Bye Bye 2010

Well well well, another year gone by. Time does fly the older you get. That is a totally freaky concept!

2010 had it's bad moments: think PCOU (postal counter of unjoy), having to reconnect with family members I hadn't seen in 30 years when my mother passed-That is for another post. No wonder I hadn't seen them in 30 years, I saw a lot of judgement in their eyes, people you never knew the whole story.

But it had it's great moments too: I spent 2 weeks in Maine (one of my all-time favorite places), I got a job (PCOU), we have less debt than before, we finally re-did the hall, I lost 30 pounds, I made great friends, I feel so much better about myself both physically and mentally (it's true what they say about the 40's). The Dan meister and I are more in love today than 20 years ago.
I got interviewed about Pyrex for a Toronto newspaper, One of my pics made it to Explore on Flickr. I conquered roast beef,turkey and creme brulée. All nuggets of JOY!
 I measure my life in joy. If I mostly remember joy than the year was a success! I try to find joy everywhere I can, it's what keeps me going!

Xmas Eve appetizer: Cheese fondue with green salad. Vintage Xmas tablecloth, vintage salad plates, Pyrex bowls and zero alcool bubbly.

The 2010 vintage scene was amazing! But not a lot of Pyrex...

Oh well better luck next year!

For 2011 I want a great job where they will appreciate me and my work and where I will make a decent salary (no minimum wage). I might get a call in January....

I want to hop back on the weight loss bandwagon, my journey is not done!

I want to overhaul the flower borders; there's a lot of mayhem there, tons of weeds!

I want to read more, watch less TV (like that could happen!)

And redo the living room/dining room. We have a paint color chosen and a new vintage couch so we need to get a move on!

That's yours truly with the pie bear of Puzzle Mountain Bakery in Maine (near Poland Springs).

Wishing you a great New Year! May all your dreams,resolutions, projects and whatnot come true. May you have the strenght to follow trough.

But most of all Merry Thrifting and use your Pyrex!  

  

Xmas Rocked!

I was sooo spoiled this year; I must've been extra good ;)

I got a Sony Ereader touch edition. This is really cool. By the way Sony people....we are not just born knowing all the stuff you don't put in the user guide! It took me 2 hours to figure out where the instructions were and dowload a free book. The free books could use an update too, how about a free Stephen king or James Patterson? I also got the protective jacket with nightlight. 

An LLBean Paid sage comforter cover. This adds an extra layer of delicious warmth to the winter bed! garanteed to attract warm felines.

LLBean Evergreen flannel sheets. I can't wait to change the bed! lol

These will look soooo good with the comforter cover!

I also got gift cards; I'm going shopping! Oh yes! A paint by number painting, really cute with the sea and sandpipers, a turquoise dickies watch (couldn't find a pic on the web), makeup,skin care,multiple lip balms, art books, a scarf and gloves set (perfect for interviews), tons of chocolate. Delicious chocolate...thank god I'm spending much of my days in sweats! LOL

On the free ebooks I downloaded a christian novel (yes you read that right) out of curiosity. The only religious book I've read before was the bible. The novel is called the Potluck club it's an ok book, but I've never seen so much medling and judging, all in the name of the lord! I wouldn't be surprised if a woman got stoned, it is that judgemental. On the plus side it made me realize that I have an opened heart and I judge so much less than I thought.

While searching the net for those christian chocolates I'd seen in Massena I found these....Testamints.

 http://www.christiancandy.com/ 

They have a distribution office in Canada and even some commercials. Who knew?

I don't think christian candy would enhance my faith.

What about you? Would candy affect your faith? How about a novel?

Retro Tuesday: The bread stuffing story

It's funny how simple stories have a way of sticking with me. I'm writing it today so I won't forget it. It really started about 15 years ago but it is really a lot older than that; make it in the 40's.

So when we moved in the burbs, my mother in law would come over on Xmas eve and stay until New Year. She was the queen of the Xmas meal, waking up at 5 am on Xmas morning and starting the turkey.

I was really bewildered by this as my mother had never made turkey (or roasts) so the whole process totally panicked me. To up the anty my head was full of stories of ill cooked turkeys; think National Lapoom Xmas vacation or even my paternal grandmother uttering : it's dry! Like a death penalty.

