Just in case

of course I had every intention of blogging every day but as usual life is busy, busy, busy.

we are taking a lot of life changing decisions and during the Holiday season it sure can throw a wrench in someone's Holiday planning!

so even if I dropped a couple of Holiday treats from this year's roster like caramel corn and cranberry fudge....

I am still churning out the classics ...gingerbread, pferffernusse (pepper gingerbread), Xmas candies and candy cane meringues.

and fruit squares and mini butter tarts for Xmas supper at the inlays.....

today I will share my candy cane meringue kiss recipe...very simple in case you are missing a cookie on your cookie plate...

you will need:

4 egg whites room temp
1 cup super fine sugar (I use powdered sugar)
1 pinch salt
1 pinch cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla
crushed candy cane


set your oven to 170F or lower if you can

start whipping the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Add salt and cream of tartar
continue whipping and gradually add the sugar.
whip until you get glossy firm peaks, add the vanilla. blend well
use 2 teaspoons to form little kisses on a parchment lined cookie tray. sprinkle crushed candy cane on top.
bake 2 hours with the oven door slightly ajar. after 2 hours turn off the oven but keep the oven door ajar to let the meringues time to dry.

 These are always a bit hit on our Xmas table!

ENJOY!!!

Merry Xmas!

First of all, I want to wish the merriest and brightest Xmas ever to you and all your loved ones.

Isn

Like baking gingerbread....and wrapping presents..... 

 Under the watchful eye of the blowmolds....

And I was able to put the finishing touches on my 'buffet'.

I also took the time to reflect on 2016.

This was an extremely difficult year.

As many of you know my father passed in last January.

There was a lot of sorrow, tears and uncertainty.

But there was a lot of joy and laughter as well....

 I learned a lot about myself. I learned that I am very 

resilient, I might stumble but I will get back up stronger than ever.

What's planned for today?

longing in our pjs, watching tv and eating leftovers.....

Have a great day everyone!

Checking the list

Hi there!

We all know that Christmas is as inevitable as taxes and death...It will come no matter what!

Am I ready? Kinda.

95% of gifts are wrapped, stockings are full, cookies baked (mostly).

I am still adjusting to my new oven. It is so good that I have to relearn old stand byes.

My trusted caramel corn recipe flopped. It wasn't crunchy and overall blah.

I tried it again and this time it tasted like meat....how freaky is that? I tasted the popped corn, the brown sugar, the corn syrup...everything tasted the same!

Except the BUTTER! The butter, brand new pound, never frozen, tasted like crap!

I have been cooking for 30 years and I have never had CRAP butter! What's up with that?

With our combined big yaps, word spread around and we gathered 2 other tales of CRAP butter, one with black spots and one with green streaks....How nice!

It seems that Quebec dairy farmers reached their quotas and there is a shortage of butter (hush, hush of course) and that the butter, some of it at least, is being sourced from less than reliable sources....

So a word of advice, keep your receipt and taste your butter before using it. I finally made a third batch but most of it was already spoken for....so there is none left (except the so-so first batch).

I don't think I will have enough time to make some more....

Otherwise the tree is all finished and the village too.

It is the same as when I was a child. It

smells great. Next year I will buy my tree from

the same couple; my Dad has been buying his tree from 

them for 25 years.

I'll finish watching Scrooge and then off to bed I'll go.

You should do the same, so you'll wake up all refreshed!  

Getting ready

Last year around this time I was 40% ready for Xmas.....

This year I am...let's say 10% ready.....NOT GOOD

Of course there is the oven situation.....

But we are working through it

and Dan is hard at work on patching the hole.

 These are the new Xmas decorations from my work's lobby.

I am grateful they got rid of the creepy leprechaun/Cirque Du Soleil dolls.

I also spied this cutie blowmold in a shop nearby.

What do you know I have the same!

The oven crapping out on me really threw me off. And I am barely getting used to the situation .

So I am writing a lot of lists and I will prep all my cookie dough and pastry dough during the weekend.

I HOPE!

so that is 3 batches of pie crust dough, 2 batches of ginger bread cookies dough, 1 batch of Xmas sandies ,2 batches of pferffernusse dough...and I will see from there

Stay clam, sleep tight

and I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

Xmas Sandies....YUM

The recipe I'm about to share was my maternal Grandma's.

It was the only place I would eat those and I had the great idea to ask for the recipe before she passed away.

They were called Christmas Shortbread, but shortbread don't become golden.....hence the name change.

Xmas Sandies

3 1/2 cups flour
3 teaspoons beaking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
16 tablespoons of softenned butter and shortening
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup mixed red and green candied cherries
1/2 cup chopped almonds
2 teaspoons vanilla

Measure the flour with the baking powder and salt. Cream butter and shortening, gradually add sugar.
Mix well, add eggs, then flour mixture gradually. when all added add vanilla and cherries and almonds.

the dough should be soft but not sticky. Separate the dough and place on waxed paper and roll.

Refrigerate or freeze.

 The full recipe makes about 8 or 9 dozens small cookies. Since Dan and Dad find them kinda boring... I cut the recipe in half.

They keep about 3 weeks in the fridge or a couple of months in the freezer.When you are ready to bake them, pre-heat the oven to 425 F. Cut in slices and bake about 6 minutes.

When totally cool place in a metal cookie box lined with waxed paper...They are even better after they have sat it the box for a couple of days...

A great little cookie with a cup of tea, a blast from the past....

About Time

Being on vacation this year has been AMAZING!

