giveaway! I'm all excited, imagine that!

I will be sending to the lucky winner this beautiful JAJ Pyrex (from England) in the Toledo pattern- and other goodies yet to be determined!

To participate you need to:

1) Leave a comment

2) Follow my blog

3) If you have a blog write abou my giveaway on your blog

Each gives you an additional chance to win. You have until Friday January 29th midnight to participate. Yes I will ship internationnaly but not on other planets...sorry shipping there would kill me!

The winner will be chosen at random by none other than Henry the Xmas Elf

Seen here hanging out in a New Dots (Pyrex) 401!

Good luck to everybody! :)

Snow Fun with Henry

It has been snowing nearly everyday here and that means 2 things....Lots of shoveling and fun!

Thank god for Henry! He has been such a big help!

In the first picture Henry climbed in the cedar to survey the work to be done!

There's always time for some snow angels! Wheee!

On Dancer,on Prancer! Here's practicing for next year....One can never practice enough!

By the way Dan gave me this super cute reindeer for xmas. I had been yearning for one for quite a while! I named him Robbie. Henry and Robbie became fast friends!

Shoveling the roof is hard work! Thank god we have an elf on hand!

After all that hard work (and play), we each had a big cup of cocoa (my fingers were too frozen to take a pic!) and then a big nap!

Have a great weekend!

Guess what? it's still snowing!