My mother in law would get up every 30 minutes and baste the bird with strong tea and then go back to her nap. Near the end of the cooking time she would prepare the bread stuffing which consisted of regurlar stretchy bread (wonderbread), onions and poultry seasonning and maybe some chicken stock. She never mesured, which freaked me out some more and if i would ask questions on the quantities the answers were: like so or a lot. No help at all!
Anyways the turkey was always perfect (never dry, you would've like it Gran-mimi) and the stuffing delicious! I remember hating the stuffing with a passion growing up because Gran-Mimi added inside stuff, you know gizzards and neck and eeewww crap like that. My father thrives on this stuff by the way :)

So since she can't cook anymore, I've taken over turkey duty; but to tell the truth I never cook it for Xmas. I cook it in late January or whenever I feel like it. I don't want to be tied down to certain Holiday foods. My turkey never tastes like hers and it can be dry at times.... And this year I'd bought a freezer to oven bird so I could cook it whenever I feel like it.
 
So we are over at my Dad's and after a delicious meal of spaghetti Carbonara (I swear he makes the BEST in the world), he started telling us stories of when he was a boy. Of course you didn't waste anything back then; so all the leftover bread would go in a cotton bag that Gran-Mimi had embroided with the word BREAD when she was a girl. When she had enough bread; she would make either bread soup, bread crumbs or bread pudding.
My dad was quick to add that as a boy he didn't like bread soup. It was a lot like french onion soup minus the cheese.

 So right then and there I decided that I was going to cook the turkey the next day and make stuffing with rock hard bread that I've had for a while waiting to be blitzed in bread crumbs. I softened some celery and onions in olive oil, dumped them in my bowl of dried bread pieces, added some Bell seasonning (my poultry seasonning of choice), salt,pepper, garlic powder and moistened with chicken stock and some of the turkey drippings. I poured it in a trusty Pyrex casserole and in the oven it went, for 1 hour. 30 minutes covered with foil and 30 minutes without to crunch up the top.  

   

It was delicious!

So for this success I have to thank 2 great ladies: Gran-Mimi and my mother in law Réjeanne.

So for more Retro Tuesday fun head on over to Jersey @ http://www.crazysuburbanmom.com/ 

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 ;)

   

Xmas Dreams Come True!

On tuesday I blogged about the vintage treasures I found on both sides of the border. Now it is time to show you the real reason we crossed the border...

New England Coffee seasonnal blends! We got eggnog and gingerbread cookie. I never had eggnog so this is a gamble, but we'll see...hehehe

Coffee Mate seasonnal flavors. Sugar & Spice is how shall I put it....I'm at loss for words....Ok I got it

TOTALLY GROSS! I'll have to try it again tomorrow morning just to be sure....but eeewww! A plasticy chemical taste and yes I checked the expiration date.

The peppermint mocha is quite tasty and christmassy.

Fat Free Jell-O pudding I've never tasted! Ok the pumpkin spice is not fat free but it is seasonnal.

oooh bad picture alert! I noticed that my battery was dangerously low....Wet'n'Wild make-up @ 40% off with the wellness card. That means I paid .59cents each  for the tall bottles of nail polish. I also got lipstick and lipgloss. The bronzer was not on sale but is 7$ less than here so a deal in itself.

I also noticed some christian Xmas candy on the shelves, that is weird! Is the candy blessed? If you know I'd like to know.

Needless to say I'll be sure heading back across the  border sometime in Spring!

Something Sweet!

Well the countdown to Xmas is here! Only 2 shopping days....I did a bit of shopping in one of my favorite store Le Panier (The Basket) it is located in Pointe Claire village and it always reminds me of cool store you would find in New England in the 70's.

OOoooh Xmas goodies! In the background some bulk Green Mountain Coffee (one of the only places I know who carries it outside of New England)

I want some of that!

Those penguins are just too cute :)

Table accessories perfect for your Xmas tablescapes.

It's always a magical visit; even if I don't buy anything ;)

This evening I was busy fixing some sweet treats as gifts and for snacking!

My first recipe is perfect for us who watch what we eat (most of the time at least)

It's fat free....and it packs a crunchy,minty satisfying crunch!