I feel so rested, inspired, creative, productive!!!

The pool is finally ready, at the end I was ready to throw in the towel and just empty it and dismantle it....

It took a new gasket (totally useless), a new filter (professionnaly installed) I'm so happy we paid extra for this because we would've gotten this all wrong  , a new 3-way valve....this is where I nearly threw in the towel!

First place I went, the service rep just gave me any old part and dismissed me...THANK YOU VERY MUCH B.....But we are lucky there's another pool store accross the street, an independent one, the service rep was super nice, not condescending and actually made me a deal on the part I needed....

I know where my future pool is going to come from....

I still need to return the part from the first store and I have a feeling they will get an earfull....or two!

 The pool is finally ready for dipping! It is wonderful and the sure sign summer is here!

The new veggie garden...Doesn't look like much now but I will post pictures of its progress

 

                                         I actually saw a car with false eyelashes!

 My blast from the past snack. In my youth sugary snacks were few and far apart...I got some on holidays...Xmas, Easter, Valentine's....Once in a blue mood my mother would buy a box of these. They were considered a luxury item (It was a real brand not generic, those were never on sale and actually tasted good). My mother was hyper thrifty and we would have cheapo on sale knockoff brand cookies
that weren't really tasty...Too thrifty is not always good.

So I bought a box (I am on vacation afterall)....Guess what? Of course know where I am headed!

I was disappointed! TOO SWEET! Good but too sweet, I could only eat 2 per sitting, which is eally more than plenty.

So the to do list is not getting smaller... Well it is what it is!

Sleep tight!

Woo Time sure Flies!!!

It seems Xmas was just weeks away.....

But the retail world is always a step ahead to make us spend...

                                                 
                                                  Cute sugar cookies? YUM!
                                                  Rest assured I didn't buy any....But I know they are tasty!
                                             

                                             This is the CUTEST grocery list  pad EVER!
                                           
                                  Now I really wanted to ake you along wih me on a journey, a weight loss
                                   journey/experiment...but I forgot to send the document I was working on
                                   during my lunch hour, so it will be for another day!

                                   Be well!

Boxing week deals

I hope everyone and a wonderful Xmas  and had the opportunity to rest a bit.

Today I'm happy to say that I rested and did stuff not related to the Holidays. Don't get me wrong!
I loooooovvvveeee Xmas but I find that I need more time to prepare joyfully.

We have been engaged  in a wintery marathon of shopping,working,baking,cooking,shovelling, de-icing, working,decorating and trying to stay thrifty and sane.

And even with all the running around the house was not as christmassy as I wanted it!

   

                                            Here is a little Xmas vignette in the hall
 

                                            Do you recognize Henry the Xmas Elf?

                                            Now this being Boxing week, I was curious to see what had happened
                                              to the $120 cookies! The glass jars were gone.....all of them
                                             But  spotted this                             

                                               This is the sibbling of he glass jar $120 also

                                              A bargain at $59.00

Now for that furry frend in your life....

 A steal at $49.00!!!

Now just down the road is Ogilvy's another luxury departement store....

It is as you remember the place where I saw the $145 pannetone. That was gone too!

But I saw something far better!

I give you the most cake (pannetone) I have ever seen

 

Your eyes are not deceiving yourself!

 

And it was sitting on this cake stand

 

And since the cake was so expensive, I for just a minute, thought that

the cake stand was included

But no

 

From $95 reduced to $66.50

 

YIKES!

 I got my cake stand for $3 in an flea market....

 

Makes you think!

 

I might get to thrift later this afternoon

 

Celebrate!

PROGRESS!!!

You know I've been feeling bad about the rotten wood on the house, the absence of a balcony and the fact that I felt we were left behind by the reno workers.

Of course I'm not in charge of this project....Dan is and I never seem to get all the facts!

Last night I was getting stressed nearing the house...there was talk of work and wood, and measurements, railling.....

So last night we came home to this....Keep in mind that I could not take a pic last night.

This tiny tiny wood step ladder.

We were laughing so hard! Of course most of the workers are in their 20's or 30's.

They can't imagine that quasi-seniors live here!

The earth was loose and the ladder tippy!

 

I'm happy to report that all the rotted wood was removed and replace with new treated wood and a vapor barrier was installed as well.

 I will have more progress updates for you soon.

 

Now for some shopping/thrifting front.

 

I went on my annual window shopping trip to Holt & Renfrew, Montreal very chichi departement store.

And I was shocked by what I saw! Is it that because you are rich , your common sense leaves you?

 

That you don't mind paying $25 for a dozen shortbread cookies?

That a sweater for your dog costs $90, the price of a trip to the grocery store?

 

Cute dog sweater....

 

Scary price tag!

 

 

Tower of cookies

Yep you saw that right!

 

$120 for a tower of cookies! Are they hand crafted by vestal virgins on the slopes of

Mount Vesuvius?

I don't think so.

 

I took Dan there tonight for a show and tell...It gave us some great conversations!

 

And it make me feel good that I spent $5.99 at Renaissance and I actually used some Sears points to purchase a Xmas gift!

 

Now I promise that tomorrow I will take some pictures of my Xmassy thrifty finds to show you.

 

I hope you're all toasty warm with a full belly snuggled up next to your loved ones, furry and otherwise.

 

Sandy's damage was a big shock for us, let's face it usually this kind of  crazy bad destruction is seen in warmer climes....

so we've been gathering some emergency stuff. I will take some pics to share with you and of course your suggestions and comments are always welcomed!