Peppermint Meringue Kisses

Heat oven to 175F and put racks in top of oven

4 room temperature egg whites

1 cup sugar

1 pinch cream of tartar

1 pinch salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 finely crushed  peppermint candy canes

Beat egg whites until soft peaks form, add salt and cream of tartar. Beat until combined, add sugar and beat until disolved, add vanilla and beat until combined.

Drop by teaspoon on a baking sheet covered with aluminum or parchment. They will look all spikey and uneven, and that's what you want. Sprinkle with crushed candy cane and put in oven. With 4 egg whites I make  about 60 kisses which cover 1 1/2 cookie sheet. You need to cook the kisses for 2 hours with the oven door ajar. After 1 hour I rotate the cookie sheets, i.e: The one on top goes on the lower rack and vice & versa. After 2 hours let the oven door ajar and turn it off. Let cool.

I usually do this in the evening so I let them cool over night.

I go the meringue recipe more than 15 years ago in the Good Housekeeping. They have been a hit in my family since then.....A good sugar buzzzzzz

 

Speaking of sugar buzz! This is my famous caramel corn. I got the recipe in 2008 from a blog I still follow. The Flowering Dogwood is a life blog but mostly about food. You can read it HERE . As for the recipe it's pretty deep in the archives....but I'm pasting here for all of you to enjoy!

Caramel Corn

2 cups brown sugar (packed)
1 cup butter
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
5 quarts popped corn

Pop corn and keep warm in two shallow pans (however, I recommend using one large roasting pan versus cookie sheets) in 250 degree oven. Combine sugar, butter, syrup and salt in sauce pan on stovetop. Bring to a boil slowly and boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda. Pour immediately over popped corn and mix well. Place back in oven and bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.Let cool and break up. Store in container. Freezes well.

Ok it is a bit time consuming but TOTALLY ADDICTIVE! Oh yes it's that bad (GOOD), I always have to scold Dan to stop eating some,so we'll have enough for the gifts. Ok it is sooo good that you might see us on Intervention, no joke! I usually make 2 batches and it covers my snacking and gift giving needs.
 Thanks again to Liz (from the Flowering Dogwood) for that delicious recipe.

I also made dough dor some Pfeffernusse and Xmas shortbread tonight, I'm off to watch a bit of tv and then off to bed I have another crazy cooking day tomorrow :)

Sleep tight!

Retro Tuesday: Vintage Xmas finds and Baking

Yesterday was one of the BEST short roadtrip ever! It was Xmas,the 4th of July and my birthday all rolled up into one! We went to Massena, NY wich is just 2 bridges accross Cornwall, Ont.

Our first visit to Massena was depressing vintage wise, but this time I was hot on the trail of New England Coffee seasonnal blends and Seasonnal Coffee Mate. We went to Hannaford and it was like an amusement park! More on that tomorrow or Thursday. Right now let's stay in retro mode because it is Tuesday afterall!

I found those Santa light cover at my favorite church basement . 25cents for 6

A vintage cookie tin and a honeycomb centerpiece decoration, a quarter each. I also found a clear Pyrex 043 lid for a quarter. I got those at St-Vinnies.

I saw this cute guy @ Corwall's Value Village....I left him there!

I picked up this instead....A lovely Pyrex RW platter in Laurel. The price was too good to be true, 1.99$  

In case you good folks wouldn't believe me,lol

The pricing people had no idea what they had, and that is perfectly fine with me :)

I don't know if these snowmen are vintage but they are really cute and at 1.00$ for a strand I could not leave it there. The Salvation Army opened a new store in Cornwall with a bargain loft....good deals are to be had!

 Ok last but not least....I was going through old photos this morning and found one of myself 30 years ago, YIKES! I remember that afternoon well, it was December and I decided to bake cookies with my Snoopy apron, bought in 1977 in Kennebunk, Maine. I stil have the apron by the way.
Too bad Polaroid pics don't really age well, my mom took that picture.

This is my mom's kitchen, she was soooo proud of it. This takes me back.

This afternoon I'll be making caramel corn and trying not to eat it all myself!

  

It happens

I so wanted to blog about Xmas related topics every day. Then life happened and I was stuck between mortality and Xmas since wednesday. It was a strange place. I had more of a physical reaction than a psychological one. I was really bone tired and falling asleep all over the place. But I'm glad to say Xmas won and I'm back! Xmas represents pure JOY for us. Joy for the birth of baby Jesus, Joy for the family gatherings, Joy to be with loved ones, Joy for the good food,good movies and just hanging out.

Xmas Pyrex from the 80's and a small friendship casserole full of hot popcorn. YUM!

A cool seasonnal display  @ Quinn Farm on Ile Perrot where we got our tree.  

How whimsical is that big ol' barn?

I tried and I tried to take a nice pic of my Xmas tree with the lights this evening but this is the most interesting I got! I kept trying all the settings of my camera and this was the coolest!

So life does go on and I'm the luckiest gal to have such a toughtful better half. What cheers me up more than anything?

  A roadtrip of course! We are definitely heading west to Ontario, but we might cross the bridge to NY state and I might be able to get my hands on some delicious seasonnal New England Coffee and some seasonnal Coffee Mate.....hum....Eggnog, Gingerbread....I can't wait to taste you!

I am hoping for tons of vintage Xmas decorations as well! Blow-molds watch out!

Meat Pies, YUM!

I cook everyday, I could not live if I didn’t cook, I would probably wither and die dried up like an old raisin….
These recipes would be good, if you’re from French Canadian descent (lord knows the thousands that went to the U.S for some work in the 30s, stayed, married and procreated. You can still hear and see signs of the French Canadian immigrants all over New England), or if you’re a transplant and suffer from nostalgia or if you want to try something different. I warn you this is not diet food, its stick to your ribs, go plow a field, give birth in it and shovel 3 feet of snow comfort food!

Ok this is THE BEST pie crust ever! I’ve only used it for meat pies and salmon pies, not for sweet stuff.

Savoury pie crust

3 cups flour
1 cup grease (I use Crisco)
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon white vinegar (works with cider vinegar)
1 teaspoon salt
¾ cup cold water

Throw everything in your Kitchenaid or a big ol’ Pyrex bowl and mix until smooth. Separate the dough in 3 or 4 parts, wrap in plastic film and refrigerate over night.

I swear this dough will literally roll itself!

It’s one of the few recipes I use because it’s so easy to work with! My mom used to tell me: Sorry dear I can’t make pie crust, I’m awful at it, ask you’re grandma. Of course being a teenager back then I couldn’t careless about asking my grandma for lessons and then she passed. I used boxed mixes, ready to roll dough but always found them not up to par….Then I tried the recipe on the Tenderflake (lard) package, it was good but this one id a trillion times better!

Tourtières des Fêtes (Holiday Meat Pie)

This recipe is for 1 large meat pie. It can easily be doubled, tripled or in my case sextupled (did I just make up a word?)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion chopped
2 garlic cloves finely chopped
1 bacon rasher chopped (for 1 pie I add 3 instead of one)
½ pound lean ground pork
½ pound lean ground veal (you can use the meats you like; I use beef and pork, or if you can find packs with beef,veal,pork that is good too)
1 pinch each of: ground cloves, dried thyme and dried savoury
( I find that one pinch of each is not enough, you be the judge)
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/3 beef stock
2 pie crusts
1 egg yolk

Meaty Goodness!

Preheat oven @ 350F

In a skillet, heat oil and add the bacon ,onion and garlic, Cook until onion is transparent. Add the pork and veal and cook 5 min. Add seasonings ,cover and let simmer 15 min. Adjust the seasonings and if you have too much liquid leftover you can drain the mixture.

Ready for the oven!

Put a crust in a pie plate (aluminum or Pyrex) add the meat and cover with the second crust. Cut slits in top to let steam escape and seal edges with a fork, or some fancy thing you do….Brush the egg wash on the top and shove in the hot oven for 30 min or until the crusts are golden.

Now for my last note, when the meat is done I always add some shredded potato (raw) and let it cook. It binds the whole mix and it is more traditional. Serve with fruit ketchup of plain Heinz (ew!)

                                 All golden and delicious! Too bad I can't blog in smell-O-vision!

Retro Tuesday: Humbugs

Last night Dan came home with a bag of one of the sweetest tradition around Montreal; The Stillwell's Humbug.
The humbug is a hard candy made of molasses,butter and peppermint....Huuummm humbug!

I'm sorry the pic quality is crappy, this is the only one I could find on the web.

Humbugs come from England and the recipe was brought here in 1914 when the Stillwell's moved to Verdun  .Stilwell's Home Made Candy Store was opened on Wellington street in 1933 and stayed at the same location until 1999. I remember going there (1991-1995) on saturdays to buy some sweet stuff. They had all kinds of hand pulled hard candy, my fave was the humbug and the humbug suckers. I'm kicking myself right now because i didn't take pictures and there is none on line. The interior was all white with glass cases. The counters were manned by old english sour pusses with hair nets....You could get a sugar rush just by breathing deeply! Oh the joy this place brought to everyone!

After 1999 it moved to Lasalle but closed down in 2009 due to tough economic times. However the humbug is still handmade by Mr Jenkins , son-in-law of the original owners and available at 5 locations in and around Montreal. They are sold @ Le Panier in Pointe-Claire, Deli Plus Frank & Fred also in Pointe Claire, Westmont Stationary Inc, St. Mary's Hospital Centre gift shop, Montreal General Hospital gift shop.

And now more on how they started out:   In an attempt to keep his family off social assistance during the Great Depression after losing his job in 1927, violinist and artist Richard Stilwell and Kay began peddling fudge bars baked by his eldest daughter, Gladys.

Kay sold them for a nickel each to caddies at the Mount Royal Golf Club while Stilwell bicycled into Montreal's business district, where he earned $2 to $3 a week selling ribboned boxes of the fudge.

After he was arrested for selling without a permit, Stilwell resorted to delivering call-in orders around town with the help of another daughter, Jeanne.
Jeanne worked at Bell Canada and with all those numbers at her disposal, promoted her sister's fudge and took the phone orders.
Sales were so good, they rented space for walk-in business for about 10 months, during which time they added Humbugs and other speciality candies to their selection. Then they moved to the permanent Wellington St. shop.

Don't be fooled by imitations! These are not humbugs!

So basically there was no point in waiting until Xmas to savour those timeless candies....so we digged in and watched a Xmas episode of the Big Bang Theory....and for a while time stopped and all was right in the world with lazy snow falling.

Have a great Retro Tuesday y'all!

For more Retro Tuesday Fun check Tracy's Crazy Suburban Mom !

No Santa I don't want that!

It seems that every flyer I look at ,has at least one of it in it. It is one of the 'MUST HAVE' gift of the season! And it is very chic!

The one cup at a time coffee machine. I think there's basically 2 kinds. The Keurig and the Tassimo.

Keurig

Tassimo

So they brew a perfect cup of coffee each time, that is what their commercials tell us. They run between 99$ and 200$.YIKES! Remember when you could buy at coffee maker for 25$ ?

Maybe the coffee they produce is totally addictive....I can't judge, I had only one cup of coffee from a machine like that, it was good and strong.

What really gets me is the price of these little darlings....the K-cups....They come in a gazillion of flavors, tea and hot cocoa too! I bet you could find some hot buttered rhum too!

   I have seen them in stores for 8.99 for a dozen. It's perfectly fine if you drink one cup of coffee a day and you're single. So we got thinking, and that is always dangerous! lol
We drink 4 cups of coffee each a day, that is 8 a day; multiply that by 7 days and you get 56 cups of glorious java (and that is not counting the extra celebratory , this is the weekend,I love you, it's Xmas cups of coffee).
Ok so let's be conservative and say 56 cups per week. That means I would have to buy 5 boxes of K-Cups a week. That is 44.95$ plus taxes.

You can buy a caroussel to store your K-cups for 24.95$

Now back to the math! Ok so for a week it would cost us roughly 45$, which means that for a month it would be 180$. So for a year it would be 2160$, holy moly! That is a lot of moolah! We could go on vacation with that money! Now the coffee we drink costs 14.49$ a big can, sometimes less if on sale. It lasts for a month, here goes the math again! So for a year of perfectly acceptable coffee it costs  173.88$.

Ok, ok let's say 200$ because once in a while I buy flavored coffee on vacation to drink here. Like New England Coffee (Pumpkin Spice), guess what? They don't ship to Canada! !"/$%?&*(

And that is why I don't want Santa to put one under the tree!

Oh  before I forget! One of my bloggy pals the very thrifty Missouri Michael from Cul De Sac Shack is having a 100th follower giveaway; so just click on the link to participate!

Have a great day!

Success! Release the Kraken!!!

Ok I did have success yesterday @ the Salvation Army. About the Kraken....I just wanted to write that because it's one of my fave things to say....I have been known to shout: RELEASE THE KRAKEN!!! In public spaces and it's soooo satisfying! try it!

Now about the Xmas light saga...If you're not up to speed, Click HERE! I managed to find quite a few replacement bulbs on my visit; it was like everyone and Santa got rid of the old fashionned lights....

Here's my haul. Unfortunatly most of them are transparent....I need more opaque bulbs!

 Well at least this gives me purpose. I had this talk with Dan tonight about my job hunt...and the fact that I'm really tired lately. It might be that because I deal with a lot of rejection,  I spend a lot of my energy to push back the darkness. I'm extraordinary and I know my worth; so please,please,please send a good job my way!

Here's the rest of it. 105 gift tags for .69 cents, 6 new red and white checkered mason jar lids for .69 cents, a never been used Tupperware microwave pot for .99 cents (this was a START THE !"/$%?&* CAR!!! moment, because those are worth a fortune!), and a vintage Xmas napkinthat I have no idea what I paid for....but it fills my NEED for vintage Xmas.

As I was digging through boxes of sticky garlands and greasy ornements; I kept thinking that xmas ornements are usually sad; they are meant for joy and cheer and they get discarded as soon as they are judged not in fashion anymore. The worst are the garlands! They keep weird smells forever...like cooking grease and cigarette smoke. Anywoo, my hands were so eeeeewww when I got to the cash that I could barely open my wallet! I saw this girl totally unaware of the eeewww factor of the salvation army (and thrifting in general) that she was rubbing her eyes at the cash, I was too late to tell her not to do that she would be FULL of the dreaded PI NK EYE in the morning!

I have been there people, I have scratched my fave in the Salvation and was all swollen for hours!

Next week more Stocking Stuffer Ideas for Santa and recipes!

Keep your hands clean and don't scratch your eyes! :)

Thrifty Finds and Other Stuff

 Good morning everyone! Last Wednesday I skipped my usual morning in the church basement for a run around the shopping center looking for replacement bulbs....So I headed to the FCB (favorite Church Basement) at 1pm and here's what was waiting for me!

3 Xmas cups. How funny is that? Earlier in the shopping center I wanted to buy some,but I didn't really want to spend the money...So @ a quater for 3 it was a steal. They were new unused with the Loblaw's sticker under with the year 2005. They sat 5 years in somebody's basement gathering dust and spider poop!

An aluminium canning funnel, no dings. I love those and if I really listened to myself (Dan please don't read this...) I would have TONS of them. Now I need a glass one.....

A Corning stove top percolator. This one needs another good scrubbing! It was full of paint droplets....I can't wait to try this, with a metal spider under don't worry!

 Speaking of thrifty....I had 2 small pumpkins from my garden lying around in the kitchen...And they told me it was time to use them FAST!
So I got this idea watching Jamie at home: Christmas special...he did it with squash, but my pumpkins were small, so I went his way and roasted them in the oven with sage.

It looks scrumptious.Ultimately it will go in a soup, probably tomorrow

Saturday is a great day for soup!

Now I'm really ecxcited to go to Montreal later this afternoon for some heavy duty thrifting at the Salvation Army. Clear the lane, incoming crazy woman looking for Pyrex and replacement bulbs! And to meet up for a drink with some of my ex-collegues. A much I hated my job in the end, I made a lot of good friends and had a lot of fun in the 10 years I was there.

Did you know spawn of Crazy Suburban Mom had a blog? Yes! Ben has a terrific,funny blog and you can definitely tell where he got his sense of humor!

So if you want a change from thrifting, cooking, quilting head to the The Chair Fort for a different and funny point of view!